The killing of Bangladeshi citizens by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) continues along the border despite repeated assurances of zero killings by both the countries. Rights group Odhikar alleged that the border forces have killed 51 Bangladeshis in 2020. Incidents of killing civilians along the border have been a major cause for concern in the country.
In the first 45 days of 2021, three Bangladeshis have been reportedly killed by BSF at the border area, according to reports.
Indian BSF detained a member of Bangladesh police from the border area in Sadar upazila of Panchagarh district on Sunday night. Detained Omar Faruque is a police constable posted at the District and Sessions Court.
BSF allegedly shot a Bangladeshi man to death
along Bakshiganj border in Jamalpur on Monday. Deceased Shippu, 40, son of Farazuddin, was a cattle trader. Bakshiganj Police Station OC Shafiqul Islam confirmed the killing of a man in the border area on Monday. Meanwhile, BSF said the deceased was not Bangladeshi citizen, according to BGB.
Odhikar alleged that the border forces have killed at least 334 Bangladeshis since 2011 and committed other instances of severe abuse, including 51 killings in 2020.
It also claimed that 1,236 people had been killed, 1,145 injured, 1,408 abducted and 15 raped by BSF soldiers from 2000 to 2020. These numbers do not account for the many that have been injured or abducted in the border areas.
The killings continued even after Delhi's assurance to bring down border deaths to zero. Human rights defenders blamed impunity, lack of accountability and soft approach from the Bangladesh side behind the continuation of those killings.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has made a fresh call for the investigation of new allegations of law violations against the BSF.
HRW strongly criticized Indian authorities for failing to keep promises for justice more than 10 years after the rights group published a damning report, "Trigger Happy," accusing India of turning the border into "South Asia's killing fields."
Following the report, the Indian government promised to order the BSF to use restraint and rubber bullets instead of more lethal ammunition against irregular border crossers.
In its latest statement on February 9, citing data from NGOs in India and Bangladesh, HRW noted that the BSF has been carrying out extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment of residents of Bangladesh and India at the border.
"Indian government order to border forces to exercise restraint and limit the use of live ammunition has not prevented fresh killings, torture and other serious abuses. The government's failure to hold security personnel accountable has led to further abuses and the harassment of very poor and vulnerable populations," said Meenakshi Ganguly, HRW's South Asia director.
"The Indian government should demonstrate its promised zero tolerance for abuses at the Bangladesh border by ending the culture of impunity for its border soldiers."
On different occasions, India continued to assure Bangladesh about bringing the border deaths to zero. The BSF also promised not to use lethal weapons on the borders. However, the reality is different.
Terming the border killing as 'very unfortunate' and 'unacceptable,' a senior official of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), preferring anonymity, told the Daily Observer on Monday, "Our field-level officers and high-level officials at the headquarters have sent several protest notes against those killings.
"Unfortunately, there have been killings at the border, and we cannot assure that it will not repeat in the future," he added.
Bangladeshi authorities also expressed concern many times over the killings of its civilians by the border forces of its neighbour that too considered as historic friendship.
"We have such good ties. But the border killings have stained our relationship," Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said during a press briefing last December following a virtual summit between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
