By IANS,
Dhaka : Targeting Bangladeshis in the aftermath of terror attacks in Indian cities will cause mistrust on both sides of the border and encourage religious radicals, a Dhaka daily warned Friday.
In an editorial comment similar to the ones made since India accused Bangladesh-based Islamist bodies of causing terror blasts in Jaipur May 13 that killed at least 61 people, New Age newspaper took exception to what it called New Delhi’s “finger-pointing” at Dhaka.
The newspaper contended that thousands of Bangladeshis who go to India daily do so with valid documents. Many practising Muslims among them visited the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, Rajasthan.
These Bangladeshis “contributed significantly to the Indian economy”, the newspaper argued.
To treat them as “illegal” entrants, to plan rounding them up and put them in “Guantanamo Bay-style camps” would only stoke religious radicalism and cause mistrust.
Citing Indian media reports, it said 40 Bangladeshis had been rounded up in the first days after the Jaipur blasts.
Emphasising that “religious radicalism and concomitant terrorism” had festered in the south Asian region in recent years, the newspaper called for closer cooperation among the governments and the people.
“Such a coordinated effort is only possible if the governments of the region try to understand each other’s problem, instead of becoming problems for each other,” the newspaper said.