NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Attacks on minorities in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government did not happen, the chief of that country’s border guarding force claimed on Thursday as he termed reports in this regard as “exaggerated”.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) director general Maj Gen Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui also said “many new issues” under the common heads were discussed during his high-level talks with BSF DG Daljit Singh Chawdhary here.
Siddiqui, while speaking to reporters during a joint press conference with Chawdhary, asserted that authorities of his country took steps for the protection of the minorities as he gave example of his force “personally” extending security cover to Durga Puja pandals within 8 km of their jurisdiction along the international border.
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This was the first high-level meeting of the two forces after the regime change in Bangladesh in August last year.
The BGB DG also said they raised “objections” and “flagged a number of cases” during the bi-annual talks DG-level with regard to the fencing being done by India along the 150 yards of the IB and has requested for a “joint inspection” before the work is done.
“The attacks on minorities in the recent past, I would say, that this is an exaggeration and to be honest such attacks on minorities per se did not happen.”
“The substantiation for this is the recently held Durga Puja which was one of the most peacefully organised and arranged Hindu festival. The law enforcement agencies of Bangladesh were very precisely and strictly tasked by the government so that the Hindu community is able to perform…(the rituals),” the BGB chief said.
He said they got “several requests (from minority community), sometimes without any fear or any threat ,and even when there was nothing substantial (vis-a-vis threats against minorities), we provided security.”
Siddiqui said such reports were more in the media, “tempting” the politicians to comment. There were such instances during the initial couple of months after August 5 (fall of Hasina government in 2024) but now it is not like that, he said.
Asked if there were any changes in the agenda points from both sides, post the regime change in Bangladesh, the BGB DG said while “the broad heads might be the same but the inner text, contextual differences…(had changes) and there were many new issues under the common broadheads…”
The BSF chief, however, said that the agenda points “more or less were the same with few changes here and there” as the Indo-Bangla border was a very “dynamic and active” border.
On the issues related to fencing discussed during the three-day talks that concluded on Thursday at the BSF headquarters, the BGB DG said they have “highlighted the number of potential cases” where the construction of development works close to the IB were being done and this was the “most focussed” agenda during the latest talks.
He said 150 yards on either side of the zero line is considered a “no man’s land” and both sides are not allowed to construct any permanent structure or any structure that has “defence potential”, without the consent of the other party.
“The communication gap occurs when the fencing is required within the 150 yards…beyond 150 yards we don’t mind at all how long, how heavy or how high the fence is made,” Siddiqui said.
He said Bangladesh has “raised objection” where it thought that mutual consent is yet to be done or it could be done in a better manner.
Both he and the BSF DG said that they “hope to resolve these issues in the future” with the BGB DG saying a joint inspection will be carried out in such areas.
Asked about the instances of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh into India, both the chiefs said such instances had actually gone down across the 4,096 km long IB, post August 5 of last year.
“Infiltration has gone substantially down and this has been done with the very active help of BGB. Throughout the crisis (ouster of the earlier government), the BGB stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us and helped us in maintaining peace and tranquility at the border,” Chawdhary said.
Siddiqui said reports of permanent construction being undertaken within 150 yards of the IB, “undertaken or aided” by the BGB was “not factually correct”.
“There are some development works that are taking place on both sides and the concurrence of both sides is taken but due to some communication gaps, sometimes, and if either of the forces are not informed, the objection is raised by the other force…we try to resolve these issues mutually,” he said.
Siddiqui also said there was no discussion on reworking the India-Bangladesh border treaty which was agreed upon in 1975.
“This was not really within the agenda and is beyond the purview of this meeting,” he said.
This was the 55th edition of the bi-annual DG-level border talks between India and Bangladesh undertaken by their respective frontier guarding forces- BSF and the BGB.
The BSF guards the 4,096-km-long India-Bangladesh boundary that runs across five states — West Bengal (2,217 km), Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Assam (262 km) and Mizoram (318 km).
The last edition of these bi-annual talks was held in Dhaka in March last year. (PTI)
