Siliguri hotels ban Bangladeshi tourists over attacks on Hindus

Hoteliers in Siliguri, West Bengal, announced on Monday that Bangladeshi citizens would no longer be allowed to stay in hotels across the city, citing rising attacks on minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh.

Rajiv Das, president of the Greater Siliguri Hoteliers’ Welfare Association, said, “The insult to our national flag is not an insult to the country alone, it is an insult to all of us.”

Similar measures were taken by hotels in Assam’s Barak Valley and Tripura on December 2.

The decision follows protests in Agartala over the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das and attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, which also saw a breach at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission, drawing condemnation from the ministry of external affairs.

Siliguri, strategically located near the borders of Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan, is a key hub in North Bengal. It serves as an important stop for tourists visiting nearby destinations like Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Sikkim, and Dooars, and is located near the Indo-Bangladesh border.

The hoteliers’ association in Siliguri said that while the decision would lead to losses for the hotel industry, the nation’s interests must take priority.

This comes as foreign secretary Vikram Misri visited Dhaka on Monday for the annual foreign office consultations with his counterpart, Mohammad Jashim Uddin.

Misri highlighted India’s support for a “democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh” and reiterated New Delhi’s willingness to build a positive and constructive relationship with Dhaka based on “mutual trust and respect and mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns”, the external affairs ministry said.

Jashim Uddin responded to the issues raised by Misri by saying that there is “disinformation” and “false information” in the Indian media about the “alleged hostile treatment of minorities”. He said people of all faiths in Bangladesh are “independently practicing their religion” and it wasn’t appropriate for other countries to comment on Bangladesh’s internal affairs.