Nepal: ‘Eyes of Buddha’ watch over India’s evil

SALEEM SAMAD

The tourist season for Indians begins in the month of June. To beat the summer heat, they visit Nepal, despite the monsoon season, they prefer religious tourism. For tens of thousands of Indians pouring into Nepal for pilgrimage pleasure and extreme sports, the nights are very cool, which they enjoy the most.

Day after day, the Indians go from one mountain to another mountain, from one Hindu temple to another Buddhist pagoda, offering flowers and incense for spiritual gain and well-being of their families and businesses.

While in the capital Kathmandu, picturesque Pokhara, Nagarkot and elsewhere, most of the hotels, restaurants, rental vehicles, taxis and tour operators often refuse to accept Indian currency Rupees (IRs).

They explain that Indian Rupees is no more an official exchangeable currency, which is not well understood. Well, tourist can pay bills to hotels, taxis, and restaurant in US Dollars, Euro, Japanese Yen, British Pound and Chinese Yuan. However, the money changer or money exchange kiosks accept IRs at the rate of 1.5 per cent exchange rate in Nepali Rupees (NRs).

India and Nepal has century old love and hate relationship. Nepal a landlocked country in the Himalayan range is interdependent on India for imports.

Recently, despite the scornful eye of India, Nepal dared to open up and neighboring China made inroads into once a Hindu Kingdom.

In recent times, Nepal has gradually moved from India’s influence towards its arch rival China. The new ‘all weather friend’ has made significant investments in infrastructure in terms of aid and loans.

China’s involvement in Nepal’s infrastructure projects through its controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) poses a threat to Nepal’s role as a buffer state between India and China.

India’s engagement with Nepal is limited to defense cooperation, disaster management, infrastructure development, water resources cooperation, education and cultural exchange, which a Kathmandu based trekking operator Prabesh Banjara said.

However, the challenge with India is with the Peace and Friendship Treaty signed in 1950, which guaranteed Nepali citizens free movement across the border and employment opportunities in India. However, many perceive this treaty as unequal and imposed by India.

The porous and poorly guarded border between India and Nepal is a security threat. It is known that the border allows the underworld mafia to exploit it for smuggling weapons, ammunition, trained members and fake currency, which poses a significant security risk to India.

Nepal also has territorial disputes with India. Kalapani at the India-Nepal boundary remains a disputed territory and unresolved. Nepal claims these territories as part of its own, while India argues that it has inherited them from British colonialists.

The trust between India and Nepal has weakened over time due to India’s slow implementation of projects. Some Nepalese ethnic groups feel that India interferes too much in Nepal’s politics and undermines their political independence, leading to a dislike for India.

The Nepalis love to hate India. It seems that the Nepalese, which cuts across all sections of the people, has not forgotten the nightmarish “economic blockade” by India in March 1989.

After enduring more than a year of extreme hardship, Nepal has learnt a bitter lesson: the rest of the world wouldn’t come to their aid when they were bullied by India. The blockade inadvertently hastened the restoration of democracy, but it did not nuke India-Nepal relations any less rocky. India did not extend landlocked Nepali trade and transit treaties, wrote CK Lal in a prestigious newspaper, the Nepal Times.

Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy writes in Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a Delhi based think-tank and the neighborhood has undergone shifts since the beginning of the millennium. By the end of the decade, the democratic transition in Bhutan, political instability in Nepal, the Maldives, and Bangladesh, and civil war in Sri Lanka had posed dilemmas and new challenges to India.

Narendra Modi’s government in India offered an opportunity for an emerging China to make inroads in these countries through economic assistance and investments. Most of these projects were later institutionalized and categorized under Beijing’s flagship BRI.

ORF writes that the policy balances coercion and inducement, although the former (India) have become more subtle in the years since the policy was initiated.

While earlier coercion measures included alleged blockades in Nepal and military posturing against the Maldives, the focus has now shifted mainly towards granting and denying access to Indian markets and assistance. There is a growing understanding that the use of coercive measures and becoming involved in neighbors’ domestic politics would only drive the South Asian neighbors away from India and further come closer to China.

India believes that interdependencies will counter Chinese influence in the region, strengthen its security, and further its interests.

ORF study also highlights crucial challenges and missed opportunities in India’s policy. First, India has not been able to counter its negative perceptions, as it is still viewed as an interventionist power.

Second, India’s security-oriented outlook for the region, including offering alternatives to China and pushing back against China through diplomatic means, has continued to foster suspicion towards India’s intentions.

It is clear from his Divyopdesh (Divine Sayings) that Nepal’s great unifier, a Gurka King Prithvi Narayan Shah, didn’t quite trust the big neighbor to the south.

At the level of the nation-state, Nepal has a litany of injustices it has suffered from high-handed Indians, wrote CK Lal.

There is a strong impression in Nepali minds that they have got the short end of the stick in almost every border river project-from Kosi and Gandaki in the past to Pancheshwar in recent times.

All Himalayan rivers originating in Nepal drain into the Ganges. When Indians try to tame some of these rivers, the trouble is transferred upstream, and submergence takes place in Nepali territory, the Laxmanpur Barrage being the most recent example.

A hotelier in Pokhara said, the Chinese invested multimillion dollars in building a new Pokhara International Airport, which has yet to begin operation.

India has threatens that any international airlines which has plans flights to picturesque Pokhara would not be given authorization for over-flights to the airport. “It is pity that India envy’s that the airport was built by her arch enemy China,” said the hotelier.

A private airline in Bangladesh requested Nepal to introduce flights to Kathmandu and Pokhara. Kathmandu’s Triubhuvan International Airport is crowded by scores of international flights and unable to provide a slot for the Bangladeshi airlines.

Pokhara, the second destination, has been blocked by Indian’s arrogant policy. The flight will have to make fly Indian air space to reach Pokhara. Beleaguered Pokhara International Airport is only serving to domestic flights to Nepali private airlines. What a waste of a mega infrastructure investment!

Politicians like to repeat that the love-hate relationship between Nepal and India is “age-old” and has stood the test of time, says CK Lal.

In a piece of advice, he said the Indian government should engage constructively with the new leadership in Nepal and work towards enhancing cooperation in various areas. This will benefit India’s long-term interests.

The Eye of Buddha or “Wisdom Eye” in the heart of Kathmandu represents the enlightened perception of reality and the nature of existence. The eyes are traditionally watching towards the south – India. The eyes protect Nepal from the evil.

First published in the Stratheia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan, on 24 May 2025

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

Which side will Bangladesh opt for in the India-Pakistan conflict?

SALEEM SAMAD

After the air strikes in Kashmir, when a full-scale conflict erupts between Pakistan and India, what should be the official stance of Bangladesh?

In 53 years, Bangladesh has not waged any war with its neighbors, Myanmar and India. Other South Asian countries are hundreds of kilometers away. Therefore, there has not been any issue with these countries.

No denying, Bangladesh-India, Bangladesh-Myanmar had engaged in border skirmishes and were quickly resolved at the border guards force level.

