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.