Speaking to ET from Dhaka over the phone as that country prepares for its first election after the ouster of Hasina, Sukriti Kumar Mandal said while political representation has become an absolute necessity for Hindus to survive there, stability in Bangladesh will require recalibration of India’s Bangladesh policy.
“Most of the people cutting across political lines in Bangladesh want good relations with India and there is no denial of the fact that the role of India in the region can never be undermined,” said Mandal, an alumnus of Delhi University. But India’s “blind support” to the Awami League fomented anti-India sentiments in Bangladesh and helped anti-India forces gain ground, he claimed.
“While our country is in a flux right now with no formal government in place, it is also a terrible time for the Hindus here as there are elections in neighbouring West Bengal and Assam in India. It is a season of torture for us,” he said.
“We cannot help if the incumbent Indian regime hopes to encash the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus in political terms for the elections in India, but for the long term, such a stand will be counter-productive,” Mandal said. “India needs to engage with all the stakeholders in the country and ensure better relations with entities other than the Awami League,” he added.
Bangladesh has witnessed many incidents of attacks on Hindus since the ouster of Hasina’s government in August 2024, including the lynching of a man on December 18, accusing him of blasphemy.
Mandal said atrocities on Hindus were rampant during the Hasina regime as well. “Emboldened by state support, Awami League workers kept on harassing Hindus, grabbing their land, women and vocations,” he alleged, adding that nothing was done to curb the menace.Speaking about his electoral agenda, Mandal said he harbours no illusion of a grand position for the party after the election, but he wants to ensure that the voice of the persecuted Hindus is politically raised in the corridors of power in Bangladesh.
“Since the Partition, there has been a continuous slide in Hindu population in Bangladesh, but this needs to stop,” he said. “We do not want to leave Bangladesh and become refugees in India. But India has to engage with entities other than the Awami League and spell out its desire to see that the minorities in Bangladesh are protected unequivocally to make that happen,” he added.