Living in the ground zero of border killings
I grew up in a place close to the Bangladesh-India border.
Informal cross-border movement is widespread here because during the partition, the Radcliffe Line put many extended family members on the other side of the border, turning them into foreign nationals.
Also, it was not news for me that the smuggling of goods is what keeps the local economy alive. Local influential quarters and corrupt law enforcers are often allegedly involved in the illicit trades.
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This illegal cross-border movement of goods and persons often puts people in harm's way. Border fatality at the hands of the border forces are very high along the Bangladesh-India border.
In my early adulthood, I wondered why the mere carriers of smuggled goods were taking the bullets? I often asked, why are the victims predominantly Bangladeshis?
As a photojournalist, in 2012, I started working on border violence with this deceptively simple question in mind. Nine years later, now I know, this high rate of border violence is the ultimate manifestation of the unequal relationship between the two countries.
In this visual reportage, I tell the story of people living in the ground zero of border killings.
