I have been watching an OTT channel show on India’s freedom, and there is a scene where MK Gandhi goes to Calcutta after the 1946 Bengal riots. The Muslim League has sowed the seed for partition — that would later result in East Pakistan, or present-day Bangladesh — by calling for an economic and social shutdown on Direct Action Day. The ethnic cleansing of Hindus in this region begins on this dark day in August 1946 when Calcutta was plunged into communal riots that took the lives of about 10,000 Hindus. Then-Governor of Bengal, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, turns a blind eye to the rampant mobs running loose, raping women, looting and plundering homes.
“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Winston Churchill’s famous words are coming back to haunt us nearly a century after they were articulated. Bangladesh was a country born through Bengali pride in its culture and identity. India’s support for the same is not a surprise, as the nation has stood against fundamentalists and terrorists alike. East Pakistan struggled with a tug-of-war between secular and liberal governments and the fundamentalist forces throughout.
Historical perspective
During Partition, the Muslim League demanded all of Bengal due to its 54 per cent Muslim majority, despite Calcutta’s 73 per cent Hindu population. The capital city’s poor Muslim population, manipulated by leaders like Suhrawardy, fuelled violent riots, escalating demands for East Pakistan, which would later culminate in the creation of Bangladesh.
Dissatisfaction grew in East Pakistan due to economic and political domination by the Urdu-speaking West Pakistan, despite Bengali Muslims being the majority. By 1954, Bengali became a state language, but tensions escalated with threats to Bengali identity. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League victory in 1970 pushed for autonomy, leading to atrocities by Pakistani forces and ultimately Bangladesh’s independence with Indian intervention.
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Amar Sonar Bangla and Bengali ethnicity
Bangladesh was created on a strong foundation of nationalist identity and a wave of secularism, as Bengali Muslims are more tolerant of conducting a workable relationship with other faiths and communities. Forced to embrace an alien Urdu culture of pseudo-masochism, the hijab over the sari, the baton over the kalam, the Bengali Muslim felt alienated. So strong was the Bengali cultural identity that the choice of national anthem for the newly created Bangla State was Amar Sonar Bangla (My Golden Bengal), one of the early works of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The love for Tagore still transcends the religious divide that first created the Bangladesh border in the subcontinent. Tagore is claimed by Hindu as well as Muslim Bengalis as one of their own, and coincidentally, India’s national anthem, Jana Gana Mana was also been authored by the writer-poet.
Sheikh and shake
Rahman was a popular charismatic Bengali nationalist with a vision. Imprisoned by both the British and Pakistanis, and revered as ‘Bangabandhu’ by Bengalis, he was assassinated in a coup in 1975 by the Bangladeshi army. Most of his family was exterminated in what was the first of many military interventions in Bangladesh to stifle liberal, pro-democracy voices. Rahman had ensured that the constitution of Bangladesh remained secular and progressive.
Sheikh Hasina, one of Rahman’s two surviving children who were exiled overseas, was left to inherit the Sheikh’s legacy and take the Awami League forward. She first came to power in 1996, but state mechanism, perpetrated by the caretaker government, caused the Awami League to sit on the opposition bench in 2001. She has been credited with garnering all the political parties together into changing the Bangladeshi presidential system to the more democratic parliamentary one. A staunch crusader against fundamentalism and jihadist ideologies, Hasina has advocated to steer Bangladesh on a secular path. As per a 2015 Columbia University report, in her 1996-2001 term, she achieved successes through the 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, the Bangabandhu Bridge, and food security initiatives.
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Economic security
Under the able governance of Hasina’s Awami League, Bangladesh achieved greater food security. Schemes for farmers, social safety nets for the poverty-stricken, landless and deprived, allowances for distressed and dependent women and disabled, pensions for former freedom fighters, housing for the aged, and shelter for the homeless were some welfare programmes introduced by Hasina. As per the World Bank, the rate of poverty declined from 11.8 per cent in 2010 to 5 per cent in 2022.
Political stability
Hasina’s rule also saw a few decades of political stability. Frequent military coups had destabilised the country, and Hasina managed to subordinate such forces to democratic power. Hasina also managed to walk a tightrope with all the Asian neighbours that bordered Bangladesh — India, Pakistan, and China.
