‘India must assure its citizenship law wouldn’t affect us’
Speakers at a discussion yesterday said the Citizenship Amendment Act in India must be an internal matter of the country, and the Indian government should promise CAA would not affect Bangladesh.
People in Bangladesh become concerned when many Indian ruling party leaders say people who are living there illegally would be sent here, although the issue is still a sub-judice matter, they claimed.
They were speaking at a discussion on Bangladesh-India relationship, at Cirdap auditorium in the capital.
Delivering a keynote paper, advocate Abu Hena Razzaki, chief executive of Bangla Foundation, said the Indian government has not yet formally made any statement that CAA would not affect Bangladesh, though Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla assured it to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a recent visit.
"No doubt CAA is an internal issue of India, but I condemn the disorder what have been witnessed in the country in last few months" he said.
Citing the rise in deaths of Bangladeshis near Indian borders, he said the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) should play a responsible role to stop extra-judicial killings on the borders.
He also condemned the violation of human rights in India centring the Kashmir issue.
Bimal Sankar Nanda, a professor at University of Calcutta in India, said India always hails development activities in Bangladesh, as those would also benefit India.
"The Indian government wouldn't take any initiative that could hamper the development of Bangladesh. However, national security would be the first priority of India."
Chairing the discussion, Abul Quasem Fazlul Haque, a professor at Dhaka University, stressed on boosting bilateral ties between the two neighbouring countries.
Dr Namrata Kothari, a teacher at South Calcutta Girls College; Shahab Enam Khan, a professor at Jahangirnagar University; and journalist Keramot Ullah Biplob spoke at the discussion, among others.
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