A 40-year-old Bangladeshi man was beaten to death by members of the Indian BSF, near the Bangladesh-India border in Jessore on Monday.
This latest border killing was no accident.
It follows just one month after the government expressed deep concern to India over the killings of four Bangladesh nationals, including a teenager, within the space of three days in border areas of Sylhet and Tripura. The impunity with which such deaths occur has to be ended.
Despite the putting of a BSF member on trial in the Felani case last year, successive Indian governments have failed to adequately address Bangladeshi concerns. At least 38 Bangladeshis were killed in border incidents by Indian forces last year.
There is no acceptable reason why cross border movements are not free from the fear of such violence.
Bangladesh-India relations would benefit hugely from a resolution to the phenomenon of border killings. Their lack of resolution and one-sided nature makes them of huge symbolic importance.
The new Indian government has an opportunity to dramatically build confidence and improve relations between our countries, by taking firmer action to end border killings.
It is well established that such killings have nothing to do with security issues but largely arise out of disputes over extortion.
We hope the new Indian government will take the opportunity to act on this appalling incident and put a stop to BSF killings. As neighbours with many mutual trade interests and a long shared border, Bangladesh and India will both benefit from a resolution to this problem.