'Delhi assures utmost restraint'
India has assured Bangladesh of exercising 'utmost restraint' when the issue of killing of Bangladesh civilians along the border was raised at the recent Delhi talks, capped with accords on a wide range of bilateral issues.
“There is no reason for killing,” Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes told a press briefing yesterday when a correspondent asked why the killings by Indian BSF continued even after the foreign minister-level meeting on September 8.
He said if any trespass occurred, it could be tackled in a different way. “This cannot be addressed by force or bullet.”
According to statistics of 'Odhikar', a non-government human rights watchdog, some 62 Bangladesh civilians were killed by the Indian BSF from January 1 to July 11 this year.
With the latest killing on September 17, the total number of Bangladeshis killed since 1 January 2009 stands at 77, and that from January 1, 2000 to September 17, 2009 at 804.
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