Tarique Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh National Party and son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who has become the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh, says that his party’s foreign policy will be based on Bangladesh’s interests. His BNP won more than a two-thirds majority in the recent elections, leaving the main opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami, far behind. Unlike Pakistan, the Bangladesh Army showed no interest in the elections and did not give the impression that it supported any particular candidate. India will be relieved by Rahman’s victory, as it does not like the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami.
Prime Minister Modi immediately congratulated Tariq Rahman. Tariq Rahman has also indicated his desire for good relations with India. Our former ambassador to Bangladesh, Veena Sikri, has said that we see signs of positive revival of relations with India from Tariq Rahman. Muhammad Yunus’s stance has been anti-India ever since he was parachuted into Dhaka from the US after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. In these 18 months, Bangladesh has witnessed a terrible level of anarchy. Bangladeshi political analyst Altaf Parvez writes, “In the interim period, mob violence has severely damaged social relations, and in this environment, the seeds of armed insurgency are visible.”
A student revolution was used to overthrow Hasina’s regime. But, as is typical of such attempts, control slipped out of control. Sheikh Hasina fled to India, but the country fell victim to mob violence and religious extremism. Widespread violence against Hindus occurred, which has not stopped. Temples were destroyed. The dominant Hindu community has suffered severe economic, political, and social damage. It is estimated that over 2,000 attacks on Hindus occurred, resulting in over 60 deaths, yet the Yunus government made no serious effort to stop them.
Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League was not allowed to participate in this election. This was not a wise move. If a party that has ruled there for 15 years is not allowed to participate in the elections, you will create a group of opponents right from the start. Sheikh Hasina also ruled like a dictator and crushed her opponents. Tariq Rahman himself has returned after 17 years of exile, but as long as Sheikh Hasina was in power, she protected India’s interests. She stopped providing shelter to militants from our eastern provinces in Bangladesh. A high level of cooperation was observed between the two countries.
Yunus attempted to reverse this situation. He wasn’t even elected, yet he took major foreign policy steps, all of which were anti-India. After decades, Bangladesh’s doors were opened to Pakistan. Until 2024, we were Bangladesh’s largest trading partner, but after Yunus’s arrival, trade with Pakistan increased by a whopping 27% in a single year. The ISI, which had played a very cunning role during Bangladesh’s independence, was also invited to Dhaka. The impression was created as if two long-lost brothers were reuniting. To tease us, Yunus even said that our northeastern states were dependent on Bangladesh’s kindness.
He said this in China and also invited China for investment. Yunus’s thinking was strange. India has surrounded that country from three sides. We can cut off their water and electricity supply at any time. As far as Pakistan is concerned, they themselves are beggars, which Shahbaz Sharif has also admitted. How can they help Bangladesh? The Indian government has shown great patience. Every second or third day, there is news of the murder of some Hindu or the other, which has caused a strong reaction here. There is also a threat of Islamization there.
The biggest problem is Sheikh Hasina. She has taken refuge in India, from where she continues to issue statements. Bangladesh is repeatedly demanding her extradition. Until now, we have maintained that we are not obligated to accept demands from an unelected government. But now, if an elected government also starts demanding extradition, it will become difficult for us. It will be a kind of dilemma. We want good relations with the new government, but we cannot hand over Sheikh Hasina to them. India and Bangladesh have a shared history. We too shed blood for their independence.
Because of this, many in our country are shocked that this country has joined hands with Pakistan, which has killed millions of people there. The number of women raped is countless, but we must understand that times have changed. The generation that protested against Sheikh Hasina did not witness the 1971 massacre. They even burned symbols of the freedom struggle. Humayun Kabir, an advisor to Tariq Rahman, has said, “Bangladesh wants to restore relations with India. The onus now lies on India to accept the changed political reality in Bangladesh.”
Syed Munir Khusro writes from Dhaka, “Many in Bangladesh complain that India befriended Sheikh Hasina, not the people. India must also be relieved that the alliance between the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, which existed during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, has broken after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation. The Jamaat-e-Islami’s congratulatory message to Tariq Rahman after the elections has been withdrawn. Now, Jamaat-e-Islami is complaining of rigging in 32 constituencies. It is in our interest that Tariq Rahman’s government remains stable. Relations were not good during the time of his mother, Khaleda Zia.
Our weakness was that we put all our eggs in Sheikh Hasina’s basket. After her departure, the country was taken over by anti-India elements, but as Humayun Kabir has said, times have changed. Tariq Rahman has more than a 2/3 majority. The alliance with Jamaat has broken. This is an opportunity for India. Past and history are important, but they are no longer relevant in today’s circumstances. We must abandon sentimentality and adopt a practical policy. Now a new government has been established there that appears to be liberal. We must make every effort to give relations a positive turn.
We need their cooperation to keep our Northeast safe, just as they need India’s cooperation for their progress. Both are interdependent. 50-60% of those who come to India for medical treatment are from Bangladesh. That country buys 1160 megawatts of electricity from India. There are rail and bus services between the two countries, and most importantly, they share a 4000-kilometer border. This is a reality that neither India nor Bangladesh can erase. Yunus’s government was foolish to believe that Pakistan could replace India, but there are many points of tension. The bigger issue is Sheikh Hasina.
We can’t hand them over to Bangladesh, but it would be better to silence them. Their statements should stop. Another major issue is that of infiltrators, which the BJP is raising vigorously in view of the elections in Assam and West Bengal. This creates tension. The third major issue is communal. The killings of Hindus there are disturbing. Recently, Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman was expelled from the IPL after some fundamentalist groups created a ruckus. After that, Bangladesh decided to withdraw from the T20 World Cup.
All this happened at a time when India was trying to befriend the new political class there. Sadly, we have succumbed to our own militants; if such people dictate foreign policy, it will not be good for the country. Most condemnable in this regard is an AI-generated video of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, showing him shooting two members of a minority community. The Assam unit of the BJP posted this video on its official handle. It was later removed when it became clear that relations with Muslim countries could be strained.
But it’s noteworthy that the high command didn’t take any action against Sarma. Assam elections are coming, so Sarma was trying to polarize the nation. But will the nation’s dignity be compromised for the sake of votes? And it’s important to remember that whatever happens inside the country will inevitably have a reaction outside.
