Promises are not meant to be broken

We are deeply saddened and outraged at the death of yet another Bangladeshi national near the Beurjhari border in Baliadangi upazila of Thakurgaon on September 10, allegedly at the hands of the members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF). Locals say that the victim, 30-year-old Shariful Islam, was fishing on the Nagor river when he was shot. The 50th Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Battalion has also confirmed that a group of four to five Bangladeshi men were fishing on the river when BSF members fired upon them as they entered 50 yards inside the Indian territory. What justification, we ask, is there for use of lethal force against fishermen who may have, accidentally or otherwise, strayed only 50 yards into the border, that too in a river with strong currents, where the demarcations are harder to delineate?

The Indian side has repeatedly pledged not to use lethal force along the 4,053-km-long Indo-Bangladesh border, but it has thus far failed to deliver on its promise of "zero deaths". Since 2000, more than 1,000 Bangladeshis have been killed in border areas, according to rights defenders who described the Indo-Bangla border as "killing fields". Forty-three Bangladeshis were killed last year, while 29 died in the first seven months of this year at the hands of BSF. An overwhelming majority of those killed are poor, unarmed villagers—cattle-rearers and fisherfolk like Shariful.

At the annual border guards' director general-level talks at the BGB Pilkhana headquarters from September 13-18, border killings will be a primary focus of discussions, as per BGB officials. It is high time Bangladesh took a "zero" tolerance approach to border killings. BGB should not only ask its counterparts to honour its commitments, but also remind them that such killings are continuing because errant BSF personnel are never held to account for their use of excessive force. Promises have been made and promises have been broken way too many times. Bangladesh must demand a clear answer as to why the Indian side is bent on violating basic principles of human rights, international laws and concrete commitments that it has made to its neighbouring country with whom it officially has friendly relations.