Students, Indian nationals use land ports from Bangladesh to return to West Bengal

Trade is suspended along the Petrapole Benapole International Check Post, the largest land port in Asia

Students arrive in India from Bangladesh after immigration clearance amid a countrywide protest, on July 20, 2024. 13 students immigrate to India including 1 is Indian (Assam), 1 is from Bhutan, 1 is from Maldives and 10 students are from Nepal. | Photo Credit: ANI

About 30 students and hundreds of Indian nationals have returned to India from strife-torn Bangladesh using the land ports between West Bengal and the neighbouring country in the past 24 hours.

The students, mostly from the Rangpur Medical College, crossed the Changrabandha land port and Fulbari land port in north Bengal. Along with students from India, students from Bhutan, Nepal and other South Asian countries entered India. A number of Indian nationals also entered India using the two land ports in north Bengal.

Several students and people from West Bengal are still stranded in Bangladesh, and the families are unable to reach out to them because of poor network conditions in the neighbouring country. Among those who are struck in Bangladesh is reputed academician and former Vice Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University, Pabitra Sarkar. Professor Sarkar’s family members said that he had gone to Bangladesh on July 18 and had been stranded there since then.

Trains services between Dhaka and Kolkata were suspended on Friday. The Maitree Express, which was scheduled to depart from Dhaka towards Kolkata on Friday, and from Kolkata towards Dhaka on Saturday, was cancelled by Eastern Railways. The Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express, scheduled for July 21, has also been cancelled.

On Saturday the movement of goods along the Petropole Benapole land border in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas also came to a halt. Trade was suspended in accordance with the instructions of the Land Ports Authority of India after the last fleet of trucks had left for Bangladesh on Saturday morning. The International Check Post Petropole Benapole is the largest land port in Asia. A few people crossed to the Indian side after showing valid documents.

Of the 4,096 km-long border that India shares with Bangladesh, the longest segment of 2,216 km is shared with West Bengal. Both regions have deep linguistic and cultural ties. Students from Bangladesh study in several universities in West Bengal, including the Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan.