Bangladesh shocked by Indian politician’s call for UN peacekeepers

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim government expressed shock on Monday at a politician in neighbouring India’s call to deploy UN peacekeeping forces in the country to protect Hindus and other minorities from violent attacks.

The Muslim-majority nation saw a student-led uprising in August that ousted autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina after 15 years of iron-fisted rule.

In the chaotic hours after her toppling, reprisals against perceived supporters of her regime saw several attacks on the country’s minority Hindu community, leaders of which say they fear further violence.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of India’s West Bengal state – which shares close cultural and linguistic ties with Bangladesh – urged New Delhi on Monday to petition the UN to address their concerns.

“They can send the peacekeeping force to Bangladesh and rescue our people,” Banerjee said.

Bangladeshi politicians urge calm after clashes

Bangladesh’s de facto foreign minister Touhid Hossain expressed dismay over what amounted to one of the biggest censures of his country’s leadership by India since Hasina’s ouster.

“I don’t know, I can’t understand why Mamata Banerjee made such a statement. I know her personally, I have visited her home several times,” he told reporters.

Touhid accused Indian media of spreading disinformation about the status of Hindus in Bangladesh but offered a more conciliatory note to the neighbouring government.

“Problems can be solved,” he said. “Mutual interests must be preserved, and Bangladesh seeks a friendly relationship with India.”

Touhid, part of a caretaker cabinet tasked with imposing democratic reforms following Hasina’s ouster, said he had also spoken to other foreign diplomats to “dispel misunderstandings over minority issues”.

Public sentiment in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million is stacked against India, Hasina’s main international patron.

Hefazat-e-Islam, an association of Islamic seminaries, has led public protests against India and accused New Delhi of running a campaign aimed at “propagating hate” against Bangladesh.

Social media posts verified by AFP also showed Bangladeshi students placing doormats with Indian flags imprinted on them in an online campaign against their neighbour.

On the other side of the border, Hindu activists on Monday attempted to storm a Bangladeshi consulate during a protest in Agartala, a small Indian city not far from Bangladesh.