‘Ice has started to melt’

The BNP believes that the “ice has started to melt” with India after the takeover of an interim government following the student-led mass uprising that toppled the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
The party has been critical of some of the initiatives and agreements concluded with India over the past 15 years during the tenure of Hasina.
Recently, in a significant political outreach, Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma held a meeting with BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at the BNP office to discuss strengthening relationship.
Speaking to ANI, Fakhrul said Verma’s visit has led to many positives for both countries. “There has been a question about our relationship since the last election in Bangladesh. The high commissioner’s visit to our office definitely improved the situation. The ice has started melting.”
He said his party has assured India that if they come to power, they will not allow the soil of Bangladesh to be used by separatist organisations. In the past, there have been reports of militant outfits of India’s northeast sheltering in Bangladesh.
“We discussed normal relationship between the two countries. We mentioned the water-sharing issues, the border killings, and the existing trade imbalance. India’s main issue was the security problem,” Fakhrul told ANI about his meeting with the Indian high commissioner.
He said, “The Bangladesh-India relationship had been very good at all times. But there were some misunderstandings regarding the relationship of the BNP with India. I hope this [relationship] will be better this time. They [India] will try to understand our situation. We, especially, have reiterated that India should try to feel the pulse of the people of this country. They should not put all the eggs in one basket. They should develop relationship people to people.”
About the meeting between Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain and Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the BNP secretary general said, “Definitely, it is very significant. After the change in Bangladesh politics, the foreign adviser meeting Jaishankar must be very significant, and we believe that the relationship will be strengthened after this meeting.
“The cooperation between the people of India and Bangladesh should be stronger. People-to-people relationship is key to strengthening the relationship between India and Bangladesh.”
Responding to a query, Fakhrul said, “I don’t know yet if the government made any official request to India to send Sheikh Hasina back to Bangladesh. But I think that the former prime minister should come back to face the allegations against her, and she should be accountable.”
Meanwhile, the BNP says it has alerted its units about the safety of the Hindu people ahead of Durga Puja to be celebrated from October 9 to 13.
“We are very much concerned about the wrong narrative that the Hindu community is facing a serious problem in Bangladesh. I don’t think that any serious problem is going on. After every change, there are some problems that are political, not religious or communal. Some events happened. These are all political in nature, not communal. But we are very alert to safeguard the minorities of our country. Especially, ahead of the Puja, we have already instructed our units throughout the country to be alert.”
The BNP also believes that Bangladesh would soon make the transition from the interim government to a democratically elected one.