Dhaka: Bangladesh’s former minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury on Sunday termed the situation in Bangladesh “tense and volatile” as the election is approaching. He claimed that the Yunus regime is assisting or instigating some of the extremist parties to create chaos on a daily basis to continue their gripping power.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, Chowdhury stated there is no country-wide sentiment against India and termed these demonstrations “staged”. He also spoke about the killing of Inquilab Mancha leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
Excerpts:
IANS: What is the condition in Bangladesh right now?
Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury: The condition in Bangladesh is very tense, especially in the capital city Dhaka and our second city Chittagong, because it is being patronised by the ruling regime. They are assisting or instigating some of the extremist parties and platforms to come out on a daily basis and cause chaos and trouble on a daily basis. So, yes, it remains quite volatile because the election is approaching. It appears that they want to postpone at least the schedule of the election and continue their gripping power. With that in mind, they are continuing their agitation.
IANS: Your opinion on the killing of Inquilab Mancha leader Sharif Osman Hadi?
Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury: From social media it appears he was attacked by someone within his close circle. It appears to be a very planned action and he had powerful enemies, political enemies, within the BNP as well as the Jamaat-e-Islami. One of the student leaders of Dhaka University had declared his intention to stand against Hadi, and he was a candidate, an independent candidate, against one of the powerful BNP leaders. So, the suspicion is that whoever had attacked him didn’t want him to continue into the election.
Hadi was not a politically significant individual. He was a political nobody. Now he has been turned into somebody in Bangladesh politics and someone has done it, or a group of people have done it, intentionally. So, of course, our suspicion is that whoever wanted to turn him into a martyr had probably planned this action.
IANS: Is it true that illegal Bangladeshis have been pushed into India during the Yunus regime?
Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury: I wouldn’t say that. I wouldn’t want to go into the legality of the people who had gone into India. There had been a lot of persecution of political activists and religious minorities. So, people may have tried to come to India legally or illegally in order to save themselves. So, even if the legality is questionable after the 5th of August, the humanitarian consideration is primary here. Why would someone try to cross after the 5th of August? The context has to be taken into account. People have come with the hope that they will find refuge here. I mean, those who have come to cause trouble are, of course, a different category altogether. But I would assume that many of the people who had come to India after the 5th of August have come to seek refuge, in fact, not necessarily to cause any trouble.
IANS: Your opinion on anti-India protests in Bangladesh?
Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury: Anti-India protests are only concentrated in certain parts of Dhaka and Chittagong. It’s not like a country-wide sentiment against India. A few angry, extremist, fanatic students from different institutions, including Qawmi Madrasas and Dhaka University itself, a few of them have brought in or forced many Madrasa students to join them.
You will not see average citizens of Dhaka or Chittagong taking part willingly in this kind of crazy procession. If they simply declare that tomorrow at Shahbagh Square, let’s gather those of us who are opposed to India or whatever, you know, against the Awami regime or whatever, you won’t even get more than 100 people in a city of three crore.
So, average Bangladeshis, if you look even tomorrow, if you go to an Indian visa centre, there is a line of people who are wanting humanitarian support, medical care, healthcare, education, etc. If there is an anti-India sentiment, why would people want to come here for these services? It’s absolutely wrong, and not a single Indian citizen has been attacked in the country.
Some people may or may not have some unreasonable level of grievance against India, against the West, against everything, but there are very few such people. You will not find an average rickshaw puller or an office-goer or a student, without being under duress, attending these kinds of processions. They’re being forced to go for these events. (IANS)
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