Less people are infiltrating India from Bangladesh since a change in govt: BSF chief

The number of people infiltrating India from Bangladesh has gone down sharply since the political changeover in Bangladesh during July-August last year, said Border Security Force (BSF) chief Daljit Singh Chawdhary yesterday (20 February).

He also said BSF and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) members worked jointly to maintain peace at the border, reports The Hindu.

BSF chief made the remarks during the first DG-level meeting between the heads of the two forces from 16-20 February since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power.

The meeting ended with the signing of a joint record of discussions.

The BGB DG, Major General Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, said that reports of attacks on Hindus and other minorities in the neighbouring country were an exaggeration and that the law and order incidents were part of a political problem.

Responding to a question by The Hindu on the issue, the BGB DG said, "Attacks on minorities, I would say were an exaggeration. To be honest, such attacks on minorities per se did not happen. The substantiation of that was the recently held Durga Puja. One of the most peacefully organised Hindu festivals. For example, the law enforcement agencies of Bangladesh were very precisely and strictly tasked by the government so that the Hindu community could perform the festival. To be more elaborate on this, BGB jurisdiction is within 8 km of the International Boundary, we have several puja mandaps where BGB personnel provided security. Overall, the law-and-order situation was not on minority, it may be some kind of political problem."

The BGB DG said they convinced and motivated people of the minority community that security will be provided in case they feel threatened, and the law enforcement agencies honoured several such requests. He said such requests came in the initial two months after August 2024 and had then stopped.

To uphold human rights and curb violence on the border, the border-guarding forces of India and Bangladesh agreed to share real-time information and investigation reports of human traffickers to ensure effective border management without deaths on either side, a statement by the BSF said.

The BSF and BGB will also begin joint inspection of areas to resolve the issues of fencing.

The BSF had raised the issue of attacks on its personnel at the meeting. Mr. Chawdhary said, "We raised the issue of attack on BSF personnel. We share the responsibility to secure the sanctity of the border. At the same time, the Government of India follows non-lethal (weapon) strategy at the border with Bangladesh. At times, taking advantage of night cover, some miscreants try to enter our territory by breaching the fence. They try to overwhelm and overpower the BSF personnel, though we strictly adhere to the protocol of graded escalation. We do not use unnecessary lethal force against anybody but when the circumstances come, in self-defence we need to use lethal force as a last resort and we exercise that power with full restraint. During this meeting, we urged the BGB that the border remains absolutely secure and no infiltration happens on the border so that such incidents do not happen."

The BGB chief said there was no discussion on changing the 1975 border agreement with India. He stated that any kind of permanent construction within 150 yards of the international border was not allowed. "There are some development works taking place on both sides and concurrence of both sides are taken and due to some communication gaps, if one of the forces is not informed, then objection is raised from the other side. If it happens on Indian side, BGB raises objections and vice versa and then we stop that work and resolve the issue mutually," he said.

The next round of top-level talks are expected to be held in July in Dhaka.

The major points raised by the BSF at the meeting were prevention of physical assaults and attacks against BSF personnel and Indian civilians by Bangladesh-based criminals; joint efforts to prevent trans-border crimes; action against Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs) in Bangladesh; issues related to border infrastructure; construction of single-row fence; and joint efforts for effective implementation of Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) and Confidence Building Measures (CBM).

The BGB raised the issues of prevention of border crimes; border violation, illegal crossing or intrusion into Bangladesh's territory by the BSF, Indian police or Indian nationals, smugglers and miscreants; killings at border; establishment of Effluent Treatment plant (ETP) for four canals carrying wastewater from Agartala to Akhaura; border demarcation; survey and construction of pillars; construction work within 150 yards of international border (IB); riverbank protection works and water sharing; location of camps; and movement of armed miscreants in India.

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km-long border spanning five States — West Bengal (2,217 km), Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Assam (262 km) and Mizoram (318 km).