Following the resignation and flight of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India and the subsequent lawlessness in Bangladesh, BJP leaders say a Hindu influx into India is “inevitable”. They say that as many as 1 crore people may cross over into India.
BJP leaders in West Bengal say the attacks on minorities, including the members of the Hindu community, in Bangladesh have led to immense insecurity among these people and caused concern among the rights groups in the country.
Several BJP leaders have suggested that Hindu refugees may arrive in India and urged people to welcome them. BJP leader Dilip Ghosh also said whenever there is a crisis in Bangladesh, Hindus come over to India. “We are watching the situation. Atrocities should be stopped,” he added.
He also alleged that the people carrying out the atrocities on minority Hindus in Bangladesh were the same criminals that the Trinamool Congress had smuggled in to attack BJP workers after the 2021 Assembly elections.
Sensing trouble, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appealed to all, particularly the political parties not to put up sensitive posts that could disrupt peace in Bengal. On Tuesday, Kolkata Police issued an advisory warning the people not to forward videos of violence from Bangladesh.
“Suitable action will be taken against those who foment trouble by forwarding such videos,” a senior Kolkata Police officer told The Daily Guardian. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appealed to all, particularly the political parties, not to put up sensitive posts that could “disrupt peace in West Bengal”. Bengal BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, on Aug 6, said the Indian Government should be ready to accommodate members of the minority communities from Bangladesh under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
“Be prepared to receive one crore refugee Hindu brothers. The Union Government has already made arrangements under the CAA. The minorities in Bangladesh are unsafe and it was “clear” that Bangladesh’s 7% Hindus would leave,” said Adhikari. Adhikari, who met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Aug 6, said that Hindus were being mistreated in Bangladesh. The vast majority of Hindus in West Bengal are Bengali Hindus numbering around 55 million and comprising 60.2% of the state population of 91.35 million as per the 2011 census.
Bengal is home to a large number of Bangladeshi Hindu refugees, who entered the country in different waves since 1947. But CAA is a sensitive topic in the Northeast, whose history is defined by agitations against “outsiders”. BJP MLA and Matua leader Asim Sarkar termed the prevailing situation in Bangladesh unfortunate. “In such an unfortunate situation, Hindus who come to India should be given shelter here,” Sarkar said.
Matuas are a community of lower-caste Hindus who are spread out in Bangladesh and in the border districts of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh. Mamata Banerjee Aug 6, said that she would back any stand the Centre may take on the issue. “If our brothers and sisters face some trouble in Bangladesh, the Indian Government and the Government of Bangladesh will look into it,” she said. Meanwhile, BJP ally and senior Tripura tribal leader Pradyut Kishore Debbarma has sought assurance from the Centre that any influx of Hindus from Bangladesh into India should be stopped.
Debbarma posted on social media that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured him that the borders were well-guarded, to prevent any “illegal” movement.
Meanwhile the reports coming from Bangladesh have made the situation even more volatile. “Houses and shops of minority people were attacked, vandalised and looted in at least 97 such places on August 6 and 7,” Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, said in a statement.
At least 10 Hindu temples were attacked by “miscreants” on Aug 6. Also, some businesses and homes owned by some Hindus and seen by some in the Muslim-majority nation as having been close to the ousted former leader were attacked on Aug 5.
“Such attacks on minorities are against the fundamental spirit of the anti-discrimination student movement,” said Iftekharuzzaman, Transparency International’s Bangladesh head.
Yesterday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that there are an estimated 19,000 Indian nationals inBangladesh of which about 9,000 are students. Jaishankar gave an assurance that the Government is in close contact with the Indian community in Dhaka.
