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'India can't interfere, but can persuade': Shashi Tharoor on Bangladesh unrest, Hindu youth's lynching
Shashi Tharoor also urged the Indian government to support forces working to establish an inclusive democracy in the eastern neighbourhood
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has urged the central government to try and persuade the Bangladesh government to take “constructive steps” to curb violence against minorities after a 25-year-old Hindu garment factory worker was lynched in Mymensingh for alleged blasphemy.
Asked what options India has with regard to the incident and the rise of anti-India rhetoric in the neighbouring country in an interview, Tharoor said that while New Delhi cannot interfere in Bangladesh's domestic affairs, it could exercise diplomatic influence in Dhaka as a country “which has contributed in many ways” to the Bangladeshi nation.
“India cannot interfere in the domestic affairs of a neighbouring country. But as a country which has contributed in many ways to the Bangladeshi nation and people, we can certainly exercise our diplomatic influence in Dhaka to persuade the (Yunus) government to take constructive steps,” Tharoor told the Indian Express.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP commended the Narendra Modi government for its handling of the Bangladesh situation following Sheikh Hasina’s ouster on August 5 last year, but also urged it to support forces working to establish an inclusive democracy in the eastern neighbourhood.
“The Parliamentary Standing Committee (on External Affairs) studied this in some detail and came up with a report just a few days ago. We commended the government on a constructive approach while urging it to support forces working towards (setting up) an inclusive democracy in Bangladesh,” Tharoor said.
The lynching of the Hindu garment factory worker and Bangladesh unrest
Dipu Chandra Das, a Hindu youth who worked as a garment factory worker, was lynched by a mob over alleged blasphemy in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh, and his body was set on fire on Friday.
The incident sparked widespread outrage and condemnation in India, prompting mass protests outside the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi. It came on the heels of widespread unrest in the country after the death of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Protestors stormed Dhaka and nearby regions after the leader's death was confirmed by the Mohammad Yunus-led interim government.
Osman Hadi, the spokesperson for Inqilab Mancha, was critically injured after an assassination attempt in Dhaka on December 12. The leader was later airlifted to Singapore for treatment but succumbed to his injuries, as per an official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore.
