The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution against the Centre’s decision to extend the Border Security Force (BSF)’s jurisdiction, amid Opposition by BJP legislators. Bengal became the second state after Punjab where such a resolution has been tabled and passed.

The resolution was moved by state parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee under Rule 169 of the Procedures of Conduct of Business of the House. “We demand that this decision be withdrawn immediately as enhancing the area of jurisdiction of the BSF is a direct attack on the country’s federal structure,” he said.

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“They ( read the Centre) had brought the notification without the consent of the state government because the deployment of the BSF within its territory which is controlled by the state police was done without taking the state into confidence”, said Chatterjee.

Unruly scenes were witnessed in the House during the day after Trinamul MLA Udayan Guha made a remark that raised eyebrows. “A child living in a border area can never be patriotic if he witnesses his mother being inappropriately touched under the garb of body search by the BSF,” Guha said.

BJP MLAs opposed the remark and demanded that it be expunged. Speaker Biman Banerjee, however, refrained from expunging Guha’s comment. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the kind of language used against a force like the BSF is completely unacceptable. “When the Union government tries to withdraw Central forces from ‘Junglemahal’, it is the state government that opposes the move. And now, the same government is opposing BSF activities. Under this new rule (jurisdiction extension), there is no question of conflict between the state police and the BSF,” Adhikari stated.

Adhikari while delivering his address in the House going a step further claimed that his party would demand to the Centre to extend the jurisdiction of the BSF to 80 Km instead in the state to arrest the burgeoning growth of cattle smuggling, drug peddling and other illegal activities. The resolution was passed with 112 voting in favour of it and 63 opposing it.

BSF senior officer terms allegations of personnel touching women inappropriately as ‘baseless’: Countering the allegations of TMC legislator Udayan Guha, who accused personnel of the BSF of inappropriately touching women while searching them, the BSF called these allegations baseless.

A senior BSF officer said that “BSF is a professional force that has always performed the mandated duties by adhering to the rules and regulations.” The officer added, “BSF Mahila praharis are the ones who do frisking of females. The allegations of inappropriately touching women by BSF personnel are utterly baseless.”