Bangladesh Must Be Sent A Firm Message

Bangladesh that has been taken over by a religious radical dispensation after overthrowing of a democratically elected government has tried to activate the diplomatic channel by approaching India for arranging a meeting between the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bangladesh government’s Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus in Bangkok in the first week of April. BIMSTEC Summit is scheduled to be held from 2nd to 4th April in Bangkok. Bangladesh is making efforts to arrange a meeting between the two leaders who are slated to represent their countries at the Summit. This is a significant diplomatic development after Bangladesh was embroiled in a political crisis that devastated the lives of minorities and their religious places. Not only that after subjecting the religious minorities to genocidal attrition, the Bangladesh government took an anti-India position and wasted no time to show its inclination towards Pakistan. It gave clear signals that it wanted to pursue its foreign policy and domestic policy in tandem with Pakistan’s ambitions to patronise radicalisation. It is no coincidence that religious minorities are being persecuted in both Pakistan and Bangladesh and this shows the policy convergence between the two. It is a paradox that Bangladesh has embraced Pakistan. The same Pakistan that was the genocide enabler in erstwhile Bengali East Pakistan. That is the present day Bangladesh. Not only that Bangladesh has shown proximity towards China and has displayed its policy of Chinese embrace very clearly. From this posturing it has become vivid and clear that Bangladesh is part of the China-Pakistan axis that wants to pose a threat to India. Bangladesh has shown this by targeting the religious minorities and has tried to be at par with Pakistan that has been already indulging in the genocide of the left over fractional minorities. India must send a firm message to the4 present radical dispensation of Bangladesh that it won’t engage with it at any level till it restores the human rights of the religious minorities and enables democracy to take the driver’s seat. There is no need to accept the so-called olive branch being offered by Bangladesh. Bangladesh is imitating Pakistan, its persecutor that had trampled its people to become another genocidal state. It must be underlined that Pakistan is a genocidal state that emerged after pursuing the policy of genocide towards the other religious groups. India must ask Bangladesh to shun using genocide of religious minorities as the state policy. Image of Bangladesh has got tarnished after it committed crimes against humanity by deposing the elected government. India must take Bangladesh to task for using the policy of belligerence. In order to regain the international goodwill, it is approaching India to bail it out. India must not fall in this trap. Bangladesh must be made to internalise that its policy of human rights violation against the minorities is unacceptable and it is not ready to allow the presence of another Pakistan on its borders that wants to destabilise India. China –Pakistan axis has incorporated Bangladesh in its sphere of influence to pose a threat to Indian strategic interests. If this radicalisation of Bangladesh is allowed to flourish then it won’t surprise anyone that in times to come Bangladesh will be another breeding ground of religious terrorism posing threat to territorial integrity and sovereignty of India. India cannot afford to have another patron terrorism on its borders.