“I’m feeling very weak,” he said, stating the obvious.

Rahaman and a hundred others like him — including women and children — are 10 days into what they say is a fast-unto-death, a desperate call for release from a permanent state of limbo for the residents of the India-Bangladesh enclaves.

Officially known as "adverse possessions" — and colloquially known as "chitmahals," or paper palaces — are a collection of Indian and Bangladeshi villages home to 51,000 people, where for generations, citizens have been stuck on the wrong side of the border.

The residents of the 102 enclaves inside Bangladesh are technically citizens of India. Those in the 71 enclaves inside India are technically citizens of Bangladesh. In reality, they are stateless and virtually prisoners in their homes, cut off from public services such as electricity, schools, and hospitals.

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