Weekly BUDHBAR report:
http://budhbar.com/?p=7445
Ashraful's comments irresponsible: citizens
Politicians, academics and rights activists have termed 'irresponsible' the comments of local government, rural development and cooperatives minister Syed Ashraful Islam on the border killings by the Indian Border Security Force.
It is the state's constitutional obligation to protect its citizen and if the state says it is not worried about the killings of its citizen, it means the state is unprotected and insecure, they said in their reaction to Ashraful's comments on the border killings.
Ashraful, also the Awami League general secretary, said on Saturday that the state was not worried over the killing and torture of Bangladeshi nationals by BSF along the border.
In the latest such incident, a Bangladeshi national was shot dead and three others were injured by the BSF in Dhannyokhola frontier of Benapole on Saturday.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said that the BSF had killed some 1,000 Bangladeshis over the last decade.
'Ashraful's comments are not in line with the government's policy. The government has already protested at killing of Bangladeshi citizens by the BSF. It worried the government and so it reacted,' said Workers Party lawmaker Rashed Khan Menon, an ally of the ruling Awami League.
He said that it was state's constitutional obligation to protect its citizens.
The state cannot avoid its responsibility, Menon said.
Rights group Ain o Salish Kendra executive director Sultana Kamal said, 'Such comments are not acceptable. It is the state's responsibility to look after everything. It cannot say it has concern for something and not worried about other things.'
Awami League leader Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed, however, declined comments on the issue.
When asked about his reaction, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president Hasanul Haq Inu said, 'The state cannot take these killings lightly.'
He said that the explanation given by the Indian authorities on the border killings was not acceptable and the government should take these incidents very seriously.
Jatiya Party leader Anisul Islam Mahmud said that in an independent and sovereign country, killings of its citizens on borders should worry the government.
'The government should also take steps so that border killings do not take place in future,' he said.
Human rights organisation Odhikar's secretary Adilur Rahman Khan termed Ashraful's comments irresponsible.
'We did not expect such remarks from a responsible person like him,' he said.
Adilur said the comments would encourage BSF and the Indian authorities to continue their atrocities and aggressive attitude towards Bangladeshi nationals.
Economist and social activist Anu Mohammad said, 'He [Ashraful] should have rather said that the government has no concern for its citizens. It is unfortunate that many such killings are taking place but the government is silent.'
He said that the present government did not even hesitate to destroy a river in Bangladesh for India's benefit.
'If the government is not worried about the killings of its people, then the state is unprotected and insecure,' he added.
Dhaka University's international relations professor Imtiaz Ahmed termed Ashraful's remarks extremely irresponsible. 'Who will protect the citizens if it is not the state's responsibility to protect them,' he wondered.
http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/frontpage/48003.html
On Sun, Jan 22, 2012 at 11:43 AM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:Don't blow it up, India says on BSF torture
With a video footage showing Indian border guards brutally torturing a Bangladeshi still a major topic of talks across the country, India on Saturday said the media should not "blow it out of proportions". "Such incidents often take place at the border. There is no need to blow them out of proportions," Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Kolkata.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=35268Govt unperturbed by border development: Ashraf
While attacks on Bangladeshis continue near the Indo-Bangla border, LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam said on Saturday that the government is not worried over the developments. "The government cannot put aside everything and only think about what's going on there on the border," Ashraf, also the general secretary of ruling Awami League, told hours after BSF gunned down another Bangladeshi cattle trader.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=35264In a tone quite similar, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Bangladesh LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam yesterday downplayed Indian border guards' torture of a Bangladeshi citizen near the border.While Mukherjee asked the media in Kolkata not to blow it "out of proportions", Ashraful in Dhaka said his government is not "much worried" about such incidents along the Indo-Bangla border area.
Their statements came after the footage of a Bangladeshi cattle smuggler being stripped and tortured by, what appeared to be, Indian border guards in Murshidabad was shown by several media. Yesterday, Indian Border Security Force shot dead a Bangladeshi in Benapole of Jessore.
Hot on the heels of an outcry over the brutality shown in the footage, the Indian finance minister told reporters, "Such incidents often take place at the border. There is no need to blow them out of proportions." Mukherjee said the governments of India and Bangladesh would resolve the issue through discussion, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
According to the victim, Habibur Rahman, a 22-year-old cattle smuggler from Chapainawabganj, BSF men in uniform stripped and tortured him on December 9 last year as he refused to pay them a bribe.The video clip, which was aired on some Indian TV channels, including NDTV, earned strong criticism of the BSF personnel from people in both countries. The BSF authorities have already suspended eight of its personnel in connection with the incident and ordered a fully-fledged probe.Bangladesh has already protested the "violent action" by BSF and urged India to thoroughly probe the matter.
Asked to comment on BSF's torture on Bangladeshi citizens, LGRD Minister Syed Ashraf yesterday said, "Many such incidents are taking place in the bordering areas of the countries--cattle lifting, drug smuggling and many other things. This is nothing new. These happened in the past, are happening now and will also happen in future."
Ashraful was talking to reporters after inaugurating the orientation programme for the newly appointed zila parishad administrators in the capital. His statement drew flak from opposition BNP. "Cattle lifting, drug smuggling and many other crimes take place in border areas. We hear about these from people who live along the border and also from those who live elsewhere."
Asked if torture and killings at the border were provocative, he said, "The state is not too much concerned about it. It is not right that the state shall focus only on these issues, leaving aside all other businesses."
However, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday criticised Ashraful's remarks about the government not being worried. "Fie on Syed Ashraf! Fie on the government which has failed to ensure security of the people and to raise any protest against the incidents," said Fakhrul during a discussion at Diploma Engineers Institute in the capital."Our brothers are being killed one after another continuously. Felani's body was hung to the fence. But our government is silent," he said. Because of the government's subservient policy, the country's sovereignty has been compromised, he claimed.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=219359
On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 3:30 PM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) allegedly shot dead a Bangladeshi cattle trader along Dhannokhola frontier of Benapole in Jessore early Saturday.Our Benapole correspondent identified the deceased as Rashedul Islam, 25, son of one Mosharraf Hossain of Matipukur village in Sharsha upazila.
Hasan Hafezur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Benapole Port Police Station, said the BSF troops of Indian Shuta camp in 24 Parganas district of Paschimbanga opened fire on Rashedul when he was returning to Bangladesh territory from India with cattle around 5:00am.
Rashedul died on the spot, the OC said.
On information, Benapole port police rushed to the spot, recovered the body and sent it to Jessore General Hospital morgue for autopsy.
The killing came when tension is prevailing between the two neighbours following the release of a video clip that pictured some BSF men brutally torturing a Bangladeshi citizen in Murshidabad district of Paschimbanga.
The video clip which was aired on some Indian TV channels, including NDTV, showed the footage of men in BSF uniform stripping and torturing the Bangladeshi national on January 9.
The nearly five-minute video footage,whose source and authenticity could not be ascertained immediately, showed that the victim was pushed to the ground with his hands and legs tied while three to four men in BSF uniform stripped and tortured him. The Bangladeshi man was tortured as he allegedly refused to pay them a bribe.
The authorities of Indian border troops on January 18 suspended eight jawans following the brutality.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=35260
On Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 11:15 AM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
BSF's inhuman torture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjzMQLZpz54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_RmCSLwn3U
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/graphic-video-shows-border-security-force-jawans-torturing-victim-8-suspended-168266?pfrom=home-lateststories
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=218956
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