Tripura restaurants say they will not serve Bangladeshis over alleged insult to Indian flag

The All Tripura Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Association on Monday said that its members will not serve guests from Bangladesh to protest the alleged insult to the Indian flag in the neighbouring country, PTI reported.

The association describes itself as a unified platform for hotel and restaurant owners across the state.

Saikat Bandyopadhyay, the general secretary of the association, said that the decision on the ban was taken at an emergency meeting of its members.

“We are a secular country and have respect for all religions,” PTI quoted Bandyopadhyay as saying. “Our national flag has been desecrated and minorities are facing oppression by a section of fundamentalists in Bangladesh. Earlier too such incidents used to take place but now it has crossed the limit.”

The announcement came days after images were widely shared on social media purportedly showing the Indian flag being stepped on by students at the entrance of the Bangladesh University of Engineering in Dhaka.

On Friday, a Kolkata hospital also said that it would not provide medical treatment to Bangladeshi patients because of alleged insults to the Indian flag “in various places” in the neighbouring country.

Following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in August, several parts of Bangladesh reported incidents of violence against religious minorities.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in August urged Muhammad Yunus, the head...

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