- Jan 24, 2024
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How over-investment in Hasina puts India in an unwelcome, but inevitable new reality: Part 2
On war footing!
At a joint conference of the top commanders of India's three branches of the military in Lucknow, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for a review of the current situation in Bangladesh.
India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh delivers a speech during a ceremony for the delivery of the first Rafale fighter to the Indian Air Force at the factory of French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation in Merignac near Bordeaux, France, October 8, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
Rajnath said India is a "peace-loving country" but emphasised the need to be prepared for war in the face of "unforeseen" events in order to maintain peace.
India's media's role was more alarming.
Indian media started a concerted misinformation campaign making claims linking China and Pakistani intelligence to Bangladesh protests and exaggerating the scale of attacks on Hindus.
Within hours of Sheikh Hasina fleeing from Ganabhaban, the residence of the PM, reports began to appear in some Indian media outlets that members of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh were being targeted by "Islamist forces."
Articles and videos containing misleading content emerged across Indian media and social media platforms. A Times of India report claimed that Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh's biggest Islamist party, "brought down Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh."
Intelligence agencies have identified Pakistan's ISI and its Chinese patron as key players in agitating protests and subversion that compelled Hasina to flee the country claimed Times of India.
It claimed information reveals the involvement of Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, in converting protests over quotas into efforts to establish a regime favourable to Pakistan and China, undermining the previously installed Hasina government.
In a report, the ANI news agency quoted a student leader in India as saying the mass uprising was "orchestrated by the enemies of Bangladesh."
"India should remember forever..."
India and Bangladesh share a 4,100-kilometre-long (2,500-mile) porous border, which is an easy pathway for infiltration, human trafficking and, possibly, terrorist elements. Bangladesh shares the border with the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
India has witnessed many ups and downs in the bilateral relation with Bangladesh for decades after the changeover of Awami League regime in August 1975 due to this porous border.
During Hasina's first term from 1996-2001, the bilateral relationship between Dhaka and Delhi took a new shape, differing from the previous turbulence. India faced security threats again during the past BNP-led government from 2001-2006 when anti-Indian insurgent groups were allegedly given shelter on the soil of Bangladesh.
A sharp spike in militancy during the period was also a matter of concern for India.
In such a situation, Hasina's return to power in 2009 was a relief for India's leadership. Hasina too delivered on India's expectation as she herself claimed: "India should remember forever what her government has given to it."
"Bangladesh helped India get rid of daily bombing and shootings. We've brought them peace, they have to remember this," she said at the press conference arranged in May 2018 to brief the media about her recent trip to West Bengal.
Hasina said the present government does not want anything in return from India. "There's nothing to get in return. I don't seek any return [from India]. I am not in the habit of asking, rather I am in the habit of giving."
Hasina's "India should remember forever…" comment was not mere political rhetoric. During her rule, trade relations and connectivity between the two countries flourished. India's security concern was almost minimised. It has gained road, river and train access via Bangladesh to transport goods to its northeastern states.
Shooting and bombing used to take place every day in India during the separatist movement and the then government of Bangladesh used to support the separatist movement, she claimed. "We stopped that. We decided that none would be allowed to operate separatist movement using our soil,' she said.
Momen: The lone truth-teller?
Hasina's foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen often blurted out comments about the bilateral relation between the two countries which irked his party, but critics consider his remarks as a reflection of reality.
Former foreign minister AK Abdul Momen. File Photo: Collected
In 2019, Momen compared the relationship between Bangladesh and India with that of 'husband-wife' – which sparked strong criticism within his party too.
On 8 August 2020, he said Bangladesh shares blood ties with India and economic ties with China.
In August 2022, during an event in Chattogram, Dr Momen said he had "requested" India to do "whatever was necessary in order to keep Sheikh Hasina in power."
"I went to India and said Sheikh Hasina's continuation must be ensured. She is our role model. If her continuation is ensured, our country will stride towards development and become a truly non-communal country," he said.
Momen was strongly criticised by his party men. But one and a half years down the line, India did everything necessary in the run-up to the January 2024 election to keep Hasina in power.
In April 2022 Momen said he was happy about his Indian counterpart's visit as Bangladesh and India have been enjoying a "sweet relationship."
Even though AL leaders and affiliated intellectuals had been painting rosy pictures regarding the contentious issue of providing India passage through the country extolling the economic benefits accruing from the transit fees to Bangladesh, in March 2011, Prime Minister Hasina's economic adviser Mashiur Rahman commented that Bangladesh should not collect fees for providing transit or transhipment facilities to India.
"Had our country been an uncivilised one or our leaders been illiterate then we could have asked for the fees, but that's not the case."
Former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh being seen off by former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on his departure from Bangladesh to New Delhi, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, in
Former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh being seen off by former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on his departure from Bangladesh to New Delhi, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, in Dhaka on 07 September 2011. Photo: Wikimedia commons
A carrot with a long shelf life has been the Teesta water-sharing treaty that has never seen the light of the day. Though a treaty was supposed to be inked during Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in 2011, nothing came out of it.
Many more visits by either Hasina to New Delhi or Modi to Dhaka took place. However, the Teesta water-sharing treaty still remains elusive.
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