A group of Hindu activists stormed into the office of Bangladesh’s Assistant High Commissioner in Agartala, Tripura, and vandalized property.
The India-Bangladesh relationship has taken a hit ever since Sheikh Hasina’s government was evicted from power on August 5. Since then, things seem to be getting worse, with ties between the two countries continuing to decline. The strain in relations is visible not only in the harsh statements from officials, but also in the growing unrest, which is affecting the daily lives and livelihood of the common masses.
The most recent event that worsened the situation happened earlier this week. A group of Hindu activists stormed into the office of Bangladesh’s Assistant High Commissioner in Agartala, Tripura, and vandalized property. Agartala, located near the Bangladesh border, makes it an important location for handling diplomatic, trade and consular matters.
The event which precipitated this retaliation was a deeply disturbing development at end-November, in which students at leading universities in Bangladesh, including Dhaka University, were seen trampling upon the Indian National Flag placed deliberately at the entrances to these institutions.
Bangladesh reacted to the Tripura incident quickly. Protests against India erupted in the country. The ministry of foreign affairs (MFA) expressed strong displeasure over the attack on its Agartala office. They also criticized India for the incident. India called the Agartala incident “very unfortunate” and has taken extra steps to ensure the safety of all Bangladeshi diplomatic offices in the country. However, the disagreement does not seem to be settling down any time soon.
Bangladesh’s temporary government called in the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, some leaders from India’s ruling party, the BJP, have warned about stopping exports to Bangladesh indefinitely. “If the attacks on Hindus and their places of worship don’t stop by next week, we will enforce a five-day ban on trade,” said the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, a leading Opposition figure in the West Bengal Assembly, according to The Diplomat. He warned that, after the start of next week, trade would be stopped indefinitely. “We’ll see how they manage without our potatoes and onions,” he said.
Amid growing anger over reports of Hindus being selectively targeted and attacked in Bangladesh and their places of worship and idols being vandalized, Indian truck drivers and traders have stopped doing business with the country. Hospitals in India are also refusing to treat patients coming from Bangladesh. Rumours about the border being closed have caused fear and many Bangladeshis in India are hurrying back to their country.
A Major Bone of Contention
Tensions between the two nations were already running high just days before the Agartala incident, triggered by the arrest of—and denial of bail to—Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu ISKCON monk, in Chittagong, Bangladesh. He was accused of sedition for allegedly disrespecting Bangladesh’s national flag. His bail hearing has been postponed to January 2, as a Chittagong court agreed to delay the case on December 3, stating that Das had not yet found a lawyer to represent him.
In another update, ISKCON’s Kolkata spokesman, Radharamn Das, said on Wednesday (December 4), that advocate Ramen Roy, who had defended Chinmoy Krishna Prabhu in a legal case in Bangladesh, was brutally attacked there and his home ransacked by a group of radical Islamists. The attack seriously injured Roy, who is now battling for his life in the ICU.
The Radical Islamist Takeover
Relations between Bangladesh and India were very strong when Hasina’s Awami League party was in power. She was seen as a “reliable friend and partner” of India because she was considered understanding of India’s security needs. However, since Hasina’s overthrow, relations between Delhi and Dhaka soured. After Hasina’s removal in August, chaos followed, and many of her supporters, including people from religious minority groups, were attacked by majority Islamist mobs despite the interim government’s claim that it was working to ensure the safety of the minorities.
India has been deeply worried about the rise of Islamist groups in Bangladesh after Hasina’s unceremonious exit. Islamist politics has always been a part of Bangladesh’s political history, but the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami now seems to have a stronger influence. Jamaat, the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh, had worked with Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War. According to Smruti S Pattanaik, a researcher at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, who recently visited Bangladesh, Islamist ideas are playing a bigger role in shaping Bangla politics after Hasina’s exit.
Hasina controlled the Jamaat with an iron hand. Many of its leaders were convicted, and even executed, for 1971 war crimes, the party was banned and hundreds of its members were jailed. However, after Hasina’s exit, the Jamaat and other Islamist groups are becoming more active and organized. Shortly after taking over power, the country’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, removed the ban on the Jamaat.
These actions have given a “boost to Islamist groups”, a former Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official told The Diplomat. He explained that India’s past experience with Bangladesh had made it cautious about the growing influence of Islamists. When Islamist groups operated freely in Bangladesh, it significantly harmed India’s security interests.
Between 2001 and 2006, when a coalition led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat was in power, Islamist activities increased significantly. Religious extremism grew, more extremist groups emerged and Bangladesh experienced hundreds of terrorist bomb attacks. There were also reports that Bangladeshi and Pakistani intelligence agencies were working together on activities against India.
During this time, anti-India insurgent groups operated openly in Bangladesh, said Pattanaik. She mentioned an incident where 10 truckloads of weapons and ammunition meant for the banned Indian separatist group, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), were unloaded in Chittagong. According to her, these incidents have left a painful memory in India of times when Islamist groups roamed freely in Bangladesh.
After Hasina’s removal, Islamist groups in Bangladesh have increased their anti-India propaganda. According to Pattanaik, they even spread rumours blaming India for the floods that hit Bangladesh shortly after Hasina was ousted. India’s unwavering support for the neighbouring government under an autocratic Hasina is what caused anti-India feelings to rise in present-day Bangladesh. However, Islamist groups have also played a big role in fuelling this anger by spreading such sentiments further.
In Bangladesh today, India, the Awami League and Hindus are often seen as closely linked in the way people talk about them, according to Pattanaik. The Indian government is focusing on the problems faced by Hindus in Bangladesh. However, people in Bangladesh claim that false information has led to exaggerated reports in the Indian media about the challenges faced by the religious minorities in their country.
Growing China-Pakistan Links
Indian experts are warning that the growing influence of Islamist groups and anti-India politics in Bangladesh could harm India’s security. Violence and instability in Bangladesh are a concern for India because they can have a ripple effect across the border. Bangladesh’s instability could lead to the spread of the problems in India across the open borders,” Pattanaik explained.
India is worried that the growing influence of Islamist groups in Bangladesh could allow Pakistan to strengthen its ties with Dhaka. These fears grew stronger recently when a Pakistani cargo ship docked at Chittagong port for the first time in over 50 years. This is expected to open the doors to more trade and maritime connections between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Could this lead to security cooperation between the two countries? The possibility cannot be ignored.
India is also concerned that Bangladeshi Islamist groups have a strong relationship with China. On the same day that Das was arrested and protests filled the streets of Chittagong, Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen held a reception at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka. The event was attended by leaders of the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh and the Jamaat—both Islamist parties. India, which has very limited contact with non-Awami League parties in Bangladesh, is watching this development with concern.
The weakening of Indo-Bangla relations is not only about the two governments. People in both countries share deep connections through religion, culture, trade and even family relationships. As relations between Bangladesh and India have become strained, cross-border travel has decreased. According to reports, from July to November, the number of flights and passengers travelling between Kolkata and Dhaka dropped by half. Truck drivers have reduced their operations to Bangladesh, leading to shortages of food and other essential items. People are uncertain about continuing business with the other side.
Bangladeshi importers are unsure if distributors will accept their goods. “Exporters don’t know what to do if a letter of credit isn’t honoured,” an Indian poultry feed exporter told The Telegraph. This trust deficit between the two countries is of great concern, more so with the spread of fake news and hate speeches on both sides. In a region already used to religious tensions and violence, things could easily get out of hand.
(The author of this article is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com)
(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own and do not reflect those of DNA)