Yet another Bangladeshi was shot dead along Indian border at Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj early yesterday by the Border Security Force (BSF), despite its pledges to stop killing, instead.
Deceased Shariful Islam, 23, a cattle trader, was the son of Shamsul Haque Kalu of Tarapur-Shahapara union of the upazila.
Killing along the Indian border still continues despite its much assurance that the BSF members would be directed to show restrain and use rubber bullets instead of lethal ammunition to stop it.
According to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) sources, Shariful was shot when the BSF troops in Pashchimbanga's Malda district opened fire on a group of cattle traders who were crossing Shingnagar border.
The other cattle traders rescued Shariful but he died on the way to Shibganj Upazila Health Complex, said Lt Col Jahangir Hossain.
Later, police recovered the body and sent it to the Sadar hospital morgue for an autopsy.
BGB officials sent a note to its Indian counterpart protesting the killing, Lt Col Jahangir said.
To prevent border killings, Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, during his visit to Bangladesh in late July this year, told reporters, “We have issued strict instructions to our Border Security Force that in no circumstances should they fire upon anyone trying to cross, either from Bangladesh to India or India to Bangladesh.”
Chapainawabganj, Nov 19 (bdnews24.com)—India's Border Security Force (BSF) has shot a Bangladeshi citizen dead despite the Indian government's promise to stop killing along the border.
"The killing took place around 5am on Saturday when a group of Bangladeshi traders crossed the border at pillar no 179 in Shingnogor with cattle," commander of 39 Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) battalion Lt Col Jahangir Hossain told bdnews24.com.
BGB officials said soldiers of BSF battalion 123 of West Bengal's Doulatpur camp in Maldah opened fire on the cattle traders.
The deceased has been identified as Shariful Islam of Tarapur-Sahaparha in Monkosha union of Shibganj upazila and is the son of Shamsul Haque Kalu.
"His co-traders managed to bring him across into the Bangladesh side of the border in critical condition. He died on his way to Shibganj health complex," said Col Jahangir.
The body has been sent to Chapainawabganj Sadar Hospital for autopsy.
A protest letter has been sent to BSF over the killing, added Jahangir. The issue is discussed in every BGB-BSF meeting.
International human-right outfits Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have severely criticised the Indian government for continuous killing of unarmed Bangladeshis along the border.
New York-based Human Rights Watch in a statement on July 25 said those against whom there is credible evidence of culpability should be prosecuted as part of an effort to end longstanding impunity for abuses along the border with Bangladesh.
Human Rights Watch found numerous cases of indiscriminate use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, and killings by the security force, without adequate investigation or punishment.
The Bangladeshi government has formally protested the killings.
The BSF chief, Raman Shrivastava, after a four-day visit to Dhaka on Sep 30 claimed to the media that the number of killings was 55 in 2009 but so far in 2011, it came down to seven.
Raman said his forces want "to bring it down to zero level" and have introduced non-lethal weapons in many places.
Over 900 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed by the BSF over the last decade, many of them when they crossed into Indian territory for cattle rustling or other smuggling activities.
Border Security Force (BSF) of India on Friday handed over three Bangladeshi nationals to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
Of them, two youths were picked up by BSF from border area of Thakurgaon on Friday while a teenage girl was abducted from Manikganj and trafficked to India about seven months ago.
According to our Thakurgaon correspondent: BSF handed over two Bangladeshi youths on Friday evening to BGB following a Company Commander-level flag meeting.
The meeting was held at the zero line of Cochal border under Haripur upazila.
The returnees are Soiful Islam,28, son of J Ali of Podampur village and Aynul Islam,28, son of Begdul Islam of Fotapur village under Thakurgaon Sadar upazila.
BGB commanding officer Lt Colonel Mahfuzul Haque told this correspondent over cell phone that the BSF men of Senpara camp picked up the two youths from the border when they went to the zero line to see the barbed wire fence in the morning.
Our Kushtia correspondent adds: BSF handed over a teenage girl to BGB on Friday. She was trafficked to India through Beanpole border about seven months ago.
A student of class nine at a school in Sadar upazila in Manikganj district, a local gang abducted her on her way to school on March 2 this year.
When the gang demanded Tk2 lakh as ransom, her father filed an abduction case with Manikganj Sadar police station accusing nine people on March 6.
At this, the abductors trafficked her to India on April 19.
Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi national who was injured seriously in BSF firing on Goborda border in India opposite to Baikari border in Sadar upazila of Satkhira on October 28, died at Khulna 250-bed Hospital on Friday.
Victim Tajul Islam, 35, son of Md Ziad Ali of Kushkhali village in Sadar upazila was a cattle trader, reports our Satkhira correspondent.
The BSF men fired on the Bangladeshi cattle traders at Goborda at about 4:15 am on October 27 leaving Tajul Islam injured, sources said.
He, however, managed to return to Bangladesh territory and was admitted to Satkhira Sadar Hospital. He was shifted to Khulna hospital as his condition deteriorated.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Sunday handed over an Indian citizen to the members of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) at Roumari border.
