Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong on Thursday said the Border Security Force (BSF) has been immediately pushing back Bangladeshi nationals detected while attempting to enter Indian territory, if one goes as per the legal process under the Foreigners Act, it takes a lot of time. He, however, acknowledged that in some instances the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) initially refused to accept the individuals, claiming they were Indian citizens, leading to temporary disputes along the international border.
Tynsong said the immediate pushback mechanism was being adopted to prevent delays associated with formal deportation procedures. He noted that while the BSF acted swiftly whenever infiltrators were detected trying to cross into Indian territory, a few cases had resulted in disagreements after Bangladeshi authorities disputed their nationality and refused to accept them at the border.
Referring to a recent meeting with the BSF, Tynsong said, “Recently I had a meeting with the BSF, we had few challenges like that sometimes when we send them back, Because if you go as per law, if you go as per the foreigners act, it will take a lot of time.” He added, “So the moment Bangladeshi infiltrator detected or the moment they found out those people trying to enter the Indian territory then and there itself BSF pushed them back. Few instances happened, BGB did not accept these people saying they are Indians. So challenges are there.”
The Deputy Chief Minister said the disputes were eventually resolved through scrutiny of documents and verification of identities. “but ultimately while checking all those documents they found out that these are Bangladeshi and So they had to accept them,” he said.
Tynsong made the statement after Bangladesh Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed reportedly claimed that the BSF was “killing Bangladeshis at the border” and described it as a violation of human rights. He also criticised what was termed as attempted “push-in” of people across the border. It was also noted that Ahmed was earlier found in Shillong under mysterious circumstances and was subsequently tried under the Foreigners Act for illegal entry into India.
In a recent border standoff along the Indo-Bangladesh frontier in Meghalaya’s South West Garo Hills district involving 55-year-old Bangladeshi national Sati Rajbanshi, son of Late Baghbatta of Chalna village under Narayanpur Post Office and Gudagari Police Station in Rajshahi district. Rajbanshi remained stranded in no-man’s land for more than 24 hours after the BSF prevented his entry into India and BGB initially declined to take him back.
The incident, reported from the Nandir Char sector near Mahendraganj, triggered a prolonged impasse despite flag meetings between the two border forces and drew attention to issues surrounding illegal migration, cross-border pushbacks and the treatment of minority communities in Bangladesh.
The standoff was eventually resolved on June 11 after relatives of Rajbanshi came forward with documents establishing his identity and residence in Bangladesh. Following verification of the documents, Bangladeshi authorities accepted him back, bringing an end to the border impasse.
