Mamata Banerjee on Bangladesh crisis: Will give shelter if they come to our door

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the Trinamool Congress-led state government would provide shelter to people from violence-hit Bangladesh “if they come knocking on our doors”.

“I cannot speak anything about Bangladesh as it is another country. The Indian government will speak about that. But if helpless people (from Bangladesh) knock on Bengal’s door, we will give them shelter. There is a resolution of the UN. Neighbours will respect refugees,” Mamata Banerjee said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo was addressing a mega ‘Martyrs’ Day’ rally of the Trinamool Congress amid heavy rain in Kolkata. “I assure all cooperation to Bengal residents whose relatives are stuck in violence-hit Bangladesh,” she added.

Bangladesh authorities have imposed a strict curfew across the country and military personnel patrolled parts of capital Dhaka. This happened after violence broke out in parts of the nation over the allocation of government jobs, which left more than 40 people dead and hundreds injured.

Mamata Banerjee also lauded Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was present at the programme, for his party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh.

“The government at the Centre won’t last long. This is not a stable government and will collapse soon,” she said.

“The ‘Khel’ (game) you played in UP should have forced the BJP government (in UP) to resign, but the shameless government is continuing in power by misusing agencies and other means,” the Trinamool Congress chief added.

At the rally, Akhilesh Yadav said, “The people of Bengal have fought with the BJP and left them behind, the same happened in Uttar Pradesh… The people sitting in the government in Delhi are in power only for a few days. ‘Woh sarkaar chalne wali nahi hai, woh sarkaar girne wali hai’ (that government is not going to last many days, it will fall soon.”