The Punjab assembly today unanimously passed a resolutionagainst the Centre’s orders that extended the jurisdiction of the BorderSecurity Force in Punjab, calling it an “insult” to the State police and soughtits immediate withdrawal.
Punjab Home Minister, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “Thedecision of extending the jurisdiction of BSF from 15 KM to 50 KM by the UnionGovernment is an expression of distrust towards the State Police and the Peopleof Punjab. This is their insult too”.
He said that the Union Government should have consultedthe State Government before taking such a major decision. “The law and ordersituation in Punjab is totally under control. And there is no need to extendthe jurisdiction of BSF. This is a gross violation of the spirit of federalismenshrined in the Constitution of India”.
“Extending the jurisdiction of BSF is also symbolic ofpetty politics. All the political parties of Punjab have unanimously condemnedthis decision of Union Government and have demanded the Union Government shouldwithdraw notification dated 11.10.2021 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs,Government of India. Therefore, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha unanimously resolvesthat a resolution rejecting the notification of the Central Government in thisregard may be passed”, he added.
Meanwhile, rejecting the Punjab government resolutionmoved in the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday against the proposed move of the Centreto extend the operational jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from15 km to 50 km, former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked the stategovernment not to politicise the issue of national security for petty partisansends and motives.
"The operational jurisdiction of the BSF concernsnational security and not the law and order in the state, which the currentpowers that be in Punjab are apparently not able to understand," heremarked in a statement here.
He pointed out that it is not only Punjab, but thestates like Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal and others wherethe BSF jurisdiction is 50 kms inside the international border.
Moreover, he added, with Pakistan using sophisticatedtechnology and highly improvised drones with a range of as much as 30 km, it isimportant that the BSF gets more operational jurisdiction.