Anti-Modi Demonstrations Erupt In Bangladesh – OpEd

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Two-day tour of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to Bangladesh starts on Friday. Earlier, leaders from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives have attended the festivities, which started on 17th March.

Modi’s visit is part of 10-day celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh independence. This also marks Birth Centenary of the nation’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

During his visit, Modi is scheduled to visit two temples in southern rural districts, including the birthplace of a top Hindu reformer who has large number of followers in the Indian West Bengal and Bangladesh.

To display their displeasure some factions staged anti-Modi demonstration in Dhaka. The protesters accused Modi of stoking religious tensions and inciting anti-Muslim violence in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, which left about 1,000 people dead. Modi was Gujarat’s chief minister at the time of the deadly religious riots.

On Thursday, student organizations under the banner of ‘Progressive Student Alliance’ were demonstrating against Modi’s visit.They were allegedly attacked by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists at Dhaka University campus.

 “Some 40 protesters were injured, including 18 hospitalized with injuries from police beatings and rubber bullets,” Bin Yamin Molla, a senior official of the Student Rights Council, which organized the protest, told AFP.

Witnesses said several hundreds of BCL men with local weapons were seen at the Teachers Students Centre (TSC).

Earlier in the day, Jubo Odhikar Parishad activists clashed with police in the city’s Motijheel area while protesting against the Indian prime minister’s visit.

The Parishad, youth front of former vice president of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) Nurul Haque Nur’s organization, blocked the roads in the Motijheel area in the afternoon.

The clashes started when the law enforcing agencies tried to stop the demonstrators.

Shabbir H. Kazmi

Shabbir H. Kazmi is an economic analyst from Pakistan. He has been writing for local and foreign publications for about quarter of a century. He maintains the blog ‘Geo Politics in South Asia and MENA’. He can be contacted at [email protected]

One thought on “Anti-Modi Demonstrations Erupt In Bangladesh – OpEd

  • March 27, 2021 at 4:39 pm
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    Modi is a very controversial leader. BJP rule is an authoritarian rule, full of gang violence, failure of Law Enforcement as the Congress party that ruled India for long since independence but failing as there isn’t an independent visionary and effective leader to lead.

    BJP’s religious fanatiscm will lead India to crack sooner or later. If Western powers fail to respect and support the democratic freedom struggles from state oppression in India, China may help as it claims some northern parts of India belong to them and refuse to recognize the map drawn by the colonialists.

    Bangladesh should not have invited PM Modi to it’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations for his alleged crimes against the Muslims, accused of war crimes in Kashmir, destruction of Mosque and his religious fanatiscm.

    Bangladesh got independence by ending Pakistan’s brutal war crimes, should not have invited Sri Lanka’s accused war criminal leaders too as they are Buddhist fanatics, allegedly insitgated race riots against the Muslims and refused to bury the dead if they truly believe in core values, virtue, freedom and principles.

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