Bangladesh caretaker government head Professor Muhammad Yunus may look forward to meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an one-to-one discussion during an important summit, scheduled for 2-4 April in Bangkok, but it’s unlikely to happen. Dhaka had already made a formal request to the Union government in New Delhi for a bilateral meeting with PM Modi on the sidelines of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit. However, the lone Nobel laureate of Bangladesh, who temporarily took charge of the regime following a student-led mass uprising ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year, has been embarking on a China visit just ahead of the summit and he is supposed to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on 28 March.
Moreover, the octogenarian banker turned interim government’s chief adviser lately initiated to come closer to Islamabad, even though Pakistan itself is facing severe internal problems with the Baloch freedom aspiring nationals. Political observers believe that the unholy alliance between Dhaka and Islamabad may pose more challenges to New Delhi. While Pakistan remains an enemy nation since its birth, another neighbour Bangladesh also starts behaving like a foe to India. It may be mentioned that Prof Yunus met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in New York during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2024. It was followed by regular cargo shipping and direct flights to facilitate the people to contact between Bangladesh and Pakistan (incidentally both were under the same territory as Islamic Republic of Pakistan after separating from Hindustan in 1947). Days back, a delegation of Pakistani traders visited Dhaka with an aim to establish a joint council and a team of Bangladeshi military officials paid a trip to Pakistan, followed by a Pakistani military delegation visiting Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, a strong message from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an ideologue of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, over the atrocities on religious minorities in Bangladesh with impunity from the government agencies, may prevent any such talks with Prof Yunus immediately. The RSS’s Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha 2025 (ABPS) on 22 March expressed its serious concern on the unabated and planned violence, injustice and oppression faced by the Hindu and other minority communities at the hands of radical Islamist elements in the neighboring country. Terming it a fit case of human rights violation, the ABPS observed that during the recent regime change in Dhaka, several incidents of attacks on maths, temples, Durgapuja pandals and educational institutions, desecration of deities, barbaric killings, looting of properties, abduction and molestation of women and forcible conversions were reported.
RSS Sah Sarkaryavah Arun Kumar, while briefing the media in the midst of three-day ABPS (21-23 March 2025) held in Bengaluru, highlighted the continuous decline of the Hindu population in Bangladesh (from 22% in 1951 to just 7.95% today) asserting that it only reflects the severity of the perennial crisis. The level of organized violence and the government’s passive response in the last few months was alarming, but the administration continues denying the religious angle of these incidents.
The RSS’s annual meeting also raised concerns over the rising anti-Bharat rhetoric in Bangladesh, which threatens to strain the historically deep-rooted ties between the two nations. Bharat and its neighboring countries share a common cultural and historical heritage, and any form of communal discord in one part of the region affects the entire subcontinent, Kumar commented. He also added that despite facing severe persecution, the Hindus in Bangladesh had shown remarkable resilience in their struggle for justice and religious freedom.
Their peaceful, collective, and democratic resistance has been met with strong moral and psychological support from Hindus in Bharat and across the world. New Delhi has reiterated its commitment to standing with Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh and engaged in diplomatic efforts with Dhaka. Finally the Sangh called upon international organizations such as the United Nations and the global community to take serious note of these inhumane acts and pressurize Dhaka to take concrete steps to halt violence against Hindus and other minorities. It asserted to remain resolute in the commitment to protect the rights, dignity, and religious freedom of Hindus in Bangladesh and urged an immediate intervention to address this grave humanitarian and existential crisis.
