Bangladesh registers protest against Mamata Banerjee’s ‘shelter for refugees’ remark 

The Bangladesh government officially registered its protest with New Delhi against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent statement offering ‘shelter to helpless people’ fleeing from the violence-hit neighbouring country. 

"With due respect to the West Bengal Chief Minister, with whom we share a very close relationship, we want to make it clear that her comments have a lot of scope for confusion. Therefore, we have given a note to the Government of India," Hasan Mahmud, Bangladesh Foreign Minister, said about the official note Dhaka sent to New Delhi. 

The protest by Bangladesh comes after Banerjee said that the state of West Bengal would open up its doors for the distressed people from Bangladesh and offer them shelter. "If helpless people come knocking on the doors of West Bengal, we will surely provide them shelter,” she had said at a rally, acknowledging that commenting on foreign issues is really for the Centre. 

She cited the United Nations resolution on refugees for offering shelter to the distressed people. 

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has sought a report from Banerjee on her comment. The Raj Bhavan stated that it is the prerogative of the centre to comment on anything that is associated with external affairs. The Governor's office called her statement willing to provide shelter a ‘Constitutional transgression’ of very serious nature.

Severe clashes have taken place in Bangladesh as students protest against the Sheikh Hasina-led government's job quota system. Reports from Dhaka indicate that over 100 people have been killed in the ongoing violence, although the exact number of casualties is still uncertain. In response, law enforcement authorities have imposed a nationwide curfew to control the situation. The protests that were ongoing for over a month escalated last week after police action at Dhaka University.