Border firing to go on
Reasserts BSF chief day before home ministers' meeting in Delhi
Indian Border Security Force chief UK Bansal yesterday reaffirmed his
view that his soldiers at the border with Bangladesh would fire on
criminals who dared them, a statement that has already created
controversy over border killings.
"If, despite their [BSF personnel] efforts [of exercising restraint],
they get into a situation where they are threatened and their lives
are in danger, then they will use the force available to them to save
their lives or the lives of their companions. That means they will
fire," Bansal told Press Trust of India news agency.
According to the rights organisation Odhikar, 203 people lost their
lives in BSF firing near the border between 2009 and 2011.
None of the killings occurred in a situation in which the Indian
guards' lives were at stake.
Triggering a controversy, Bansal had earlier said firing by BSF along
the border with Bangladesh cannot stop completely.
The BSF chief, however, made it clear that firing will be the last
resort and that the force has put in a number of measures to avert
casualties.
His remarks came a day ahead of a meeting between Indian Home Minister
India P Chidambaram and Bangladesh Home Minister Shahara Khatun. When
the two ministers meet, Shahara is expected to raise the issue of BSF
firing and killing of Bangladeshi civilians along the border.
Yesterday the BSF director general said, "They [BSF personnel] will
fire with the available weapon... it may be non-lethal, it may be
lethal... every patrol company will have both weapons but if a person
is under attack and he is holding a rifle, he will fire his rifle.
"Even that firing he will do as far as possible with the intent not to
kill but if casualties occur... we will have to tolerate it as an
inescapable alternative," he said.
"It gives me no pleasure in killing any civilians. We have the best of
relations with Bangladesh. We want to improve those relations... but
we certainly cannot sacrifice the lives of our officers and men and we
also have to complete our mandate, which is border guarding and,
therefore, we are trying to strike a difficult balance between
completing our task with as little force as possible," Bansal said.
He said the BSF is sending a fresh lot of non-lethal weapons to 23
border posts along the Bangladesh border. However, he claimed that
since the time BSF decided to exercise "restraint" while dealing with
cross-border movements, criminals have become bolder.
"They are coming in larger numbers... sometimes even 300-400 at a
time. They are breaching the fence with the confidence that they can
get away with it... Cattle smuggling is being attempted with much
greater openness," Bansal said.
"Some people say these are cattle traders and that BSF is killing
them. My question is what trade is done in the middle of the night?
From dusk to dawn, on the entire Bangladesh border we declare curfew
and no movement is permitted. Whether Indian or Bangladeshi, he has no
business to be there... So, to say that these people are innocent
traders is not a very convincing argument," he said.
The DG said the BSF has asked the Border Guard Bangladesh to ensure
strict vigil in vulnerable areas during the nights.
He claimed that since Chidambaram's visit to Bangladesh in July last
year and subsequent order to exercise maximum restraint on the
Bangladesh border, shooting incidents have come down by "about 70
percent".
Meanwhile, Home Minister Shahara Khatun reached New Delhi yesterday
afternoon leading a 12-member delegation including Gowher Rizvi,
international affairs adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim, and Home
Secretary Mustaq Ahmed.
Before the talks with her Indian counterpart, Shahara is expected to
call on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence around
10:00am today.
Home secretaries of the two countries held a preparatory meeting
yesterday at the Indian home ministry ahead of the talks between the
two home ministers.
Meanwhile, an official statement of Indian government last night said
Chidambaram and Shahara would have one-on-one meeting before the
delegation-level talks today.
Issues on security, border management and enhanced cooperation between
the police and law enforcement agencies of the countries will be high
on the agenda.
India's National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, Home Secretary RK
Singh and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai would be in the Indian
delegation.
The meeting of the home ministers of Bangladesh and India take on the
added significance with the presence of Gowher Rizvi and Indian
National Security adviser Shivshankar Menon, said officials who
regularly attend ministerial-level talks between the two sides.
This clearly indicates that the home minister-level talks would focus
on all issues relating to security cooperation between the two sides,
especially the drives against terrorists and criminals.
Sources have said India is likely to ask Bangladesh to consider
imposing night curfews along the border to prevent movement of people
as India has done.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=223674
EU shocked by killings at border:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=223675
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