Bangladesh Foreign Minister on Wednesday said that the sharp rise in border killing is a matter of concern for the government. In 2019, 37 Bangladeshis were killed by Indian Border Security Force. When the bilateral relationship between India and Bangladesh heightened to be set as benchmark, the shooting of Bangladeshis by BSF would help to grow anti-India sentiments. According to rights group Ain o Salish Kendra, 43 Bangladeshi were killed by Indians and 37 of them were shot dead. Meanwhile, six Bangladesh citizens were tortured to death in separate incidents in India. And the last Bangladeshi was killed along the border on December 25 as the BGB and BSF chiefs were set to attend a coordination conference in Delhi next day. In 2018, 14 Bangladeshi were shot dead by the BSF. The Indian side reportedly claimed that non-lethal weapon policy ‘is strictly followed by BSF personal on the border’ and ‘BSF does not discriminate between criminals based on nationality.’
Unfortunately Dhaka has failed to stop the killings for its subservient foreign policy. Our government is not vocal about this issue. Our ministers or secretaries always say that they bring up the issue for discussion with their Indian counterpart but we don’t see any improvement. Despite promises by successive Indian governments to end abuses and hold its forces accountable, there appeared to be complete impunity for BSF soldiers. Since 2000, more than 1,000 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed turning the bordering areas into “killing fields”. Of them, Felani murder caught everyone’s attention. The close relationship between the bordering countries is being hampered due to killing of innocent people by BSF, while Dhaka is so weak to protest the criminal acts for their political and economic dependence on India and its hegemony.
Let us say that killing of our people without recourse to law by BSF should be a matter of grave concern. Friendship with the government of India does not mean that our government has to tolerate every wrong done by them to us.
