During the Kargil war in1999, the Army andother intelligence

agencies faced a peculiarproblem. Their interceptioncentres in the high-altituderegion were unable to inter-pret the wireless communi-cation of the Pakistani in-truders. The Pakistanisspoke in Dardi, Balti, Pushtoand Farsi as they occupiedkey heights along the Line ofControl (LoC).

A small unit of the BorderSecurity Force (BSF), postedat Channigund, was asked tointerpret and analyse theconversations taped by theagencies on a cassette. BSFInspector Habibullah, a localfrom Drass, assisted the Ar-my in translating the wirelessconversations in Dardi andBalti. According to a book,BSF: India’s First Line of De-fence, edited by AnirudhDeshpande, associate profes-sor, History, Delhi University,the BSF Inspector “alsohelped in motivating localyouths for working as por-ters” as large number of pop-ulation had fl�ed the area inpanic due to shelling fromacross the border.

Though the BSF played akey role in the Kargil war — itwas the fi�rst to send fi�vespecifi�c intelligence inputsabout a Pakistani build-up,months before the war com-menced in May 1999 — theachievements of the centralarmed police force (CAPF)that reports to the Ministryof Home Aff�airs, were lost infootnotes of governmentreports.

The BSF was raised on De-cember 1, 1965 after the In-dia-Pakistan war. Till then,the border with Pakistan was

guarded by the armed batta-lions of State police whowere ill-equipped to stoptrans-border crimes and in-fi�ltration. The then Prime Mi-nister, Lal Bahadur Shastri,constituted a commission ofsecretaries and based on itsreport the BSF was raised. Itsfi�rst director general (DG)

was police offi�cer K.F.Rustamji.

Former police offi�cer P.V.Rajagopal, who authored anautobiographical narrativeon the founding DG, quotesRustamji : “After handing ov-er charge as IGP Madhya Pra-desh, I reached Delhi andwrote my joining report on 21July 1965…I became the headof a one-man organization. Iwas the sole Borderman; no-body below me, nobodyabove me...”

Pivotal role It was raised by drawing per-sonnel from the State armedpolice, the armed forces andfrom 25 battalions (a batta-lion is 1,000 personnel ap-proximately). The BSF hasnow expanded to around200 battalions.

The BSF played a pivotalrole in the 1971 Bangladeshliberation war. The BSF andits counterpart — the BorderGuards Bangladesh — are

now commemorating 50years of Bangladesh’s libera-tion (formerly East Pakistan )through year-long events.The 56-year-old force, de-ployed along the Bangladesh(4,096.7 km) and Pakistan(3,323 km) borders, is cur-rently at the centre of a polit-ical storm after the MHA en-hanced its operational limitsin Punjab, West Bengal andAssam.

The MHA, through a noti-fi�cation in the Gazette of In-dia on October 11, enhancedthe “arrest, search andseize” powers of BSF up to50 km from the internationalboundary in the States ofPunjab, West Bengal and As-sam. In Gujarat, the limit wasreduced from the existing 80km to 50 km and in Rajas-than, the 50 km limit has re-mained unchanged.

Opposition parties havequestioned the move, term-ing the order an attack onfederalism. According to theSeventh Schedule of the Con-stitution, policing is a Statesubject. However, accordingto the BSF Act, 1968, passedby Parliament and the rulesframed in 1969, the BSF hasbeen assigned three primarytasks while deployed alongthe borders — promote asense of security among thepeople living in the borderarea; prevent trans-bordercrimes/unauthorised entryinto or exit from the territoryof India and prevent smug-gling and any other illegalactivity.

In border areas, the BSFcan “arrest, search andseize” in cases pertaining tosmuggling of narcotics, pro-hibited items, illegal entry offoreigners and off�ences pun-ishable under any other Cen-tral Act and select provisions

of the Code of Criminal Pro-cedure (CrPC).

The BSF does not havepolicing powers and after ap-prehending a suspect, it canonly conduct “preliminaryquestioning” and the seizedconsignment or a suspecthave to be handed over tothe local police within 24hours. Such powers underCrPC are already available toother central forces such asthe Indo-Tibetan Border Pol-ice (ITBP), the Central Re-serve Police Force (CRPF)and the Sashastra Seema Bal(SSB). The ITBP (raised toprotect the China border)and the SSB (for Bhutan andNepal border) are also bor-der guarding forces but canbe deployed in the hinter-land at the request of Stategovernments.

