2001 Bangladesh–India border skirmishes

{{Short description|Series of armed skirmishes between Bangladesh and India}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict = 2001 Bangladesh–India border skirmishes

| colour_scheme = background:#91ACDB

| cause = Claims of intrusion of troops on both sides.

| date = 16–20 April 2001 ({{Age in months, weeks and days|month1=4|month2=4|day1=16|day2=20}})

| place = Bangladesh–India border (Gowainghat, Sylhet/East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, Boraibari, Kurigram)

| result = Inconclusive (See Aftermath section)

| territory = Status quo ante bellum

| combatant1 = {{flag|Bangladesh}}

| combatant2 = {{flag|India}}

| units1 = {{flagicon image|বর্ডার গার্ড বাংলাদেশের পতাকা.svg}} Bangladesh Rifles

| units2 = {{flagicon image|BSF Flag.svg}} Border Security Force

| commander1 = {{flagicon image|বর্ডার গার্ড বাংলাদেশের পতাকা.svg}} A. L. M. Fazlur Rahman

| commander2 = {{flagicon image|BSF Flag.svg}} Gurbachan Singh Jagat

| strength1 = {{flagicon image|বর্ডার গার্ড বাংলাদেশের পতাকা.svg}} 700–1,000 troops {{cite magazine |last=Gokhale |first=Nitin |date=30 April 2001 |title=A Tale Of Two Blunders |magazine=Outlook |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/a-tale-of-two-blunders/211448 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714201917/http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=362173 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |access-date=16 October 2014}}{{cite news |last1= |first1= |last2= |date=24 April 2001 |title=Bangladesh accused of border buildup |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/04/24/india.bangladesh.border/index.html |website=CNN |language=en |access-date=15 June 2024}}

| strength2 = {{flagicon image|BSF Flag.svg}} 300+ troops

| casualties1 = {{flagicon image|বর্ডার গার্ড বাংলাদেশের পতাকা.svg}} {{ubl|3 killed|5 wounded}}

| casualties2 = {{flagicon image|BSF Flag.svg}} {{ubl|16 killed{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/23/bangladesh |title=Army defiant as Bangladesh election looms |first=Luke |last=Harding |date=23 April 2001 |work=The Guardian |access-date=3 July 2014 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714145527/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/23/bangladesh |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=dec1012/at05 |title=Area where 16 BSF men were killed to go to Bangladesh |first=Dutta |last=Choudhury |date=10 Dec 2012 |work=Assam Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901153801/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=dec1012%2Fat05 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |access-date=3 July 2014 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1= |first1= |last2= |date=18 April 2001 |title=India, Bangladesh clash along border |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/04/18/india.bangladesh.clash/index.html |website=CNN |language=en |access-date=15 June 2024}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/bengali/news-56776141|title=|last=Hosen|first=Akbar|date=18 April 2021|publication-place=Dhaka|language=bn-BD|script-title=bn:বড়াইবাড়ী যুদ্ধ: কুড়িগ্রামে কুড়ি বছর আগের যে সংঘাতে ১৬ জন ভারতীয় রক্ষী নিহত হয়|access-date=12 September 2024|work=BBC Bangla}}|2 wounded{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1283068.stm|title=India-Bangladesh border battle|date=18 April 2001|work=BBC News}}|2 captured}}

| casualties3 = 24 civilians injured{{cite book |last=van Schendel |first=Willem |year=2007 |chapter=The Wagah Syndrome: Territorial Roots of Contemporary violence in South Asia |editor1-last=Basu |editor1-first=Amrita |editor2-last=Roy |editor2-first=Srirupa |title=Violence and Democracy in India |publisher=Seagull Books |location=Calcutta |pages=55–57}}
10,000 civilians temporarily displaced

| image = India Bangladesh Locator.svg

| image_size = 300px

| caption = Map showing the locations of India and Bangladesh (highlighted in green and orange, respectively)

}}

The 2001 Bangladesh–India border skirmishes were a series of armed clashes between India and Bangladesh in April 2001. The clashes took place between troops of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on the poorly-marked international border between the two countries.

