SHILLONG: Indian and Bangladesh have proposed to constitute a Joint Border Coordination Committee to strengthen security along the porous Indo-Bangladesh border.
This was decided on the concluding day of the two-day bilateral conference of deputy commissioners/ district magistrates of Meghalaya (India) and Bangladesh held here.
“This proposal will be placed before both the Indian and Bangladesh governments for a final decision,” East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal said, while briefing news persons on the resolutions and proposals agreed upon by the two sides on Tuesday.
According to Goyal, both sides proposed the constitution of the Joint Border Coordination Committee with the intention of institutionalizing this kind of set up by involving the civil administration including the concerned deputy commissioners, district police chiefs and officials from the Revenue, Narcotics and Customs department.
“At present, such committee is restricted to the border forces only. But there are certain issues which are beyond the jurisdiction of the forces and can be better coordinated if the civil authorities are involved,” Goyal said, while proposing that the committee can normally meet twice a year and in case of emergency can be summoned at a short notice.
“The BSF and BGB would be part of the proposed committee,” he clarified.
Goyal was confident that the proposed committee could prove to be a better channel in tackling issues along the border since the deputy commissioners are in a better position to solicit information from respective counterparts on the thinking of their governments on issues related to the border.
Border crimes
Speaking on the issue of border crimes, the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner said both sides have mutually agreed upon some ‘action plans’ to tackle crimes along the international border.
Goyal further informed that officials from both sides exchanged their contact numbers and official email ids for better coordination.
Referring to the list of habitual offenders, Goyal said that a list would be prepared by the concerned district police chiefs of both sides and shared with their respective counterparts on either side of the border.
“Habitual offenders are those who commit petty crimes within two to three kilometers inside the border in either side,” Goyal said, adding that this matter would be handled by the district police since the border forces have limited area of jurisdiction.
He also said that it was agreed upon that the civil administration would be involved in sensitizing people on various aspect of border crimes.
“There will be exchange of information between the civil administrations on both sides,” he said, adding that the SPs will hold special review of cases related to border crimes.
Repatriation of convicted persons
The coordination meeting also decided that the list of the persons to be repatriated back to their countries would be shared in advance so that such persons can be sent home after serving their jail term.
“We have a history of such cases where people are still lodged in jail even after completion of their term,” Goyal said, adding that in such cases the issue of human rights violation crops up.
Boundary pillar
Goyal also spoke on the issue of damaged or missing boundary pillars and called for repair or replacement of such pillars at the earliest.
He, however, said that joint boundary conferences were held to resolve issues concerning boundary pillars.
He informed that the meeting observed that district officials from both sides should be members of the boundary conference.
“As of now, it is not there. The involvement of the district administration is very critical since it is in the knowhow of things from the very beginning. We have decided a proposal whether the DC and other district officers can also be included in the boundary conference,” he added.
