Bunker or toilet? A new flashpoint at border

It looked like a bunker. Only, the claim was that it was a toilet. It was definitely within 150 yards of the international border. Only, the claim was that it wasn’t.

And so, the building — work on which has stopped — has become the latest flashpoint along the border in Barmer Rajasthan, with India’s Border Security Force lodging a “strong protest” with Pakistan over it, people familiar with the matter said. They added that India has demanded that the building be demolished at once. If they don’t, added one of the people familiar with the matter, BSF will build its own bunker in front of the disputed one.

Anything that is within 150 yards of the border is considered No Man’s land, with no structures allowed. The people added that while there have been at least two cases of similar bunkers reported from the Indo-Bangladesh border this year, this is the first in at least a year on the Indo-Pakistan border.

According to the people, the bunker was constructed during the night hours, most likely last Sunday, and was spotted by BSF jawans on Monday. It was at built 100 yards from the border.

“There is a place called Gadra in Barmer district through which the international border passes. On Monday, our jawans spotted the illegal construction which is within 150 years of the border fence. The rules do not allow any construction within 150 yards as it is believed to be No Man’s land. The sanctity of the border must be maintained. A flag meeting of the junior officials was immediately held in which Pakistan denied that the construction was within 150 yards. They also claimed that they were constructing a make shift toilet for the jawans, and it was not a bunker or observation post. This was a lie, so a protest note was immediately issued by our commander,” a second official said.

Though the Indian side of the border is in the jurisdiction the Rajasthan government, the border area is managed by BSF from the force’s Gujarat frontier.

The first official added that the construction is currently on hold with battalion commanders on the ground insisting on a measurement of the construction site. “The fact that they built this construction during the night means they knew it was illegal. HQ has been informed about this incident. The senior officers have asked for a flag meeting at the sector commander level. Pakistan Rangers is yet to respond. If they proceed with the construction, BSF too will have a similar bunker in front of this illegal one.”

BSF guards 2296.66km of the Indo-Pak border and 435km of the Line of Control along with the Army.