India Involves Bangladesh in Afghanistan
Kashmir Watch, Aug 18
By Sajjad Shaukat
While the US-led NATO forces have been facing stiff resistance of the Taliban in Afghanistan and are likely to withdraw in accordance with the announced schedule. Even during the interim period, Indian conspiracy against Pakistan seems to fail because of successful guerrilla warfare of the Taliban in that country. So New Delhi has decided to involve Bangladesh in Afghanistan to intensify its plot against Islamabad.
On Indian enticement, the Awami League is opening Bangladesh embassy in Kabul. In this regard, on July 31 this year, Bangladeshs Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni in Dhaka said that we have decided to reopen Bangladesh embassy in Afghanistan shortly, explaining that the process has been initiated as Afghanistan is now a member of SAARC and good news will be shared. According to the foreign minister, an official team will visit Kabul to select the mission building offered by Afghanistan.
Separately, Bangladesh is contemplating to open a number of full-fledged embassies or consulates in Latin America and Africa to expand economic and trade activities as well as providing services to Bangladeshi nationals living in those parts of the world.
The foreign minister of Bangladesh stated that during the current financial year, Bangladesh embassy or consulates would be opened in Brazil, Nigeria, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Portugal.
At present, Bangladesh has 47 missions abroad. Dr Dipu said it is necessary to expand Bangladesh missions abroad considering the interest of Bangladeshi citizens living there and enhancing economic cooperation.
As regards Afghanistan, Bangladesh mission in Kabul was shut down in 1989. However, in collaboration with New Delhi, Bangladesh embassy in Kabul is alarming for Pakistan due to a number of dimensions.
In this connection, some reports have suggested that the staff of the Bangladesh embassy has been trained by India, while a team consisting of very senior officials of Dhaka have visited Indian embassy located in Kabul. According to some reports, New Delhi will also provide its staff for the Bangladesh embassy. The fact of the matter is that Indian Intelligence has already got access in Bangladesh foreign office and some anti-Pakistan tactics will be adopted covertly from the new embassy in Afghanistan which has already become a centre of regional conspiracies.
Notably, more than 15,000 Indian troops are stationed in Afghanistan under the guise of supervising construction of road Jalalabad-Port Chahbahar project that has now been completed. Indian Border Road Organization (BRO) is being used in facilitating weapons to the anti-Pakistan agents. While, New Delhi has officially declared 14 Indian consulates in Afghanistan, but on ground, has established 200 foreign offices and training camps where RAWs intelligence officials with the help of Khad, are doing their utmost to particularly destabilise Pakistan. In Wakhan, a religious Madrassa of the Indian Muslim clerics is functioning under the patronage of RAW and Mossad. Very young boys including Afghans, recruits are mostly Uzbeks, Tajiks and Caucasians who also come from Central Asia, bordering Afghanistan. Thus more than 20,000 ideologically motivated suicide bombers have been trained in Afghanistan. They are regularly infiltrated into troubled spots of Pakistan. Posing as volunteers, they join the Taliban militants to fight against Pakistans security forces. They have destroyed girls schools, video shops and other installations including brutal beheading of captured personnel. These miscreants also conducted a number of suicide attacks and bomb blasts in Pakistan, killing a number of innocent persons and personnel of the security forces.
Besides Pakistan, there are clear chances that RAW agents could easily use this new embassy as their shelter in order to foment terrorism in Iran, China and Afghanistan. Here, question also arises regarding Bangladesh embassy that will this be an embassy or an Indian listening post?
Nonetheless taking cognizance of the new development, governments of Pakistan, China and Iran should keep their eyes open before Bangladesh embassy starts working.
There are also concerns amongst true Bangladeshi people and the opposition parties that sitting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid has a strong tilt towards India. While establishing closest ties with New Delhi, she is giving secular orientation to the country by trying to purge the society from religious touch. In this respect, she has recently issued instructions for the removal of Islamic books, written by famous scholar Maulana Madoodi. She has also put the local leaders behind the bar, who were protesting against her un-Islamic thoughts.
It is of particular attention that the Bangladesh Supreme Courts judgment nullifying the 5th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in 1977 is seen as a milestone in restoring the constitutional course of the nations history. In this context, Bangladeshs Supreme Court was under the influence of the present government. Reportedly, Mrs. Hasina has already constituted a 15-member parliamentary committee to draft a vital amendment in view of the Supreme Courts ruling. The main theme has been given to the committee to promote secularism which means end of Islamic culture in Bangladesh.
It is noteworthy that Dhaka has old border and water dispute with India, which have always attributed to New Delhi as the latter has been more aggressive in this context. But some reliable sources suggest that now Mrs. Hasina has directed his staff to close the chapter of water and border conflicts with India. Now the Awami League has given transit trade facilities to Bharat�a move that has been resisted by Bangladeshi patriots for the past several decades. In this connection, a writer has rightly said, Hasina Wajid again started Honey Moon Period of relationship with India.
On the other hand, a survey conducted by a local agency pointed out that 98% Bangladeshis are not ready to leave Islamic culture on the name of secularism. They also hate undue interference of India in Bangladeshs affairs. They are quite aware that under the cover of friendship, New Delhi wants to make Bangladesh its colony. There is no doubt that in the recent past, Indian RAW conducted a number of subversive activities in Bangladesh like bomb blasts.
It is RAW which played a key role in helping Mrs. Hasina Wajid come in power. Directly or indirectly various tactics were applied in this regard. First it engineered a judicial coup which allowed the Awami League to win. 14 million voters of the opponent parities were disenfranchised. Then the Jamaat e Islami was banned by Hasina Wajed.
Regarding the new embassy of Bangladesh in Kabul, India wants to fulfill its designs of regional dominance. For this purpose, Hasina Wajid looks to be under the grave influence of RAW. So she will not be in a position to refuse her masters for using Bangladesh embassy against Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. By availing this opportunity, India will fully involve Bangladesh in its conspiracies which take origin from Afghanistan.
Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations. Email:
sajjad_logic@yahoo.com
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