The Indian establishment tried to portray Bangladesh’s July uprising as something “militant, anti-Hindu and an Islamist takeover,” Adviser Mahfuj Alam has said.
“But their propaganda and provocation are failing,” Mahfuj said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
The post from Mahfuj, one of the key figures in the revolutionary movement that led to Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in August, comes amid rising tensions between Bangladesh and neighbouring India.
The adviser urged India to recognize unequivocally the July uprising and the democratic struggle of students and people in Bangladesh. Bypassing it would be detrimental to Dhaka-Delhi relations, he said.
“Bangladeshi people are enjoying democratic rights without any ifs and buts after nearly two long decades! Truth has come... The false will be doomed. Forever!”
Mahfuj also called on India to discard its post-1975 playbook and realize the new realities of Bangladesh. “It's not a post-'75-like situation. The July uprising was about a democratic, generational and responsible struggle. And this struggle will continue for a long period.”
Unlike before, Bangladeshis were united and dignified, he said, adding that they would fight for their dignity till death.
“Delhi or Dhaka, Dhaka, Dhaka! Motherland or Shahadat! These slogans are echoing in every corner of this country for uniting Bangladesh as one body, and India shouldn’t make this unified, dignified and democratic Bangladesh its enemy,” Mahfuj said.
After 1971, Bangladesh succumbed to failure as a polity, but not this time, he said resolutely.
