Gunshot Victim Saddam’s Body Across the Border; BGB-BSF Uncertain When It Will Return

Staff Correspondent:

Does the barbed wire of the border divide only the territory? Or does it divide the life and the last touch of the loved ones? The still body of Saddam Hussein, which has been lying on the other side of the Companiganj border in Sylhet for the past four days, is raising that question again and again today. On the other side lies a lifeless body, and on the other side, the cries of a family are silenced.

The journey of darkness: Last Wednesday, April 1, Saddam, a young man from Lamagram in Companiganj, left his home. He was accompanied by three other friends. None of the family knew that this journey would be Saddam’s last journey. When his companion Abu Bakkar returned on Friday night and informed him, it was known that Saddam was no more. His life had stopped on foreign soil due to the firing of the Indian border guards.

Long wait for the body: As painful as the news of his brother’s disappearance is for a brother, it is even more painful not to be able to touch his brother’s body in front of his eyes. Saddam’s elder brother Nizam Uddin said: “We thought Saddam might be at a relative’s house. But now we hear that he was shot in the waist and leg. It has been four days, my brother is lying there. Will we not see him for the last time?”

Administration’s rush and uncertainty: Although the local BGB and police have begun working on the incident, no final solution has been found yet.

BGB position: Sylhet BGB-48 Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Md. Nazmul Haque said that they have specifically asked the BSF to find out. But the existence of any body has not been acknowledged from the other side yet.
Police role: Companyganj Police Station OC Shafiqul Islam said that since the matter is border-related, they have nothing to do legally before handing over the body. However, they will take immediate action if the body returns.

Politics and humanity of a corpse: Shooting and processions of corpses at the border are nothing new, but this incident of Saddam is once again reminding us of the old wounds of border management. On one hand, the BGB’s awareness call – “Do not cross the border illegally”, and on the other hand, a group of young people risking their lives due to poverty or some other provocation.

Saddam’s family doesn’t want any justice now, they just want the right to bury him. Should a body lie like this on the border between two countries?