BNP demands UN-led probe into BGB member killing by BSF

BNP on Saturday demanded an investigation under the supervision of the United Nations [UN] into the killing of a member of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along the Benapole border in Jashore.

In a statement, the standing committee of the party alleged that the BSF has turned the border areas of Bangladesh into a zone of ‘blood sport’ with 201 Bangladeshi citizens killed by the India border force over the last seven years.

At their meeting on Friday, the BNP standing committee, the highest policy-making body of the party, strongly condemned the killing of the BGB member by the BSF.

BGB sepoy Mohammad Raisuddin was gunned down by BSF members along the Benapole border on Monday.

After the incident, BSF, in a statement, claimed that the slain BGB sepoy was accompanying smugglers in plain clothes.

But the BNP standing committee described the BSF’s explanation as unacceptable and said a BGB member can never accompany a smuggling gang wearing a lungi and a t-shirt. “Indian human rights organisation MASUM also disagreed with BSF’s statement.”

The party also said the BSF’s statement was fabricated and as the force was just trying to justify their killings, encouraged by the ‘Big-Brother’ attitude of Indian policymakers. “There’s always a huge gap between the crimes committed by the BSF and their rhetoric. Their (BSF’s) attitude gives the impression that they still could not come out of the primitive and mediaeval ages.”

It also said the people of Bangladesh have rejected the BSF’s concocted statement on Raisuddin's killing with hatred. “The bloodshed along the border will not stop because of India’s ambitious policy.”

By killing a BGB member, the BNP said, India sent out a hegemonic message to keep the people of Bangladesh subservient to them.

“The India-Bangladesh border is the most violent and bloodiest in the world. Despite India’s repeated commitments (to bring it down), the incidents of killing of Bangladeshi citizens by the BSF along the Bangladesh border are increasing,” the party said.

It said ordinary Bangladeshi citizens have been killed for so long by the BSF, but now even the members of the BGB are not safe along the border. “The killing of the border guards of an independent country by the border guards of another country is not a simple incident; rather, it involves the question of the independence and sovereignty of the state.”

The BNP also said it is a matter of deep concern that Sheikh Hasina’s 'knee-jerk foreign policy as a result of her greed for power has turned Bangladesh into a vassal state': “The usurper Awami government is now a pawn of a hateful anti-national plot. Even now, the member of the BGB has lost his life without any justified reason.”

The party also slammed the government’s “silence” over the killing of the BGB member and border killings.

“The BSF’s ‘deliberate killing’ is now known to all. Delhi’s ferocity and Dhaka’s silence are contributing to the uncontrolled border killings. The silence over the incidents of killing of Bangladeshis near the border by the BSF is the result of Sheikh Hasina’s subservient perpetual ‘political settlement’ with Delhi,” the BNP standing committee said.