The chief minister of West Bengal in India, Mamata Banerjee, on Monday called for the deployment of United Nations peacekeeping force and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s personal intervention to secure the safety of religious minorities in Bangladesh, reports ndtv.com.
Her demands come amid reports that at least three Hindu priests - from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness – have been arrested in Bangladesh, added the report.
‘We have families... properties... and loved ones in Bangladesh. We accept whatever stance the Government of India takes on this...but we condemn atrocities on religious grounds anywhere in the world and appeal to the union government, and the Prime Minister, to intervene,’ she said while addressing the West Bengal Assembly, said the report available online.
According to the report, Banerjee at the assembly that she had spoken to the chief of the ISKCON’s Kolkata unit to extend her sympathies and support, and stressed, ‘If Indians are attacked in Bangladesh, then we cannot tolerate it. We can bring back our people... Government of India can take this matter up with the United Nations... so a peacekeeping force can be sent.’
She also said she was not seeking to interfere with the internal affairs of another country, but pointed out that when Bangladeshi fishermen had mistakenly entered Indian waters, or when a Bangladeshi trawler had capsised, her government had ‘rescued them and treated them (well)’, the report added.
Besides, the ‘Bangladesh Chalo’ march organised by Sanatani Aikya Manch, a conglomeration of Hindu organisations in the Barak Valley of Assam, in Sribhumi district of Assam demanding the safety of religious minorities in Bangladesh on Sunday was foiled by a three-tier security arrangement near the international border, preventing entry into Bangladesh, reports timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
Sources said BSF and police used batons to disperse the marchers, who were chanting slogans in support of their demands and carrying both the Indian Tricolor and saffron flags, said the report available online.