Foreign Minister AKA Momen described Bangladesh actor Ferdous Ahmed’s India polls campaign fiasco as unfortunate, before adding that the neighbouring country’s “ strong reaction was a bit too much”.
His remarks came on Wednesday (Apr 17) at an event organised by the Consular Corp of Bangladesh at a Dhaka hotel.
On Tuesday, India blacklisted the actor after revoking his visa for joining election campaign of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool.
He was ordered to leave the country after receiving report from the Bureau of Immigration regarding visa violations, according to Indian media reports.
“It’s unfortunate that he had gone to campaign for a friend,” Foreign Minister Momen said before adding, “The strong reaction from India seems a bit too much to me.”
New Delhi did not inform Dhaka anything on the issue, he said.
Ferdous joined Trinamool rallies in Raiganj, north Bengal, on Apr 14 and 15, when he solicited votes for the party’s candidate in the constituency Kanaia Lal Agarwal.
Opposition parties in West Bengal, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had protested his appearance.
The parties also demanded the cancellation of the candidature of Agarwal with BJP leaders lodging a complaint with Election Commission officials in Kolkata.
Ferdous, who came back to Dhaka late on Tuesday, however, has apologised saying it was “an impulsive decision and a mistake.”
In a statement sent to Bangla Tribune on Wednesday, the actor said he was shooting for a film and had no prior plans to take part in the campaign and simply got carried away.
“I understand that it was a mistake to impulsively participate in the polls campaign with my colleagues,” reads the statement.