Mamata wants UN peacekeepers in Bangladesh; crocodile tears, says BJP

Kolkata/Petrapole: The political circuit in West Bengal remained abuzz on Monday over the evolving situation in Bangladesh with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urging the Centre to move the UN in deploying a peacekeeping mission in the neighbouring country and the state's Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari threatening to impose an "indefinite export embargo" on the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

Speaking during both halves of the ongoing state assembly session, Banerjee not only blamed the Centre for "failing to act on time" with respect to the persecuted Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and their "depleting numbers", she also demanded that the Union government should clarify its stand in Parliament on the situation in the neighbourhood.

A protest held by an organisation of monks at the Petrapole international border with Bangladesh in Bongaon area of North 24 Parganas district received additional fillip after Adhikari joined the demonstration with a bunch of local BJP leaders later in the day, albeit without party flags.

The protest, organised by an apolitical organisation of monks called Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, demanded unconditional release of arrested former ISKCON monk Chinmay Krishna Das and immediate stoppage of attacks on Hindu minorities and their institutions across the border.

While Adhikari called Monday's 24-hour suspension of commodity trading across Petrapole, a move enforced by the protesters led mainly by Bangiya Hindu Samiti, he laid bare a blueprint of stepping up India's export embargo on Bangladesh through the state's borders in phases if the attacks didn't cease soon.

"If the attacks on Hindus and their religious establishments do not stop by next week, we will impose a five-day trade embargo. After the beginning of next year, we will stop exports for an indefinite period. We will see how the people there live without our potatoes and onions," Adhikari said at the meeting.

"India is not just another country. It is the world's fourth largest economy under the leadership of PM Modi," Adhikari claimed, adding, "If they dishonour our flag, we will force the new sons of Rajakars (pro-Pakistan people's militia) in Bangladesh to surrender like we did in 1971 when we brought the Pakistani military to its knees."

Meanwhile, in Kolkata, Banerjee used the assembly's question and answer session during the first half of the day to seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in bringing back persecuted Indians from foreign soil.

"The statement from the External Affairs Minister should come during the ongoing winter session, if PM Modi is unavailable to do the job himself," she stated.

The CM, while clarifying that she was out of jurisdiction to officially comment on the matter, urged the MEA to take the issue up with the Bangladesh authorities and, if necessary, with the UN.

"If required, let an international peacekeeping force be sent to Bangladesh after talking to the (interim) government there to help them restore normalcy," she said.

Stating that there was an urgent need to rescue persecuted Indians, the chief minister said, "We can rehabilitate the Indians attacked in Bangladesh. We have no problem sharing our 'one roti' with them if the need arises. There will be no shortage of food for them."

Accusing the central government of "remaining mum for the past 10 days" despite the escalating law and order situation on the other side of the border, Banerjee, in an indirect reference to the BJP, said, "Why don't they ask their central leadership to request the Centre to proactively intervene in the Bangladesh situation? Instead, their leaders are demanding closure of goods movement along our land borders."

"They should know that as per international border agreements, stoppage of commodity movement is not in our hands. We can act only as per guidelines issued by the Centre," she said.

In the second half of the day's session, Banerjee touched upon the "steady depletion of the minority population in Bangladesh" and questioned the "inaction" of the Union government.

"What was the central government doing all these years when the Hindu population was going down in Bangladesh? All these years, we had a friendly government there. I want the central government to take steps to protect Hindus in Bangladesh," she said.

The BJP, meanwhile, questioned the chief minister's will to protect the life and livelihood of persecuted Hindus across the border.

"She has her MPs who should raise the matter in Parliament as a reflection of her right political will. This is not a political issue, but an existential crisis of the Bengali-speaking Hindus, and the chief minister should rise above politics to stand beside them," Adhikari said.

Alleging that Banerjee had mobilised her police to set up barricades to stop protestors from progressing towards the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata last week of which Adhikari was a part, the BJP leader said, "Now, when Hindus all across the globe have taken to the streets in protest, she wants the PM to take responsibility. She must assume responsibility as well."

Adhikari, however, welcomed Banerjee's call for UN peacekeepers' deployment in Bangladesh, claiming it was he who had first made that demand a couple of days ago.

The BJP's scepticism about Banerjee's intentions was reflected in the statement of Amit Malviya, the party's co-in-charge for West Bengal, too.

"Mamata Banerjee should stop shedding crocodile tears for Hindus in Bangladesh," Malviya wrote on X.