Author: Dr. Ananad Kumar
Publication: South Asia Analysis Group
Date: August 28, 2006
URL: http://www.saag.org/papers20/paper1931.html
A high profile peace process is on between India and Pakistan to solve the controversial issues between the two neighbours. Similarly India is also making effort to sort out its border disputes with China. On the other hand not much attention is being paid to India’s border disputes with Bangladesh though only 6.5km of the border remains to be demarcated.
Both sides are yet to exchange certain enclaves. Despite the limited nature of dispute, there have been conflagrations on the Indo-Bangladesh border at regular intervals. Things have worsened with the increasing population pressure in Bangladesh. With pressure on their land Bangladeshis are trying to enter into Indian territory to cultivate land with the tacit support of Bangladeshi border guards. This has increased the problems for Indian Border Security Force who are supposed to manage the Indian side of the border. They are now demanding that border issue should be sorted out with urgency so that it can be sealed off efficiently.
Frequent Skirmishes
In the last couple of months frequent skirmishes have taken place between the BSF and the BDR. On June 9 BSF and BDR personnel exchanged fire for over six hours after a Bangladeshi smuggler was shot dead in Nadia district of West Bengal. According to BSF Inspector General Somesh Goyal the Bangladeshi, identified as Mohammad Yousuf, was killed after he attacked an Indian soldier with a knife to evade arrest. Troops of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) then opened fire on a BSF patrol, and Indian forces returned fire. The incident took place at the Gede-Nimatala frontier, about 140 km north of Kolkata. The deceased was carrying four kg of ganja and 50 bottles of cough syrup. Five others accompanying him fled under the cover of darkness. The officer also alleged that the BDR had made deliberate attempts to provide cover to the Bangladesh smugglers.
In another incident of unprovoked firing a BSF constable was killed on June 12 when border guards chasing a gang of Bangladeshi smugglers were fired on by the Bangladesh Rifles in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district. Pursued by the BSF on Indian territory, the smugglers, numbering five to six, dived into the Ichhamati river at Ghojadanga. The BDR then fired on the Indian border guards. Rajendra Kumar Sharma, a constable of 191 BSF battalion died in the incident.
On June 20, BSF and Bangladesh Rifles troops exchanged fire in Malda district, about 320 kilometres north of West Bengal’s capital Kolkata.
Another clash took place on June 28 after BDR soldiers resorted to ‘unprovoked’ gunfire near the Harinagar area in southern Assam’s Cachar district, about 320 km from the state’s main city of Guwahati. The immediate provocation for the June 28 firing was over a strip of land measuring 216 acres near the Surma river which Bangladesh claims as their territory. India maintains the land is not disputed and falls inside the border pillar that separates the two countries.
Commanders of the two countries met on July 4 at the border and agreed to defuse the tension by withdrawing troops from the area. The BDR assured it would discourage its civilians from illegal cultivation on Indian land and withdraw additional troops. But they did not adhere to the assurances and their troops are reportedly staying in civilian houses in the area.
BSF Blames Bangladesh for Encouraging Citizens to Encroach
On July 27 India accused Bangladesh of mobilising troops on the border along the northeastern state of Assam and encouraging its nationals to encroach on Indian territory for cultivation. In a statement Ashwini Kumar Singh, deputy inspector general of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) said, ‘The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) has strengthened its defence by digging trenches and morchas (bunkers) which demonstrates their aggressive posture…BDR soldiers were also encouraging and instigating their civilians to continue illegal cultivation inside Indian land.’
Just a day before, the Assam government had charged Dhaka with illegally grabbing two square kilometres of Indian land in western and southern parts of the state. In the state assembly Assam Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman said, ‘A total of about 499.83 acres of Assam territory has been encroached and occupied by the neighbouring country after the boundary pillars were removed.’ Assam shares a 272 km border with Bangladesh of which about 75 percent has been fenced with barbed wire. The rest is demarcated by small concrete pillars.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, told parliament that the 2 sq km of land was not forcibly encroached, but was under "adverse possession" of Bangladesh.
