"Trigger happy" electronic resource excessive use of force by Indian troops at the Bangladesh border [Meenakkshi Ganguly in collaboration with Henrik Alffram]

"December 2010"--Table of contents page. ;

"This report was written by Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch, in collaboration with Henrik Alffram, consultant to the Asia division of Human Rights Watch; and two local organizations Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) based in Kolkata, and Odhikar based in Dhaka."--P. 81.

"This report documents a pattern of grave abuses by India's Border Security Force (BSF) against both Bangladeshi and Indian nationals in the border area along India's 2,000 kilometer long international frontier with Bangladesh in West Bengal state. The abuses include cases of indiscriminate killing and torture. Most of the abuses documented in this report are related to efforts by the Indian government to deal with cross-border smuggling, particularly cattle-rustling. However, as this report shows, the abusive methods used by the BSF are disproportionate to the problems that the Indian government faces on its eastern border. Numerous ordinary Indian and Bangladeshi citizens resident in the border area end up as the victims of BSF abuses, which range from verbal abuse and intimidation to torture, beatings, and killings. Furthermore, because of the near total absence of effective accountability mechanisms for abuses carried out by members of the BSF, even the most serious abuses by border guards go unpunished. This sends a clear message that the Indian government finds such abuses acceptable."--P. 3.