Bss, Dhaka

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen yesterday ruled out the allegations raised in Indian parliament that Bangladeshi minority communities were being tortured and feared the neighbouring country’s new citizenship law could rather affect its historic character as a secular nation.

“It’s not true that torture on minority is taking place in Bangladesh,” he told reporters as approached for comments on the allegations made by the Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament.

“Whoever gave them the information, it is not correct,” he added.

The foreign minister simultaneously added that the “Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019” passed two days ago in Lok Sabha and could weaken the country’s “historic position” as a tolerant and secular country.

“India is historically a tolerant country which believes in secularism ... their historic position will be weakened if they deviated from that,” Momen said emerging from back to back meetings with Japanese ambassador and US ambassadors in Dhaka Ito Naoki and Earl R Miller.

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