West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday raised aspersions on the Border Security Forces(BSF) of India, asking police in districts that share borders with neighbouring countries to keep a tab on their activities. She also asked the police to not allow the BSF to breach its earmarked jurisdiction and asserted that law and order is a state subject.
The TMC chief also accused the BSF personnel of harassing villagers and locals and entering areas that are not under their jurisdiction.
“I know there is this problem…BSF personnel enter our villages and then we get complaints of harassment. They go to several places that are beyond their jurisdiction without informing the police,” Banerjee said at an administrative review meeting of Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur districts held in Karnajora.
Banerjee linked her distrust of BSF to the recent spate of violence that erupted in Nagaland following the killing of 13 civilians by security forces. “Everybody has seen what happened in Nagaland… in Bengal’s Sitalkuchi during assembly polls and recently in Coochbehar, where three persons were killed in firing… I will ask the block development officers and inspectors-in-charge to be on alert,” she said.
Mamata Banerjee ups her antes against BJP govt for BSF order
Deepening its feud with the Centre, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had earlier moved a resolution in the state Assembly on November 17 opposing the central government’s decision to extend the Border Security Force jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km. The CM had criticised the Centre’s move alleging that it was an attempt to interfere with the federal structure of the country.
Besides, the chief minister has also been grumbling about the Centre’s decision to extend the jurisdiction of BSF, calling the move an attempt to undermine the federal structure of the country. The BJP government at the Centre had amended the BSF Act to sanction the force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a 50-km stretch from the earlier 15-km limit, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.
“We do not have problems in the border areas and share very cordial relations (with neighbouring countries). There is no need to create this confusion. Law and order is a state subject,” Banerjee had said.
While Mamata Banerjee claims West Bengal, which shares its borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, has no border-related problems, reports suggest that there is an alarming rise in smuggling, especially of bovine animals, along the Bangladesh-West Bengal border. The BSF has played a crucial role in foiling smuggling bids at the porous international border between Bangladesh and India.
Centre extends BSF’s operational area in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam
It may be noted that the Union Ministry of Home & Affairs has amended its July 3, 2014 notification to extend the jurisdiction of Border Security Forces (BSF) from existing 15 km to 50 km inside the international border in Assam, West Bengal and Punjab which share borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively.
Moreover, the jurisdiction of BSF in Gujarat has been reduced from 80 km to 50 km and no change has been made in Rajasthan where BSF continues to guard 50 km from the border.
The basic idea was to bring uniformity in the area of operation in states sharing international borders.
The BSF was raised in December 1965 as a specialized force to guard India’s international border.
The decision was taken in the wake of an increasing number of cases of cattle and drug smuggling and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) racket alongside the international borders. Drug and arms smuggling has emerged as a new challenge in Punjab whereas Assam and West Bengal are the hotbeds of cattle smuggling, FICN, and illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya migration.
