The attack on Bangladesh assistant high commission in Agartala, capital of India’s Tripura state, on Monday is extremely despicable. Leaders and activists of a Hindutva organisation called Hindu Sangharsh Samity entered the premises of the assistant high commission and carried out terrorist activities, but the security forces there remained inactive. According to the Vienna Convention, the host country is responsible for the security of foreign missions and their diplomats. The large neighboring country has totally failed to fulfill that responsibility.
Earlier, supporters of India’s ruling BJP carried out violent protest in deputy high commission in Kolkata and burned down Bangladesh’s national flag. Bangladesh foreign ministry sent a protest letter after the incident and said the attack seemed pre-planned and termed it as violation of Vienna Convention. Foreign adviser Md Touhid Hossain also explained Bangladesh’s stance during a view exchange meeting with foreign diplomats on Monday and said, “As a neighbour, we want friendly relations with India but not mastery."
The allegations made by the Hindutva organisation in Tripura about attacks on minorities in Bangladesh are baseless. On the contrary, even after a lawyer was killed in the Chattogram court premises by followers of the Sammilita Sanatan Jagrani Jote, no incident occurred there due to the firmness of the law enforcement agencies and the conscious and responsible stance of political and social forces. A large number of members of the minority community also joined the protest rallies held in various parts of the country, including Dhaka, in protest of the attack on the Bangladesh mission in Agartala.
Indian external affairs ministry in a statement termed the Agartala incident as ‘regrettable’. Delhi said that three policemen on duty of security of the Agartala mission were suspended. But it is tough to say whether these steps of India will be enough to diffuse the tension. This is because India's consistent response to Bangladesh since the student-led mass uprising and ouster of the autocratic regime on 5 August is not cordial and good neighbourly.
The recent request of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to the central government regarding sending UN peacekeeping forces to Bangladesh is not only contradictory but also provocative. Although angry people have taken out processions towards any Indian mission in Bangladesh, no untoward incident has taken place here. Yet, one after another Bangladesh mission is being attacked in India.
West Bengal and Tripura are Indian states adjoining Bangladesh. As people of these states are Bengali speaking, people of Bangladesh share a very close relation with them. Besides trade and communication, the people of two countries are connected through deep rooted cultural ties. Yet we see Bangladesh being often targeted for the sake of electoral politics in India. The state assembly election in West Bengal is due next year. Has Mamata Banarjee, who brands herself as a friend of Bangladesh, placed her ridiculous proposal of sending UN peacekeeping troops to Bangladesh keeping in mind that election?
India’s attitude makes it obvious that it cannot accept Bangladesh’s political changeover. While Indian policymakers speak about friendship on surface level, many of them are actually hostile. When hoteliers in Agartala decide not to accommodate Bangladeshi tourists, or when a hospital in Kolkata announces that it will not provide medical services to Bangladeshi patients, it must be considered as total non-cooperation.
We vehemently condemn the attack on Bangladesh mission in Agartala and urge India to refrain from any kind of provocative behaviour.