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‘Who is he to talk like this?' Shashi Tharoor slams Bangladesh leader on Seven-Sisters remark
Bangladesh leader Hasnat Abdullah had earlier said that Bangladesh could shelter separatist forces from India and sever the country’s seven northeastern states.
Expressing concern over the unrest in Bangladesh, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said there are irresponsible elements in Bangladesh who are saying “silly things”.
Calling for peace and democracy in Bangladesh, Tharoor said the authorities in Bangaldesh should ensure that the fundamental interests of India are not harmed in the country.
“You saw the statement recently from one student leader saying he's going to separate the seven states from the rest of India. Who is he to talk like this? But people are doing this, and therefore, we are very conscious that such elements are running loose,” Tharoor said, referring to the controversial statement by National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Hasnat Abdullah who said that Bangladesh could shelter separatist forces from India and sever the country’s seven northeastern states.
Abdullah, one of the prominent student leaders who led protests against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was speaking at an event in Dhaka organised by Inqilab Mancha.
“We hope that there will be some constructive action by the authorities to ensure that the fundamental interests of India are not harmed within Bangladesh, just as we will also take care to ensure that we are supportive of stability and peace and democracy in Bangladesh,” Tharoor told reporters outside the Parliament building.
As India on Wednesday summoned Bangladesh High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah and lodged a strong protest over the deteriorating security situation in Bangladesh, HT reported that one of the triggers for the summon was Abdullah's speech.
Bangladesh has witnessed protests near the Indian high commission in Dhaka and the assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi over the past few days as demonstrators took to the streets over a deadly attack on radical student leader Sharif Osman Hadi last week. The protests intensified after Hadi died in a Singapore hospital on Thursday.
Fresh protests erupted near the Indian mission in the western Bangladeshi city of Rajshahi on Friday, hours after a large crowd attempting to storm the assistant high commission in southern Chittagong was pushed back by security forces.
Violent protests have rocked Bangladesh and offices of major newspapers-- The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, and New Age-- were vandalised and set afire post midnight.
The interim government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus also condemned the alleged lynching of a Hindu man in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh and said, “There is no place for such violence in the new Bangladesh. None of those involved in this brutal crime will be spared.”
