The Akhand Bharat map installed in the parliament only shows the reign of Emperor Ashoka, India has stated after Bangladesh sought an explanation from the country.
Director General Maritime Affairs Unit Mohammad Rafiqul Alam at the weekly press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: "We were informed that a mural has been installed in India's new parliament building, which has a map."
“What we have learned from the Indian authorities is the mural was installed to show the extent of Emperor Ashoka's kingdom and the human development-oriented governance he led at the time,” the official said.
Mohammad Rafiqul Alam said that the main idea behind the installation of the mural was to display ancient India, especially the reign of Emperor Ashoka.
“We have been informed that the mural depicts Emperor Ashoka's empire, which has been wrongly promoted in the media as Akhand Bharat,” he added
On Monday, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said that the Bangladesh Embassy in Delhi has been instructed to contact the country's Ministry of External Affairs to get India's official explanation on this matter.
Shahriar Alam said: There is no reason to express doubts about it. However, for further clarification, we have asked the mission in Delhi to speak to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to find out what their official explanation is.”
“What we learned is that India's Ministry of External Affairs 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.”
Akhand Bharat is a term for the concept of a unified Greater India. It asserts that modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet are one nation.
