On 5th August, Bangladesh was pushed into chaos after a successful coup leading to the ouster of PM Sheikh Hasina. Later, she fled the country to a safer location as the agitated mob was about to reach her residence. The protests that started against reservation for the family members of the freedom fighters turned into full-fledged violence against the government. Several protesters were killed as the government used armed forces and police against the protesters leading to the fall of Hasina’s government. Amidst all the political drama in the neighbouring country, The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan, who is an American citizen, and its journalist who is more of a propagandist, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, did a live discussion whitewashing the atrocities faced by Hindus in Bangladesh in the guise of the protests. It is pertinent to note that the coup in Bangladesh is being widely speculated to be a regime change operation by the US deep state.
‘Baseless and foolish claims’ – Varadarajan dismissed concerns for Hindus’ safety in Bangladesh
During the discussion, Varadarajan completely dismissed the possibility of Hindus being under attack in Bangladesh. His statement came at a time when social media was filled with videos and reports of Hindu establishments, temples and houses under attack at the hands of Muslim mobs running rampage in Bangladesh.
He said, “Right-wing people in India are saying that Bangladesh will now be dominated by Islamic fanaticism. Various speculations and allegations are being made, including concerns about what will happen to the Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh. These are all baseless and foolish claims. The fact is that Sheikh Hasina, although a dictator, was a very secular dictator.”
Chilling
— Abhishek (@AbhishBanerj) August 6, 2024
Siddharth Varadarajan of Wire says absolutely nothing to worry for Hindus in Bangladesh
He says all such talk is "bewakoof"
Any Hindu in Bangladesh who fears for life is "bewakoof"? pic.twitter.com/1BpDm0tQnG
He added that if the minority community in Bangladesh, that is the Hindus, felt oppressed for the past 10-15 years, it was because of Hasina’s government as everything happened under her supervision. He said, “I believe the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, different parties, will try to take advantage of this situation. Although the movement is somewhat spontaneous, it is not heading towards anarchy.”
On the contrary to the claims made by both the propagandists, Hindus have been facing attacks across Bangladesh in the guise of protests against the government. In fact, Bangladeshi media itself has reported that Hindus faced attacks in 27 districts. Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star, houses and businesses belonging to the Hindu community were attacked in 27 districts. According to the report, the homes of Pradip Chandra Roy and Muhin Roy were vandalised and looted in Telipara village and Thana road, respectively in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.
In Kaliganj upazila, the homes of four Hindu families in Chandrapur village were attacked. 12 Hindu houses in Hatibandha upazila’s Purbo Sardubi village were burnt while several Hindu houses were vandalised and looted in Bandhavgarh’s Sadar upazila. Ten Hindu houses were attacked in Dinajpur and a Temple was attacked in Railbazarhat.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council released a list of attacks that took place on Hindu temples, houses and establishments that belonged to the Hindu community in the country. According to the list, in Sherpur, the house of the president of the Sribardi Upazila Youth Unity Council was attacked, vandalised and looted.
These incidents happened within 5 hours. The genocide is still going on.
— Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus 🇧🇩 (@VoiceofHindu71) August 5, 2024
It could be more than that.#AllEyesOnBangladeshiHindus pic.twitter.com/voPqyV4i2a
In Khulna, the houses of Shyamal Kumar Das and Swajan Kumar Das in Highgate village of Rupsa Thana area, houses of Biman Bihari Amit, president of the Khulna District Unity Council and Animesh Sarkar Rinku, president of the Youth Unity Council in Tootpara of Khulna city, house of Jayanta Gain in Amtali Banisanta, Dacope, and houses of the minority community in Darpara, Koyra were attacked, vandalised and looted. In Feni, the Durga Temple was attacked. In Dinajpur, the Fulthala cremation ground was forcefully occupied. Five temples including Kali Mandir in Parbatipur were vandalised. Minority community houses were attacked and looted in Setabganj Bochakganj and Dhalla village of Chirirbandar Thana area. A comprehensive list of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh compiled by OpIndia can be checked here.
