Dhaka: Facing flak here for his comments on
visa overstayers from Bangladesh, Indian High Commissioner
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty had some good words from junior
foreign minister Hasan Mahmud, who felt the envoy has
"sympathy for Bangladeshis".
Mahmud noted that the government had on Wednesday made
public its position by issuing a statement which said Dhaka
had no information on overstay of Bangladeshis in India and
had not received any official communication from New Delhi.
To a question on the remarks of the Indian envoy, he
yesterday said "I feel he (Chakravarty) is a seasoned diplomat
and a Bengali Indian. I do feel that he has sympathy for
Bangladeshis," the New Age daily reported.
Chakravarty faced criticism here after commenting at a
Dhaka conference earlier this week that "around 25,000
Bangladeshis do not return after entering India every year;
those who enter unrecorded are many more in number".
The High Commission, however, later clarified that the
comments "have been taken out of context".
Bureau Report
