Border killings much lower now compared to BNP’s rule, claims Information minister

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party needs to compare the number of border killings during the party’s rule with the current figure, which is much lower according to Information Minister Hasan Mahmud.

Also, the government is trying to bring border killings down to zero, the Minister said on Monday during a memorial meeting at National Press Club in the capital, reports news agency UNB.

The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) killed at least 1,185 Bangladeshis along the border between 2000 and 2019, according to Odhikar, a Bangladesh-based human rights organisation.

BNP on Monday called on the government to take steps to stop the killing of Bangladeshis by the BSF.

“We want an end to border killings. We demand the government take immediate steps to stop the killings of Bangladeshis along the border,” said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

“We’ve worn black badges today in protest against the indiscriminate killings of Bangladesh nationals by the BSF,” the BNP secretary general added.

Last week, the BNP standing committee worked out countrywide protest programmes for Monday in protest against the killing of Bangladeshis by the BSF.

As part of the programmes, black flags were hoisted at the offices of the party across the country, including its Naya Paltan central office while BNP leaders and activists wore black badges or black dresses.

Fakhrul said, “The BSF has so far killed 1,510 Bangladeshis unfairly since 1972, and 439 of them were killed over the last 12 years.”

When Bangladeshi nationals are killed indiscriminately by neighbouring border guards along the border, it is a gross violation of the UN Charter of Human Rights, he observed.

Mirza Fakhrul strongly criticised Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen for his recent comment that “India is not unilaterally responsible for the border killings.”

“A long interview of him (Momen) was published in the Daily Star today (Monday). After reading it, I have doubts as to whose foreign minister he is. Is he the foreign minister of Bangladesh or the foreign minister of India? Throughout the interview, he tried to defend India,” Fakhrul observed.

He also questioned the justification of good relations with India only by meeting all the demands of that country while ignoring Bangladesh’s unresolved problems.