Wikipedia - Bangladesh victory over BSF intrusion in 2001 presented as humiliating defeat -
2001 Indian–Bangladeshi border conflict
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2001 Indian–Bangladeshi border conflict was a brief armed conflict in April 2001 between India and Bangladesh over the poorly marked international border between the countries. As of April 2011[update], it was the first and only such major conflict between the two countries who have maintained friendly relations since the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Cause
The Partition of Bengal in 1947 left a poorly demarcated international border between India and Bangladesh (then-East Pakistan). Ownership of several villages on both sides of the de facto border were disputed and claimed by both countries. The dispute over the demarcation of the Indo-Bangladeshi border worsened due to the existence of over 190 enclaves.
One of the disputed areas was a small sliver of land near the village of Pyrdiwah which the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) had occupied since the 1971 liberation of Bangladesh. The village was one of the Indian exclaves near the border of Bangladesh with the Indian state of Meghalaya.[1][3] Bangladesh claimed that the village was within its territory.[4]
Conflict
Five battalions of the 19th division of the Bangladesh Army, with additional personnel from the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), attacked the positions of India's Border Security Force at Pyrdiwah at 01:00 hours on 16 April 2001.[5] India claimed that Bangladeshi troops overran and occupied the village, which was near the town of Dauki, and that Bangladeshi forces were holding more than 20 Indian soldiers hostage.[6] However, Bangladesh insisted that Indian forces launched an early-morning attack on their posts in the frontier district of Kurigram, which lay on the border with the Indian state of Assam, on the morning of 16 April.[6]
Indian forces eventually responded and retook the village. The combat remained limited to the border troops of the respective nations, though mortars were used in addition to automatic weapons fire. Between 10,000 and 20,000 villagers living in the area fled the fighting, with at least 17 suffering wounds. Several villages were destroyed or heavily damaged in the fighting. 81 Indian and 2 Bangladeshi troops died during the conflict according to India, although Bangladesh claimed that 89 Indian soldiers were killed with 3 Bangladeshi fatalities.[3][6]
Result
Top Indian border security sources claimed that the BDR personnel had retreated in the Meghalaya sector, while in the Assam sector, the Indian BSF had vacated positions seized from Bangladesh.[7] Fresh clashes erupted along the India–Bangladesh border just hours after both sides voiced regret for the recent killings, but by midnight of 20 April firing had again stopped. An article reported that 6,000 Indian civilians had fled the region, and Indian government officials were attempting to convince villagers to return to their homes.[4]
The Indian BSF agreed to take back bodies of five of its soldiers at Rowmari sector, whilst the other 11-17 were classified as 'missing'. Bangladesh later agreed to return the dead Indian soldiers the next day.[7] Upon examining the bodies of the dead personnel, India alleged that the BSF men were tortured before being shot dead.[8][9] Three Bangladeshi soldiers were also killed: two during combat and another who died of wounds sustained during operations.
Aftermath
India's then-Foreign Minister, Jaswant Singh, "warned" Bangladesh of further escalation in hostilities if the restoration of the status quo was not achieved.[10] On 22 April 2001, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke to then-Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and agreed to order a high-level investigation over the incident, especially the torture of BSF men.[11] The two leaders spoke again a month later, and Hasina "expressed regrets" over the border skirmish.[12] Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raminder Jassal reported that both India and Bangladesh would improve diplomatic channels and promised to exercise restraint in the future.[4] India and Bangladesh started talks in March 2002 to resolve their border disputes.[13] By July 2001, the two sides established joint working groups to establish the un-demarcated sections of the border.[3]
Officially, Bangladesh blamed the fighting on "adventurism of its local commanders" and denied it had initiated hostilities.[7] This was the first armed conflict between India and Bangladesh, two nations that had maintained friendly relations since Bengali independence in 1971.[14] The end of the brief conflict saw an upsurge of nationalism in Bangladesh.[13] In parliamentary elections, the four-party right-wing alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh won a majority of 196 seats out of 300.
Despite its claims, Bangladesh ordered no courts martial, suspensions, or transfers of any local commanders.[15] Both sides desisted from any further hostilities and began border talks to discuss disputes along their 4,000-kilometre (2,500 mi) border.[16] Relations were cooled down shortly afterwards.
India later began constructing a fence along the entire length of the international border with Bangladesh.[17][18] India is still in the process of constructing the Indo-Bangladeshi barrier.[19] Bangladesh protested that construction of the fence within 150 yards of the border was a gross violation of the Indo-Bangladeshi Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace.[20] The Bangladesh government also protested frequent BSF incursions into Bangladesh, and shootings which resulted in the deaths of Bangladeshi citizens inside Bangladeshi territory.[21] In a news conference in August 2008, it was stated that 59 people had been killed (34 Bangladeshis, 21 Indians, rest unidentified) trying to cross the border illegally during the prior six months.[22][23]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Indian%E2%80%93Bangladeshi_border_conflict
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