A member of the Hindu Hitarakshana Vedike holding a placard during a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, India, on Dec 4. - AFP
NEW DELHI: A security breach by protesters against one of Bangladesh’s diplomatic missions in India on Monday (Dec 2) has triggered a diplomatic storm, underlining the growing distrust between the two countries.
Bangladesh said on Dec 3 it had summoned Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, to express its concern about protesters breaking into the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in north-eastern India’s Tripura state.
The protesters from the Hindu Sangharsh Samiti group are accused of damaging property and desecrating the Bangladesh national flag as they demonstrated against the arrest of a Hindu priest in Dhaka.
Dhaka also announced on Dec 3 that “all visa and consular services in the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh will remain suspended till further notice”.
Bangladeshi priest Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested on sedition charges on Nov 25 for allegedly disrespecting the Bangladesh flag at a rally. His arrest, which some viewed as an attack on the Hindu minority, triggered fresh protests in India and Bangladesh.
Hindus make up 8 per cent of the 170 million population in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Hindu groups in Bangladesh allege that there have been over 2,000 incidents of violence against their community since the August ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned following massive student protests against her increasingly authoritarian rule.
While the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has maintained that the number of incidents of violence is greatly exaggerated and spread by misinformation, news of violence has had reverberations in India.
The Narendra Modi government has repeatedly urged the Bangladeshi government to protect the rights of minorities, with Hindu groups closely tracking the developments. Protests have been held by Hindu groups and also members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Amid all this, India’s external affairs ministry, seeking to contain the domestic and diplomatic fallout, reacted swiftly on Dec 2, calling the breach “deeply regrettable” and noted that “diplomatic and consular properties should not be targeted under any circumstances”.
The breach also led to counter-protests in Bangladesh, where anti-India sentiment is high. Hasina, who had close ties with the Modi government, fled to India and is currently under the protection of its government.
Once a picture of neighbourliness in the South Asian neighbourhood, ties between the two countries are at their worst in 15 years.
Besides the Tripura incident, protests over the safety of Hindus and alleged insults to India have also broken out in the north-eastern state of Assam and the eastern state of West Bengal, both of which border Bangladesh and share close cultural and historical links.
In West Bengal, several doctors and a hospital announced they would not treat Bangladeshi patients amid reports of purported desecration of the Indian flag, including in a university in Bangladesh.
“Country is above all. Nothing can happen above the country. Medical service is a noble profession but the dignity of the country is paramount. Other medical institutions should also follow this path,” said Dr Subhranshu Bhakta, the director of J. N. Roy Hospital, which has refused to take in any Bangladeshi patients. The decision was criticised by members of the Indian Medical Association as violating medical ethics.
The Modi government has remained distrustful of Dr Yunus’ administration.
Repeated statements from India urging protection of minorities in Bangladesh have not gone down well in Bangladesh with members of the interim government accusing New Delhi of playing politics and catering to its domestic constituency.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has even called for UN peacekeeping forces to be deployed in Bangladesh, infuriating the government.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh, has blamed the unrest on a “vested group plotting to destabilise the country”.
“India’s ruling elite is engaging in divisive politics and anti-Bangladesh rhetoric. Bangladesh shares historical and cultural ties with West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam; they are our stakeholders,” said Bangladesh’s Information and Broadcasting Adviser Nahid Islam in a post on X.
“By using the ‘minority persecution’ narrative, Delhi is attempting to rehabilitate the fascist Awami League and disrupt Bangladesh’s democratic and nation-rebuilding process,” Nahid said, referring to the political party of Hasina.
The unrest has also affected the movement of people between the two countries amid fear of being targeted on the other side of the border.
Bongaon in West Bengal used to attract 4,000 Bangladeshis across the border every day to shop and get medical treatment, but that number has now dwindled to 1,000, said municipality chairman Gopal Seth.
“Sales in shops and hotels are down. Indians don’t want to cross the border and Bangladesh people don’t want to come over. They used to come to buy everything,” said Gopal.
He noted that there are fears among Indians there of violence against them if they crossed the border into Bangladesh. “People are scared for their lives. Indians, whether Hindus and Muslims, don’t want to go.”
Analysts see a tough road ahead for the two countries amid the growing religious polarisation and deep distrust.
“Communal polarisation in the region as a whole is becoming sharper,” noted South Asia expert S. D. Muni. “The relationship has deteriorated. I don’t see an easy way out.”
Experts say the two countries cannot afford to let ties slide too far, given their deep trade and security links.
Bilateral trade in the financial year 2022-23 was US$15.9 billion (S$21.3 billion). Bangladesh currently imports 1,160MW of power from India, and US$14 billion of raw materials and goods from India annually.
Bangladesh’s cooperation is crucial for India’s security in its north-east, where several insurgent groups operate. It is also vital for connectivity as the Indian mainland is connected to the north-east by a narrow strip of land, the Siliguri Corridor, which is bordered on one side by Bangladesh and the other, by Nepal.
“Bangladesh is a very important neighbouring country. We have important trade relations with Bangladesh and so many Indian states share such a huge border. So yes, we have a problem,” said Professor Maidul Islam at the Kolkata-based Centre for Studies in Social Sciences.
He noted that India’s option remains limited in the current scenario and consisted mainly of an outreach to Hasina’s Awami League’s bitter rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
“I guess the Modi government is also confused on what to do next. You have to keep a channel open with BNP apart from official conversation with the interim government,” said Prof Islam.
Some Bangladeshi politicians have said that they want good ties with India.
In a post on X on Dec 3, Tarique Rahman, the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and the acting president of her BNP, criticised the Dec 2 attack, saying that such incidents cause division and discord among neighbours.
“It is crucial to objectively understand what led to Hasina’s ouster, what has been happening in Bangladesh since she fled to India, and why it’s imperative to forge people-to-people ties between Bangladesh and India, beyond any particular person or political party,” said Rahman, who is set to return to Bangladesh after 16 years of exile in London. - The Straits Times/ANN
