Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has directed all service providers to close down operations on the border with India.
It has cited security reasons for imposing the decision.
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Mobile network coverage has been suspended for one kilometre along the entire border with India until further notice “for the sake of the country’s security in the current circumstances”, a BTRC statement has said.
A BTRC official wishing to remain anonymous told Northeast Now that the decision was taken after a detailed report from the country’s National Security Intelligence (NSI), which is Bangladesh’s premier domestic security agency.
The report expressed concern that the Indian Muslims might seek to enter Bangladesh fearing loss of citizenship in India after the Modi government amended the citizenship law, triggering violent protests across India.
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Critics say the law is anti-Muslim and undermines the secular ethos of the Indian constitution.
The NSI report says many Muslims from the east and Northeast India have already entered Bangladesh in the recent weeks.
“But the trickle may turn into a tide if India extends the NRC exercise to other parts of India, after having completed it in Assam state,” the report has concluded.
Home minister Amit Shah has strongly pitched for extending the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise to other parts of India but recently cooled off after violent protests across the country.
Opposition parties and most BJP allies have opposed both the NRC and the amended citizenship bill and vowed furious protests to stop them.