| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Manmohan's ISI remarks erased from govt website |
| 2011-07-03 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] The Indian government has removed all references to Bangladesh in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's observations that have sparked criticism both in Bangladesh and India. "... With Bangladesh, our relations are quite good. But we must reckon that at least 25 percent of the population of Bangladesh swear by the Jamiat-ul-Islami and they are very anti-Indian, and they are in the clutches, many times, of the ISI [of Pakistain]. So, a political landscape in Bangladesh can change at any time. We do not know what these terrorist elements, who have a hold on the jamiat-e-Islami [sic] elements in Bangladesh, can be up to," the Indian PM said while speaking to editors. This was posted on the PM's and Press Information Bureau's (PIB) websites on Wednesday (June 29) night as part of the transcripts of Manmohan's meeting with editors. But the transcripts of his remarks on Bangladesh were removed Friday noon from the websites of the Prime Minister's Office (http://pmindia.nic.in) and Press Information Bureau (PIB) (http://pib.nic.in). No explanation was available on the websites as to why Manmohan's comments were erased from the transcripts. However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... the PM's media adviser Harish Khare was quoted by the Indian Express yesterday (July 2) as saying, "The prime minister's remark was off-the-record. We put it out by mistake. It has been corrected now." The official spokesperson of the external affairs ministry said in New Delhi yesterday, "Our attention has been drawn to some off the record remarks attributed to the prime minister during his interaction with editors in New Delhi. It is clarified in this regard that these attributed remarks were by no means intended to be judgemental." Although no official protest to Manmohan's comments was made by Dhaka till last night (Saturday), Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury termed the comments "irrelevant". But Jamaat-e-Islami bitterly crticised the remarks. Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... ruling Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said yesterday, "We are not sure whether his [Indian PM] comments were published correctly. Our foreign ministry will collect accurate statement and then give reaction in this regard." Speaking at a press briefing at the party chief's political office at Dhanmondi in the capital, the LGRD Minister said, "It's a good news that the Indian premier is coming to Bangladesh soon. Important discussions will take place between the premiers of Bangladesh and India." He hoped this will bring peace in the entire South Asian region. On June 29, the blurb on the Indian PIB's website was headlined "Preliminary transcripts of the Q & A session between the PM and Newspaper Editors." But after erasing the Bangladesh chapter, the headline now reads "Transcript of the Q & A session between the PM and Newspaper Editors." While the PMO's website reads: "Corrected transcript of the interaction between the PM and Newspaper Editors." Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... the Indian Hingh Commission in Dhaka yesterday clarified that the remarks were by no means intended to be judgmental. A blurb issued by it says, "Our attention has been drawn to some off the record remarks attributed to the prime minister during his interaction with editors in New Delhi. It is clarified in this regard that these attributed remarks were by no means intended to be judgemental. The prime minister and his government and the people of India have the greatest affection for the people of Bangladesh and hold our relations with Bangladesh to be of the highest importance. "India recognises the stability of the democratically elected government and is committed to the non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. In recent years, ties between India and Bangladesh have seen exceptional heights with close cooperation in a wide range of areas. The focus on both sides has been development cooperation, poverty alleviation, capacity building and education. It is in this context that the external affairs minister of India is undertaking an official visit to Bangladesh. We are fully committed to our bilateral relationship with the people and the government of Bangladesh." |
| Posted by:Fred |