India's shoot-to-kill policy on the Bangladesh border

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentis.../india-bangladesh-border-shoot-to-kill-policy

Do good fences make good neighbours? Not along the India-Bangladesh border. Here, India has almost finished building a 2,000km fence. Where once people on both sides were part of a greater Bengal, now India has put up a "keep out" sign to stop illegal immigration, smuggling and infiltration by anti-government militants.

This might seem unexceptional in a world increasingly hostile to migration. But to police the border, India's Border Security Force (BSF), has carried out a shoot-to-kill policy – even on unarmed local villagers. The toll has been huge. Over the past 10 years Indian security forces have killed almost 1,000 people, mostly Bangladeshis, turning the border area into a south Asian killing fields. No one has been prosecuted for any of these killings, in spite of evidence in many cases that makes it clear the killings were in cold blood against unarmed and defenceless local residents.

Shockingly, some Indian officials endorse shooting people who attempt to cross the border illegally, even if they are unarmed. Almost as shocking is the lack of interest in these killings by foreign governments who claim to be concerned with human rights. A single killing by US law enforcement along the Mexican border makes headlines. The killing of large numbers of villagers by Indian forces has been almost entirely ignored.

The violence is routine and arbitrary. Alauddin Biswas described to Human Rights Watch the killing of his 24-year-old nephew, who was suspected of cattle rustling, by Indian border guards in March 2010. "The BSF had shot him while he was lying on his back. They shot him in the forehead. If he was running away, he would have been shot in the back. They just killed him." The BSF claimed self-defence, but no weapons were recovered.

Nazrul Islam, a Bangladeshi, was luckier. "At around 3am we decided to cross the Indian border," he said. He was headed to India to smuggle cows back to Bangladesh. "As soon as the BSF saw us, they started firing without warning." Islam was shot in his arm, but survived.

Some of the victims have been children. One father recounted how his sons were beaten by BSF officers. "The BSF personnel surrounded the boys and without giving any reason started beating them with rifle butts, kicking and slapping them. There were nine soldiers, and they beat my sons mercilessly. Even as the boys fell down, the BSF men continued to kick them ruthlessly on their chest and other sensitive organs."

The border has long been crossed routinely by local people for trade and commerce. It is also crossed by relatives and friends separated by a line arbitrarily drawn by the British during partition in 1947. As with the Mexican border in the United States, the border has become an emotive issue in Indian politics, as millions of Bangladeshis now live in India illegally. Many are exploited as cheap labour.

India has the right to impose border controls. But India does not have the right to use lethal force except where strictly necessary to protect life. Yet some Indian officials openly admit that unarmed civilians are being killed. The head of the BSF, Raman Srivastava, says that people should not feel sorry for the victims, claiming that since these individuals were illegally entering Indian territory, often at night, they were "not innocent" and therefore were a legitimate target.

Though India is a state with functional courts, he apparently believes the BSF can act as judge, jury and executioner. This approach also ignores the many victims, such as a 13-year-old named Abdur Rakib, who broke no law and was killed simply because he was near the fence. Sadly, Bangladeshi border officials have also suggested that such killings are acceptable if the victim was engaged in smuggling.

As the recent WikiLeaks report about endemic torture in Kashmir underscores, Indian soldiers and police routinely commit human rights violations without any consequences. Permission has to be granted by a senior Indian official for the police to even begin an investigation into a crime committed by a member of the security forces, such as the BSF. This rarely happens.

The response of various government officials to allegations of a shoot-to-kill policy has been confusing: we do shoot illegal border crossers since they are lawbreakers; we don't shoot border crossers; we only shoot in self-defence; we never shoot to kill.

But there is some reason for hope. Under pressure, senior Indian officials have expressed revulsion at the behaviour of the BSF and have promised to send new orders to end the shoot-to-kill policy. They have committed to use nonviolent means to apprehend illegal border crossers or smugglers where they pose no risk to life. The question is whether this will be translated into action on the ground. Similar promises of "zero tolerance" for abuses have been made in Kashmir and elsewhere but have not been fulfilled.

As India's economy has grown and foreign investors have flocked in, its human rights record has largely flown under the radar in recent years. But India is a growing world power with increasing influence. It should understand that its behaviour will come under increasing scrutiny. Routinely shooting poor, unarmed villagers is not how the world's largest democracy should behave.
 

Tshering22

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^^ :D If you noticed on the link, there are a lot of Brits who actually applaud BSF's thinking and strategy. They are asking the British government to learn from BSF to stop illegal Paki immigration. LOL! I was expecting this after the Brown government turned UK into mini-Pakistan. BTW, As a northeastern Indian, I 100% support shoot to kill orders of illegal immigrants.

