Tariq Rahman, a lawyer affiliated to pro-Pakistan Jamaat-E-Islami Bangladesh, has also given Tarique Rahman a death threat only hours after the leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party flew into the country after 17 years abroad. There was a reference to India in the threat.
One Jamaat-e-Islami aligned lawyer Shahriar Kabir accused Tarique Rahman of betraying his father and accepting the terms of India by coming back to Bangladesh. The comments, which were perceived to be a clear provocation against India, appeared on the eve of the visit of Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who flew into Dhaka the previous day and made himself heard on his vision of the politics of the country.
Kabir remarks were our revelations to the uneasiness of the Jamaat, as masses of people invited the exiled leader back home to the nation. It demonstrates the anxiety of the Jamaat-E-Islami attempting to form an alliance with its own proxy within the August 2024 protests the National Citizens Party (NCP), an offshoot of the August 2024 protests that brought an end to 15 years of iron-grip rule of former premier, Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.
Jamaat was in support of student leaders during the protest. NCP leaders told the country that even the high command of the Great Jamaat has already negotiated with the top leadership of the party on sharing of seats with the upcoming national elections in February.
In NCP, the voices, which would desire an alliance with Jamaat, are equal to voices, which criticize it. One of the prominent NCP leaders, Mir Arshadul Haque, quit the party when seat sharing discussions were continuing.
The February 12 election in Bangladesh will be contested by two groups given that the Awami League is no longer present considering that the interim government in Bangladesh has banned it. The Jamaat desires to defer the planned polling and has been credited with the most serious unrests in the nation which have seen radical mobs attacking journalists, media outlets, cultural and Indian missions.
Since the Jamaat and the NCP espouse an alliance, the Jamaat and the BNP are likely to be the major contenders in this election. and thus was the Jamaat to attack Tarique Rahman at this time, because he has been urging to elections as soon as possible.
What makes it worse to the Jamaat are the placements regarding the intentions behind the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi by his own kin, which have started becoming an eye-opening drive to cause unrest in the lead-up to the elections so that the polling can be postponed. According to Bangladesh experts, the attacks on minorities, institutions and the press are part of a game plan.
The Implication of Tarique Rahman Entry to India
The people of Tarique Rahman, India will have to contend with a leader who prioritizes Bangladesh first. However, he is also the one who understands the India-Bangladesh historic relationship. The Jamaat, however, is merely anti-India and is not perturbed with security, welfare, education, poverty reduction and other issues that Tarique Rahman has talked about in his vision on Bangladesh.
Having a strong ideology of Islamic values, faith, Rahman would see Bangladesh being the place where people of all religions have space and security, instead of the country being pushed in the path of religious fundamentalism. His foreign policy stance has also been very cogent.
Just as there are people of the plains there are the people of the hills in this country. The population of this country is Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindu and individuals of various beliefs. Collectively we wish to create such a Bangladesh, the Bangladesh we dream of, the Bangladesh of the mother dreams of. In other words, we desire to have a safe Bangladesh, Rahman told his first speech after arriving in the country.
The BNP acting chairman had also spelt the vision of his party in which the interests of the Bangladesh were the top priority. He had clarified that Bangladesh will not aim at forming a closer relationship with Rawalpindi or Delhi but instead place Bangladesh at the core of its priorities. During the enormous gathering in his speech at the Nayapaltan region of Dhaka, he had said “Not Dilli, not Pindi, Bangladesh before everything,” urging them to repeat the phrase.
This stance contrasts with the Jamaat-E-Islami that is anti-India with the agenda Pakistan had to destabilise the situation in India and make its life hard. A statement made by Barrister Shahriar Kabir, anti-India and affiliated to radical Islamist outfit Jamaat-E-Islami Bangladesh, could be considered as a death threat as far as dealing with the neighbours in South Asia, particularly India is concerned.
When you have a signature given to India, when you arrive in this country, you are close to death. You are disowning the blood of your father. You are dishonoring the blood of your mother. Your father said against the Talpotti Island. During the period of 17 days of the arrival of Sheikh Hasina, your father was murdered.
Your father was talking about blowing up the Farakka water deal under the water dam. Your mother even went as far as the United Nations and demanded this water. That is why your mother took the power away. I believe that your mother is not over with her suffering. Trust India not, should you be feeling the pain of your mother to-day. Trusting is dying,” Kabir said.
The Farakka Water Treaty
The Farakka water Treaty is a 3-deca long agreement that is being planned to be renewed in 2026 and is necessitating proper diplomacy considering the existing status quo of the India-Bangladesh relations under the interim government under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus. The treaty, signed in 1996, over a term of thirty years, provides a fair amount of water in the dry season in both Bangladesh and India after the Ganges River. Whenever another government will take office, there will be a need to liaise with India so that Dhaka and New Delhi can be accommodating to come up with a solution that will be acceptable to both sides when the next government renews the treaty.
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