INDIA has unilaterally pushed several hundred people into Bangladesh through several border areas, which is unacceptable because it goes against accepted border management guidelines and diplomatic standards. India has continued pushing people into Bangladesh since May 7, when a war-like situation prevailed between India and Pakistan. Of the fresh push-in incidents, according to the Border Guard Bangladesh and police officials, 121 were pushed through two border points in Baralekha upazila of Moulvibazar district, 32 through Nayagram border point in Beanibazar upazila of Sylhet district and 19 through Mujibnagar border in Meherpur district. Among the 700 people so far pushed-in, there are people from the Rohingya community registered in Bangladesh’s Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals camps but later crossed into India and some with UNHCR refugee cards issued from India. The rest are Bangladeshis who had allegedly illegally trespassed the border in the past and Indian nationals. While the Border Guard Bangladesh has taken steps to send the Bangladeshi nationals to their respective home districts through local administrations, the wave of push-in operations without due process, verification or diplomatic coordination is yet another example of India’s unneighbourly attitude.
The way India is pushing people through remote, hard-to-patrol border points into Bangladesh has no basis in international law and violates the 1975 India-Bangladesh Joint Guidelines for border authorities, the 2011 Coordinated Border Management Plan, and decisions made during director general-level talks between the BGB and BSF. The unlawful influx of people into Bangladesh seems to be a recent development in India’s unfriendly behaviour, and it is likely to worsen the already tense bilateral ties due to the unchecked killing of Bangladeshi nationals on the border. India, however, seems totally uninterested in improving its bilateral relationship with Bangladesh. On May 25, the Indian border security forces opened fire and injured at least two Bangladeshi youths in border areas of Brahmanbaria. In January-April, according to the Ain Salish Kendra, at least 11 people were killed and 23 were injured from border violence. In recent months, there have been other instances in which India violated internationally accepted border management protocols. The recent attempts by Indian border guards to erect fences at several locations on the zero line are another example of such unilateral exercises.
Bangladesh has therefore rightly demanded an immediate halt to these unilateral exercises by sending a protest letter to Delhi. The Indian authorities should ensure that the BSF stops its push-in efforts and honours the bilateral agreements and international laws regarding border management, and Dhaka should raise its concerns in international and bilateral forums to pressure Delhi into abiding by the agreements and laws.
