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Mamata supports Rohingya refugees, sides with UN instead of PM
Bengal chief minister says all refugees not terrorists
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed support for the Rohingyas, adopting a stand contrary to the position of the Narendra Modi government.
“We do support the @UN appeal to help the Rohingya people. We believe that all commoners are not terrorists. We are really concerned,” Banerjee tweeted on Friday evening.
The Centre has said it will deport Rohingya refugees, an ethnic minority from Myanmar who have fled their home soil after an intense military crackdown by the military. The crackdown has been compared to an ethnic cleansing by the United Nations.
The Bengal CM’s decision to break ranks with the Prime Minister on an international issue is in line with her running feud with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Trinamool Congress chief has criticised the Narendra Modi government on a number of points, including politics over cow and the note ban exercise last year.
BJP and the Sangh Parivar frequently accuse the Bengal chief minister of appeasing Muslims. They maintain that her government has paved the way for infiltration of Muslims from Bangladesh into Bengal for political gains.
Muslims constitute more than 27% of Bengal’s population and are believed to support Trinamool Congress in all polls in the state from rural to Lok Sabha.