Bangladesh is a country that was created out for Bangladeshis and they chose to remain independent of India to call it their land. Fine with us. Hence it is not our responsibility to take care of their terrorist mulla scumbags that come into our territory catching the bigot Communist-Secular-fascist train to quick election victory.

GO B.S.F! Entire NE India is with you!!
:india::india:

Almost as shocking is the lack of interest in these killings by foreign governments who claim to be concerned with human rights
The key words here... typical western bigots using their scum policy of Human Rights. (read the link on my signature to know the details all of you to know what we NE people are talking about).
 
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Many western nations do the exact same thing but they use the label of "terrorists". In UK anyone suspected of being a terrorist can be shot with no questions asked, a Brazilian man was killed awhile back from this. In USA there are laws like Patriot act which allow the Govt to search someone in the name of terrorism, illegal Mexicans are also killed on US border. The Guardian newspaper has a long history of Anti Indian articles and now found another new topic.
 

Tshering22

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Well the thing I must admire from Western countries as in Hindi there is a saying:

रस्सी जल गई पर बल नहीं गया ।

This means that though they are right now almost drowned and out of the world power picture, they still cannot let go of their attempt-to-control mentality. Though I am not supporting the Chinese (hell as if I would be), I can see why they are so anti-Western minus the commie paranoia. Their will to come up faster was not to insult us but to slap the face of Western so-called Rights bigots on their face. And they succeeded in it.
 

pmaitra

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GO B.S.F! Entire NE India is with you!!
:india::india:
Tshering buddy, I don't doubt your patriotism one bit. However, I would like you to clarify whether you, in your personal capacity, would be with the B.S.F. when a B.S.F. jawan takes bribes and lets people across the international border? Is there any mechanism in place to ensure the honesty and integrity of our very B.S.F. jawans?
 

civfanatic

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Good job BSF, keep it up. Now we just have to implement this policy on the Sino-Indian border.

Bangaldeshis can cry until their country is under water *oh wait, it already is*, but BSF should carry out their duty regardless.
 

civfanatic

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Tshering buddy, I don't doubt your patriotism one bit. However, I would like you to clarify whether you, in your personal capacity, would be with the B.S.F. when a B.S.F. jawan takes bribes and lets people across the international border? Is there any mechanism in place to ensure the honesty and integrity of our very B.S.F. jawans?
1. Make sure the BSF are educated and understand the gravity of their duties.
2. Introduce strict punishments for anyone caught accepting bribes (I am not aware of the current BSF court martial system, or how it is different from the IA one).
 

bhogta

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Go BSF Go , this the only way we can keep NE India safe from this people.
 

pmaitra

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1. Make sure the BSF are educated and understand the gravity of their duties.
2. Introduce strict punishments for anyone caught accepting bribes (I am not aware of the current BSF court martial system, or how it is different from the IA one).
The truth is that there are many in B.S.F. who are very much part of this unlawful border crossing arrangement. There are brokers, who pay these B.S.F. jawans enough to keep them and their guns silent. It looks like we have to place landmines along the border to prevent illegal immigration. We have absorbed enough of these illegal immigrants. We don't want any more. And, I am sorry to say, I am not very optimistic about the current B.S.F..
 

warriorextreme

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1. Make sure the BSF are educated and understand the gravity of their duties.
2. Introduce strict punishments for anyone caught accepting bribes (I am not aware of the current BSF court martial system, or how it is different from the IA one).
educated??
dude in our country IAS officers who take oath of forbidding corruption are found guilty of corruption that is beyond imaginable :(
 

shuvo@y2k10

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these hipocrit british do carpet bombing on innocent civilian in iraq and afghanistan and now they are raising the human rights flag.well to be precise every problem in the sub-continent today has its roots in the colonial days when these imperial monsters looted,raped and killed indians.
 

Oracle

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The truth is that there are many in B.S.F. who are very much part of this unlawful border crossing arrangement. There are brokers, who pay these B.S.F. jawans enough to keep them and their guns silent. It looks like we have to place landmines along the border to prevent illegal immigration. We have absorbed enough of these illegal immigrants. We don't want any more. And, I am sorry to say, I am not very optimistic about the current B.S.F..
I agree. I personally know of atleast 2 cases where people from Bangladesh crossed the border into India in broad daylight by paying bribe to BSF.

Fcuk to human rights from the West. They should look at themselves in the mirror first. Even the mirror would break.
 
