Dhaka, Mar 22 (Just News): A legislator from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Assam unit termed the creation of Bangladesh a "great mistake".
Because, he argued, Assam has been facing "Muslim influx" for decades, Indian daily The Times of India reported on Tuesday.
The legislator named Shiladitya Dev felt that India should have annexed Bangladesh after the liberation war in 1971.
The controversial comment came at a time when there are tensions in Indian state of Assam over citizenship of Indian Muslims.
The ToI report, titled “India should have annexed Bangladesh: Assam BJP MLA”, said the legislator made the comment while speaking to a local news channel in Nagaon in Assam on Monday.
"Even as the erstwhile East Pakistan was liberated, a mistake committed by (then prime minister) Indira Gandhi and the then Congress government was not merging the newly-created Bangladesh with India. In fact, creation of Bangladesh was itself a great mistake. But that mistake could have been offset had Bangladesh been made a part of India," Dev was quoted as telling the ToI.
Dev told the newspaper that he stood by his statements.
“Attributing the "change" in the state's demographic profile to the "migration" of Muslims from the neighbouring country, Dev said such a situation would not have arisen had Bangladesh never been created,” reads the report.
(Justnews/ys/2300hr)
