The death of Bangladeshis at the hands of India鈥檚 Border Security Force has become a grim reality, with barely any effective response that would stop the happening. The death hardly creates outrage outside a few rights groups. The Border Guard Bangladesh lodges protests. The issue comes up at bilateral meetings or dialogues. Yet, there is little sustained pressure or political mobilisation. Even political parties, otherwise eager to hold protests on wide range of other issues largely remain silent.
The Bangladesh鈥揑ndia border is the fifth longest land border in the world, bordering five Indian states. Both legal and illegal activities such as the smuggling of cattle, drugs and goods takes place along the border. Social issues also prompt some to cross the border unofficially. While smugglers operate with impunity, often shielded by law enforcement personnel on both sides, the victims of the violence of Indian guards are overwhelmingly from impoverished communities, not criminal masterminds. it is the poor who pay with their lives.
The Indian guards killed Swarna Das, a 13 year old girl, in the on September 1, 2024 in the Lalarchak border in Moulvibazar. Eight days later, the Indian guards killed another teenager, Jayant Kumar Singh, in the Baliadangi border in Thakurgaon. None of the victims were armed that could pose any threat. Witnesses frequently report Indian guards鈥� firing without warning and often from behind, which violates the international rights norms. A Human Rights Watch report in 2010 noted that Indian guards often shoot unarmed individuals after asking them to run.
Despite promises from India not to use lethal force in border management, the killing continues. India often plays down such incidents, labelling them 鈥榰nintentional death.鈥� The frequency and pattern of such incidents, however, suggest otherwise. The most outstanding case remains that of Felani Khatun, whose lifeless body hung from a barbed-wire fence in 2011, sparking off international outrage. Despite this, India鈥檚 response was disappointing. The sole accused, BSF constable Amiya Ghosh, was acquitted twice by a special court despite admitting to the shooting. Although India鈥檚 National Human Rights Commission recommended compensation for Felani鈥檚 family, the Indian government has never complied.
At least 305 Bangladeshis were killed between 2015 and 2024 and 282 others were by BSF personnel, according to the Human Rights Support Society. In 2024, 26 were killed and 25 others were injured in 57 incidents. The violence has not abated even after political transition in Bangladesh in August 2024. In the first four months of 2025, rights group Ain O Salish Kendra reported 11 death 鈥� six in BSF firing and five from torture 鈥� and cases of abduction and injury.
In 2017, when a Nepali citizen was killed by Indian guards, India鈥檚 national security adviser personally apologised and the victim was honoured with state recognition. In stark contrast, no such gesture has been shown in events involving Bangladeshis.
Responsibility also lies within. The failure of Bangladesh鈥檚 law enforcers and political leadership to address the smuggling networks that lead people into deadly encounters is glaring. The Bangladesh guards and police personnel are often aware of the networks, but they rarely act. Smuggling, especially of cattle and drug substances, is deeply entrenched. The deep-rooted corruption has allowed smuggling networks to thrive and ordinary citizens to be lured across the border only to be met with a deadly force. While Indian officials reportedly profit from cross-border cattle smuggling, they simultaneously kill unarmed Bangladeshis with impunity.
The murder of a Bangladesh guard by the Indian border force recently drew little more than a protest note. A stronger foreign policy is urgently needed that would demand justice for the victims and ensure that border killings are treated as violation of the international law, not unfortunate incidents.
A political consensus is also absent. The political economy of border killing is complex, but the moral imperative is simple. Bangladesh must not accept the the death its citizens in the border. Awareness campaigns and diplomatic efforts are urgently needed. India must be held accountable on international forums.
It is time to remind both governments, and the world, that no life is too small to matter.
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Mohrom Pathan is a subeditor at 抖阴精品.
