Ramping up Indo-Bangla border security

Ramping up Indo-Bangla border security

Mangalore Today News Network

By Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon

Mangaluru, Jan 4, 2025: Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-kilometre-long (2,545 mi) international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world, including 262 km (163 mi) in Assam, 856 km (532 mi) in Tripura, 318 km (198 mi) in Mizoram, 443 km (275 mi) in Meghalaya and 2,217 km (1,378 mi) in Bengal. The Bangladeshi divisions of Mymensingh, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sylhet, and Chittagong are situated along the border. A number of pillars mark the border between the two states. The Border Security Force (BSF) has a total strength of 2.65 lakh to guard the 4,096 km long Indo-Bangla border and the 2,289 km long border with Pakistan in the west. However, 12,808 posts are lying vacant in the BSF. 20 per cent of the force’s strength is in the higher age group of 45-60 years, and another about 20 per cent is in the low medical category, making them unsuitable for operational responsibilities. The force has 193 battalions, including four disaster management battalions, with each consisting of around 1,200 jawans and officers. Many of the battalions are engaged in law and order duties. In addition, to contain violence in Manipur, 15 battalions are deployed. Another 14 battalions, are currently engaged in anti-naxal operations in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. There is apparently a manpower crunch in BSF, which affects their operational duties, especially controlling the illegal exodus of Bangladeshis into India seeking employment, religious fundamentalists being thrust inside to destabilize the country, expanding the voter base of a select community to grab political power, and for smuggling drugs. While refugees coming from other areas—including Tibet, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Myanmar—have been dealt with in a somewhat systematic, although ad hoc, manner, the influx of refugees/illegal immigrants from Bangladesh has largely been neglected.

This neglect has adversely impacted the interests of local populations in the areas seeing large-scale influxes of illegal immigrants as well as India’s national security interests. It now poses an enormous problem for India as demographic changes in many electoral constituencies, is swaying the electoral fortunes in favour of a particular community.  Successive governments at the Centre and the States have been ignoring this problem. States like Assam have been completely swamped by Bangladeshis, making the local population, voiceless and defenceless.

The situation in the capital New Delhi is also alarming. Many Bangladeshis are living in unauthorised colonies, slums, vacant government-owned lands, and footpaths across Delhi. These people have managed to acquire fake identification documents, through corrupt officials.

Illegal immigration from Bangladesh to India, which includes both refugees and economic migrants, continues unabated. There is no reliable figure on the exact number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh into India. But, an analysis of population growth and demographic statistics for Bangladesh and India in the last four censuses of 2011, 2001, 1991, and 1981, suggests that their number exceeds 15 million. Most of them have settled in states along the border with Bangladesh, and some subsequently have moved to other parts of India, including South India. A large number are engaged in menial jobs in metropolitan cities in India. Why is the BSF not able to interdict this exodus into the country?

It has also led to insurgency in some states. In Assam, for example, the presence of a disproportionately large number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and their enrolment as voters, led to a popular movement there (1979–1985) that demanded their deportation. The Indian Parliament passed the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act in 1983 in an attempt to address the problem, but the measure failed to make any impact (and was ultimately set aside by the Supreme Court in 2005). The agitation culminated in the Assam Accord that was signed on August 15, 1985, by the central and state governments and leaders of the All Assam Students Union and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad, which spearheaded the Assam movement. The accord envisaged that all foreign nationals who had entered Assam on or after March 25, 1971—the day after the Pakistan Army began full-fledged operations against Bangladeshi civilians seeking independence, causing them to flee to India in large numbers—were to be detected, their names deleted from the electoral rolls, and subsequently deported under the Foreigners Act, 1946. But little headway has been made in that direction.

The Supreme Court has upheld the validity of a key citizenship rule that recognised the Assam Accord, granting citizenship to Bangladeshi refugees who had arrived before 1971. Section 6A of the Citizenship Act was introduced in 1985 to allow refugees from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), who entered India between 1966-1971, to register as Indian citizens. A five-judge constitutional bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud upheld the validity of Section 6A by a 4:1 majority with Justice JB Pardiwala dissenting. The court’s decision means that the non-resident Indians who came from Bangladesh between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971 are eligible for citizenship. Those who have got citizenship under this will retain their citizenship," the bench said.

The order came on a petition that contended that the arrival of Bangladeshi refugees had impacted the demographic balance of Assam. It said Section 6A of the Citizenship Act violated the political and cultural rights of the original residents of the state. The Chief Justice said the enactment of Section 6A was a "political solution" to a unique problem faced by Assam since the influx of refugees had threatened its culture and demography.

