Amit Shah’s Blunt Statement:
Amit Shah, the Indian Home Minister, has sparked a huge diplomatic row with Bangladesh by labelling its residents as poor. Not only this, but he also accused them of illegally commuting to India in search of work. Dhaka claims that the Indian minister is jeopardizing bilateral relations by making \”factually inaccurate\” remarks regarding Bangladesh\’s economic condition.
In an interview with the Bengali daily Anand Bazar Patrika on Tuesday, Shah, who is often referred to as India\’s second most powerful figure after Prime Minister Modi, said that Bangladesh\’s poor were still crossing into India for work.
Shah said, “The poor (in Bangladesh) still go hungry and cross over the border… And they are not just staying in Bengal. They are in different states, reaching as far as Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP will stop this infiltration of Bangladeshis into India if we come to power in West Bengal\”. (West Bengal is a border state currently polling to elect its government)
Bangladesh\’s Reaction to India\’s Home Minister\’s Speech:
The Bengali population, especially the government’s officials, took this statement very seriously and reacted harshly. Two notable government officials reacting to this were Iqbal Chowdhury Adviser to Bengali PM Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister of Bangladesh A. K. Abdul Momen.
An adviser to Bangladesh\’s Prime Minister said that Amit Shah has \”harmed\” Bangladeshi pride by referring to Bangladeshis as \”bad\”. Amit Shah further claimed that they migrate to India because there aren\’t enough jobs in their own country.
He said, \”Such remarks damage bilateral ties between the two countries. Especially at a time when we are enjoying such warm relations. Mr Shah’s remarks have definitely hurt our sentiments”. He also said, “As the president of the (India’s governing) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shah should refrain from making statements that would impact the bonds between the people of our countries”.
Chowdhury took his anger to another level and warned Amit from making a statement regarding Bangladesh in Indian politics’ context. He also mentioned that India had the audacity to call Bengalis ‘hungry’, knowing that fact that India has a much worse ranking (94th) in Hunger Index than Bangladesh (75th). Adding that he mentioned Bangladesh of the past, it’s not the same under Sheikh Hasina.
Bengali Foreign Minister Momen\’s Reaction to India\’s Home Minister\’s Speech:
Second to react was Bengali Foreign Minister Momen, calling Amit’s statement ‘Unacceptable’. He said that Amit knowledge regarding Bangladesh is incomplete as no one dies of hunger in Bangladesh anymore, notably from Monga (seasonal poverty and hunger in northern districts of Bangladesh).
Shah\’s comments have elicited strong responses from the Bangladeshi government, as well as strong rebuttals in the media and angry responses on social media. A Bengali newspaper Dhaka Tribune mentioned in an article “Shah has a long history of making hateful, insulting remarks about Bangladesh. On and off, he insults Bangladeshis, going as far as describing them as termites”.
