Bangladesh Prime Minister visiting India amidst cumulative attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh

New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to travel to India on September 5 on a three-day official visit, just two weeks after the 38th Bangladesh-India Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting in New Delhi. This meeting was held after 12 years. Hasina’s last visit to New Delhi was in October 2019.

The visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India is significant on several fronts:

Defence cooperation, regional stability, common Teesta waters and other transboundary streams alongside motorised vehicle movements to and from Nepal and Bhutan through the Indian territory and the BBIN initiative are likely to be the focus of Bangladesh Prime Minister talks with Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Several of these issues continue to linger for decades but no solutions. In addition, smuggling through borders, rising fundamentalism in Bangladesh and attack on Hindus and other minorities are major concerns for the common masses on both sides of the border.

Indian traders and exporters will also be interested in taking advantage of the recently constructed Padma Bridge, connecting southwestern Bangladesh including the Mongla seaport with several Indian States.

On defence collaboration, is Indian and Bangladesh going to sign an agreement on defence equipment? Last month, Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande visited Bangladesh amid speculation that Bangladesh may buy Indian-made weapons for their military forces. If this happens, it will be a great step forward in bilateral defence cooperation.

On the water-sharing issue, India and Bangladesh are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on interim water sharing of the Kushiyara River. They are likely to conduct the feasibility study for optimum utilization of water received by Bangladesh under the provision of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, 1996. India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, of which seven rivers have been identified earlier for developing the framework of water-sharing agreements.

Bangladesh elections are taking place next year and Sheikh Hasina would like to have the complete support of India to not allow the disgruntled forces to hide in India after creating mischief in the country.

China's expanding stake in the region more so in Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east is a serious strategic and security issue for India. This concern is also likely to be discussed, more so when the Chinese Foreign Minister visited Bangladesh last month and keeping in view the Sri Lanka crisis and Chinese debt.

Attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh as well as issues of Rohingyas, and illegal migrants continue to remain a concern for the common masses in India and hoping against hope that Indian leadership would take up this issue seriously in bilateral talks with the Bangladesh leadership.

On the occasion of the festival Janmashtami, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the minority Hindus in the country that they have the same rights as her. Hasina's comments come a month after temples, shops, and houses of Hindus were vandalised in southwestern Bangladesh. Bricks were thrown at a temple, furniture inside was broken, and one Hindu house was burnt, according to the local newspapers. The July 2022 attacks were the latest in the wave of communal violence directed at Hindus in Bangladesh. There have been several such incidents in the past two years.

According to estimates provided by Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a Bangladeshi human rights organisation that documents attacks on minority communities, there have been over 3,600 attacks in Bangladesh targeting Hindus. (2013-2021). Since this report, there have been dozens more attacks on Hindu dwellings, businesses and even temples creating fear amongst the minorities.

More so when culprits are identified, police cases are filed against the culprits, still, hardly any punishment for the guilty or action is being taken by the authorities. In most cases, it is delayed for the sake of local politics and forthcoming elections in the country.

One of the editorials in Bangladesh newspaper read “there was a decline in the minority population of Bangladesh in contrast to the growth in the majority Muslim population since the last census. Such incidents create fear amongst the minorities who want their new generation to stay safe and are forced to ponder their settlement out of Bangladesh.

From secular to radical

There is a visible gradual transformation of the country from a religiously moderate, progressive Muslim country to a more aggressively radical Muslim country. The changes are seen in the school syllabi and style of teaching. Several new religious schools are mushrooming up. New religious clerics also spread more Wahabi Islam and discourage locals to adopt their culture or liberal Islam. Madrasas and their movement and their strength are increasing. They want changes in education and social policies. The consequences in Bangladesh influence Indian border States of east India where attempts are made to radicalise Indian youth.

According to some Bangladesh analysts, the first change in secularism occurred when Bangladesh introduced a state religion and inserted language to that effect in an amendment. Since then the growth of radicalization and the fall of secularism is taking shape. Minorities can feel the change that is happening in the country and hence fear multiplies. Incidents of vandalising Hindu properties and religious places, a massive uneasiness exists amongst the minorities.

This change has been more visible since a large chunk of Bangladeshis go for jobs in countries like Saudi Arabia, and Gulf countries. On their return one founds a change in their behaviours and also, they become more religious and bent towards Wahabi Islam rather than the secular Islam that exists in the country. Modest Muslims in Bangladesh feel unsafe because they cannot oppose anything that a cleric of Deoband or Wahabi background sermons in the name of religion.

Minorities drifting away

Minorities feel uncertain despite the assurance that the constitution guaranteed equal rights to them. They feel insecure, isolated and fear intimidated by their surroundings, despite repeated assurance from authorities for providing justice and rule of law, but nothing results positively on the ground. The Constitution may give minorities rights, but to exercise those rights they need the support of the government, and rule of law.

During the time of these crises, the Bangladeshi Hindus always have hope and look forward to India for resolutions We all know how several Bangladesh Hindu families have crossed over to India, mostly now living as refugees in Tripura and West Bengal for decades forcing the Indian government to bring laws for their rehabilitation.

Over the last 50-plus years, the Hindu population has been consistently declining in Bangladesh from 20% in 1971 to less than 9% in 2011, the last census. And now we hear the population has further declined by nearly 1% in the last 10 years. Not only the Hindu population, but the number of other minorities -- such as Buddhists and Christians have also declined.

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh continue to remain an interest to the international community and more so for India. Recent talks between China and Bangladesh on supplementing its efforts to repatriate over a million Rohingyas will be of much interest for India to follow. India equally is dealing with a major issue with Rohingya Muslims illegally present in India but can’t repatriate them on the foundation of cultural Indian ethos and responsibility as a developing nation in the region.