Bangladesh has firmly rejected recent comments by India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the situation of minority communities in the country, saying the remarks misrepresent facts and risk undermining the long-standing tradition of communal harmony.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had taken note of comments made by an MEA spokesperson expressing concern about minorities in Bangladesh.
The ministry described the remarks as inaccurate and driven by exaggerated or motivated narratives.
It urged "different quarters in India" to refrain from spreading misleading accounts that could damage the spirit of good-neighbourly relations and mutual trust between the two countries.
"The government of Bangladesh categorically rejects any inaccurate, exaggerated or motivated narratives that misrepresent Bangladesh's long-standing tradition of communal harmony," the statement said.
Dhaka expressed "deep regret" over what it described as systematic attempts in certain quarters in India to portray isolated criminal incidents as evidence of widespread persecution of the Hindu community.
According to the ministry, such incidents are being "maliciously used" to generate anti-Bangladesh sentiment in parts of India.
The statement also accused some sections of displaying selective and unfair bias by amplifying and misrepresenting isolated events in ways that could incite hostility among ordinary Indians towards Bangladesh, including its diplomatic missions and other establishments in India.
Addressing a specific case cited by the Indian spokesperson, the foreign ministry said the individual concerned was a listed criminal whose death occurred during an act of extortion.
It added that the individual had been operating with a Muslim accomplice, who was later arrested by law enforcement agencies.
"To portray this criminal act through the lens of minority treatment is not factual but misleading," the statement said, stressing that the incident bore no connection to communal targeting.
The statement comes amid periodic diplomatic friction between Dhaka and New Delhi over public commentary on internal developments in Bangladesh, even as the two neighbours continue to maintain close economic, security and cultural ties.
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