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INDIA: BSF personnel injure and kill villagers by firing once again in West Bengal

November 23, 2005

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

23 November 2005
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UA-217-2005: INDIA: BSF personnel  injure and kill villagers by firing once again in West Bengal

INDIA: Extra-judicial killings; Impunity; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about the indiscriminate firing by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Muradpur village and Biswaspura, Jalangi Police station, Murshidabad District, out of which one man sustained injuries and is fighting for survival, another died on the spot, and the body of one victim amongst the other three presumed to be dead was recovered in the evening.

According to the fact-finding team from MASUM, on 20 November 2005, like other days, the BSF personnel at the Muradpur border were allowing these villagers to smuggle food articles (namely, wheat, rice, pulses etc) across the border after taking money from them. However, it is alleged that they saw these villagers also trying to take a few cows across the border, for which they had not been bribed. This angered the BSF who then opened fire killing and injuring these villagers. The fact-finding team alleges that the BSF fired 13 rounds of ammunition.

The firing took place about seven to eight kilometers away from the border and if the BSF were concerned about security issues, they could have easily apprehended the villagers. Instead they chose to resort to firing. MASUM spoke to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad, Inspector BSF camp, Jalangi, and Officer-in-Charge, Jalangi Police station who all assured that case proceedings against the BSF personnel would be started but nothing has been done so far. The complaints filed by the families of the victims at the Jalangi Police Station are yet to be registered.

Meanwhile, two cases have been lodged by the Head of the BSF camp in the Jalangi police station (case no 186/2005 and 187/2005) related to the firing out of which the latter case includes sections of the Foreigners Act and the Arms Act against the victims of the firing.

The AHRC therefore urges you to intervene in this matter urgently and write to the Director General of the Border Security Forces. The perpetrators should be punished for the arbitrary firing and the government should take immediate cognizance of the cross border smuggling and the continuous flow of infiltration that exists on the West Bengal-Bangladesh border. Despite having brought this to the notice of the authorities many times in the recent past, little seems to have been done in this regard. We hope that this case will once again highlight the urgency of this matter so that many lives could be saved in the future. Action should also be taken against the local police who have failed to act on the complaints filed by the victims’ families.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION

Name of victims:
1. Muktar Mondal, aged 22 years, son of Kader, Muradpur, Jalangi
2. Sainuddin Mondal, aged 23 years, son of Aseruddin, Muradpur, Jalangi
3. Sainuddin Dafadar, son of Nasir, Muradpur, Jalangi
4. Rabil, alias Rabiul SK aged around 23 years, Vagjot Village, Doulatpur police station, Kusthia District, Bangladesh
5. Babu Mondol, Dayerpara Village, Jalangi Police Station
Place of incident: Muradpur Village, South Ghoshpara, Jalangi Police Station, Murshidabad     District and Biswas Para (near Sarkarpara), Jalangi police station, Murshidabad
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Constable Lalchand, 51 batallion, BSF, Roshanbagh, Murshidabad
2. Constable Onkarmall, 51 batallion, BSF, Roshanbagh, Murshidabad
3. Constable Rajendra Kumar,51 batallion, SF, Roshanbagh, Murshidabad
4. Constable Niranjan Roy,51 batallion, BSF, Roshanbagh, Murshidabad
Others involved:
1. Subir Pal, Officer-in-charge, Jalangi Police Station, Murshidabad
2. J. Rahman, Dy. Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad
3. Sajidur Rahaman alias Saju, an elected member of the Jalangi Panchayat Samity
Date of incident: 20 November 2005

Case Details:

On 20 November 2005, between 8:00-8:15a.m, the BSF opened fire at Muradpur Village, South Ghoshpara, under the Jalangi Police Station, Murshidabad District injuring Sainuddin Mondal who received bullet injuries on his right arm and chest. He was then taken to Darayampur hospital and subsequently transferred to the Behrampore District Hospital where he is still fighting for his life.

The body of one of the other victims of this indiscriminate firing, Moktar Mondal was only recovered at about 4:30 p.m. from the Padma river. The other two victims, Sainuddin Dafadar, and Babu Mondal are presumed to be dead as they are missing and their bodies have not been found as yet.

