Dhaka: Nitai Roy Chowdhury and his daughter Nipun are unusual players in the realm of Bangladesh politics. Despite being Hindus, they hold prominent positions in the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is widely seen as an anti-India, anti-Hindu, hardline Muslim political formation.
When they met ThePrint at their book-lined office in Dhaka in the first week of July, both vehemently disputed the idea that the ruling Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League is the only viable option for Hindus in Bangladesh, which is scheduled to go to polls in January.
“I can give you many examples to show that most anti-Hindu policies have been taken during the Awami League rule,” claimed 74-year-old Nitai, a lawyer and politician who is currently serving as vice chairman of the BNP’s central committee.
His 36-year-old daughter Nipun Roy Chowdhury, a lawyer and human rights activist, concurred
“We will uphold secular values if we are allowed to fight freely in the polls,” said Nipun, a member of the party’s central executive committee and Dhaka zilla secretary. “Hasina has turned Bangladesh into a one-party state.”
What is difficult to ignore, however, is that the BNP bears a significant reputational disadvantage.
Led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia— the long-term arch-rival of Sheikh Hasina— the BNP was last in power between 2001 and 2006 in an alliance that included the Jamaat-e-Islami, a hardline Islamist party, with which it is said to still keep links.
In the last general elections, in 2018, the BNP was decisively routed, winning just seven seats. Since then, the party has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It has been accused of being in several communal incidents targeting Hindus in Bangladesh, including a series of attacks on temples last year.
Given this backdrop, the BNP has its work cut out for it if it wants to gain the trust of Hindus, who comprise about 8 per cent of the population in Bangladesh.
In their interaction with ThePrint the Roy Chowdharys discussed the upcoming elections, the perception of BNP as communal, the former alliance with Jamaat (“not a good decision”), and why India needs to “clean its lenses” about the party.
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‘We demand a caretaker government’
For several months in the run-up to elections, the BNP has been demanding the formation of a caretaker government, staging several rallies and protests across Bangladesh.
Nipun, whose fiery speeches and run ins with the police have made her a social media sensation in Bangladesh, has alleged that the Awami League government relied on repressive methods to suppress dissent.
“More than 15 years have gone by and Hasina is sticking on to power by unfair means. In this country, the government does not disband before polls are held, neither is the Parliament dissolved. Which means the government uses all its might to ensure Opposition candidates have no chance of winning,” she said.
“Police threaten poll agents, workers get attacked, arrested, the Election Commission itself becomes an Awami League party office,” she said. “Let Hasina step down. And then polls be held under a caretaker government. We shall accept nothing short of that.”
‘Got hauled to jail when PM Modi visited’
The Sheikh Hasina government has been criticised by rival political parties, including the BNP, for allegedly silencing opposition voices. While the government has denied these charges, Nipun says India should be worried looking at what is going on in her country.
“We are neighbours and have close cultural and economic ties. If democracy in one country is turned into a joke, how can the other not be affected? Hasina has crushed all forms of political dissent. There are 40 lakh cases against BNP leaders and workers today. Can you beat that? 40 lakh cases! With this kind of clampdown on the opposition, how can democracy breathe in Bangladesh?” she adds.
“India needs to clean its lens while looking at Bangladesh. I was arrested when Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh. I did not even protest his visit! Me, a young Hindu leader, got hauled away to jail because the Hindu Prime Minister of the neighbouring country is visiting us! How insane is that,” Nipun said, adding: “Hasina must be really scared.”
The incident that Nipun referred to dated to March 2021, when Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh at the invitation of Sheikh Hasina to participate in the celebrations of two major events— the jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
However, several opposition parties protested against the visit, leading to arrests being made across Bangladesh ahead of Modi’s arrival.
‘Sheikh Hasina is not secular’
The Awami League has long held that Sheikh Hasina is the only hope for Hindus in Bangladesh. The Roy Chowdhurys, however, insist that the party’s secular credentials are not all that they are made out to be.
“A political discourse has been created in Bangladesh to show Hasina as a secular leader. She is not,” said Nitai. “I can give you many examples to show that most anti-Hindu policies have been taken during the Awami League rule.”
One example, according to him, is a controversial law in Bangladesh that allows the government to confiscate property from individuals it deems as enemies of the state. Earlier called the Enemy Property Act, it was renamed as the Vested Property Act in 2013.
“The intention remained the same. It is inherently anti-Hindu in nature. Across Bangladesh, Awami League leaders have misused this Act and seized Hindu property. This is one example. There are many,” Nitai claimed.
The veteran lawyer also claimed that the Awami League had propounded a misleading narrative about the Liberation War of 1971, which led to the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
“Do you have any idea that the list of liberation war heroes in Bangladesh is filled with people who never participated in the Liberation war of 1971? Hasina must be aware of the fact that there are leaders in the Awami League who played an active role in the Shanti Bahini (which fought the war in favour of West Pakistan during 1970-71). Doesn’t she know her party shelters former Razakars as well? She surely does,” he claimed.
Controversial Jamaat alliance & ‘secular’ values
Given that the BNP joined hands with the Jamaat, how can Hindus possibly trust them?
“As a senior party member, I would say this was a party decision. My own view is that it was not a good decision. Going with Jamaat did not go down well with Hindus and many open-minded people. The BNP now has distanced itself from the Jamaat,” Nitai said.
When asked if the BNP will uphold secular values if it comes to power in the next elections, both father and daughter said that it would.
“We have released a 27-point memorandum. One of the most important points is ‘dharma jar jar, rastro sobar’ (religion belongs to individuals, state belongs to everyone),” Nitai said.
Nipun added that if “free and fair” elections are fought and the BNP comes to power, it will prove detractors wrong. She also denied that the BNP was seen as an anti-India, anti-Hindu party.
“I can tell you the perception may once have been true. But not anymore,” she said. “We are neither anti-India, nor anti-Hindu. Would the two of us have been in these positions in our party if the BNP was communal?”
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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