Two days after the Border Security force opened fire in the air while chasing cattle smugglers in Malda district, Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Mohammad Jashim Uddin on Sunday expressed deep concern to High Commissioner of India in Dhaka Pranay Verma over the recent activities of the Indian security agency along the Bangladesh-India Border.
The two envoys held a meeting at Uddin’s office in Dhaka where India’s eastern neighbour raised the issues of BSF’s move to fence the international border which was described as “unauthorised”.
“He (Uddin) stressed that such activities particularly the unauthorised attempt to construct barbed wire fencing and the related operational actions by BSF, have caused tensions and disturbances along the border. He emphasised that the construction of barbed wire fences without proper authorisation undermines the spirit of cooperation and friendly relations between the two neighboring countries,” a statement by Bangladesh’s Department of Foreign Affairs said.
Uddin also said that a meeting between the director generals of the BSF and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) would be helpful to resolve the issue.
The fencing work along a 100-meter stretch by the BSF in Sukdevpur of Malda’s Kaliachak-III block triggered tension after the BGB claimed it was being conducted on Bangladesh’s territory. Local villagers assembled and stood by the BSF to support the fencing work and started shouting slogans. The work to fence the stretch is now paused.
Both border guard forces of both the countries held a meeting at Petrapole, North 24 Parganas three days ago.
Referring to a recent incident on January 9 in which a 24-year-old Bangladeshi was killed at Sunamganj in Bangladesh territory allegedly by the BSF, Uddin expressed his disappointment over such incident.
“He strongly resented these acts of killing and called for urgent action by the Indian authorities to stop recurrence of such incidents and conduct enquiries. He mentioned that it is also a matter of grave concern that despite repeated firm commitments from the Indian authorities to pursue non-lethal strategy and to stop killings, such incidents of killing have been continuing,” the statement by the Bangladesh authorities said.
Immediately after the incident, Sunamganj 28 BGB Commander AKM Zakaria Quadir said it was still unconfirmed whether the firing was by BSF personnel or Indian Garos, an Indigenous group.
In two separate incidents on Friday night, BSF jawans fired two rounds in the air in Malda while chasing cattle smugglers and fired stun grenades and pellets using Pump Action Gun (PAG) in an area in North 24 Parganas. The BSF said the firing was made and other security tools were used in self-defence to stop cattle smuggling and infiltration.
The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary called upon the Government of India to advise all concerned authorities in India to refrain from any provocative actions that could escalate tensions along the shared border.
“He also mentioned that Bangladesh believes that such issues should be resolved through constructive dialogue, in accordance with existing bilateral agreements, and in a way that upholds peace and tranquillity along the border,” the statement said.
Follow us
