A flag meeting has been held between the border guards of Bangladesh and India in the wake of tensions over the construction of a new mosque next to a 200-year-old mosque in the Gajukata border area of Beanibazar upazila in Sylhet. The BGB-BSF flag meeting was held at Sutarkandi ICP at 5pm on Tuesday (March 23, 2021).  Also read: Petrapole port suspends trade protesting ‘harassment’ by BSF BGB 52 Battalion Commander Lt. Colonel Shah Alam Siddiqui led the BGB delegation while BSF 7 Battalion Commander Captain BS Minhaj led the BSF side. At the end of the meeting, Battalion Commander Colonel Md. Shah Alam Siddiqui told reporters that under the 1975 agreement, Indian forces could not enter 150 yards of the zero line and provide any kind of barrier.  They violated the border law by blocking the construction of a 200-year-old mosque within 150 yards of No Man's Land.  We have strongly protested against this. Also read: BGB-BSF border conference begins in Guwahati He said removal of BSF bunkers and continuation of the construction work of the mosque were discussed in the meeting. However, the BSF bunkers were not removed till filing this report at 8 pm. The Lt. Colonel also added that there will be more flag meetings. He said the BGB was on alert in the border area in the situation that arose. Also read: Four-day BGB-BSF border talks begin It has been learnt that BSF obstructed the construction work of this mosque once before. The situation was resolved in a single flag meeting at that time.

An unplanned sluice gate at Karsati canal and Kushira River’s connecting point in Sylhet’s Beanibazar upazila has turned around 3 lakh hectares of crop land barren according to the Upazila Agricultural office.