Bangladesh Opposition Parties Announce Border Protests Against India Over Alleged 'Push-ins'

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Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami and a coalition of opposition parties, including the National Citizen Party (NCP), have announced protests along the India-Bangladesh border over alleged "push-ins" by India and the reported killing of Bangladeshi nationals near the frontier. The Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance has unveiled a two-day protest programme, demanding an end to the alleged push-ins and border killings. "There is no legal provision for killing anyone at the border. Even if a person commits a crime, there are legal procedures to arrest and bring them under the law. Directly shooting and killing people is a clear violation of human rights and an attack on Bangladesh's sovereignty," said Hamidur Rahman Azad, coordinator of the 11-party alliance and assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, as cited by The Daily Star. Azad said border killings had long been a concern, but claimed the situation had become more serious under the current government. Referring to reports published in national newspapers, he alleged that attempts were made to push people into Bangladesh at more than 50 locations along the border during March, April, and May this year, involving 2,479 individuals. He also claimed that 19 Bangladeshis were killed and 24 were injured in firing by the Border Security Force (BSF) during the first 100 days of the current government. Azad further alleged that 83 people had been detained or abducted by the BSF and Myanmar's Arakan Army, and accused the government of failing to respond effectively to the situation along the border. Speaking at the same press conference, National Citizen Party (NCP) Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary said people living near the zero line were facing a humanitarian crisis and were in need of food and water. Calling for tighter border surveillance, he said, "The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) must be strengthened further to prevent push-ins. People in border areas should form a human shield so that terrorists, smugglers or criminals cannot enter Bangladesh." Patwary also criticised remarks made by the home minister and other government officials, saying the situation along the border could not be treated solely as an "internal matter" of India. "The lives, security and sovereignty of the people of Bangladesh are involved here," he said. The remarks come days after a standoff between Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at four locations along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal ended with dozens of Bangladeshi nationals who had been stranded at zero points since Friday leaving the area by Saturday morning. The most significant confrontation took place near Pillar No. 134 in Panishala in Cooch Behar's Mekhliganj, where 10 people remained stranded after the BGB refused to accept them, alleging they were being "illegally pushed back" from India. According to BSF, the BGB declined a proposed flag meeting, but after several hours of discussions and an altercation early on Saturday, the situation eased, and those stranded returned to Bangladesh. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has also urged Bangladesh to expedite the verification of suspected Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India to facilitate their deportation. Addressing a media briefing last week, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said a bilateral mechanism was already in place for such cases. “We refer these cases to the Bangladesh side for them to verify the nationality of these people. And once it is verified, then we take forward the deportation process,” he said, noting that India had made several requests to Dhaka to speed up the verification process. “We hope and expect that they will be expedited as soon as possible so that the deportation of people who are illegally staying in India can be taken forward in a smooth and efficient manner,” Jaiswal added.