INDIA’S BORDER SECURITY FORCE (BSF) is exploring an idea: releasing crocodiles and venomous snakes along riverine stretches of the country’s border with Bangladesh to deter illegal migration. Security along the 4000-kilometre border, which runs through plains, hills, forests and rivers, has been a contentious topic for decades. India has fenced off large sections of it, but the geography makes many parts difficult to barricade.
Media reports on the BSF’s outrageous proposal to use dangerous reptiles to deter crossings have triggered outrage in Bangladesh, where many see it as a symptom of a deeper problem. The nature of the proposal reinforces a long-standing view in Bangladesh that India views the shared border primarily through a security lens while holding little regard for the human consequences.
In Bangladesh, New Delhi is seen as having acted as a strategic guarantor of Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic rule of 15 years until her fall in 2024, prioritising its own security interests over Bangladesh’s democratic process. The close ties between the Hasina government and successive Indian governments have been criticised in Bangladesh as being unequal and skewed in India’s favour.
A significant segment of Bangladesh’s population has long viewed India with deep suspicion, and often outright hostility. The sense of grievance is compounded by unresolved issues such as the BSF’s killings of civilians along the border, water-sharing disputes and inflammatory anti-Bangladeshi rhetoric in Indian media and politics. The suspicion and resentment has grown deeper in recent years, especially among the Gen Z youth who led the 2024 uprising that ended the reign of Hasina and her Awami League. India’s decision to grant Hasina refuge after her fall reinforced the belief that New Delhi is more invested in keeping Bangladesh as a political client rather than respecting its sovereignty. Hasina’s continuing presence in India remains a cause of popular anger; she is now a wanted fugitive in Bangladesh, and has been sentenced to death over her role in the killing of protesters.