The Hindu : Buddhadeb told of Dhaka's concern on `push-ins'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 02, 2003

International

International

Buddhadeb told of Dhaka's concern on `push-ins'

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA Feb 1. Against the backdrop of increasing tension along the Indo-Bangla Border over the continued `push-ins' and `push-backs' of Bengali-speaking people from India, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Morshed Khan, made an unscheduled stopover at Kolkata on Friday and had talks with West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, on the tricky issue.

At an hour-long meeting, Mr. Khan discussing bilateral matters, including the attempts of pushing Bengali-speaking Indian Muslims into Bangladesh with Mr. Bhattacharya, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Mr. Khan, returning home from the U.S. after trying to manage another crisis stemming from recent U.S. immigration restrictions, had a two-and-a-half-hour stopover in Kolkata, due to flight disruption.

He told private TV channels that he took up the push-in issue with Mr. Bhattacharya and expressed Dhaka's concern at the repeated bid for such illegal deportation of Bengali Muslims from India. "Bengali-speaking and Bangladeshis are not the same," said Mr. Khan. He had also urged Mr. Bhattacharya to deport Bangladeshi terrorists who took shelter in Kolkata due to the recent crackdown against them at home.

A leading Bangladesh daily reported today that Mr. Khan had a 15-minute meeting with the West Bengal leader at the Writers Building and the two had described the talks as "courtesy". Bangladesh was committed to ending terrorism and ready to work with West Bengal and the Indian Government, Mr. Khan was quoted as saying. ``In recent times, allegations have been levelled against us that we support anti-India movements. We deny that and are ready to work with the Indian government,'' he said.

Meanwhile, vigil by BDR and BSF had increased along the border as forcible deportation of Bengali-speaking people reportedly continued even today.

The sufferings of the victims were beyond "tolerable limits". While the BSF pushed some hundreds of people through various border points into Bangladesh, the BDR prevented them. Amid uncertainty and gloom, the victims choose to take shelter for a while in the no-man's land at the various points. At Patgram in Lalmonirhat district, the BDR foiled a latest attempt by the BSF to push more than 200 people inside Bangladesh territory. A BDR field-level commander said the troops on the border had been reinforced as tension mounted there after an exchange of fire with the BSF on Monday last. Earlier, the BDR had foiled push-in attempts by the BSF in different border areas including Paliyanpur, Samanta, Bagadanga and Raypur.

A flag meeting between the border guards of the two countries was held today but it failed to resolve the issue.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

Stories in this Section

Iraq: Disarmament must take place soon: Bush

UNICEF wants LTTE to stop recruiting children

Indo-Thai talks: Call for concerted global action against terrorism

Kalpana did India proud

Responsibility on Saddam Hussein to avert war, says Jamali

Foreign mediation not needed in Nepal: India

Sharif kin actions trigger speculation

Boris Yeltsin clan keeps Russia in its grip

Pak. rejects Italian allegations

Central Asia is our extended neighbourhood: Sinha

Buddhadeb told of Dhaka's concern on `push-ins'