South Asian political ground gyrates yet again but this time in Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid has just recently stepped down, due to continuous protests calling for her regime’s dismissal. Her administration suffered immense criticism and opposition on policies and scandals such as unlawful operations against the opposition parties and media, and students occupied the streets, police violence, and the whole nation shaken. The political crisis intensified to the highest level that made the incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to leave the country. It constitutes a chapter in Bangladesh’s history. In Sheikh Hasina’s rule, there was not all the gloomy picture. While on one hand she is remembered for her efforts to have propelled the country’s economic growth, on the other hand her rule was characterized by allegation of dictatorship and embezzlement of public funds. Opponents criticized her government for oppression of the opposition and restrictions of freedom of speech and press.
Some attributed her close relationship with the Indian Prime Minister as strategic diplomacy but it was Bangladesh’s sovereignty that was at risk. These tensions were some of the causes of increasing frustrations to the level that made her to resign. Sheikh Hasina’s resignation calls for historiographical reflections on the key historical events of concern here; Bangladesh’s war in 1971 and India’s involvement therein. India was more drawn by self-interest rather than the desire to assist in the humanitarian cause, the current upheaval that we are experiencing today are borne out of those historical resentments. They are true to the effect that what we consider as the realism of Pakistan’s disintegration in 1971 was actually a product of propaganda and indoctrination by India. Now, let us turn to this question: What does it imply for Bangladesh?
It is the current political turmoil in Bangladesh, which might alter the course of the nation’s development and even the strategic landscape of South Asia. As civil conflict intensifies in Bangladesh and questions of a new political configuration arises within its borders, a fresh chance surfaces to unlock the local histories of struggle towards a truer emancipation and independence from India. Bangladesh started its journey of state hood after breaking away from Pakistan in 1971 through a bloody war instigated by India, which had led Bangladesh to balance out all the political relations of the region. Indian interference from that conflict maybe was still felt to date as it sought to foster good relations with Pakistan, India was instrumental in the breakup of Pakistan. India had gradually upped the ante in most policy areas affecting Bangladesh since the 1980s, formulating its policies in a way that tends to undermine Bangladesh’s sovereignty and key national interests.
India has been quite proactive in influencing Bangladesh’s policies in many areas such as trade issues and water sharing, security, and geopolitical cooperation. At one point, this overwhelming dominance blunts the initiative of Bangladesh to chart its own course, largely encompassing the trajectories fashioned by New Delhi within South Asia. However, the present unrest offers Bangladesh this unique opportunity to free itself from this skewed sort of relationship and indeed embark on a new partnership that is not only relatively less subservient to India but also beneficial to Bangladesh from a strategic perspective.
Pakistan is a viable counterpart for Bangladesh, being its erstwhile union territory. Though the two countries, especially the two halves of Pakistan and Bangladesh, have had a very chequered past, the reality on the ground has changed and there could be new interests now that could converge to the advantage of both states. Bangladesh ought to leverage a partnership that has capability to counter balance India’s dominance; Bangladesh should shift its foreign policy focus towards Pakistan. Pakistan has a longstanding enmity with India too and thus like Bangladesh has to fear India’s growing dominance in the region. The rekindling of the relationship can make Bangladesh and Pakistan a new force that can offer a new and definitive framework to the power relations of the South Asian region.
The coming weeks’ going to decide whether, the interim government in Bangladesh really grasp this opportunity and rebuild and strengthen the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan. A new shift in the paradigm that can only be identified as a synergistic relationship with Pakistan might just hold the key for a brand new, self-reliant Bangladesh that does not favor one neighbor over the other but has diplomatic relations with many nations of the world. The implications of such a shift are going to be monumental; these could dramatic change the map of geopolitics in South Asian region for years to come. It is now time for Bangladesh to get out from under the shadow of India, to take control over its destiny and foreign policy and move towards a new future in which it doesn’t remain subservient to the hegemonic ambitions of India to the west.
