Killing of Shwarna Das: Gono Odhikar Parishad calls for boycotting Indian products

Gono Odhikar Parishad held a rally in the capital today (6 September) protesting the killing of 13-year-old Shwarna Das by the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) and India's "water aggression".

Leaders of the party at the event called on everyone to boycott Indian products in protest of the neighbouring country's 'water aggression' and the killing of Shwarna by BSF. 

"India has shot and killed more than 1,500 Bangladeshi citizens on the border in the last 25 years," Gono Odhikar's Joint Member secretary Tarek Rahman claimed at the rally in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh. 

"However, some political parties want to be friends with India and do not want to displease India. They think India will put them in power," he also said, referring to the Awami League.

He warned India of retaliation if India continued violence at the border.

"If India fires inside the Bangladesh border, [we] will fire back," he said.

Speaking as the chief guest at the programme, Gono Odhikar's Convener Colonel (retired) Miah Mashiuzzaman criticised the Indian government for not speaking up about those killed in the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

"The Sheikh Hasina-led government shot to death 1,000 people during the student-mass uprising. India's foreign minister and the [Nardendra] Modi-led government did not express any concern about them," he said.

The Bangladesh government has lodged a formal protest to the Government of India over the killing of Shwarna Das of Juri upazila of Moulvibazar district.

She was shot to death by the Indian BSF on 1 September 2024, the foreign ministry said in a press statement yesterday (5 September).

"In the protest note sent to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka today [4 September], Bangladesh strongly protested and condemned such ruthless acts and expressed deep concern over the incidents," reads the press statement.

"The Government of Bangladesh reminded that such incidents of border killing are undesirable and unwarranted and such actions are in violation of the provisions of the Joint Indo-Bangladesh Guidelines for Border Authorities, 1975," it added.

Bangladesh also called upon India to stop the repetition of such heinous acts and conduct enquiries into all border killings, identify the responsible persons and bring them to justice.

The BSF handed over the body Shwarna Das to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Tuesday night—45 hours after the incident occurred, according to media reports.

Shwarna was the daughter of Porendra Das, a resident of Kalnigar village in Paschim Juri union under Juri upazila.

She was fatally shot by BSF personnel as she and others attempted to cross into India near the Lalarchak border area of Sharifpur union in Moulvibazar's Kulaura upazila on Sunday night, The Business Standard reported Wednesday (4 September).