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Students of Jahangirnagar University, Jagannath University and Rajshahi University on Tuesday held demonstrations protesting at killing of Bangladeshis by the Indian Border Security Force. Ìý

Jahangirnagar University students demonstrated on the campus, protesting at killing of Bangladeshi nationals by the Indian BSF personnel on a ‘regular’ basis, ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· JU correspondent reported.

The students came up with the demand for justice over the death of 13-year-old Swarna Das and 15-year-old Joyanta Kumar Singha within a span of eight days along the border with India.

A protest procession was brought out on the campus at about 5:30pm on the day demanding an immediate end to the continuous ‘killing’ of Bangladeshis by the BSF.

The demonstrators later held a human chain at the altar of the university’s Central Shaheed Minar under the banner of the Platform Against Expansionism.

Addressing the rally, Shahriar Anzum of the government and politics department said, ‘BSF is brutally killing people along the border, flouting human rights and international laws on border safety. We want speedy but fruitful steps on the issue.’

Shafayet Mir of the Physics department said that the questionable diplomatic policy of then Awami League government was liable for the established culture of killing along the border.

The speakers also criticised India’s ‘water aggression’ reportedly causing frequent floods in a larger part of Bangladesh during every rainy season.

Teachers and students of Rajshahi University also protested against killings of Bangladeshis by the BSF in bordering areas, ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported.

They also protested against the recent remarks of Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh made at a conference of the commanders of the Indian forces in which he asked them to analyse the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars along with present Bangladesh situation and get prepared for the ‘unexpected’.

Over two hundred of them formed a human chain on the university’s Paris Road at 1:00pm on Tuesday with different placards containing massages like ‘Stop Border Killing’, ‘Where has the humanity gone’, and ‘Felani to Swarna: where’s the end?’.

Addressing the human chain, economics professor Farid Uddin Khan said that killing innocent and unarmed people on the border by the BSF personnel is a clear example of India’s interference in Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty.

Political science professor Tareque Muhammad Taufiqur Rahman said that Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh compared Bangladesh to the Hamas-Palestine war with Israel in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war and asked the Indian Army to be prepared.

Political science student Mim Rahman said that the way the BSF personnel continued to shoot at and kill Bangladeshis on the border showed that India was a friend of the former dictatorial government, but not of Bangladesh.

Among others, Student Movement Against Discrimination’s RU convener Salahuddin Ammar, and political science student Nafiz Ahmed spoke at the human chain.

Earlier, Jayanta Kumar Sinha, 15, son of Mahadev Kumar Singh of Fakirvita Belpukur under the Baliadangi upazila, was killed by the BSF personnel near Kantivita border under the upazila in Thakurgaon on Monday.

On September 1, 13-year-old Shwarna Das, of Juri upazila of Moulvibazar district, was also shot dead by the BSF troops.

Students of Jagannath University organised a protest rally demanding an end to border killings and the cancellation of what they termed as ‘submissive’ foreign policies with India, ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· JnU correspondent reported.

The rally was held under the banner of Jagannath University Students’ Forum.

During the protest, students called for justice for every individual killed at the border, urging the government to compile a list of victims and offer necessary support to their families.

They also demanded that future agreements with India be made on equal terms, rejecting any form of subservience or compliance. Ìý

Faisal Murad, a student from the Department of Management Studies, stated, ‘India has installed an oppressive government in our country to impose unequal agreements on us. India has exploited us, while our government has kept us in the dark. Thousands of people, not just a few ones, have been killed along the border, and the news of these atrocities never reached us due to government restrictions.’

Yasin Piyas, a student from the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, said, ‘The Modi government has consistently tried to harm us through water, the foreign policy, and border killings.’

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