Bangladesh lodges official protest against Mamata Banerjee's 'will provide shelter to refugees' remark: Reports
Bangladesh, hit by a civil unrest over allocation of government jobs, has officially registered an objection to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's comments on its internal affairs with the High Commission of India, media reports quoting sources said.
Dhaka has stated that Banerjee's comments (her offer to welcome refugees from the violence-hit neighbour) over the weekend were provocative and had inaccuracies concerning the internal affairs of Bangladesh, media reports said.
It said they were trying to bring normalcy, and such remarks (particularly on the deaths of students) by the Chief Minister were misleading.
PM Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi in June 2024. Photo: PIB
Amid the ongoing civil unrest in Bangladesh, Banerjee, in a show of solidarity, said that she would keep the doors of her state open and offer shelter to people in distress from the neighbouring country.
She referred to the United Nations Resolution on refugees to justify her stand.
"I should not be speaking on the affairs of Bangladesh since that is a sovereign nation and whatever needs to be said on the issue is a subject matter of the Centre. But I can tell you this, if helpless people come knocking on the doors of Bengal, we will surely provide them shelter," she said during the party's "Martyrs Day" rally in Kolkata on Sunday.
As per reports, Dhaka had pointed out that the situation Banerjee mentioned in the context of the United Nations Resolution, does not prevail in Bangladesh.
Further, it said such comments, in particular the assurance of giving refuge to people, may provoke many. Terrorists and miscreants could also take advantage of such an announcement.
Earlier, India's ruling BJP has slammed the West Bengal Chief Minister for her remarks, reminding the CM that the power to do so belonged to the Centre and not state governments.
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