Anti-Bangladesh rhetoric continues to emanate from influential quarters in West Bengal and across India’s political discourse, which has real consequences. It shapes how ordinary Indians perceive Bangladeshis and creates a climate in which hostility—at immigration counters and in public spaces—may become culturally normalised, making the stay of Bangladeshis anywhere in India fraught with anxiety and insecurity.

At least 68 Myanmar border guards, 15 of them bullet-hit, took refuge in Bandarban yesterday as fighting raged close to the border in the district’s Tumbru area.

Dhaka has briefed the foreign diplomats on the tense situation along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, seeking their cooperation to stop the violence that may destabilise the whole region.