Meanwhile a fresh controversy has erupted in January 2025, with leaders from the BJP, the CPI(M) and the Congress, criticizing Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for accusing the central Border Security Forces (BSF) as being responsible for allowing infiltration from Bangladesh to destabilise the state. Congress spokesperson Soumya Aich Roy said, “These are very grave allegations… the BSF is under the Home Ministry, so the allegation is that the BJP-ruled Centre and the BSF are allowing this infiltration. But it is based on money… it is the TMC only who are making fake Aadhar cards, voter cards, and passports. The BJP is letting anti-nationals enter and the TMC is helping them make documents. Police from other states are coming to this state and arresting militants… then what is the Bengal police doing, sleeping? The blame game should stop immediately. National security should be the priority.”

All political parties, and the Judiciary, should not be dilly-dallying, on this highly volatile situation, which if left unaddressed firmly, can lead to a civil war, and cause international ramifications.

India has a lot to learn about border security from other countries. North Korea has upgraded primary fences in several areas, improved guard patrol paths, set up new garrisons, watchtowers, and guard posts. A total of 6,820 facilities have been placed near new or improved fences, an average of one every 110 meters. The government’s expanded internal security at its northern border has made almost all unsanctioned domestic and international travel impossible.

On the U.S.-Mexico border the United States Border Patrol is the mobile, uniformed law enforcement arm of U.S. Customs and Border Protection responsible for detection, prevention and apprehension of terrorists, undocumented individuals and human smugglers at or near the land border.  The Border Surveillance Systems (BSS) uses commercially available technologies such as fixed and mobile video surveillance systems, range finders, thermal imaging devices, radar, ground sensors, and radio frequency sensors.

The estimates that there are over 15 million Bangladeshis in India means that the BSF has not been effective in interdicting the deluge of Bangladeshis into the country. There is no point in indulging in any blame game. The onerous task is to identify every Bangladeshi in the country and to deport them. Disturbing reports are now coming of Bangladeshis coming and working in textile mills in Tamilnadu and Gujarat, illegally. Government should immediately crackdown on this trend. Responsibility should be fixed personally on the mill owners who are encouraging illegal Bangladeshis to secure employment. The State Police, Intelligence wing, human trafficking wing, labour department, all are to be held accountable for conniving at this national security risk.  

For this purpose, a multi-disciplinary Commission needs to be set up to examine the extent of manpower shortage in BSF, technological upgradation and new equipments needed, and examine why there is high attrition rate in the force? Over 50,000 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel quit jobs in the past five years, according to data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to a Parliamentary Panel. The highest attrition was in 2022, when 11,884 personnel quit services. According to 242nd Demands for Grant report of the MHA, tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 17, 2023, the Parliamentary Committee sought to know about the CAPF-wise attrition, including “suicides and missing in action (MIA)”, in the past five years. The MHA replied that 654 CAPF personnel took their own lives in the past five years between 2018 to 2022. The highest suicide rate has been observed in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) followed by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) while the lowest suicide rate is in the National Security Guards (NSG).

In our increasingly interconnected world, maintaining robust border security is essential for national safety, economic stability, and public order. The complex problems of illegal intrusion can no longer be solved with conventional techniques like physical barriers and human oversight. Big data analytics offers transformative potential for enhancing border security, providing deeper insights, predictive capabilities, and efficient resource management. Data from sensors, biometric systems, social media, surveillance cameras, and travel records are all needed in border security. That includes integrated towers that detect people in rural areas with sensors, remote video surveillance and mobile surveillance systems, such as laser illuminators to see during the night. Big data analytics can also reveal patterns, detect anomalies, and predict threats with precision beyond traditional methods. The International Biometrics and Identity Association reports that biometric systems can enhance border security accuracy by up to 25%.

A total revamp of BSF is needed, if the country’s security, is to be made robust. No doubt, India is improving its capacity for border surveillance by utilizing big data analytics. The Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) continuously monitors borders using a combination of thermal imagers, infrared sensors, and motion detectors. But, the nation needs to know how 15 million Bangladeshi intruders got inside our country, and how many more are entering clandestinely?

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Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon, IRS (Rtd), Ph.D. (Narcotics)

Former Director General of National Academy of Customs Indirect Taxes and Narcotics & Multi-Disciplinary School Of Economic Intelligence India; Fellow, James Martin Centre For Non Proliferation Studies, USA; Fellow, Centre for International Trade & Security, University of Georgia, USA; Public Administration, Maxwell School of Public Administration, Syracuse University, U.S.A.; AOTS Scholar, Japan. He can be contacted at shreemenon48@gmail.com