On the same day, the BSF guards also killed a 23-year-old Bangladeshi named Rabil, at Biswaspara (near Sarkar Para), Jalangi. According to the guards, these villagers were trying to cross the border with their cows and were asked not to do so. Despite their warning, when they did not stop, the guards fired at them. 

However, this is refuted by the fact-finding team of MASUM. According to them the BSF personnel who have been involved in cross border smuggling usually allow the villagers to smuggle food items and on the day of the incident, the guards belonging to the Charvadra camp  once again allowed the villagers carrying gunny bags to cross Padma river. The smugglers were carrying gunny bags containing food grains to the ghat (the smuggler transit point at the river site) in the presence of the guards when the BSF personnel suddenly saw them trying to take across cows which were unaccounted for and for which the guards had not received any kickbacks. This angered them and they then started opening fire injuring and killing some of the villagers.

The fact-finding team also found that the BSF fired 13 bullet rounds in Muradpur village out of which seven shots were first fired and then another six. On contacting a BSF Inspector, he mentioned that only 11 rounds of firing had taken place by Constable Lal Chand (with rifle no 268) and Constable Onkarmall (with rifle no 204).

In Biswaspara, it is alleged that Constables Rajendra Kumar and Niranjan Ray were in the patrol party. Niranjan Ray is alleged to have fired two shots at Rabil, who was on the Indian side of the banks of River Padma. No articles were discovered from his possession.

Hearing about this incident Mr.Rahman, Deputy Superintendent of police, Murshidabad and others including the Circle Inspector, Jalangi and the Block Development Officer, Jalangi reached the places where the firing had taken place. In both these places there were thousands of protesting villagers.

Babu Mondal’s uncle Ramjan Mondal, son of Ajit Mondal, filed a complaint on November 21 stating that his nephew who was cutting paddy on the fields suddenly went missing. He alleges that Babu was killed in the firing that took place and his body has been disposed of in the river. The wife of Sainuddin also filed a complaint at the Jalangi Police Station but the police are yet to even register the complaint. It is in fact alleged that they threw the written complaints in the dustbin.

On the other hand, Inspector Azad Singh, head of Jalangi BSF camp has filed two cases, namely case no 186/2005, dated 20/11/05 under sections 186/353/307/34 IPC where the accused column reads “unknown” and case 187/2005 dated 20/11/05 under sections186/353/307/34IPC and 13/14 Foreigners Act and 25/27 Arms Act in which the accused persons are:1) Sainuddin Mondal, son of Nazir and 2) Ershad Dafadar, son of Asraful, charaipuri Garer Para, Doulatpur Police Station, Kusthia district, Bangladesh.

It is to be noted that the spots where the firing took place are about seven to eight kilometers from the international border. If security concerns were an issue then the BSF guards could have easily apprehended the villagers instead of firing at them.

It is alleged that this particular ghat or transit point for smuggled goods is controlled by Sajidur Rahaman, an elected member of the Jalangi Panchayat Samity from the CPIM party who is a big part of the smuggling nexus between the police, administration, the BSF and others. It is also alleged that Rahaman in the presence of various police and BSF personnel at the Jalangi police station, filed a false complaint stating that the guards fired at Sainuddin while he was sitting on the banks of the Padma river. He at the same time instructed the police not to start proceedings against the BSF personnel.

Cross border smuggling has been taking place on the Bengal-Bangladesh border for many years in which the BSF have been closely involved and are supported by the local police and other arms of the administration.  Within this context, human rights violations of poor villagers often take place. Caught in the web of extreme poverty (there is very little by way of livelihood in this area) and fear of the border security personnel, many villagers have no choice but to resort to smuggling and in the process often lose their lives.

The AHRC strongly condemns the autocratic and the unjust behavior of not only the BSF personnel but all those involved in these nefarious activities.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please write to the Director General, BSF and others asking them to investigate into this matter and not only punish the offenders for their heinous crime but also see that proper steps are taken to ensure that smuggling activities at the border are reduced.

