Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its alliance of Islamist and other opposition parties, including the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), announced they would hold protests across the India-Bangladesh border districts and key border points on Friday over alleged “push-ins” by India and the “killing of Bangladeshi nationals near the frontier”. The Jamaat held a press conference at its central office in Dhaka on Wednesday, where the Shafiqur Rahman-led opposition party shared the plan.
The alliance said it would also hold a procession in Dhaka on June 15 and criticised Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s BNP government, while accusing India of forcing people across the border. It also claimed that “Bangladeshi citizens have been killed in firing by India’s Border Security Force (BSF)”.
“The 11-party alliance will hold protest rallies in border districts on June 12, followed by a protest gathering and procession in Dhaka on June 15,” said the Jamaat in a statement that was undersigned by former MP AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad.
Azad also said the protesters would organise seminars in various districts and a roundtable discussion in Dhaka. He accused the BSF of killing 19 Bangladeshis and injuring 24 in firings during the first 100 days of the BNP government. He further alleged that the BSF and Myanmar’s Arakan Army had detained or forcibly taken away 83 people.
According to the Dhaka-based outlet The Daily Sun, Azah had been critical of the BNP government, implying it was too soft or aligned with India regarding the border issues.
NCP Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari said during the press conference that “residents living near the zero line were facing a humanitarian situation”. He called for people living along the border to form a “human shield” so that “terrorists, smugglers, or criminals” could not enter the country.
Meanwhile, India maintained that it was not carrying out “push-ins” and that it was repatriating illegal foreign nationals through established legal procedures and bilateral arrangements after due verification.
