Unseen Emergency-like situation is being created in Punjab. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, during a surprise inspection of police posts along the Indo-Pak International Border in Amritsar district, said people were scared that BSF personnel would barge into their homes, lay siege to villages and conduct searches.
Randhawa’s visit comes a day after he criticized the Centre’s decision to extend the BSF’s jurisdiction inside the international border with Punjab, calling it a violation of the state’s rights. Officials said the minister, who also holds the portfolio of the home department, checked the ‘nakas’ of the Punjab Police at Jagdev Khurd in Amritsar’s Ajnala late Friday evening.
He said that he also checked the ‘nakas’ in the Gagomahal. He said that Randhawa interacted with the police officials at the block.
“I am at the Indo-Pak border in Amritsar sector right now to boost the morale of my army. The Punjab government stands with the security forces as they guard and protect our borders. Let the sacrifice of security forces let us sleep in peace as citizens of this beautiful country.”
However, Randhawa opposed the BSF personnel being deployed in the villages and suggested that they should stay at the borders only. “BSF should be kept only on the border and rest areas should be left for Punjab Police to maintain law and order. People are afraid that BSF jawans will randomly enter their homes, surround villages and start searches.”
The deputy chief minister further said that if the BSF enters villages, conducts searches, registers cases or sets up stations, it will be an “attempt to undermine the federal structure” of the country. “An unseen emergency-like situation is being created in Punjab, which will never be tolerated. Punjab is safe in the hands of the Punjab Police. The Center should instead focus on drugs, weapons and drones coming from across the border. Peaceful Punjabis should not be disturbed,” he said.
On former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh supporting the Centre’s decision on BSF jurisdiction, the Deputy CM said, “In 2016, Capt told a newspaper that there was a nexus between BSF and Pak Rangers and it needed to be broken. He should answer that first.”
Randhawa’s statement came after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) increased the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) to 50 km inside the international borders in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam. Earlier, the BSF could make arrests, searches and seizures, among other powers, in areas up to 15 km in these states. At the same time, the ministry has reduced the area of operation of BSF in Gujarat from 80 km to 50 km from the border.
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