Bangladesh’s military is not a fighting force. Accordingly they are trained as a defensive force. The military is being prepared for peace-keeping missions under the United Nations deployment in countries troubled by militancy and rogue warlords.

Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan are significant troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions, with Bangladesh and India consistently ranking among the top three globally.

Bangladesh has a strong history of contributing to UN peacekeeping, with 6,772 peacekeepers deployed in 58 missions across 40 countries since 1988. They are currently among the top troop-contributing nations.

A few days ago, The Economic Times, an Indian publication picked up an irrelevant content, from a social media post by a former Bangladesh military officer and close aide of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has suggested that Dhaka should collaborate with China to occupy India’s northeastern states if it attacks Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

Moments later, the Interim Government distanced itself from Major General (R) ALM Fazlur Rahman's remarks on his social media account.

Distancing itself from the former army officer’s remarks, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a media release said, “The comments do not reflect the position or policies of the government of Bangladesh, and as such, the government neither endorses nor supports such rhetoric in any form or manner.”

By the way, China has never fought a war except for border clashes with 14 neighbors that it shares a border with, including India. China has border disputes with Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan in South Asia.

Abhijeet Sen wrote for Godi Media, india.com, that in the case of a conflict, it will be interesting to see how the neighboring countries of India, such as China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bangladesh, and Bhutan, will react and choose sides.

Sen believe that Bangladesh would fish in murky water during the Indo-Pak conflict and will take an opportunity to invade North East India with the military support of mighty China. He is forgetting that the Seven Sisters have recently ended their decades-old separatist insurgency by several ethnic groups.

Bangladesh is literally a homogeneous nation having language nationalism as a binding factor. They possess a unique culture, tradition, heritage, and history. Most importantly, the majoritarian are Muslims.

The North East Indian states have hundreds of languages spoken by ethnic communities and are divided among Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, animist identity and a negligible Muslim population.

Bangladesh military adventurism in the Northeast would be suicidal in an unknown hill-forest terrain, which would jeopardize the geopolitical landscape of the region.

Nevertheless, the former ethnic combatants trained in military-grade weapons would violently resist the occupation.

The nation has witnessed brutality during the nine-month independence war in 1971. An estimated 3 million were martyred, one million became war refugees, 500,000 were victims of rape as weapon of war and another 3.5 million were internally displaced.

The social media are flooded with nationalistic rhetoric, which goes against the spirit of the liberation war of 1971. The post reminds the audience that Bangladesh is a pacifist nation and pursues a ‘no war’ policy.

Afroja Shoma, a teacher of Media Studies at a private university, posted on Facebook: We are tomatoes, not India/Pakistan lovers or haters.

Political activist Hasnat Quaiyum, a member of Rastra Songskar Andolon (Movement for Reforms of the Country), urged that Bangladesh, under any excuse, should get involved in the Indo-Pak war.

Nevertheless, the Bangladesh constitution outlines specific provisions regarding war and peace, emphasizing the renunciation of force in international relations and prioritizing peaceful resolutions.

Article 63 states that war cannot be declared or the country participate in war without the Parliament’s assent. Furthermore, Article 25 mandates that the state’s foreign policy be based on the principles of renouncing force, supporting the right of self-determination, and upholding the right of oppressed people to struggle against imperialism and colonialism.

However, Article 25 also supports international solidarity with oppressed peoples in their struggle against imperialism and colonialism.

Finally, the constitution implicitly prioritizes peaceful resolutions to conflicts, as evidenced by the renunciation of force and the emphasis on international solidarity and support for self-determination.

Bangladesh must prepare carefully for all possible scenarios while remaining steadfastly neutral and committed to peace. At the same time, it is in the collective interest of the region that India and Pakistan recognize the futility of further escalation and work toward resolving their differences through peaceful means. The future prosperity and stability of South Asia depend on it, writes Mir Mostafizur Rahaman in the Financial Express, published from Dhaka.

Bangladesh authorities, before speaking their mind, are feeling the pinch in their shoes. The Dhaka stock market witnessed a major decline this morning (7 May) due to the India-Pakistan war. The main index fell by more than 70 points in the first 10 minutes of trading. The index fell by more than 50 points in the first five minutes. The downward trend continues.

Ramisa Rob is the Geopolitical Insights Editor at The Daily Star, writes: Needless to say, both nations must urgently engage in de-escalation. But the political reality of de-escalating the current volatile situation between India and Pakistan is much easier said than done. There’s little precedent that the nuclear-armed nations would spike a hot war; however, the short- and long-term stability in South Asia after the deadly Pahalgam attacks appears bleaker than ever before.

First published in the Stratheia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan, on 8 May 2025

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

Bangladesh: ‘humanitarian corridor’ for Myanmarese

SALEEM SAMAD

Political parties from different shades of right, left, centrists, and Islamists are disturbed to hear from the media that Bangladesh has agreed to establish a ‘humanitarian corridor’ for the hungry people of war-torn Rakhine State in Myanmar.

The media in the country, quoting Foreign Affairs Ministry officials, have published sketchy information on the so-called humanitarian corridor. The Interim Government has yet to spell out details of the plan, which has raised suspicion which is now mixed with conspiracy theories.

The United Nations wants to dispatch food, medical supplies and other essentials to Rakhine, where silent famine persists.

The United Nation Development Program (UNDP) in an assessment report released in November 2024, painted a grave situation in the Rakhine state. It said the people caught in the civil war are experiencing a near famine and proposed that immediate food, medical aid, agriculture inputs, construction materials and other essentials need urgent attention from the international aid agencies.

UNDP report stated that Rakhine is on the verge of an unprecedented disaster due to a combination of interlinked issues. Restrictions on goods entering Rakhine, both internationally and domestically, have led to a severe lack of income, hyperinflation, and significantly reduced domestic food production. Essential services and a social safety net are almost non-existent, leaving an already vulnerable population at risk of collapse in the coming months.

The report shows that Rakhine’s economy has become almost dysfunctional. Critical sectors such as trade, agriculture, and construction have halted. Export-oriented, agro-based livelihoods are disappearing as markets become inaccessible due to blockades by the junta.

UN warns that Rakhine faces the imminent threat of acute famine. The worst victims of a lack of food are millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs), including Rohingyas.

In the last couple of months, a fresh influx of Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh has added to the already 1.2 million languishing in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar, in Southeast Bangladesh.

However, there is no specific assessment of the number of IDPs in Rakhine, as they spread over the forests, hills and banks on the riverfront. The IDPs do not live in permanent shelters. They live in makeshift camps. The worst victims of internal displacement are children, women and elderly persons. They are suffering from severe malnutrition, communicable diseases and the absence of healthcare.

UN wants to address an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Rakhine and said it is only Bangladesh, its immediate neighbor separated by a kilometer-wide Naf River can save the hungry people, coupled with the absence of healthcare that has jeopardized their lives and living.

UN officials believe that Bangladesh is a trusted country which could extend help in facilitating supplies of food, medical and other essentials.

The United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) stationed in Hawaii is supposed to provide logistics and security for the IDPs in Rakhine state.

