India Revives its tradition of killing Bengali Muslims by declaring them Bangladeshi immigrants-
From: Javed Iqbal Kaleem <JavedIqbalKaleem@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 18:20:58 -0700 (PDT)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
True to its anti-Islam and anti-Muslim tradition, India has once
again unleashed a reign of killings and arrest of innocent local
Muslims by declaring them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Dr. K. M. A. Malik
It has been a practice of Indian authorities for many years that they
arrest Bengali speaking Indian Muslims at different Indian cities and
then try to push-in the hapless people into Bangladesh on the
allegation that they are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The arrested
persons are invariably Muslims, and never Hindus. If and when the
Bangladesh Border Security (BDR) knows about this type of push-in of Indian Muslims into Bangladesh in advance, they take counter measures to prevent such dubious acts by the Indian authorities.
Bangladesh authorities have on many occasions in the past made formal protests and asked the Indian authorities not to continue with this practice, for the sake of preventing misunderstanding and
embarrassment between the two neighbours. But the Indian authorities have always turned a deaf ear to the requests of Bangladesh.
Although India's push-in policy towards Bangladesh was a little bit
slow during the last 2/3 years, a recent news report published in the
daily Nayadiganta on May 25, 2008, suggests that the basic policy has not been changed.
According to the Nayadiganta report, many Muslims from West Bengal and Assam are facing harassment in different cities of other Indian states, for the sole reason of their being Bengali speaking Muslim minorities. This was proved by an incident at the Sialdah railway station in Kolkata on May 24. On that day about 30-35 people were seen handcuffed and kept waiting on a platform in the railway station.
According to Indian police, these people were all arrested at Haridhar
on the suspicion of being Bangladeshi illegal immigrants, who would be
expelled from India and pushed into Bangladesh.
Closer investigations, however, revealed that these people were all
Bengali speaking poor Muslims who went to other parts of India to
escape dire poverty in West Bengal. They were all Indian citizens;
none of them was from Bangladesh. Nobody ever lived in any part of
Bangladesh. But the Indian police arrested them on the allegation that
they were all Bangladeshi illegal immigrants and they were brought to
Kolkata for the purpose of deportation to Bangladesh. They did not
have any passport or similar documents.
One of the arrested persons, Sheikh Haroon, disclosed to Nayadiganta that he was kept in a jail for eight months before being brought to the station in chains. His home address is at Ranchike under the Bhabanipur police station in the Medinipur district of West Bengal.
He was very scared of being pushed into Bangladesh because he did not have any home there. Another arrested person Abdul Aziz told that he hails from Kusthia Masjid Bari Lane in Kolkata and that he had worked in the Nilratan Hospital. The third person, Monir Husain, claimed that his home is at 3 Anzuman Road in Kolkata-7. One person claimed that his home is at the Naya Basti in the Sadar Bazar area of Barrackpur, Kolkata. Another claimed to have a home in Barrackpur, at a short distance from the local MP Tarit Tarafdar residence.
Thus, despite being genuine residents of West Bengal, these people
were arrested, handcuffed and herded like sheep to be ‘pushed’
across Bangladesh border. The official reason is that they are illegal
Bangladeshi immigrants, but the real reason is that they are Muslims
and at the same time extremely poor; their poverty has forced them to
look for menial jobs in other parts of India. (In West Bengal, 25%
Muslim minorities hold only 2% of government jobs; Kolkata University has only 3-4 Muslims in the academic staff list. This is the situation
of the Muslims in the ‘politically most liberal and culturally
enlightened state of India). Incidentally, there is no instance of any
Bengali speaking Hindu being treated in the same way. Thus, it is
evident that poor Muslim religious minorities are easy target for
vilification and discrimination by the so-called secular Indian state.
2
While the Indian establishment treat their own Muslims (as well as the
so-called lower caste Hindus and ethnic minorities) with neglect and
as third class citizens, the attitude shown to the citizens of
Bangladesh is one of utter contempt.
A glaring example of this can be found in a recent statement of the
Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka. The High Commissioner, Mr. Pinak
Ranjan Chakravarty, in a TV discussion program in Dhaka on May 16
claimed that the people who are killed in the border areas by the
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) are mostly cattle thieves and
smugglers and they are not innocent as reported in Bangladesh media.
Mr. Chakravarty like his predecessors including Ms Veena Sikri has
regular habits of advising Bangladesh what it should or should not do.
