DHAKA, Jan 30 ? Amid allegation by Bangladesh that India has amassed hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims at the border to push them into its territory, Dhaka has proposed a meeting between border security officials of the two countries to reduce tensions and sounded a red alert on its side, reports PTI.
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) proposed a flag meeting with Border Security force (BSF) officials yesterday and were awaiting the Indian response, official sources said, adding BDR has been instructed to be on high alert. Bangladesh Government has also asked India ?to take necessary steps at the operational level on the borders to put and end to attempts? of alleged push-in.
As media reports here carried BDR?s claims that it had thwarted several attempts of pushing in Bengali-speaking Muslims over the last few days, a foreign Ministry statement yesterday expressed concern over alleged Indian attempts and said such incidents would ?complicate bilateral ties with India, the official BSS news agency reported.
?Apart from the humanitarian dimension, such attempts have also introduced an element of unwarranted complications with potential to impede various steps that India and Bangladesh may take for strengthening bilateral relations,? the statement said. BDR was also constructing fresh bunkers along the borders and seeking co-operation of local people to prevent any push-in attempt, BSS reported from the border area. Director General of Bangladesh Rifles, Major General Jahangir Alam, yesterday visited BDR camps and BOPs in Jessore and Jhenidah, two southwestern districts which are reported to be experiencing tension due to alleged push-in. Quoting official sources, BSS reported from Jhenidah, one of the border districts, that BDR has placed its troops on full alert after thwarting an alleged BSF attempt to push-in over 70 people through Shyamkur border in the district.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Agriculture Minister Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami, who is also the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami ? a partner of the alliance Government, alleged that India was putting ?illegal pressure? on Bangladesh to achieve ?narrow political gain? by creating push-in as an issue, vernacular daily The Jugantor reported. ?India, (in order) to achieve its narrow political interests, was using its own poor Muslim population as sacrificial goat,? the Jamaat leader, who is widely known to have opposed liberation of Bangladesh and sided with Pakistan occupation army, alleged at a protest rally here yesterday. India has already rejected Bangladesh?s allegations of push-in.