West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
| Photo Credit: ANI
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday (December 2, 2024) sought Centre’s intervention on the situation in Bangladesh.
“[Union] Government must take up the matter with the United Nations so that peacekeeping mission can be deployed there,” Ms. Banerjee said in the State Assembly.
The Chief Minister said that if required, “we can rehabilitate them [victims of Bangladesh violence] attacked in Bangladesh. We have no problem sharing our ‘ one roti’ with them”.
Addressing the assembly during the first half of the day’s session, Ms. Banerjee said it was beyond her purview to comment on bilateral issues between the two nations, as Bengal is only a state in the country’s federal set up.
“However, in the wake of the recent developments and the experience narrated by many people here having relatives and base in Bangladesh, the arrests of people coming over to our side and my conversations with the ISKCON representatives here, has forced me to make this statement on the floor of this House,” she said.
She urged the Ministry of External Affairs to take the issue up with the Bangladesh authorities and, if necessary, with the UN.
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, Banerjee, in an indirect reference to the 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 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.”
(with inputs from PTI)
Published – December 02, 2024 03:05 pm IST
