Don’t show your back at border, home advisor tells BGB

Home affairs adivosor Brig Gen (retd) M Shakhawat Hossain speaks to the media at Pilkhana in Dhaka on 13 August, 2024.Courtesy

Home affairs advisor Brig Gen (retd) M Shakhawat Hossain has urged the members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to discharge their duties diligently and refrain from showing back at the border in any cases. 

While speaking to the media at the BGB headquarters in Dhaka, he recalled that even in cases of trespassing into Bangladesh and subsequent killings, everything would have been settled through a flag meeting. 

“A force like the BGB was instructed to show its back at the border. Our people were killed at the border, and the BGB was forced to hold flag meetings. I have asked them not to show their back at the brother, enough is enough,” he said. 

The home advisor went to the BGB hospital at Pilkhana in the afternoon on Tuesday, to see the BGB men who suffered injuries during the quota reform protests. Later, he faced the media and responded to various queries. 

The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) reportedly shot down a Bangladeshi national on the other side of the Shibganj border in Chapainawabganj on Sunday. 

M Shakhawat Hossain said, “They enter our territory and kill our people. We hold flag meetings and say everything is settled, or say we have no idea over the issue. Those days are over".

Blaming the previous government for exploiting the forces, he said, "They turned these forces into monsters. Those responsible for it will be taken to the international court. They have killed many people and destroyed all the institutions. These are national forces, and do not belong to any individual."

The advisor regretted his recent 'controversial' speech and said the students misunderstood him. "Many words come in conversations. If I really made such a statement, it was misunderstood, and I feel sorry for that."

During the clashes, some three BGB men have died and 130 sustained injuries.