BSF's brutality and LGRD minister's indifference
PHOTO: STAR FILE
The recent circulation of a video footage, which showed a Bangladeshi being stripped, kicked and beaten by the BSF of India, aired by Indian TV channels, has sparked criticism across the country and abroad. At the same time, we have felt embarrassed at the speech delivered by LGRD minister Syed Ashraful Islam who said that the government is not "much worried" about the recent incident of physical abuse on a Bangladeshi citizen by BSF. While National Human Rights Commission of India has served a notice to the country's home ministry seeking a report on the BSF jawans who were videotaped in the act of assaulting a Bangladeshi youth, such insensitive remark from our minister is totally unacceptable. Despite repeated assurances from Indian authorities that BSF has been instructed to maintain the highest restraint while dealing with smugglers active at the border, such barbaric incidents are continuing unabated. It has to be kept in mind that the government is the a guardian of a country. It cannot ignore what is happening at the border. According to the newspapers, a number of lawmakers of parliament on January 24 have criticised the foreign ministry over its failure to address the issues for the sake of maintaining peace at the border. We hope that the government will consider such occurrences seriously. However, we express our gratitude to the Indian newspaper The Hindu for urging the Indian government to seek apology from Bangladesh.
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