600 Bangladeshis Try To Enter Bengal, Stopped By Border Force

Even as the political turmoil and violence continues in Bangladesh, a group of nearly 600 people from the country were stopped from entering India at a border point in West Bengal by the Border Security Force, which has been on high alert since prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted and fled the country on Monday. 

Many members of the group - which tried to enter India on Wednesday, the eve of an interim government taking over in Bangladesh - pleaded with BSF personnel to be allowed in, claiming that they feared for their lives.

Officials said that the group tried to cross the border into India at the Dakshin Berubari village in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.

"They appealed to us and asked to be let into the country, saying that they were afraid of being attacked and also feared for their lives. It was explained to them that it is not possible to let them enter in this fashion," said an official. 

While some people in the group dispersed, many were still at the border point late on Wednesday evening, hoping that they would eventually be allowed to cross over. 

A local resident told news agency PTI that the people gathered across the barbed wire were pleading to be allowed in. 

"But we are helpless. They recounted their horrific experiences," the resident said.

Trouble had been brewing in Bangladesh since before the January 7 elections, which was won by Sheikh Hasina's Awami League in a landslide, but the electoral exercise was widely seen as being far from free and fair.

Student protests began in June after a Bangladeshi high court reinstated 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for family members of freedom fighters and veterans from Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence. The quota was later scaled back by the country's supreme court but Ms Hasina's handling of the situation and labelling of the protesters infuriated students. 

Protests continued with students demanding Ms Hasina step down and clashes between agitators and the police left over 100 dead and dozens injured across the country on Sunday.

Monday saw lakhs of students flooding the streets and heading towards the prime minister's official residence, Ganabhaban, forcing Ms Hasina to resign and flee. 

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will take oath on Thursday as the head of an interim government, Bangladesh's Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman has announced. 

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