INHUMANE incidents of shooting and killing of Bangladeshis by the India鈥檚 Border Guard Force on the India-Bangladesh border have recently increased. Several Bangladeshi young people died at the hands of the Indian guards in Naogaon, Lalmonirhat and Chapainwabganj border in 10 days. The Indian force is now killing Bangladeshis by beating them and throwing cocktails along with firing bullets.
In 2023, more than 30 Bangladeshis were killed by the Indian guards. And, in seven years, more than 200 Bangladeshis lost their lives to BSF firing and torture; many were injured. Kidnapping also continues. Many Bangladeshis have been in jail in India for a long time. Such inhumane and barbaric incidents do not seem to have any special significance for the Delhi-centric policymakers of India.
After the directors鈥� general meeting of Bangladesh and Indian forces in Dhaka in March, the Border Security Force chief announced that no lethal weapon would be used against Bangladeshi civilians in the border and the number of casualties in the border will be reduced to zero. Such promises are not new. For many years, promises of this type have been made at summit meetings between the two forces. But there has been no significant improvement in the situation. Within a few days of this meeting and the announcement, the killing of Bangladeshis at the border happened again. Bangladeshis are sometimes captured by them; tortures are carried out against them. Even children in border areas are not spared.
It is well known that smuggling happens with the knowledge and connivance of the Border Security Force and, in some cases, the Border Guard Bangladesh. In most cases, when there is a problem with collusion or transactions, the Indian guards become violent and shoot and kill Bangladeshis. In this situation, serious insecurity and fear of life and property have arisen among Bangladeshis in many border areas.
After the Israel-Palestine border, the India-Bangladesh border is now known as the most dangerous in the world. Although there is a long border between India and Pakistan, there has been no incident of this kind of killing. Four years ago, when a Nepali citizen was killed by the Border Security Force, the home secretary of India had to fly to Kathmandu to express his condolences to Nepal. He had to go to the village to console the parents of the victim.
But killing Bangladeshis in the border has become like killing insects to the 鈥榯rigger-happy鈥� Indian guards. In most cases, it has become a common practice to directly shoot innocent and unarmed Bangladeshi intruders without warning or attempting to arrest them. In some instances, Indian guards are reported to have tortured and killed Bangladeshis, mostly farmers working on fields, well inside the Bangladesh territory.
It is clear that the Indian force has not kept its promises to Bangladesh to stop border killing. The force continues to violate its own promises. The reason was openly mentioned a few years ago by India鈥檚 famous human rights organiser and Bengal鈥檚 Human Rights Protection Manch chief, Kiriti Roy. He said, 鈥楢ctually, India doesn鈥檛 want border killings to stop, so it doesn鈥檛 stop. They say one thing and act another. And there is no strong protest from Bangladesh either. They bow down to India.鈥�
More than 4,000 kilometres of Bangladesh鈥檚 5,000km border with India has been fenced with barbed wire by India, a sizeable section of which is again electrified. No other border in the world has such a long barbed wire fence. The Israel-Palestine border and the Mexico-America border do not have such a big, barbed wire-fenced border.
It is clear that these activities of the Indian guards and India are not neighbourly. They are, rather, expressions of the aggressive character of the Indian government against Bangladesh.
Because of India鈥檚 negligence, Bangladesh has not got its fair share of the water flow from rivers, including the Teesta, till now. The trade balance is still not in favour of Bangladesh. Although the market of Bangladesh is profitable for Indian products, there are still various tariff and non-tariff barriers on products of Bangladesh on the Indian market. Commercial benefits that Bangladesh expected to get in the seven states of the north-eastern region of India did not happen. In fact, although Bangladesh has resolved security issues with India, including transit facilities, they are still keeping important issues with Bangladesh hanging like Felani鈥檚 body that was hanging from the barbed wire fence.
Because of the India appeasement policy of the government of Bangladesh, especially the foreign policy of the Awami League government in 15 years, multifaceted anti-Bangladesh activities in India, including border killings, achieving a fair share of water, and establishing trade balance, could not materialise. While the Awami League government is announcing almost every day that Bangladesh-India friendship is now at its highest peak, almost every week Bangladesh is paying the price of this friendship at the border with people鈥檚 blood.
It is sad that the government is not only far from stopping these barbaric killings of innocent, unarmed Bangladeshis ibn the border, it has lost the ability even at lodging protests properly. Although a BGB member was killed by the Indian guards a few months ago, Bangladesh could not lodge its protests properly. So far, there has been no visible and effective initiative by the government to provide security for lives and property of millions of people along the border. In 15 years, because of the help and support of the Hindutvavadi Modi government of India for the politically illegal and immoral power of the ruling Awami League, Bangladesh has become a loyal, 鈥榲assal state鈥� of a kind of India.
Awami League leaders and cabinet members every day are indirectly admitting this. They are openly saying that they are in power because of India鈥檚 support. Such statements of policymakers of the government pose a serious threat to the independence, sovereignty and national security of Bangladesh. Such statements are an anti-national stance. The call for the boycott of Indian products on social media and its gradual expansion are an expression of the accumulated anger of the people of the country against this.
It is true that none of us can change our neighbours. We want to solve all bilateral problems between us on the basis of equality, fairness, the international law and the recognition of mutual interests. But India has turned the situation complex and unstable as it has tried to keep Bangladesh under multi-pronged pressure, which is by no means desirable.
The matter of concern is that Bangladesh鈥檚 sovereignty, national interest and national security are under threat from various angles because of the policy strategy of the present government towards India. On the one hand, the government has destroyed even the last remaining democratic structure of the country by taking away the voting rights of people to cling to power with Indian support. On the other hand, it is not able to take any effective initiative to solve the pending bilateral problems of Bangladesh with India, including stopping the border killing
If this situation continues, India鈥檚 multifaceted pressure and threats on Bangladesh will increase in the coming days and Bangladesh鈥檚 sovereignty, national interest and national security will continue to remnain endangered.
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Saiful Haque is general secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh.
