Border killings should stopped
Recently, the BSF Chief U K Bansal said that it would not be possible to put a total stop to the firing along the India-Bangladesh border, as his troops must take steps to stop the offenders.
Unfortunately, this comment might encourage the BSF members who are involved in killing and torturing the Bangladeshis in the border areas.
Though there is no accurate data on the total number of killings along the border by the BSF, Dhaka-based NGO Odhikar puts the figure at 1000, in the past ten years. Since 2007, Kolkata-based NGO Masum has documented 165 killings in just two districts of West Bengal-Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas, accounting for eight percent of the deaths on the West Bengal Bangladesh border. According to a 2010 report by Human Rights Watch, the BSF itself admits to killing 164 Indians and 347 Bangladeshis since 2006.
We have learnt from different media reports that these killings are a violation of Indian and international law. Unlike the army, the BSF has no special powers allowing it impunity. The BSF can only fire in self-defence. Surprisingly, no such report was found that any BSF personnel have been arrested or held liable for any of these crimes.
We have also learnt that under the Border Security Act, the BSF personnel cannot be tried in civilian courts without prior approval from the Union Home Ministry. The Act gives supremacy to BSF's internal courts. Many say that these are the reasons why border killing are taking place frequently.
Even so, we believe that the two governments will take a firm initiative to stop border killings.
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