New Delhi: Hours after Bangladesh condemned the communal violence in West Bengal’s Murshidabad and denied any link to the unrest, India issued a sharp rebuttal Friday, dismissing the claims over attempting to establish any such links, and accusing Dhaka of deflecting from its own minority rights record.
In a statement posted on Facebook Thursday, Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, strongly condemned attempts to link Bangladesh to the violence.
“We firmly reject any attempts to link Bangladesh to the communal violence in Murshidabad. We strongly condemn the attacks on Muslims and the damage to their lives and properties. We call on the Indian and West Bengal governments to take all necessary steps to ensure the full security of the Muslim minority community,” Alam said.
In response to the mounting cross-border rhetoric, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismissed Bangladesh’s statement. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rejected what he called “a barely disguised and disingenuous attempt” by Dhaka to deflect attention from its treatment of its own minorities.
“We reject the remarks made by the Bangladesh side with regard to the incidents in West Bengal. This is a barely disguised and disingenuous attempt to draw a parallel with India’s concerns over the ongoing persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, where the criminal perpetrators of such acts continue to roam free,” Jaiswal said. “Instead of making unwarranted comments and indulging in virtue signaling, Bangladesh would do better to focus on protecting the rights of its own minorities.”
The violence, which erupted last week during protests against the new Waqf (Amendment) Act in Murshidabad’s Jangipur area, has left at least three people dead since, and led to over 200 arrests. The demonstrations escalated into violent confrontations, with mobs pelting stones at police, torching law enforcement vehicles, and vandalising property in several neighbourhoods.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that “Bangladeshi miscreants” were among those involved in the clashes. Speaking at a meeting with Muslim religious leaders in Kolkata, Banerjee Wednesday described the incident as a “pre-planned riot”, and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) of playing a role.
She indirectly held the Union home ministry, without naming Minister Amit Shah, responsible for the violence.
Referring to media reports citing home ministry sources that allegedly blamed Bangladeshi nationals for the unrest, Banerjee said, “I saw a news report quoting the home ministry saying the perpetrators came from Bangladesh. I have just one question—why were they allowed to enter Bengal? The border is not our responsibility.”
She added: “You’re doing this (the Waqf Bill) forcibly. Why the rush? Are you unaware of the situation in Bangladesh? What’s your plan—inciting riots by bringing in outsiders? If people from Bangladesh were involved, what was the BSF doing? You owe us an explanation.”
The BJP, in turn, demanded that the state government release information on the nationalities of those arrested, questioning how many of them were from Bangladesh.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)