The brutal killing of teenage girl Felani Khatun by India's Border Security Force (BSF) gunfire in 2011 sparked widespread outrage at home and abroad. Felani's body, left hanging from a barbed-wire fence along the border, remains a haunting symbol of border killings.
Her family has been fighting for justice for years. Against the backdrop of that painful history, the family has now found a glimmer of hope, as Felani's younger brother Arfan Hossain, 21, has taken up the responsibility of safeguarding the border.
On Wednesday, Arfan Hossain formally joined the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) as a soldier through the passing-out parade of the 104th recruit batch.
The graduation ceremony was held at the parade ground of the Border Guard Training Centre and College (BGT&C) at Baitul Izzat in Chattogram's Satkania. Along with Arfan, a total of 3,023 new recruits took the oath on the occasion. Although the training centre has a capacity of 700 to 1,000 trainees, a record number of 3,023 recruits-2,950 men and 73 women-received basic training in the 104th batch.
Speaking after the ceremony, Arfan Hossain said he was only six or seven years old when his elder sister Felani was killed and her body was left hanging on the barbed-wire fence in 2011. Since then, he said, his parents had wished for him to serve the country. "With that goal in mind, I prepared myself and joined the BGB," he said.
Referring to his sister's killing at the border, Arfan said he does not want any other parents to endure the same pain his family suffered. "As a member of the border guarding force, I will try my utmost so that no other sister is killed in this way," he said, adding that even if his own life is at risk, he will work to ensure that no family loses a child to border violence like his sister did.
