[image: Self-sufficient Bangladesh makes India look impotent]Recently, morethan 10,000 Hindu extremists gathered in Assam to protest the follow-onoccurrences in Bangladesh since a Quran was desecrated in a Hindu temple atCumilla.
The Hindu extremists once again burnt the flag of Bangladesh in severalplaces.
They attempted to cross the Bangladesh-India international border but werestopped by the Border Security Force (BSF) from doing so as that would haveresulted in an armed response from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
The BSF requested the Hindu extremists never to do this again.
The protest was called by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). It was participatedby Bharat Sevasram Sangha, Sankar Math, Gauriya Math, Bajrang Dal, and RSSwomens wing.
The Hindu extremists from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) requested theIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop all kinds of trade withBangladesh (though India benefits more from it, and ultimately Indianbusinesses would lose out). They called on to cut all trade ties withBangladesh believing it would be ‘bound to starve’ even though Bangladeshis a fully food-sufficient Country.
They once again reminded about 1971 and said they gave Bangladeshis‘identity’ and said if Indian forces wanted ‘the entire Country would havebeen part of India at that time’. They threatened India can invadeBangladesh today if required.
Some Hindu protesters jumped into the Kushiyara River trying to cross theinternational border but were stopped by the BSF. They also directed theirfrustration at Narendra Modi for being ‘silent’.
However, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi can do very little becauseBangladesh is not reliant upon India for trade, it is neither a land-lockedCountry nor a Country with a weak economy.
Today Bangladesh is richer than Pakistan and all other South Asian nations(except India) combined. It has a higher per capita income than Indians andBangladeshis live longer than Indian men and women too.
Bangladesh is fully self-sufficient in the production of basic foods. Inthe past where India failed to supply some products, Bangladesh foundalternatives. In this competitive market, there are always backups.
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Also India cannot overtly act against Bangladesh on the international arenafor geopolitical reasons. There is the China factor but also the US willnot support it from acting in a manner that hurts American interests in theregion as Bangladesh is a major economy of the region now with that isincreasingly the focus of the West and Japan.
If India officially or unofficial acts further against Bangladesh, it willbe proven they were behind the acts to destabilize Bangladesh.
Bangladesh will be drawn closer to China and the Chinese will do thenecessary to squeeze India and their agents further.
Most of the arsenal of the Bangladesh military are supplied by China andthe West. India has no scope to create pressure on the military either.
If India tries anything that is remotely anti-Bangladeshi then its NorthEast will never be the same again as Bangladesh will no longer feelobligated to safeguard Indian interests or its security.
Bangladesh gained very little from its friendly ties with India. Thislatest episode serves as a reminder that the relationship is still veryfragile.
As long as India is ruled by Hindu extremists, there will always be a riftwith Bangladesh, which is ruled by secular Bengali nationalists.
This latest episode reminds all including Bangladesh policymakers to startthe minus-India approach.
