[Reader-list] Shahidul Alam detained by Indian Border Security Force

[anupam chakravartty]

First of all for Rajen, Your argument about media persons being above the
law is invalid here. Had it been one of the Indian media person (or a
vegetable vendor or a labourer) stuck in say Afghanistan with Talibans, you
would have raised hue and cry about his release. The bottomline is that Alam
had gone for work. In many cases, media persons also venture inside trouble
torn areas, with limited or no protection. And most of these assignment
involve risks, the work is mostly done out of free will (obviously, if Alam
had wanted to film the river or the no man’s land in this area, he could
have arranged for these pictures. However he decided to venture out on his
own, which is the beauty of this job. Unlike you Rajen, these people
actually go out and establish things on there own instead of believing
someone else). It was clear that since Shahapara and Rowmari are in the
areas in which the river Brahmaputra serves as an international border, it
is very clear he might strayed inside the no man’s land as there is no clear
demarcations that could be set up in the area. The only possible way to man
these territories is through patrol boats run by the BSF and BDR.



Secondly, a photographer of such repute, obviously he would not have been
spying in the area but as stated by his friends, he was working on a
project. But I would certainly appreciate BSF and BDR to have performed
their duties. At the same time, I am surprised that none of you have mulled
over this question if Alam was actually photographing how migrants from
Bangladesh were crossing over to India by paying bribes to both BDR and BSF
on the pineapple boats. This is an assignment all the journalists belonging
to North East India and Bangladesh have dying to take up but because of the
very nature of the borders, none have been able to penetrate. Unfortunately
for you Rajen, this would mean that journalists are above law. It is sincere
request to his friends to share some details of this project.



Kshmendra, I am not surprised that he was arrested by BDR. Latest reports
say that he has got bail. (http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=87500&cid=2).



Malik, sitting in Delhi and calling human rights violations by the security
forces in Kashmir, as a stray incident is easiest thing. When you call these
incidents stray you are not only making the life of those whose rights have
been violated but also young jawans who face the bullets in these areas
(stray or otherwise). Have you ever wondered how many rounds does an unit of
Army get as practice bullets in Kashmir or North East? I would want you find
that the out and then come back here and discuss stray incidents. In fact,
on many occasions I have felt that the many of us who are in Delhi or are
operating of that place think that the rest of the country is full of stray
incidents. What happens in Delhi is the sheer truth. It is this
stray-incident mentality, which is bringing shame to your security forces.
Had the political and security establishment were careful about fencing the
borders, creating certain points of interaction through specified points,
this would not have happened.



-anupam