India gives benefit of doubt to Bangladesh
India gives benefit of doubt to Bangladesh
NEW DELHI (AFP): India on Sunday absolved the Bangladesh government of responsibility for the torture-related killing of 16 of its troops after the worst border clash in 30 years between the two South Asian nations.
"We are given to understand that this was an action unilaterally taken by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and the government of Bangladesh was not aware of it," Indian Home Secretary Kamal Pande said in New Delhi.
India's conciliatory tone was based on statements made in Dhaka on the non-involvement of Bangaldesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed's government in the gruesome deaths of the 16 Border Security Force (BSF) personnel.
"When the (Bangladeshi) foreign secretary is saying so, I believe it is with some responsibility," Pande said, adding that New Delhi hoped a probe started into the incident by Dhaka would be an "open one".
New Delhi views Wajed as the most India-friendly leader Bangladesh has had for some time, a mantle which has caused her problems domestically.
Pande put the blame on the paramilitary BDR force, and described the killings as "a brutal act of murder". "It is quite clear that eight of the bodies have point-blank bullet wounds. It is evident that injuries and the bullet wounds could not have been obtained in firing," he said.
Two BSF personnel undergoing medical treatment in a hospital in Dhaka and a body of another slain BSF guard would be handed over to India later on Sunday, Pande said.
A clear picture of what happened to the 16 men would emerge after the two wounded BSF personnel return, he added.
The home secretary, however, conceded the brutality had angered the BSF, which has more than 120,000 heavily-armed troops trained in border warfare.
"Yes, there is resentment on the ground," he said of the BSF contingents deployed along the India-Bangladesh borders.
The absolution of premier Wajed's government in any wrong- doing came a day after New Delhi lodged a strongly-worded protest with Dhaka.
The horribly-mutilated bodies of the 16 BSF men returned Friday by the BDR has sent waves of outrage across India with demands now growing for tit-for-tat retaliations.
Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee was likely to make a statement in parliament Monday to ward off an opposition attack on his government's seemingly "blow-hot, blow-cold" stand on last week's incidents on the borders, an official source said.
BSF chief Gurbachan Jagat toured the sites of the clashes and speaking to reporters, he too condemned the 16 murders as custodial deaths.
Pande's clean chit to premier Wajed's administration also came after Jagat briefed top members of the Indian cabinet including Home Minister L.K. Advani and Vajpayee.
Last week, BDR troops overran a BSF post in Pyrdiwah village, 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Shillong, the provincial capital of the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya.
This was followed by skirmishes on the border of adjoining Assam state, in which 19 guards from both sides, including the 16 BSF men were killed.
After visiting the area Jagat said the Indian guards were killed by the BDR and not lynched by a Bangladeshi mob, as claimed earlier. "We suspect foul play," Jagat said.
Bangladesh, shares a 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) border with its populous neighbor.