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ganesh177

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This policy should be uniformly implemented on all borders (land, water , air)
 

JayATL

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Freaking astonishing! the replies in here. Is this what millions died to give us independence? is this why people laid their life for making India a democracy a civil society? I AM AGHAST at the replies from fellow Indians. This kind of wanton killing is being condoned here? . YOU all should be ashamed of yourself. You have not made India better, but in the name of fear and security have made it into a Neo con cowboy politics and world vision. . There is no difference between Sudan , African and India in this. show me one other developed country who shoots on sight? FREAKING N Korea even does not do that...

I need to walk away from this thread...
 

pmaitra

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Freaking astonishing! the replies in here. Is this what millions died to give us independence? is this why people laid their life for making India a democracy a civil society? I AM AGHAST at the replies from fellow Indians. This kind of wanton killing is being condoned here? . YOU all should be ashamed of yourself. You have not made India better, but in the name of fear and security have made it into a Neo con cowboy politics and world vision. . There is no difference between Sudan , African and India in this. show me one other developed country who shoots on sight? FREAKING N Korea even does not do that...

I need to walk away from this thread...
Actually Jay, I agree with you on principle. Killing people is never to be condoned. I would welcome any steps that will prevent illegal immigration without causing bloodshed. Let us not forget that we already have millions who go hungry and naked in our own country. We do have a humanitarian duty towards them and we simply cannot accept any more immigrants into our already overcrowded country and deficit-prone economy.
 

Tshering22

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Freaking astonishing! the replies in here. Is this what millions died to give us independence? is this why people laid their life for making India a democracy a civil society? I AM AGHAST at the replies from fellow Indians. This kind of wanton killing is being condoned here? . YOU all should be ashamed of yourself. You have not made India better, but in the name of fear and security have made it into a Neo con cowboy politics and world vision. . There is no difference between Sudan , African and India in this. show me one other developed country who shoots on sight? FREAKING N Korea even does not do that...

I need to walk away from this thread...
You need to wake up and smell the coffee man :rotflmao:. This isn't a USA surrounded by a winny Canada and a pathetic Mexico to adopt your impractical and suicidal policies here. Look at our neighbourhood first and then talk.

What your USA does is calls such people as 'terrorists' and gets away with it because of its superpower status. Whereas here we have to deal with illegal fundamentalist lunatics from Bangladesh. Just come to Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura and W. Bengal and see the amount of scumbags that enter into India in disguise and are encouraged by vote hungry vile poiliticians to join in for Muslim votes.

Sitting in USA pretty on a presumed moral high-horse supposedly, you don't know jack about the problems the average day to day NE and eastern India faces because of these losers. Your silly "democrat" and "Neo con" political philosophy and "schools of thought" is not applicable to the problems here. Despite such an aggressive policy, India has more than 20 million illegal immigrants and majority of them are Bangladeshis. Google it if you don't want to believe me. You know what would happen if we adopt those bigoted "rights" groups policies? India would be chaotic hell!

Your USA is 1/3rd of our population and still cries like a baby for illegal immigration with 10 times more resources when a couple of Mexicans come in. We are already stuffed to the top with a billion people and you want more fundamentalist lunatics and beggars to come in our already poor country? Wake up from la-la land dude. This is India and that too Northeast India. Not your USA.

here is no difference between Sudan , African and India in this. show me one other developed country who shoots on sight?
Are you smoking pot comparing us with Africans? You must be high on something seriously.. And you as an Amerindian should be the last to call us all this nonsense when with that Patriot Act of yours that enables the security forces to do anything with any person suspected of something under the name of 'terrorism'. YOU really think all democracies are transparent? LOL! That's a joke. Do you think what your security forces tell you in US is all they do? If so then don't bother arguing.

Your country brought down 2 countries for 2 towers and you're teaching us morals on how to tackle a fundamentalist bunch of illegal economic rogues? Seriously!? For real?! :twitch:

You want to turn your USA into a Jihadic hellhole with stupid Liberal-Apologetic and la-la land regulations go ahead--do it. We care the least what you call us (neo con freaks, extremists, under-developed savages etc). But we don't want to turn our already chaotic country into an Islamist playground that Pakistan and Afghanistan and your superheroes of West like Obama and Gordon Brown have turned their countries into (Check how local population is crying because of this on news videos).

Had your so-called "civilized" USA been in India's place today, it would have been a failed madhouse with 2 nuclear cut-throat enemies surrounding her. So don't teach us your Utopian philosophy of what is civilized after that deeds that US "democracy" does around the world for her self-interest. You will only embarrass yourself.

Using fancy words like neo con cowboys will only make your logic a joke in this part of the world. If you were a NE, you will understand what it is to be here.

