India expresses concern over Dhaka's release of 'violent extremists'

India on Friday voiced concern over Bangladesh releasing certain violent extremists and underlined that it is the responsibility of the interim government in Dhaka to protect Hindus and other minorities as well as their religious institutionsNew Delhi said it supports a stable peaceful inclusive and progressive Bangladesh in which all issues are resolved through democratic means and by holding inclusive and participatory electionsExternal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal acknowledged that the prevailing security situation in Bangladesh and longstanding local issues have affected the pace of implementation of some of the Indiaassisted projects in that countryWe remain concerned about the deteriorating law and order situation further exacerbated by the release of violent extremists who were sentenced for serious crimes he saidIndia has repeatedly underlined that it is the responsibility of the interim government to protect the Hindus and other minorities as well as their properties and religious institutions he saidHowever only 1254 incidents out of over 2374 incidents reported from August 5 2024 to February 16 2025 have been verified by the police Further 98 per cent of these 1254 incidents were deemed political in nature Jaiswal saidWe expect Bangladesh to thoroughly investigate and bring all perpetrators of killings arson and violence to justice without making such distinctions he addedThere has been a sharp downturn in IndiaBangladesh relations after deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled Dhaka in August in the face of a massive antigovernment protestThe relations nosedived dramatically after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus failed to contain attacks on minorities especially Hindus in that countryTo a question Jaiswal said development cooperation is a priority area for India in the context of its relations with the people of BangladeshThe recent security situation and longstanding local issues have affected the pace of implementation of some of these projects he saidThe official discussions therefore focused on rationalising the project portfolio and executing mutually agreed projects in a time bound manner he saidSubject to obtaining the committed support and pending clearances from the Bangladesh side we plan to take these projects forward Jaiswal addedHe also said that the 86th meeting of the joint committee constituted to oversee the implementation of the Ganga Water treaty between India and Bangladesh was held on March 6 in KolkataThis routine technical meeting which is scheduled thrice annually is part of an institutional structured mechanism associated with the implementation of the Treaty signed in 1996 he saidAt the meeting the two sides discussed technical issues pertaining to the Ganga Water Treaty measurement of water flows and other issues of mutual interest he notedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever