AGARTALA: The Border Security Force (BSF) is on high alert to deal with any situation that may arise due to the prevailing unrest in neighbouring Bangladesh, a top official said on Sunday.
Anti-quota agitations in the neighbouring country have left more than 100 dead, prompting the government to enforce a curfew to tackle the volatile situation.
“The prevailing law and order situation in Bangladesh is a security concern for the BSF too as we are entrusted with guarding the international border. We are fully seized of the situation and have beefed up security so that criminal elements from across the border do not take advantage of the current situation,” BSF Tripura Frontier Inspector General Patel Piyush Purushottam Das said at a press conference.
He said a large number of troops and all senior commanders have been sent to the border to ensure a high level of operational preparedness.
“The BSF is fully committed to securing the borders of our country and is fully prepared to deal with any exigency,” he said.
Das said that one of the prime concerns at present is the safe return of Indian students studying in Bangladesh.
“The number of Indian students in Bangladesh is believed to be close to 8,000 and most of them are enrolled in medical colleges. Most of the students are studying in medical colleges in Comilla, Brahmanbaria and Dhaka and many have chosen to enter India through Tripura,” he said.
Altogether 314 students, including 66 Nepalese studying in Bangladesh, returned to India through the northeastern state’s border on Sunday, while 379 students entered from the neighbouring country on July 19 and 20. A total of 693 students have so far been evacuated from violence-hit Bangladesh.
The IG also thanked the BGB (Border Guards Bangladesh) for lending support for the evacuation of the students.
“I am very thankful to the BGB, which despite the law and order situation and its heavy commitment, has helped us by providing transportation and safe passage (to students) till Agartala. All this was done seamlessly and in a very professional manner. This is a testimony to the cooperation and good relations that exists between BSF and BGB,” Das said.
The BSF is expecting more students to cross over in the coming days and is fully prepared to provide all assistance and ensure their safe return to their homes, he added.
In Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said that in the wake of the escalating violence in Bangladesh, she would keep the doors of her state open for people in distress from the neighbouring country and offer them shelter.
Banerjee referred to the United Nations Resolution on refugees as justification for her stand over the possible humanitarian crisis that may emerge on account of the severe law and order breakdown that has gripped Bangladesh over the past few days.
“I should not be speaking on the affairs of Bangladesh since that is a sovereign nation and whatever needs to be said on the issue is a subject matter of the Centre. But I can tell you this, if helpless people come knocking on the doors of Bengal, we will surely provide them shelter,” Banerjee said at the ‘Martyrs Day’ rally of the TMC in Kolkata.
“That’s because there is a United Nations Resolution to accommodate refugees in regions adjacent to those under turmoil,” the Bengal CM added while drawing an example from Assamese people who were allowed to live in Alipurduars area of north Bengal for a considerable period during the Bodo strife in the northeastern state.
Assuring all cooperation to Bengal residents whose relatives may have remained stuck on account of the escalating violence on the eastern side of the international border, she also extended assistance to Bangladeshis who came to Bengal but were facing difficulty in returning home.
Banerjee also appealed to the people of West Bengal to not get provoked over matters concerning the current situation in Bangladesh.
“We should exercise restraint and not walk into any provocation or excitement on the issue,” she stated.
The Trinamool Congress supremo also expressed her solidarity with the people who have remained at the receiving end of the ongoing violence in the neighbouring country.
“We are sad to see blood getting spilt and my heart goes out to those students who were killed,” she said.
President of the BJP’s Bengal unit and junior union minister Sukanta Majumdar, however, opined that such matters, involving the country’s foreign policies, should first be consulted with the Centre before any public statement is made.
“It’s true that we are all concerned about the current situation in Bangladesh over which Delhi is keeping a close watch. Our chief minister should not be voicing her opinions on matters involving our country’s foreign policies without first consulting the Centre,” he said.
Violence escalated in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka and elsewhere over student protests demanding reforms of the quota system for government jobs.
The protesters are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves up to 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971 against Pakistan.
