Since June 2023, at least 20 people from Bangladesh, including a member of the Border Guard Bangladesh, have died due to shootings by the Indian Border Security Force. During a meeting in Delhi, leaders of the border forces from both countries discussed ways to reduce civilian deaths along the border.
Between July and December 2023, eighteen Bangladeshis lost their lives, while seventeen others were injured, and two individuals drowned. Additionally, two more people were killed in January 2024, as reported by the rights organization Ain O Salish Kendra.
Separate Bangladesh officials on Monday told New Age that they once again tabled border killings top on their discussion at the director general-level talks scheduled to begin today (Tuesday).
Newly appointed BGB director general Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui will lead the Bangladesh delegation.
He and his officials didn’t say anything about the event. However, a senior official, who is closely connected to setting the agenda, mentioned that besides border killings, several other border matters would be talked about in the biannual Dhaka meeting.
A delegation led by Border Security Force director general Nitin Agrawal was slated to reach Dhaka today (Tuesday) to discuss issues related to curbing a variety of cross-frontier crimes and measures to create better coordination between the two countries’ security forces and agencies, Press Trust of India reports.
Officials from BSF South Bengal chose not to provide any comments on the agenda. The DG-level border talks used to occur every year from 1975 to 1992. Starting from 1993, these talks became bi-annual, taking place alternatively in the national capitals New Delhi and Dhaka. The 53rd round of talks was held in Delhi in June 2023, and this upcoming meeting would mark the 54th edition of the talks.
Bangladesh shares a 4,156-kilometre land border with five Indian states. On January 22, the Indian BSF shot dead BGB member Mohammad Roisudddin along the Benapole border in Jashore in the early hours. Roisudddin was posted to the 49th Border Guard Battalion in the district.
Kirity Roy, the founder secretary of India’s Hoogly-based Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha, told New Age that they do not want to see any border killings.
Former National Human Rights Commission chairman Mizanur Rahman described the border killings as a clear breach of international laws. He mentioned that these killings of Bangladeshi individuals are harming the relationships between people in both countries.
According to the rights group ASK, in 2023, the Indian BSF alone killed 30 Bangladeshis. In 2022, the number was 23, with 16 people shot to death. In 2021, there were 16 shooting deaths, and one person was reportedly tortured to death. In 2020, the rights group recorded 42 shooting deaths.
Border killings decreased slightly in 2021. This happened after Rakesh Asthana, who was the BSF chief at that time, along with others, held a press conference after the 50th border conference in Dhaka in September 2020. Asthana promised to reduce the number of these killings to zero.
At least 1,236 Bangladeshis were killed and 1,145 injured in the shooting by the Indian border force between 2000 and 2020, according to rights group Odhikar.—Agencies
