India also said that the return of Tarique Rahman, the son of Bangladesh National Party chief Khaleda Zia, to Dhaka should be seen in the context of ensuring inclusive polls.
Rahman, once an India baiter who returned to his home country on Thursday after 17 years of self-imposed exile, announced that he “has a plan” for Bangladesh, which is “a nation of diversity”.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India condemned the killing of Dipu Chandra Das, a 30-year-old garment factory worker, who was lynched by a mob last week in Mymensingh, about 100 km from Dhaka. The radicals were seen celebrating the barbarity as his naked body was tied to a tree and set on fire.
“The unremitting hostilities against the minorities in Bangladesh including Hindus, Christians and Buddhists are a matter of grave concern. We condemn the recent killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh and expect that the perpetrators of the crime will be brought to justice,” Jaiswal told reporters.
Jaiswal said India is closely following the developments in Bangladesh. Over 2,900 incidents of violence against minorities have been documented in Bangladesh by independent sources during the tenure of interim government, he noted.
“The incidents of violence against minorities in Bangladesh cannot be brushed aside as media exaggeration or dismissed as political violence,” Jaiswal said. “India stands for strengthening our ties with the people of Bangladesh. We favour peace and stability in Bangladesh. We stand for fair, free inclusive and participatory elections in Bangladesh, which are to be held in a peaceful atmosphere.””India has rejected the false anti-India narrative being projected in Bangladesh and reiterated that maintaining law and order and security is the responsibility of the Bangladesh interim government,” Jaiswal said.
Over the past year, India has repeatedly expressed concern over the treatment of minorities in Bangladesh.