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The government of India forms various organisations to carry out certain functions. They are assigned duties and responsibilities and certain powers so they can fulfil their purpose. The Border Security Force of India is one such organisation of the Union government of India. Border Security Force operates on the border India shares with Pakistan and Bangladesh. There are about seven Central Armed Police Forces in India. The Border Security Force is one of them. The centre enhances the powers of BSF, and the home ministry enhances the powers of BSF as well. Let us understand the reasons behind the same.
The Border Security Force
As discussed above, BSF, which stands for the Border Security Force, is part of the seven CAPF of India. CAPF is the Central Armed Police Forces. The Border Security force, along with the other Central Armed Police forces, was established on the 1st of December in the year 1965 in order to ensure the security of the Border of India regarding all the matters that concern security. During the outbreak of any war, the Border Security Force plays an important role. The Border Security Force is the only Central Armed Police Force which has a water wing, Airwing as well as Artillery Regiment. The ministry of home affairs controls and monitors the Border Security Force.
The objectives of BSF
The objectives of the Border Security Force are divided into two types: their responsibilities during the time of war and the responsibilities during the time of peace. Let us understand the objectives of
Border Security Force during each of these times.
The peacetime objectives of BSF:
- Guarding and securing the border of India.
- Prevent all trans-border crimes, do not permit anyone to make authorised entry into the territory of India.
- Prevent smuggling of any goods or illegal substances across the border.
- Carry out the anti-infiltration duties.
The wartime objectives of BSF:
- Taking action against the forces of the enemy, which are irregular.
- To help in controlling refugees.
- Maintaining law and order in the territory of enemies is now under the army’s control.
- Guiding the Indian army into the borders of the enemy nation.
- Intelligence across the border and other special tasks should be carried out.
Let us now understand why the centre enhances the powers of BSF.
BSF powers enhanced
The centre enhances the powers of the BSF and gives them the permission to arrest, search and seize within 50 Kilometres of the International Boundary. The BSF powers enhanced implementations are carried out within the borders of India in the states of Assam, Punjab and West Bengal. The home ministry enhances the powers of BSF to further implement this in the newly created union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. This was published on October 11 in the Gazette of India.
Before this, the limit of the Border Security Force of India was up to 80 km from the international boundary in Gujarat and 15 km from the international boundary in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Punjab and Assam. As the centre enhances the powers of BSF, the states of Tripura, Mizoram Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland will also be part of this now.
The search and seizing by the border security force will be carried out for the violation, as given below.
- Smuggling of narcotics and other illegal things.
- Trying to cross the country with prohibited items.
- Illegal tree of foreigners.
All these acts are punishable under the Central act.
However, the BSF does not have any police powers. They cannot punish the people who carry out these illegal activities. The Border Security Force should only apprehend the suspects and conduct preliminary questioning. The suspect should be handed over to the local police within 24 hours of apprehending. The border security force should not prosecute the suspect.
The enhancement of powers of the Border Security Force by the central government is regarded as an attack on federalism by the Chief Minister of Punjab. Charanjit Singh Channi, the chief minister of Punjab, strongly condemns the Government of India’s decision to enhance the powers of the Border Security Force. He demanded that such an irrational decision should be taken back. The state of West Bengal is also not happy about this decision of the Central Government. The purpose behind enhancing the powers of the border security force “establishes uniformity in defining the area within which the BSF can operate,” according to an officer of BSF.
Conclusion:
There are 7 central armed police forces in India, established in December 1965. They established the security of India’s borders and matters connected with it. The Central armed police forces include Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo Tibetan Border Police, Border Security Force (BSF), etc. The centre enhances the powers of BSF, which has helped to define areas within which the BSF can operate. It is 50 km from the international boundaries in West Bengal, Assam and Punjab. The states of Punjab and West Bengal are not happy with this decision.
