Staff Reporter :
The denial of entry to Khaleda Zia’s British lawyer Lord Carlile to Delhi reportedly on pressure of Bangladesh government through Indian High Commission in Dhaka has raised many misgivings.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam in a reaction on Thursday said, “Lord Carlile wanted to address a press conference in Delhi over Khaleda Zia’s illegal imprisonment, as Bangladesh refused to give him visa to visit Dhaka in this regard.” He said BNP is shocked as India refused to give him permission to enter the country.
He said, “BNP think this incident is not consistent with the exercise of free thinking in the world’s biggest democratic country.”
He said the party thinks Lord Carlile, also member of British House of Lords, may have wanted to protest against creating obstacle in exercising democracy in Bangladesh through unjustly imprisoning BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia by an un-elected government to fulfill its political vendetta.
Fakhrul said they believed that free world would extend support to current movement of Bangladesh people against autocratic misrule in Bangladesh while taking skeptical views on the Indian government stand on imprisonment of Begum Khaleda Zia. UNB adds: Lord Alexander Carlile was denied entry into India on Wednesday for not having obtained the appropriate Indian visa. He arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday without having obtained the appropriate Indian visa, said the official spokesperson at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
His intended activity in India was incompatible with the purpose of his visit as mentioned in his visa application, he said. “It was therefore decided to deny him entry into India upon arrival,” he said in response to a query on denial of entry of Carlile into India.
It was reported earlier that he is unlikely to get entry into India as the country ‘does not want to see any harm’ in its ongoing friendly relations with Bangladesh government. Indian High Commission in Dhaka made a strong recommendation to New Delhi seeking non-entry of Lord Carlile who reportedly also sided with war criminals in the past, a diplomatic source in New Delhi said.
He was supposed to visit New Delhi and deliver a speech through a press conference at Foreign Correspondents Club on July 13; which was also later cancelled. Diplomatic sources said Carlile wants to criticise Bangladesh’s court verdicts and might make statement against the Bangladesh government.
If Carlile had made any statement against Bangladesh government from New Delhi, it might create a problem in Dhaka-Delhi relations.
Lord Carlile, a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, is a barrister and one of the leading legal experts in the UK. BNP’s UK wing appointed him a legal adviser to Khaleda’s defense team on 36 cases against her.
ANI from New Delhi adds:
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Robi Kumar on Thursday said that Carlile’s intention for India visit was under a question mark. He obtained a business visa but was scheduled to hold a press conference in New Delhi on July 12.
His intended activity in India was incompatible with the purpose of his visit and it was, therefore, decided to deny him entry into India. The right to grant visa is the sole prerogative of a country,” Kumar said.
“He was trying to create some kind of problem between India and Bangladesh governments. And he was also trying to create a misunderstanding between the Indian government and the opposition parties in Bangladesh using Indian soil. What he wanted to do in Delhi could have done from London as well.
He further said that Carlile was informed in advance about his visa denial yet he came to India. “He carried a return boarding pass for a flight after two hours,” Kumar said. In his statement from London, Carlile said he wants an explanation from the Indian government for denying him entry.
“Yesterday whilst in mid-air I was refused entry to India. The Indian government knew perfectly well why I was coming to give this briefing and to meet the Commonwealth Human Rights initiative. This is no way to treat a 70-year-old senior lawyer and Parliamentarian. I am outraged by the political interference in Begum Khaleda Zia’s case on political grounds on two governments.
“When I landed at Delhi airport, Indian authorities did not provide me with a valid reason to deny entry in India. I have no connection with any political party. The MEA’s statement regarding my deportation was totally untrue,” Carlile said in a press conference over Skype following his deportation.
