India partition refugees in Odisha’s Bhadrak left landless after nearly 78 Years

In Bhadrak, families who took refuge in India during the 1947 Partition are now battling eviction from land they’ve lived on for over 75 years. Despite official recognition in land records, their property has allegedly changed hands without consent.

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According to sources, in a deeply concerning development from Bhadrak district, families who fled Pakistan during the 1947 Partition and were settled in government refugee camps are now being asked to vacate the land they have occupied for over seven decades.

Battling eviction from land

Despite their names being included in official land records (Khatiana) and ownership documents (Records of Right), the land is allegedly no longer in their names.

One such family is that of Tulasi Debanath, now in her early 70s, who has lived in Bhadrak’s Sweeper Colony under Sadar Police limits since her youth. Her father-in-law, Prasanna Kumar Debanath, fled from undivided East Pakistan and was among five families who first stayed in a temporary refugee camp in Maitapur.

Later in 1950, they were shifted to the Kuans refugee colony, where the government had allotted concrete houses and land.

Now, around 78 years later, these families, once officially settled, are facing displacement. Tulasi Debanath and others allege that they are being repeatedly pressured to vacate their homes, despite having nowhere else to go.

“We’ve appealed to the authorities many times, but no one listens,” Tulasi said, expressing her helplessness.

Following widespread concern, a district-level administrative team earlier conducted a field investigation on the orders of the District Collector. A senior tehsildar stated that if the Debanath family is indeed landless, efforts will be made to reallocate land to them after verification.

However, the larger question remains—who transferred ownership of the refugee camp land, and how did these legally allotted lands change hands without notifying the original occupants?

As legal disputes over the land are currently pending in court, the issue raises pressing concerns about refugee rights, bureaucratic transparency, and justice delayed.

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“After verification of the records, things can be ascertained. If they (the 5 affected families) are found to be landless, we will make arrangements to rehabilitate them as per the provisions of the Government,” Sadar tehsildar in-charge, Anup Behera, asserted.