Clashes flared up on the night of August 9 when the Bangladesh Rifles targeted Harinagar, Kinnokhal and Tokargram border outposts of the BSF with heavy mortars. These went on for nearly fourteen hours in which 10,000 bullets and 400 mortar shells were exchanged. In this incident at least seven people, including two Indian women and five Bangladesh Rifles soldiers were killed. The incident also displaced thousands of villagers from their homes who left for safer places. This firing was a sequel to the unprovoked firing from the BDR that had taken place on June 28. At that time, over 200 acres of land was forcibly acquired by the BDR, but returned to the rightful owners after a flag meeting between border officers on July 4.
The Indian High Commission in Dhaka expressed concern over the incidents. The commission in a press release said, "The background to the firing is the continuing attempt at infiltration and encroachment by Bangladesh into approximately 220 acres of land at the western bank of the Surma river, across the BSF outposts at Harinagar and Kinokhal. There are well-demarcated boundary pillars in this area, clearly indicating that the land belongs to India." The high commission said the BDR commander had assured the Indian side, at the commander level flag meeting held on July 4, that BDR would stop Bangladeshi civilians from illegally cultivating on the Indian land lying across the Surma. It accused BDR of building up massive force in the area "by preparing new trenches, re-enforcing its border outposts (BOPs), deploying heavy machine guns and mortars."
The BSF had thwarted a similar move earlier on April 15, 2001, when the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) had taken over Pyrdiwah village near the Dawki-Tamabil border and occupied the place for five days. The incident was followed by the killing of 16 BSF jawans near Boraibari (on the Indo-Bangladesh border) on April 18 near Mancachar (Assam) by suspected BDR men and criminals from the neighbouring country.
BDR Firing On Border Part of a Bigger Gameplan
Indian security officials believe that the firing on the Harinagar-Amalshied point of Indo-Bangla border was not an innocuous flare-up but a planned bid to create dispute-points on the frontier. The intention behind the flare-up became clear at August 13 flag-meeting, when Bangladesh insisted that "status quo" be declared on the land. BDR claimed India was in "adverse possession" of the land but BSF officials proved the claim as false and rejected the status quo demand, saying it was a demarcated position on the International Border. Bangladesh then sought a reference to "higher headquarters", a euphemism for New Delhi, which too was rejected. It is believed that the larger gameplan is to create dispute points to engage the border force and distract it from other issues.
Cattle Smuggling a Serious Problem on Indo-Bangladesh Border
The clashes between the BSF and the BDR also result because of the problem of cattle smuggling from India to Bangladesh. Till April this year, the BSF had arrested 822 smugglers along the Indo-Bangla border, compared to 1,839 in 2005, 1,639 in 2004 and 1,971 the year earlier. According to the Minister of State for Home Affairs S Regupathy "unfenced gaps in the border fence are being plugged with improvised fencing and it is being extended to as many areas as possible. Special raids are also carried out in depth areas in coordination with local police and customs departments." Other steps include establishment of new border out posts (BOPs) and a pilot project of flood lighting of 277 km of Indo-Bangla border in West Bengal. Despite the special steps taken by the BSF to check the illegal trade, the problem still persists.
Dispute Due to Border Guidelines
A major cause of dispute between India and Bangladesh has been the differing interpretation of border guidelines framed in 1975. India maintains that these guidelines are meant for the demolition of defensive structures within 150 yards of No Mans Land. They do not apply to the building of a fence along the border since it is meant to check smuggling and other illegal activities. But the BDR has misinterpreted the guidelines probably with the sole objective of capturing Indian land trapped between the fence and the No Mans Land.
