Bangladesh and its blood feuds

Perhaps it is in the genesis of independent nation-States in the region, throwing away the yoke of colonialism, that the seeds of violence can be found

On August 5, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman decried the ‘White Paper on the Crisis in East Pakistan,’ a propaganda document published by Pakistan’s ministry of information in Rawalpindi. This was one more attempt on the part of Yahya Khan’s government to justify Operation Searchlight, a brutal military crackdown in East Pakistan during the Bangladesh liberation conflict. Fifty-five years later, Mujib’s grandson, Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed condemned the new regime in Bangladesh as the “new Pakistan” and alleged that the ISI has a free hand in his country. History moves in familiar patterns. During a virtual press conference at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club (FCC) in Delhi — an event from which India has kept its distance — Hasina, the leader-in-exile of the Awami League reiterated her resolve to return to Bangladesh even as she faces the death penalty there. What is it about South Asian politics that it cannot be delinked from blood feuds that rage between power stakeholders?

Hasina’s family paid a hefty price for leadership in a newly liberated Bangladesh (AP)

Perhaps it is in the genesis of independent nation-States in the region, throwing away the yoke of colonialism, that the seeds of violence can be found. Hasina’s family paid a hefty price for leadership in a newly liberated Bangladesh. While the nation’s violent birth pangs were yet to subside, the first family was almost obliterated in a coup. In her first public address in two years, Hasina broke down recalling her family members slain before, during, and after Bangladesh’s independence.

India-Bangladesh relations have been strained since Hasina fled to Delhi after the July 2024 students uprising. The interim government under Muhammad Yunus and the present PM Tarique Rahman have expressed their displeasure unequivocally at New Delhi’s decision to house Hasina. With the Bangladesh Nationalist Party coming to power, and a raging public sentiment against the founding family, India has found itself in an uncomfortable position. With Yunus and Rahman making overtures to China and Pakistan, India is faced with the possibility of yet another hostile border. At the FCC event, Wazed also tried to sound alarm bells with respect to Pakistan’s undue interference in Bangladesh that may also spell trouble for India. At a time when Pakistan is enjoying the patronage of both China and the US, the Indian government will have to tread extremely carefully on all things Bangladesh. As for Hasina, only time will tell what her motherland has in store for her. If Bangladesh is indeed the new Pakistan, as Wazed alleges, any ousted leader must weigh their return against dangers.