Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 5: The chief advisor of the Bangladesh interim government Muhammad Yunus has advised the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to remain quiet having taken shelter in India and asserted that Bangladesh would not be at peace till it tried Ms Hasina for the crimes she committed as the dictatorial head of the government all these years.
He also maintained that the issue of attacks on minority Hindus in his country was “exaggerated” and questioned the manner in which India projected it and said the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh were more political than communal. He suggested that the attacks were a fallout of a political upheaval as there was a perception that most Hindus supported the now-deposed Awami League regime.
“I have said this to (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi also that this is exaggerated. This issue has several dimensions. When the country went through an upheaval following the atrocities by (Sheikh) Hasina and the Awami League, those who were with them also faced attacks,” he said.
The minority Hindu population has faced vandalism of their businesses and properties, as well as the destruction of Hindu temples, during the student-led violence that erupted following the ouster of Hasina. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, had expressed hope that the situation in violence-hit Bangladesh would return to normal soon and stated that 1.4 billion Indians were concerned about the safety of Hindus and minorities in the neighbouring country.
Mr Yunus said Sheikh Hasina making political remarks from India was an “unfriendly gesture”, asserting that she must remain silent to prevent the discomfort to both countries until Dhaka requests her extradition. “If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh (government) wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” he said.
Mr Yunus, who was appointed the country’s Chief Advisor after Hasina’s ouster, stressed that while Bangladesh valued strong ties with India, New Delhi must move “beyond the narrative that portrays every other political party except her Awami League as Islamist and that the country will turn into Afghanistan without Sheikh Hasina.”
“No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to try her. She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it,” he said.
Yunus was apparently referring to Hasina’s statement on August 13 in which she demanded “justice”, saying those involved in recent “terror acts”, killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished. “It is not good for us or for India. There is discomfort regarding it,” he said.
Following unprecedented anti-government protests that peaked on August 5, Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India. Her presence in India for nearly four weeks has fuelled speculation in Bangladesh. “Everyone understands it. We have said quite firmly that she should keep quiet. This is an unfriendly gesture towards us; she has been given shelter there and she is campaigning from there. It is not that she has gone there on a normal course. She has fled following a people’s uprising and public anger,” he said.
Mr Yunus stated that the interim government was committed to ensuring justice for the people of Bangladesh against the atrocities, and justice requires that she be brought back to the country. Yes, she has to be brought back or else the people of Bangladesh won’t be at peace. The kind of atrocities she has committed, she has to be tried in front of everyone here,” he emphasised.
Discussing the future of the India-Bangladesh relationship, Yunus expressed a desire for good ties with India but insisted that New Delhi must abandon the narrative that only Hasina’s leadership ensures the country’s stability.
“The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative. The narrative is that everybody is Islamist, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is Islamist, and everyone else is Islamist and will make this country into Afghanistan. And Bangladesh is in safe hands with Sheikh Hasina at the helm only. India is captivated by this narrative. India has to come out of this narrative. Bangladesh, like any other nation, is another neighbour,” he said.
The 84-year-old Nobel laureate emphasised the need for India and Bangladesh to work together to improve their currently strained relationship. “We need to work together to improve this relationship, which is now at a low,” he said.
He pointed out that in his first direct contact with New Delhi last month, shortly after becoming the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, he had conveyed to Mr Modi that Dhaka would prioritise the protection and safety of Hindus and all other minority groups. During the conversation, Modi reaffirmed India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, and progressive Bangladesh and had emphasised the importance of ensuring the safety of Hindus and other minority communities in the violence-hit country.
Hindus, who made up 22 per cent of Bangladesh’s population at the time of the 1971 Liberation War, now constitute about 8 per cent of 170 million and have predominantly supported the Awami League, known for its secular stance. Describing the attacks as more political than communal, Yunus questioned the manner in which India is “propagating” them. “These attacks are political in nature and not communal. And India is propagating these incidents in a big way. We have not said that we can’t do anything; we have said that we are doing everything,” the Chief Adviser said.