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Editorial

BDR-BSF talks

Border deaths must end
7 March 2010, 18:00 PM
EDITORIAL
THE remarks of the DG BDR on the eve of the top level meeting between the border security forces of Bangladesh and India, to the effect that the BSF at the field level is not apparently aware of new Delhi's thrust towards a new era of good relationship with Bangladesh, deserve consideration. We are constrained to say that the spirit of the policies adopted by the government in Delhi do not permeate down to the operational level, particularly to those in whose action it should be most obvious. It is imperative that policy guidelines reach the grassroots, particularly when those are related to a sensitive area like that of the borders. And this is sadly reflected in the deaths of Bangladeshis due to BSF firing, which stand at 78 between January 2009 and February of this year. It need hardly be repeated that the border is a symbol of sovereignty where the bilateral relationship is tested out on a daily basis. It is, therefore, disconcerting to see that in the border, where amity, cordiality and equanimity are the most essential features that ought to prevail constantly, those necessary conditions are woefully missing. In the light of the above it appears that management of the border has turned out to be a challenge indeed. Admittedly, there are ambiguities in the manner laid out for handling border issues in spite of the Land Boundary Accord of 1974 and the 1975 Joint Guidelines for Border Authorities, which should have been resolved by now. That notwithstanding, we fail to understand why the BSF has to resort to firing on unarmed Bangladeshis. It is in clear breach of the existing agreements; apart from the fact that it is inhuman, we wonder whether any purpose is served by the random killings. There is a talk of beginning of a new era of friendship between the two neighbours as reflected in the joint statement. We feel that the tangible manifestation of it should be in the border areas where the changed circumstances must have its visible reflection. But we are faltering there. While it takes time for results of economic and trade cooperation to become evident, the dividend of new policies towards improving bilateral relationship would be nowhere more instant and visible than in the border. While the chiefs of the two border forces are at the moment meeting to iron out the nitty-gritty at the operational level, it will be well to keep in mind that there are a few outstanding border issues that the political leaders of the two countries should address immediately so that those are resolved without further delay to the satisfaction of both the countries.

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