Thousands of members of three youth and student organizations of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party marched to the Indian High Commission in the country’s capital on Sunday to condemn the attack on the diplomatic mission and the alleged desecration of the Bangladeshi flag in India.
The protests came ahead of a visit to Dhaka by India’s foreign secretary, Bikram Mishri, amid rising tensions between the two neighbors in recent months.
It will be the first high-level diplomatic visit by an Indian official since the fall of exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in India in August. Muslim-majority Bangladesh has accused India’s majority Hindus of attacking the assistant high commissioner’s office in Agartala in India’s Tripura state and desecrating the Bangladeshi flag in Kolkata, West Bengal.
India expressed regret over the attack and promised to take action against the culprits. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh has also formally protested by calling the Indian High Commissioner.
On Sunday, thousands of supporters of BNP, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, marched towards the Indian High Commission, but the police stopped them with a barbed wire fence. Later, they allowed a team of 6 leaders from three supporting bodies of the party to submit a letter to the High Commission.
BNP last ruled Bangladesh in 2001-2006 along with Jamaat-e-Islami party. In Hasina’s absence, Zia’s party is the main force and is expected to win the next election, if it happens sometime soon.
Hasina, whose party is seen as more secular than the BNP, is regarded by India as a highly trusted ally. Most Hindus in Bangladesh are believed to be supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party. BNP supporters raised slogans like ‘Delhi Ki Dhaka’. Dhaka, Dhaka!” and “Agents of India, beware, beware!” They also carried a banner reading “We have friends abroad, but not masters”.
Protesters say India is trying to foment communal riots to gain political advantage in Bangladesh, after Hasina, who fled to India after a popular uprising ended her 15-year rule. Hasina’s party is struggling to return to the streets, while Hasina herself faces arrest warrants for crimes against humanity that killed hundreds of protesters during the July and August uprising.
In the past few weeks, some smaller Islamist groups and the BNP have protested against India over the attack in Tripura and asked the interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus to officially express its concerns.
The situation became tense last month when Bangladeshi authorities arrested and jailed a prominent Bangladeshi Hindu leader pending further legal proceedings.
After Hasina’s downfall, India had earlier officially expressed concern over alleged attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. Yunus and his close aides say the reports are exaggerated. Bangladesh has been navigating significant challenges since August amid mob violence, rising commodity prices, street protests and a volatile economy. In recent months, the presence of Islamist groups has become more visible than ever.
With the police demoralized as many of their colleagues were killed in the protests and law and order becoming a major concern, rights groups are also calling for press freedom to be ensured. About 700 prisoners, including many criminals and radical Islamists, are still at large after a jailbreak in August during political unrest.
Yunus has been promising reforms and urging people to remain calm.