India and Bangladesh: Can they mend ties amid rising tensions?
Last Monday, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra casually sported a tote bag emblazoned with the legend “Palestine”. Predictably, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, displaying Pavlovian reflexes, criticized them for what they called “minority appeasement”. The next day, Priyanka showed up with another tote bag criticizing the alleged massacres against minorities in neighboring Bangladesh, to address concerns about human rights violations, particularly in the context of India and Bangladesh.
What is the extent of genocide in Bangladesh? Is it similar to what is happening in Gaza or what happened in Bangladesh against the Hindu population for many years? What do we know about the extent of the violence other than the random peddling on social media?
Although the death toll is conservative — some claim only two people were killed — there have been several incidents of arson at Hindu properties in Bangladesh. Worse, this deep gap between the two communities in Bangladesh has led supporters of this regime change to force many Hindus, who are considered members of the ostracized Awami League government, out of their jobs as professors, teachers and so on. more. These accusations of violence and emancipation peaked after the August 5 uprising, but in the imagination of those who wish to view India-Bangladesh relations through the prism of communal divisions between Hindus and Muslims, it continues. This is why Priyanka Gandhi had to carry a bag highlighting a myth to fuel the majority impulse in India, demanding an end to human rights abuses against Hindu and Christian minorities.
While it is true that many wounds of the bloody partition of 1947 and the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 have not healed, the desire for peace can be felt when the people are not provoked by the ruling party. It must be reiterated that hatred and animosity will be destroyed if the concerns of the government and political parties are not involved in violent division.
However, the past has not left Bangladesh, a country plagued by violence. The creation of Bangladesh in 1971 turned out to be so horrific that it made people forget the events of 1947, even more than the violence of partition that claimed millions of lives. Pakistan Army was adamant to prevent the rise of Bangladesh and their supporters. He wanted East Pakistan to remain a part of Pakistan. They argued that if the Bengalis were so fond of their language and culture, they should have stayed in the Indian part of Bangladesh, as 1947 had allowed that option. The story was directed at Hindus who decided to return to East Pakistan and wanted a future political system that accommodated their cultural and religious beliefs. The Pakistani military believed that support for the creation of Bangladesh came from the Hindu elite. Mukti Sena, Mukti Bahini was also Hindu majority. The Pakistani army believed that Hindus were those who wanted to secede from Pakistan.
What followed was a calculated massacre against Hindus, including intellectuals. 3 million died in 8 months, 2 weeks and 6 days. In addition, there was sexual violence—alleged gang rapes of Hindu women—and ethnic cleansing. Pakistani army treated Hindu women as spoils of war. Most of the 10 million refugees who came to India were Hindus. Bangladesh represented the unfinished business of partition based on religion. The Awami League was able to emerge victorious under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but supporters of East Pakistan, represented by Jamaat-e-Islami, continued to try to transform Bangladesh into a more Islamic society. Bengali.
For 15 odd years, Sheikh Hasina resisted these powers with the help of India and New Delhi was rewarded by this relationship. The August 5, 2024 coup, which saw Hasina leave Delhi untimely, has brought back memories of an eastern neighbor that was hostile to India and took orders from Pakistan. There has been a marked change in foreign policy since Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus came to power. India is no longer the center of Dhaka’s world. For example, Pakistan is back in Bangladesh’s good book. The supply agreement of Adani Group, an Indian company that supplies electricity to neighboring countries, has stalled. The contract is likely to be cancelled. What is happening in Bangladesh, where even after the August uprising, 600 Durga Puja pandals were set up and only a few vandalized?
India and Bangladesh: Can Relations Survive Rising Tensions?
This writer spoke to a retired diplomat deeply invested in good relations with India to share his thoughts on what Bangladeshi society thinks about violence and how Hindus are getting the wrong end of the stick. This conversation took place after India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Mishri’s visit to Dhaka, where he raised the issue of growing fundamentalism and violence against Hindus in Bangladesh with his counterpart and chief advisor Mohammad Yunus. The provocateur ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested on charges of sedition. His arrest led to the vandalism of three temples in Chattogram. Das’s bail was rejected by the Chattogram court. Meanwhile, another Hindu priest has been arrested without charge.
The former diplomat claimed that it was difficult to sense any communal tension in Bangladesh. “I have scoured 250 kilometers around sensitive areas, including Mirpur in Dhaka, but nothing has been found.” He said that there is a mismatch between what the Indian media is reporting and what is happening on the ground. He was of the opinion that Indian investments in connectivity may suffer in the future due to ‘India’s aggressive ways’ and unwillingness to accept this change.
Another foreign policy expert, equally committed to restoring cordial relations between India and Bangladesh, asserted that New Delhi needs to understand that this is a generation that has a different view of the country and how it came into existence. According to him, this generation cannot remain grateful to Delhi for the freedom the country got in 1971. “What is bothering them is that India was the party to the hijacking of its democracy by the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.” While India is seen as cozying up to Sheikh Hasina, the former diplomat alleged that the entire blame for undermining democracy lies with New Delhi. “Giving asylum to Sheikh Hasina was fine, but why was she allowed to issue statements and engage in politics from Delhi?” These are uncomfortable questions, which the Delhi government must find answers to soon, lest the situation in the neighborhood spiral out of control.