West Bengal Assembly passes resolution against Centre’s move to expand BSF jurisdiction

The West Bengal Assembly has passed a resolution against the central government’s move to extend the jurisdiction of BSF to 50 km from the state’s international border. A similar resolution was tabled and passed in the Punjab Assembly on November 11th.

In October of this year, the central government amended the Border Security Force (BSF) Act to authorize the force to make seizures and arrests within 50 km instead of 15 km from the international border in Assam, Punjab and West Bengal.

Moving the resolution under Rule 169 of the House Rules of Representatives, West Bengal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Partha Chatterjee said: “We request that this decision be withdrawn immediately as the expansion of the BSF’s remit is a direct attack on the federal structure of the Country. “

READ: Attack on federalism: Non-BJP parties in Punjab pass resolution against expansion of BSF jurisdiction

Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari was quoted as saying: “If the Union government tries to pull key forces out of the Junglemahal, it is the state government that opposes the move.”

“And now the same government is opposing the activities of the BSF. Under this new rule (court extension) there is no question of conflict between the state police and the BSF,” he added.

During the discussion, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Udayan Guha reportedly said, “A child living in a border area can never be patriotic if they witness their mother being inappropriately touched under the guise of a body search by the BSF. “

While Spokesman Biman Banerjee decided not to remove Guha’s remarks from the minutes, the statement aroused widespread criticism from opposition leaders.

A BSF official responded to Guha’s allegations to the ANI news agency: “The BSF is a professional force that has always performed its assigned tasks in accordance with the rules and regulations.”

“BSF Mahila Praharis are the ones who search women. The allegations of inappropriately touching women by BSF employees are absolutely baseless, ”added the official.

Earlier this month, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had criticized the Centre’s decision to extend the BSF’s jurisdiction along the international border, describing this as an “attempt to intervene in the federal structure of the country”.