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Century-old tea estate on the verge of ruin

Md Fazlur Rahman and Rajat Kanti Goswami
Laxmi Charan Bagti, 45, was born in a tea garden and has been working for Pallathal Tea Estate in Moulvibazar. His father and grandfather did the same.
But now uncertainty has gripped him as neighbouring Indian state of Assam has moved to establish its control over a part of the land workers see as the lifeline of the century-old garden.
“We have been working here for generations. We were born here. Our parents and grandparents earned their livelihood in this estate. We have followed our ancestors' footsteps,” he said.
“Where shall we go if India takes over the garden? We know no other trade,” he told The Daily Star.
Laxmi Charan is not alone; there tire about 500 others who have been making a living in the tea garden for years and maintaining families.
Spread over 1,200 acres of land, Pallathal Tea Estate under Borolekha upazila was established in the 1920s as Pallathal Division of the Hindustan Tea Company Ltd. Since then tea has been growing in the area, according to documents of the Directorate of Land Record and Survey (DLRS).
The existence of the tea estate, which is now owned by Riazur Rahman, managing director of Pallathal Tea Estate, has come under threat after Indian state of Assam claimed 360 acres ofthe estate.
Bangladesh Tea Board records and garden maps also fully back up the fact that sections 2, 3 and 4, that constitute the major parts of the 360-acre garden under question, are an integral part of the tea estate.
“If the areas are taken away it will cut off the main artery of the estate, the main access road and also the key part of the estate. This would mean the death of the tea estate and would deprive the workers of their livelihood," said Rahman.
The workers, who are mostly Hindus, have got worried as their existence and future appear to be uncertain as Delhi has stepped up efforts to complete the groundwork and demarcation of the disputed Indo-Bangla border in Karimganj district of Assam before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka this week, reported Kolkatabased The Telegraph.
Karimganj has a 92-kilometre long border with Bangladesh where about 300 acres are in 'adverse possession' of Bangladesh, something Delhi is striving to resolve, the newspaper quoted Indian officials as saying.
“Due to the reluctance of the Assam government to give up this land, India has now sent their own version of a sketched map, which if accepted by us, will give us 60 acres and they will take away 300 acres,” said Rahman.
“This means that our tea plantation and our main road will also fall into their territory leaving us some paddy and grazing lands. In which case, the garden can no longer survive and the workers will also be deprived of their livelihoods and future,” he told The Daily Star by telephone.
The owners and the workers of Pallathal Tea Estate have appealed to the government against giving in to the 'unjust' demand of India to save the century-old estate from total ruination.
“My father and grandfather worked for this garden. If the 360-acre land is taken away then the tea garden will be destroyed,” said Nikhil Bagti, 65, secretary of the tea estate Panchayat, who has been working in the garden for more than four decades. His one son and two daughters also work in the tea garden.
Rajkumar Bagti, 45, president of the Panchayat, was also born in the tea garden, as his father also worked there. He said: “If we cannot retain the place we will be completely ruined. We will have nowhere to go.”
The people of Khasia tribe grow betel leaf on a part of the 360-acre area. Cultivating betel leaves is the main earning source for them. “Our livelihood will face ruination if the land is taken away by India,” said Lukash Bahadur, a Khasia 'mantree' (headman) and also a newly elected union parishad member.
Rahman bought the estate from Pushpa Rani Chowdhury in 1989-90 and has been producing tea since then.
Pallathal Tea Estate produces 1.5 lakh kilograms of tea annually. It is registered with the Bangladesh Tea Board and is also a member of the Bangladesh TeaAssociation.
In 1976, the deputy commissioner of Cachar district (now Karimganj) of Assam and deputy commissioner of Sylhet met and decided that the status quo of the 360 acres land would be maintained until finalisation of the matter at government level, according to documents obtained by The Daily Star.
Since then no decision has been taken. However, the land department of Assam claims that there is no such ad hoc position on the land.
On Saturday, survey teams from India and Bangladesh signed a boundary map in Lathitila in Juri upazila as they could not do so on August 28 in Pallathal due to protest from the tea estate workers, sources said.
The mapping gave Assam 291 acres and the rest went to Bangladesh.
Rahman said the mapping has been signed in a clandestine manner, and the main road to the tea estate has been affected. “According to the signed mapping, the Indian side is taking away 80 percent ofthe key part of the tea estate.”
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claimed that Assam would gain more in the proposed land swap agreement between India and Bangladesh to be discussed and signed during the Indian prime minister's scheduled visit to Bangladesh, according to a report published on the Times of Assam on Saturday.
“The agreement would not only be beneficial for Assam. But Assam would gain more land than Bangladesh once the land swapping pact is signed between India and Bangladesh,” the newspaper quoted Gogoi as saying.
“The garden is full of memories of our parents and grandparents. We have cremated them in the crematory inside the garden,” said Gouri Goala, 50, a worker of the tea estate.