The New Nation - Internet Edition

A HIGHLY placed official of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) has informed that a contingent of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) entered 1.5 kilometres inside Bangladesh territory in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj district and killed two border guards on Thursday. BSF members entered Bangladesh territorial waters without informing the BDR allegedly chasing smugglers by speedboats in the river Padma. Being challenged by a BDR patrol team, they sprayed bullets on them without any provocation and killed Havildar Mohammad Abdul Hannan and Lance Naik Krishna Pada Das on the spot.

BDR retaliated forcing BSF to retreat and seized an engine boat used by the latter. They also arrested an Indian national - a suspected smuggler. A flag meeting was held after the incident. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a strong protest with the Indian government against the killing terming it 'completely unacceptable’ and asked for appropriate actions against responsible persons and measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents. But BSF killed two Bangladeshi civilians within a couple of days at the Jessore border.

These are considered not isolated incidents of killing. If attempts of smuggling were traced, BSF could alert the BDR to jointly thwart the bid. But, instead, Indian border force illegally trespassed into Bangladesh and caused the bloodshed. If Bangladeshi forces had not shown restraint such incident might have led to more bloodshed. The killings were at a time when the foreign secretaries of Bangladesh and India were holding meetings in New Delhi to resolve various bilateral issues. Bangladesh and India are two neighbours with common border of about 4000 kilometres. When both the countries should pursue mutual confidence building efforts to overcome an atmosphere of historic mistrust, such incidents are likely to cause additional strain on bilateral relations. On no ground should BSF intrude into Bangladesh territory violating the principle of sovereign equality.