Where history once flowed in, it now flows out: Bengal's Hakimpur sees rare reverse migration

Hakimpur (WB): Along the muddy lane leading to the Hakimpur border outpost, once a passage for refugees in 1947 and again in 1971, waves of people had moved inward over decades, turning the village here into an improvised sanctuary for those escaping violence across the frontier.

This November, elders of Hakimpur in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district bordering Bangladesh, say it feels as if history is replaying itself with the frames flipped. The movement looks familiar; only the direction and the context have changed.

Over the past few days, illegal Bangladeshi nationals have been walking back towards the same border gate, which had, decades ago, witnessed an influx of migrants from the neighbouring country.

The reason, according to security officials, villagers and the migrants themselves, is clear: the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls underway across West Bengal.

With enumerators conducting door-to-door verification, those living for years on borrowed papers, fake voter IDs or no documents at all know they will not pass the checks. Many have decided to quietly return to Bangladesh before field teams begin visiting households.

“I have never seen such a situation here at Hakimpur where so many illegal Bangladeshis are waiting for their return to their country. This is unprecedented,” said 79-year-old Haripada Mondal, who had served in relief kitchens for refugees during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. “These people simply know they have no papers. So, they are going back on their own," he said.

Hakimpur, a village of 10,145 people and 2,322 households as per the 2011 Census, surrounded by settlements like Dattapara, Daspara, Balki, Gunrajpur and Bithari, has long lived with the memory of movement across its borders.

The muddy road leading to the Hakimpur outpost is familiar terrain for residents who grew up hearing or witnessing earlier waves of migration. In 1971, this corridor carried thousands fleeing genocide, Operation Searchlight, the brutal crackdown by Pakistani army on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

“Every courtyard was a camp, every house a shelter,” said 84-year-old Animesh Majumdar, recalling how villagers fed those arriving with little more than torn saris and aluminium pots. “We were poor, but we shared. That was our duty.” On November 22 afternoon, Roy stood under the same banyan tree where villagers once stirred rice for war refugees, a tree now shading migrants heading back to Bangladesh with polythene bags tied to bamboo sticks.

“History is coming full circle,” he said. “Only the direction has changed.” Hakimpur’s instinctive response also mirrors its past. There are no NGO banners or official directions here; instead, villagers line up with utensils as they did half a century ago.

“You give food to any refugee or needy, anyone on this road; this is our rule,” said 50-year-old Mantu Mondal, who runs a shop near the border. “In 1971, people were entering. Today, people are leaving. Feeding remains constant," he said.

Local youths offer puffed rice and biscuits. Elderly men ladle lentils into steel bowls; others walk along the queue with cups of tea.

“We heard stories of how our elders ran camps in 1971,” said 22-year-old Sujit, handing over water packets to a row of men seated on their haunches.

“Now we are seeing something similar; instead of refugees escaping war, these people are returning because they cannot show papers," he said.

Migrants waiting to cross the border say the decision is simple: with SIR teams visiting homes, “managing or avoiding officials is no longer possible."

“I worked in a brick kiln in Bongaon. My ID was borrowed,” said Shahidul, 32, seated on a rolled-up bedsheet. “I cannot show any legal papers. Better to return before verification starts.” Security personnel at Hakimpur say the surge is steady and unmistakable.

“Since the second week of November, crossings in the reverse direction have risen sharply,” a BSF officer said, requesting anonymity.

“Most migrants openly admit they came illegally years ago for work. They all link their return to the SIR. This is voluntary, not forced," he said.

Hakimpur’s elders, many of whom were children during 1971, say they are struggling to absorb the reversal.

“In my lifetime, I have seen and heard only inflow, from 1947 to 1971 and even after that,” said 70-year-old Ajay Pal. “My father told me about refugees during the Partition, and in 1971, I myself witnessed it. This is the first time I am watching people line up to go back. It is unsettling.” Across South Bengal’s border belt, many of the departing migrants are daily-wage labourers from Bangladesh’s Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat and Jessore districts.

A local panchayat member monitoring the queues said, “These people know they have no voter card, no Aadhaar, nothing genuine. SIR is strict, so they are returning voluntarily. The village is only trying to help by giving them food.” Another villager, Mithun Mondal, described the moment as “history coming full circle.”

“For seventy years, this belt saw people running into India,” he said. “Now those who entered illegally over the last decades are walking back. It is a unique moment.” For now, Hakimpur watches its road reverse purpose.

“This road has taken thousands in,” Ajay Pal said, looking at the mud path disappearing into the dusk. “Today it is giving them back.”

Along this frontier, a witness to Partition, war and generations of migration, history flows once more. Only this time, it flows outward.