It is reported that the US military will be deployed for the logistics at the corridor at Silkhali, a small river port. The site has been secured by the Bangladesh Army, a no go for the civilians. The army would only facilitate logistics for the UN operation, said a senior government official, who is privy to the corridor.

UNDP report says that internal rice production is declining due to a lack of supplies of seeds, fertilizers, severe weather, and a rise in the number of IDPs that could no longer engage in agricultural production after the civil war erupted and repeatedly relocating to safer places has further exacerbated the miseries.

The UN estimates that with the near-total halt of trade, over 2 million people are at risk of starvation.

When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the camps and had Iftar (food for breaking the fast in Ramadan) with the refugees, he told the Bangladesh authorities that a “humanitarian corridor” needed to be opened to reach the hungry people.

Before leaving Dhaka after a visit to Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps, in mid-March, Guterres said he had discussed with Bangladesh authorities the possibilities of a humanitarian corridor would connect inside Myanmar as a means of creating conditions for Rohingya repatriation to Rakhine with the rebel Arakan Army which has captured except for few places resisted by the Myanmar military troops.

He said it would, however, require the “authorization and the cooperation of the parties to the conflict” in Rakhine, where the Myanmar junta is fighting the rebels, which has further caused frustration, pain and agony for the IDPs.

On the other hand, Tarique Rahman, the supremo of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said from his London office, cautioned the Interim Government that such a decision can only be taken by the parliament.

Presently, there is no parliament, and the upcoming election is scheduled for the first half of 2026, after the Ramadan and Eid holidays. Therefore, the hungry people in Rakhine will have to wait for at least a year until an election is held in Bangladesh and a parliament begins to function.

Meanwhile, top US officials visiting Bangladesh a fortnight ago held secret meetings in Bangladesh with hybrid representatives of the United League of Arakan (ULA), a political wing of AA and Chin National Front (CNF), the political umbrella of Chin National Army.

The Chin National Army is a Chin ethnic armed organization in Myanmar. The armed wing of the Chin National Front (CNF) was founded on 20 March 1988.

The CNA and ULA are members of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a coalition of opposition groups that aims to establish a federal system in Myanmar or achieve levels of autonomy and peace among the country’s various ethnic minorities.

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest and accused of sedition, is incommunicado. The former senior leaders of her party who could evade arrest and have gone underground safely are earnestly working with the ethnic rebels under the banner of UNFC.

Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain told journalists that the Interim Government agreed in principle with the UN proposal on the corridor, but certain conditions must be met for its implementation.

A day later, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir slammed the interim government for making such a move without consulting the political parties.

“An interim government has no authority to make such a policy decision,” reads the statement by President Mohammad Shah Alam and General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB).

The CPB questioned that the West’s sudden interest in the Rohingya issue was “part of a broader imperialist conspiracy”.

The Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ameer (chief), Shafiqur Rahman said the humanitarian corridor requests that the government make the issue transparent to the nation because it might involve many security issues.

Radical Islamic platform Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh’s fiery leader, Secretary General Mamunul Haque, opposing the move, said, “Imperialist powers are trying to implement their agenda by using Bangladesh. As a patriotic force, Hefazat-e-Islam does not support this in any way.”

In response to the concerns of the political party leaders regarding the humanitarian corridor being premature, said Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the Chief Advisor Prof Muhammad Yunus.

To pacify the political parties, the government quickly said nothing had been finalized regarding the corridor. But said that the government would be willing to provide logistic support should there be UN-led humanitarian support to the state of Rakhine, said Khalilur Rahman, the National Security Adviser in charge of Rohingya issues, told French news agency AFP.

First published in the Stratheia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan, 4 May 2025

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

What is the Arakan Army doing in Bangladesh?

The open display of the guerrillas with the logo on their uniform inside a sovereign state has sparked serious debate, especially as the Arakan Army continues to be accused by an international rights NGO

SALEEM SAMAD

Several videos have surfaced on social media recently. The video and posts with photos in social media show that the rebel Arakan Army, which swept Rakhine State from the Myanmar military junta, were inside Bangladesh territory to celebrate South East Asia’s most popular “Songkran Water Festival”.

A thousand-year-old traditional water-sprinkling festival celebrating the Buddhist New Year is widely celebrated across South and Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, parts of Northeast India and parts of Vietnam from April 11-15 and features a mix of traditional ceremonies and raucous water fights.

Songkran is recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, further highlighting its importance.

The festival draws hordes of tourists from around the world, eager to experience the vibrant atmosphere and water-splashing fun.

The festival is also organised by a visible Buddhist population of Marma and Rakhine ethnic communities in southeast Bangladesh bordering troubled Myanmar.

The Rohingya refugees are scared of the presence of the Arakan Army (AA). There are reasons for the Rohingyas who fled for safety and security, the “textbook ethnic cleansing” according to a probe report by the United Nations Human Rights Agency (OHCHR) published in Geneva.

Myanmar’s treatment of its Muslim Rohingya minority appears to be a “textbook example” of ethnic cleansing, the top OHCHR official has said.

The 1.4 million refugees are languishing in squalid camps in Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee shelter. Almost one kilometre wide Naf river separates the two neighbours, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

When AA swept through the hills and forests, villages and towns, fighting against the brutal Myanmar military junta, the guerrillas also committed atrocities against the Rohingyas.

The Rohingyas, mostly Muslims, fled Myanmar after the 2017 state-sponsored genocide by Tatmadaw, the military force and paramilitary. The atrocities and persecution have caused a fresh influx of 113,000 Rohingyas to cross into Bangladesh, according to UN agencies in Cox’s Bazar.

Mg Aung Hla Shwe, a concerned Rohingya refugee, posted a video on Facebook showing that the AA was very well inside Bangladesh. A less than a minute video on a festival ground where the flags of Bangladesh and United League of Arakan (ULA), a political wing of AA, were seen fluttering at Remakri Mukh, Bandarban district, near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

In another video posted on YouTube by a Rohingya refugee, the AA was dancing at the “Water Festival and Concert” and said the venue of the event is 10 km inside Bangladesh. The video post argues that the event was held when the paramilitary Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) were spectators. No intervention from local authorities or border security forces is seen in the video.

A worried refugee writes: “Our so-called tiger 'BGB' is present there as spectators. Very Shocking!” “This is not just a festival—it looks like a show of force,” one social media user posted. “How can a foreign armed group operate publicly inside our borders?”

The open display of the guerrillas with the logo on their uniform inside a sovereign state has sparked serious debate, especially as the AA continues to be accused by an international rights NGO, Fortify Rights, after an investigation of several accusations came to their attention. Fortify Rights lamented grave human rights violations against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State by the AA.

Those who are concerned about security have termed the video “deeply alarming,” noting the strategic sensitivity of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region. The incident has raised serious concerns over the state of border vigilance and oversight by the BGB.

“Allowing any armed group—especially one accused of ethnic cleansing and persecution—to parade logos inside a neighbouring country is unacceptable,” said a regional security researcher. “This is a breach of sovereignty and an erosion of trust in border management.”

