Tensions are high between India and Bangladesh after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government and her fleeing to India. Bangladeshis protested an attack on a consulate in India a day earlier, amid a Hindu leader’s trial.
Bangladesh summoned New Delhi’s top envoy on Tuesday after an attack on one of its consulates in Agartala, a small Indian city near the border between the countries.
Tensions have been strained since the fall of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government in August, with the autocratic former leader now residing in India as Bangladesh seeks her extradition.
New Delhi has frequently demanded better protection for Bangladesh’s Hindu minority population, which faced reprisal attacks in the chaotic aftermath of Hasina’s ouster because of its perceived support for her government.
Hindu protesters in northern India — angered by the arrest and sedition charges against a Hindu rights activist in Bangladesh, Krishna Das Prabhu — attacked the consular building on Monday.
India’s foreign ministry has condemned the incident as “extremely regrettable” and police earlier on Tuesday announced seven arrests.
Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma said after the meeting in Dhaka that his country remained committed to engaging with the interim government, which took office after Hasina’s ouster to implement democratic reforms.
Protests in Dhaka, police guard Indian embassy
Activists ranging from student groups to Islamist political parties took to the streets of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on Tuesday to protest the incident at the consular building.
Some set fire to Indian flags — an existing hallmark of past protests in both countries, including at the consular building on Monday.
Police were on hand to protect India’s High Commission, or embassy, in Dhaka amid the demonstrations. The previous night, a small group of students had tried and failed to storm the building.
Meanwhile, in southeastern Bangladesh, a court rescheduled a bail hearing for Hindu activist Prabhu, who had led massive protests in the southeastern city of Chattogram. The defendant was not present in the court, with no reason given for his absence.
Tense ties since Hasina’s fall, and flight to India
Relations between India and Bangladesh have deteriorated since mass protests, in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed, that ultimately toppled the longstanding government of Sheikh Hasina.
India, which sheltered some 10 million refugees and helped Bangladesh gain independence in a 1971 war against Pakistan, considered Hasina — the daughter of the independence leader of Bangladesh — as a trusted friend.
It has since stopped issuing visas for Bangladeshi nationals, except for medical treatment.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, under an interim government led by former Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, is seeking Hasina’s extradition after she fled to India by helicopter.
Around 90% of Bangladesh’s population is Muslim, with Hindus the largest religious minority by far. Hasina has been alleging violent reprisals against minority communities from exile since her ouster.