Sample Letter:

Dear ___________,

Re: INDIA: BSF personnel injure and kill villagers by firing once again in West Bengal

Name of victims:
1. Muktar Mondal, aged 22 years, son of Kader, Muradpur, Jalangi
2. Sainuddin Mondal, aged 23 years, son of Aseruddin, Muradpur, Jalangi
3. Sainuddin Dafadar, son of Nasir, Muradpur, Jalangi
4. Rabil, alias Rabiul SK aged around 23 years, Vagjot Village, Doulatpur police station, Kusthia District, Bangladesh
5. Babu Mondol, Dayerpara Village, Jalangi Police Station
Place of incident: Muradpur Village, South Ghoshpara, Jalangi Police Station, Murshidabad     District and Biswas Para (near Sarkarpara), Jalangi police station, Murshidabad
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Constable Lalchand, 51 batallion, BSF, Roshanbagh, Murshidabad
2. Constable Onkarmall, 51 batallion, BSF, Roshanbagh, Murshidabad
3. Constable Rajendra Kumar,51 batallion, SF, Roshanbagh, Murshidabad
4. Constable Niranjan Roy,51 batallion, BSF, Roshanbagh, Murshidabad
Others involved:
1. Subir Pal, Officer-in-charge, Jalangi Police Station, Murshidabad
2. J. Rahman, Dy. Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad
3. Sajidur Rahaman alias Saju, an elected member of the Jalangi Panchayat Samity
Date of incident: 20 November 2005

I am extremely distressed to hear of the indiscriminate firing by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Muradpur village and Biswaspura, Jalangi police station, Murshidabad District, out of which one man sustained injuries and is fighting for survival, another died on the spot, and the body of one victim amongst the other three presumed to be dead was recovered in the evening.

According to the fact-finding team from MASUM, on 20 November 2005, like other days, the BSF personnel at the Muradpur border were allowing these villagers to smuggle food articles (namely, wheat, rice, pulses etc) across the border after taking money from them. However, it is alleged that they saw these villagers also trying to take a few cows across the border, for which they had not been bribed. This angered the BSF who then opened fire killing and injuring these villagers. The fact-finding team alleges that the BSF fired 13 rounds of ammunition.

The firing took place about seven to eight kilometers away from the border and if the BSF were concerned about security issues, they could have easily apprehended the villagers. Instead they chose to resort to firing. MASUM spoke to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad, Inspector BSF camp, Jalangi, and Officer-in-Charge, Jalangi Police station who all assured that case proceedings against the BSF personnel would be started but nothing has been done so far. The complaints filed by the families of the victims at the Jalangi Police Station are yet to be registered.

Meanwhile, two cases have been lodged by the Head of the BSF camp in the Jalangi police station (case no 186/2005 and 187/2005) related to the firing out of which the latter case includes sections of the Foreigners Act and the Arms Act against the victims of the firing.

I therefore urge you to intervene in this matter urgently. The perpetrators should be punished and the government should take immediate cognizance of the cross border smuggling and continuous infiltration which exits on the West Bengal-Bangladesh border. These smuggling activities have been taking place on the Bengal-Bangladesh border for many years in which the BSF have been closely involved. Within this context, human rights violations of poor villagers often takes place. Caught in the web of poverty and fear of the border security personnel, many villagers have no choice but to resort to smuggling and in the process often lose their lives.

Despite having brought this to the notice of the authorities many times in the recent past, little seems to have been done to control these nefarious activities and check the role of the BSF. We hope that this case will once again highlight the urgency of this matter so that many lives could be saved in the future. Action should also be taken against the local police who have failed to take act on the complaints filed by the victims’ families.

Yours sincerely,


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SEND LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Ajay Raj Sharma
Director General BSF
Block 10, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road
New Delhi -03
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 24362181
Fax: +91 11 24360016
Email: bsfhq@hub.nic.in

2. Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
Chief Minister and Minister in Charge of Home (Police) Department
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings, Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 2214 5555 (O) / 2280 0631 (R)
Fax: +91 33 2214 5480
Email: cm@wb.gov.in

3. Mr. Subhas Awasthi
Director General of Police
Government of West Bengal
Writers Buildings
Kolkata-1
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 2214 4498 / 2214 5486
Email: padgp@wbpolice.gov.in 

4. Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen
Chairperson
West Bengal Human Rights Commission
Bhabani bhavan, Alipore
Calcutta-700027
Tel: +91 33 4797259 / 5558866
Fax: +91 33 4799633
Email: wbhrc@cal3.vsnl.net.in

5. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Att: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-217-2005
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.