A skirmish on the border

FOLLOWING the serial blasts in Bangladesh, the entire India-Bangladesh border was on high alert. The tension was aggravated by the sudden exchange of fire between the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in the West Bengal region of the border in Malda district on August 19. Although such incidents are not new, the shooting at the Adampur and Muchia outposts in Malda across the Mahananda river was among the most serious ones in recent months. In fact, expecting the BDR to create problems, the BSF had warned the villagers in the nearby areas.

Apparently, the dispute that led to the incident related to the construction of embankments on the Mahananda river which has been causing massive soil erosion on the West Bengal side. The Bangladesh government reportedly intends to set up concrete slabs to strengthen its embankment. This, in turn, would aggravate erosion on the Indian side, endangering even the BSF camp, let alone the villages on the river bank. The BSF had reservations about the work. It set up only temporary protective structures with sandbags and bamboo poles, that too well beyond 200 yards (180 metres) from the zero point. The BDR objected to this.

The matter was discussed at a flag meeting between the BDR and the BSF on August 16, but according to the latter, the BDR was looking for an opportunity to create trouble. The BSF claimed that it was the BDR that precipitated the shooting, an allegation that has been supported by the Central government. The firing continued on August 20 and 21. Although it was intermittent on August 20, the next day it began at 8 a.m. and continued unabated well beyond noon. In all, around 500 rounds were exchanged. There were no deaths, but two villagers were injured, one of them seriously.

There are reports that the sudden firing by the BDR might also have been to provide cover for infiltrators into India.

On the morning of August 21, another flag meeting of the two border forces, at the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) level, was held in Malda. Omprakash Gour, DIG, 27 BSF battalion, and Rezanur Rahman Khan, Sector Commander of 28 BDR battalion, participated in the meeting. It went on for more than an hour and a half, following which Gour told mediapersons that all the outstanding issues were discussed and settled satisfactorily. He said the anti-erosion work on the West Bengal side will be carried out under the aegis of the BSF, and asserted that the BDR will not be allowed to carry out its plans. He, however, did not specify whether the BDR accepted these conditions. The District Magistrate of Malda and the Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Department confirmed that Bangladesh's plans would intensify erosion on the Indian side.