NEW DELHI: India on Friday strongly rejected accusations by Bangladesh’s interim government that New Delhi was involved in fuelling the recent violence in Khagrachhari district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts terming it “false and baseless”.Responding to a question on Bangladesh home adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury’s remarks, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We categorically reject these false and baseless allegations. The interim government of Bangladesh is unable to maintain law and order in Bangladesh and has a habit of routinely trying to shift the blame elsewhere.”
“It would do well to introspect and conduct serious investigations into the actions of local extremists committing violence, arson and land grabs against the minority communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,” Jaiswal said.Bangladesh’s interim government on Monday has alleged that certain groups were attempting to incite sectarian unrest in Khagrachhari, a district in the country’s Chittagong Hill Tracts. Clashes between Indigenous tribes and Bengali settlers on Sunday left at least three people dead and dozens injured, following protests over the alleged gang rape of a tribal girl last week.Home affairs adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury sought to link the violence to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and to India, though he provided no evidence to support the claim. He said the disturbances appeared aimed at disrupting the festive atmosphere during Durga Puja.“The vested quarter is trying to create unrest to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere of Durga Puja… They are behind the Khagrachhari incident,” Chowdhury had said, adding that the government was mobilising “maximum efforts” to prevent further escalation.Reports in Prothom Alo and other local outlets said the three victims were tribal residents killed in Guimara, about 36 km south of Khagrachhari town, as violence spread beyond the district headquarters.
