DHAKA: Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus has said India will probably continue hosting former PM Sheikh Hasina if given a "free choice", while claiming that "some external forces" want her to come back, days after New Delhi asserted that matters related to the Awami League leader are "legal" in nature and require "consultations" between both nations.
The Nobel laureate also stressed that the interim govt - formed after Hasina's ouster last year following massive protests - is "very alert" about communal harmony, as he dismissed as "fake news" reports of attacks against the minority Hindu community in his country. Yunus said that his message to them, when he meets the community's leaders, "is don't go back and say, 'I'm a Hindu, so protect me'... always say, 'I'm a citizen of this country. I'm entitled to all the protection the state is supposed to give me".
Talking on the issues related to Hasina and his conversations with PM Narendra Modi in an interview with Mehdi Hassan of online media outlet Zeteo, Yunus said, "Two things: first, I said you want to keep her, I can't tell you what to do with her but make sure she doesn't talk about us. She doesn't talk about the Bangladeshi people."
Dhaka had sought Hasina's extradition in Dec last year and there has been no development yet.
"Probably they (India) will keep her. If some legal obligation is there that they cannot avoid, then the situation will be different," he said. They have been supporting her all along, Yunus said. The chief adviser added that those who are behind her hope that she will come back in Bangladesh, "with full glory of returning as a victorious leader", claiming that "some external forces are supporting her to come back".
When Mehdi noted that "last Nov, around 30,000 Hindus in Bangladesh gathered to protest against your govt, claiming there have been thousands of attacks on their community. (US President) Donald Trump called the violence in Bangladesh 'barbaric'," Yunus said, "One of the specialities about India right now is fake news, a barrage of fake news." "This is fake news. You can't go by this fake news," he said.
Asked if he was saying the reports were exaggerated, or if there's no anti-Hindu violence, Yunus said there is "some conflict sometimes, some family problem, land problem and something". "You happen to be my neighbour. You are a Hindu neighbour. I am a Muslim neighbour. We have a problem with our land demarcation, just like two neighbours. So you said this is Hindu-Muslim. That's not it," he said.
The Nobel laureate also stressed that the interim govt - formed after Hasina's ouster last year following massive protests - is "very alert" about communal harmony, as he dismissed as "fake news" reports of attacks against the minority Hindu community in his country. Yunus said that his message to them, when he meets the community's leaders, "is don't go back and say, 'I'm a Hindu, so protect me'... always say, 'I'm a citizen of this country. I'm entitled to all the protection the state is supposed to give me".
Talking on the issues related to Hasina and his conversations with PM Narendra Modi in an interview with Mehdi Hassan of online media outlet Zeteo, Yunus said, "Two things: first, I said you want to keep her, I can't tell you what to do with her but make sure she doesn't talk about us. She doesn't talk about the Bangladeshi people."
Dhaka had sought Hasina's extradition in Dec last year and there has been no development yet.
"Probably they (India) will keep her. If some legal obligation is there that they cannot avoid, then the situation will be different," he said. They have been supporting her all along, Yunus said. The chief adviser added that those who are behind her hope that she will come back in Bangladesh, "with full glory of returning as a victorious leader", claiming that "some external forces are supporting her to come back".
When Mehdi noted that "last Nov, around 30,000 Hindus in Bangladesh gathered to protest against your govt, claiming there have been thousands of attacks on their community. (US President) Donald Trump called the violence in Bangladesh 'barbaric'," Yunus said, "One of the specialities about India right now is fake news, a barrage of fake news." "This is fake news. You can't go by this fake news," he said.
Asked if he was saying the reports were exaggerated, or if there's no anti-Hindu violence, Yunus said there is "some conflict sometimes, some family problem, land problem and something". "You happen to be my neighbour. You are a Hindu neighbour. I am a Muslim neighbour. We have a problem with our land demarcation, just like two neighbours. So you said this is Hindu-Muslim. That's not it," he said.
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