Major General ANM Muniruzzaman (Retd). File Image: Special arrangement
Current status of relations between India and Bangladesh There is no room for traditional diplomacy for India’s policymakers, a top Bangladeshi policy analyst has said. The Hindu, Major General ANM Muniruzzaman (retd), chairman of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), asked South Block to hold talks with all parties across the political spectrum in Bangladesh without waiting for the situation to evolve further.
“India must engage with all parties in the political space in Bangladesh. After the August 5 developments, Bangladesh politics has become very unconventional and classical diplomacy cannot work in this situation and India needs to realise this quickly and press the reset button,” he said, adding that the end of the Hasina government should not be construed as the end of bilateral ties, adding: “South Block must engage with the real stakeholders – the people of Bangladesh.”
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After the fall of the Hasina government, Bangladesh is being ruled by an interim administration that has given decision-making power to many individuals from civil society and student organisations who had led protests against Ms. Hasina. The resulting hybrid administration will help bring back party-level democracy in Bangladesh.
Along with other representatives of BIPSS, Mr. Muniruzzaman has in the past participated in discussions organised under the banner of think tanks such as Vivekananda International Foundation and raised concerns over the declining popularity of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh over the past few years. Mr. Muniruzzaman, a renowned peace envoy with extensive contacts in the United Nations, recalled that his warning words about the prospects of the Sheikh Hasina government did not receive the required attention from New Delhi at the time, which could have given the necessary early warning about the abrupt end of the Hasina regime on August 5.
He said, “India must engage with Bangladesh and resist the temptation of factionalism. India must be on the right side of history in Bangladesh.” He indicated that Bangladesh presents a political challenge and the situation needs to be handled constructively.
Sheikh Hasina has been staying in India since August 5, drawing criticism from Bangladesh’s current rulers – including student leaders. Chief adviser Professor Mohammad Yunus met Indian High Commissioner Pranab Verma on August 22 when he sought more security from authorities in Dhaka due to anti-India sentiment prevailing in Bangladesh.
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Moreover, unlike other countries such as the United Kingdom, India has not taken the risk of testing new political players in Dhaka. On Sunday, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cook met Information and Broadcasting Advisor Nahid Islam and discussed “shared values of media freedom, transparency and accountability”.
In comparison, India is maintaining a wait-and-watch attitude on new players like Mr Islam, who was one of the biggest student leaders who made the fall of the Hasina regime possible. India has not yet made any clear overtures to the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), even though the BNP has been meeting Chinese, Pakistani and British delegations over the past fortnight. Mr Muniruzzaman warned that India will have to adjust to the new players.
“New Delhi must recognise that the reins are being handed over to a new generation of Bangladeshis who will want to shape their own future and will also be keen to reshape the relationship with India,” said Shafqat Munir, a senior research fellow at BIPSS. He cautioned that the Dhaka-New Delhi relationship “must be forward-looking and based on mutual respect and cannot be beholden to any one party or individual.”