With Opposition-ruled governments questioning the extension of the BSF jurisdiction to 50 km inside the international border, the Director General of the paramilitary force, Pankaj Kumar Singh, Tuesday said the probable reason for the Centre’s decision was that “the demographic balance has been upset in border states like West Bengal and Assam over a period of time”. He said a survey done by the BSF (Border Security Force) pointed to “a definite democratic change”.
At the annual press conference of the BSF, Singh said: “Over a period of time, you must have observed that whether it is Assam or West Bengal, the demographic balance has been upset to a great degree... It has changed for whatever reasons. It has changed and there have been agitations in certain states and there have been many revolts because of these reasons... Even the voter pattern has changed in certain districts neighbouring borders. So, the government probably thought that, in its vision, the BSF jurisdiction was changed from 15 km to 50 km, and maybe now it can help and support and supplement the state police in catching the infiltrators.”
