Indian BSF kills 700, wounds 800 in 9 years
‘The deliberate killing of civilians constitutes a crime under international law ...
Tuesday February 10 2009 10:20:48 AM BDT
The Border Security Force of India has killed more than 700 Bangladeshis and left about 800 injured between January 1, 2000 and January 31, 2009.Many of the civilians who were killed were reportedly poor farmers working on their fields.(The New Age BD )
Human rights organisation Odhikar revealed the figures in its statement on Sunday, urging the government to compensate the victims and their families and demanding reparation from the Indian government for the criminal activities of its border guards.
The human rights watchdog said the BSF killed 743, injured 806 and abducted 886 Bangladeshis between January 1, 2000 and January 31, 2009.
In this regard, Odhikar recalled the statement of the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, who justified such killings as being perpetrated on ‘criminals and smugglers’.
Odhikar feels that the extrajudicial killings perpetrated by the BSF on Bangladeshi nationals cannot be justified on any ground as the due process of national and international laws are totally ignored in such killings.
Furthermore, many of the civilians who were killed were reportedly poor farmers working on their fields.
Odhikar said, ‘The deliberate killing of civilians constitutes a crime under international law and Odhikar calls upon the government of Bangladesh to actively take up the issue with the government of India and put in place appropriate measures to provide security to civilians residing in the bordering areas.’
Indian border guards early Sunday shot dead a Bangladeshi cattle trader Abdur Razzak, 36, son of Velsu Mohammad of village Thogbasti under Baliadangi upazila in Thakurgaon.
Quoting BDR sources, UNB reports BSF troops from the Sonamati camp opened fire on Razzak at about 5:00am as he crossed the Mondumala border to take back his cattle, killing him on the spot.
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=246427