Monday, February 22, 2010

Double Scrutiny on Bangladesh Border


A central team and BSF chief to visit Meghalaya this week

A BSF jawan keeps vigil on the border.

Shillong, Feb 22 : The Centre is sending a team of officials from the border management wing of the home ministry to visit Shillong this week to assess the progress of border fencing on the Indo-Bangla border, especially in the Khasi-Jaintia hills sector.

Meghalaya chief secretary W.M.S. Pariat said the central team would meet the state government officials to sort out the problems faced by the villagers in the border areas.

During the recent meeting of the chief ministers with Union home minister P. Chidambaram in Delhi, Meghalaya chief minister D.D. Lapang had expressed concern about people losing cultivable land to the fence.

The chief secretary admitted that because of faulty demarcation of the border, the fence, if erected, would go beyond 150 yards from the zero line and the farmers would lose vast tracts of land.

The chief secretary said the central team might also hold meetings with the National Building Construction Company Limited (NBCC), which is constructing the fence.

Several NGOs, under the banner Co-ordination Committee on International Border, had opposed construction of the fence in Khasi-Jaintia Hills till the borders were properly demarcated.

Earlier, the BSF inspector-general, Assam-Meghalaya frontier, Prithvi Raj, said the BSF was keen on completing the remaining fencing work in order to prevent cross-border crime and infiltration.

While the central team is slated to visit Meghalaya some time this week, the director-general of BSF, Raman Srivastava, too, will visit both Assam and Meghalaya from February 24 to assess the situation along the borders and meet the civil administration as well as senior BSF officials.

The official’s maiden visit to the Northeast assumes significance in the context of the recurring clashes between the BSF and BDR in Muktapur in Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya.

This is also his first visit to the region after Bangladesh handed over top ULFA functionaries to Assam.

The BSF public relations officer, Ravi Gandhi, said on February 24, the BSF chief would assess the ground situation along the Assam border. The following day he will be in Meghalaya.

In Assam, the BSF DG is expected to meet chief minister Tarun Gogoi to assess the situation after Bangladesh handed over top ULFA leaders, including its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa to India.

Assam has a 262-km border with Bangladesh, of which 92 km is riverine.

The need to strengthen the border effectively will figure in his meeting with the Assam officials. Meghalaya, on the other hand, shares a 444-km border with Bangladesh.

During the meeting with both the civil administration as well as the BSF officials, the DG is likely to suggest concrete measures to secure the borders.

The immediate cause of concern for the BSF chief will be the standoff between the BDR and the BSF in Muktapur and adjoining areas of Jaintia Hills border.

On February 4, BDR men opened fire at BSF border outposts at Muktapur and Naljuri claiming that several patches of land belong to them.

A BDR man was also caught by the BSF to prevent any escalation of the tension but later released.

Again, on February 14, BDR men fired on civilians when they were fishing, prompting the BSF to retaliate.

The BSF public relations officer today said the situation along the border was now normal and villagers had begun cultivating in Muktapur.




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