Mizoram Guv: India Always Wants Peace in B'desh

Kolkata: Mizoram governor and former Army Chief General (retired) V K Singh asserted on Tuesday that India has always been in favour of peace and progress in Bangladesh.

He attended the 54th anniversary of Vijay Diwas celebration at the Eastern Command headquarters in Fort William, recently renamed as Vijay Durg, to mark the defeat of Pakistan to India in the 1971 Liberation War and birth of Bangladesh.

Eight Mukti Joddhas from Bangladesh led by Habibul Alam and their spouses participated in the event also.

Mr Singh said, “India always wants peace and happiness to prevail in Bangladesh, it's economy to do well so that people get jobs instead of running here and there and its potential to grow fully.”

On the Awami League’s absence in the upcoming Bangladesh Election, he added, “Let's not get into politics. People of Bangladesh know what Mukti Joddhas did. They worked at a time when people were running away. Almost 2-3 crores of people came here as refugees. There are various estimates of people killed.”

Mr Singh observed, “All those who know about it are aware of the situation, what should be done and what is good for Bangladesh. Let's leave it to the people of Bangladesh.” Asked about any similarity between Bengal and Bangladesh, he however added, “Bengal is Bengal and Bangladesh is Bangladesh. Let's not equate each other.”