TMC Leader's Remark On BSF Frisking Women 'Inappropriately' Sparks Row

Trinamool Congress MLA Udayan Guha's BSF frisking women "inappropriately" remark in the West Bengal Assembly sparked a furore Tuesday. The party legislator, referring to women in border areas, said, "BSF personnel in name of search touch them inappropriately."

The assembly was hearing a resolution challenging the centre's decision to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF). West Bengal and Punjab are two states that have passed this resolution so far, with opposition from the states' ruling parties.

66-year-old Guha is a three-term Legislative Assembly member from Dinhata in Cooch Behar district, which shares a border with Bangladesh.

As quoted by ANI, a BSF officer has opposed Guha's claims calling them "baseless." They said the BSF was "a professional force that has always performed the mandated duties by adhering to the rules" and that only women officers were tasked with frisking women.

BSF Frisking Women Remark: What You Should Know

Guha further said that no matter how much BSF personnel chanted 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' they could not be "patriotic." Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly criticised the TMC leader calling his statements an "insult" to the border forces. They demanded Guha's remarks be expunged from the assembly but Speaker Biman Banerjee did not do so.

The passing of the resolution would allow for the BSF to extend its jurisdiction into the international border from 15 km to 50 km.

Following the uproar, Guha told the media that as an MLA placed in a border area, he has received complaints of the kind he raised in the assembly. "I have not said all BSF molest women but it happens where such cases happen in the name of frisking," he told India Today. 

BJP Lok Sabha member Saumitra Khan issued a statement addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to file a case against "fake politicians" like Guha.

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