Kachua Barman
Kachua Barman is a leader of the Indian enclaves dwellers community. The human rights defender works closely with Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), to work on the continuous plights of enclave dwellers. A large number of enclave dwellers who have been staying at settlement camps from the very first day of their arrival in India from Bangladesh have been deprived of citizenship and human rights. Kachua Barman campaigned for the enclaves dwellers to demand early solution of their plights and to urge the Indian government to implement their compensation and rehabilitation schemes.
For 68 years, following India's independence, both India and Bangladesh retained small territories (known as enclaves) located within the other country's boundaries. This led to some Indian citizens living in territories surrounded by land owned by Bangladesh and vice versa. People living in the enclaves have been living in a limbo: they don't have political status and they have been denied basic services such as electricity, running water, medical aid, school education and proper road infrastructure. In 2015, India and Bangladesh formally exchanged 162 enclaves, but the communities have not received any compensation and they are still waiting for their rights to be recognised.
Human rights defenders in India face a diverse range of attacks and harassment for their wor defending the rights of others, including killings, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, smear campaigns, and judicial harassment. People defending the rights of marginalised communities are targeted by state and non-state actors alike. Armed groups and private companies also target HRDs and community leaders for work related to economic development projects and their impact on the local communities or the environment. HRDs have also been labelled as "insurgents" or “Naxalites” (Maoists), in an attempt to discredit their work and justify their targeting.
