Since I finished this post earlier than expected, you might as well be able to read it now.

It is not just in the USA and in Israel that people did not learn something from the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Did you know that the longest wall of shame in the world, also called wall of death in its country of origin, is due to be completed in a deafening silence and this pretty close to Sri Lanka? Here a few details to allow you to identify the place:

Total length: 4095 kilometres
Completed already: almost 3000 kilometres
Number of guards: 50000
Terminated by: March 2010
Costs so far: 785 Million Euros
Type of wall an electrified fence
Height: 2.50 metres

No, it is not an extension of the Chinese Wall that has at least a certain style, it is … … the Wall of Shame being constructed by India at its borders with Bangladesh. Another way of calling this would be … fencing out the other.
For a long time India was in good terms with its Eastern neighbour, but this has changed dramatically in the last couple of years. Officially to fight against human trafficking, smuggling and terrorists, India has elected to protect its borders with Bangladesh by an electrified fence. Not without human dramas:

From one day to the other the life of so many farmers in what is now called the zero line has changed dramatically. Part of their land is now split between Bangladesh and the No Mans Land. Going there is not just an administrative hustle, it also means going to a very distant checkpoint to cross to the other side and do the same distance again. There are some places where even villages have been cut into two!

One surprising thing happened on the Indian side. Mainly in the border villages people realised that in the past when there was some solidarity with the Bangladeshi neighbours and the goods and the people could cross freely, everybody had a much better life. The conclusion of a disappointed village headman: now it’ s the same misery on both sides of the fence.

Things are even more … lets say. … folkloric, with certain enclaves on both sides of the border. The famous corridor of Tin Bigha is just one example. Bangladeshi and Indian Border Guards have to accompany village folks going across the corridor to the other side of their land / country.

Heavy protests along the entire Indian style Iron Curtain. To motivate some villages to accept the continuation of this project, the Indian Government, like in Gitaldad for example, has promised to bring the electricity to the village. Here we are far away from High Tech India like in Bengalore.

Where do we go from here? Immigration being limited to a problem, there is no solution to it. Immigration is a historical process and no wall has ever stopped this process, only made it more difficult to achieve the peoples objectives. The only answers to immigration are sustainable development, justice and the sharing of resources. But in our days the Governments just lack of global visions, because locking someone in is also locking in yourself! Welcome back to the Middle Age, if not the Stone Age!

To conclude the weekend in a more positive note, I will post a rather surprising article on the subject of walls later on this Sunday.

Also refer to the following link for a short Swiss Television video

www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=327200

with Berlin and some other places in the World where walls or fences are being erected.