Generally, barbed-wire fences are placed 200 yards inside from the Bangladesh-India border pillar. The members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) guard the border on Indian Territory on the other-side of the fence. There are some border areas on which the Indian government has yet to put up barbed-wire fences. These areas have bamboo fences instead. Putting forward ‘prevention of smuggling’ as the reason, the members of the BSF run 11,000 volts of electricity through these fences from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am. As a result, anyone who touches these fences is instantly electrocuted and killed.
At 5:00 am on the morning of July 22, 2011, Mohammad Salim Uddin (22) of Thakurpur village in the area of Damurhuda Police Station, Chunadanga; and a son of Liakot Hossain and Mosammat Sufia Khatun, was electrocuted and killed on a bamboo fence when returning to Bangladesh by crossing pillar number 90 from Rangiyiapeta, India.
It must be noted here that the occupants of the Bangladesh-India border live below the poverty-line. No substantial measures are taken by the government to aid them, as a result, compelled by dire poverty, some occupants of these areas put their lives on the line and resort to illegal transaction of cattle across the border.
Odhikar’s Comments
The BSF are assigned to ensure and maintain security on the Indian-territory of the Bangladesh-India border area. On the pretext of security, the BSF members recurrently shoot and kill unarmed Bangladeshis. Shooting to death being a grave violation of human rights, the heads of both the States have come together and discussed how to bring this to an end. Despite assurances given by the Indian government to put a stop to these killing, BSF members continue these murders on accommodating and altering pretexts.
During the mission it has been found that the BGB are much less in number than the BSF and many of the border areas in Bangladesh have undeveloped roads, as a result of which the BGB is unable to guard all areas of the border effectively.
Odhikar demands intervention from the Bangladesh government with regard to the continuation of such unlawful killings and compensation from the Indian government.
fact-finding-border violence-Mohammad Salim Uddin-2011 (full text in English, PDF)
fact-finding-border violence-Mohammad Salim Uddin-2011 (full text in Bangla, PDF)
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