‘Don’t teach me’: Mamata Banerjee on MEA’s criticism for statement on Bangladesh

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday hit back at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for objecting to her ‘shelter offer’ to people from violence-hit Bangladesh.

“I know the federal structure very well. I was an MP seven times and a Union minister twice. I know the MEA policy very well. They shouldn’t teach me a lesson; they should learn from the system instead,” Banerjee told media persons on Friday.

She made the ‘offer’ at the annual Marytrs’ Day rally of her Trinamool Congress (TMC) party in Kolkata on July 21.

“I should not be speaking on the affairs of Bangladesh as it is a sovereign nation. But I can tell you this, if helpless people come knocking on the doors of Bengal, we will surely provide them shelter,” the Trinamool supremo asserted in her speech.

“That’s because of a United Nations resolution to accommodate refugees in regions adjacent to those under turmoil,” she added.

Banerjee’s comments came amid student-led anti-quota protests in Bangladesh, which turned violent last week.

Dr Hasan Mahmud, the foreign affairs minister of Bangladesh, said that Banerjee’s words may cause ‘confusion’ and ‘mislead’ people.

“With due respect, I want to say that we share a very good and warm relationship with CM Mamata Banerjee. But this statement has a scope of creating confusion. We have given a note to the Government of India on this issue,” Mahmud informed reporters on Tuesday.

Two days later, in the MEA’s weekly press briefing, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that Bangladesh had lodged a formal protest with India.

“According to the list of subject matters allocated to the central government under the 7th Schedule of the Constitution, the conduct of foreign affairs and all matters which bring the Union into relation with any foreign country are the sole prerogatives of the Union government,” Jaiswal emphasised.