Constitutional? Beef not permitted, anti-Muslim hate speech in WB border area

Kirity Roy, Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), & National Convenor, Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI) writes to the Principal Secretary (Home), Government of West Bengal:

***

This letter is for your immediate attention to the unlawful restrictions on agricultural activities that disrupt the livelihood of the poor marginalized villagers at Gangulia of Asaru Gram Panchayat under the Block and Police Station Bagda in North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal, by BSF persons attached to 107 Battalion posted at Mostafapur Border Outpost.
Gangulia is a border village where the IBBR road constructed by the CPWD goes through the village used by the people. As the road passes through Gangulia, earlier there was no border fence constructed. But now the BSF had used barbed wire border fencing fitted on bamboo poles on the IBBR. The installed barbed wire on wooden poles had blocked their houses. On the other hand, those who reside in between IBBR and IBP are completely isolated from the mainland.
The Company Commander Mr. Om Prakash Misra and other BSF subordinates reigned terror among the Muslim-populated Gangulia village. Even they are dictating on what food the village people would eat like not allowing beef to be consumed.
The posted BSF personnel do not operate the gate (open and close) as per the schedule and which caused loss to the farmers to sell their produce. Most of the time, the fence gate to access their farmlands remains closed. Their erratic behavior disturbs the agricultural activities which is the only livelihood of most of the villagers. For their own use, BSF persons depute villagers to work for them, which tantamount slavery . The security persons intrude on personal property like they chopped bamboo trees without permission for their own use. The registrar's book is used at the entry point, the villagers have to purchase for BSF which is supposed to be either way. The BSF men prohibited the farmers to cultivate mustard, jute and banana, and if they found it had been, they used poisonous spray to destroy the produce on the field. The Company Commander Om Prakash Misra made fun on Islam religion, restricting the people during namaz (prayer) at the mosque and he had visited the house of the person who performs the namaz. He also used derogatory remarks about the women and men who go for namaz at the mosque.
The ongoing situation perturbed the villagers and for respite, they approached with their complaints to the SDO on 11th November 2022 and BDO on 30th November 2022.
To my utter surprise, nearly two months had passed, the state government officials, the SDO & the BDO, took no action based on their complaints. Their utter failure to respond to the issue is not only challenging their life and livelihood but also violating Article 21 and Article 19 (1)(g), 39(a) and Article 25, right to practice religion of the Constitution of India and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The plight of the villagers and denial of their proper livelihood practices is against Articles 6 (Right to Work), 7 (Right to enjoyment just and favorable condition of work), 9 (Right to Social Security), and 11 (Right to Adequate Standard of living) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). In all these international instruments, the Government of India is a party and has taken a pledge to adhere with.
The inaction of the concerned government line departments, even after lodging the complaint by the victims, also violates Goal number 16 of the UN SDG which speaks of access to justice for all.
I request your urgent intervention in this case by fulfilling the following demands of the villagers:

Villagers should be allowed to use the CPWD road and no restrictions should be imposed on them. The barbed wire border fence they constructed without the approval of the DM of the district should be withdrawn immediately.
The Border Security Force should be posted at the zero point and not inside the village.
Like other places where the border gate is open for 12 hours, it should be implemented here too.
The BSF posted at Mostafapur BOP should immediately allow the villagers to have access to their lands in the enclosed area.
Villagers should be duly compensated for the loss that they are incurring due to the illegal restrictions by the BSF.
BSF should be instructed to follow their rules and not adhere to the prohibitory orders made by the local BSF personnel.
The Government of India and the Government of West Bengal should abide by the Chapter III of the Indian Constitution where the fundamental rights of Indian citizenry are enshrined
Disciplinary action should be taken against the BSF Company Commander and all others for imposing illegal restrictions upon the villagers and harassing them.BSF should not restrict the life and livelihood of the villagers, particularly of the farmers.
The villagers should be provided with adequate agricultural support.

I hope this letter clarifies the issue forced upon the villagers and which entails urgent resolution for their livelihood and to stop migration. Please allow me to further provide any information which you may require in resolving the case.

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Search This Blog