Foreign Secretary Masud sees progress in India’s efforts to quell protests

Bangladesh’s new Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has said India has made progress in its efforts to quell protests over a new citizenship law.

He hopes the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP will be able to “manage the situation peacefully” as the political “instability” there is “slowly easing”.

Reiterating Bangladesh’s position that the entire issue is “primarily an internal matter” of India, he pointed out on Wednesday that it is “going through a legal process”.

“Initially there was a great deal of instability. It is easing slowly. I hope they will manage it peacefully,” he said at a discussion with the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh or DCAB in Dhaka on Wednesday.    

“We all will be careful so that it doesn’t hamper the other issues between the two countries,” he added.

Masud Bin Momen

Bangladesh detained several hundred of its citizens on return after illegally staying in India recently following the publication of a citizens’ list in Assam that dropped 1.9 million people.

India later scrapped the list promising a similar citizenship exercise across the country.

Modi’s government then triggered weeks of widespread protests marked by deadly violence with the amendment of a law that offers citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh and some other countries.

The protesters and critics allege the law will destroy India’s secular spirit.

Bangladesh appears to be unhappy with the law as well because the country has been put in a group with Pakistan and Afghanistan even after gaining international acclamation for its efforts to suppress Islamist militancy.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal had cancelled visits to India amid protests.

Masud, who was appointed on Tuesday, said the ties between the two countries “have been at a new height recently”, noting that Modi spoke to his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina as recent as on Wednesday.

“We are watching the situation. We haven’t forgotten the assurances we have got,” he added, reiterating that India “assured” Bangladesh of refraining from deporting anyone.

Asked for his comment on the stalled process to repatriate Rohingya refugees to their homeland Myanmar, the new foreign secretary said Bangladesh was favouring involvement of other parties now rather than sticking to ways for a bilateral solution.

“We have also been opening the paths recently to ensure accountability and justice. These are supplementary to each other,” he said, referring to the recent hearings of a genocide case in the UN’s International Court of Justice against Myanmar.

Bangladesh will make all possible efforts to ensure the voluntary and dignified repatriation of the Rohingya, he said.

Speaking about his plan to work in his new capacity, the former permanent representative to the UN said he was emphasising teamwork to make the foreign ministry more dynamic.