The Government of Bangladesh has not issued an official statement. However, government sources indicate that high-level discussions are underway regarding the footage and the broader implications for cross-border diplomacy and internal security. Public outrage continues to build, with citizens demanding a full investigation, stricter border control measures, and clear policies on the activities of foreign non-state actors within Bangladeshi territory.Rohingya community said: “We fled [from] them—now they’re here?”

For Rohingya refugees temporarily residing in Bangladesh, the presence of AA members within the country has triggered fresh anxiety and fear. Many in the camps view the AA not only as a rebel force but as one of the primary perpetrators of current abuses in Maungdaw and Buthidaung. “We ran from them. Now we see them walking freely in Bangladesh while we remain locked in refugee camps,” said a young Rohingya teacher from Camp 11.

“The AA has forcibly evicted our families, destroyed our villages, and imposed harsh restrictions. If they appear in Bangladesh without resistance, it puts us in danger,” said a community elder from Camp 3. The government’s indifference regarding the gringos from across the border on the Songkran festival with the Rakhine Buddhist community has a strong diplomatic and geo-political significance.

Recently, the UN Development Agency has released a report which paints a grave situation in the Rakhine state, which is experiencing a near famine and proposes that immediate food, medical aid and other essential needs urgent attention from the international aid agencies. The UNDP report states that Rakhine is on the verge of an unprecedented disaster due to a combination of interlinked issues. Restrictions on goods entering Rakhine, both internationally and domestically, have led to a severe lack of income, hyperinflation, and significantly reduced domestic food production. Essential services and a social safety net are almost non-existent, leaving an already vulnerable population at risk of collapse in the coming months.

The report shows that Rakhine’s economy has become almost dysfunctional. Critical sectors such as trade, agriculture, and construction are at a standstill. Export-oriented, agro-based livelihoods are disappearing as markets become inaccessible due to blockades by the junta.

UN warns that Rakhine faces the imminent threat of acute famine. The worst victims of a lack of food are millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs), including Rohingyas. Internal rice production is declining due to a lack of supplies of seeds, fertilisers, severe weather, and a rise in IDP who can no longer farm due to the civil war. The UNDP estimates that with the near-total halt of trade, over 2 million people are at risk of starvation.

When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the camps and had Iftar (food for breaking the fast in Ramadan) with the refugees, he told the Bangladesh authorities that a “humanitarian corridor” needed to be opened to reach the hungry people. The government has agreed in principle to the humanitarian corridor. In a series of parleys, the formalities and logistics are still being discussed with senior government bureaucrats, UN officials and the Bangladesh Army.

It is also reported that the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) has been deployed for logistics at the humanitarian corridor at Silkhali, a small commercial river port.

Highly placed sources said that the mission is to support a US-backed proxy war in Rakhine State against the Myanmar military junta. The clandestine mission will provide weapons and training to AA and its ally, CNF (Chin National Front), battle-hardened guerrillas.

The deal brokered by the Americans would subsequently help repatriate a few hundred thousand Rohingya, and they would return home and settle down. The international aid agencies would provide rehabilitation for Rohingya refugees.

Myanmar is staunchly anti-US and anti-West. This diplomacy has pushed Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, to develop strategic and military alliances with China and Russia. On the other hand, America, the European Union, as well as the United Nations have imposed numerous economic and diplomatic sanctions against Myanmar’s government, which has significantly broken the economic backbone of the country. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Myanmar military junta, is facing an international arrest warrant issued in November 2024 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, for crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya Muslims.

The primary objective of the US proxy war is to capture the most wanted war criminals, including General Hlaing and six other Myanmar senior military officials responsible for the genocide against the Rohingya people, to stand trial in the ICC. However, the political parties, right, left, and Islamists have erupted in fury. They argued that the corridor was an excuse for the American troops to engage in a proxy war for which the country was not prepared.

To pacify the political parties, the government quickly said that nothing had been finalised regarding the humanitarian corridor. However, Khalilur Rahman, the government's adviser on Rohingya issues, told French news agency AFP that the government would be willing to provide logistic support should there be UN-led humanitarian support to the state of Rakhine.

First published in the International Affairs Review, New Delhi, India, on 3 May 2025

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist based in Bangladesh and a media rights defender with Reporters Without Borders (@RSF.ORG). He is the recipient of the Ashoka Fellowship and the Hellman-Hammett Award. Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

Pahalgam fallout scratches Bangladesh

SALEEM SAMAD

The deadly massacre of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir erupted a fresh crisis between Pakistan and India, the two nuke-armed neighbors. The sectarian terrorists or Islamic jihadists deliberately targeted the Hindus only.

India has accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after the murderers carried out the most evil attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir.

However, amid an escalation of tension between India and Pakistan, the regional tension has spilt over to Bangladesh.

Hours after the barbaric atrocities in Kashmir, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, postponed his scheduled visit to Bangladesh on April 27-28.

“Owing to unforeseen circumstances,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan cannot undertake the visit to Bangladesh.

However, the official statement says that fresh dates will be announced through mutual consultations.

Bangladesh officials said the first-ever visit of the Pakistani Foreign Minister in 25 years would have heightened the weak bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

A few more official delegations were supposed to visit each other’s capitals for the augmentation of trade, commerce, industries, investment, communication, agriculture, foreign affairs, home affairs and others.

It seems that such parleys would be delayed as the crisis has shaken the government of Pakistan after the worst carnage since the Pulwama attack in 2019.

The direct flight from Karachi-Dhaka by Fly Jinnah airline has been postponed indefinitely, said an official in Dhaka.

The fights would not commence unless the overflights over India are withdrawn, said the official.

The reason explained that the skies for overflights of Pakistan airlines to most South Asian east-bound destinations have been grounded for months to come.

The Pakistani fight for Indian capital and the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, has been stalled.

In an arbitrary decision by jealous bigwigs in Islamabad and New Delhi, scores of Indian airlines' flights over Pakistan have been shut, and rerouting the flight paths is causing immense suffering for the passengers who were booked mostly for westbound destinations.

Meanwhile, over 1,000 Bangladeshi immigrants, including women and children, were detained in a crackdown in India’s Gujarat days after the most horrible mass execution of civilians in recent times.

Efforts for the detained Bangladesh nationals in Gujarat are underway for their deportation, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi told Indian media.

He said arrangements were made “to complete all the procedures for their deportation [to Bangladesh] as soon as possible”.

The minister, without a proper investigation, jumped to the conclusion that most of these people are involved with drug cartels and human trafficking, and two out of the four Bangladeshis arrested recently worked in sleeper cells of Al Qaeda. “A probe will be conducted into these Bangladeshis’ background and activities in Gujarat,” the junior minister stated.

Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain, briefing journalists at the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the ongoing tensions between the two rival neighbors, India and Pakistan, should be resolved through dialogue.

“Our position is very clear. We want peace in South Asia. We are aware of the longstanding rivalry between Pakistan and India. We would expect the two countries would resolve the problem through dialogue,” he said.

He reiterated that “We [Bangladesh] have good relations with both India and Pakistan.”