A few months ago, he suggested in a public meeting that Bangladesh
should adopt India-style secularis to fight extremism and terrorism
and to establish democracy. Such utterances from the Indian diplomats
in Dhaka are not only unethical but also hollow considering the fact
that the extremist and fanatic Hindu BJP has emerged as the most
dominant political and social force in India. The whole world knows
that BJP rode to political pre-eminence and formed the central
government on anti-Muslim, pro-Hindu fanaticism. Only last week the
BJP won elections in Karnataka state with handsome majority. This BJP
victory was brought about by the party's anti-Muslim stand, as it
happened earlier in the neighbouring Gujrat. Thus, with Hindu
extremists and fanatics setting the political agenda in India, talk of
secularism by the Indian diplomats in Dhaka seems to be an attempt to
portray Bangladesh worse than India in abusing religion for political
purposes.
Of course, the Indian diplomats are not the only ones to interfere in
Bangladesh politics. It is well known that representatives of other
powerful countries including the USA, EU and Britain have often issued
statements on Bangladesh politics that are openly interventionist in
the internal affairs of a sovereign country and unbecoming of
diplomatic norms and practices. Bangladesh government has often
digested these unsolicited advice, probably not to provoke harsh
measures from the powerful countries including the big neighbour.
Mr. Chakravarty' s comments on the border killings are dangerous for
several reasons, especially as it does not help, but only makes it
more difficult to, improve the relations between the two neighbours.
Bangladesh government may remain silent on such statement, but the
people will get an idea that the Indian authorities are hostile and
callous when it comes to the lives of Bangladesh nationals.
An editorial in the daily New Age on May 18 makes an excellent comment
on the issue. It says, His (Mr. Chakravarty' s) claim is puzzling on
the one hand, as it contradicts the reports of local media and the
findings of human rights organisations vis-Ã -vis the border shootings
over the years and raises some disturbing questions on the other, as
it suggests that he and, by implication, his government has tacit
support to such extra-judicial killings by the Border Security Force
of India.
Killings of Bangladesh nationals by the BSF have been a regular
phenomenon on the frontiers. In October 2007, the human rights
coalition Odhikar reported that more than 700 people had been killed
by the Indian border guards since January 2000. The report was a
compilation of media reports on border shootings in the period. In
most of the cases, the media reported that the victims were either
farmers or shepherds or cattle traders.
While some of the victims were known in their localities as smugglers,
it does not justify, in any way, their killing by the BSF. Worryingly,
Chakravarty’s statement seems to suggest that, since the victims of
border shootings are not innocent and mostly smugglers, their killings
are justified. Such a position strikes at the very root of the concept
of the rule of law, which is the fundamental principle of democracy.
The rule of law requires that even the vilest of criminals cannot be
punished, let alone executed, until and unless he or she is adjudged
guilty by a credible court of law after a transparent public trial.
The government of India, which boasts of itself as the largest
democracy in the world, should know better that if a person is
wrongfully punished, the rule of law is put into jeopardy.
While we acknowledge that both Bangladesh and India need to clamp down
on smuggling, we believe their anti-smuggling actions should by no
means encourage the border guards to assume the role of law enforcers,
judges and executioners rolled into one. New Age has consistently
deplored extra-judicial killings, wherever they take place, at home or
abroad, and is, therefore, naturally concerned at the assertion of the
Indian high commissioner, especially because of its underlying support
for extra-judicial killings.
We would like to believe that Chakravarty' s comment is not
representative of the official position of the Indian government and
that the Indian government does not condone, let alone authorise,
extra-judicial killings by the BSF. On the contrary, if the statement
is indeed indicative of the mindset of the ruling coterie in New
Delhi, it is bad news not only for the people of India but also for
the people of the countries bordering India.
Finally, it is sad for Bangladeshi people that those who rule the
country and a section of the middle class do not find enough courage
to criticize Indian policies, even when these are extremely unjust and
unfair towards Muslims and Bangladesh. The print and electronic media
in Dhaka also are mostly dominated by pro-Indian and anti-Muslim
elements. In such a situation, New Age has done an excellent job by
exposing the false pretences of the Indian High Commissioner in
Dhaka.
------------ ----
The writer is an academician and may be contacted by e-mail:
kmamalik@aol. com
------------ --------- -
NFB Note : Report By Odhikar- a Leading Hunan Rights Org in
Bangladesh, report on human rights violations in the Indo-Bangladesh
border
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and Indian miscreants kill 461
Bangladeshis in 6 years . Read full Documents below
Link :
http://www.wfda. net/UserFiles/ File/Press% 20Release-
border-2006% 20Eng.doc.
http://newsfrombang ladesh.net/ view.php? hidRecord= 202255
Javed Iqbal Kaleem
.
India Revives its tradition of killing Bengali Muslims by declaring them Bangladeshi immigrants
KNOW THE POWER OF MUSLIMS AND HE TAKE 
BAD STEPS WITH NO THINKING 
