Yunus Exerts Pressure On India, Warns Against Hasina, Will India-Bangladesh Ties further Deteriorate?

Will India-Bangladesh relations go further south with Dhaka warning New Delhi over deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina? Will India’s neighbouring country exert pressure to extradite the former prime minister who has ruled the country for 16 years? Chief Advisor to Interim Government, Muhammad Yunus has created a flutter across the world diplomatic circle and set the alarm bell ringing in both the countries with his recent comments.

Md. Yunus Hints At Demanding Hasina’s Extradition

Acknowledging that the relations between the two countries are at a low, the Nobel laureate said on Thursday that Hasina's political remarks from India were an “unfriendly gesture". He said further if  India wanted to keep Hasina until the time the Bangladesh government wanted her back, the condition would be that she had to keep quiet. By saying that Yunus has hinted at possible extradition of the former prime minister. Earlier, the leaders of the Bangladesh National Party demanded the extradition of the Awami League. Besides, the advisor for foreign affairs to the Interim Government has also talked about the extradition, though he did not demand it.

Yunus Asks Sheikh Hasina to Shut Up

Muhammad Yunus said that Bangladesh has said quite firmly that Sheikh Hasina should keep quiet as she has been given shelter there and she is campaigning from there. He said further that Hasina has not gone to India on a normal course, she has fled following a people's uprising and public anger. The founder of Grameen Bank said further "Sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it... It is not good for us or India. There is discomfort regarding it."

Bangladesh Angry At Hasina’s Demands

Yunus said this after Sheikh Hasina demanded in a statement that action should be taken against those who have vandalized the statues and images of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the man who spearheaded the campaign, established a guerrilla army named ‘Mukti Bahini’ and fought a pitched battle against Pakistan in 1971.

Yunus Asks Hasina Not To Give Instructions

Indicating a tough stand against the deposed prime minister, the head of the interim government also said had Hasina kept quiet, Bangladesh would have forgotten it, and people too would have forgotten it as she would have been in her world. Expressing his unhappiness, Yunus said that sitting in India, the former prime minister is speaking and giving instructions.

Yunus: Everyone Is Not Islamist

It is clear that Bangladesh also wants to up the ante against India not only against Hasina. At a time when it is almost established that the fundamentalist Islamist forces have come back to the fore of politics with Jamaat-e-Islami putting three of its members in the interim government. Rejecting the claim, Yunus emphasized that the present dispensation in Bangladesh has nothing to do with Islamist forces. He went one step forward and put the put the blame on India.

Md Yunus Warns India

Yunus said, “The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative. The narrative is that everybody is Islamist, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is Islamist, and everyone else is Islamist and will make this country into Afghanistan. And Bangladesh is in safe hands with Sheikh Hasina at the helm only. India is captivated by this narrative.” Suggesting New Delhi to come out of this narrative, the Nobel laureate Bangladesh, like any other nation, is another neighbour.

It is evident that the days of bonhomie with Dhaka are over, the relations between the two countries have hit rock bottom and Bangladesh may soon turn anti-India, if not handled carefully. It is also clear that India made a diplomatic blunder by keeping all its eggs in one basket. It did not reach out to the BNP, New Delhi did not attempt to mend the fences with the interim government. India made no overture except Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling Muhammad Yunus. Even in that conversation, his main concern seemed the security of minority Hindus in the country rather than improving the bilateral ties.