India Government Will Not Allow Bangladeshi Clerics to Enter West Bengal

West Bengal opposition leader Mr. Suvendu Adhikari has remarked that his government will not allow so-called clerics from Bangladesh to enter West Bengal. He made these remarks on Saturday, September 12, at an event in West Bengal. Mr. Suvendu Adhikari said that during the tenure of the former government (Trinamool Congress), Islamic speakers (clerics) used to come from Bangladesh. However, under the current Hindutva-leaning BJP government, this opportunity will no longer be permitted. He said that two years ago, a religious speaker from West Bengal- correction: from Bangladesh- went to West Bengal and stated that they would cause a population explosion and alter the demographic composition.

He stated, ‘I can let you hear it, at a religious gathering from Bangladesh, not during the time this government came, because this government will not even allow such so-called clerics to enter here. Two years ago at a religious gathering in Basirhat, a cleric who came from Bangladesh said that America has nuclear weapons, and we can destroy even nuclear weapons through a population explosion. So, he is coming here and talking about a population explosion and changing demographics. Therefore, a spiritual awakening was very much needed on this soil’.

Ever since the political transition in Bangladesh in 2024, Suvendu has been making various vitriolic remarks against Bangladesh. Following the fall of former authoritarian Prime Minister Ms. Sheikh Hasina on August 5 of that year, he had claimed that Muslims in Bangladesh were persecuting Hindus in Bangladesh, though no such reality existed.