Attacks on Hindus leading to insecurity among the minorities not seen since Sheikh Hasina Wazed flew into exile in India in August 2024, targeting of student leaders of the so-called revolution and a chief adviser in Muhammad Yunus who is more of a wrecker who has lost the ideological plot thanks to his penchant for mending ties with Pakistan
As events in Bangladesh tend to spiral out of control whenever student protests are further impelled by Jamaat-e-Islami fundamentalism, India has the unenviable task of trying to set right the ties that shaped one of its most fruitful partnerships for nearly two decades in the region. Considerable loss of jobs in a plunging economy in which poverty is growing by leaps and bounds has created volatile conditions that may have added to the restlessness which the former microfinance banker has not the wherewithal to help control.
Attacks on Hindus leading to insecurity among the minorities not seen since Sheikh Hasina Wazed flew into exile in India in August 2024, targeting of student leaders of the so-called revolution and a chief adviser in Muhammad Yunus who is more of a wrecker who has lost the ideological plot thanks to his penchant for mending ties with Pakistan, historically the oppressor of East Pakistan, while invariably kowtowing to the Jamaat and its radical student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, are problems that plague our neighbour to the east.
To blame India for all ills has been his playbook and it is not a fanciful conspiracy theory that has led to the slain student leader Hadi’s kin pointing fingers at Mr Yunus who may facilitate his hanging on to power by putting off the polls scheduled for February 12. With the legitimacy of his government always in grave doubt, India has no one to reach out to at a time of severe anti-India sentiment exploiting the unrest. Waiting for the poll results and then reaching out to a legitimate new regime is the only recourse available to India.
On the political front, a significant event has taken place with the return on Thursday from self-imposed 17-year exile in the UK of Tarique Rahman, son of Khaleda Zia and potential leader of the troubled country after the polls from which Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League may be excluded. The same US voices that protested Ms Hasina’s anti-democratic moves in driving Khaleda Zia’s BNP to boycott the January 2024 polls are now protesting the anticipated exclusion of the Awami League.
It reeks of irony as it was the intervention of US liberals that saw the ousting of Ms Hasina’s government and the foisting of Mr Yunus that did lead to Bangladesh jumping from what was or wasn’t quite the frying pan straight into the fire. Dhaka may never again return to open electoral democracy as in India. Even then, it is India’s task to try and restore ties that have mutually benefited the two nations — Bangladesh with considerable help for its economy by way of trade, energy and water and India with easy access to its own northeastern states via the land route.
Given the current slide in ties with embassies shut and the visa process suspended in both nations, dealing with the Yunus regime does not seem possible. More tumultuous events may take place between now and the polls, which are just over a month away, but it is important from decisive control of the law-and-order situation point of view that an elected government be in place soon to rein in the extremists and stabilise conditions for order to prevail and the economy to repair itself and catch up again.
