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Citizenship Amendment Act India's internal matter

UNB . Chattogram
16 Mar 2024 17:21:21 | Update: 16 Mar 2024 20:22:06
Citizenship Amendment Act India's internal matter
— Courtesy Photo

Foreign Minister and Joint General Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League Hasan Mahmud has said India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is their internal matter.

"As Bangladesh is a neighbouring country, we are keeping an eye on the matter," he said on Saturday.

Hasan made the remarks when journalists wanted to know about Bangladesh position regarding the law during a view exchange meeting in the city.

The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalisation for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before December 31, 2014.

The law excludes Muslims, who are a majority in all three nations.

Responding to a question on US remarks regarding Bangladesh election, the Foreign Minister said any office of the United States can give their opinion.

They said the opposition did not participate but out of 44 registered political parties in Bangladesh, 29 participated in the elections, he said.

And non-participation of any particular political party is not the responsibility of the government, it is the responsibility of that party, he added.

"That party instead called to resist the election. For that purpose, they incited violence in the country and only those who were involved in that violence were arrested," Hasan said.

The United States has said that they are working to advance the partnership and relations with Bangladesh, he said.

"We are also working to make the relations with the United States closer and expand our multi-dimensional relations," he said.

Hasan said most of the countries, including the United States, have expressed their intention to advance relations with Bangladesh in the future.

Governments and heads of state of about 80 countries of the world have congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"Even the President of the United States has written to the Prime Minister expressing his intention to take the relationship to the next evel," he added.

‘Behave responsibly over hijacked ship, sailors’

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud on Saturday urged all to behave in a responsible ways from their respective position that will help overcome the issue regarding rescue of both crew members and Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah.

"The issue needs to be looked at carefully by all. Our main goal is to free the sailors and the ship. So if we all behave responsibly from our respective positions, then it will be easier to overcome the situation," he said.

Those who hijacked the ship are watching what is being shown on the television channels of Bangladesh as there is an opportunity to watch all the televisions of Bangladesh through satellite, Hasan said.

"When this matter is over-emphasised, when the hijackers see the reaction of hostages' families, the hijackers become more and more rigid. This negative impact is happening," said the Foreign Minister.

Hasan said the government is working on this, and in the past, it was possible to free hijacked ship and sailors of the same company after 100 days through the joint efforts of all.

"We still hope that our concerted efforts will help bring the sailors and the ship back safely," he added.

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