Anxiety in Neighbouring Countries over Akhand Bharat Mural in New Parliament

New Delhi: After Pakistan and Nepal, there is disquiet in Bangladesh over the “Akhand Bharat” mural installed in the new Parliament.

Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam told media in Dhaka that the Bangladesh Embassy in Delhi has been instructed to contact the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to get India’s official explanation on this matter.

He, however, added that “What we learnt is that India’s MEA spokesperson said that this is a map of the Ashoka Empire, 300 years before the birth of Christ. It includes a map of the area at that time and a mural. The mural depicts the journey of people. There may be cultural similarities, but it has nothing to do with politics.” he added.

Last week, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had expressed “grave” concerns over the mural map and said it was the manifestation of an expansionist mindset.

Nepal has also expressed its dissatisfaction with this ‘Akhand Bharat’ mural placed in the Indian Parliament.

After the inauguration of the new Parliament last month, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi had tweeted that the mural installed inside the building represented ‘Akhand Bharat’. The map includes modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.

But the MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi has clarified that the plaque below the mural says it depicts the spread of the Ashokan Empire and “the idea of responsible and people-oriented governance that he adopted and propagated.”