The events in Bangladesh are a cause for great concern for India. The position of the country’s significant minority community should be the top priority right now, despite the strategic security issues that may eventually require closer attention given how quickly events are unfolding following Sheikh Hasina’s downfall. Hindus and Sikhs in Bangladesh are particularly being attacked by the roving gangs due to the current unstable scenario. Their women are being kidnapped and assaulted, and their homes and businesses are allegedly being robbed and set on fire.
From the beginning of the student protests, the police have been on a widespread strike in protest of the deaths of their own dozens of on-duty colleagues. This has created an environment of anarchy that allows the pro-Pakistani and anti-Indian groups to openly target Hindus. Numerous Hindus, including many who trekked to the border to escape the orgy of mob violence and torture, have been forced to evacuate their homes, numbering in the tens of thousands. Despite constant prodding from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, the military authorities appear overwhelmed by the enormity of the issue. Both the military and civilian administrations are feeling unstable as a result of the vacuum that the rapidly evolving events have created.
The Modi government must take the lead in calling an all-party meeting to pass a unanimous appeal for an early return to normalcy and an immediate end to the atrocities against Hindus and Sikhs in the neighboring country, before the dire situation for the minorities worsens. Given its extensive border spanning more than 4,000 kilometers, India bears a particular obligation to closely monitor the rapidly evolving events occurring within its borders. Every internal disturbance has an impact on this nation.
Hindus made up around one-third of the population in Bangladesh prior to the Partition, but since then, their numbers have severely decreased. As a result of waves of violence and persecution against minorities, many have fled their home country and sought safety in India. To be fair, the 15 years of the Hasina government’s administration contributed to peace and harmony within the community. However, the pro-Pakistan BNP faction and the pro-ISI Jamaat have returned, posing a new threat to minority groups. It is possible that they will be the target of revenge assaults in the near future. Our own people, particularly those in West Bengal, cannot remain immune to the plight of minorities in the neighboring nation, with whom they share a common history and strong cultural and linguistic ties.
Tens of thousands of former legal and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants currently reside in West Bengal, therefore the environment for the return of Hindu Bengalis from the neighboring nation cannot be entirely clean. However, families who are fleeing Bangladesh should be provided with housing and other forms of support as soon as possible. Additionally, if they wish to reside in India, their applications for Indian citizenship should be handled favorably in accordance with the Citizenship Amendment Act. After all, India is the only nation that members of the Hindu, Sikh, Jains, Parsi, etc. community can call home. They should be given the utmost consideration and prompt assistance.
In order to bring back popular control in the troubled nation, it is hoped that the Dhaka temporary administration can quickly reestablish order and eventually prepare for new elections. All rational people, even those involved in Bangladesh’s previously thriving ready-made clothing export sector, should work to prevent the generals’ feared military control. As for the crude elements in our polity, they will continue to hope in vain that the scenario in India won’t repeat itself by making references to what’s happening in our neighborhood. Threatening the newly elected administration while making explicit reference to what’s happening in Bangladesh is nonsensical.
ABHISHEK VERMA
