# 1979 Bangladesh-Indian skirmishes

The 1979 Bangladesh-India skirmishes was a incident of border firing between Bangladesh and India from November to December 1979. The border firing took place between troops of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and the Border Security Force (BSF) on the poorly-marked international border between the two countries.
The conflict began on 1 November. And for more than a month, India and Bangladesh engaged in a gunbattle at the border town of BeIonia in northeastern India.

## Background

Years after the victory of the Battles of Belonia Bulge by the Mukti Bahini and allied Indian troops. The Belonia issue was almost settled in 1974 when Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman agreed to the general principle of watershed. It was decided that in all cases of river line boundaries the midstream would be regarded as the border. And that both sides would take steps to ensure that the rivers did not change their course but unfortunately, it was not settled.

## Cause

The joint boundaries commission was to meet in the first week of November to finalise the Belonia border within the framework of the Indira-Mujib agreement. Officials of the two countries held a flag meeting. However, on 15 August 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family was killed after Mujib established a one-party system, and Ziaur Rahman became the President of Bangladesh in 1977, Indira Gandhi also lost the 1977 Indian general election in the same year. In October 1979, Bangladesh said, it should be regarded as no-man's-land and farmers on the Indian side should be refrained from harvesting in no-man's-land. The Indian side disagreed and Indian peasants began harvesting the paddy they had sown. Bangladesh Rifles and the Border Security Force both exchanged fire in the beginning days of November thus starting intense gunbattles between the two sides.

## Conflict

Bangladesh Rifles and Indian Border Security Forces exchanged fire near the Comilla-Tripura border throughout the entire month of November to December 1979. The shooting appeared to have became a habit with the soldiers on both sides. A joint survey team of India and Bangladesh visited the area and watched bullets flying across the disputed land for 90 minutes. No fatalities or injuries were reported.

## Aftermath

After the three-day talks, the two delegations issued a brief joint statement in which, both sides agreed to exercise maximum restraint and avoided provocation to ensure the return of normalcy in the Muhuri Char area of the Belonia sector on the Tripura-Comilla border. This merely meant that the two sides would not resort to exchange of firing on the disputed 44-acre stretch of land.
Exchange of firing ended, but the talks had later failed.

### Skirmishes after 1979 incident

Skirmishes in Belonia also occurred in 1985, Where heavy mortars were used in the intense clash. Skirmishes near and in Belonia also occurred in 1999, where 6 civilians including 1 BSF Jawan were injured. The 67.31-acre land at Muhurichar has remained a disputed area since 1974 with both India and Bangladesh claiming the cultivable tract as their own territory. Of it, 44.87 acre falls in the Indian territory, while the rest is in Bangladesh's control.
In total, there were 8 skirmishes from 1979 to 1999 in Muhuri Char. BGB and BSF clashed for a total of 58 days in 20 years.

## Criticism

The Daily Sangram, a Pro-Jamaat-e-Islami newspaper criticised India for attempting to occupy Muhurir Char area, near the location of the clash in 1979 and for carrying out aggression in the area since 1947, And also for attacks on Bangladeshis by BSF. Indian officials accused Bangladesh for being up to mischief, and the Tripura Government also criticised Bangladesh for escalation.