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Bengal moves resolution against Centre’s order on BSF jurisdiction extension
The BJP opposed Bengal’s resolution of the grounds that the Centre’s decision to extend BSF’s jurisdiction was meant to tighten security in areas close to the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders.
The West Bengal assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution against the Centre’s decision to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15km to 50km of the international borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, becoming the second state to oppose the move through its state legislature.
On November 12, the Punjab assembly passed a resolution asking the Centre to withdraw its October 11 order. The third state affected by the change in law is Assam, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power.
The resolution was placed before the West Bengal House by parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee under Rule 169 of the conduct of business, and passed amid pandemonium in the House, with 112 Trinamool Congress (TMC) members voting in support and 63 BJP members opposing it.
“We see the law as an effort to establish central rule in Bengal through the back door. This goes against the federal structure of the nation. Law and order is a state subject. The Supreme Court had earlier said in one of its verdicts that a state’s consent is necessary for extending the BSF’s jurisdictional area but no such consent was sought from Bengal,” Chatterjee later said.
The West Bengal assembly witnessed noisy scenes as the BJP participated in a heated discussion on the issue, opposing the resolution of the grounds that the Centre’s decision was meant to tighten security in areas close to the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders.
Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the assembly, alleged that during the debate some TMC legislators made statements that showed their support for illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh and their “anti-India” activities.
“A resolution passed under Rule 169 of the assembly has no locus standi,” said Adhikari who demanded during the debate that the BSF’s jurisdiction should be increased to at least 80km in Bengal. He argued that Bengal has turned into a hub for terror groups such as the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), and referred to the recent arrests of suspected JMB members in Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas districts.
Among Indian states that share borders with neighbouring nations, Bengal’s 2,216.7km border with Bangladesh is the longest, and covers 10 of the state’s 23 districts -- Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda in north Bengal and Nadia, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas in south Bengal.
If the BSF’s jurisdiction is geographically extended, then it will cover more than 30 % of Bengal’s territory and include several important cities.
TMC leaders said a copy of the resolution will be sent to the Centre.
Though they have no legislator in the assembly for the first time since Independence, the Congress and Left parties have stood beside Mamata Banerjee on this issue.
Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also opposed the Centre’s move last week, saying it was interfering with powers of the state. On Monday, Left Front chairman and veteran CPI(M) leader Biman Bose wrote to the chief minister.
“The Left Front partners will organise protests against the Centre’s decision. We request the Bengal government to immediately register its opposition to the move as it goes against the spirt of federalism enshrined by the Constitution of India,” Bose wrote in his letter.
The Mamata Banerjee government decided to introduce a resolution in the legislative assembly on November 12, a day when Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla came to Kolkata for a meeting on border issues with state bureaucrats.
On October 26, the chief minister set the tone for the action by declaring that she will not accept the extension of the BSF’s jurisdiction.
“This is direct interference with our state’s sovereignty and India’s federal structure. Law and order is a state subject. We have high respect for the BSF but they cannot operate inside our districts. We will oppose this,” Banerjee said in the state secretariat at the time.
