After Mamata government announced offering “shelter” to helpless people of violence-hit Bangladesh in West Bengal, C.V. Ananda Bose – the West Bengal Governor on Monday sought a report from CM Mamata Banerjee on the matter. In the backdrop of violent riots in Bangladesh which Hasina Govt has taken stern action arresting over 800 individuals including those from the opposition. Mamata Banerjee’s “evil plan” of keeping the country’s borders open for “illegal infiltration” drew ire not only from the BJP but the Central government as well. The Ministry of External Affairs reprimanded Mamata for her irresponsible statement expecting her to refrain from taking calls that is a central government’s prerogative. MEA underlined that such matters are handled by the Union Government and a state government has “no locus standi on the issue”.
While exposing CM Mamata Banerjee’s hypocrisy, the MEA stated that it was “totally misplaced”. It is to be noted here that India has been cautious and refrained from commenting on the ongoing protests in Bangladesh, maintaining that it is Dhaka’s “internal matter”. Meanwhile, the Raj Bhawan elucidated the matter for CM Banerjee, implying that CM’s public statement highlights “Constitutional transgression of a very serious nature”.
For the unversed, Trinamool Congress supremo, infamous for playing a spoilsport in India-Bangladesh bonhomie, on Sunday stated that if helpless people from Bangladesh come knocking on the doors of Bengal, the state will surely provide them shelter, sharply criticizing CM Banerjee’s naive claims, the West Bengal Raj Bhavan stated that the ongoing nationwide unrest in Bangladesh is a subject matter falling in the domain of the Central government, adding that the state government has no privilege in such matters.
Even though the protests were being held in the neighboring country of Bangladesh, the situation intensified in India after BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad highlighted the irony in CM Banerjee’s comments. Slamming the West Bengal government for offering shelter to Bangladeshi citizens in an issue not falling in its jurisdiction, Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned the TMC supremo for failing to back the Citizenship Amendment Act which provides refuge to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, and Christians.
Similar sentiments were echoed by IT Cell Head, Amit Malviya who condemned CM Banerjee’s audacity to welcome foreign nationals in India, underlining that “immigration and citizenship are exclusively in the Centre’s domain and the states have no locus standing in such matters”. Malviya alleged, “This is part of INDI alliance’s evil plan to settle illegal Bangladeshis from Bengal to Jharkhand so that they can win elections.”
The protests in Bangladesh against the quota for freedom fighters’ families in government jobs have escalated over the last week. Though the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has scaled back the quota system for government jobs after it led to nationwide unrest and deadly clashes between the police and protesters, reportedly killing more than 150 people, the protestors are not willing to subside the violent riots until the government publishes the order in a Gazette. The Bangladesh government has so far arrested more than 800 individuals, including opposition leaders like Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mia Golam Parwar, for disrupting peace and harmony. The Sheik Hasina Government has blamed BNP and its ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, for exploiting the protests for an unconstitutional power grab.
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