Former diplomat, former Union Minister and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Saturday night that ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should be allowed to stay in India as long as she wants.
Aiyar expressed happiness that Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Dhaka last month and held discussions with officials there. He told PTI on the sidelines of the 16th APJ Kolkata Literary Festival that dialogue should be continuous and India needs to establish ministerial-level contacts with the interim government of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has demanded the extradition of Hasina. When asked about this, Iyer said, “I hope we will never disagree that Sheikh Hasina has done a lot of good work for us.” I am happy that he was granted asylum. I think we should continue to be his host for as long as he wishes, even if it’s for the rest of his life.”
Hasina (77) has been in India since August 5 last year. She left the country for India after massive student-led protests led to the fall of her 16-year-old government.
The Congress leader said that it is true that minority Hindus are being attacked in Bangladesh, but this is mostly happening because they are supporters of Hasina. “The reports of attacks on Hindus are true but exaggerated as most conflicts occur to resolve political differences,” he said.
Earlier during the question-answer session, Iyer said that Pakistanis are also like Indians, but the tragedy of partition made them a separate country. “There is more difference between me as a Tamil and my wife as a Punjabi than there is between her and a Pakistani Punjabi,” he said.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the Congress leader said, “We have the courage to carry out surgical strikes, but this government does not have the courage to hold talks with them (Pakistan).” There is a country which spreads terrorism but it itself is a victim of terrorism.
The Congress leader said, “They (Pakistan) thought that they could bring Taliban to power in Afghanistan, (but) today the biggest threat to them is Taliban in Afghanistan.” Keeping it hanging around our neck is suicidal for us. We should talk to them, as (then Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh did on the Kashmir issue.
