India’s Border Security Force (BSF) chief Subhash Joshi has said his troops along the Bangladesh border paid an increasingly heavy price in the past three years, while border killings dropped due to many ‘conscious decisions’ including the use of non-lethal weapons.
He told journalists on Wednesday after the 38th conference with his counterpart in Dhaka that three years back, the number of border deaths was 146. But so far this year, the number was down to seven.
But the injuries suffered by his men, he said, had risen to 1,300 from 200 three years ago, many of them “really serious and grave”.
Director-General Joshi said no BSF guards on the Bangladesh border had died two years ago, but there had been one death last year and another the previous year, and there had been two deaths already so far this year, he added.
“So, while we are trying to use non-lethal and less-lethal weapons, it appears that the collateral damage to our men is increasing,” he said, adding that, like any force, “we are also concerned”.
He stressed ‘cooperation’ between the two border forces, saying efforts were underway to curb the highly contentious border incidents.
“It has to be cooperation among both border forces,” he said, listing some steps that his force had taken to sensitise troops on the ground.
“Let me assure that we are very concerned. We are doing our best. It is the joint responsibility of both sides,” he said.
Joshi said the incidents occurred mostly at the dead of night when, according to law, no one should be out on the border streets.
Besides the many steps he listed, Joshi also said BSF guards posted on the India-Bangladesh border would now have to learn the Bangla language “so that they understand the culture, ethos, and sensitivity of the border”.
The DG level five-day talks were held at a time when there were media reports of the BSF deploying drones along the Bangladesh border and a preliminary trial of the much talked about Felani killing acquitting the guard accused of murder, leading to the initiation of a revision trial by the BSF’s “competent authority”.
Replying a question, the BSF Chief said there were no plans to deploy drones along the Bangladesh border and wondered why a newspaper report was attributed to him.
He said he had already given a clarification through India’s national news agency, PTI.
He assured Dhaka that the BSF would ensure justice in the Felani trial. “I cannot interfere with the judicial process, but I can assure you that our intention is very clear. We have been very transparent, and we shall ensure that justice is done in each and every case.”
He said that, during the past five years, life sentences and three death penalties had followed enquires and judicial process under the BSF Act, while many had lost their jobs and faced other actions.
“Like any other citizen, the BSF guard on the border also has the right to use his weapon in certain circumstances. That is permitted by the law. So in each case of shooting, we have our procedures, we carry out detailed enquires, and take action whenever someone is found to have crossed the limit.”
Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) Director General Major General Aziz Ahmed read out a joint press statement after signing the record of their discussions at the conference held at Peelkhana, the Bangladesh border guard headquarters.
In the statement, both the director generals expressed their ‘deep concern’ regarding deaths, injuries and beatings on both sides of the border.
They termed it “extremely unfortunate and regrettable” and agreed to take “all possible measures” to prevent such incidents and boost mutual trust.
They noted that the number of killings had steadily declined over the past few years and stressed joint endeavours to prevent such killings in future, and increase cooperation to eliminate illegal trans-border activities.
They agreed to hold more frequent field-staff meetings to share real-time intelligence to combat trans-border crime.
They have decided to open a multiple-channel communication between the commanders at the ground level for quick decisions to deal with border incidents.
To prevent the smuggling of fake currency notes and drugs, they agreed to share intelligence and interrogation reports on traffickers, forward and backward links, and follow up on trials.
It was also decided to do a ‘joint verification’ of unfenced border patches as soon as possible.
Both sides agreed to maintain the ‘sanctity’ of the international border to prevent illegal crossings and human trafficking.
The two sides underscored the need to sensitise the border people and agreed to inform the border guards about the conference decisions.
They also agreed to focus on several confidence-building measures, including the inauguration of a joint retreat ceremony at the Petrapole-Benapole border by the home ministers of the two countries.
Source: Bd news24
