Bangladesh News

Visiting British parliamentarian George Galloway has demanded an international investigation into India’s proposed Tipaimukh dam.

“The environment of Bangladesh will be seriously affected if the dam is constructed and the project should be halted,” he said.

He made the remarks during a press conference held at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday afternoon.

He also said that the Tipaimukh Dam is not something that should only concern Bangladesh and India.

“It is an international issue because it will have consequences on the climate and environment,” he said.

“This is not a campaign against India,” he said, and added that he is seeking an investigation as to whether the dam would adversely impact both India and Bangladesh.

However as an elected MP of a London constituency with 40,000 people from Sylhet, George Galloway MP said he believes he is under an obligation to highlight the damage the dam may cause to the Sylhet area.

George Galloway MP also led a protest march from Sylhet city to the Barak River at the Indian-Bangladesh border on Sunday.

Last month members of his Respect Party UK staged demonstrations against the dam’s construction in front of the Indian High Commission.

Galloway joined the UK’s Labour Party when he was just 13 years old.

In 2003 he was expelled from the British Labour Party for repeatedly criticising the UK government’s role in the Iraq War.

He became Vice President of the Stop the War Coalition in 2001 and won his seat as a member of the Respect Party in 2005.

Other UK delegates include councillors Abjol Miah and M Mamunur Rashid, both of whom will be representing the Respect Party at the upcoming UK election, and 17 other British representatives