Muhammad Yunus, the controversial Nobel laureate heading the interim government of Bangladesh, is pandering to Islamists running an anti-India campaign. The recent ban on exports of Hilsa fish to India seems to be part of this nefarious agenda.
For the unversed, Bangladesh had witnessed the sinister ‘India Out’ campaign even before the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Islamists belonging to Hefazat-e-Islam and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had demanded a complete boycott of Indian products.
The anti-India frenzy had reached its zenith so much that Sheikh Hasina was forced to intervene. After the fall of Dhaka on 5th August this year, the anti-India sentiments are at an all-time high.
Hilsa export ban to pacify ‘India Out’ lobby
Muhammad Yunus, who has been given the command to sail the sinking ship of Bangladesh to safety, is now busy appeasing radical Muslim groups in the country.
This becomes evident from the decision to stop Hilsa export to India ahead of the Bengali Hindu festival of Durga Puja.
It must be mentioned that as a goodwill gesture, Sheikh Hasina would send consignments of the premium fish each year between August and October.
Muhammad Yunus has decided to make a sharp departure from this annual practice citing ‘domestic demand’.
Bangladeshi Fisheries Minister Farida Akhter had even tried rationalising the abrupt decision by claiming to make Hilsa accessible to poor families in the country. “No Hilsa will be exported to India for Durga Puja this year,” she had declared.
This single decision has increased support for Muhammad Yunus among Islamist groups, which had been spearheading the ‘India Out’ campaign.
Bangladesh cannot afford to mess with India
They are given to believe that the interim government of Bangladesh has stood up to the ‘big bully’ India.
“Even if the prices don’t soften, the news of an export ban will please people here. That’s the main reason behind the ban,” a source told The Telegraph.
The mindless political posturing by Muhammad Yunus comes at a time when the country owes $500 million to just one Indian conglomerate alone.
The controversial Nobel laureate is yet to account for the economic catastrophe that would be unleashed on Bangladesh if India were to retaliate similarly and cut down on onion, rice and energy exports.
The ‘India Out’ campaign wasn’t sustainable then and is not sustainable now. But this hasn’t stopped Muhammad Yunus from portraying himself as the new messiah of Bangladesh who can look the Indian government in the eye.
Muhammad Yunus and his false sense of bravado
To convince the home crowd about his false sense of bravado, Yunus was seen ‘acting tough‘ in his statements on India.
“She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it,” he has recently said about Sheikh Hasina.
The controversial ‘Nobel laureate’ further exploited the raging anti-Hasina sentiments in Bangladesh to his advantage.
Interm govt of Bangladesh panders to Islamists
Given the rising Islamism in the country, Yunus found a two-pronged way of further solidifying his space in the country’s political sphere.
He revoked the ban on the radical Islamist outfit ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’ and released the leader of the radical outfit ‘Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT)’ Muhammad Jasimuddin Rahmani.
At the same time, Muhammad Yunus began discounting the religious angle in the targeted attacks on the Hindu community.
He has gone on record from lamenting about attacks on Hindus to saying that the claims of atrocities are ‘exaggerated‘.
The two decisions by the head of the interim government elated the Islamists in the country.
They are now led to believe that Bangladesh will witness full-scale implementation of Sharia law in the absence of Sheikh Hasina and the emergence of their new Messiah aka Muhammad Yunus.
