Odhikar’s statement protesting the India’s political and economic aggression on Bangladesh and the human rights violations of Bangladeshi citizens along the India-Bangladesh border
Dhaka, 6 January 2025: January 7, 2025 marks the 14th anniversary of the killing of Bangladeshi teenager Felani Khatun by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF). On this day in 2011, members of the Indian BSF shot and killed Felani Khatun at the Bangladesh-India border and hung her body on the barbed wire border fence. BSF member Amiya Ghosh, who was involved in the killing, and his superior officer who ordered him to shoot, have not been punished.
The killing of Felani was a grim example of the Indian government’s aggressive attitude towards Bangladesh. The indiscriminate killing and torturing of Bangladeshi citizens regardless of age are nothing new for the BSF. Every year, a large number of Bangladeshi citizens are killed or injured by being shot or by torture by the BSF at the border areas. At times, BSF members even enter Bangladesh, rob and attack Bangladeshi citizens, violating the sovereignty of Bangladesh. It is worth noting that a school student named Hasnat Halsham Inu (15) died due to torture by the BSF in 2010 before Felani was shot dead in 2011. Even after the cold blooded murder of Felani, the BSF continued to kill children and teenagers. The BSF shot dead a schoolboy named Hasanuzzaman (16) in 2015 and two schoolboys named Sohel Rana and Harun-Or-Rashid in 2017. Recently, on 3 August 2024, a 14-year-old girl named Swarna Das at the Lalarchak border in Moulvibazar District, and on 8 September 2024, a 15-year-old boy named Jayanta Kumar Singh at Baliadangi border in Thakurgaon District, were shot dead by the BSF. Not a single Bangladeshi killed or tortured by Indian Border Security Force received any justice. In addition, Bangladeshi citizens have been abducted and taken to India during Bangladesh’s recent ousted autocratic regime, led by a government overly subservient to the Indian government.
Odhikar expresses its deep concern and denounces all human rights violations, including the incidents of killing and torture of Bangladeshi citizens by the BSF, and against India’s political and economic aggression towards Bangladesh.
According to Odhikar’s data, from January 2009 to November 2024, the BSF allegedly killed 588 Bangladeshis and injured 773 Bangladeshis.
According to international law, the role of the Bangladesh government in ensuring and strengthening Bangladeshi borders, ensuring territorial integrity, sovereignty and the security of its citizens, should have been part of its role in maintaining an independent sovereign state. However, the recently ousted authoritarian government adopted a fawning and slavish attitude when it came to matters of foreign policy on issues related to India, sacrificing the interest of the country and its citizens. The ruling party put party interest first and foremost, in order to illegitimately remain in power. The Indian government took this opportunity to impose its various vested interests on Bangladesh to achieve its interests. An Agreement signed in 2010 by former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was executed without any discussion in the Parliament, keeping its contents secret. Since this Agreement, India’s hostile policy towards Bangladesh has intensified. In continuation of Indian hegemony, the Indian government played a significant role in undermining the democratic system of Bangladesh by directly interfering in the controversial and farcical parliamentary elections held in Bangladesh in 2014, 2018 and 2024. These farcical elections created a colossal political crisis in Bangladesh.
True to form, Sheikh Hasina fled to India after the 5th August due to a mass uprising that commenced in July 2024. Since then, the Indian ruling class has been trying to undermine and question the July 2024 revolution in various ways, including using Indian media to spread misinformation and fake news campaigns.
Odhikar believes that an independent and sovereign state must not accept harmful interference and the perpetration of human rights violations by another state on its land and citizens. The international community must be vocal against this political and economic aggression and human rights violations from the Indian government on Bangladesh. Such activities and violations may lead to the creation of a perilous situation in South Asia, jeopardizing regional security, peace and integrity.
In solidarity,
The Odhikar Team
www.odhikar.org
https://www.facebook.com/Odhikar.HumanRights/
