Three Bangla leaders slam Amit Shah’s ‘termite, infiltrator’ remark: Inappropriate, unwanted

Bangladesh’s Information Minister Hassanul Haq Inu told The Indian Express, “We think Amit Shah’s statement is inappropriate, it is not based on information, and it is unwanted. We regard this statement as a private statement, and not of the government.”

“The Indian government has categorically told us that what is happening in Assam (NRC) is an internal issue, and will have no impact on India-Bangladesh relations. In the [last] 47 years, there have been no report of illegal migration from Bangladesh to (India’s) north-eastern states. The Indian government has never ever raised the issue of illegal immigration in bilateral talks,” he said.

Express Editorial | The BJP chief’s reference to illegal migrants as termites is deplorable, it coarsens discourse, deepens divides

He said Bangla-speaking people in India are “legal citizens of India and have no relationship with Bangladesh as a country”.

He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is handling the relationship “superbly”, and “we have full confidence in the government in Delhi and the Prime Minister, that this issue will not have any influence on the bilateral ties with Bangladesh”.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s media adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said, “It is India’s internal affairs but if (there are) any consequences, we have reason to be concerned. We are already overburdened with Rohingya refugees. If any environment leads to more people coming to India, there are consequences for India, and will be again putting burden on Bangladesh.”

He said, “Such statements create a new dispute in the otherwise friendly relations between India and Bangladesh.”

Chowdhury said that the two countries have resolved the land boundary issue, and signed the land boundary agreement, there is cooperation in the energy sector, and also opening up of transit to the north-eastern states of India. He said there is a growing bilateral relationship and the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s zero tolerance policy for insurgent and terrorist activities is appreciated both in the civil society and by the government in India, as it has already added to peace and stability in the region.

“Any new issue that develops will have repercussion, will have some souring effects on our friendly relationship. We hope the BJP leadership and the government is (enough) mature to understand this,” he said.

Read | Infiltrators in crores entered country, eating it like termites: Amit Shah

On the use of word termites, he said, “It is up to leaders on how they use political rhetoric.”

He said Bangladesh believes that “India is our closest partner, and always remembers India’s help in 1971 war to liberate Bangladesh” the fact that India hosted 10 million people, and Indian soldiers died in the Liberation War.

“I hope this spirit will continue…if any new issue vitiates the atmosphere, that will be unfortunate,” he said.

According to him, both India and Bangladesh are growing, and they should go ahead with their economic progress and concentrate on issues that may touch the people in respective countries.

BNP chairman Khaleda Zia’s foreign affairs adviser Sabihuddin Ahmed said, “When BNP was in power, we always maintained that people who are Indian citizens and Indian voters are not migrants from Bangladesh.”

On the word termites, he said, “We don’t accept them, so the concept of termites do not arise.”

Ahmed, a former diplomat, said issues of migration can be discussed, as Bangladesh has best of relationship with India.

Raising the issue of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP president Amit Shah had on Sunday said that “infiltrators have entered the country” and are “eating it like termites”.

Hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a rally in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, Shah said the two leaders speak out in favour of illegal immigrants because they care only about vote-bank politics. He also asked them to clarify their stand on the NRC, which is being updated in Assam.