First published in the Stratheia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan on 29 April 2025

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

Will Bangladesh join US-backed proxy war with Myanmar junta?

SALEEM SAMAD

In recent times, there has been a gargantuan development in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Large swatches of the Rakhine state have been occupied by the rebel Arakan Army (AA) with a political objective of confederalism of the ethnic Rakhine community.

The Rakhine state in northern Myanmar borders 270 kilometers of Bangladesh. The battle-hardened foot soldiers of AA political objective is to achieve regional autonomy of the ethnic Rakhine community.

The AA, fighting since 2014, have seized control of 13 of the 17 townships in Rakhine State, including all townships along the border with Bangladesh. However, the state capital, Sittwe, and the port city of Kyaukpyu remain under the control of the Myanmar military junta.

Founded in April 2009, the AA is the military wing of the United League of Arakan (ULA). It is currently led by Commander-in-Chief, Major General Twan Mrat Naing. It is the military wing of the Rakhine ethnic people in Rakhine state, where they are the majority.

The majority are Buddhists and a mix of Christian and animistic tribes (describes the belief that natural objects and phenomena, such as plants, animals, rocks, and the weather, have souls or spirits).

The Rakhine seek greater autonomy from Myanmar’s government and want to restore the sovereignty of the Arakan people. It was declared a terrorist organization in 2020 by Myanmar, and again by the military junta in 2024, headed by a 69-year-old General Min Aung Hlaing, who has ruled Myanmar with an iron hand as the Chairman of the State Administration Council since seizing power in the February 2021 coup d’état. He assumed his position as President in July 2024.

Millions of ethnic Rakhine are victims of forced displacement due to the conflict and onslaught of the government forces, and another 1.2 million ethnic Rohingya Muslims are languishing in crowded camps in Cox’s Bazar in southeast Bangladesh.

The displaced Rakhine community are starving because of want food and do not have cash to buy food.

There is an unconfirmed report that a consignment of food from the international food aid has been clandestinely sent to the beleaguered Rakhine state.

The internally displaced refugees are demanding more food aid for their survival. Food and water supplies have been blocked by the Myanmar junta to regions held by the rebels.

The AA and rebel China National Army have reached out to Bangladesh for food aid and to reopen trade between the two countries. Bangladesh has not officially come up with a decision for food aid and trade.

Earlier on the government had said that they cannot hold talks with AA, as they are not a legitimate authority representing Myanmar. But, last week the Adviser, Tauhid Hossain, for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs said Bangladesh may hold dialogue with AA for a number of pressing agendas, including border security, fresh influx of Rohingya refugees and other crucial issues.

The nascent Interim Government is in a dilemma as to whether Bangladesh should okay the “Silkhali Corridor” proposed by the Americans to provide food and logistics to keep the people of Rakhine state, or to continue with the challenge against the military junta in Naypyidaw, the new capital of Myanmar.

For military and strategic development, a team of military strategists has identified Silkhali as a supply hub for operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Well, no construction has yet begun, but top military visits (including Bangladesh Army COAS General Waker-uz-Zaman) confirm a positive nod for the site, which is in proximity to the conflict zone.

Silkhali is a revenue village, 30 kilometer north of Teknaf, near the Naf River, which separates Myanmar and Bangladesh. The corridor is presumed for the planned Rohingya repatriation once the operation begins.

The site is adjacent to the Bangladesh Army’s artillery field firing range (used for Turkish field guns and anti-tank guided missile – ATGM’s mortars). The coastal location is ideal for artillery testing and covert logistics movement, and has a thick forest cover often visited by elephant herds.

A massive logistics hub near Teknaf is under construction for supply movement. Meanwhile, the Cox’s Bazar airport is being upgraded for Turkish UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) operations for the Silkhali Corridor.

Recently, three US officials, Susan Stevenson (Charge d’Affaires based in  Naypyidaw, Nicole Chulick (Deputy Assistant Secretary, South Central Asia) and Andrew Herrup (Deputy Assistant Secretary, East Asia-Pacific) flew into Dhaka. It is not clear whether they have visited Silkhali.

Sources privy to the development said the US diplomats held secret parleys in Dhaka with representatives of the Arakan Army and the Chin National Front (CNF).

The AA and CNF refused to ally with the jihadist Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) as a condition for the secret meeting, the source said.

Their refusal led to the recent arrest of ARSA supremo Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi from the fringe of the capital Dhaka. He is accused of waging deadly 2017 attacks that led to a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar and forced 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

It could not be ascertained which agency ensured the safe passage for the Myanmar rebels to Dhaka and return to their secret headquarters in Rakhine and Chin states.

However, a senior diplomat with the US embassy in Dhaka denied such meetings with Myanmar rebels. He also said he does not know whether any dialogue with the rebels is planned to finalise logistics support for the supply of food aid.

Well, the plan for logistics and supply to Rakhine state will not include the Bangladesh Army’s role in the US-backed operation.

Bangladesh government of Prof Muhammad Yunus is strict in ensuring that the army’s 10th, 17th, and 24th Divisions will not get involved in any combat role except for facilitating logistics.

The United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) has been deployed for the proxy war and logistics at the Silkhali Corridor.

Highly placed sources said that the mission is to support a US-backed proxy war in Rakhine state against the Myanmar military junta. The mission will provide weapons, training to AA and CNF guerrillas, food and other supplies.

Myanmar is staunchly anti-US and anti-West. This diplomacy has pushed Naypyidaw to develop strategic and military alliances with China and Russia. On the other hand, America, the European Union, as well as the United Nations have imposed several economic and diplomatic sanctions against Myanmar.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Myanmar military junta, is facing an international arrest warrant issued in November 2024 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, for crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya Muslims.

At least 6,700 Rohingya, including at least 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out in 2017, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Amnesty International says the Myanmar military also raped and abused Rohingya women and girls.

The primary objective of the US proxy war is to capture the most wanted war criminals, especially General Hlaing and six other Myanmar senior military officials responsible for the genocide against the Rohingya people, to stand trial in the ICC.

Washington is actively working with the National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (NUG), under the leadership of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, currently imprisoned in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) for sedition. NUG has been able to ally to share power and bury differences and frictions with most of the ethnic rebel groups that took up weapons for confederalism and have overrun two-thirds of the territories once held by the junta.

First published in the Strathieia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan, on 25 April 2025

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

Bangladesh’s sudden claim of pre-1971 assets jolts Pakistan

SALEEM SAMAD

On the eve of Pakistan Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch’s official visit to the Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) in the capital, Dhaka, the Interim Government of Prof Muhammad Yunus has prepared US $4.52 billion in financial claims from Pakistan authorities, comprising its fair share of undivided Pakistan’s pre-1971 assets, including aid money, provident funds, and savings instruments.

The FOC meeting of diplomatic engagement, held after 15 years of hiatus, between Dhaka and Islamabad, seeks to normalize bilateral relations.

The relations between the two South Asian countries have never been warm since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. Pakistan President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto visited Bangladesh in 1974 with a promise to restore the tattered relations. In 1985, President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq visited Bangladesh, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1989) and President Pervez Musharraf (2002).