He was identified as Monirul Islam, 25, son of late Hakim Uddin of Charmari village under Mankarchar PS in West Bengal.
According to BGB sources, border guards arrested Monirul from Pillar No. 1057 along Dharmapur frontier in Roumari upazila two and half years ago on charge of intrusion.
A company commander level meeting of the BGB and BSF was held at Boraibari border in Roumari at around 4:00pm on Sunday. At the meeting, Monirul was handed over to the BSF members as his jail term ended recently.
Subedar Mahiuddin led the BGB team while BK Singh, Inspector of BSF Shahapara camp led the BSF team at the meeting.
The people of bordering Kisamot Nijjoma village under Sree Rampur union of Patgram upazila are now in a state of panic as Indian border guards vandalised three houses at the village on Monday night.
Sree Rampur BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh) camp in-charge Havilder Bashir Ahmed said some 20 to 25 BSF men of Ratanpur and Shalbari camps under Meghliganj Police Station of Cooch Behar district entered the village at around 8:30, vandalised three houses and took away four cows.
Immediately after the incident, BGB personnel visited the village and condemned the attack on the village. They also informed their Indian counterparts of the matter and asked for a flag meeting.
BSF responded positively and sat in a flag meeting on no man's land at Sree Rampur frontier at 10:30am yesterday. But the company commander level meeting between BGB and BSF ended at 1:30pm without any fruitful result as the Indian border guards denied their involvement in the incident.
The BSF team was led by company commander of Ratanpur BSF camp SK Singh while BGB team by Burimari BGB camp commander Helal Uddin Ahmed.
BGB commander Helal Uddin told this correspondent that the meeting ended inconclusively as BSF flatly denied its involvement in the incident at Kisamot Nijjoma village in Patgram upazila. The Indian team told the meeting that no BSF man had intruded into the village on Monday night, he added.
Commander Helal Uddin further said the BGB personnel are always ready to face any unexpected situation on the border. Additional BGB men have been deployed at the bordering village.
The villagers of Kisamot Nijjoma fear fresh BSF attack on the village anytime as the flag meeting yielded no positive results. Moyna Begum, 36, wife of Atikar Rahman of the village, said the villagers are now in a state of panic as the flag meeting has failed to settle the issue.
ঢাকা, সেপ্টেম্বর ৩০ (বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম)- সীমান্তে বাংলাদেশি হত্যা পুরোপুরি বন্ধে কার্যকর পদক্ষেপ নেওয়ার আহ্বান জানিয়ে এতে ভারতীয় কর্তৃপক্ষের আশ্বাস পেয়েছেন বিজিবিপ্রধান মেজর জেনারেল আনোয়ার হোসেন।
ঢাকায় বাংলাদেশ-ভারত সীমান্ত সম্মেলনের পর শুক্রবার যৌথ সংবাদ সম্মেলনে বর্ডার গার্ড বাংলাদেশের মহাপরিচালক আনোয়ার বলেন, সীমান্তে হত্যার ঘটনা অগ্রহণযোগ্য এবং তা দুই দেশের সুসম্পর্ক নষ্ট করছে।
ভারতীয় সীমান্ত রক্ষী বাহিনী- বিএসএফের মহাপরিচালক রমন শ্রীবাস্তব সীমান্তে হত্যার ঘটনা কমে আসার তথ্য তুলে ধরে বলেন, "আমরা এটা শূন্যের পর্যায়ে নামিয়ে আনতে চাই।"
সোমবার থেকে শুরু হওয়া বিজিবি-বিএসএফ মহাপরিচালক পর্যায়ে সম্মেলনে উভয় দেশের সীমান্ত রক্ষী বাহিনীর প্রধান নিজ নিজ দেশের পক্ষে নেতৃত্ব দেন।
সীমান্তে হত্যার বিষয়ে বিজিবি মহাপরিচালক বলেন, "এ কারণে দুদেশের মধ্যে উত্তেজনা ছিলো, তবে স¤প্রতি দুদেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রীদের মধ্যে আলোচনার পর তা কমে এসেছে।"
"আমরা আন্তর্জাতিক রীতি মেনে চলি এবং কোনো ভারতীয় অবৈধভাবে সীমান্ত পার হলে আমরা তার ওপর গুলি চালাই না, শুধু গ্রেপ্তার করি," সীমান্তে নিজেদের সহনীয় আচরণ তুলে ধরে তা বিএসএফকেও অনুসরণ করতে বলেন বিজিবিপ্রধান।
বর্ডার সিকিউরিটি ফোর্স-বিএসএফের মহাপরিচালক রমন শ্রীবাস্তব সীমান্তে হত্যাকাণ্ডের জন্য দুঃখ প্রকাশ করেন।
তিনি বলেন, "হত্যার উদ্দেশ্য আমাদের নেই এবং এটা উল্লেখযোগ্য হারে কমে এসেছে।"
২০০৯ সালে সীমান্তে নিহতের সংখ্যা ৫৫ হলেও ২০১১ সালে এ সংখ্যা সাত জনে নেমে এসেছে জানিয়ে তিনি বলেন, "আমি আবারো বলছি, আমরা এটি শূন্যের পর্যায়ে নামিয়ে আনতে চাই।"
