New Delhi: India has issued a high alert along the country’s 4,096-kilometre border with strife-torn Bangladesh where the Army took control Monday after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled following some of the worst violence the South Asian nation has seen in recent times.
All units of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the east were asked to intensify patrolling, and more personnel have been deployed in the area to prevent any illegal influx.
BSF Acting Director General Daljit Singh Chawdhary also reached Kolkata to take stock of the situation and review preparedness along the border, sources confirmed to ThePrint.
An officer said senior office-bearers have visited the Indo-Bangladesh border in North 24 Parganas and Sunderbans to review operational readiness and the strategic deployment of BSF in these crucial border areas of West Bengal.
Protests in Bangladesh began last month against a controversial quota rule that reserves 30 percent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971. The agitation continued although Bangladesh’s Supreme Court scrapped most quotas in government jobs after nationwide protests led by students. Nearly 300 died in the government’s strict crackdown on the protests.
Also read: BSF, Bangladesh counterpart coordinate safe return of 3,000 Indian students amid anti-quota stir
‘Volatile situation’
“We have issued a high alert. It is a very volatile situation. All personnel on border duty have been asked to report immediately. Field commanders have been asked to be on the ground. All leaves have been cancelled,” a source said.
According to the officer quoted above, a detailed briefing of the BSF’s Eastern Command was conducted by Ravi Gandhi, ADG Eastern Command, at South Bengal Frontier Headquarters, which covered the command’s strategic scenario and operations of battalions.
Officers also visited the Dhamakhali area to brief the 118th Battalion on its water-border responsibilities along Bangladesh en route to the Floating Border Out Post deployed at the T-junction of the rivers Kalindi and Raimangal.
“They were briefed on the unique challenges of the rainforest and water-rich terrain and the effective measures implemented to tackle border crimes, including smuggling and illegal crossings. The visit concluded with a visit to the outpost located in the dense Sundarbans rainforest,” the officer said.
The officer added that the situation on the Indo-Bangladesh border was “normal as of now”. “The troops are aware and alert about the decent developments and situation across the IB. The situation on the Indo-Bangladesh border is being closely mintotored to deal with any unforeseen situation if arises,” he added.
The security outside the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi was also tightened.
The BSF guards the border between India and Bangladesh that runs across five states — West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram.
Hasina fled the country hours after thousands of student activists marched to Dhaka Monday morning, defying a nationwide curfew. The deadly protests against the job quota had escalated into a movement to oust the 76-year-old Awami League leader.
Widespread violence the day before had killed nearly 100 people, in addition to more than 150 who were killed last month. At least six people were killed Monday morning in fights between protesters in the Jatrabari and Dhaka Medical College areas, local reports said.
“Gono Bhaban”, the official residence of the former prime minister who started her fifth term in January, was also vandalised by agitators.
Hasina left with sister Rehana for a Bangladesh Air Force base in a helicopter on Monday afternoon. From there, she took off in a Bangladesh military transport aircraft and landed in Delhi shortly before 6 pm. Sources told ThePrint that her final destination was London.
Soon after she left, Bangladesh’s Army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, confirmed she had resigned and left the country, adding that a political transition was underway to form an interim government.
In a televised address to the nation, the general said he had met representatives of all political leaders to propel the process for the next government.
The political leaders invited for consultation Monday were from the Opposition, namely the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Jatiya Party. Civil society leaders were also present. Zaman made it clear that no talks were held with the Awami League, thereby ruling out the possibility of Hasina’s party being in the new government.
The army chief also appealed for calm, promising to thoroughly investigate every death that has taken place in the weeks-long protests
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Sheikh Hasina reached out to India for safe passage, now on her way to London