Go to any village that falls in the remote areas and you will see that political literacy among masses is substantially low especially among women. However, in the village of Kalatek people don’t know about the political stalwarts of the nation because they never got the opportunity to participate in the democratic process of voting.  This village comprises of more than 500 families and no one has ever voted in their life.

It may sound weird that a whole village would skip voting, but in reality, it’s the destiny of the downtrodden villagers that has led them to this state. The destiny of this village is inevitably intertwined with the course of the Umiam River, which flows right through the heart of the village. Umiam River, is the life source of the village and forms the international border between Bangladesh and India. It feeds the villagers with its nutritious fish and its water refurbishes the soil every year with sediments. However, during the monsoons, when the water of the river pours out of its banks, the inundated land of this village merges with the land of Bangladesh and the existing borders cease to exist. The changing course of the river has made it impossible even for the officials to correctly pinpoint the grazing grounds that belong to India and those that belong to Bangladesh.

The litigious village of Kalatek, though it has been well fenced and falls within the border fences of India, has remained a secluded land which even today needs to be approached via river on a boat. This land acts as a no - man’s zone between borders except for the fact that this area is inhabited by people. The remoteness of this village has almost erased it from the mind of the administration. Though you find mention of the area in the list of development blocks and Tehsils, the inaccessibility simply proves one general law in a democracy: if you are not a voter you don’t mean much to the rulers. Almost 130 kilometres from the capital city of Shillong in Meghalaya this village presents an example of inconsequential existence.

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