As per the BSF, a total of four incidents have been reported so far. On August 5, around 65 people gathered at North Dinajpur-Kishanganj-Thakurdraw border. The BSF fired empty rounds in the air to disperse the crowd.
On August 7, in separate incidents, around 120 Bangladeshis were turned back from North Bengal.
The Border Security Force, in a statement, said that on the afternoon of August 7, 2024, 35 Bangladeshi nationals were sent back from North Bengal. The incident was reported from Jalpaiguri’s Manickganj border. On the same day, at another border point in North Bengal, about 85 Bangladeshis were turned back.
In one more incident, a group of 7-8 Bangladeshis requested the BSF to allow them inside India for they feared persecution in their home country. The BGB was asked to intervene and take the group away to safety.
The Border guarding force said that post these incidents, coordination between the BGB and BSF has ensured no crowding at the zero line or IB.
“Contrary to certain rumours, the BSF clarifies that there is no widespread movement of the minority population from Bangladesh towards the Indian border. The individuals gathered were primarily motivated by fears of local unrest. The BSF, in coordination with BGB and Bangladeshi civil authorities, has reassured these individuals of their safety and encouraged them to return to their homes,” BSF said in a statement.
BGB-BSF Joint Patrolling
The overall situation, as per ground level assessment, has been improving now with BGB’s help. In the initial 48 hours after Sheikh Hasina resigned, the BGB manpower at border outposts was down by more than half. Indian intelligence agencies said that while many BGB personnel were perhaps pulled out for law and order duties in mainland, many others decided to lie low fearing crowd onslaught.
But since Saturday, August 10, the BGB has been “actively cooperating with BSF to deter people from crowding at border.” An ADG level officer has been tasked to ensure regular communication with BGB, by the Union Home Ministry. CNN-News18 has learnt that in the last two days alone, around 60 meetings have happened between BSF and BGB to improve communication and coordination. The border guarding forces of the two countries have also been carrying out coordinated simultaneous patrolling along the 4000-plus-kilometre-long border. The 2011 “coordinated border management plan” is also being implemented.
Political Intervention in Dhaka
Officials monitoring the situation at the border speculated that the situation may be improving after the swearing-in of the interim government in Bangladesh. The newly appointed Bangladeshi home minister has apologised to the Hindu minority community for the attacks they have suffered in the last week. Bangladesh Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to meet a Hindu delegation on Tuesday. India is hoping that these confidence building measures will work to stabilise the situation in Dhaka.
“Hindus are regrouping in Bangladesh. They carried out a protest two days ago. May be, in the initial days of unrest, they gathered at the border to attract attention of the international community to what was happening,” an officer in Guwahati frontier observed.
The Indian government has been watching the situation closely amidst demands from within the BJP to do something for the Bangladeshi Hindus. Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP President JP Nadda got into a huddle with RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabole on Monday night. There is no doubt that BJP is under pressure from its own supporters to not shut the doors on Bangladeshi Hindus. But so far, the instructions to the Border District Police and BSF are to not allow anyone in India.
The force has been asked to keep a humane approach towards those seeking refuge but at the same time crack down on smugglers and infiltrators. On August 11, a smuggler was killed by a BSF personnel after an alleged attempt to attack with a sharp edged weapon.
While the ‘no mercy’ approach towards the infiltrators will continue, India is definitely praying for stability to return to Bangladesh, as the decision to open the doors for persecuted minorities beyond the CAA mandated 2014 cut-off year, might be a very tough call for the government to take.
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