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Victims and relatives of people injured and killed during unrest join a protest demanding justice at Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
GUWAHATI: The escape of some leaders of terrorist groups after mob-aided jailbreaks during the political turmoil in Bangladesh could have a debilitating effect in eastern India, specifically Assam and Tripura, a new think tank said.
On August 6, an armed mob attacked the high-security prison in Sherpur, freeing more than 500 inmates. A similar jailbreak in Gazipur saw 209 prisoners escape.
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These and a few other incidents in the troubled neighbouring country missed the headlines but could be worrisome for the northeastern part of India, whose development is contingent on a stable, secure, and friendly Bangladesh, the Society to Harmonise Aspirations for Responsible Engagement (SHARE) warned.
Headed by retired IAS officer Radha Krishna Mathur, SHARE’s members include former IFS officer Harsh Vardhan Shringla, retired Lt. Gen. Rana Pratap Kalita, and former Assam Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta.
Options for India
The group of ideologues on Sunday (August 18) released their recommendations on policy options for India in dealing with the current situation in Bangladesh from a northeast Indian perspective.
The group said Ikramul Haque alias Abu Talha, the India operations head of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), was one of those who escaped during the jailbreak. He was arrested in Dhaka in 2023 based on intelligence input from Indian agencies.
“Another escapee was Niyamatullah, the commander of a module busted in Kolkata. It is still unclear whether the amir (head) of Jamaatul Muslimeen, Abdul Amin and Zakaria Mondul, the leader of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) have escaped in these prison breaks as they were also in these high-security jails,” the SHARE document said.
“This is an exceptionally alarming situation, especially for Assam and Tripura, where several modules of ABT and JMB have been busted in recent times. Between 2022 and 2023, more than 60 members of ABT were arrested from these States, of which more than 30 were from Bangladesh,” it said.
The activities of ABT and JMB in the recent past should ring alarm bells within India’s internal security and law enforcement apparatus, the think tank said.
Addressing core issues
“The solution, as with most crises around the world, is to address the issue at its core. In this instance, the priority remains the people of Bangladesh in general and its youth in particular,” its document said.
“While New Delhi waits for political and economic stability to return to Dhaka, addressing the aspirations of the youth is important. Their dreams are not different from those of India’s youth — education, skilling, and career opportunities. It is important to note that the two countries have everything to lose if they pursue a zero-sum game and a lot to gain if they adopt a win-win approach,” SHARE said.
SHARE members said engagements with Bangladeshi diplomats revealed strong anti-India sentiments in the country to the extent that even “natural calamities such as a landslide are blamed on India’s external intelligence agency”.
Inherent anger
One of the reasons behind the recent “India out” campaign was the anger against the ousted Sheikh Hasina for her perceived closeness to India. “There is no conceivable scenario where India could repatriate the former Prime Minister to her home country, in case she is convicted in absentia. This is an important message to leaders around the globe that India is a reliable global power,” the think tank said.
While it is important to “protect our friends”, not irking the new political authority in Dhaka is important as well, it said, underlining the importance of engaging with the interim government in Bangladesh as well as the pragmatic elements within the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for a positive working relationship with India.
“Post August 5, several BNP leaders expressed disappointment at how there seems to be a general perception within Indian policymaking circles that the party is inherently anti-India,” SHARE said.
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Bangladesh jailbreaks a worry for India: think tank