In 2011, the Congress-ledUPA government proposedlegislation to grant similarpowers to the BSF across thecountry, but the Bill was notpassed. In 2012, NarendraModi as Gujarat’s Chief Mi-nister had written to the thenPrime Minister, ManmohanSingh, opposing the Centre’sproposed move.

Over the years, the BSF’srole expanded and it was al-so deployed in areas aff�ected

by Left-wing extremism(LWE), for law and order sit-uation and on election duty.The October 11 notifi�cationreplaces a 2014 notifi�cationunder the BSF Act, 1968,which also empowered theBSF to conduct counter-in-surgency operations in theStates of Manipur, Mizoram,Tripura, Nagaland, Megha-laya, Jammu and Kashmirand Ladakh.

Territorial limit“The BSF does not have anyinvestigating powers. Say, if adrone has been spotted nearthe Punjab border and has tobe tracked beyond the 15 kmlimit, the present notifi�ca-tion gives us a legal teeth toconduct the searches innearby areas and not be con-strained by territorial limit.We anyway alert all the agen-cies and the local police,”said a senior BSF offi�cial.

The recent order only en-hances the BSF’s “territorialjurisdiction”, said the offi�-cial, giving the force an op-portunity to also conduct in-dependent searches. “Butthe FIR and investigation hasto be done by the local policeand concerned agency only,we have no such powers. The50-km limit is being imple-

mented to enforce uniformi-ty,” the offi�cial added.

Further explaining the or-der, the offi�cial said it wouldremove any confusion as theterritorial limit was 15 km, 50km and 80 km in diff�erentStates. “In case of northeastStates, except Assam andArunachal Pradesh, theBSF’s jurisdiction was alrea-dy there in the whole of theother fi�ve States. Even theCentral Acts and CrPC,where the BSF is empoweredto act, there are certain spec-ifi�ed sections. There is nochange in the sections andthe Act, this notifi�cation hasonly increased the territorialjurisdiction.”

After the Kargil war, acommittee on internal secur-ity headed by retired IAS of-fi�cer N.N. Vohra recommend-ed that all internal securityduties should be dealt by oneforce, which led to the gra-dual withdrawal of the BSFfrom Kashmir Valley. TheBSF has a thin presence inthe interiors of J&K now. Itsprimary responsibility isguarding the 192-km interna-tional border in Jammu and afew kilometres along the LoCthat is protected by the Ar-my. The force’s rise has notcome without controversies.

It has faced allegations of ci-vilian killings and humanrights violations. In 1993, BSFpersonnel opened fi�re at aprocession at Bijbehara inSouth Kashmir, killing 43people.

In 2011, Felani Khatun, a15-year-old girl from Bangla-desh, was shot dead by BSFsoldiers while she was enter-ing Bangladesh from CoochBehar district of West Ben-gal. Photographs of the teen-ager’s body that remainedhanging on the barbed wirefence for several hours be-fore being brought downcreated a huge public outcryin Bangladesh. This led to apolicy change and the BSFwas asked to use non-lethalweapons along the denselypopulated Bangladesh bor-der. BSF offi�cials later com-plained that they often cameunder violent attack by cattlesmugglers active along theWest Bengal border and thenon-lethal weapon policywas an impediment to theiroperational capabilities.That issue remains unset-tled. But now, with enhancedterritorial limits in States, theborder agency is set expandits operations, especially at atime when the borders re-main tumultuous.

BSF

In the line of defence,with growing powers The 56-year-old force, deployed along the Bangladesh and Pakistanborders, is currently at the centre of a political storm after the MHAenhanced its operational limits in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam

Vijaita Singh

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The BSF does nothave policing powersand after detaining asuspect, it can onlyconduct ‘preliminaryquestioning’ and thesuspect has to behanded over to thelocal police CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

In Focus B The BSF wasformed onDecember 1,1965 after theIndia-Pakistanwar. Till then,the borderwith Pakistanwas guardedby the armedbattalions ofState policedepartments B It was raisedby drawingpersonnelfrom theState armedpolice, thearmed forcesand from 25battalions.The BSF hasnowexpanded toaround 200battalions B The forcehas also facedallegations ofciviliankillings andrightsviolations. In1993, BSFpersonnelopened fi�re ata processionat Bijbehara inSouthKashmir,killing 43people

ILLUSTRATION: R. RAJESH