West Bengal assembly passes resolution against BSF order
BENGAL BECAME THE SECOND STATE AFTER PUNJAB TO REJECT THE HOME MINISTRY’S ORDER TO EXTEND BSF’S JURISDICTION AT THE INTERNATIONA BORDER
KOLKATA: The West Bengal assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution against the Centre’s notification to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) up to 50km inside the international border.
West Bengal is the second state after Punjab to pass a resolution against the BSF order. The Punjab assembly had on November 11 unanimously rejected the Union home ministry’s October 11 order, and urged the Centre to withdraw the decision.
The Centre had amended the BSF Act to authorise the border guarding force to carry out “arrest, search and seizure” within 50km, up from the existing 15km, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam. Both West Bengal and Punjab are non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states. Only Assam, where the BJP is in power, has kept silent on the issue.
The Bengal assembly witnessed noisy scenes as BJP members, who had been avoiding the ongoing session so far because of the festivals, took part in the debate and opposed the resolution.
Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of opposition in the assembly, alleged after the session that during the debate some Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators made statements that showed their support for illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh and their anti-India activities.
The resolution was passed with 112 voting in favour of it and 63 opposing it.
Among Indian states that share borders with neighbouring nations, Bengal’s 2,216.7-km border with Bangladesh is the longest and cover as many of 10 of the 23 districts. If the BSF’s jurisdiction is extended, then it will cover more than 30 % of Bengal’s territory.
KOLKATA: The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution against the Centre’s decision to extend BSF’s jurisdiction, amid opposition by BJP legislators.
Bengal became the second state after Punjab where such a resolution has been tabled and passed.
The resolution was moved by state parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee under Rule 169 of the Procedures of Conduct of Business of the House.“We demand that this decision be withdrawn immediately as enhancing the area of jurisdiction of the BSF is a direct attack on the country’s federal structure,” he said.
Unruly scenes were witnessed in the House during the day after TMC MLA Udayan Guha made a remark that raised eyebrows.
“A child living in a border area can never be patriotic if he witnesses his mother being inappropriately touched under the garb of body search by the BSF,” Guha said. BJP MLAs opposed the remark and demanded that it be expunged. Speaker Biman Banerjee, however, refrained from expunging Guha’s comment.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the kind of language used against a force like the BSF is completely unacceptable .“When the Union government tries to withdraw central forces from Jungle ma hal, it is the state government that opposes the move. And now, the same government is opposing BSF activities. Under this new rule (jurisdiction extension), there is no question of conflict between the state police and the BSF,” Adhikari stated.The resolution was passed with 112 voting in favour of it and 63 opposing it.
The BJP-led central government had amended the BSF Act to authorise the force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a larger 50 km stretch, instead of 15 km, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.
On October 26, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she won’t accept the expansion of the BSF’s jurisdiction.
“This is direct interference with our state’s sovereignty and India’s federal structure. Law and order is a state subject. We have high respect for the BSF, but they cannot operate inside our districts. We will oppose this,” the CM said.
The union home ministry told parliament in March that in 2017, 2018 and 2019, security agencies arrested 1,175, 1,118 and 1,351 people, respectively, along the India-Bangladesh border.