Killing continues at the border
The home minister's disclosure in parliament that 294 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed by India's Border Security Force (BSF) on the Bangladesh-India border in the last 10 years sums up the outcome of a decade's worth of talks and initiatives by officials from both nations. While the estimate paints a disturbing picture of our border security, the declining trend in border casualties leaves room for optimism. The latest disclosure, however, comes after a joint meeting in June in which the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) expressed "grave" concern about the border killings, which the BSF chief sought to play down as "unfortunate deaths". Clearly, both sides have yet to see eye to eye on the gravity of the issue. This is not desirable given the state of bilateral relationship between the two countries.
Securing the border is in the interest of both India and Bangladesh that share a 4,053km-long border between them. India has previously agreed to bring down cross-border casualties—which involve a disproportionately high number of Bangladeshi victims as opposed to negligible Indian numbers—to zero level. One way of ensuring safety at the border is for the BSF to use non-lethal force, which it had agree to do, to deter people trying to cross the border illegally. It calls for complete restraint on the Indian side. Bangladesh can play its part by ensuring greater vigilance and monitoring, especially in "sensitive" border areas, to prevent activities such as smuggling and trafficking. India, however, must exercise caution when it comes to using force and should instead focus on other means of border control. The border between Bangladesh and India has already earned notoriety for the human cost of illegal crossing which is unbecoming of two friendly nations. So both sides should strive to rectify that image.
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