{"id":120476,"date":"2021-11-20T17:29:15","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T00:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120476"},"modified":"2021-11-20T17:29:58","modified_gmt":"2021-11-21T00:29:58","slug":"indian-bsf-must-stop-killings-along-the-bangladesh-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/11\/20\/indian-bsf-must-stop-killings-along-the-bangladesh-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian BSF must Stop killings along the Bangladesh border."},"content":{"rendered":"

Hafizur Talukdar<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

\u2018Bangladeshis<\/a> shot dead by BSF near Lalmonirhat border:\nFamilies still waiting for bodies\u2019 This was the headline of Bangladesh\u2019s leading\ndaily \u2018Daily Star\u2019 on September 26, 2021. BSF shoots Bangladeshi youth dead\nalong Satkhira border<\/a> (July 12, 2021, Dhaka Tribune)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A horrible picture was found in Dhaka’s leading\ndaily \u2018Dhaka Tribune’s article titled \u2018Bangladesh sees highest border deaths in\n10 years\u2019<\/a> on December 22, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Unlawful\nkillings’ along India border: Bangladeshi families seek justice. Over <\/strong>1,200<\/strong><\/a> Bangladeshis killed across the border by Indian\nforces for the past 2 decades, according to a local human rights group<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a major\ninternational border-related move, India has increased the jurisdiction of the\nBorder Security Force (BSF) empowering its officers to make arrests, search and\nseizures up to an area of 50 km in its states that share borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although India\nclaims that t<\/strong>he\nmove is meant to improve BSF’s operational efficiency\u201d and crackdown on\nsmuggling rackets\u201d, drawing sharp criticism from West Bengal and Punjab\nministers. But I think, amidst these, the Indian government has given\nlicense to BSF to kill more in the name of National Security.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, let\u2019s\ntalk about Bangladesh. <\/strong>A Bangladeshi man was shot dead by the\nIndian Border Security Force (BSF) at the Dantbhanga border in Roumari Upazila\nof Kurigram. The murder took place last month. A few days ago, BSF shot dead\ntwo Bangladeshi youths at the Burimari border in Patgram Upazila of\nLalmonirhat. On July 14, another Bangladeshi was shot dead by BSF at the\nLohakuchi border in the same district. The killing of Bangladeshis by firing\nfor no reason and for negligent reasons has become a habit of the BSF. The\nBangladesh-India border is considered to be the most dangerous border in the\nworld. This is because of the reckless behavior and role of the BSF. There have\nalso been comments in the international media that BSF members are using\nBangladeshis as targets for their target practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nBSF’s offensive activities do not provide much security to the lives, property\nand dignity of the Bangladeshi citizens on the border. They are always\nterrified of the BSF’s terror. The issue of non-use of deadly weapons on the\nborder and reduction of killings to zero has been discussed at various levels\napart from the border guards of the two countries. India has repeatedly\npromised that no deadly weapons will be used at the border and that killings\nwill be reduced to zero. But India did not show any goodwill in keeping these\npromises. Statistics show that 1,238 Bangladeshis have been killed by the BSF\nin the last two decades. In 2020, the BSF killed 46 Bangladeshis as a human\nrights organization, the Law and Arbitration Center. At the same time, 48 people\nwere picked up, but no trace of them was found. In the previous year, 2019, 43\npeople were killed by the BSF. Is the life of Bangladeshis so cheap that BSF\nwill take it whenever it wants?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\ngoes without saying that India’s promise has turned out to be a deception. Many\nclaims that Bangladesh-India relations are a role model in the world in terms\nof bilateral relations. Not only that, but it is also claimed that the\nrelations between the two countries are the most developed, the most cordial so\nfar. Yet why this fragile situation on the border, this aggression, this\nrelentless killing? Indian authorities should think and consider this\ncordially. According to some observers, the reason lies in the mindset of\nIndian security agencies to Bangladesh. They should respect the sovereignty of\nBangladesh and the Bangladeshi people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 India\nhas fulfilled all its demands from Bangladesh. Whatever India wants, Bangladesh\nhas given it unconditionally. But India doesn’t want to give in exchange.\nBangladesh has a border with India, not just that. Apart from Bangladesh,\nseveral other countries have borders with India. However, the borders of those\ncountries are calm and stable. The Indian border guards do not shoot at those\nborders, do not kill people, do not infiltrate, and do not loot. One of the\nreasons why Bangladesh is an exception may be that India and the BSF do not\nhave due respect for the sovereignty and citizens of Bangladesh. Occasional\ntensions, shootings, and even casualties are reported on the Pakistan border or\nthe China border. Of course, it is never one-sided. The Indian border guards\nrespect and fear the Pakistani or Chinese border guards. That is why he is\nalways restrained and avoids conflict. There is no question of quarreling. In\nthe case of Bangladesh, the Indian policy of not valuing or weakening\nBangladesh is behind the BSF’s chauvinism. As the saying goes, cats scratch\ntheir feet on soft soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nkilling of Bangladeshis on the border is an attack on the sovereignty of Bangladesh.\nHad India had so much respect for Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty,\nthe BSF would never have dared to shoot at Bangladesh. In this regard, the\nInternational community should give utmost importance to the issue. The border\nmust be made peaceful and secure, that is the last word. No more concessions\ncan be made in this regard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hafizur Talukdar \u2018Bangladeshis shot dead by BSF near Lalmonirhat border: Families still waiting for bodies\u2019 This was the headline of Bangladesh\u2019s leading daily \u2018Daily Star\u2019 on September 26, 2021. BSF shoots Bangladeshi youth dead along Satkhira border (July 12, 2021, Dhaka Tribune) A horrible picture was found in Dhaka’s leading daily \u2018Dhaka Tribune’s article titled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hafizur-talukdar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}