'Insult to State Forces': Punjab Assembly Passes Resolution Rejecting BSF Order

Punjab Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had moved the resolution in the Vidhan Sabha.

Image of Border Security Force (BSF) jawans used for representation purpsose.

(Photo: PTI)

The Punjab Legislative Assembly on Thursday, 11 November, unanimously passed a resolution discarding the Union Government's notification expanding the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force in the state, labelling it an 'insult' to the state authorities, news agency PTI reported.

Punjab Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had earlier moved the resolution in the Vidhan Sabha.

The order stated:

"The decision of extending the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15 km to 50 km by the Union Government is an expression of distrust towards the state Police and people of Punjab. This is their insult too."

Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa's resolution in the Punjab Assembly, as per PTI

It was passed amid the absence of the only two Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs.

Randhawa resolution also decried the Centre's decision on the grounds that it was made without the consultation of state partners, calling it an "attack on the federal structure", PTI reported.

On 11 October, the Centre had issued a notification declaring the expansion of jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the states of West Bengal, Punjab, and Assam and gave BSF the power to make arrests, conduct search operations and exercise other such forms of power in a 50km stretch.

On Thursday, Randhawa urged the Vidhan Sabha members to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue, PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI.)