Why is the new Bangladesh government angry with India now, said- we will not accept it

Relations between Bangladesh and India are at their lowest level since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s interim government’s foreign adviser Mohammad Tauhid Hussain said on Monday that border killings are a hindrance in promoting better relations between Bangladesh and India.

Responding to questions from reporters at the Foreign Ministry, Tauheed Hussain said, “We definitely want good relations with India based on equality. It (bilateral relations) should be two-way, not one-way… Border killings are an obstacle to good relations between the two countries.”

Bangladesh media reports claimed that a 14-year-old teenager was killed by the BSF at the Kantivita border in Thakurgaon’s Baliadangi Upazila on Sunday morning. The teenager was trying to enter the Indian border illegally and was allegedly trying to cut the border’s wire fence. During this time, he was allegedly shot by the BSF.

Will Bangladesh lodge protest with India?

The comment by the interim advisor of the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry comes in the wake of the alleged killing of a Bangladeshi teenager by the BSF.

When Tauhid Hussain was asked by reporters whether the Foreign Ministry would lodge a formal protest with India over the incident, the advisor said the ministry would take further action only after getting confirmation of the incident from Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Earlier, on September 5, Bangladesh had requested India to investigate all border killings, identify those responsible and hold them accountable.

‘Murders continued even during the ‘golden era’ of India-Bangladesh’

Bangladesh human rights organization Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) alleges that BSF killed 31 Bangladeshis in 2023, of which 28 died due to gunshot wounds. According to the organization’s claim, between 2009 and 2022, BSF killed 563 Bangladeshis.

Referring to these figures, Hussain said, ‘Such killings happened even when India-Bangladesh relations were described as a golden chapter. Till now there has been no change in it. This cannot be accepted.’

He stressed that good relations between countries are not limited to government-to-government relations but also depend on what the people of each country think about the two countries. He said that relations between the two countries are affected by the killings happening on the border.