India’s two influential former diplomats have said that the return of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami to power in Bangladesh would be tantamount to a disaster for India, the BBC Bangla service reported Saturday.The two former Indian diplomats were taking part in an open debate in Indian Parliament’s official TV channel, BBC correspondent Subha Jyoti Ghose wrote. The diplomats JC Sharma and Jayanta Prasad expressed apprehension that the separatists in India’s northwest would get sanctuary while the minorities in Bangladesh might suffer if they return to power, the report said.
In black and white the Indian external affairs ministry’s policy is to welcome any party that would emerge victorious in election. They never openly admit that India’s foreign policy is tilted towards India, the report said.
JC Sharma who was in the Indian Army and fought during Bangladesh’s war of liberation reportedly said that the question was whether BNP would return to power. He felt that since power changes hands in Bangladesh through elections BNP is expected to return. That government should be sensitive to the security concerns of India and if BNP’s past records are taken into consideration there are causes of concern for India, Sharma told the TV channel.
Ambassador Jayanta Prasad pointed his finger at Jamaat and said that Islamists were the main problems for India. According to him the social structure in Bangladesh is about to collapse because of the rise of such forces.
The pressure of the rise of the Islamists fall not only on the Muslims, but also the minority Hindus and the Chakmas, Tripuras and Christians of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Jayanta Prasad has been quoted to have said.
The report said if Islamists come to power the South Block apprehends that there would be a flow of minority refugees to India. Ambassador S harma said if Bangladesh is back to its past policies it would be disastrous for India.
In the words of Sharma it would be India’s nightmare if Bangladesh government as in the past gives shelter to people like Paresh Barua and those of other extremists groups including ULFA and if steps are taken to destabilise the northeast. This is the big fear for India, he said.
He said that the investments that India made during the last several years, the entrance to the Bangladesh market plus the connectivity facilities that India gained might all go in vain if the next government of Bangladesh is not friendly towards India, the report said.
Jayanta Prasad said that the construction of the power plant at Palatana in Tripura was possible only because Bangladesh extended hands of cooperation. India is keeping an eye on the election situation in Bangladesh to mark whether bilateral relations would again be marked by suspicion and disbelief as was before, the report added.
