Bringing the temperature down

The recent assault on the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala is yet another unfortunate reminder of the fracture which has formed upon Indo-Bangladesh relations since the ousting of the Awami League government.

According to reports, on Monday, the Hindu Sangarsha Samiti vandalized the Bangladeshi mission while also taking down the Bangladesh flag and setting it on fire as a show of protest against the arrest of the Sommilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote’s spokesperson Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh. The incident has been met with the expected backlash in Bangladesh, with a large-scale protest being held by students of Dhaka University’s Jagannath Hall on the same night condemning the Agartala attack.

While West Bengal authorities have capably taken action against this unwarranted attack, arresting at least seven individuals and taking stern action against several of their own law enforcement officers, and security is also said to be heightened as a response to the incident, now is a time for reason to prevail over emotions for both Bangladeshis and Indians.

Considering just how high the scope for escalation is given the circumstances, both the Bangladeshi and Indian publics need to work towards bringing the temperature down. Actions such as the desecration of flags on both sides of the border help absolutely no one, and indeed further pushes us away from reaching any level-headed consensus on the status quo.

As we see it, the Agartala attack is the direct result of a lot of misinformation and exaggerated punditry on the part of Indian politicians and media -- these elements need to restrain themselves from working, inadvertently or otherwise, against both Bangladesh and India. The onus is on India to show that it stands by Bangladesh during such a critical moment in its history through actions. Thoroughly investigating the Agartala attack would be a good first step to that end.

It is in the best interests of both our nations for relations to only become stronger, not weaker, but for that to pan out, cooler heads must first prevail.