Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah “to know his thoughts about” the extension of operational jurisdiction of the Border Security Force, or BSF, within Indian territories in the states of Assam, Punjab, and Bengal.
“I will be meeting Home Minister Amit Shah to know his thoughts about it,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Earlier this week the Home Ministry said the BSF could operate up to 50 km from the international border in the above three states; previously this was 15 km.
The new order has proven controversial since it means the BSF can search and make arrests within a wider area in each state, giving them powers on par with local police. In Punjab this means the Golden Temple at Amritsar, for example, now comes under their jurisdiction too; it is 35 km from the border.
The centre has said it will help maintain a “zero tolerance” stance against terrorism and cross-border crimes.
However, the Congress – in power in Punjab, and where elections are due next year – has cried foul and alleged a “conspiracy”, accusing the BJP government at the centre of destroying the country’s federal structure.
Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala has questioned the timing of the order, claiming it is meant to deflect attention from heroin seized in Gujarat’s Adani-run Mundra Port.
The order has also triggered a row within the ranks of Punjab’s ruling Congress, with ex state chief Sunil Jakhar taking a pot shot at new Chief Minister Charanjit Channi.
The order came a week after Mr Channi met Amit Shah and asked for help in sealing the state’s border with Pakistan, across which weapons and drugs are smuggled into India.
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