KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged the Centre to move the United Nations to seek deployment of peacekeeping forces in Bangladesh where minorities have come under attack. She also sought PM Narendra Modi’s intervention in bringing back persecuted Indians from the neighbouring country.
Addressing the assembly, Banerjee condemned the attack on Hindus in Bangladesh and called for stricter measures. She demanded that the external affairs minister appraise Parliament on India’s stand on the current situation in Bangladesh.
The statement from the EAM should come during the ongoing winter session, if PM Modi is unavailable to do the job himself,” the CM said. “We condemn atrocities of any kind, irrespective of caste, creed, or religion,” she said.
Stating that there was an urgent need to rescue persecuted Indians and rehabilitate them on this side of the border, the CM said, “If required we can rehabilitate the Indians attacked in Bangladesh. We have no problem sharing our ‘one roti’ with them if the need arises. There will be no shortage of food for them.”
Banerjee said she wished that harmony, fraternal ties and cordial relationship remain between all communities living in Bangladesh and elsewhere. Talking about the arrest of 79 Indian fishermen sometime back for straying into Bangladesh waters, she said, “Our fishermen still remain in their captivity and are yet to be released… When the Bangladesh fishermen had entered into our waters, we ensured their safe return.”
She said it was beyond her purview to comment on bilateral issues between the two nations, as Bengal is only a state in the country’s federal set-up. “However, in the wake of the recent developments and the experience narrated by many people here having relatives and base in Bangladesh, the arrests of people coming over to our side and my conversations with the ISKCON representatives here, has forced me to make this statement on the floor of this House,” she said.
The BJP, meanwhile, questioned the CM’s will to protect the life of persecuted Hindus. “She has her MPs who should raise the matter in Parliament as a reflection of her right political will. This is not a political issue, but an existential crisis of the Bengali-speaking Hindus, and the CM should rise above politics to stand beside them,” said Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition.