BSF-BDR continue to be on alert

Sutharkandi (Indo-Bangladesh border), July 30 (UNI) The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) continue to be on high alert in the Karimganj-Cachar sector as the attempt to encroach disputed land by the Bangladeshi cultivators with the help of the BDR is still on.

A senior BSF official on the ground informed that tension had definitely reduced as majority of the BDR personnel had left the area although there is large number of them in the civvies mingling with the cultivators.

The bone of contention is a riverine char area of 200 acre which emerged in the river bed of Surama river. The other side of the river is Bangladesh but this year as the rive eroded inside Indian territory and deposited enough silt to create the 200 acre char areas, the Bangladeshi cultivators came in to cultivate the fertile land.

''They were chased away and the trouble began since then as BDR joined in and afterwards both BSF and BDR dug in from the trenches making the whole area as no man's land'' the official said.

This was already acknowledged by Asom Revenue Minister Dr Bhumidhar Burman but was objected to by the Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying that they are under ''advance possession'' of Bangladeshi but encroached permanently.

Eye witnesses said a large number of Bangladeshi farmers with plough and bullock entered into the plot of Indian land and began tilling there yesterday. However, as soon as BSF jawans noticed the incident, they waved a red flag and warned of drastic action if they immediately don't leave the place. This made the Bangladeshi farmers soon desert the place.

This is the third incident of Bangladeshi farmers' attempt to cultivate the Indian plot of land within a week. On July 22 Bangladeshi farmers used five power tillers to till the 200-acres of Indian land. They repeated the same on next day and cultivated paddy in this isolated pocket on the Bank of Surma. They did it despite Border Security Forces' warning of drastic action.

Bangladeshi farmers' action, allegedly backed by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) triggered tension in the Indo-Bangladesh border, that led to war-like situation over past one week with heavy deployment of BSF, armed with sophisticated weapons including machineguns, bullet-proof vehicles and digging of trenches and bunkers on Indian side along Katigora, Kinnokhal villages. Indian schools along the international border in this sector continued to remain closed for past one week due to the simmering tension along the border.

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