Killings on Bangladesh-India Border: Govt’s role to blame, says Anu Muhammad
Noted economist Prof Anu Muhammad yesterday said killings on Bangladesh-India border have not stopped because of the Bangladesh government's role.
"Indian border forces are killing people after entering Bangladesh… Not only Bangladeshi people, Indian people are also involved with it. The border killings do not stop because of the role of the Bangladesh government," he said while speaking at a discussion organised by magazine Sarbajan Katha.
Titled "Friendship of Barbed Wire Fence: Bangladesh-India Relationship", it was held at the RC Majumder auditorium of Dhaka university.
"People are being killed along the border, but the Bangladesh government is saying they have been murdered for smuggling. Who gave them the right to shoot people even if they were involved in smuggling?" he added.
Anu Muhammad said "Nepal is economically weaker than Bangladesh. Yet they are protesting India's intervention. There is no such protest in Bangladesh. That is why the government should be ashamed. The government has no role to play except for supporting what India says."
Dhaka University's International Relations teachers Abdul Mannan and Tanzimuddin Khan jointly presented a slideshow on border killings at the programme.
Prof Tanzimuddin Khan said almost 95 percent of Bangladesh-India border is fenced, and now India has introduced smart fencing -- something it has only with Pakistan and Bangladesh borders.
He further said the government claims that Bangladesh and India enjoy friendly relations, but the situation at the borders tell a different story.
Indian border forces killed at least 15 Bangladeshis along the border in January, according to the rights organisations and media reports.
DU accounting department teacher Moshahida Sultana Ritu, and writer-researcher Altaf Parvez also addressed the programme.
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