More than 4,500 Indians return from violence-hit Bangladesh, says MEA
The Indian high commission in Dhaka has been arranging security escorts for the safe travel of Indian nationals to land border crossing points, the MEA stated
More than 4,500 Indian nationals and nearly 540 citizens of Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives have returned from Bangladesh with the assistance of Indian authorities following violent protests against job quotas in the neighbouring country.
A countrywide curfew remained in force in Bangladesh on Sunday and the army was deployed to quell the protests that resulted in the death of at least 110 people and injured hundreds more.
More than 4,500 Indian students have returned home, and 500 students from Nepal, 38 from Bhutan, and one from the Maldives have also arrived in India, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
The Indian high commission in Dhaka has been arranging security escorts for the safe travel of Indian nationals to land border crossing points, the statement said.
The high commission and assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Khulna are in regular touch with Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals.
The missions are also in regular contact with remaining Indian students in various universities in Bangladesh and with Indian nationals for their welfare and assistance, the statement said.
The external affairs ministry had said on Friday that there were an estimated 15,000 Indians, including around 8,500 students, in Bangladesh. The ministry’s spokesperson had said that all Indians were safe.
The Indian missions in Bangladesh will remain available to provide any assistance required by Indian nationals through their emergency contact numbers.
Hours after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday that she would be willing to provide shelter in her state to people from Bangladesh who are in distress, people familiar with the matter said that such matters are handled by the central government.
“I should not be speaking on the affairs of Bangladesh since it is a sovereign nation and whatever needs to be said on the issue is a subject matter of the Centre. But I can tell you this, if helpless people come knocking on the doors of [West] Bengal, we will surely provide them shelter,” Banerjee said at a rally organised in Kolkata by the Trinamool Congress party.
Banerjee referred to the UN resolution on refugees to justify her stand. “That’s because there is a UN resolution to accommodate refugees in regions adjacent to those which are in turmoil,” she said, citing the example of people from Assam being allowed to live in the Alipurduars area of West Bengal during the Bodo agitation.
However, one of the people cited above said on condition of anonymity,“These are matters which are handled by the Union government. A state government has no locus standi on the issue and as such, their comments are totally misplaced.”
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Banerjee said her government will provide help to residents of West Bengal whose relatives may have been stranded in Bangladesh because of the violence. She also said assistance will be provided to Bangladeshi citizens in West Bengal who are facing difficulties in returning home.
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She appealed to the people of West Bengal to not get provoked by the current situation in Bangladesh. “We should exercise restraint and not walk into any provocation or excitement on the issue,” she said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Sunday struck down a high court order that had reinstated job quotas for the kin of veterans of the 1971 war of liberation. The high court's order, issued in June, had triggered the violent protests largely spearheaded by students.
However, coordinators of the anti-job quota movement told the media that their protests will continue despite the Supreme Court's ruling. The coordinators demanded action against those responsible for the killing of students during the protest.
