BSF personnel 'touch women inappropriately', says TMC MLA; sparks row

Senior Trinamool Congress leader and MLA Udayan Guha courted controversy on Tuesday as he accused the Border Security Force of 'touching women inappropriately' in border areas under the garb of frisking operations. The BSF has rejected the charge as "utterly baseless".

Guha's remark drew a sharp reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which termed it as an 'insult to the security forces'.

During a discussion in the assembly on a resolution opposing the Centre's decision to extend the BSF's jurisdiction, Guha spoke about the 'atrocities let loose by the BSF on people living in the border areas'.

"We have seen the kind of atrocities that BSF perpetrates on people. A child who has witnessed his mother being touched inappropriately under the garb of frisking, when she returns from the field, can never be patriotic, no matter how many times you chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' in front of him.

"These incidents give birth to anti-social elements," he said on the floor of the House.

BJP MLAs demanded that his remark be expunged, but Speaker Biman Banerjee refused to do so.

Guha later told reporters that he has just 'spoken the truth'.

Condemning his statement, BJP MLA Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury said the TMC MLA's remarks were totally unacceptable and uncalled for.

"Such comments are not only unacceptable but also an insult to our security forces. Security forces are the pride of our nation.

"These remarks reflect the mindset of TMC MLAs," she added.

Rejecting allegations of the TMC MLA who said BSF troops touched women "inappropriately" during frisking, a senior officer of the border force said the charges were utterly baseless.

A senior BSF officer said the paramilitary organisation was a professional force that "has always performed the mandated duties by adhering to the rules and regulations".

"BSF 'mahila praharis' (women personnel) are the ones who do frisking of females," he said.

He said the "allegations of BSF personnel inappropriately touching women are utterly baseless".

The BSF frontiers based in West Bengal, south Bengal located in Kolkata and north Bengal located in Siliguri, may issued a detailed statement on the controversy, another officer of the force said.

The BSF is extensively deployed in the border areas of West Bengal as part of its primary mandate to guard the 4,096 km-long India-Bangladesh international border.