Bangladesh protests: Should India ‘get ready’ to welcome one crore Bangladeshi Hindus? Experts answer

Bangladesh protests: Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister on Monday and fled the country after being in power for the past 15 years. This sudden turn of events in neighbouring Bangladesh has created a political vacuum, with Bangladesh’s Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman talking to the President on Monday, to form an interim government.

Political experts said that Sheikh Hasina’s hurried and unceremonious departure may lead to the possibility of former US-leaning bureaucrats and governors taking over next. Though experts said military rule is unlikely, they cannot rule out the possibility of Bangladeshi Hindu nationals migrating to India over time.

Questions about the possible migration of Hindus to India have erupted after BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s comment. “Get Ready 1 crore Bangladeshi Hindus will be coming to Bengal,” the leader warned, media reports stated today.

Speaking to LiveMint, Pallab Bhattacharya, former PTI special correspondent for Dhaka, who is currently associated with Dhaka’s The Daily Star, said the Hindu population drastically reduced to around nine per cent of the total population from 21 per cent at one point in time, showing how “powerful the anti-minority forces are in Bangladesh.”

Following the student protests, on August 4, several Hindu temples, including the ISKCON and Kali temples in Bangladesh, were destroyed. While these attacks may not be the immediate cause of migration, as attacks on minorities in Bangladesh have taken place irrespective of the ruling party, there could be a gradual process in play, opined Pallab Bhattacharya.

“The latest round of attacks on Hindus may not immediately trigger their exodus, but a quiet migration is not ruled out given an uncertain future for them under a non-Awami League regime,” Bhattacharya told LiveMint.

Another journalist from Bangladesh, Awil Ibrahim, shared a similar view over the phone, from Dhaka. “Minorities will be oppressed if an extremist party comes to power,” he told LiveMint, hinting at imminent mass migration.

Who will form the government?

With no definite answer on which party will come to power in Bangladesh, India’s biggest challenge lies in resetting ties with a new government in Dhaka.

While the Bangladesh military is unlikely to run the country, Pallab Bhattacharya said several names, including those of former bureaucrats and governors, that have been floating around for forming the next government.

“Among the list of names doing the rounds as the head of an interim government promised by Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman are former Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed and retired bureaucrat Badiul Alam Mojumder,” said Pallab Bhattacharya. He added that while people widely respect Ahmed as a non-partisan bureaucrat-economist, Mojumder, on the other hand, is considered close to the West, particularly the US.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim hinted that a student-led government could be formed this time. “Only one or two job quota coordinators have political affiliations, and citizens want a free and fair election,” he said.

While Pallab Bhattacharya said the former Bangladesh prime minister’s absence could mean a bleak future for millions of dollars worth of infra projects in Bangladesh, which India has funded, Awil Ibrahim also confirmed that Bangladesh and India had better ties under the Awami League regime.