Why has India suddenly made a committee for protection of Bangladesh's minorities?

Why has the Indian central BJP government suddenly done what it hasn't done all these years?  In the changed circumstances of Bangladesh, why has a committee headed by BSF been formed to prevent the oppression of minorities there? Over the past 10 years it has never formed such a committee.

The answer to this question lies in BJP's pervasive politics. This decision clearly reflects its urge to uphold the flag of extremist Hindutva under which the party rules. While the committee has been formed with the heads of the BSF command and land border authorities in East India including West Bengal and Tripura, there are questions as to what this will actually amount to.

Nevertheless it is clear that BJP wants to use this announcement to appeal to the Hindu psyche and to express its reassurance. This was necessary for them because their party in East India was steadily putting pressure on them to halt oppression of Hindus in Bangladesh. The general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Dattatreya Hosabale even demanded that the government take action in this regard.

Prime minister Narendra Modi earlier too has tried to assure the basic Hindutva vote bank in this manner. But that perhaps wasn't enough. Even in his greetings sent to Nobel laureate economist Dr Muhammad Yunus after he took oath as the head of Bangladesh's interim government, Modi reminded him of the issue pertaining to safety of the minorities.

Earlier, though, while the Indian external affairs ministry expressed its concern, it also hailed the initiatives by the Muslim community to come forward and protest the Hindi families and places of worship. India's Shashi Thahur, Jairam Ramesh and many political leaders, alongside expressing concern, also praised these initiatives. But even so, the central government formed the committee, making it clear that BJP was highly uncomfortable.

There are other reasons for BJP's discomfort. The main reason is that they no longer have absolute majority in parliament. They have to depend in their allies to run the government. From the very outside the BNP government has wanted to project that they may be dependent, but they are not weak.  They want to portray in different ways that they still have the strength and clout with which they have run the country for the past 10 years. And they will continue with that clout.

In order to prove their power, they have kept all important ministries to themselves. The top leaders still hold on to the offices and positions in which they were in charge. They did not change the speakers of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. While the monsoon session has ended, there still has been no decision regarding elections to the office of the Lok Sabha's deputy speaker. This office has remained vacant for over five years. The opposition members in parliament are still being treated as before. Yet still BJP is not at peace. That is why at the outset of its third stint at the helm, it has sent the controversial waqf amendment bill to the joint parliamentary committee for consideration. Over the past 10 years, other than the National Register of Citizens (2016 and the Data Protection Act (2019), not a single bill was sent to the joint parliamentary committee. It has done so this time because questions in this regard have arisen among the allies.

In face of resistance from the United Opposition in parliament, BNP's unease is growing further. They are visibly disturbed in running the parliament. The opposition complain that this time too the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar are not giving them adequate time to speak. The issue of Narendra Modi violating rights was raised, but the Lok Sabha Speaker did not make any response to that. Yet he lost no time in canceling the parliamentary membership of Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool Congress' Mahua Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi complained that this mike was repeatedly turned off. His statements were unlawfully left out of the records. He protested against not being allowed to speak. Two sessions of the new parliament have passed, yet no adjournment motion was taken up. The opposition coalition INDIA is vocal in protest inside the House and outside too, making BJP all the more uncomfortable.

It was this unease that prompted them to close the monsoon session in parliament three days early. The session was supposed to continue on up till Monday, but ended on Friday instead. If the reason for this is put into effect, then this will be unprecedented in India's parliamentary history. Clearly BJP wants to avoid all this.

The anger of the opposition is because of the Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar.

The opposition alleges that the behaviour of Dhankhar has crossed all limits for the past few days. He repeatedly prevents the opposition members from speaking. He repeatedly reminds them of maintaining etiquette in the House. He leaves their statements out of the records. On Friday it reached a height. He was admonishing the opposition members, turning off their mikes, raising his finger in warning and saying, "You all are not respectful to the constitution and democracy. You all want to create instability in the country."

Fed up with Dhankar's behaviour, Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachhan said, "I am an actor. I understand body language and expression. Your tone is unacceptable." She said we are all colleagues, not school children. She said that he may be the head of the House, but be was the same as anyone else.

Dhankar prevented Jaya from speaking further and burst out in anger. Addressing Jaya he said, "An actor is subject to the director. I don't want to be schooled." He castigated her for questioning his decorum. The opposed walked out of the House while this debate was going on. The walkout was led by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. Outside the parliament, Jaya told the media that Dhankar had humiliated the members of parliament. He must apologise.

It is clear that in the third term at the helm, Narendra Modi and BJP are under heavy pressure. It was to assuage this pressure that the committee to protect Hindus in Bangladesh was formed. It was this pressure that prompted them to hurriedly adjourn the parliament session. It is this pressure that has caused the government to move away from its financial reforms, to move away from its privatisation of banks. The bank act amendment bill was submitted, but with no mention of privatisation.
How long will Narendra Modi be able to carry on like this? This question is being discussed in political and social circles.