On the other hand, Bangladesh’s first President, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, attended the Lahore OIC Summit in 1974. Later, President H.M. Ershad visited Islamabad (1986), and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Pakistan (1998). The relationship failed to attain heights. Instead, the ties got entangled in a stalemate, caused by mistrust, suspicion, and a lack of diplomatic understanding.

However, relations slightly normalized under the military regimes of General Ziaur Rahman (1976-1992) and General Hussain Muhammad Ershad (1993-1990) with Pakistan. Both the Generals graduated from Kakul Pakistan Military Academy and had several course mates who were at the helms of affairs in Rawalpindi military headquarters.

At the FOC meeting, Bangladesh formally demanded $4.52 billion from Pakistan as its share of pre-1971 assets, along with a formal apology for war crimes committed against Bangladeshis by the marauding Pakistan military, said Foreign Secretary Jashim Uddin.

Pakistan’s delegation, led by its Foreign Secretary, Amna Baloch, assured Bangladesh officials of “remaining engaged” on the issues of settling $4.52 billion owed to Bangladesh and making an apology for the Pakistani war crimes committed in 1971.

However, after the collapse of the autocrat Sheikh Hasina’s regime last August, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus have twice had parleys – on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September last year and at the D-8 summit in Cairo in December.

Since then, Bangladesh and Pakistan have eased the visa regime for both nationals of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Both countries are showing keen interest in boosting trade, said an official who is privy to the FOC, adding that Pakistan also wants to enhance cultural exchanges and establish direct air connectivity.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Pakistan Iqbal Hussain Khan told journalists in Dhaka that a Pakistani airline – Fly Jinnah has secured approval for direct flights between Dhaka and Karachi, while Air Sial, another private one, has applied for permission to operate flights. No official and private Bangladesh airlines expressed their desire to fly Dhaka-Karachi flights.

Pakistan exported products like cotton, sugar, rice, and wheat in FY 2023–24. Bangladesh exported $61.98 million to Pakistan and imported goods worth $627.8 million.

As Pakistan serves as a gateway for goods to Afghanistan, Dhaka can explore the potentiality of trading premium quality goods to and from the landlocked country through Pakistan.

The last FOC in 2015 covered sensitive issues, which remain unresolved. However, officials stress these should not hinder current engagement.

Meanwhile, Indian Modi Media writes that the Bangladesh-Pakistan FOC meeting is a big threat for India as Pakistan and Bangladesh decide to come closer.

Nivedita Dash writes on India.com that after the fall of Sheikh Hasina, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan are continuously deepening. Yunus government supported by pro-Pakistan fundamentalists has completely opened the doors of Dhaka to Islamabad.

There is a threat to regional stability and security issues will be jeopardized, with the two South Asian countries coming close and closer.

Her article dipped in a sauce of lies and more lies, further claims that “During the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh, Dhaka had completely cut off ties with Pakistan, but the interim government led by Mohammad Yunus has rolled out the red carpet for Pakistan. Since then, Islamabad has completely intensified its activities in Dhaka.”

Like India, Hasina has never cut ties with Pakistan nor intended to sever relations. Well, both Dhaka and Islamabad lowered their diplomatic status and there were no High Commissioner in each other’s capitals for quite some time.

Two diplomats, one each from Dhaka and Islamabad were declared persona non grata.

On the diplomatic front, Hasina had announced a moratorium on visas for Pakistan nationals, except for official visits to Bangladesh. Pakistan also reciprocated. This impacted on direct flights from Karachi-Dhaka route and PIA flights were stalled until now for lack of passengers.

The row over lowering diplomatic ties sparked after Pakistan’s parliament adopted a resolution condemning Bangladesh for the trials of those Islamist leaders, who were henchmen of Pakistan occupation forces and had raised armed militia and committed crimes against humanity in Bangladesh.

The parliament resolution read that those war criminals hanged in Bangladesh had sacrificed their lives for the sake of the unity of Pakistan and were regarded as martyrs.

Nivedita Dash is also worried that Pakistan’s army and its spy agency ISI (Inter-Service Intelligence) have become active in Bangladesh. Along with this, Pakistan is now also trying to increase its trade presence with Bangladesh.

The claim includes $200m foreign aid sent to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) after the 1970 Bhola Cyclone, which was deliberately diverted to Lahore during independence war in 1971.

The Bhola Cyclone was a catastrophic tropical cyclone that struck a coastal region in November 1970. It is considered the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, with an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 deaths.

The foreign aid deposited with the Dhaka branch of the State Bank of Pakistan was siphoned in 1971 to its bank’s Lahore branch, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials stated.

Bangladesh officials argued at the FOC that comprising its fair share of undivided Pakistan’s pre-1971 assets, including aid money, provident funds, and savings instruments.

The financial claims do not include reparation for an untold humanitarian crisis caused by war crimes, when ten million war refugees who took shelter in neighboring India and rape as a weapon of war was employed during the brutal birth of Bangladesh in 1971.

Some categories of those affected in the war are still being compensated through modest monthly doles.

Similarly, hundreds of Bangla-speaking government employees who had been stationed in West Pakistan were later repatriated home in 1973-74. On their return, they discovered that their provident fund balances and savings instruments accrued were never refunded by Pakistan. These financial losses are part of the broader US $4.52 billion claim.

The Foreign Ministry officials said Bangladesh has consistently sought its rightful share for the return of the US $200 million in cyclone aid that was illegally misappropriated at the peak of the liberation war in 1971.

According to foreign ministry records, based on population alone, Bangladesh was entitled to 56 per cent of those assets. If contributions to foreign exchange earnings are considered, the share stands at 54 per cent, and by any parity principle, Bangladesh should be entitled to at least 50 per cent.

A post-war assessment prepared by the Bangladesh Planning Commission on 16 December 1971 estimated that West Pakistan had withheld Bangladesh Taka (BDT) 9 million (Pakistan Rupees 20.76 million) in provident fund deposits belonging to East Pakistani civil servants.

Similarly, BDT 15.7 million (Rupees 36.26 million) held in the Rupali Bank’s (formerly Muslim Commercial Bank) Karachi branch during the war was never returned. Pakistan later converted this amount into shares and informed Muslim Commercial Bank – unfortunately, the bank never responded and money was never transferred.

Adding to the grievance, the Bangladesh government honored the obligations of various pre-independence instruments sold by the Pakistani government – including defense savings certificates and income tax bonds – effectively paying debts that it believes Pakistan should have settled.

A report titled “Statement of Bangladesh Bank Claims Receivable from State Bank of Pakistan and Government of Pakistan” lays out a detailed breakdown.

As of 16 December 1971, the total value of the currency in circulation was Rupees 8.71 million, at least half of which Bangladesh owes. Pakistan’s bank sectors alone owe Bangladesh, Rupees 56 million.

The Bangladesh government also accepted liability of BDT 213.8 million (Rupees 493.50 million) of some of Pakistan’s central government and provincial government debt securities, claims which Dhaka has lodged.

These include BDT 140.7 million (Rupee 324.77 million) in central government loans, BDT 27.7 million (Rupee 63.94 million) in East Pakistan government loans, BDT 11.5 million (Rupee 26.55 million) in West Pakistan government loans, BDT 24.6 million (Rupee 56.79 million) in savings certificates issued against international trading unit investments, and BDT 0.65 million (Rupee 1,500 million) in Savings Certificates linked to Pakistani Prize Bonds.

It is understood that Islamabad will review the claim of Bangladesh US$4.52 and hold further parleys to resolve the debt issue. Bangladesh had waited for 54 years to speak up, it will take another several years for Pakistan to make up its mind and relay its decision on the financial claims.

Meanwhile, according to data from the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan’s reserves stood at $15.75 billion, reports BBC news portal.

That is, Pakistan will have to spend more than a quarter of its reserves to meet Bangladesh’s demands, BBC concluded.

First published in the Stratheia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan on 18 April 2025 

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

https://stratheia.com/bangladeshs-sudden-claim-of-pre-1971-assets-jolts-pakistan/

Who’s Afraid of Feminist Writer Taslima Nasrin?

SALEEM SAMAD

The traditional month-long book fair ended last February. The book fair commemorates the fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives on 21 February 1952 to establish Bangla (or Bengali) as the mother language.

Presently, the day is observed worldwide as International Mothers Language Day, declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

However, the threats of Islamic extremists and radicalised Muslims have not been contained by law enforcement agencies. Each year, a book stall or free-thinker writers, poets and bloggers were attacked.

At least two writers, Humayun Azad, a teacher of Dhaka University and an exiled free-thinker and popular science writer, Avijit Roy were hacked to death jihadist. Attackers killed a US-Bangladeshi blogger whose writings on religion angered Islamist hardliners. Roy, an atheist who advocated secularism and religious freedom, was attacked as he walked out of the book fair with his wife. She was also grievously hurt in the attack.

The Islamists had accused them of blasphemy, meaning hurting the Muslims for critiquing the Quran, the prophet Muhammad, revered by Muslims and the existence of Allah.

Anyway, at Dhaka the book fair is held in the Dhaka University campus, the incident took place in the evening at the stall of the publisher Sabyasachi Prokashoni.

The incident unfolded on the 10th day of the fair, the angry crowd of “Towhidi Janata” from the Madrassa (Islamic schools) stormed the Sabyasachi Prokashoni and demanded that Taslima’s books should be removed. Police shut down a stall at the ‘Amar Ekushey Boi Mela’ (book fair) following an altercation over books by a feminist writer. Later, police went to the spot and covered the stall with a tarpaulin and only one was arrested. After a temporary shutdown, it has been reopened.

The Sabyasachi stall has been at the centre of discussion for some time, when multiple posts on social media called for the demolition of a book stall at the book fair, alleging that the publisher was promoting atheism. Prof Mohammad Azam, director general of Bangla Academy, said the police had closed down the bookstall to maintain law and order.

The Chief Adviser of the Interim Government, Prof Muhammad Yunus, has condemned the recent mob attack on the bookstall, calling it an affront to the rights of Bangladeshi citizens and the country’s laws.

In a statement, he denounced the violence, emphasising that it goes against the open-minded spirit of the book fair, which honours the language martyrs of 21 February 1952.

Taslima Nasrin condemned the government’s alleged support for extremists and the attack on her publisher. However, the book is available for sale online.

The government ordered the police and the Bangla Academy to investigate the incident and bring the culprits to book.  S8xty-three years-old Taslima is a prolific writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist and activist on religious freedom. The writer is known for her writings on the oppression of women and criticism of women’s rights in Islamic laws. Two of her books Lajja (Shame) and Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood), the first volume of her autobiography, were banned in Bangladesh.

Nasrin was forced out of her country because of her controversial writings, which many Muslims felt discredited Islam. Her plight was often compared to that of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses (1988). Taslima was physically attacked while giving autographs to hundreds of fans by the Muslim extremists at the book fair in 1992. The protesters vandalised the bookstall that objected to her writings. She was asked by the book fair committee not to visit the fair anymore. The writer was again attacked in August 2007 in Hyderabad while attending an event on the Telugu translation of one of her novels, Shodh. She was physically assaulted on the podium led by legislators from the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, an Indian Islamist political party.

Earlier, she was invited to inaugurate her book in Mumbai, India. However, the Islamic extremists launched a campaign against her and declared that they would burn her alive if she arrived in Mumbai. She cancelled her trip to Mumbai. Contrary to Muslim practice, she wore her hair short and smoked cigarettes, and she eschewed traditional Muslim dress. Her writing and behaviour enraged and offended conservative Sunni Muslims. The writer was forced to go into exile after Mullahs and extremist Muslims issued a Fatwa (religious decree) in 1993 declaring prize money for her head and demanding the authorities arrest her for blasphemy and insults to Islam. She immediately went into hiding. After a High Court order to travel abroad, she fled the country and lived briefly in Sweden, Germany, France and the United States.

In a similar incident, popular young poet Daud Haider in 1973, two years after the brutal birth of Bangladesh, wrote a poem which angered the Islamists. Thousands of Mullahs poured into the street and demanded death for the apostate.

The countrywide street protests by the Islamists accused him of blasphemy for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who advocated for zero tolerance of Islamic extremism, had arrested the poet to keep the Mullahs in good humour. He was tortured in custody and then forced into exile. The Islamists who attacked him and even killed one of his cousins were never punished.

Daud was sheltered in India for some time, like the much more famous Taslima Nasreen, quietly protected by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government. And later he was given asylum in Germany. Like Taslima, Daud never dared to return to Bangladesh.

Taslima came to the international limelight after her book Lajja (Shame) was published in different languages and Time, Vogue and several other magazines put her on their cover.

Her documentary novel Lajja, which is a protest against the torture of the Hindu community of Bangladesh, was published. She wrote withering diatribes against the oppression of women and the Islamic code. She described the Muslims of East Bengal are radicalised, misogynist and male-chauvinist.

Taslima has won many awards, including Ananda Puroshkar, an Indian literary award; the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought from the European Parliament; the Kurt Tuckholsky award from Swedish PEN; a human rights prize from the French government; and a humanist award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union. This interview took place in France in early 2000.

She moved to Kolkata, India, to live near her home – Bangladesh. Later, she was shocked when the West Bengal authorities expelled her. Authorities in Bangladesh until now have refused to reissue her passport despite her applying for her passport at the Bangladesh missions abroad.

First published in International Affairs Review, New Delhi, India on 12 April 2025

The author is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh.  He is also a media rights defender with Reporters Without Borders and recipient of the Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

SALEEM SAMAD

Soon after Professor Muhammad Yunus frankly announced that Bangladesh is the guardian of the ocean—the Bay of Bengal—the bigwigs, military hawks, politicians, and ‘Godi Media’ in India lashed out at Bangladesh for such a statement, which has been deemed a security threat to the most prominent neighbor of South Asian nations.

