More than 4,500 Indian nationals and nearly 540 citizens of Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives have returned from Bangladesh with the assistance of Indian authorities following violent protests against job quotas in the neighbouring country.
A countrywide curfew remained in force in Bangladesh on Sunday, with the army deployed to quell the protests that have resulted in the death of at least 110 people and injuries to hundreds more. The curfew, imposed at midnight on Friday, was expected to last until Sunday morning as police attempted to bring the deteriorating security situation under control. The curfew was briefly lifted on Saturday afternoon to allow people to run essential errands. Still, otherwise, people were ordered to remain at home, with all gatherings and demonstrations banned. The government also imposed a communications blackout, blocking all internet and social media access since Thursday night.
More than 4,500 Indian students have returned home, and 500 students from Nepal, 38 from Bhutan, and one from the Maldives have also arrived in India, according to a statement by the external affairs ministry. The Indian high commission in Dhaka has been arranging security escorts for the safe travel of Indian nationals to land border crossing points. The high commission and assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Khulna are in regular contact with Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals.
The external affairs ministry had said on Friday that there were an estimated 15,000 Indians, including around 8,500 students, in Bangladesh, and assured that all Indians were safe. The Indian missions in Bangladesh remain available to provide any assistance required by Indian nationals through their emergency contact numbers.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her willingness to provide shelter in her state to people from Bangladesh who are in distress. She stated, “I should not be speaking on the affairs of Bangladesh since it is a sovereign nation and whatever needs to be said on the issue is a subject matter of the Centre. But I can tell you this, if helpless people come knocking on the doors of [West] Bengal, we will surely provide them shelter.” Banerjee referred to the UN resolution on refugees to justify her stand, citing the example of people from Assam being allowed to live in the Alipurduars area of West Bengal during the Bodo agitation.
However, an official stated that such matters are handled by the central government, and a state government has no locus standi on the issue. Banerjee also said her government would provide help to residents of West Bengal whose relatives may have been stranded in Bangladesh because of the violence and assist Bangladeshi citizens in West Bengal facing difficulties in returning home. She appealed to the people of West Bengal to exercise restraint and avoid provocation regarding the situation in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday struck down a high court order that had reinstated job quotas for the kin of veterans of the 1971 war of liberation. The high court’s order, issued in June, had triggered the violent protests largely spearheaded by students. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, coordinators of the anti-job quota movement vowed to continue their protests and demanded action against those responsible for the killing of students during the protests.
