BGB pushes back Bangladeshi family of 10, BSF gives shelter

Jalpaiguri: India stepped in on Monday to provide shelter and food to a Bangladeshi family of 10 who had been stranded in no-man's land for days near the Shyam border outpost in Sakati, Jalpaiguri Sadar block, after Bangladesh refused to take them back and allegedly had their documents seized.The family had originally been pushed back by the Border Security Force in the early hours of Saturday following a standoff with the Border Guard Bangladesh.Unlike other Bangladeshi nationals stranded at Mekhliganj, Sitalkuchi and Dinhata in Cooch Behar — who were allowed back into Bangladesh overnight — this family was initially permitted to enter Bangladesh but driven back within a day.Local sources in Sakati alleged that BGB personnel instigated villagers to snatch the family's documents — proof of their Bangladeshi nationality — before forcing them back into no-man's land. The BGB then announced in the village that the family was of Indian nationality illegally pushed across by the BSF. Videos surfaced showing BGB personnel questioning the stranded individuals, who said they had come to the border on their own given the new Bengal govt's "detect and deport" policy for illegal immigrants — not that they had been pushed by the BSF.With pre-monsoon showers making their stay in the open increasingly unbearable — the family had taken shelter on a narrow ridge between farmland plots — the BSF brought them to a holding centre in Jalpaiguri town."When their own nation turned hostile, India made sure the family didn't suffer any more," said a local resident. The BSF has asked the BGB to expedite the verification process to facilitate the family's deportation to Bangladesh.