Meghalaya-Bangladesh border tense

Raju Das

SHILLONG, Sept 12 – Some areas along the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya is tense after villagers yesterday took up arms in self-defence against Bangladeshi intruders. The Border Security Force, meanwhile, is being blamed for poor border management.

Tension arose after Bangladeshis were fired upon by local villagers near Lapalang village along the international border at Pynursla, East Khasi Hills district.

“The Indian villagers fired in self-defence after a group of Bangladeshis intruded into Indian territory and attacked at about 11 am yesterday,” John Kharshiing, member, State Planning Board, who has been campaigning on behalf of the border population, said.

The BSF, after the incident, filed an FIR with the police station at Pynursla police station against “unknown individuals,” saying they heard gunshots in the area.

Last month, a similar incident occurred at the same village where two Bangladeshis were shot dead after they entered into one of the orchards in the area. A few days later an Indian villager was grievously attacked by Bangladeshis near the village.

The BSF, which is mandated to provide security in these unfenced villages along the border, is being blamed for its failure to curb these repeated intrusions and violence.

Senior police officials at Pynursla said, there has been no such case of firing reported, although, confirming that the BSF has indeed filed an FIR.

“The BSF has filed an FIR against unknown individuals after hearing gunshots. We have sent our police team in the area to investigate. We cannot say anything for certain before the investigation is completed,” the police official said on condition of anonymity.

Warning that such tensions along the border would only flare up, Kharshiing, meanwhile, suggested: “the Home Ministry must deploy home guards in the border areas because of their better knowledge about the local terrain and population, or conduct specialised training for the Village Defence Party.”

He said the local border population finds it difficult to communicate with the BSF due to the language barrier. “By the time the local villager tries to explain to the BSF, something grave happens. That hopefully won’t be the case once the home guards are deployed or the VDPs are properly trained,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, the BSF frontier (Assam-Meghalaya) headquarter officials did not return calls after repeated attempts to get the border guards’ view about the allegations and the firing.