Bangladesh unrest: Growing role of Jamaat-e-Islami worrying for India: Ex-diplomat
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 5
Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri on Monday said instability in Bangladesh was “worrisome for India” and the government was maintaining the highest level of vigil along the nearly 4,000-km-long border with the violence-hit nation.
Pak-China hand?
Jamaat-e-Islami’s role seems to be very large one. It forces to think whether there is a Pakistan-China hand behind the recent developments. Veena Sikri, Ex-diplomat
She flagged the growing prominence in Bangladesh of banned Jamaat-e-Islami, known for proximity to Pakistan’s ISI, as a sign of concern for India. Noting that students’ movement for abolition of quotas had morphed into a political protest with Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing known to having become involved, Sikri said a foreign hand in the developments on India’s border could not be ruled out.
The only woman to serve as the High Commissioner to Bangladesh (2003-06), Sikri said the first indications of a possible foreign hand surfaced when the top Chinese leadership cold-shouldered Sheikh Hasina during her recent visit to the country.
“The most recent indicator of this (a foreign hand) was when Sheikh Hasina’s visit to China went very badly. China did not accord her a proper welcome. Xi Jinping did not give her a separate meeting. This was uncharacteristic of China. One could not fathom why China did this. But now, one can see. The Pakistan-China nexus is very strong,” said Sikri.
She said Sheikh Hasina had been on the same page as protesting students on the quota issue and those who vandalised the statue of Bangladesh liberation hero and Sheikh Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman today are not students but protesters. Sikri was referring to Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing Islami Chatra Shibir and others who infiltrated the students’ anti-quota agitation in Bangladesh.
Students, she said, were at the forefront of the war for Bangladesh liberation and are “very patriotic.” Referring to Bangladesh army chief’s invitation to Jamaat-e-Islami for talks and his assertion that Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League would not be engaged, Sikri said the growing role of Jamaat-e-Islami, known to be close to Pakistan, is a worrying sign for India.
“Jamaat-e-Islami’s role seems to be a very large one. It forces us to think whether there is a Pakistan-China hand behind the developments in Bangladesh,” she said, adding that India is very worried about this instability and wants the situation to calm down. Sikri warned that instability in Bangladesh could have a spill-over effect in India and the BSF which guards our borders with Bangladesh would be in a state of high alert.
On Hasina’s future, the former diplomat said it was not known if India would be her interim stop or if she has sought refuge here. “There is a lot of talk that she may go to London or Belarus. Sheikh Hasina spent many years in India after her father’s brutal assassination,” the former diplomat added.
