Is BJP Responsible for Pushing Bangladesh out of India’s Orbit? Syed Ali Mujtaba

Is BJP Responsible for Pushing Bangladesh out of India’s Orbit?

Syed Ali Mujtaba

There are some noteworthy developments taking place in India- Bangladesh relationship which is not being reported in the mainstream media but has significant impact on India as a nation.

The first is India’s foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s visit to Dhaka on August 18-19, 2020.  The seriousness of the visit can be ascertained from the fact that India’s foreign secretary traveled to Dhaka on a chartered aircraft. Apparently he may be having some serious issues to discuss about India- Bangladesh bilateral relationship.

However he was treated in a lukewarm manner when he arrived in Dhaka. There was no Bangladeshi official to receive him at the Dhaka airport nor there was anyone to see him off when he left.

India’s foreign secretary was made to wait in his hotel room for almost four hours and then when he went to the PMO he had to wait for another one hour before was finally granted audience with Bangladeshi PM. This treatment is unprecedented in India- Bangladesh relationship, but no media ever reported and none had the audacity to ask uncomfortable question about it  to the MEA.

 “All Izz Well”- was the curt reply of MEA spokesperson India Anurag Srivastava when he was asked about it. His face expression and sounded tone was more of “Three Idiots,” type the Amir Khan’s blockbuster of 2009.   

The fact is there was no discussions on bilateral relationship with the Indian foreign secretary at the Bangladeshi PM at that brief meeting. Though as a protocol Bangladeshi foreign secretary was present in the meeting but the foreign minister of Bangladesh was conspicuous by his absence.

The entire meeting of Indian foreign secretary with Bangldeshi PM was only a courtesy call, a photo opportunity sans any tangibles a take away.  However, a hype was built in Indian media that Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s visit to Dhaka was a huge success.  

The second most noteworthy development in India- Bangladesh relationship is the shabby treatment meted to Ms Riva Ganguli, India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh. 

It is reported that Ms Riva Ganguli had to wait unsuccessfully for almost four months to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. This is something significant as it suggests how much India Bangladesh relations have plumed and how far Dhaka has moved away from New Delhi’s orbit.

The most important events that had occurred when Ms Riva Ganguli has arrived in Dhaka in March 2019 are as follows.  Ms Riva Ganguli arrived to witness Dhaka-Delhi relations unfolding in a manner that was unbelievable with an Awami League government in power.

The first thing she witnessed was; Sheikh Hasina dropping several pro-India heavyweights from her new cabinet. This happened without New Delhi knowledge.

In October 2019, wshen Sheikh Hasina’s visited India her visit was downgraded from state visits to an official visit, depriving her of being received by the Indian Prime Minister on arrival, a 21-gun salute and the guard of honor, ceremony etc. This is a noticeable development in India- Bangladesh relationship but no media reported. 

Later in November 2019 when Sheikh Hasina was in Kolkata to watch Bangladesh-India cricket match but New Delhi soft peddled  her visit to West Bengal capital. Riva Ganguli who went to Kolkata to meet Bangladeshi PM was left gasping her breath.  

Ms Riva Ganguli is a witness to the first-hand account of Bangladesh establishing a hand-in-glove relationship with China. This extended to strategic areas where India was eased out right before her eyes.

Ms Riva Ganguli also watched China investing over $26 billion soon after her arrival in Dhaka in strategic areas, with promises of much more investments.

When India wanted to get the major strategic project i.e., the second terminal in Sylhet airport and MS Riva Ganguli wanted to meet Sheikh Hasina for this, the Bangladesh PMO delayed her appointment till the project was given to China.

All these suggest that India’s High Commissioner’s to Bangladesh has little role in molding the decision of the neighboring countries towards India. These developments has the potentials of game-changer in worsening the India- Bangladesh ties.

The main reason for deteriorating India- Bangladesh ties is the BJP government’s blatant anti-Muslim, anti-Bangladesh policy to energize its Hindutva vote bank. This indeed has severely impacted India Bangladesh relationship.

Home Minister Amit Shah openly called Bangladeshi Muslims as ‘termites.’ This was bait for Hindutva hardliners, a mental massaging to pump up their radical ideology. 

Some other BJP leaders had openly threatened the Bangladeshi Muslims to be thrown into the Bay of Bengal.

The National Registration Act (NRC), the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and all such actions of the BJP government  have anti – Muslin anti- Bangladesh agenda.

Even though the BJP remains in a denial mode the impact of its policies such as the NCR and the CAA, cast a long shadow on India- Bangladesh relationship.

The BJP in order to please its Hindutva constituency has mortgaged Bangladesh to China. The primary focus of the BJP is its Hindu vote bank and even though it means denial of the gains India had made in 1971.

Such anti-Muslim anti Islam policy of the BJP may be sound of music to the Hindu vote bank but it has sullied India’s image in the community of nations where Islam and Muslim’s have a significant global presence.

Another harm BJP’s Hindutva ideology has done to India is to re-establish the idea of two-nation theory propounded by Muslim League in 1940’s for which it is being blamed in India. It appears that the Hinduvta ideology of the BJP concurs with the idea of Muslim League and it tries to reinforce this version of Indian history.

Well these are some seminal changes taking place under the BJP rule in India. The primary focus of the BJP is building the Hindu identity of the country, even if it means denting India’s relationship with other countries. India's crest fallen relationship with Bangladesh is a pointer that the political leadership of the country is working against India as a nation.   

 The large Indian population has to a make judgment whether they want BJP and its ideology to dominate the political discourse in the country or it want to change the sullying image of India that is being perpetrated by the BJP though through it’s supermicist ideology. 

The ball of improving India-Bangladesh relations is in New Delhi’s court. A change in attitude in India’s foreign policy in dealing with the neighbor such as Bangladesh may go long way in mending the sullen ties.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He is author of the book Soundings on South Asia (Sterling, 2005). He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com