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Parties back Centre's handling of Bangla intrusion

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Most parties across the political spectrum have extended cautious support to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in its efforts to counter the intrusion in a Meghalaya village by the Bangladesh Rifles, but warned it to be alert against any further aggression.

"The Congress party has extended support to the government on most international issues. On this issue of intrusion by BDR personnel in the village in Meghalaya, we call upon the government to end this unfortunate chapter quickly because our country has friendly relations with Bangladesh," said S Jaipal Reddy, the party's chief spokesman.

Reddy told rediff.com that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid had acknowledged India's efforts in the liberation of her country in 1971 after which both countries had enjoyed cordial relations.

In fact, Sheikh Hasina had stayed in New Delhi (at the Pandara Road residence given to her by the then Congress government) after the assassination of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

Sheikh Hasina (who had escaped because she was in Germany at the time her father was killed) lived in Delhi thereafter for quite some time. The upshot was that after her assumption of power in Dhaka, Indo-Bangladesh relations have been on the upswing.

Reddy said his party too had seen the media reports of alleged intelligence failure on the Bangladesh border, but would like to know all the facts before commenting.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was more critical and wanted to know how the government could afford to be "lax" in the Northeast, where the situation is very sensitive.

"Ghuspaithiyon ko zaroor maar bhagao, magar hamari sarkar aise mauke mein kya kar rahi thi (the intruders have to be driven out, but what was our government doing)?" he demanded.

Mulayam Singh said the government must come out with all the details of the incident which cost 16 Border Security Force jawans their lives.

He said the Vajpayee government, which claimed a monopoly on patriotism and nationalism, had been found wanting on security aspects in various parts of the country, including Jammu & Kashmir and the Northeast.

"The government must take all measures to reassure our security forces that it will not hesitate to initiate stringent action against external intrusion," he said.

Communist Party of India, Marxist, leader Somnath Chatterjee said it was surprising how the Bangladesh Rifles supported by the country's army had, in a swift operation, occupied a village in Meghalaya while the central government had little or no inkling of the issue.

Underscoring that the government must speedily restore the status quo ante on the border, Chatterjee pointed out, "We have to see whether the intrusion was because of intelligence failure."

Surprisingly, the Bharatiya Janata Party took a hard line on the killings. "Hamare logon mein BSF ke jawanon ke maare jane se gusse ki lahar daur rahi hai. Sarkar ko Bangladesh ke suraksha dalon ko bahar khader dena chahiye (Our people are angry at the killings of the BSF men. The government should take action against their security forces)," BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.

But both Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh denied that there had been any intelligence failure in the Northeast. They said the authorities in Dhaka had been apprised of India's dismay at the incident.

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