With the help of Indian officials, over 4,500 Indian nationals and approximately 540 residents of Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives have returned from Bangladesh in the wake of violent demonstrations against job quotas in the neighbouring nation.
Bangladesh maintained a nationwide curfew on Sunday, and the army was called in to put an end to the protests that left at least 110 people dead and hundreds injured.
According to a statement from the external affairs ministry, more than 4,500 Indian students have gone home, while 500 students from Nepal, 38 from Bhutan, and one from the Maldives have also arrived in India.
According to the statement, the Indian high commission in Dhaka has been setting up security escorts to ensure Indian citizens’ safe passage to land border crossing locations.
To guarantee the safety and security of Indian nationals, the high commission and assistant high commissioners in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Khulna maintain constant communication with Bangladeshi authorities.
According to the statement, the missions maintain constant communication with Indian nationals and the remaining Indian students at Bangladeshi universities for their welfare and support.
It was reported on Friday by the ministry of external affairs that there were approximately 15,000 Indians in Bangladesh, of which about 8,500 were students. A spokesman for the government had declared that every Indian was secure.
Indian nationals need assistance can continue to reach out to the Indian missions in Bangladesh using their emergency contact lines.
Shortly after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated on Sunday that she would be willing to take in and house Bangladeshi citizens in need in her state, persons with knowledge of the situation stated that such cases fall under the purview of the federal government.
“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 said at a rally organised in Kolkata by the Trinamool Congress party.
Banerjee referred to the UN resolution on refugees to justify her stand. “That’s because there is a UN resolution to accommodate refugees in regions adjacent to those which are in turmoil,” she said, citing the example of people from Assam being allowed to live in the Alipurduars area of West Bengal during the Bodo agitation.
However, one of the people cited above said on condition of anonymity,“These are matters which are handled by the Union government. A state government has no locus standi on the issue and as such, their comments are totally misplaced.”
According to Banerjee, her government will support West Bengalis who may have had relatives who became stuck in Bangladesh as a result of the unrest. She added that support will be given to West Bengali people of Bangladesh who are having trouble going back home.
She appealed to the people of West Bengal to not get provoked by the current situation in Bangladesh. “We should exercise restraint and not walk into any provocation or excitement on the issue,” she said.
In the meantime, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh overturned a high court ruling on Sunday that had restored employment quotas for relatives of liberation war soldiers from 1971. The high court’s order, issued in June, had triggered the violent protests largely spearheaded by students.
The anti-job quota movement’s organisers, however, assured the media that their demonstrations will go on even after the Supreme Court’s decision. The organisers called for the prosecution of those who killed students during the demonstration.
