BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday alleged that what the Indian ruling party is currently doing to send Sheikh Hasina back to Bangladesh is nothing but direct aggression.
“You (Indian govt) do not like the people of Bangladesh. You do not respect the sovereignty and independence of Bangladesh,” he said in a brief speech before launching a protest march towards the Indian High Commission in Dhaka from Nayapaltan.
Rizvi said Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh and took refuge in India in the face of a strong mass uprising.
“What the ruling party of India is doing to bring Sheikh Hasina back is nothing but direct aggression in the language of political science,” he said.
Rizvi equivocally said the 180 million people of Bangladesh are prepared to resist Delhi’s hegemony. "We know how to use sophisticated equipment to safeguard our country in every domain, from air to sea to land. We have capable members in our smart military.”
He said Sheikh Hasina had been in power illegally for 15 years with India's backing and by dismantling Bangladesh's electoral system and depriving the people of their voting rights.
Rizvi questioned how, if India is a secular and democratic country, it could support a despotic ruler like Hasina, who he claimed has enslaved the people of Bangladesh for the past 15 years.
He said India is upset as no country in the subcontinent, including Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, currently stands with them. “No one can be their friend because, despite their talks of secularism, their hearts are filled with nothing but hardline Hindutva.”
The BNP leader alleged that Indian politicians and media, from Delhi to Kolkata, have been attempting to mislead the world by fabricating false narratives of minority oppression. “India’s attempts to spread such propaganda against Bangladesh would achieve nothing. They have no political agenda except to foster communal hatred and incite division.”
“They (Indian ruling party) have an attitude of hatred. They don't like the people of Bangladesh, and they are fundamentally anti-Bangladesh,” Rizvi said.
He also said Bangladeshi lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was hacked to death by ISKCON members in Chattogram as a direct result of India’s propaganda about minority repression.
The BNP leader criticised Indian politicians and media for failing to condemn the killing of a Muslim lawyer.
He said three BNP associate bodies had organised a road march towards the Indian High Commission to peacefully protest the unjust and prejudicial propaganda being spread against Bangladesh and its people.
“This protest by the three organisations will be disciplined and peaceful, despite the neighbouring country’s attempts at sabotage at every turn. Their audacity has reached such a level that they now claim Chattogram as part of India… If they can make such a demand, then we too will raise our demand for the return of Siraj-Ud-Daulah’s Bengal, Bihar and Orissa,” the BNP leader said.
Rizvi also said India will not be able to undermine the sense of harmony and brotherhood among the people of all religious communities in Bangladesh by falsely stigmatizing the nation.
The BNP top leaders also delivered brief speeches, condemning the Indian ruling party and media for attempting to disrupt religious harmony in Bangladesh through false and misleading campaigns
Later, three associate bodies of the BNP—Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal, Swechchasebak Dal, and Chhatra Dal—began their road march towards the Indian High Commission in Dhaka around 11:30am to protest the attack on the Bangladesh mission in Agartala and the desecration of the country's national flag.
The programme was also intended to register protests against what the party describes as an Indian plot to incite communal riots in Bangladesh.
When the march reached Rampura Bridge in the capital from Nayapaltan around 12:35 pm, a large number of police blocked the way with barricades and urged the leaders of the three organisations to cooperate with them for the sake of maintaining law and order.
Later, a six-member delegation from the three associate bodies of the BNP submitted a memorandum to the Indian High Commission registering their protests against the recent anti-Bangladesh incidents in the neighbouring country.
