Border becomes endangered due to govt's passive role: BNP

BNP has alleged that Bangladesh's border security, independence and sovereignty have come under threat because of the government's passive role in defusing tension along the Myanmar frontier.

In a statement issued on Tuesday based on the decisions of the BNP standing committee's meeting held on Monday, the party feared that the country's border could become out of control at any time as hundreds of Myanmar nationals are waiting to illegally enter Bangladesh.

It said fierce fighting, skirmishes and gunfire between the armed forces of the military junta and insurgent groups inside Myanmar have taken a dire shape along the border between Bandarban's Naikhongchhari Ghumdhum and Tumbru for more than a week.

The party said bullets, mortar shells, and exploded rocket launcher shells exchanged by both Myanmar's armed forces and insurgent groups are falling inside Bangladesh every day, causing loss of life, injuries, and damage to people's homes.

"The local people are leaving the border area for the safety of their lives. Schools have been closed," it observed.

The BNP also bemoaned that two people--a Bangladeshi woman and a Rohingya man-- were killed when mortar shells from the Myanmar side landed on a kitchen at Jalpaitli village of Ghumdhum union in Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban on Monday.

Amid fierce fighting, it said more than a hundred members of the Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar fled and took shelter in Bangladesh. "Hundreds of Myanmar nationals are crowding the border waiting to cross into Bangladesh—which could turn the border into an uncontrollable one at any moment."

"The BNP Standing Committee expressed deep concern that the unelected Awami dummy government's empty speech and call for showing patience and exercising restraint instead of lodging strong protest and promptly dealing with the situation through effective political initiatives in this very dangerous situation for Bangladesh is an expression of knee-jerk foreign policy. A government without public support puts our border security and independence and sovereignty under a threat," the statement reads.

The party said the Awami League government is unable to take effective steps with the courage to tackle the prevailing situation along the border as it is unelected and worthless.

"When our independence and sovereignty are threatened by another country and when our independence is vulnerable, Sheikh Hasina's dummy government is unable to do anything. This is because they have accepted the hegemony of others by holding people hostage at gunpoint," it said.

The party alleged that a large number of Rohingya people have created a new humanitarian crisis by staying on the territory of Bangladesh for a long time due to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's imprudent decision and her lust for power.

It said the government has constantly demonstrated diplomatic failure over the Rohingya issue for years.

"National sovereignty is under threat and public safety is vulnerable because of this spineless government's subservient policy. Awami dummy government is only capable of suppressing opposition in the country."

The party said the 'frightened' government is calling upon military and the border guards to be patient even when the people of the country are being killed in violation of sovereignty. "Is the responsibility of the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) only to accept the bodies of Bangladeshis?"

The BNP National Standing Committee also strongly condemned and protested the casualty of the people of Bangladesh and the incidents of defying national sovereignty amid violent fighting inside Myanmar along the border due to the 'inactive' role of the Awami League government.