Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has expressed deep grief and protested the death of a Bangladeshi youth shot by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) in Pirganj, along with the wounding of two others.
The party’s secretary general, Mia Golam Parwar, issued the protest in a statement sent to media on Sunday.
In the statement, he said Bangladeshi youth Asadul Haque, 38, who was shot in a border area of Pirganj upazila, Thakurgaon, by India’s Border Security Force, died while undergoing treatment. Two other Bangladeshi nationals were seriously wounded and remain under treatment. “I express my deep grief and sorrow over this loss of life and offer my strong condemnation and protest against this incident. I also extend my deepest sympathy to the family of the deceased and pray for the swift recovery of the injured,” he said.
He said Asadul Haque was shot by the BSF about 1.5 kilometres inside Indian territory from the Pirganj border, and reportedly died while undergoing treatment at an Indian hospital. “This incident is extremely tragic and concerning. Incidents of this kind are creating insecurity and fear among people living along Bangladesh’s border,” he said.
He further said that shooting and killing a citizen of another country at the border can never be acceptable under any circumstances. Shooting and killing a citizen of an independent, sovereign country violates human rights and international norms, he said.
Mia Golam Parwar said Bangladesh-India relations should be conducted on the basis of mutual respect, equality, justice and respect for sovereignty. Repeated loss of life at the border is in no way consistent with the good relations expected between the peoples of the two countries, he said. The use of lethal weapons at the border must be stopped to ensure humane and peaceful border management.
He called on the Bangladesh government to lodge a formal and strong protest with India over the incident and to determine the actual cause through a flag meeting. He also called for ensuring the safety of Bangladeshi citizens at the border and for taking effective, visible steps to prevent such loss of life in the future.