Days after writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and extending his unconditional support to the Ukraine crisis, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asked why the students were not brought back earlier from the war-torn country.
“I don’t want to criticize the government on foreign affairs… But sometimes, I have seen that even in foreign affairs matters, because of some coordination gap, because of some political business, we are lagging behind. Our students are there. Some are stuck and some have died. Some are waiting in bunkers and some are in Romania,” said Ms. Banerjee. The chief minister was interacting with journalists before leaving for Uttar Pradesh to campaign for the Samajwadi Party. Assembly elections going on there,
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Ms Banerjee insisted that it was the responsibility of the central government to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine and asked, “If the government was aware of the facts, why didn’t they bring the students earlier… It is a mistake, this negligence. His remarks come a day after the murder of a medical student from Karnataka’s Haveri district. Heavy shelling in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv on Tuesday.
The Trinamool Congress president said the ministers’ speech in front of the students returning from Ukraine was not conducive to the current situation. Humanity is more important than politics and the central government should realize this. Students’ lives are more important than politics,” she said.
‘peace needed’
Highlighting the need for peace, Ms Banerjee said India can take the lead in peace talks.
“The Covid pandemic has destroyed everything. Now if there is a war, everything will be destroyed. How many wars will the world see,” she said.
Asked if there was any reaction to her letter addressed to the Prime Minister, where she had sought an all-party meeting on the issue, Ms Banerjee replied, “I have done my duty. Now it is for them to decide. Maybe they are busy with elections.”