'Pakistan's Venom': Experts Sound Alarm Over Rising Anti-India Hate in Bangladesh

Experts warn that rising anti-India and anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh reflects “venom introduced by Pakistan,” as recent lynchings of Hindu youths spark global alarm.

Former MoS for External Affairs and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M J Akbar on Friday said that the events unfolding in Bangladesh for the last two years were reflective of "venom introduced by Pakistan". 

Speaking to ANI in Mapusa, he said that "hate" was not an ideology since it can't sustain itself. "What we see in the last 2 years is the return of the venom that Pakistan introduces in the body politics that reflects in Bangladesh. Hate is not an ideology as hate cannot sustain itself," Akbar said.

Meanwhile Foreign Affairs expert Robinder Sachdev expressed deep concern over "growing anti-India sentiment" in Bangladesh, warning that foreign agencies could exploit the situation to fuel tensions between the two neighbouring countries. Reacting to the recent mob lynching of Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das, he described the situation as "absolutely alarming". He warned that hostile external forces like Pakistan could exploit this . 

"The situation in Bangladesh is absolutely alarming for India. The recent incident of the lynching of a Hindu person and the Bangladesh government saying it has arrested 10 of the accused is a small welcome step. We hope that the Bangladesh government takes more action going forward, but our basic hope is that no such incident should ever happen. We are seeing a growing anti-India sentiment," Sachdev said.

Former Diplomat KP Fabian also suggested, "Another thing, which we are not able to understand, is that Pakistan and China, perhaps in collusion, are working overtime against India to spoil relations between India and Bangladesh and to transform Bangladesh into the old East Pakistan with Jamaat-e-Islami and other forces."

Recent Lynchings of Hindu Youths

On Wednesday, the Daily Star Bangladesh reported that a Hindu youth identified as Amrit Mondal was lynched at Hosendanga village of Kalimohor union in Rajbari's Pangsha sub-district over an extortion allegation. Police rushed to the spot upon receiving information last night and rescued Samrat in a critical condition.

The murder of Mondal took place days after the mob lynching and burning of the Hindu youth, Dipu Chandra Das, in Bangladesh's Mymensingh district. A worker in a garment factory, Dipu Chandra Das, was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy charges and had his body hanged and set on fire on December 18.

Investigation Finds No Evidence for Blasphemy Claim

The Daily Star, citing Mymensingh's Additional Superintendent of Police, Abdullah Al Mamun, stated that a factory official had informed Bhaluka police that a group of workers attacked Dipu inside the factory, accusing him of making "derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad" in a Facebook post. However, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-14 Company Commander in Mymensingh, Md Samsuzzaman, told The Daily Star that investigators found no evidence suggesting the deceased had posted or written anything on Facebook that could have hurt religious sentiments, adding that neither residents nor fellow garment factory workers could point to any such activity by the victim.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)