MEA slams Dhaka over West Bengal violence remark

India on Friday rejected remarks by Bangladeshi officials on violence in West Bengal and asked Dhaka to focus on protecting the rights of its minorities instead of indulging in ldquovirtue signallingrdquoldquoWe reject the remarks made by the Bangladesh side with regard to the incidents in West Bengalrdquo External Affairs Ministry EAM spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal saidldquoThis is a barely disguised and disingenuous attempt to draw a parallel with Indias concerns over the ongoing persecution of minorities in Bangladesh where the criminal perpetrators of such acts continue to roam freerdquo he saidJaiswal was responding to media queries regarding comments made by Bangladesh officials on the developments in West Bengal ldquoInstead of making unwarranted comments and indulging in virtue signalling Bangladesh would do better to focus on protecting the rights of its own minoritiesrdquo he saidOn Thursday called on New Delhi and the West Bengal government to take ldquoall steps to fully protect the minority Muslim populationrdquo ldquoWe condemn attacks on Muslims causing loss of lives and propertiesrdquo he had said ldquoWe urge the government of India and West Bengal to take all steps to fully protect the minority Muslim populationrdquo Alam had saidGuv visits violencehit areasDespite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requesting him to postpone his visit to the violencehit Murshidabad district West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Friday left for Malda where he is likely to meet the victims of the riot who fled thereldquoI am going to the fieldrdquo Bose told reporters while leaving for Malda A senior official at the Raj Bhavan said that Bose might also be visiting Murshidabad later in the dayThree persons were killed in communal violence in the Shamsherganj Suti Dhulian and Jangipur areas of Murshidabad district having a Muslim majority population during protests against the Waqf Amendment Act on April 11 and 12 Several people fearing for their lives fled to the neighbouring Malda district and have taken shelter thereParamilitary forces along with the state police have been deployed in the riotaffected areas of the district from where 274 people have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in vandalism and riotingNHRC visits relief campAn NHRC team on Friday visited a relief camp in Malda to meet those displaced by the Murshidabad riotsThe NHRC team visited the Par Lalpur High School in Malda where hundreds of displaced persons have taken shelter since communal clashes erupted in Murshidabad on April 11 and 12 during protestsThe Commission which took suo motu cognisance of the violence said it decided to send a factfinding team in view of the seriousness of the situation and has sought a detailed inquiry report within three weeksSeveral residents fearing for their lives have fled to neighbouring Malda and are now living in makeshift relief campsMeanwhile the National Commission for Women NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar also began a twoday tour of Malda and Murshidabad on Friday to assess the impact of the violence on women and inspect rehabilitation effortsThis 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 whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params