The editor of the Bangladeshi newspaper, the Dhaka Tribune, says Bangladeshis feel “an antipathy” for India and they hold the country “squarely responsible for everything they have suffered in the past decade of increasingly autocratic Awami League misrule”. Zafar Sobhan says that, as a result, India today is viewed in Bangladesh in very similar terms to the way America was viewed in Iran in 1979 when the Shah was overthrown and fled the country.
In a 30-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Sobhan explained that the “antipathy” Bangladeshis feel for India is a direct result of their perception that Indians – particularly officialdom and ministers – look down upon Bangladeshis and are patronising and condescending in their attitude to them. He specifically cited the home minister’s use of the word “termites” to describe Bangladeshis and the fact that Bangladeshis are commonly referred to in the media as “infiltrators”.
He said: “Bangladeshis understand very well the low opinion that many if not most Indians harbour about us.”
