Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Following the bomb blast in Bardhaman district of West Bengal, allegedly triggered by proscribed extremist group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Bangladesh's Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said Banerjee has not “inculcated” terror groups in Bengal.
“Banerjee has not encouraged these terror groups [JMB],” Inu said, adding that such activities were continuing in India for years,” Inu told The Hindu.
“The militants used the state (West Bengal) as a resting place for years. They (militants) had two routes to get into India — through Jammu & Kashmir and through Assam and Tripura in the east,” said Inu, a senior minister in Bangladesh.
This was a continuous process and thus it would not be reasonable to say that Banerjee’s government is responsible,” Inu told The Hindu.
“However, we need to remember that the situation is critical. Bangladesh’s court has delivered justice to those who committed war crimes in 1971 — the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami.
“Jamaat then resorted to violence and is now importing arms and garnering support from Pakistan using the Indian territory and routes. India needs to prevent this,” said the minister.
He claimed that Bangladesh has “specific intelligence” about the transfer of “expertise” from Pakistan to Bangladesh using Indian Territory. Dhaka and Delhi were in regular touch about the issue which is fast becoming a “growing concern” for Bangladesh.
“The target is the highest leadership of our country. We need to resist this jointly,” he said.
India and Bangladesh have been exchanging “intelligence” for a long time, following Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting in 2011, Inu added.
Following the blast, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has stepped up its campaign to stop Bangladeshi infiltration.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had claimed that people were entering Bengal “illegally” and were provided “food and shelter” in the State.
In fact, the RSS has formed a platform — Seema Jagran Manch (Border Awareness Platform) — in bordering areas to create awareness about “uncontrolled infiltration” from Bangladesh, J. Nandakumar, a senior official of the RSS told The Hindu last month.
DELINKING OF ISSUES
Inu, however, feels infiltration for work and terrorism are “separate issues” and needs to be de-linked.
“When you connect these two, you are clearly reducing the severity of militancy and putting the issue of terrorism on the back burner.”
“The movement of work force between the two countries and opening up of the market facilitating trade should be seen in one perspective and cannot be linked to the movement with the purpose of encouraging terror activity,” he said.
Inu further said that Jamaat is not the “carrier of Wahhabi or Khilafat’s ideology” but a “Pakistan protected organisation of imperialist powers,” he added.
BBN/ASI-03Nov14-3:40pm (BST)