Dashiar Chhara, Bangladesh: Crackers were burst and people rejoiced as India and Bangladesh exchanged enclaves at the stroke of midnight on Friday-Saturday, ending the 68 years of stateless existence for over 51,000 enclave dwellers.

Around 14,000 people living in 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in the Indian territory, and another 37,000 residing in 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh, now have a country of their own.

The Bangladeshi enclaves are now a part of India, while the Indian enclaves join Bangladesh.

Torches and candles were lit, people came out of their houses, burst crackers and hugged each other with their eyes shining bright with hope.

Their facial expressions showed ecstasy after decades of isolation and deprivation during which they were denied even the basic civic amenities.

History was written as Bangladesh gave away to India a total area of 7,110 acres comprising 51 enclaves and in return received 17,160 acres, covering the 111 enclaves.

As the clock struck one minute past midnight (1801 GMT on Friday), thousands of people who have been living without schools, clinics or power for a generation erupted in cheers of celebration for their new citizenship.

‘We have been in dark for 68 years,’ said Russel Khandaker, 20, as he danced with friends in the Dashiar Chhara enclave, which belonged to India but has now became part of Bangladesh.

‘We’ve finally seen the light,’ he told AFP.

A total of 162 tiny islands of land — 111 in Bangladesh and 51 in India — were officially handed over to the countries surrounding them on Saturday after Dhaka and New Delhi struck a border agreement in June.

The land-swap means some 50,000 people who have been living in the isolated enclaves since 1947 will now become part of the countries that surround their homes.

In Dashiar Chhara, thousands of people defied monsoon rains to celebrate, marching through rain-soaked muddy roads singing the Bangladeshi national anthem and shouting: ‘My country, your country. Bangladesh! Bangladesh!’

Others lit 68 candles to mark the end of ‘68 years of endless pain and indignity’.

Sharifa Akter, 20, held a candle in her hand and smiled. ‘I can now fulfil my dream to be a top government bureaucrat,’ she told AFP.

Maidul Islam, 18, said the handover meant ‘we’re now human beings with full human rights’.

Officials from Bangladesh and India are set to hoist their respective national flags over their new territories on Saturday morning in formal ceremonies.

‘Oh what a joy!’

The enclaves date back to ownership arrangements made centuries ago between local princes.

The parcels of land survived partition of the subcontinent in 1947 after British rule and Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.

Bangladesh endorsed a deal with India in 1974 in a bid to dissolve the pockets, but India only signed a final agreement in June when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Dhaka.

In the final hours before the handover, villagers held special feasts and joined prayers in mosques and Hindu temples to usher in the new era.

Prodeep Kumar Barman sang a devotional song praising Hindu Lord Krishna as he led his troupe near a temple at the main bazaar in Dashiar Chhara, singing: ‘Oh what a joy, what a joy!’ 

Plans for more lavish festivities have been scaled back as India is observing a period of national mourning for former president APJ Abdul Kalam, who died this week.

‘This is the biggest celebration of my life. I can’t describe how I feel today,’ said Parul Khatun, 35, a resident of the Indian enclave of Kot Bajni.

Both India and Bangladesh conducted surveys this month asking enclave residents to choose a nation.

The overwhelming majority of people living in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh opted for Bangladeshi citizenship, but nearly 1,000 people on the Bangladesh side opted to keep their Indian nationalities.

They now have to leave their homes by November for India where they will be resettled in the state of West Bengal.

The decision has split some families along generational lines, with ambitious young people moving to India and leaving behind parents who are either afraid to move or just want to stay where they grew up.

As the clock struck 12, the Bharat Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Co-ordination Committee (BBEECC) — an organisation that fought for the rights of the enclave dwellers — celebrated the occasion in Mosaldanga enclave of West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district.

Sixty-eight candles were lit, marking the years the enclave dwellers have remained stateless. Besides, a documentary was also screened highlighting their struggle.

The Cooch Behar district administration has planned celebrations at 9:00am on Saturday.

‘As a part of the celebrations, the Tricolour will be hoisted in all the 51 enclaves but will be subsequently put on half mast as the country is in national mourning,’ said Cooch Behar District Magistrate P. Ulagnathan.The 111 Indian enclaves are located in the Bangladesh districts of Lalmonirhat (59), Panchagarh (36), Kurigram 12 and Nilphamari (4) while the Bangladeshi enclaves are situated in Cooch Behar in West Bengal.

The swapping is in pursuance of the inking and exchange of documents of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) on 6 June in Dhaka, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

The LBA was first inked in 1974 by then Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.

‘31 July 2015 will thus be a historic day for both India and Bangladesh. The day marks the resolution of a complex issue that has lingered since independence. It also marks the day from which enclave residents on both sides of the border will enjoy the benefits of nationality of India or Bangladesh, as the case may be, and thus access to civic services, education, healthcare and other facilities provided by the two governments to their respective nationals,’ said an official statement released by Indian government.

Other steps with regard to implementation of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and 2011 Protocol are underway in accordance with agreed modalities between India and Bangladesh, it said.