India has rejected allegations that it instigated recent unrest in Bangladesh’s Khagrachhari district. Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the claims were ‘false and baseless’, according to bdnews24.com. The comments follow remarks made in Dhaka by Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, who suggested that India or “fascist elements” were behind the surge in violence, arson, and land grabs in the region. Randhir Jaiswal claimed that Bangladesh’s interim government is ‘unable’ to maintain law and order and has a ‘habit of shifting blame onto others’. He said that Bangladesh should focus on addressing ‘local extremist violence’ targeting minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
