Dhaka: For the first time since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her fierce rival party BNP has made a big statement regarding India-Bangladesh relations. A senior leader of BNP, which is said to have an anti-India stance, has targeted former diplomats, bureaucrats, leaders and institutions and alleged that they are misleading India to believe that India-Bangladesh relations will deteriorate without the Sheikh Hasina-led government. Amir Khusro Mahmud Chowdhury, leader of the Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said a few days after India expressed concern over the safety of minorities in Bangladesh that it is an internal matter of the country.
He said that Bangladesh wants strong relations with its closest neighbor India. Chowdhury’s party BNP has been a long-time rival of Hasina-led Awami League (AL). Hasina left the country on August 5 and went to India in the wake of the nationwide student movement. After this, on August 8, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, which will work till the elections are held. In an interview given to ‘PTI-Bhasha’ here, Chaudhary targeted the “attitude of former diplomats, officials, political leaders and institutions” and alleged that they are misleading India about Bangladesh. He said that due to this, India-Bangladesh relations have deteriorated.
BNP accuses Sheikh Hasina
He said, “This so-called system has created such a fear that if there is no Awami League, there will be security problems for India; if Sheikh Hasina is not there, the country will go into the hands of fundamentalists; if there is no Awami League, Hindus in Bangladesh will be in danger.” He said, “This is a completely false and deliberately fabricated story. These people should wake up now. Bangladesh is one of the most liberal countries; Hindus and Muslims have been living together here for centuries.” The minority Hindu population in Bangladesh has suffered economic losses and there have been allegations of destruction of Hindu temples during the violence that lasted for several days after the fall of the Hasina government.
This is what he said about the attack on minorities
Choudhary said, “There may be differences, but no government in Bangladesh supports attacks on its minorities. The Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees equal rights to all and above all, we do not believe in the concept of minority and majority. We are sorry to say on the question of minorities that it is an internal matter of Bangladesh.” He said, “How can others comment on the issue of minorities in our country? How can it come in the way of diplomatic relations? This is our internal matter. We never complain about what happens to Indian minorities, so no one should comment on the issue of minorities here.”