Varadarajan claimed India’s agencies failed as they did not predict the end of Hasina’s regime
Amusingly, Varadarajan claimed that India’s agencies were not keeping an eye on the situation in Bangladesh. He used a post by ANI where agencies were quoted saying they were keeping an eye on the movement of Hasina’s plane. He said, “I found it amusing when I saw the ANI’s tweet that India’s security agency had its eyes on that aeroplane. If our agency had been monitoring the emerging political situation in Bangladesh for the past six months to a year, they would have realized that Sheikh Hasina’s government would not last.”
Varadarajan tried to set a narrative that India’s agencies were so incompetent that they failed to keep an eye on the political turmoil in the neighbouring country. The idea might have stemmed from the fact that India did not interfere in Bangladesh’s internal affairs. Maybe, Varadarajan was expecting India to meddle with Bangladesh’s affairs so that they could use it against the Modi government to set a narrative that it was India that made Hasina’s government fall.
He then moved to target Home Minister Amit Shah for calling Bangladeshi illegal immigrants “termites” and called it an anti-Bangladesh move. Interestingly, he skipped the fact that HM Shah did not call Bangladeshis termites but he called the illegal immigrants entering into India via illicit ways and obtaining fake documents, termites. These illegal immigrants are a menace and cause a lot of law and order problems for the country and thus the notion of calling them termites is not wrong at all. If anyone is in India illegally, they are eating up resources that are meant for Indians. A fact that Varadarajan chose to “forget”.
He further targeted the Indian government over CAA. He claimed that Hasina could not openly oppose the CAA that directly mentioned Bangladesh. He said, “This caused resentment among the people, who questioned how an independent country could tolerate such remarks from another nation.” Varadarajan mentioned CAA in a way that projects Hindus are safe in Bangladesh, something that he had asserted before during the discussion.
‘No role of Pakistan and China’ – Siddharth Varadarajan gave a clean chit to troublemakers
Varadarajan then claimed that the narrative that Pakistan or China could have supported the protests in Bangladesh was false. He claimed that the uprising involved various parties and it was not a conspiracy by Pakistan and China. “While Sheikh Hasina tried to maintain good relations with China, recent visits didn’t go well. India’s government was always cautious about her growing proximity to China,” he said.
He added, “Speculating that Pakistan or China had a significant influence on this movement is not serious talk. The protests were primarily driven by the actions of Sheikh Hasina’s government, and the future relations between India and the new government in Bangladesh will need careful handling to rebuild trust.”
‘It is a lesson for dictatorship’ – The nauseating narrative of ‘PM Modi is a dictator’ by Siddharth Varadarajan
During the discussion, Arfa said that it should be a lesson to the leaders of the nations who have a desire for dictatorship. “If it happens in Bangladesh, it will reach Pakistan, and if it is in Pakistan, it will reach Sri Lanka, and it could affect leaders and governments in India who wish to impose a dictatorial grip on their citizens,” said Arfa while putting a question what lessons Siddharth Varadarajan see in this regard.
Regarding India, he said, “This lesson is also relevant in India, where we see farmers’ movements and struggles for human rights, whether in Chhattisgarh with workers and farmers or in Kashmir, where people have long demanded the restoration of their statehood and special status.”
Answering questions from the viewers, they asserted that similar protests could occur in India if peaceful protests on any topic are not allowed. “If people are not allowed to voice their opinions democratically, it can lead to unrest,” they said.
Siddharth Varadarajan added, “Modi’s government has found more intelligent ways to suppress these movements without resorting to violence, unlike in Bangladesh. However, the intent and mentality remain dictatorial, trying to suppress the media through broadcasting bills.” He asserted that protests like Bangladesh have not happened in India [till now].
The discussion between Arfa and Siddharth Varadarajan was supposed to be on Bangladesh but it was used by them to set a narrative and send a warning to the Indian government to not “supress” the voice of the people on their side as it would result in nationwide protests. Not to forget, the Leader of the Opposition and Congress’s favourite Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly hinted that India is sitting on explosives and it only needs a spark to ignite protests. The narrative left-liberals are trying to set is that PM Modi is a dictator just like Hasina and what happened to her may happen to PM Modi in the future.
