The Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, on Tuesday urged Bangladeshis to show utmost restraint and not fall prey to any provocation amid the tension between Bangladesh and India.
鈥楽ince the fall of autocrat Sheikh Hasina, there is an increase of inflammatory media commentary and political rhetoric against Bangladesh coming from certain Indian quarters,鈥� he said in a post from his verified social media handle (X and Facebook).
The BNP leader鈥檚 remarks came a day after the attack on the Bangladesh mission in Agartala, the capital city of the Indian state of Agartala, and West Bengal chief minister鈥檚 remarks asking her country鈥檚 prime minister Narendra Modi鈥檚 intervention and deployment of UN peacekeepers for the safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh.
Tarique expressed concern that there was now an echo chamber filled with misinformation, fuelling persistent anti-Bangladesh sentiment.
鈥楾he latest attack on the Bangladeshi consulate in Agartala highlights the destabilising effects of disinformation, which only creates division and discord among neighbours,鈥� he said.
He also said that international stakeholders must acknowledge that a destabilised Bangladesh, with nearly 200 million people, is not in the interest of any country.
鈥業t is crucial to objectively understand what led to Hasina鈥檚 ouster, what has been happening in Bangladesh since she fled to India, and why it鈥檚 imperative to forge people-to-people ties between Bangladesh and India, beyond any particular person or political party,鈥� he added.
The BNP acting chairman said, 鈥楤angladesh faces many challenges, but we have largely been, and will remain, a land of religious harmony and territorial sovereignty, where the rights and freedoms of every citizen are protected, irrespective of race, caste, and religion.鈥�
The party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgur, in a statement on Tuesday strongly condemned the attack on the premises of the Bangladesh mission in Agartala.
鈥楾he attack on the premises of the Assistant High Commission by the members of an organisation called Hindu Sangharsh Samiti is believed to be pre-planned. Entering the premises of the Assistant High Commission, taking down the Bangladesh flag, setting it on fire and vandalising it is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention,鈥� he said.
鈥榃e would like to request the Indian government and people that the use of hatred in Bangladesh as a tactic of your internal politics will create long-term tension in the relations between the two countries,鈥� he said.
鈥榃e hope that the Indians will respect the democratic aspirations of the citizens of new Bangladesh and will help in bringing the leaders of the past fascist Awami regime, who are now in India, back to Bangladesh and bringing them to justice,鈥� he said.
