All of a sudden, a few days ago, posters pushing for a “Greater Bangladesh” were plastered on the walls of Dhaka University. What interested Bangladesh watchers in India was that the so-called “Greater Bangladesh” was to encompass the whole of Northeast India, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Myanmar’s Arakan province. The grandiose idea obviously would have no or very few buyers, but what is of significance is that these posters were put up under the banner of Saltanat-e-Bangla, a newly formed shadowy Islamist group that is said to enjoy the backing of a Turkish NGO. Several questions arise: Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has adopted a brazen anti-India stance and openly backed Pakistan during the current conflict between the two neighbours. During the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, Pakistan deployed, among other arsenals, weaponised Turkish drones against India. There are reports that at least two Turkish drone operators were killed in the Indian assault on Pakistan, which means Turkish defence or technical personnel were deployed on Pakistani soil. Can any Turkish NGO back non-state actors on foreign soil against another country without the backing of its government? Turkey’s support to Bangladesh isn’t an overnight development. It is said that after Pahalgam, it was Pakistan that helped the bonding between Ankara and Dhaka, but Turkey has a history of aiding Bangladesh. Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Bangladesh were established way back in 1974. Dhaka was a firm supporter of Turkish claims to Cyprus in the 1970s and 1980s and Turkey provided technical and financial assistance to Bangladesh during its state-building phase. Besides, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), following its adoption of a political Islamist ideology in 2011 instead of its previous liberal democratic approach, began to provide support to the Muslim Brotherhood across the world. Bangladesh’s radical Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, therefore received Turkey’s backing and support. The question now arises whether Ankara is backing Bangladesh to open up a front against India, at Pakistan’s behest, in the eastern flank. What cannot be missed is that this is happening under the nose of Bangladesh’s ad-hoc, unelected leader Muhammad Yunus and his government. In fact, Mr Yunus seems to have allowed his country to be a playing field of global anti-India forces like Pakistan, China and Turkey. Not only is New Delhi taking a serious note of the turn of events, sections within the Bangladesh Army are beginning to wonder whether Muhammad Yunus has become a pawn at the hands of global players. A concerned Army chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, held what he called an “urgent meeting” on Wednesday (May 21) to discuss the security situation in the country with the Army top brass and the chiefs of the Bangladesh Navy and Air Force. After this, Gen. Zaman directed the Yunus-headed interim government to hold elections by December, which is clearly seen as an ultimatum of sorts. Gen. Zaman also told the Yunus regime not to take any major decision involving national security without keeping the armed forces’ top brass informed. The Army Chief has also rejected the move to establish a so-called humanitarian corridor from Chittagong to Myanmar’s Rakhine state, as proposed by the United States. Gen. Zaman is against Bangladesh being sucked into the vortex of an internal war in Myanmar. Mr Yunus had perhaps almost agreed to the “corridor” proposal to please Washington, in the hope that the Trump administration would let him hold on to power without holding elections for as long as possible. Obviously now, the Bangladesh Army will keep a close watch on the Yunus regime and consider intervening if its call is not heeded. Now, all Bangladesh watchers are aware how the Yunus regime, soon after grabbing power in August last year, following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, invited the Pakistan Army to train Bangladeshi soldiers. One also cannot ignore reports that Pakistan is pressuring Mr Yunus to remove Gen. Zaman as Army chief and install a pro-Pakistan Bangladesh Army general in his place. But, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman is said to enjoy the backing of most Army commanders in Bangladesh. Then, Mr Yunus goes to China and educates the Chinese about the eight Northeast India states being landlocked. Mr Yunus said Bangladesh is the sole “guardian of the ocean” in the region, and invited the Chinese to expand its economy in Bangladesh territory along Northeast India. Mr Yunus also sought Chinese assistance in rebuilding an abandoned Second World War-era airfield at Lalmonirhat, which is really close to the strategic 22-km-wide Siliguri Corridor, or Chicken’s Neck, in West Bengal which links the Northeast to India’s mainland. Thereafter, last fortnight, Mr Yunus made another statement that indicated that he has his eyes set on India’s Northeast. Yunus told Indira Rana, deputy speaker of Nepal’s House of Representatives, who was visiting Dhaka, that Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the states in northeastern India can really progress with an “integrated economy”. By that construct, Mr Yunus sought to look at Northeast India as an entity independent of India. Mr Yunus may be just an irritant for now, but what New Delhi cannot ignore is Dhaka’s drastic tilt towards Beijing. During Mr Yunus’ trip to China in March, his first overseas visit after assuming office (all leaders in Dhaka earlier would make his/her first overseas visit to India), Beijing committed to $2.1 billion in investments, loans and grants, including $400 million to modernise Mongla Port and $350 million to build an industrial zone to house Chinese manufacturing and boost Dhaka’s capacity. Dhaka and Beijing have actually bonded well and rather fast after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as PM and her escape to India in August 2024. Since then, there have been a number of political and diplomatic contacts between the two countries, including one between China’s foreign minister Wang Yi and Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser Touhid Hossain earlier this year. New Delhi appears to be maintaining minimal contact with Dhaka, but had sent out a tough message to the leadership there by withdrawing the transshipment facility to Bangladesh goods for export to third countries through Indian ports and airports. Besides, India has also barred the import of various consumer items from Bangladesh through land transit posts in the northeastern states and has also announced that ready-made garments from Bangladesh would be allowed entry only through the Kolkata and Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Navi Mumbai) sea ports. These steps have hit Bangladesh hard and the Bangladesh Army chief, Gen. Zaman, seems to have realised this better than Muhammad Yunus the economist. Restrictions like these would continue until an elected government emerges and, hopefully, decides to engage with India in a meaningful manner. Wasbir Hussain, author and political commentator, is editor-in-chief of Northeast Live, Northeast India’s only satellite English and Hindi news channel. The views expressed here are personal.
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