C T Online Desk: Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud has said that the government has come a long way to free the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, which was kidnapped by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean with 23 crew members.
He was replying to a question at a briefing on contemporary affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We are in contact. We are making multifaceted efforts to release the crews. Our objective is to rescue them unharmed and at the same time rescue the ship. I just want to say that we have come a long way,” he said.
Owners are not in favour of military operations on hostage ships, he said.
Regarding the food shortage on the ship, he said that the food shortage did not happen when the ship was hijacked in the past. Hopefully, it won’t happen in this case either.
On March 12, Somali pirates hijacked the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah in the Indian Ocean, 600 nautical miles from the coast of Somalia.
After three days, the hostage ship with the crews was taken off the coast of Somalia.
After 9 days of taking the Bangladeshi ship hostage with 23 sailors, Somali pirates contacted the owners.
The same company’s ship, MV Jahan Moni, was hijacked in 2010. It took 100 days to negotiate with the pirates and bring back the ship and sailors.
Replying to a question, the foreign minister said that Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) has protested against the recent killings of two Bangladeshis — one in the borders of Lalmonirhat and the other one in Naogaon.
He said the first event took place at 10pm on March 25. Some Bangladeshis cut the barbed wire fence to cross the border into India
According to the BSF version, Hasan Mahmud said, the Bangladeshis were more in number and then the BSF challenged them.
The Bangladeshis then encircled the BSF. The BSF then shot bullets that injured the two Bangladeshis, he said.
“One of the injured came back to Bangladesh, and the other was admitted to the hospital in India. He died there while under treatment.”
The foreign minister said another incident took place in Naogaon on March 26 when he was crossing the border.
The BGB has already held a flag meeting with the BSF and protested the incident.
Asked if the foreign ministry has issued any protest, Hasan Mahmud said for many days Bangladesh has been discussing the border issue with India.
“During my recent visit to India too, I have discussed the issue with due importance so that non-lethal weapons are used in the border,” he said.
“Now much more non lethal weapons are used than before. That’s why many get injured and then return to Bangladesh. Otherwise, the death toll could have been many more.”
