India said Bangladesh should focus on protecting rights of its own minorities
Security personnel keep vigil after violence in Murshidabad in which three people were killed. Pic/PTI
India on Friday rejected remarks by Bangladeshi officials on violence in West Bengal and asked Dhaka to focus on protecting the rights of its minorities instead of indulging in “virtue signalling”.
“We reject the remarks made by the Bangladesh side with regard to the incidents in West Bengal,” External Affairs Ministry (EAM) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“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,” he said.
Jaiswal was responding to media queries regarding comments made by Bangladesh officials on the developments in West Bengal. “Instead of making unwarranted comments and indulging in virtue signalling, Bangladesh would do better to focus on protecting the rights of its own minorities,” he said.
On Thursday called on New Delhi and the West Bengal government to take “all steps to fully protect the minority Muslim population”. “We condemn attacks on Muslims causing loss of lives and properties,” he had said. “We urge the government of India and West Bengal to take all steps to fully protect the minority Muslim population,” Alam had said.
Guv visits violence-hit areas
Despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requesting him to postpone his visit to the violence-hit Murshidabad district, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Friday left for Malda where he is likely to meet the victims of the riot who fled there.
“I am going to the field,” Bose told reporters while leaving for Malda. A senior official at the Raj Bhavan said that Bose might also be visiting Murshidabad later in the day.
Three persons were killed in communal violence in the Shamsherganj, Suti, Dhulian and Jangipur areas of Murshidabad district having a Muslim majority population during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act on April 11 and 12. Several people fearing for their lives fled to the neighbouring Malda district and have taken shelter there.
Paramilitary forces, along with the state police, have been deployed in the riot-affected areas of the district, from where 274 people have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in vandalism and rioting.
NHRC visits relief camp
An NHRC team on Friday visited a relief camp in Malda to meet those displaced by the Murshidabad riots.
The NHRC team visited the Par Lalpur High School in Malda, where hundreds of displaced persons have taken shelter since communal clashes erupted in Murshidabad on April 11 and 12 during protests.
The Commission, which took suo motu cognisance of the violence, said it decided to send a fact-finding team in view of the "seriousness of the situation" and has sought a detailed inquiry report within three weeks.
Several residents, fearing for their lives, have fled to neighbouring Malda and are now living in makeshift relief camps.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar also began a two-day tour of Malda and Murshidabad on Friday to assess the impact of the violence on women and inspect rehabilitation efforts.
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