Unseen emergency-like situation is being created in Punjab. People are scared that BSF personnel would randomly enter their houses, cordon off villages and conduct searches, said Punjab’s deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa during late night surprise visit of police checkpoints near the Indo-Pak International Border in Amritsar district.
Randhawa’s visit comes a day after he flayed the Centre’s decision to extend the BSF’s jurisdiction inside the International Border along Punjab, calling it an infringement on the rights of the state. The minister, who also holds the Home Department portfolio, late Friday evening conducted checking of the Punjab Police ‘nakas’ at Jagdev Khurd in Ajnala, Amritsar, the officials said.
He also carried out checking of the ‘nakas’ in Gagomahal, they added. Randhawa interacted with police officials at the nakas, they said.
“I am at the Indo Pak Border in Amritsar Sector right now, to invigorate the morale of our forces. The Punjab government stands by the security forces as they defend and secure our borders. The security forces sacrifice let us as citizens of this beautiful country sleep in peace,” the deputy chief minister tweeted.
Randhawa, however, opposed BSF personnel being deployed at villages and suggested that they should only remain at the borders. “BSF should be kept at the border only and the rest of the areas should be left for Punjab Police to maintain law and order. People fear that BSF personnel would randomly enter their houses, cordon off villages and conduct searches,” he said.
The deputy chief minister further said that if BSF enters villages, conducts searches, registers cases or set up stations, it would be an “attempt to weaken the federal structure” of the country. “Unseen emergency-like situation is being created in Punjab, which will never be tolerated. Punjab is safe in the hands of Punjab Police. Centre should instead focus on drugs, weapons and drones coming from across the border. Peaceful Punjabis must not be harassed,” he added.
On former chief minister Amarinder Singh supporting Centre’s decision on BSF jurisdiction, the deputy CM said, “In 2016, Captain told a newspaper that there was a nexus between BSF and Pak Rangers and that needed to be broken. He should answer that first.”
Randhawa’s statement came after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) extended the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) up to 50 km inside the international borders in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam. Earlier, the BSF could make arrests, search and seize among other powers in areas up to 15 km in these states. At the same time, the Ministry has reduced BSF’s area of operation in Gujarat from 80 km from the border, to 50 km.
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