Days after Home Minister Amit Shah lashed out at the ruling JMM-led coalition in Jharkhand for allegedly encouraging "rampant infiltration" from Bangladesh and cautioned that if not checked, illegal immigrants will become a majority in the state in the next 25-30 years, the Bangladesh foreign ministry lodged a strong protest with the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Monday. On Friday, Shah said in Jharkhand, "Tell me if this land belongs to tribals or Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators. No one can save Jharkhand, neither the JMM nor the Congress. It is only Prime Minister Narendra Modi who can save it." Shah also urged people to choose a government that would drive out illegal immigrants and not one that would patronise them. In the protest note, the Bangladesh Government has called on the Indian Government to advise political leaders to refrain from making such slanderous and unacceptable remarks. The Bangladesh foreign ministry said that it handed over a protest note to the Indian deputy high commissioner in Bangladesh, Pawan Badhe, expressing serious reservations, a deep sense of hurt and extreme displeasure over the remarks of the home minister. The Bangladesh foreign ministry also said that coming from responsible positions, such remarks against the nationals of a neighbouring country undermine the spirit of mutual respect and understanding between two friendly countries.
