India to continue Bangladesh border fencing

DHAKA: India on Saturday told Bangladesh it would go ahead with the fencing of the border between the two countries, calling it a measure to prevent the movement of troublemakers.

"Fencing is a continuous process going on for the last 20 years. We do not consider it as something defensive or offensive, but a preventive measure to check trans-border movement of anti-social elements," Border Security Force (BSF) director general R S Mooshahary said here at the end of four days of border talks.

He said India would continue fencing outside the 150 yards of the borderline. If there is any marketplace or place of worship in the line of fencing, the BSF will inform the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).

But Bangladesh said that if the BSF wanted to erect barbed-wire fence within 150 yards of the borderline, the issue would have to be settled through the diplomatic channel.

"If they have any compulsion (for fencing), we told them to contact Bangladesh through the diplomatic channel," BDR director general Major Gen M D Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told reporters.

Although the BDR and BSF signed a joint statement following the conference, BDR sources said the Indian side disagreed to take the fencing issue to diplomatic levels and wanted it settled at the level of the border security sector commander.

Mooshahary said New Delhi had not been pushing any Indian citizen into the territory of "any country".

"It is not the policy of India or the BSF (to push in). I don't know where you have got this information from," he said when asked about allegations that Indian nationals were being sent into Bangladesh.

But the BDR placed a list of 34 incidents of "push-ins" that took place over the last six months in which around 600 Indians were sent into Bangladeshi territory.

"When the conference was taking place in Dhaka between the BDR and the BSF, the BSF pushed some 34 Indians into Bangladesh, 23 alone in Naogaon. They (the BSF) shot dead a Bangladeshi in Srimangol and injured another. They also fenced along the border in Comilla," a top BDR official said.

On allowing anti-Bangladesh elements into Indian territory, Mooshahary said, "I don't think there is any place in India where terrorists can hide. I disagree with the idea."

However, Chowdhury said the BDR had handed 10 booklets to his Indian counterpart containing a list of criminal, insurgents and their camps in India.

Mooshahary said Bangladesh had insurgent camps from where anti-Indian elements were operating.

http://www.satribune.com/archives/dec04/P1_arun3.htm

India Completes 700-km Fence Along Kashmir LoC But Security Concerns Remain

NEW DELHI, December 6: The Indian Army has finally completed the 734-kilometer long electronic fence along the Line of Control in Kashmir, a spokesman of the Army told the South Asia Tribune.

The 30-month old project of securing the Indian side of Kashmir has provided the much-needed relief from cross border infiltration of militants, Indian leaders say.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. SK Sakhuja told this correspondent that a variety of sophisticated surveillance equipment have been installed to foil efforts to infiltrate into Kashmir for terrorist attacks.

He said on Sunday: “After fencing the Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir, one should be rest assured that the withdrawal of troops will not cause negative impact on the security in the State. We are, of course, closely monitoring the situation in the Valley, and we will take decisions and actions accordingly.”

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil had inspected the fencing along the border with Pakistan early in November when final touches were being given to the fence. It was Patil's first visit to Kashmir since the Congress-led UPA government took power in May.

Patil was quoted on the occasion as saying: "The number of people coming from the other side of border has reduced which means that we can take care of our goods and the lives of our people."

Analysts agree that the work on the fence was delayed before the Pak-India ceasefire on the LoC but after the firing stopped, the Indians rushed to complete it as soon as possible.

The Army has installed electric current flowing barbed wires along the 734-kilometers long border. With the help of the night vision thermal imagers, ground sensors and other sensitive equipment, the Army would thwart the movement of militants.

All along the border, cabins have also been built where sophisticated surveillance equipment have been installed to detect movement across the fence. If anybody tries to cross over, the surveillance equipment would immediately send message to the cabin for timely interception.

But some Kashmir watchers say that barricading of the borders would not be so fruitful as expected. Militants who are already inside Kashmir still have the opportunity to strike.

Erecting barricades on some spots of the rugged and mountainous terrain is, however, still not possible and infiltration can take place before the snowfall or after the thaw sets in.

With the influx of insurgents now under check, officials fear militants could more easily target high value targets with political bigwigs being the main focus.

The Home Ministry is looking into the matter, but unfortunately, the Kashmiri leadership of the Valley is being kept out of the sphere of the threat perception.

Meanwhile, estimated 3,000-army personnel have been withdrawn from Rajouri district. The troops left in a convoy of chartered buses and trucks from the forward posts at Sunderbani.

These troops were engaged in the counter-insurgency operations and patrolling the thick forests of the Sunderbani region. They helped in blocking the movement of militants in the Kali Dhar belt. Sources say that these troops would be relocated to the Line of Control.

Sources say that the decision of de-induction of the Indian Army could boomerang as the militants attacked the Bafaliaj region as soon as the posts were vacated. In the region the militants blew up an army Gipsy vehicle in which a Major, a Captain and some soldiers were going towards their post.

In the explosion three army personnel including the Major were killed. The condition of the Captain is said to be critical. On the other hand, on November 20, in the Kanachakk region of the Jammu division, security forces foiled an effort of infiltration and arrested a militant.

Defense sources say the news of such incidents are deliberately not flashed in the national media so as to avoid negative feelings regarding re-induction of troops.

Despite security promises by the government and security officials, residents in the area of Poonch, Rajouri, Kalakote, Panja, Sada, Bairo, Siyalsui, Mau, Tattapani, etc have the feeling of insecurity in this changed situation where the Indian Army has vacated their areas, leaving them in a lurch.

The government is also anxious that if it becomes unable to provide security to residents of these areas, the decision of de-induction could boomerang.

The Gujjar community specially has become apprehensive about retributive and vindictive actions from the militants because this community had been working closely with the Indian Army providing vital information. Still no special security arrangements have been made for their safety.

The Central government does not seem confident in providing security cover for politicians even after the de-induction of troops from Jammu and Kashmir and Indian army’s initiatives as ‘Operation Harmony’.

State Home Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal said that the Central government is likely to upgrade the security cover for some big shot politicians.

They are Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayed, his daughter Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Farukh, Farukh Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, and some others.

He says: “They may be given security on the lines of the elite security agency the Special Protection Group (SPG) that protects Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers and Sonia Gandhi. The security would also be enhanced for Union Ministers on their visits to the Valley. But do not be in a wrong impression that we are taking these steps due to lack of confidence after de-induction of forces.”

He says that the Central government is always concerned about security and peace in the State, and we should wait and watch what results the decision of de-induction of forces yields.

Jaiswal says, “We have not declared ceasefire with militants. We are reducing our forces. This does not mean that we will set aside security measures. Our forces will naturally retaliate when militants will strike”.

But the decision to enhance security cover of the politicians betrays Government’s lack of confidence. Unfortunately, the separatist leaders of the Valley are not under this enhanced security cover, even after attempts on their lives and those of their relatives.

Though the government is planning to give the security responsibility of the Kashmiri leaders to para-military forces, the threat perception to these leaders have increased. Recently, some assailants attacked Sayed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law, Altaf Fantosh, but his security is still in the hands of local police and para-military forces.

This is not the first such attack on the Kashmiri leaders. A middle-rung leader of the moderate Hurriyat faction, Mohammed Rafique was gunned down outside his home in Srinagar. A few months back, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s uncle, Moulvi Mushtaq, was killed in a mosque. This was followed by the burning down of the Islamia School in Srinagar, founded by the Mirwaiz family.

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