Staff Reporter :
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said that border killings are on the rise but the government wants to see an amicable solution to killings along the Bangladesh-India border.
“This year the number of border killing has increased. India is assuring repeatedly that it won’t happen. Yet it is happening,” he told reporters at a press conference in the Foreign Ministry.
He said there has been an agreement that no lethal weapon will be used on the border but it is still happening. It’s very shameful for us.
“We don’t want to see a single death [on the border]. This isn’t acceptable. India also agreed with us that it is not acceptable,” Dr Momen said.
He said the Foreign Ministry has already communicated with the Indian High Commission in this regard.
They do not say it frequently that the Indian High Commissioner had been summoned to take credit as the government truly wants a solution. Despite Delhi’s repeated assurances to end border deaths, the BSF continues to kill Bangladeshis. Data compiled by rights watchdog Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) shows that at least 43 Bangladeshis were killed by BSF last year.
“We’re very much alert about it. We’re very careful, about it,” he said, while briefing reporters on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Italy visit.
The Foreign Minister said the people of Bangladesh remain very careful but they sometimes walk on the wrong path.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Secretary (Maritime Affairs Unit) Rear Admiral (Retd) Md Khurshed Alam were, among others, present on the occasion.
