India making enemies of 19 crore Bangladeshis for friendship with AL: BNP's Hafiz

BNP senior leader Major (Retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed on Friday said that the Indian government's biggest mistake was turning 19 crore (190 million) Bangladeshis into enemies by prioritising friendship with the Awami League.

“They (India) don’t want friendship with the people of Bangladesh. They have made the party of looters and thieves their friends,” he told a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club.

Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Front, a platform of Hindus, arranged the programme against Indian aggression.

Hafiz said Bangladesh was meant to have an eternal friendship with India, but the Indian government ruined it by meddling with its close neighbour.

“By supporting the illegal autocratic ruler, Awami League, they (India) have turned 19 crore people of Bangladesh into enemies,” he noted.

He emphasised that Bangladesh wants to maintain good relations with India, but alleged that the BJP has infused religious divisiveness into the country.

Hafiz stated that Bangladesh poses no threat to anyone, but the BJP government is using Indian media to spread misinformation about the country. He also accused political leaders like Sheikh Hasina of attempting to disrupt the existing communal harmony in Bangladesh.

The BNP leader alleged that Sheikh Hasina had destroyed all state institutions in her pursuit of power.

“Bangladesh was not like this before she came to power in 2008. A woman who can be so cruel, who can make people disappear, kill them, and launder so much money—that is Sheikh Hasina. She has persecuted us with thousands of false, fabricated cases,” he said.

Hafiz also accused the Awami League of creating Hindu-Muslim conflicts, stating, “Bangladesh is not an Islamic Republic. This country is a People's Republic. We want to live in a harmonious country where people of all religions and castes coexist peacefully.”

He strongly protested and condemned the burning of the Bangladeshi flag in India, asserting that no one has the right to do so.

Hafiz also criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for suggesting that the Indian government seek the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Bangladesh. “Bangladesh does not need peacekeeping forces; take peacekeeping forces to your own country,” he retorted.