New Delhi: India has submitted a “strong protest” over the now-deleted social media post of a member of Bangladesh’s interim government who talked about carving out parts of eastern and north-eastern India and adding them to Bangladesh.
At the weekly briefing on Friday, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India has “registered our strong protest on this issue with the Bangladesh side” in answer to a question about a Facebook post by Mahfuj Alam, special assistant to the interim government’s chief adviser Muhammad Yunus.
While acknowledging that the post has been taken down, Jaiswal also noted, “We would like to remind all concerned to be mindful of their public comments”.
“While India has repeatedly signalled interest in fostering relations with the people and the interim government of Bangladesh, such comments underline the need for responsibility in public articulation,” he stated.
The Bengali-language Facebook post by Alam, as per screenshots available on social media, claimed that Bangladesh’s liberation struggle would remain incomplete without removing the country from its “trap of geography”.
He wrote that India had adopted a “contain and ghettoise” program. Referring to the 1947 partition as a result of the “anti-Bengal” policy of Hindu extremists and elites, Alam apparently stated that uprisings in 1975 and 2024 had “to happen to free this state from India’s dependence and domination.”
A leader of the students’ movement, Alam had posted on December 16, the anniversary of Bangladesh’s Liberation War, which saw the country become independent from Pakistan.
India’s relationship with Bangladesh has cooled following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina through a students-led movement.
Hasina, who was perceived as close to India during her 15 years in power, fled to Delhi on August 5 as crowds rushed to storm the prime minister’s office complex. She remains in India.
Earlier this month, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri visited Dhaka, the first such bilateral trip since August 5, where he conveyed that New Delhi wanted “mutually beneficial” relations with Bangladesh.
Following Hasina’s ouster, the Indian government repeatedly expressed concern about attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshi interim government has talked about the need to protect minorities but also claimed that Indian media was exaggerating the issue to align with a political narrative.
