New Delhi: India on Friday (April 18) reacted sharply to Bangladesh calling for the safety of Muslims after riots in Murshidabad, calling it a “barely disguised and disingenuous attempt” to deflect attention from Bangladesh’s own internal issues.
Earlier on Thursday, the press adviser to Bangladesh’s chief adviser, Shafiqul Alam, had dismissed Indian media reports that claimed to link Bangladeshis to the violence in Murshidabad.
“We strongly refute any attempts to implicate Bangladesh in the communal violence in Murshidabad,” Alam said on Thursday. He added, “We urge the government of India and West Bengal to take all steps to fully protect the minority Muslim population.”
A day later, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reacted, “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 Bangladesh should refrain from making “unwarranted comments” and accused it of indulging in “virtue signalling”.
He continued, “Bangladesh would do better to focus on protecting the rights of its own minorities.”
This marks one of the sharpest verbal exchanges between the two sides since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand.
Tensions between New Delhi and Dhaka have persisted since the ouster of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India.
India has repeatedly voiced concern over attacks on minority communities in Bangladesh, while Dhaka has maintained that most incidents were political rather than communal, and that the perpetrators have been arrested.
Protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act last week in West Bengal’s Murshidabad turned violent and three people lost their lives. According to The Hindu, which cited the state police, 274 people had been arrested as of Friday morning and 60 FIRs registered.
