Protests over alleged mistreatment of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh continue to heighten tensions with neighboring India.
India and Bangladesh's relationship has soured after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power and fled to India in August amid massive student-led demonstrations. She has been living in a New Delhi safe house ever since.
Earlier this week, a Bangladeshi consular office was stormed by demonstrators in Agartala, capital of the northeast Indian state of Tripura on the Bangladesh border. The protesters were angry about the alleged mistreatment of the Hindus in Bangladesh.
In response to the attack on the consulate, India has bolstered security at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and other diplomatic offices across the country to prevent any further acts of violence against Bangladesh's diplomatic missions in India.
Muslim groups in Dhaka also took to the streets in protest of the attack. Consular services have been suspended indefinitely in Agartala.
There have since been arrests and police suspensions over the attack, which the Indian government has described as "deeply regrettable."
Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry has called on New Delhi to undertake a thorough investigation and has summoned the Indian high commissioner, Pranay Verma.
Anger after arrest of Hindu monk
The consulate incident follows a violent clash between police and supporters of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in the southern Bangladesh city of Chittagong after Das was denied bail on sedition charges. One person, a Muslim lawyer, was killed.
Das' detention has been perceived as part of a broader pattern of violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, which make up about 8% of the Muslim-majority country's 170 million people.
Das is currently the spokesman of the Hindu group Sanatan Jagran Manch. His continued detention is an ongoing source of tension.
Gauranga Das Prabhu, a representative of the group in Bangladesh, told DW that lawyers due to appear at a new bail hearing for Das on Tuesday were threatened into not showing up.
Mofizul Haque Bhuiya, the public prosecutor at the Chittagong court, denied that claim.
"The case was on top of the list for bail application. But no lawyer stood up for Chinmoy Das despite repeated calls from the court," he told DW.
Hasina issues scathing statement
Adding fuel to the fire, Hasina issued a statement on Wednesday accusing the head of Bangladesh's interim government, Muhammad Yunus, of failing to protect Hindus and other minorities.
"Hindus, Buddhists, Christians — no one has been spared. Eleven churches have been destroyed, temples and Buddhist shrines have been broken. When the Hindus protested, the ISKCON leader was arrested," Hasina said, referring to the transnational Hare Krishna movement, of which Das was a former high-ranking member until was removed in July for disciplinary reasons.
There were legal petitions filed in Bangladesh to ban ISKCON after the violence over the Hindu monk's arrest, but these were rejected by the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, Hindu groups in Bangladesh consider his continued incarceration as an attempt to stifle dissent.
Sreeradha Datta, a Bangladesh expert from India's Jindal School of International Affairs, told DW that the tensions in Bangladesh are in some cases being overstated in Indian media.
"While isolated incidents have occurred, there are no coordinated attacks against minorities. As both nations navigate this fraught landscape, continued dialogue and diplomatic engagement will be crucial," Datta said. "While some incidents may indeed reflect anti-Hindu sentiment, many are rooted in political motivations tied to the recent governmental changes and the ensuing chaos."
India's foreign secretary to visit Bangladesh
With these tensions in the background, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is heading to Dhaka for a planned visit next week in the first high-level diplomatic engagement since Bangladesh's interim government took power.
"Bilateral ties are naturally at a low point given the inflamed passions on both sides. There is, however, no escape from engagement, and dialogue is being maintained by our high commissioner," Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, India's former envoy to Bangladesh, told DW.
"Except for scaling down of visa operations, most other things like trade, electricity flow are almost normal," Chakravarty said.
He added that violence against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh has profound political ramifications for India, given the historical memory of the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence.
Historical trauma remains
At that time, India sheltered over 10 million refugees, most of whom were Hindus fleeing violence inflicted by the Pakistani military in what was then called East Pakistan. This traumatic chapter has left an enduring impact on Indian politics at multiple levels.
The fate of Bangladeshi Hindus remains politically sensitive in India, regardless of the Hasina factor, and the issue transcends political parties, as it is deeply rooted in historical trauma and national sentiment.
"The only way forward is for Bangladesh's government to provide unequivocal assurances that it will control the mobs and protect its minorities from violence and discrimination," Ajay Bisaria, a former diplomat, told DW. "Such commitments would not only ease tensions, but could foster a more stable relationship between the two nations. This is crucial not just for the welfare of the minorities in Bangladesh, but for the broader geopolitical stability of the region."
