A boy celebrates with a national flag after the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Aug. 6.
| Photo Credit: AP
India is yet to acknowledge the reasons that triggered the student protests leading to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as Bangladesh Prime Minister, said a leading member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Opposition in the country.
Speaking to The Hindu from Thailand, where he has been living in exile for the past few years, the leader said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s speech appeared to be “biased” against the students and that India could have played a more active role in preventing the crackdown against the protesters.
“Mr. Jaishankar started his speech by pointing out that there was tension in Bangladesh after the January election but failed to mention the reason behind the tension. It shows that Indian policymakers are yet to acknowledge the fact that the tension in Bangladesh was because of the fact that the January elections were a fraudulent exercise that excluded the Opposition,” said the leading BNP member over the phone.
“As the Foreign Minister of the largest country in South Asia, Mr. Jaishankar should have given an unbiased version of the events in Bangladesh,” he said pointing out that the protest and the subsequent violence were the results of a flawed political process.
Speaking in both houses of the Parliament, Mr. Jaishankar had pointed out that the months-long tension in Bangladesh erupted into the student protests of July and that the students had converged on Dhaka despite curfew.
The BNP leader did not agree with several points mentioned in the speech of the External Affairs Minister and said, “Mr. Jaishankar seems to be blaming the students for protesting. The issue is what was done to reduce tension by the government? Instead of dialogue, the Hasina government fired at the students.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said Indian decisionmakers did not do enough to convince Ms. Hasina against holding a ‘flawed’ election. He said India should have done more to prevent Ms. Hasina from holding the election in January 2024 as that was not transparent. He argued that Ms. Hasina had jailed many leaders of the Opposition and several like him had to seek shelter elsewhere. He said he and other members of the BNP are eager to return to Bangladesh as early as possible. He cited the remarks by Mr. Jaishankar about the reported attacks on the minority communities and said the current situation requires mainstream political parties like the BNP to hit the ground to control the situation from spiraling out of control.
“Already we are doing our best and have created BNP volunteers groups in every locality to defend Hindu temples and other minority places of worship. Only political parties with deep public network can prevent communal clashes,” he said.
“Our leader Khaleda Zia has been freed by the military administration which is currently running the country. But that is just the beginning as many leaders are yet to be released,” said the BNP figure urging India to engage with all sections of politics in Bangladesh. He, however, displayed anxiety over the delay in the formation of the interim government. He said that as per the constitutional rules, a caretaker government had to be formed on August 6 soon after the dissolution of the government which will hold a free and fair election three months later. He urged Indian policymakers to rebuild relations and engage with the new political players.