Conspiracy theories across the border may sound interesting, but equally disgusting. It is frustrating when scores of Indian so-called defense experts and former military hawks speak and write with confidence that China will establish an airbase (not a military base) in northern Bangladesh to battle the Indians to cut off the so-called ‘Chicken Neck’ or Siliguri Corridor, which physically connects India with North East states.

The consequential theory simmering in the heads of Indian defense analysts claims that the Chinese will severe the North East (which is also known as the Seven Sisters) from the Chicken Neck. Incidentally, millions of Chinese soldiers (People’s Liberation Army) will invade from the northeastern Chinese borders.

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dilip Ghosh in a ‘friendly message’ in December 2024, commented that Bangladesh’s armed forces are no match for India and that Bangladesh’s political leaders should “think carefully” about the ongoing turmoil.

Promptly Eresh Omar Jamal in an Op Ed in The Daily Star, an independent newspaper, wrote: It is important to mention that BJP leaders have repeatedly accused Bangladeshis of trying to take over the “rightful land” of Indians, referring to them as “Jihadis,” “infiltrators,” and “termites,” who should be identified and drowned in the Bay of Bengal.

The hawkish Generals and Indian defense policymakers have already pressed the panic button and are preparing exhaustive defensive strategies to save North East India from being bifurcated.

A defense journal, Defense Security Asia in a recent article says that India has deployed its cutting-edge Russian-built S-400 Trium long-range air defense system to the Siliguri Corridor (20–22 kilometer wide land bridge in West Bengal often dubbed the “Chicken’s Neck” due to its precarious geography).

“This critical strip of land forms the only terrestrial conduit between mainland India and its resource-rich but geographically isolated northeastern states, making it one of the country’s most vital and vulnerable military arteries.

“The positioning of the S-400 system — renowned for its ability to simultaneously engage multiple aerial targets at ranges exceeding 400 kilometers is viewed as a calibrated response to intensifying aerial activity by China and Bangladesh near India’s eastern frontier.”

The article does not hesitate to say that New Delhi’s “security establishment has grown increasingly alarmed by the frequency and complexity of Chinese and Bangladeshi air maneuvers” along their respective borders with the Siliguri Corridor, interpreting them as probing gestures with strategic undertones.

The write-up also does not provide evidence from aerial and surveillance photos to claim the military maneuver of the Chinese and Bangladesh. There is no airbase in northern Bangladesh.

The Indian security experts believe that Bangladesh has given the airfields to the Chinese to convert them into a military base. There are two tiny abandoned airstrips at Thakurgaon and Lalmonirhat built by the British colonialists during the Second World War to defend against Japanese invasion.

British Raj built a dozen airfields for light fighter aircraft in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Also another two dozen airfields were built in neighboring Indian states of West Bengal and North East India.

The conspiracy theories cropped up following the collapse of the staunch pro-India Sheikh Hasina government. The potential move to give the airfields to China has stirred alarm in the Indian capital, given the site’s proximity to the Siliguri Corridor.

The timing of India’s force posture recalibration coincides with a discernible diplomatic pivot by Bangladesh’s interim administration under Mohammad Yunus, whose government has moved closer to Beijing in both rhetoric and action, writes the Defense Security Asia. They fear in a bid to recalibrate its foreign policy footing, Bangladesh under Yunus has actively pursued economic and infrastructure partnerships with Beijing, raising red flags in India’s intelligence and security community.

The trust and confidence between the two neighboring countries have further slid, after Delhi came to know that the Interim Government has courted investment and defense cooperation with China and Pakistan — two nations New Delhi regards as strategic antagonists.

During the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars in the eastern war theater, the Pakistan Army with air support never came to their heads to occupy the Siliguri Corridor in a bid to cut off North East from mainland India.

Military strategist believes such a foolish attempt to occupy the ‘chicken neck’ would have caused huge casualties of soldiers and military hardware, which would not have been practical.

The scenario of a bifurcated India has led to a doctrinal shift in India’s Eastern Command, which now prioritizes rapid response, multi-domain deterrence, and sustained forward deployment in and around the corridor.

India has consistently rejected China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), warning that it enables the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to embed dual-use infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific, which will undermine sovereignty and military balance in the region.

In response to these converging threats, India has activated its S-400 batteries in the Siliguri region and has reinforced its tactical aviation presence by deploying a squadron of French-built Rafale multirole fighters to nearby Hashimara Airbase.

Bangladesh has a couple of squadron ageing Russian MiG-29 and Chinese Chengdu F-7 fighter planes. Some of the planes are deployed in southeast Bangladesh, providing layered air dominance and enhancing its ability to respond swiftly to any hostile incursion from Myanmar.

Indian media published the procurement of a Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone, operated by Bangladesh forces, which has allegedly flown perilously close to the India-Bangladesh border. However, there was no official warning from Delhi to Dhaka for violation of airspace along the international border.

India has jittered after it learnt that Bangladesh is acquiring 32 JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, a fourth-generation multirole platform jointly developed by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAIG) to replace its ageing combat aircraft.

The already strained bilateral relationship between India and Bangladesh has added fresh suspicion and distrust when a high-level Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials led by Major General Shahid Amir Asfar visited Dhaka a few months ago.

Promptly, India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a carefully worded statement, noting that the government is “closely monitoring all developments in the region” and would respond appropriately to any threats to national security. “We are vigilant about all regional movements and actions that may affect national security. The Indian government will act decisively as needed,” said ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

India’s recalibration of its defense posture in the Siliguri Corridor reflects not only its growing apprehensions over regional power shifts but also its determination to harden its eastern front against a potential two-front scenario involving China and Pakistan – both now drawing closer to Dhaka, concluded Defense Security Asia. Another article in the Economic Times was published with a self-explanatory headline: India to build underground nuclear submarine fortress to counter China as Bangladesh offers air base to Beijing near Chicken Neck.

India is quietly nearing the commissioning of a strategically significant naval base near the village of Rambilli, tucked into the Andhra Pradesh coastline, about 50 km south of the Eastern Naval Command headquarters in Visakhapatnam.

Built as part of the classified Project Varsha, the Rambilli facility means these vessels can slip into the Bay of Bengal undetected by enemy satellites — especially those operated by China — and head towards the strategic Malacca Strait and beyond for deterrent patrols.

India’s moves come at a time of heightened concern about Chinese military presence in the Bay of Bengal. Though the Chinese jets have not been stationed in India’s eastern neighborhood, even the possibility raises eyebrows.

India’s security concerns in this region are already amplified by China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean and infrastructure projects across South Asia.

Prestigious, The Economic Times, concludes that while submarines patrol the deep and airfields rise near borders, one thing is clear – India is preparing, quietly but firmly, for the long game.

Amid the host of defense preparations to engage China in the Bay of Bengal a make-believe airbase in Lalmonirhat, last week India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar while emphasizing that New Delhi is troubled over the recent turn of events in Bangladesh and the support that the ruling dispensation is giving to radical elements in the neighbor said: “No other country wishes well for Bangladesh more than India.” The welcome note did not bring a smile to Dhaka.

First published in Stratheia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan on 12 April 2025

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad