Tension along the border

The tension along a number of points of the Indo-Bangla border has been serious enough to necessitate declaration of red alert by the BDR and reportedly the BSF has arrayed several thousand troops following exchange of fire. Regrettably it has caused displacement of several thousand local Bangladeshis who were forced to flee their hearths and homes for fear of their lives, in Lalmonirhat sector.

The boundary accord between our two countries prohibits construction of any kind within 150 yards of the no man's land. Yet we see the Indian BSF, resorting to the construction of fences within the no man's land time and again.

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There are appropriate mechanisms open to both the countries to address such situations along the border. We regret to note that the Indian response has been less than helpful. We find the Indian refusal to sit for talks at the local levels to diffuse the tension at the first instance against the spirit of good neighbourly relations.

There are also agreed specifics that guide the handling of illegals in each other's country, and forcibly pushing suspected illegal migrants across the border is certainly not one of them.

The matter of fencing is a policy issue which one would have thought couldn't have been undertaken without the green signal from the top, and so it is with the 'push-in bids'. We are at a loss to understand how the Indian authority can allow such acts.

In spite of the understanding that was reached at the home secretary level meeting of the two countries last year in Dhaka that all possible steps shall be taken to prevent untoward incidents at the borders, such incidents have occurred from time to time. We would hope that the upcoming senior officers' level meetings of the BDR and the BSF would iron out the issues, and that such incidents would not be repeated in future.