The killing of 13-year-old Bangladeshi Shwarna Das at the hands of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) on September 1 is yet another tragic reminder that killings continue unabated along the Bangladesh-India border primarily at the expense of our own people.
Despite the decades of friendly relations shared between Bangladesh and India, justice for the deaths of Bangladeshis caused by BSF’s itchy trigger fingers has never truly been ensured. It has been over a decade now that the horrific image of 15-year-old Felani Khatun’s dead body left dangling from a border fence rocked the conscience of the world, and we have only seen many more killings ever since.
The onus has always been on India to stop these killings, that much has always been certain. To this end, we laud the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for finally lodging an official protest to the government of India over the killing of Swarna Das. In the note sent to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Bangladesh strongly protested and condemned such ruthless acts while expressing deep concern over the incident.
After years of silence, at least to any official capacity, regarding this absolutely pressing issue, it is good to see a government finally voice itself by way of a formal protest. Ever since the fall of AL’s autocratic government, India’s policy with regards to Bangladesh has been constantly under question.
By successfully investigating Shwarna Das’ murder and bringing the perpetrators to justice, India stands a clear chance to reinforce its intentions to stand by our country and earn the trust of Bangladeshis as their.
We applaud the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for finally giving this issue its due importance, as we have already lost far too many lives to border killings.