Mamata for ‘sending UN peacekeepers to Bangladesh’

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday urged the Indian government to seek the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Bangladesh to help normalise the situation and ensure the safety of minorities in that country.

Speaking in the state assembly, she said "persecuted" Indians should be brought back to India from foreign soil, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Mamata also demanded that the external affairs minister apprise parliament of India's stand on the current situation in Bangladesh. "The statement from the external affairs minister should come during the ongoing winter session [of parliament] if PM Narendra Modi is unavailable to do the job himself."

Mamata said that commenting on bilateral issues between India and Bangladesh was beyond her remit as West Bengal is just a state in India's federal set-up in which the handling of foreign relations comes under the purview of the central government.

"The government of India can take up the matter with the United Nations so that they can send a peacekeeping mission to Bangladesh and they can rescue our people from that country," Mamata said in English.

Mamata said there was an urgent need to rescue "persecuted" Indians and rehabilitate them on this side of the border.

"We have no problem sharing our "one roti" with them if the need arises. There will be no shortage of food for them."

Mamata wished for harmony, fraternal ties, and cordial relationships between all communities 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 fishermenhad 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, Mamata, in an indirect reference to 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 the 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."

BNP'S PROTEST

Protesting Mamata's remarks, the BNP demanded the withdrawal of her statement urging the Indian government to seek the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops in Bangladesh.

"The statement made by Mamata Banerjee about sending peacekeeping forces to Bangladesh is entirely a threat to the country's independence and sovereignty. Through this remark, we think that the perspective of certain leaders has been somewhat exposed," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said in an audio statement from London.

In another statement, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi criticised the West Bengal CM's remarks, saying that she insulted the sovereignty and independence of Bangladesh.

"It is a direct threat of interference in an independent nation. The people of Bangladesh are shocked and astonished by her statement," Rizvi said.