About this sentence, if you want to argue, would you mind running through YouTube or you want me to do your homework here as well? :rolleyes:
 
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http://www.monstersandcritics.com/n...angladesh-urges-India-to-stop-border-killings

Bangladesh urges India to stop border killings

Dhaka - Bangladesh on Thursday urged India to exercise 'utmost restraint' and stop what it described as the mindless killing of unarmed Bangladeshi nationals crossing the border.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni made the call during a meeting with India's home secretary, G K Pillai, at a border security meeting in Dhaka.

According to human rights groups, the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) kills, on average, one Bangladeshi every four days.

Doezens of Bangladeshi are killed or wounded each year as Indian border guards open fire on unarmed civilians, often smugglers and cattle traders, at different points along the 4,000-kilometres border.

One of the most publicised cases took place in January, when a 15- year-old girl was allegedly shot and killed after she got entangled in the barbed-wire fence.

Pillai told reporters that New Delhi had already launched an investigation into the killing of the teenage girl and would ensure that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

The home secretary also reiterated India's commitment to reduce the number of casualties to zero but ruled out calls for BSF officials to use rubber bullets instead, noting that the they also needed to deal with armed separatists and criminals.
 

mayfair

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Freaking astonishing! the replies in here. Is this what millions died to give us independence? is this why people laid their life for making India a democracy a civil society? I AM AGHAST at the replies from fellow Indians. This kind of wanton killing is being condoned here? . YOU all should be ashamed of yourself. You have not made India better, but in the name of fear and security have made it into a Neo con cowboy politics and world vision. . There is no difference between Sudan , African and India in this. show me one other developed country who shoots on sight? FREAKING N Korea even does not do that...

I need to walk away from this thread...
I am surprised that certain members are being allowed to get away with someone screaming invectives like " YOU all should be ashamed of yourself. You have not made India better, but in the name of fear and security have made it into a Neo con cowboy politics and world vision.". I would love to counter but it may be difficult to retain civility when faced with such rants and I find that Tshering's response is far more eloquent and sensible than the above rant. good one Tshering mate..
 

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Actually, there are two aspects here. Everyone would agree that shooting civilians is "bad" and must be avoided. Even illegal immigrants must not be simply shot dead, given that they are generally extremely poor villagers.

That said, there are several aspects that influence one's perception of events. Imagine for a moment that instead of Bangladesh, had a group of Pakistanis crossed over into J&K through the LOC and had been shot dead. Would anyone have any reservations against that? NO! That's because of our perception of the situation varies w.r.t. Bangladesh and Pakistan (especially Kashmir).

Coming to Bangladesh, many Indians' perception of BD is changing from what it was in the past, due to many reasons. While Tshering may have his reasons such as demographic change, lots of others here have seen the way right-wing Bangladeshis speak about India and what they think. They infest Paki defence forums in large numbers, and they constantly throw shit on India. They keep pulling down India for its poverty, keep creating threads on "slums", "HIV", "cow urine", and so on (conveniently forgetting their own status!). Many of them talk about 'Muslim brotherhood' and how they will never side with 'Hindu India', no matter what. Also, lots of them support that bitch Khaleda Zia's actions in the past where she promoted, funded and shielded ULFA. They openly wish for India's N-E to split, and openly speak of propping up ULFA etc. and claim that "Bangladesh's eternal security lies in the breakup of the N-E". The number of Bangladeshis with these opinions is staggeringly high.

Not to mention their conspiracy theories where they blame India for everything bad that happens in their land. Their BDR mutiny was also blamed on India by these people. As though RAW gains anything out of orchestrating one small mutiny in one corner of BD and getting a few officers killed!

Not that all BDeshis think on these lines, but lots of them do. The ones who infest Paki defence forums like bacteria certainly think on these lines. It must be remembered that many (most) people who frequent DFI have also visited these Paki forums in question and have seen for themselves the mentality prevalent among the BD people there.

With this background, I am not at all surprised at this kind of reaction by some DFI members. In fact, I am surprised that the hate for BD on this forum is not much more than it already is, given the facts!
 
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pmaitra

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^^ Good post Bangalorean.

There are both hardliners and liberals in Bangaldesh, like any other country. There are those that seek friendly relations while others have more affinity for Pakistan. When Khaleda Zia comes to power, relations sour while when Sheikh Hasina comes to power, we see positive signs, like Bangladesh Army arresting anti-India terrorists and handing them over to India. I suppose most would agree we cannot accept any more immigrants. While I never celebrate killing civilians, I would definitely welcome a mechanism by which this immigration can be stopped without bloodshed.

Here is a video that I'd quote from another thread:

Indian Railways: Maitree Express

P.S.: Even here in the US, we have Bangladeshis coming over and singing songs at Durga Puja and Indian Bengalis visiting them on Id Celebrations. We can be friends if we want to.
 
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