Harsha Kakar
News emerging from Bangladesh indicate that the situation within is far from normal. While the Muhammad Yunus led interim government has been installed, it has failed to curb ongoing violence against minorities. Factories and residences owned by erstwhile members of disposed PM Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League as also from minority communities are being burnt. Members of her government, including the former chief justice, currently under arrest, have been attacked in courts.
India has formally requested Bangladesh to protect lives of minorities, mainly the Hindus, who form the largest minority community. The Indian Ambassador in Dacca met Mohammad Yunus and requested him for the same. While there were reports of Bangladesh security forces deployed to protect Hindu temples however attacks continue unabated.
The recent floods in South Eastern Bangladesh were being blamed on India releasing water from the dams without warning. Rumours being spread include India politicizing water as a weapon in response to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government seen close to India.
New Delhi’s announcement that an ‘automatic release’ from the Dambur Hydroelectric Project in Tripura, occurred due to high water levels, was ignored. CNN, in a report covered the Bangladesh viewpoint, rather than the truth. It even mentioned that India has yet to tender a formal apology for the same.
Sheikh Hasina is presently residing in India, protected by the state. Her request for asylum in the west is currently under progress. She did make a few statements against the present government and in support of her party earlier, but has been silent in recent days, possibly cautioned by the Indian leadership, thereby ensuring relations do not deteriorate with the current dispensation. Court cases against her continue to be filed in Dacca. Thus far, her presence has not impacted diplomatic ties.
The current interim government in Dacca lifted the ban against the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which was imposed by the Sheikh Hasina government a few days prior her ouster. It was prohibited from participating in elections as ‘its charter violated the secular constitution of the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people.’ Many of its leaders have been hanged or jailed since 2013 for crimes committed in 1971.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s current chief, Dr Shafiqur Rehman, stated on relations with India, ‘we are mutual neighbours. Neighbours cannot be changed at will and this is something neither of us can deny.’ However, the party has been at the forefront of violence against minorities.
The interim Government also released Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist outfit. He has been attempting to spread tentacles of the organization in India.
On all these issues there has been a deafening silence from the US and other western nations. While for Europe, Bangladesh is low on the radar as they remain embroiled in the Russo-Ukraine war, no comments from Washington send another message.
PM Modi in his telephonic conversation with President Biden raised the issue of protection of Hindu’s in Bangladesh. The Indian statement read, ‘The two leaders expressed their shared concern over the situation in Bangladesh. They emphasised restoration of law and order and ensuring safety and security of the minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh.’ The US statement had no mention of this subject, implying there was no response to PM Modi’s comments from President Biden.
For the US, Sheikh Hasina ruled Bangladesh as a dictator. In all its democracy summits, the Biden administration avoided inviting her, while formally inviting Pakistan, which has a quasi-democracy. Pakistan refused to attend in deference of China. Despite Sheikh Hasina meeting President Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the distance between the two nations remained.
The US ambassador to Dacca, Peter Haas, met members of the opposition as also the Dacca police chief prior to elections. The US was keen that Sheikh Hasina no longer rules the country. There are reports that the US backed the opposition BNP led protests of Oct 2023, which led to the arrest of many BNP leaders.
Simultaneously Muhammad Yunus, the current head of the interim government, has close links in Washington, mainly the Clinton foundation. The US is aware that as long as he rules the roost, Bangladesh would do its bidding. The US would ensure that China does not get closer than needed, which remains its major interest. Hence, it would avoid joining in criticizing the interim government. Bangladesh had signed on the Chinese Belt Road Initiative, though Hasina had carefully balanced Chinese investments.
Bangladesh is seeking an additional USD 8 Billion loan from various agencies, including 3 billion from the IMF. The IMF team is scheduled to visit the country by the end of Sept. In all probability its loans would be sanctioned even prior to that of Pakistan, given US interests in the country. It is possibly the factor that the country would now tilt towards its interests, that the US maintains silence.
It ignores the fact that growing instability in South Asia could give rise to Islamist movements, which could become a security concern not only for India but the larger region. This short-term approach of the US has been the cause for multiple instabilities in the world, whether it be the rise of ISIS in Iraq or the deterioration within Libya.
There is no doubt that Sheikh Hasina had believed herself to be invincible that she suppressed all her opponents. The fact is all democracies cannot be the same as the US or India. Attempts at pushing democracy in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq on the lines of the US, failed. Pakistan is a democracy only in name, with the army choosing the PM, while playing musical chairs with the post. Nations adjust to their own form of government over a passage of time. Washington needs to comprehend this fact. Its obsession with western models of democracy have led to creation of trouble spots across the globe.
The same could also happen in Bangladesh. Historically, the US realizes its errors much later, however by then the damage has been done. These are still early days. It needs to push the interim government in Bangladesh to choose the right path, catering to levels of radicalization within the country, rather than a system which would be dominated by the army or radical elements.
(The author is Maj. Gen. (Retd.))
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