Bangladesh–India border

Post number 1273 of Bangladesh–India border

The Radcliffe Line was published on 17 August 1947 as a boundary demarcation line between India and Pakistan upon the partition of India. It was named after its architect, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who, as chairman of the Border Commissions, was charged with equitably dividing 450,000 square kilometres (175,000 sq mi) of territory with 88 million people.[3]

BDR (now BGB) Commander checking dead Bangladeshi soldiers at the border

The border is used as a route for smuggling livestock, food items, medicines, and drugs from India to Bangladesh. Moreover, illegal immigrants from Bangladesh cross the border to India. Because of a large number of illegal immigrants crossing from Bangladesh into India, a controversial shoot-on-sight policy has been enforced by the Indian border patrols.[4][5][6] This policy was initiated with reports of violence between the illegal migrants and Indian soldiers.[7] The border has also witnessed occasional skirmishes between the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), most notably in 2001.

In July 2009, Channel 4 News reported that hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis were killed by the BSF along the Indo-Bangladeshi border fence during its construction. The BSF state that the fence's main purpose is to check illegal immigration and to prevent cross-border terrorism.[8] In 2010, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued an 81-page report which documented a number abuses committed by the BSF. The report was compiled from the interviews of abuse victims, witnesses, members of the BSF, and its Bangladeshi counterpart, the BGB. The report stated that over 900 Bangladeshi citizens were killed during the first decade of the 21st century, many of whom crossed the border for cattle rustling or other smuggling activities. However, the report also noted that some were killed due to "indiscriminate firing from across the border". The HRW called for a joint independent investigation to be conducted by both governments.[9]

Bangladesh Last House, on the Bangladesh–India border at Jointa Hill Resort, Tamabil, Sylhet

The BSF has often been accused by the Bangladeshi government of incursions into Bangladeshi territory, and indiscriminate shooting of civilians along the India–Bangladesh border. This was in retaliation to massive illegal immigration from Bangladesh to India, for which the India–Bangladesh Barrier is underway.[10] In a news conference in August 2008, Indian BSF officials admitted that they killed 59 illegals (34 Bangladeshis, 21 Indians, rest unidentified) who were trying to cross the border during the prior six months.[11] Bangladeshi media accused the BSF of abducting 5 Bangladeshi children, aged between 8 and 15, from the Haripur Upazila in Thakurgaon District of Bangladesh, in 2010. The children were setting fishing nets near the border.[12] In 2010, Human Rights Watch has accused the Border Security Force for the indiscriminate killings. BSF forces killed and hanged the dead body over the fence – that of Ms. Felani (a 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl) – on 7 January 2011.[13]

Many conferences have been held between India and Bangladesh to discuss such issues as smuggling and trespassing, cattle lifting, and trafficking of drugs and weapons. Colonel Muhammad Shahid Sarwar of BGB gave BSF a list of miscreants which took place in India, and the BSF side also handed over a similar list to the BGB.

India Bangladesh Border

The enclaves or chitmahals (Bengali: ছিটমহল) between India and Bangladesh border in the Indian state of West Bengal were a long-standing issue between the countries. The enclaves were reputedly part of a high-stakes card game or chess games centuries ago between two regional kings, the Raja of Cooch Behar and the Maharaja of Rangpur, and the result of the confused outcome of a treaty between the Kingdom of Koch Bihar and the Mughal Empire. After the partition of India in 1947, Cooch Behar district merged with India and Rangpur went to then-East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1971.

The prime ministers of India and Bangladesh signed a Land Boundary Agreement in 1974 to exchange all enclaves and simplify the international border. In 1974 Bangladesh approved the proposed Land Boundary Agreement, but India did not ratify it. In 2011 the two countries again agreed to exchange enclaves and adverse possessions. A revised version of the agreement was finally adopted by the two countries when the Parliament of India passed the 119th Amendment to the Indian Constitution on 7 May 2015.[14][15]

Inside the main part of Bangladesh, there were 111 Indian enclaves (17,160.63 acres), while inside the main part of India, there were 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (7,110.02 acres). In respect of adverse possessions, India received 2,777.038 acres of land and transferred 2,267.682 acres to Bangladesh. Under the agreement, the enclave residents could continue to reside at their present location or move to the country of their choice.[16][17] The adverse possession of Boraibari went to Bangladesh.[18] The undemarcated borders between the nations were also finally solved with respect to Daikhata-Dumabari, Muhurichar (an island in the Muhuri River),[15] and Pyrdiwah.[19][20][21]

India and Bangladesh had engaged in eight rounds of bilateral negotiations starting 1974, but it remained inconclusive until 2009. In October 2009, Bangladesh served India with notice of arbitration proceedings under the UNCLOS.

The Arbitration Tribunal delivered the ruling on 7 July 2014 and settled the dispute.[22]

The border fence close to the Hili Border station in West Bangladesh

The project has run into several delays and there is no clear completion date for the project yet.[27][28][29] The barrier when complete will be patrolled by the Border Security Force. The fence will also be electrified at some stretches. The BSF claims that the barrier's main purpose is to prevent smuggling of narcotics.[8]

India is constructing the India–Bangladesh barrier, a 3,406-kilometre (2,116 mi) fence of barbed wire and concrete just under 3 metres (9.8 ft) high, to prevent smuggling of narcotics. Out of this, 500 kilometres (310 mi) of fencing was completed at the cost of ₹28.81 billion (US$400 million) by November 2007. The deadline for project completion was set to 2008–09.[27] By October 2009, about 2,649 kilometres (1,646 mi) of fencing along with about 3,326 kilometres (2,067 mi) of border roads were completed. The deadline for project completion was revised to March 2010.[28] By March 2011, 2,735 kilometres (1,699 mi) of fencing was completed and the deadline was revised to March 2012.[29]

Assam shares 263 kilometres (163 mi) of border with Bangladesh out of which 143.9 kilometres (89.4 mi) is land and 119.1 kilometres (74.0 mi) is riverine. As of November 2011, 221.56 kilometres (137.67 mi) of fencing was completed.[30] India has completed the installation of flood lights for 277 kilometres (172 mi) in the West Bengal sector.[27] Sometimes between 2001 and 2006 Bangladesh Border security troops (BDR) clashed with the Indian Border Security Force when the fence was built beyond the no man's land.[31]

• Map of India–Bangladesh border links
• India–Bangladesh border gunfire
• News from India

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