Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswamy said that not only Bangladesh but India also wants to sign the Teesta agreement. There was a consensus in India between the government and the opposition to address this issue. However, as a friend, I would like to say that the friends of Bangladesh should understand Bangladesh as we say; I mean, it's important to understand India. We have some constitutional obligations, which cannot be changed unilaterally.
In a recent interview with Bangladeshi vernacular daily The Prothom Alo, the Indian High Commissioner made the remarks in the context of the Teesta accord. In the interview given to the Indian High Commissioner's Office, he spoke on various issues related to the relations between the two countries as well as regional and global issues.
Vikram Doraiswamy said Bangladesh is one of India's neighbors. The two countries hold regular discussions and exchange information to advance relations as close neighbors. The two sides discuss issues of mutual interest; which is not always the case. Due to the democracy of the two countries, the citizens also give their opinion on various issues. But the opinion of the citizens is not the view of the government in the end.
In the interview published in Prothom Alo, Bikram Doraiswamy spoke about the Teesta agreement as well as the demarcation of the Feni river and the ban on the use of lethal weapons at the border. He told about National Citizenship Register or NRC. The interview also raised the issue of delay in implementation of projects under India's recent loan agreement or LOC.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in April 2017 that the Teesta agreement would be signed during their tenure. But that did not happen. The people of Bangladesh feel that India is slowly moving away from the Teesta accord, which has created frustration among them. However, the signing of the Teesta agreement has become uncertain?
In this context, Vikram Doraiswamy said that according to the constitutional structure, power has been shared between the state and central governments. There are many internal issues regarding water among the states of India. We do not want to solve the problem, but it is not. We want to address this with all parties. Unfortunately, the process is political. This should be addressed.
Friends of Bangladesh should understand that we do not lack political will, he said. But we have our own political process to address any issue. However, this does not exclude us from the issue of water sharing of other common rivers. Because, the number of our common river number is 52. So we need to quickly find out how we can manage other rivers together.
Regarding the demarcation of Feni river, Vikram Doraiswamy said, We have been discussing for more than a year to fix the 1.6 km border of Feni river. Both sides have agreed to resolve the issue following the principles of the land border agreement. The question is, at what time will the river boundary be measured? In the past the boundaries were given after jointly measuring the river water. Since then the course of the river has changed. Now the question arises, which course of the river will be considered? Because, the issue of land use is directly involved with it. However it has been delayed due to Covid.
Hopefully, we will be able to address this by speeding up the process, he said. From the political level we have been asked to find a solution so that no new complications are created. Therefore, it is now the responsibility of the surveyors and bureaucrats of both the countries to find a solution with wisdom. The task did not seem impossible to me. I went there twice and saw the map and realized that this problem can be solved. We have to resolve this under the land boundary agreement package.
Regarding the ban on the use of lethal weapons at the border, the Indian High Commissioner said that something or other is happening at the border every day. Blank shots are fired several times a day, from 10pm to 5am. The question is, who is involved in these incidents? First, Indians and Bangladeshis are involved in these incidents. As a result, it is certainly not illegal immigration. Second, 99 percent of these people are between the ages of 18 and 35. All of them are involved in illegal activities including cattle smuggling. If it is a matter of smuggling small things like Yaba, it can be done by throwing it from one side of the border to the other. There is no need to gather so many people!
Doraiswamy said that while these incidents of loss of life are highly reprehensible and tragic, it should not be confused with the illegal crossing of unarmed people at the border. This is because when civilians are caught accidentally or during a planned incursion, members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) regularly try to repatriate detainees once their citizenship has been confirmed. People detained at the time of entry are not deported unless they have sufficient information. They were handed over to the local police for filing a case against them. According to official figures, 460 Bangladeshis have been handed over to the BGB from January to October 2021. And 124 Bangladeshis have been handed over to police due to violation of border laws.
He said that the incidents of violence due to illegal economic activities at the border should be investigated. A large number of border guards deployed in our part of the border patrol regularly. Usually a group of four people patrol at night. As part of our own management, one has a deadly weapon in the interest of reducing and protecting border violence. Others have palette guns (non-lethal weapons).
That is the picture of the border in our part. If there is any pressure at the border, we coordinate. A group from the Indian side came and gathered at the border. A group from Bangladesh came and gathered. The smugglers try to cross the cows by cutting the barbed wire fence. They can't cut it fast because of the long barbed wire fences on both sides of the border. For this, sometimes they bring heavy equipment including cantilever to pass the cows over the barbed wire. Now when the Indian border guards stop the smugglers on our part, they start violence. These people, who are more numerous than the border guards, have weapons, sharp weapons and sticks in their hands. This creates a risk to the lives of the border guards.
He said smugglers usually know in advance which border guards have lethal weapons in their hands. So in the beginning they attacked the border guards carrying weapons. People from both sides of the border do it. Because it happens in the dark of night, you cannot understand who is an Indian and who is a Bangladeshi. Apart from that, they all look the same. In all incidents of border violence, BSF members have been severely injured by sharp weapons, some have had their hands amputated, some have lost their wrists. It is not that the border guards wanted to shoot at the people in the beginning.
Some statistics can be given in support of this argument. Between 2010 and 2019, 124 Bangladeshis were killed inside Indian territory by Indian border guards. At the same time, 90 Indian nationals were killed in these incidents. At that time, 17 BSF members lost their lives in these violent incidents. A total of 1,039 BSF members were injured in the blast.
So the victims of the tragic violence on our part of the border are not illegal immigrants. Illegal crossings for work occur from both sides. In this case, the protocol is very humane. Violence against people does not occur during border crossings. But when violence and death are combined, things are different; which is not illegal immigration. People do not do this to come and go in India or Bangladesh. They are doing it for economic purposes.
People are poor and they have to find a way to make a living. You can't call them cattle traders. There is no legal cattle trade between Bangladesh and India. Cattle trade may be legal within Bangladesh and within the states of India. But cross-border cattle trade is not legal. Those who are doing this, they know the matter. If not, why would they go to the border at 3 o'clock at night? If they are legitimate cattle traders, they should go during the daytime. People need to understand. These people must be stopped. It must be stopped.
We need to work together to increase economic opportunities and encourage legitimate trade across the border, said Vikram Doraiswamy. People have had social and cultural ties for over 75 years. There is no reason to complicate the situation without supporting them in this celebration. In a country that is so important to us, why go there to provoke a negative attitude towards us? It doesn't make any sense. Poor people want to earn in an easy way. Cattle are not so expensive in India. But good prices are available in Bangladesh. It is true that Bangladesh is doing very well in animal production. As a result, you don't really need a cow. But if you can buy from India at a nominal price and sell here at a good price, then everyone will want to earn in this way.