Author:
Publications: The Navhind Times
Dated: October 23, 2001
Guwahati, Oct 22(IANS): At least
100 Bangladeshi Hindu families have crossed over into Tripura, alleging
persecution and harassment by supporters of Bangladesh's new government,
witnesses said on Monday.
A tribal lawmaker in Tripura, Mr.
Rabindra Debbarma, said most of the Bangladeshi families, who had fled
their homes, were taking shelter with friends and relatives in Belonia
and Sabroom areas in south Tripura.
"Some of the Bangladeshi nationals
whom I spoke to in Belonia area said they were being tortured and harassed
by ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party supporters forcing them to enter
India," Mr. Debbarma, a government legislator and general secretary of
the influential Tripura Upajatai Juba Samity, said.
"The refugees told me that Bangladeshi
Hindus who supported the BNP were not targeted in the continuing raids
inside that country," Mr. Debbarma told IANS by telephone from Tripura
capital Agartala.
Most of the families taking refuge
in Tripura were supporters of Bangladesh's Awami League, the country's
main opposition party, and hailed from the two districts of Feni and Khagracherri.
"We are trying our best to push
back the refugees but it is very difficult to identify an Indian border
villager from a Bangladeshi as they look alike and speak the same language,"
a senior Border Security Force official said.
Leading rights groups in Bangladesh
accused BNP supporters of launching a tirade against the minority Hindus.
"The minority Hindus have suffered
harrowing torture, including rape of teenaged girls, by gangs of supporters
of the new government," Ms Rokeya Kabir, head of the Nari Pragati Sangha,
a leading women's rights group, told journalists in Dhaka on Sunday.
Hundreds of Awami League supporters
have also entered parts of bordering West Bengal fearing for their safety
after clashes with members of the BNP, which won two-thirds of the vote
in the October 1 national election.
Meanwhile, India on Monday denied
charges by Dhaka that BSF troopers killed three Bangladeshi nationals along
the border with Meghalaya during the weekend.
The Bangladesh government on Sunday
summoned Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, Mr. Manilal Tripathy, and conveyed
its concern and anger over the reported killing of three civilians.
"There was no shooting along the
border and we don't know anything about the reported incident. There are
apparently a large number of criminals and extortionists active on the
other side of the border and maybe some incident took place inside Bangladesh
with which we are not involved," Mr. B K Gaur, BSF inspector-general, told
IANS by telephone.
"We had a border meeting on Sunday
with Bangladesh Rifles officers and the relations are very cordial."
India and Bangladesh share a 4,000-km
porous border, which can be crossed easily.
Troops from the two countries have
clashed in the past, usually after alleged border crossings by Bangladeshis.
The border forces of India and Bangladesh
were engaged in a bloody skirmish in April that led to the death of 16
BSF and at least three BDR soldiers.
Several stretches are still disputed
and officially acknowledged to be in "adverse possession" of either India
or Bangladesh.
Security agencies in the north-eastern
states are worried over intelligence reports that regional separatist groups
could receive "covert" support from the BNP, which won the country's general
election.
The BNP has in the past voiced its
support for groups waging separatist insurgencies in India's North-East.
