Tension prevailed at the Sitalkuchi fenced land border area of Cooch Behar district in West Bengal on Friday morning as nearly a thousand panicked Bangladeshi nationals attempted to cross over to India and seek refuge.
The Bangladeshis, mostly Hindus, assembled some 400 metres away from the fence alongside a water body at the Genduguri and Doikhawa villages in the Lalmonirhat district of Bangladesh.
However, their attempt was foiled by the Border Security Force (BSF), which maintained a strict vigil at the border.
India-Bangladesh Border | Video
The BSF's 157 Battalion was heavily deployed at the Pathantuli village, monitoring the area on foot and in vehicles, making it impossible for the foreigners to infiltrate. The disappointed Bangladeshis were heard raising slogans in support of their demand for entry into Indian soil.
When inquired about the incident, a senior BSF official confirmed that a large number of Bangladeshis had assembled at the border but were later taken back by the BGB. “The Bangladeshis had gathered at the border, but none were able to enter the country as the border was completely sealed. They were later taken back by the BGB into their own country,” the official said.
In a statement released later in the day by the Guwahati Frontier of the BSF, the organisation called the development a “new border challenge”.
“This emerging challenge is new to the BSF, which is primarily entrusted with the security of India’s borders along both Bangladesh and Pakistan. Faced with the delicate task of managing humanitarian concerns while ensuring border security, the BSF demonstrated exceptional professionalism, with its officers and men swiftly responding to the situation,” the statement read.
Severe and bloody anti-government protests in Bangladesh over the past three weeks, which led to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government and the taking over of the country’s administration by an interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, has resulted in an overall death of 469 people till reports last received.
Local media outlets have reported severe persecution of minorities in that country in the wake of the violence leading to several attempts by panicked Bangladeshis to illegally cross over to India over the past few days.
(With PTI Inputs)