বিএসএফপ্রধান জানান, নিজেদের সংযত করতে ইতোমধ্যেই অনেক এলাকায় প্রাণঘাতী নয়, এমন অস্ত্র ব্যবহার শুরু করেছে বিএসএফ।
সংবাদ সম্মেলনে সীমান্ত পরিস্থিতি বিষয়ে একটি বিস্তারিত পরিসংখ্যান তুলে ধরেন বিএসএফপ্রধান রমন শ্রীবাস্তব।
তিনি জানান, ২০০৯ সালে ৫৫ বাংলাদেশিকে হত্যা করে বিএসএফ। ২০১০ সালে সংখ্যাটি ছিলো ৩২ জন। তবে চলতি বছরে সীমান্তে হত্যাকাণ্ডের সংখ্যা সাত।
তিনি দাবি করেন, ২০০৯ সালে অবৈধভাবে সীমান্ত পার করার সময় ৩৭ ভারতীয় এবং ২০১০ সালে ২৩ ভারতীয়কেও হত্যা করে বিএসএফ। তবে ২০১১ সালে এ সংখ্যাটিও পাঁচ জনে নেমে আসে।
রমন জানান, এছাড়া অপরাধীদের হাতে ২০০৯ সালে ১১ বিএসএফ সদস্য আহত হয়। ২০১০ সালে এ সংখ্যা বেড়ে ৫৭-তে দাঁড়ায়। ২০১১ সালে অপরাধীদের হাতে এক বিএসএফ সদস্য নিহতসহ ৭৭ সদস্য আহত হয়।
তিনি আরো বলেন, ২০০৯ সালে ৬৮৫ বাংলাদেশিকে গ্রেপ্তার করে বিএসএফ। ২০১০ সালে ১ হাজার ৬৩৮ জনকে এবং ২০১১ সালে ২ হাজার ৩০০ বাংলাদেশিকে গ্রেপ্তার করা হয়।
এছাড়া ২০০৮ সালে সীমান্তের বেড়া কাটার ঘটনা ঘটে ৩৩৩টি, ২০০৯ সালে ৫৬৬টি. ২০১০ সালে ৯২৪টি এবং ২০১১ সালে ৬৩৮টি।
In contrast to counts in Bangladesh, the director general of Indian Border Security Force yesterday claimed BSF personnel have killed only seven Bangladeshis along the border so far this year.
Border Guard Bangladesh puts the number at 27 and rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) at 29.
BSF Director General Raman Srivastava, however, assured his Bangladesh counterpart of bringing down the number to zero.
He was briefing journalists at the BGB headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka at the end of a six-day conference between the two border forces.
A top BGB official termed “unrealistic” the number given by the BSF chief.
“Till September this year, 27 Bangladeshi civilians have been killed and 17 injured by BSF,” the official told The Daily Star, requesting anonymity.
According to ASK, 13 of the 29 killed by BSF men in January-September were physically tortured. During the period, 53 other Bangladeshis were wounded by the border force.
Odhikar, another human rights group, said BSF killed 27 Bangladeshis between January and August this year. The number was 74 last year and 98 the previous year, according to a report prepared by the group.
But the BSF chief said 32 Bangladeshi nationals were killed in 2010 and 55 in 2009.
According to BGB sources, the numbers are 60 and 67.
“Incidents of killing in border areas are decreasing gradually. We assure you that incidents of border killing will be lessened to zero as we want friendly relations,” Srivastava told the briefing.
Replying to a query, he said, “What you call border killings are not killings, those are deaths. And we're also sorry for that.
“BSF personnel have stopped using bullets at maximum level. Non-lethal weapons are being used now.”
He added that some killings are the result of self-defence on the part of BSF.
Expressing concern over the increasing number of incidents of cutting barbed wire fence on the border, he said, “Incidents of fence cutting occurred at 333 places in 2008, 556 places in 2009, 924 places in 2010 and at 637 places till September this year.”
Meeting sources said India submitted separate lists of the Indian terrorists, smugglers and currency counterfeiters active in Bangladesh.
Maj Gen Anwar Hussain, director general of BGB, assured his Indian counterpart that his force will not let criminals use Bangladesh land.
Both the chiefs said they agreed to launch a joint border management after October 31 in line with an agreement signed during Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram's visit to Dhaka in July this year.
The joint management is aimed at resolving all outstanding border issues including combating cross-border crimes and enhancing quality of border management as well as to ensure cross-border security.
The BGB chief said his personnel do not shoot anyone in border areas; they rather arrest and hand over the suspects to BSF. “BGB abides by all international rules, and we want BSF to do the same,” said Anwar.
