Speakers at a discussion have noted that the killing of Bangladeshis by the Indian security forces on the border is a major irritant to Indo-Bangladesh ties.
“There is no doubt that this is an irritant to our bilateral ties,” State Minister M Shahriar Alam said on Wednesday while commenting on the issue of border killing.
“These incidents embarrassed us and it undermine the relationship between the countries”, Shahriar said pointing out that the government has conveyed the recent killing of three Bangladeshis by the BSF in separate incidents to the Indian government through diplomatic channels.
Even during the recent home minister-level meeting between the two countries in Delhi, both the ministers agreed to take all our efforts to bring down the border killing to zero level, and to stop the use of lethal weapons, he mentioned.
“This is also our question is that if really there was a situation, which required shooting then why legs or hands were not the targeted?” the state minister questioned.
The minister also informed that border killing has come to zero in some places of the 4000 km long border between the two countries.
A deep analysts of the situation shows that in many areas, there was no border killing in the last three years but Lalmonirhat remains an exception to this, the state minister said adding that the concerned authorities are engaged to find out the reasons behind it.
The state minister said that to protect the interest of the people of the country the government never hesitated to raise a bitter truth during bilateral meetings with India.
India media practitioner Dr Ayanjit Sen said that the mass media of both countries should play a responsible role in promoting bilateral ties.
Senior journalists Sohrab Hasan, Mozammel Hossain Monzu also spoke on the discussion on the ‘Indo Bangladesh ties under Sheikh Hasina and Modi governments: Role of Mass Media’.
They also urged the Indian government to simplify the visa issuance procedure for journalists.