Liberalisation
CNBC TV18 says that Hasina’s administration was defined by a combination of nationalism and economic modernisation, with a focus on enhancing infrastructure and alleviating poverty. The Kutubdia Island electrification project is part of a broader initiative to extend reliable power to remote islands, including Kutubdia, Nijhum, and Hatia. This project, undertaken by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) uses submarine cables to connect Kutubdia to the national grid, marking a significant milestone in improving the island’s infrastructure. It has brought transformative changes to the island, enhancing the quality of life, economic activities, and access to services like healthcare and education, enabling local industries, commerce, and amenities like refrigeration and lighting, fostering community development and safety at night.
Bangladesh has also been a major textile hub, with the garment manufacturing industry employing millions and contributing 11 per cent to the country’s GDP and 80 per cent of Bangladeshi exports. The GDP went from $100 billion in 2009 to $460 billion in 2022. Sheikh Hasina was able to leverage support from the ADB (Asian Development Bank) for development projects in her country.
However, since the change of power, Bangladesh has been losing valuable ground in the ready-made garment industry to Vietnam, Thailand, and even India due to the political unrest.
Women and their status
Under Hasina’s leadership, Bangladesh has implemented robust measures for women’s safety and empowerment. Laws like the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Children Act 2000 and specialised tribunals address gender-based violence. Initiatives such as the National Helpline, community programmes, and awareness campaigns tackle child marriage and dowry practices. Economic empowerment projects, including support for women entrepreneurs and financial independence programmes, enhance opportunities. Education and skill-development initiatives further strengthen women’s roles in society, fostering safety, and equality.
Ethnic cleansing of Hindus
American journalist Richard Benkin has documented the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh in his book, Quiet Case Of Ethnic Cleansing: The Murder Of Bangladesh’s Hindus. Benkin states that the world has turned a blind eye to the decline of the Hindu population in Bangladesh — from 35 per cent in 1947 to 20 per cent in 1971 and 7 per cent in 2017. As fundamentalist groups take over the reins, we watch helplessly. This year’s Durga Puja pandals were vandalised; atrocities on women carried out. Conversion threats are now overtly given under the Muhammad Yunus government, temples are being destroyed, and Hindus removed from government jobs.
Mega mess
Bangladesh has become East Pakistan today, as there’s no supreme authority in the country. Democratically elected Sheikh Hasina has been replaced by the unelected Chief Advisor Yunus, under whose reign the country is repeating its history of violence against Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and other religious minorities. Instead of addressing the violence, the Chief Advisor dismisses it as “exaggerated propaganda”. Minority group Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has claimed there have been more than 2,000 attacks on Hindus since 4 August 2024, when Hasina was ousted as the PM. To label these attacks as mere “political destabilisation” undermines the genuine concerns about human rights violations of the minority communities. The Yunus government has failed to provide adequate protection to the vulnerable population.
The Chief Advisor is perceived as a West-educated liberal, but in reality, he is seeking to amend Bangladesh’s constitution, rename the nation to the Islamic Republic of East Pakistan, and remove the term ‘secular’. Although a trained economist, he has failed his people by creating an economic mess — the country is struggling to pay even its electricity bills. The impact of the non-availability of electricity and the breakdown of law and order is such that the famous textile industry is unable to sustain or maintain its logistics chain.
Healthcare has also suffered due to the non-availability of power, medical services and supplies, in addition to the fact that medical visas to India have also been suspended due to law and order conditions.
Yunus has accomplished what the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) or Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami couldn’t — lead Bangladesh into complete chaos and collapse the entire political, economic, social and constitutional system. He has led a flagship programme of crisis where a functional democratic state of Bangladesh is now at the crossroads of becoming a failed, bankrupt Islamic Republic of East Pakistan.
Current status
Bangladesh has spiralled into a vortex of instability and stands today as a banana republic led by a puppet government. Sheikh Hasina should have been removed electorally, but protesters opted for riots and arson to overthrow the government, leading to chaos and the rise of extremist groups. The military intervened, further destabilising the country and raising concerns about regional peace and Bangladesh’s democratic future. Such actions mirror destabilising protests seen in the parent state of Pakistan, undermining governance and fostering long-term instability. We do not wish to see Bangladesh degenerate into another Islamist State of Fundamentalism. As I write, Yunus has requested the extradition of Hasina to be tried for ‘war crimes’. Who will be tried for the crimes perpetrated against Hindus in Bangladesh?
Meenakashi Lekhi is a BJP leader, lawyer, and social activist. Her X handle is @M_Lekhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)