BSF berserk on the border
Though ties have improved vastly with India, BSF continues killing Bangladeshi nationals on the border
by ANWAR PARVEZ HALIM
BSF has gone berserk on the borders with Bangladesh. The Indian border security force has tortured and shot dead ten Bangladeshis in the first two months of this year along the border. Over the past 10 years it killed 828 Bangladeshis. The significant improvement in relations between India and Bangladesh has not had any effect on BSF at all. On the contrary, they are simply becoming more hostile than ever.
The Prime Ministers of both countries, during recent joint talks, admitted to the agitation along the borders. In the joint communiqué they spoke of stepping up border patrol and or regular meetings between BSF and Bangladesh's BDR. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has kept her work. After her Indian visit, BDR has not even thrown a pebble at BSF troops. But India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has failed to keep his commitment. BSF have been on a shooting spree and the borders have remained tense.
BSF's border killings are nothing new. According to a survey of human rights organisation Odhikar, in the 10 years from January 1, 2000 till December 31, 2009, a total of 887 Bangladeshis were killed along the border. Of this, 828 were killed by Bangladeshis. The others were killed by miscreants.
Odhikar's report states that other than the 887 that were killed in the 10 years, clashes at the border left 869 Bangladeshis injured, 909 abducted and 14 raped. In this time period, 70 incidents of looting and 229 of push-in took place along with 184 disappearances and 226 arrests.
According to media reports, during the current year from January 1 till March 2, BSF killed 10 Bangladeshi nationals. The people living around the border areas are panic stricken. During routine patrols, BSF personnel are firing at innocent Bangladeshi farmers tending to their crops. They are entering Bangladesh territory and dragging away cows, goats and even people. BSF is even aiding and abetting miscreants to cross over into Bangladesh and carrying out looting and theft.
All this is not restricted to any one particular border. This is continuing along the borders from Satkhira to Chuadanga, Naogaon to Chapainawabganj, Dinajpur to Panchgarh, Lalmonirhat to Kuigram and Sherpur to Sylhet.
Human rights organisations have been protesting about this border violence. Even Kuldip Nayyar, former Member of the Indian Rajya Sabha and former diplomat, has questioned these killings. Upon his return from a visit to Bangladesh, Nayyar wrote an article in the Gulf News, saying, "In recent years, Indian BSF has killed about 400 innocent people. The Bangladeshis have not forgotten this. How can such indiscriminate shooting take place against the citizens of a friendly country?"
The first BSF killing of Bangladeshis this year took place on January 2. Shahjahan Ali, a 30-year-old resident of Patgram upazila in Lalmonirhat, was farming near the Burimari border when BSF of India's Changrabanda camp opened fire and shot him dead. They dragged away his dead body. Then on January 14, Shafiqul Islam (25) of the village Shitalpur in Satkhira, was tortured to death by BSF at the Kaliganj border. They threw his body into the river Ichhamoti. On January 16, Shahidul Islam (35) was shot dead by BSF while he was irrigating his rice fields at the Kazipur-Tetulia border of Gangni upazila in Meherpur. They took away his dead body. On December 31 they abducted a young Bangladeshi man at the Kolaroa border of Satkhira and took him to the Gorerkanda camp in India. His body later appeared in the river Sonai. His identity remains unknown.
Young boy Hasnat of village Charulia in Damuhuda upazila of Chuadanga was tortured to death by BSF on February 3. On February 4 when BSF opened fire on BDR troops while they were on patrol at in Jaintapur, Sylhet, Naik Subedar Mujibur Rahman fell to the ground. BSF crossed over into Bangladesh territory and dragged him away. They returned him later during the next flag meeting. On February 6, Farid (28) of village Sarialjote was killed by BSF at the Tetulia border.
Others killed by BSF were Islam Miah at the Panchgarh border on February 17, 70-year-old Anwar on February 18, cow trader Mukul Ali at Shibganj of Chapainawabganj on February 24 and Qayyum (30) at the Dharmagarh border of Thakurgaon on March 2.
According to the human rights organisation Odhikar, in February alone BSF killed five Bangladeshis and tortured six. Another human rights organisation, Bangladesh Manobadhikar Bastobayan Sangstha, writes in their February report, "Six Bangladeshis were killed by BSF at the border during this period and over 20 were injured."
Security experts of the country blame Bangladesh government's submissive attitude for BSF's one-sided aggression along the border. Odhikar's Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan tells PROBE, "Even while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was in India holding talks, BSF killed a 28-year-old cowherd Shafiq at the Uksha border of Satkhira district. They opened fire at Bangladeshis along the Azmatpur border of Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj. They say that the border problems will be resolved through talks. We have been hearing of such talks since 1972, but the killings and violation of human rights simply escalates."
He says, "The people would have been very happy had Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina strongly raised the issues and problems of the people of Bangladesh. But the people's demands were not raised during the talks. We were dismayed. The matter of BSF killing Bangladeshi nationals wasn't brought up. In fact, BSF and BDR are bracketed together. It was said that both BSF and BDR would have to be cautious and hold regular talks."
Adilur Rahman Khan questions the joint communiqué signed between the two countries. He says, "In whose interests will these regular talks be held, to protect whose security? Naturally I will look to the security of Bangladeshi people first. And of course, as Indians are our brothers and sister, there is the question of their safety too. But at a state level if the people of Bangladesh and India are left without security, that would be inviting a mass movement."
He points to the Armed Forces Special Act of 1958 in northeast India which allows troops to shoot on sight. Manipur's woman leader Sharmila is on a hunger strike, demanding that this Act be abolished. "Some of those in northeast India who have been righting against injustice, took refuge here is fear of their lives, but the Indian forces came and abducted them, took them back. We protest against this. During our Liberation War, our brothers and sisters there gave us refuge that side of the border. The Bangladesh people have the right to help them in upholding their rights too."
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