The clashes began on 16 April 2001, when a force of around 800 to a 1000 Bangladeshi Paramilitary soldiers attacked and captured Padua/Pyrdiwah village, breaking the status quo and forcing the civilians there to flee.{{cite web |last1=Joyce |first1=Elijah |title=The Invasion of Pyrdiwah (2001) — Modern History Summarized |url=https://medium.com/stories/063b91dd1aef |publisher=Medium |accessdate=26 February 2024 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226165938/https://medium.com/@elijahjoyceweather21/the-invasion-of-pyrdiwah-2001-modern-history-summarized-063b91dd1aef |archivedate=26 February 2024 |format=Historical analysis |date=2024 |url-status=live}} Bangladesh claimed that the village had been illegally occupied by India since Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971.{{cite news |title=Tension along the border |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1283703.stm |access-date=1 May 2012 |archive-date=12 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112073332/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1283703.stm |url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=18 April 2001 |title=India-Bangladesh border battle |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1283068.stm |access-date=16 October 2014 |archive-date=20 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020102522/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1283068.stm |url-status=live}} The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) post in Padua/Pyrdiwah village was encircled, trapping 31 BSF troops within. However, both sides held their fire and began negotiations. Over the course of the following days, about three BSF companies proceeded to reinforce the outpost.{{cite magazine |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/barbaric-killing-of-bsf-jawans-puts-india-bangladesh-relations-under-severe-strain/1/233646.html |title=Barbaric killing of BSF jawans puts India-Bangladesh relations under severe strain |date=7 May 2001 |magazine=India Today |access-date=3 July 2014}} This incident was resolved later without any bloodshed.

Following this standoff, Indian BSF paramilitary troops along the Bangladesh–India border were put on high alert and ordered to begin intensive patrolling. A few days later, a small contingent of 300 BSF troops entered Bangladeshi territory near the village of Boraibari, more than 200 km to the west of Padua/Pyrdiwah, The intrusion was deemed as a "counter-attack" by India to retaliate after the earlier incident in Padua.

Immediately upon entering Bangladeshi territory, the BSF paramilitary company was ambushed by Bangladeshi border guards and the attack on BDR outposts in Boraibari were repulsed.{{Cite book |last=Ranjan |first=Amit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9sJ1DwAAQBAJ |title=India–Bangladesh Border Disputes History and Post-LBA Dynamics |series=South Asia Economic and Policy Studies |date=30 October 2018|publisher=Springer Nature Singapore |isbn=9789811083846 |page=107 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-981-10-8384-6 |eissn=2522-5510 |issn=2522-5502}} who were assisted by hundreds of villagers. Following their capture, the bodies of the Indian soldiers were returned to India on 20 April.

The clashes finally ended on 21 April 2001, after both sides agreed to a ceasefire. The clashes left a total of 21 people dead, including 16 Indian soldiers and three Bangladeshi border guards.

The clashes were a major setback to the improving relations between India and Bangladesh. The two countries had signed a number of agreements in the years leading up to the clashes including the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement which served an important role in advancing the exchange of 111 enclaves (17,160.63 acres) from India to Bangladesh and reciprocatively, the latter transferred 51 enclaves (7,110.02 acres) to India.{{Cite web |title=India and Bangladesh: Exchanging border enclaves & (re-)connecting with new citizens |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/sambandh-blog-india-and-bangladesh-exchanging-border-enclaves-re-connecting-with-new-citizens/ |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=Brookings |language=en-US |archive-date=23 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723140307/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/sambandh-blog-india-and-bangladesh-exchanging-border-enclaves-re-connecting-with-new-citizens/ |url-status=live}}

Background

The Partition of Bengal in 1947 left a poorly demarcated international border between the states of India and Bangladesh (erstwhile 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 India–Bangladesh border worsened due to the existence of over 190 enclaves.

Cause

One of the disputed areas was a small sliver of land near the village of Padua (also known as Pyrdiwah), on the border between Bangladesh and the Indian state of Meghalaya, which was used by Indian security forces during the 1971 Bangladesh War to train ethnic Bengali guerrillas, who were fighting the Pakistan Army and pro-Pakistan loyalist militias. Following its independence, Bangladesh staked its claim to the area in which India's Border Security Force (BSF) had established a post in since 1971.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1809/18090220.htm |title=Disturbed Border |last=Chaudhuri |first=Kalyan |date=28 April 2001 |magazine=Frontline |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828014225/http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1809/18090220.htm |archive-date=28 August 2017 |access-date=3 July 2014}} The village is one of the Indian exclaves on the border between Bangladesh and Meghalaya.{{cite book |last=Kobayashi-Hillary |first=Mark |year=2004 |title=Outsourcing to India: The Offshore Advantage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcEwts3f26wC&pg=PA61 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |pages=61– |isbn=978-3-540-20855-6}}{{cite book |title=The Europa World Year Book 2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLvU9lroRuUC&pg=PA662 |year=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |pages=662– |isbn=978-1-85743-227-5}} There are 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladeshi-claimed territory and 50 Bangladeshi enclaves in Indian-claimed territory. Padua village is an adverse possession—a village inhabited by Indians that is legally owned by Bangladesh (until the border agreement is ratified and the populations exchanged).{{cite web |url=http://www.nautilus.org/archives/sand/Updates2001/V2N17.html |title=South Asia Nuclear Dialogue |publisher= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203131236/http://www.nautilus.org/archives/sand/Updates2001/V2N17.html |archive-date=3 December 2008 |url-status=dead}} The people of this village are ethnic Khasis.

