In Dhaka TV channels, defence ‘experts’ talk of Indian plan to grab Bangladesh
By Ashis Biswas
Since the anti Awami League (AL) coup of August 5, Bangladesh interim government authorities have employed grizzled army veterans/defence experts in media panel discussions , to counter what Dhaka perceives as ‘hostile , biased Indian propaganda’. This group of influential people has now come up with a fresh narrative asserting that the new Bangladeshi rulers had foiled a major Indian plan to launch a major offensive in the NE region even as they ousted Sheikh Hasina from power. In other words, India far more than the AL or Sheikh Hasina — was the bigger loser in terms of the massive setback to its long term strategic objectives.
In its own ongoing propaganda war against India, Bangladesh’s latest claim is by no means the only tale of its kind to be peddled for the consumption of the international press as well as Bangladeshi domestic TV viewers. Regular viewers of Bangladeshi TV programmes will recall the broad thrust of official explanations justifying the August 5 anti Hasina upsurge. The pro-coup authorities insisted that the army and other authorities railroaded the former Prime Minister into fleeing to India in 40 minutes because unless they struck first,, she would have had them arrested immediately. Forces from India were ready to move in at short notice to Dhaka — so went the official story.
As usual, with such hurriedly created ‘accounts’ (yarns?) many questions went unanswered. Who in Bangladesh had asked for help from GOI authorities and when? What was India’s interest in getting unnecessarily involved in the sizzling cauldron of Bangladeshi domestic politics? Who had offered what sort of terms to whom? National elections had been held in both countries, so electoral compulsions could be ruled out as a motive on either side of the Indo-Bangla border. The explanation somehow lacked credibility, bereft of crucial details.
However, this is not true of the latest round of further experts currently engaging the eminent TV panel chatterati in Bangladesh. Defending the move to oust the AL, Dhaka-based Defence experts now have a different story that their counterparts in Delhi might find of some interest — if not in terms of its factual contents, such an account may still provide analysts with some insight as to how the minds of Bangladeshi .’advisers’ work .
The major reason India is so upset with recent developments, according to these experts, is not simply the ouster of the AL from power along with its top leader, Sheikh Hasina, despite the bonhomie she enjoyed with top Indian leaders. Delhi is seriously upset over the August 5 ouster because it had effectively destroyed carefully laid Indian long term plans to put together a foolproof defensive security structure on its East, which would have presented even the mighty Chinese with a challenge in the NE region and in the Bay of Bengal waters !
Consider the facts they said: in recent years, India had been building new roads/highways, major bridges as well as putting up new airstrips in the NE and other areas, There had also occurred an upgrading of India’s civilian air traffic movements in the Himalayan region, accompanied by an increase in its naval presence on its eastern seaboard. Even since its setback against China in the 1962 border war, catching up militarily with China in the Eastern Himalayas had been a major strategic military objective pursued by Delhi. Under the BJP-led NDA Governments since 2014, infrastructure development in the NE region has certainly received a major boost.
India had maintained good relations with both Bangladesh and Myanmar to extend its outreach into Southeast Asia. Major bilateral rail/road projects, in recent times, had been implemented and the work had continued over the years. GOI had invested billions of dollars over a period of time, securing transit rights for the movement of its goods and other items through Bangladesh, and to some extent, in Myanmar, too. While India had started despatching regular cargoes from West Bengal/Northern India/Southern India to Tripura, Assam and other NE areas, it had also completed the crucial linkage between the ports of Kolkata and Sittwe (in Myanmar). Strategically, Delhi was in a position to move large quantities of goods or human traffic etc., right up to its borders with China and Myanmar.
So far so good. Factually, these details as pointed out by Bangladeshi experts are verifiably correct. But the next part of the Bangladeshi analysis was completely different. The reason: the ‘experts’ suddenly moved from the sphere of facts into the vague, shadowy realm of speculative politics!
Recalling the hoary claims made years ago against Delhi by hardline BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) leaders, mostly sans factual evidence, these experts also claimed that GOI would despatch its mighty army units by road and rail to the NE states, moving through Bangladesh territory, ‘very soon’ They did not mention any timeline to be followed by the Indian political establishment for this massive military expedition. Nor was it explained which country/regime would be targeted by the mighty Indian army and in answer to what kind of provocation within the NE region. Nor did they quote any credible authority that might have supplied them with such critically important information!
The experts, who included retired college professors, were nevertheless unanimous in suggesting that the India-sponsored connectivity schemes actually were part of a military and not economic objective, to enable Delhi to achieve a total area domination. Bangladesh should never have allowed limited transit rights to India through its territory. It was a mistake on part of Sheikh Hasina and the AL to have agreed to carry out joint projects with India, for the sake of earning hefty fees for Dhaka — and so on. There was an angle that India was using its connectivity in the North East and Bangladesh to confront China. Bangladesh was just used to achieve Delhi’s defence strategy.
There was general satisfaction among Bangladeshi experts that the caretaker government had withdrawn IT bandwidth use facilities to India, not to mention its gradual reduction of electric power purchases from the Adanis. India must show more respect for its neighbours from now on.
Indian Foreign Secretary visits Dhaka on Monday and some proper discussions take place to restore some semblance of normalcy in bilateral relations, observers wonder whether Bangladeshi policymakers are really playing an anti-Indian card, so to speak, to divert peoples’ anger against the back-breaking price and other travails that have only increased since August 5?
By way of an answer, one can only refer to recent incidents within Bangladesh. The viral images of angry rickshaw pullers viciously attacking Dr Yunus and team for their present plight, and drop in daily earnings in broad daylight on Dhaka streets, should give the new rulers ample food for thought. Significantly, no Bangladeshi policeman or uniformed soldier intervened while the rickshaw pullers threatened that unless their earnings increased or prices came down, they would resort to mob attacks and violence.
One can only hope that team Yunus would not dismiss such demos as false propaganda worked up in the right wing Indian mass media, for their own sakes. (IPA Service)