KOLKATA — Concerned over the prevailing situation in Bangladesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged the Centre to move the UN in deploying a peacekeeping mission in the neighbouring country, besides seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in bringing back persecuted Indians from foreign soil.
Banerjee also demanded that the Union external affairs minister should 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,” she stated.
Addressing the assembly during the first half of the day’s session, Banerjee 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 CM, while clarifying that she was out of jurisdiction to officially comment on the matter, urged the Ministry of External Affairs to take the issue up with the Bangladesh authorities and, if necessary, with the UN.
"If required, let an international peacekeeping force be sent to Bangladesh after talking to the (interim) government there to help them restore normalcy," she said.
Stating that there was an urgent need to rescue persecuted Indians and rehabilitate them on this side of the border, the chief minister 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 stressed she wished for harmony, fraternal ties and cordial relationship to 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 recalled.
Accusing the central government of “remaining mum for the past 10 days” despite the escalating law and order situation on the other side of the border, Banerjee, in an indirect reference to the BJP, said, "Why don’t they ask their central leadership to pursue the Centre to proactively intervene in the Bangladesh situation? Instead, their leaders are demanding closure of goods movement along our land borders.
“They should know that as per international border agreements, stoppage of commodity movement is not in our hands. We can act only as per guidelines issued by the Centre."
The BJP, meanwhile, questioned the chief minister’s will to protect the life and livelihood of persecuted Hindus across the border.
“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 chief minister should rise above politics to stand beside them,” said Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition, while heading for the Petrapole border to participate in a protest demonstration of Hindu monks.
Alleging that Banerjee had mobilised her police to set up barricades to stop protestors from progressing towards the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata last week of which Adhikari was a part, the BJP leader said, “She never bothered to seek the permission of the PM or the external affairs ministry before publicly offering shelter to persecuted Indians during the regime of the erstwhile Bagladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina.
“Now, when Hindus all across the globe have taken to the streets in protest, she wants the PM to take responsibility. She must assume responsibility as well.”
Adhikari, however, welcomed Banerjee’s call for UN peacekeepers’ deployment in Bangladesh, claiming it was he who had made the same demand a couple of days ago.
The BJP’s scepticism about Banerjee’s intentions was reflected in the statement of Amit Malviya, the party’s co-in-charge for Bengal, too.
“Mamata Banerjee should stop shedding crocodile tears for Hindus in Bangladesh…,” Malviya wrote on X.
“Not too long ago, she had personally targeted monks and Hindu religious organisations like the Ramakrishna Mission, Bharat Sevashram Sangha and in West Bengal, to consolidate her Muslim vote bank. Thousands of saffron clad sadhus and lakhs of Hindu devotees had hit the streets in Kolkata, in protest,” he added.