In an interview published much later, the then-director of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), Major-General Fazlur Rahman, who was later dismissed from service by the rival government following an election, claimed that the Indian BSF had begun to construct a linking road between their camp in Padua and another camp {{Convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on}} away through no man's land and Bangladeshi territory.{{cite news |url=http://newagebd.com/supliment.php?sid=313&id=2142 |title=A country should have strength to implement its political plans |date=20 Dec 2013 |work=New Age (Bangladesh) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222134313/http://newagebd.com/supliment.php?sid=313&id=2142 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |access-date=3 July 2014}}

Conflict

The fighting that took place during these clashes was the worst since Bangladesh's war with Pakistan in 1971. It took place around the village of Padua in the Indian state of Meghalaya which adjoins the Tamabil area of the Bangladeshi border in the Sylhet district. Although an effective status quo had been maintained in this area, around {{Convert|6.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} of the border had been disputed for the past 30 years.

On 16 April 2001, a force of around 1000 Bangladeshi paramilitaries attacked and captured Padua village, breaking the status quo and forcing the civilians there to flee. Bangladesh claimed that the village had been illegally occupied by India since Bangladesh's War of independence in 1971.{{cite news |title=Analysis: Surprising outbreak of hostilities |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1285576.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=1 May 2012 |archive-date=12 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112073337/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1285576.stm |url-status=live}} The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) post in Padua village was surrounded, trapping several BSF troops within. However, both sides held their fire and began negotiations. Over the course of the following days, about three BSF companies proceeded to reinforce the outpost. This incident was resolved later without any bloodshed.

Following this standoff, BSF troops along the Indian–Bangladeshi border were put on high alert and ordered to begin intensive patrolling. A few days later, a small contingent of BSF troops entered Bangladeshi territory near the village of Boraibari, more than {{Convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the west of Padua. Unlike the latter village, which is an adverse possession, Boroibari is an area lying across a fence well inside Bangladesh. The intrusion was used as a "counter-attack" by India to retaliate after the earlier incident in Padua. According to Bangladeshi sources, Indian forces launched an early-morning attack on their posts in the frontier district of Kurigram, which lies on the border with the Indian state of Assam.

Immediately upon entering Bangladeshi territory, 16 Indian paramilitary personnel were ambushed and killed by Bangladeshi border guards, who were assisted by hundreds of villagers. Around midnight, the Foreign Secretary of India, Chokila Iyer, received a call from her Bangladeshi counterpart, Syed Muazzem Ali, saying that orders had been issued to restore the status quo as well as for an immediate Bangladeshi withdrawal from Padua. The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) withdrew from Padua by the night of 19 April.

In the confrontation, 16 Indian border guards were killed while two suffered injuries. The attack also left three Bangladeshi border guards dead and another five wounded. About 10,000 civilians fled the area after some 24 were wounded in the cross-border clashes.

After the Boroibari intrusion on 18 April, India alleged that the BDR started firing 3-inch and 8-inch mortar shells on Mankachar village, which is another disputed Indian enclave.

Aftermath

After both governments intervened in the situation, the Bangladeshis and Indians returned to their original positions and restored the previous status quo.{{cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010420/main1.htm |title=A Guns fall silent on border; BSF men's bodies to be returned today |date=19 April 2001 |work=The Tribune |access-date=3 July 2014 |archive-date=13 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513093930/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010420/main1.htm |url-status=live}} Fresh clashes erupted along the India–Bangladesh border just hours after both sides voiced regret and concern over the recent killings, but by midnight on 20 April, cross-border firing had stopped. An article reported that 6,000 Indian civilians had fled the region, and Indian government officials were attempting to convince the displaced villagers to return to their homes.

Bangladesh later agreed to return the bodies of 16 Indian soldiers the next day. Upon examining the bodies of the dead personnel, India accused Bangladesh Forces of subjecting the captives to severe torture before they were shot dead.{{cite web |title='Criminal adventurism' must not go unpunished: Jaswant |url=http://in.rediff.com/news/2001/apr/23ls1.htm |work=Rediff |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604015218/http://in.rediff.com/news/2001/apr/23ls1.htm |archive-date=4 June 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=12 July 2009}}{{cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010422/main1.htm |title=BSF men tortured, then shot dead |work=The Tribune |access-date=16 October 2014 |archive-date=26 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326070457/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010422/main1.htm |url-status=live}} On the other hand, three Bangladeshi soldiers were also killed; two during combat and another who died of wounds that were sustained during cross-border operations.

Observers have termed the incident as a political ploy to rouse nationalistic passions before the Bangladeshi elections (which were 2 months away at the time of the incident) and as malicious adventurism by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). The Government of Bangladesh denied allegations that it had supported the BDR's initialization of hostilities with India and termed the incident as the "adventurism of its local commanders".

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee engaged in telephonic discussions and subsequently agreed to order a high-level investigation into the incident.{{Cite web|date=22 February 2014|title=A brush with Bangladesh|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1810/18100280.htm|access-date=11 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222215106/http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1810/18100280.htm|archive-date=22 February 2014}}{{cite web |url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2001/05/bang-m21.html |title=India-Bangladesh border still tense after worst clash in 30 years |author=Nishanthi Priyangika |date=21 May 2012 |website=World Socialist Web site |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120133200/http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/may2001/bang-m21.shtml |archive-date=20 November 2008 |url-status=live |access-date=12 July 2009}} Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raminder Singh Jassal reported that both India and Bangladesh would improve bilateral diplomatic channels and promised to exercise restraint in the future. India and Bangladesh initiated talks to resolve their border disputes in March 2002. By July 2002, the two sides established joint-working groups to agree on and establish the non-demarcated sections of the border.

Bangladesh ordered no courts-martial, suspensions, or transfers of any local military commanders.{{cite web |url=http://www.mea.gov.in/articles-in-indian-media.htm?dtl/18607/Bangladesh+used+us+as+a+punching+bag |title='Bangladesh used us as a punching bag |publisher= |access-date=16 October 2014 |archive-date=30 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330005510/http://www.mea.gov.in/articles-in-indian-media.htm?dtl/18607/Bangladesh+used+us+as+a+punching+bag |url-status=live}} This was the first armed engagement between India and Bangladesh, two neighbouring states that had otherwise maintained friendly relations since Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/04/26/india.police/ |title=India accuses Bangladesh of war crimes |date=27 April 2001 |work=CNN |access-date=3 July 2014 |archive-date=29 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140929114032/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/04/26/india.police/ |url-status=live}} The end of the brief conflict saw an upsurge of nationalism in Bangladesh. In parliamentary elections, the four-party right-wing alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh won the majority.

Both sides desisted from any further hostilities and began border talks to discuss disputes along their {{convert|4000|km|mi|abbr=on}} border.{{cite news |title=Bangladesh and India begin border talks |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1889458.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=19 October 2006 |archive-date=23 February 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030223172557/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1889458.stm |url-status=live}} The two states experienced a thaw in their diplomatic relations shortly afterwards.

India has since then initiated the construction of a barrier along the entire length of its international border with Bangladesh,{{cite news |title=Livelihoods on line at Indian border |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4622317.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=19 October 2006 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828014225/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4622317.stm |url-status=live}} and is still in the process of constructing it.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article589627.ece |title=India fences off Bangladesh to keep out Muslim terror |location=London |work=The Times |date=13 November 2005 |first1=Dean |last1=Nelson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220120456/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article589627.ece |archive-date=20 February 2007 |access-date=11 July 2007}} Bangladesh has protested the construction of the barrier, claiming that the construction of a fence within 150 yards of the international border was a gross violation of the Indo-Bangladeshi Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace.{{cite news |title=3 killed in Bangladesh-Indian border guards cross fire |url=http://english.people.com.cn/200504/17/eng20050417_181457.html |work=People's Daily |date=17 April 2005 |access-date=15 September 2019 |archive-date=12 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512205046/http://english.people.com.cn/200504/17/eng20050417_181457.html |url-status=live}} The Bangladeshi government also protested the alleged frequent Indian Border Security Force (BSF) incursions into Bangladesh, and cross-border firing that has resulted in the deaths of Bangladeshis inside Bangladeshi territory.{{cite news |title=Border tension flares as BSF kills 2 more |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/04/24/d5042401022.htm |work=The Daily Star |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=19 April 2007 |archive-date=17 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617114059/http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/04/24/d5042401022.htm |url-status=live}} In a news conference in August 2008, it was stated that 97 people had been killed (69 Bangladeshis, 28 Indians; rest unidentified) while trying to cross the border illegally in the prior six months.{{cite news |title=India says 59 killed over last six months on Bangladesh border |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-35156020080824 |work=Reuters |date=24 August 2008 |access-date=15 September 2019 |archive-date=26 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081026110404/http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-35156020080824 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=63748 |title=Three Bangladeshis killed in 'drunk shooting' by BSF man |work=The Daily Star |date=17 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212191647/http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=63748 |archive-date=12 February 2009}}

2001 Bangladesh–India border skirmishes

Background

Cause

Conflict

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading