Use peaceful tactics to stop BSF brutality
Selim Kowser House, 91, Road 7/A Dhanmondi, Dhaka
The Daily Star reported on 24 August 2005 that Motaleb (age 27, resident of Ailatoli village, Haluaghat upazila, Mymensingh) was shot by the Indian BSF while he was returning home with his cattle on Monday afternoon, and that he died on the way to hospital.Recently "Odhikar, a human rights coalition, reported that 328 Bangladesh civilians have been killed by the BSF in the last five years. Why is our Government allowing India to get away with killing our people? I am not advocating armed retaliation against the BSF. We need to maintain peaceful relations with India. We should adopt peaceful means to punish India for killing our people. In fiscal year 2004-2005 Bangladesh imported goods from India valued at US$1,800 million (Taka 12,000 crore). Probably about one million Indian workers are employed in the Indian factories to manufacture the goods we imported. By banning imports from India, we could make one million India workers unemployed. the Indian government simply cannot afford to lose a million jobs. We urge the Foreign Ministry to issue an ultimatum to India. The BSF must immediately stop shooting Bangladeshi civilians inside Bangladesh territory and they must agree to pay compensation to the families of the 328 Bangladeshis whom they have killed. If they do not agree to this, we should impose a ban on all imports from India.
|
|
