Tuesday marked the day when the joint forces of Bangladeshi 'Muktijoddhas' and the Indian Army won the war against Pakistan in 1971. The victory gave birth to the new state of Bangladesh. However, in Muhammad Yunus's 'new Bangladesh', his loyalist student leaders and Jamaat-e-Islami functionaries fired volleys of speeches targeting India. One leader, Hasnat Abdullah, even threatened to secede the northeastern states from India.
What did Yunus's student leaders say?
National Citizens Party (NCP) chief Nahid Islam said, "If India thinks they will continue to interfere in Bangladesh's political affairs and manipulate elections like before, then they are mistaken." He threatened that India's independence and sovereignty depend on Bangladesh as well. Therefore, he said, India needs to be careful. His associate Hasnat Abdullah said, "We will break the Seven Sisters into seven pieces, if necessary." Jamaat leader Mia Golam Parwar said, "We will not allow India's attempts to turn Bangladesh into a tributary state." Former advisor Mahfuj Alam said, "Our enemies will not be safe. This is the basic condition. There has been too much civility, no more. We will take corpses for corpses."
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BNP under pressure
After apparently driving out the Awami League from Bangladesh's politics for the time being, the Yunus loyalists have now targeted the BNP as well to keep them under pressure. Various speakers gave similar hints through statements at a rally at Dhaka's Central Shaheed Minar premises on Monday. However, the BNP, despite being invited to this rally called by their former allies, remained absent. They fulfilled their obligation by expressing solidarity with the rally over the phone.
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Although the rally was called to protest the attack on Inqilab Mancha's Sharif Osman Hadi, almost all the speakers gave aggressive roars targeting India. Jamaat's Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar said the attack on Hadi is part of a plan to capture Bangladesh. He claimed that those who facilitated the attackers' escape to India will not allow fair elections in Bangladesh. NCP's chief organizer for the southern region, Hasnat Abdullah, said that India wants to turn Bangladesh into Palestine. His allegation, "India is giving shelter and support to those creating instability in Bangladesh. If this continues, we too will give shelter and support to India's separatists."
