How unrestrained utterances cast a shadow on India-Bangladesh ties
The remarks by Sarma could not have come at a more inopportune time, coming when New Delhi and Bangladesh are making efforts to reset ties under Tarique Rahman after months of animosity.
Back-to-back controversial remarks by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over the repatriation of undocumented Bangladeshis and the manner in which they are "pushed back" have landed India in a diplomatic soup.
On Thursday (30 April), Dhaka summoned and lodged a protest with the acting Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Pawan Badhe over what Dhaka termed "disparaging" remarks by Sarma, in the first sign of rough edges in bilateral ties since the BNP, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, assumed power in February.
The Assam chief minister's remarks aired by ABP news channel and his speeches at West Bengal assembly election rallies in Kolkata have consistently flagged the issue of "infiltration" from across the border with Bangladesh into West Bengal and in his home state.
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To raise polarising issues is nothing new for the BJP leadership to do so, particularly in election campaigns where it has been a key theme. In the process, the rhetoric had at times the raw nerve in Dhaka, drawing protests.
One may recall that Amit Shah, as BJP president, had described the "infiltrators" in India as "termites", sparking a huge row in 2018. It caused considerable disquiet in Dhaka whose strong unhappiness was conveyed by senior Bangladeshi officials to the Indian leadership during the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India.
On the other hand, one has to just recall how remarks by former interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus and some of his key aides on north east India had raised the hackles in New Delhi and helped crater the relationship to an all-time low.
The remarks by Sarma could not have come at a more inopportune time, coming when New Delhi and Bangladesh are making efforts to reset ties under Tarique Rahman after months of animosity.
Relations between the two neighbours have been on an upswing lately. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman visited New Delhi in March and met his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in the first engagement by Bangladesh after the BNP won the February polls.
Moreover, amid the energy crisis triggered by the Middle East war, India has remained a key supplier of fuel, particularly diesel, to Bangladesh.
The issue of "infiltration" into India from Bangladesh is a politically sensitive one with national security implications and has sparked demands to fence the porous India-Bangladesh border.
The issue of fencing has come up before various judicial forums from time to time, including the Supreme Court and more recently, the Calcutta High Court, where the matter reached in the form of a PIL petition by former deputy chief of army staff Subrata Saha.
To a question on India's crackdown on infiltration from Bangladesh in different states in the last few weeks, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on 3 January 3 2025 that "our security forces would obviously act against any illegal immigration".
He told a weekly media briefing at that time that the verification of the nationality of many of these people by Bangladesh has been pending for almost five years.
"We have asked the Bangladeshi side to verify their nationality. We have a pending list of 2,369 of people who are required to be deported," he said while responding to a question about Indian authorities pushing back illegal migrants from Bangladesh through land borders.
Toxic comments in the context of polarising issues run the risk of derailing the benefits from normal bilateral ties and are best avoided.
