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‘Isolated criminal incidents’: Bangladesh downplays India's concern over 'unremitting hostilities' against minorities
The MEA had flagged "unremitting hostilities" against minorities, citing the recent killing of Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched in Mymensingh last week.
The Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday responded to India's recent comment on the "unremitting hostilities" against minorities in the country, saying the remarks “does not reflect reality”.
The Bangladesh foreign ministry, as quoted by Dhaka Tribune, rejected India's position on the lynching of a Hindu youth in Mymensingh and claimed that “portraying the incident as a minority-related issue was not only inaccurate but also misleading”.
India's Ministry of External Affairs on Friday had flagged "unremitting hostilities" against minorities, citing the recent killing of Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched in Mymensingh last week.
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Responding to India's concerns over Dipu's lynching, Dhaka termed it as a “systematic attempt to portray isolated criminal incidents as organised persecution of Hindus”, according to The Dhaka Tribune.
The statement also said that these incidents were “being misused in various parts of India to spread anti-Bangladesh sentiment”.
Dhaka's stance was conveyed through a press statement by SM Mahbubul Alam, spokesperson of Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Prothomalo, a Bangladeshi news outlet.
What the Ministry of External Affairs said on Bangladesh?
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, during the weekly briefing on Friday, said the “unremitting hostility” against minorities in Bangladesh was a “matter of grave concern”.
“The unremitting hostilities against the minorities in Bangladesh including Hindus, Christians and Buddhists at the hands of extremists is a matter of grave concern,” he said.
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"We condemn the recent gruesome killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh and expect that the perpetrators of the crime would be brought to justice," he added. Jaiswal was referring to the December 18 lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, who was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of blasphemy.
India also flagged the recent spate of violence against minorities ever since the country fell into a political crisis, following the resignation of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
"Over 2,900 incidents of violence against minorities including cases of killings, arson and land grab have been documented by independent sources during the tenure of the interim government," Jaiswal added.