India to Seal Its Border with Bangladesh by Year End
In response to the concerns expressed by the political leaders of Assam, the government of India wants to expedite the work of border fencing. The government now wants to seal the Assam border completely with barbed wire by the year-end to prevent illegal infiltration from the neighbouring country. Speaking to media B. S. Lalli, a senior Indian home ministry official said, "We have set a deadline to complete fencing the border by the end of the year, besides replacing old fencing with new ones."
The barbed wire fences apart, floodlights will be installed in the border areas to prevent cross-border movement of people at night. The fenced border would be backed by proper patrolling for which the BSF is acquiring advanced gadgets. The troops are also being provided patrol vehicles to check trans-border movements of insurgents.
The BSF is also planning to increase its manpower by raising 20 more battalions. Besides, the increased number of vehicles and surveillance equipment will help the force to cover more areas with less manpower. The parmilitary force is also thinking of going for better coordination with the state intelligence agencies to combat ultra outfits.
BSF Wants Early Solution of Border Row with Bangladesh
But to ensure the foolproof fencing of the sensitive Indo-Bangladesh border the BSF director general AK Mitra wants that the issue of “adverse possession” should be settled as soon as possible. “Adverse possession” is the geographical land mass surrounded by the other country. At present India has 2262 acres of Bangladeshi land with it. Similarly, Bangladesh has 2892 acres of Indian territory with it. Mitra also feels that many of the present border skirmishes between the two countries had their genesis in unresolved positions on the border.
Problems crop up every year during sowing and harvest season when Bangladeshi farmers enter Indian territory for cultivation, though no Indian farmers ever go to Bangladesh to work on lands under its possession. Some Home Ministery officials feel that it was the indifferent attitude of successive governments since 1975 that had left the issue unresolved for decades now. What is worse nearly 6.5km of the border is still undemarcated which is beyond the scope of any patrolling or fencing by Indian forces making it one of the most “porous” and sensitive sections of the country’s international border.
Limited Success of Joint Boundary Working Group in Solving Border Issues
After the brutal killing of the BSF jawans in 2001 a Joint Boundary Working Group (JBWG) was created to solve the border problems. The JBWG first met in May 2001 in Delhi and again in Dhaka a month later. After their last meeting held in March 2002 in Delhi, officials concerned submitted their proposals to their respective government for settling the longstanding issues. But the move came to a stop later.
The JBWG received a fresh fillip after the visit of Bangladesh prime minister to India. As a result a two-day meeting of the group was held in Dhaka from July 16 to 17. This meeting was the fourth of its kind. In this meeting the Bangladesh delegation was led by the Home Ministry Joint Secretary (Political) Akhtar Ahmed while the Indian side was led by Mohan Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs.
The two-day deliberations ended without resolving the longstanding issues of border demarcation and exchange of enclaves and territories now under adverse possession. However, both sides agreed to talks once a year, expressing the hope that the next round of discussions would take place at an early date. It was generally agreed that the issues involved are complex and difficult. Hence it will be a mistake to think that they can be solved in a short period. Mohan Kumar said, 'What we've agreed to today is the beginning of a process which, we are hopeful, will lead to an eventual settlement of the issues.'
Conclusion
A number of controversial issues engender conflagration on the Indo – Bangladesh border. The problems involved are so complex that they defy easy solutions. In this situation, it would be advisable if India starts by first solving the border issue and then move to the issue of illegal migration and terror camps in Bangladesh. Problems on the Indo-Bangladesh border have persisted also because it figures very low on the priority list of the Indian government. A senior Home Ministry official reportedly said, “Nobody seems serious about taking up this issue. Once the Indian government takes the initiative to resolve the issue, Bangladesh would have no option but to fall in line. It is imperative to sort out the problem at the earliest in the larger interest of the country’s security.” This indifference of the Indian government has been used by Bangladesh to its advantage. They have tried to capture Indian land and given shelter to the insurgents active in northeastern India. They have also pushed their surplus population in the Indian territory. It is time India pays more attention to its northeastern border, before it gets too late!