I have no hesitation in saying that extremist elements in Bangladesh are actively stoking anti-India hatred. Security threats against the Indian High Commission have become so serious that visa application centres had to be temporarily closed. In New Delhi, India summoned Bangladeshi High Commissioner M. Riaz Hamidullah and expressed its concerns in strong words. Yet Bangladesh's leader, Mohammed Yunus, appears intent on worsening the situation.Yunus had announced elections for February but a prominent face in the movement against Sheikh Hasina, Sharif Usman Hadi, was shot dead by masked assailants. It is now being claimed that those who killed him, have fled to India. This allegation has been used by radicals to create an uproar. A Hindu youth, Dipu Chandra Das, was also brutally beaten to death, his body hung from a tree and set on fire. Yet, no action has been taken by Mohammed Yunus so far. The offices of two newspapers which raised their voice against radicalism - 'Prothom Alo' and 'The Daily Star' - were set ablaze. Silence in this matter is also shrouded in suspicion. Both newspapers have been branded as 'pro-India'.
In reality, the radicals want the fire to be stoked to such an extent that no one listens to India at all. Sheikh Hasina’s party, the Awami League, has been barred from contesting elections. Meanwhile, India has said that the elections in its neighbourhood should be free, fair, and inclusive. The word “inclusive” has enraged Mohammed Yunus, because he believes it implies that the Awami League should also be allowed to contest the elections.
The moot point here is that Bangladesh, which was freed from the clutches of Pakistan by India and brought into existence as a new nation, is now witnessing open proclamations of dreams about breaking India. Tainted by allegations of corruption among other things, retired Brigadier General Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, has been repeatedly saying that peace will come to Bangladesh only when India is broken into pieces. Chief organiser (south) of National Citizen Party Hasnat Abdullah, has claimed that Bangladesh will separate India’s “Seven Sisters” (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura) from India!
After the Pahalgam attack, retired Major General Fazlur Rahman said that if India attacks Pakistan, Bangladesh, along with China and Pakistan, should seize the Seven Sisters. Yet, Mohammed Yunus has remained silent? No, he is not sitting silently. He too is among those fanning the flames (of breaking up India) because he is the real proxy of Pakistan. One may recall his visit to China where he claimed that Bangladesh was the guardian of India's seven states because they are landlocked and that China should expand its trade through Bangladesh. What can one say about such foolish statements? Who will remind him that Bangladesh shares 94 per cent of its border with India, and that it is this India he is attempting to threaten?
This is a calculated strategy by Md. Yunus - to inject so much poison against India that radical forces get elected in Bangladesh, and power ultimately passes into the hands of Pakistani handlers. When I use the word 'handlers', it includes the Pakistani Army, the ISI, and terrorist organisations spread across Pakistan. It is clear that the current anti-India mood sought to be created in Bangladesh stems from the fear harboured by radicals that people sympathetic to Sheikh Hasina may get elected. During her tenure, Sheikh Hasina had firmly reined in Islamic extremists and did not allow Pakistan to gain even a toehold. Those who nurture terrorists want her gone but Sheikh Hasina is beyond their reach. She is in India. Bangladesh is demanding that Sheikh Hasina be handed over, but the question is: Why? Betraying a friend is not in India’s blood. We stand with Sheikh Hasina, and we will continue to do so.The radicals want to intimidate India. That is why protesters marched towards the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. Their intention was to vandalise and destroy the mission, just as the US Embassy was set ablaze in Pakistan in 1979. The ISI in Dhaka is pursuing the same agenda. But those currently holding the reins of Bangladesh must understand that India is no pushover. It knows how to deal with terrorists. Whether they hide behind America, sit in China’s lap, or collude with Pakistanis - India can deal with them appropriately at a time of its choosing. It will be in their own interest that they stay within their limits.
Before I conclude, I have just returned from Delhi and am deeply troubled by its atmosphere. In several areas of Delhi, the Air Quality Index has crossed 600. An AQI above 100 is considered unhealthy. Just imagine the condition Delhi is in. A question keeps troubling my mind: When India has become so scientifically capable, can we not find a solution to this smog? Are people simply being left to die like this?
Behind this conspiracy is a nexus of the Pakistani Army, the ISI, and terrorists. It must be crushed.
The author is the chairman, Editorial Board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha.