Shaikh Hasina is going to forget the love of India and taking side of China and Pakistan?
On August 15, 1975, Sheikh Hasina, along with her husband and sister, stayed in Bangladesh’s Brussels ambassador Sanaul Haq when it was discovered that there was a military uprising in Bangladesh that very morning.
When Ambassador Sanaul Haq came to know that Sheikh Mujib had been killed in the military coup, he refused to provide any help to both his daughters and son-in-law and asked him to leave his house too. After this, he was taken to Germany with the help of Humayun Rashid Chaudhary, Ambassador of Bangladesh in Germany.
But the big question was who would give political asylum to Sheikh Hasina and her sisters?
Humayun Rashid Chaudhary told the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi the whole thing and requested to give shelter to both the sisters. Indira Gandhi agreed to give shelter.
On 24 August 1975, Sheikh Hasina and her family arrived in Delhi’s Palam Airport by an Air India plane, they were allotted a flat here, Hasina’s husband Dr Wajed was also awarded a fellowship in the Department of Atomic Energy.
Not only with Hasina, Indira was also seen with her father Sheikh Mujib.
On May 13, 1971, Indira Gandhi sent a letter to the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, through India’s Ambassador to the United States, Laxmikant Jha, in which he expressed his concern about Mujib being held in a Pakistani prison.
Is Sheikh Hasina changing her attitude?
India had laid the foundation for better relations with Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh in difficult times, but has the situation changed now? Is Bangladesh going close to Pakistan and China under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina?
On 22 July, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called and spoke to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In recent times, China has also got projects worth billions of dollars from Bangladesh and China has also increased the common trade between the two countries by exempting the goods of Bangladesh from various taxes.
Relations with India have been good during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure. In 1996, there were big decisions like Ganga water treaty, land boundary agreement. Apart from this, I have a very good relationship with the Gandhi family and the Congress. “
When Narendra Modi’s government came to India in the year 2014, speculations were being made about the relationship between the two. But the start was excellent, according to Ghosh, “Modi’s Bangladesh tour was a success, people were seeing it as a great start.”
JNU professor Sanjay Bhardwaj says, “Relations between India and Bangladesh have been very good in the last 10-12 years, the two countries did everything they could for each other, they did land disputes, trade decisions, security related The decision, they did it all. “
But the experts also believe that in recent times there has been a bit of bitterness in relationships. The Modi government’s Hindutva politics and the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act have damaged the image of India in the minds of the people of Bangladesh. Many people saw India’s policies as anti-Muslim.
Bhardwaj explains, “Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority country. After the issue of CAAA and NRC, there is a feeling in the mind of the people of Bangladesh that this law is against Muslims. Due to this the pressure of the people there has increased, the public is angry at these issues related to India and Sheikh Hasina is cautious about this. “
However, the knowledge of Veena Sikri is related to the matters related to Bangladesh. She says, “I don’t think there is any such feeling in Bangladesh about CAAA.” Some political forces try to provoke such feelings, it is the same in India. India has explained on its part that it is not related to Muslims living in India or Bangladesh and I am sure they also understand this. ”
China’s stand on the economic front?
India is very important for Bangladesh from the point of view of political stability, trade, economic development, but China is offering huge investment.
Sheikh Hasina sees China’s investment as an opportunity. Bhardwaj says, “Hasina does not want to lose those opportunities.
Apart from this, the youth there also want development, they feel that whichever country helps in development should be supported. Even on the Rohingya issue, China has taken an edge over India, so Sheikh Hasina is also seeing an alternative. ”
Apart from this, Bhardwaj also believes that for political stability, Hasina did not have much need of India, because the opposition forces are very weak there.
Veena Sikri says India and Bangladesh are on many projects. According to him, “India recently delivered locomotive engine, which Bangladesh needs, this shows that the relationship between the two countries is going very well. Apart from this, Sheikh Hasina’s tour of India in 2019 was also successful. “
So, will Sheikh Hasina’s proximity to Pakistan also increase?
It is clear from Pakistan-Bangladesh talks recently that Pakistan is trying to increase closer with Bangladesh. But experts believe that this will not affect the relationship between Bangladesh and India.
Bhardwaj says, “Bangladesh and Pakistan cannot go together. Hasina, who has been fighting, has been a pro-Pakistani force. “
There are also pro-Pakistan people in Bangladesh, who believe that Bangladesh’s separation from Pakistan was wrong, but this is not Sheikh Hasina’s vote base. Talked Efforts have been made continuously from Pakistan.
Experts believe that there are many unresolved issues between India and Bangladesh, due to which there is no possibility of much improvement in the relationship but both countries are also dependent on each other in many cases, so to say that the relationship will deteriorate is also wrong.
