“One diplomat visited me while I was sick, Indian diplomat, after my post-operative period, here in my house. But they requested us not to make it public. Why? There are so many diplomats who visited me, and it was made public. Where is the problem? So we must become open to all and open to each other.”
That was the emir of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Shafiqur Rahman, in an interview to Reuters from Dhaka.
Although there is no official word from India on this meeting nor who the Indian diplomat was, according to the English-language Prothom Alo online daily, it happened earlier last year. It was not clear if it happened before or after Hasina’s ouster in August.
Prothom Alo said “An Indian government source confirmed contacts with various parties,” suggesting that India is reaching out to political parties and people it may have preferred to avoid during the years when Sheikh Hasina was in power.
It was also pointed out that India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar had visited Dhaka on Wednesday to offer condolences to the family of BNP chief and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who died on Tuesday.
The ameer’s remarks also indicated concern over India’s stand on not extraditing Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh.
“Definitly it’s a matter of worry because India is our friend and we have a duty to mutual exchange of citizens if someone is accused or a victim. But India is not doing it. She (Hasina) has already been convicted by a court,” the ameer said.
Hasina’s party the Awami League has been barred from contesting the elections, a situation which is expected to favour the BNP of Tarique Rahman, who has taken over the party’s reins after his mother Khaleda Zia’s death.
In the past, the BNP and Jamaat worked together in government and outside, but in the current situation, the former is expected to emerge as the single largest party after elections in February. The Jamaat is likely to come a close second.
The ameer has made clear that his party is willing to come together again with the BNP, but has laid down some conditions. No mercy for the corrupt, social justice for all, no political interference in the affairs of government and the new government must push reforms.
The BNP is yet to respond but on his return last week from 17 years in exile, Tarique Rahman compared the movement that ousted Hasina to the 1971 war of liberation “that saw the blood of hundreds of thousands of martyrs.”
He also called for a “safe Bangladesh”, given that Buddhists, Christians and Hindus all live in the country.
