Does BNP’s call to boycott Indian products concern Delhi?
More than two months after the 12th national election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has initiated an anti-India campaign. Alongside the BNP, its allies have publicly urged for the boycott of Indian products. This campaign emerged in the aftermath of the election and was spearheaded by two smaller parties aligned with the BNP's concurrent movement.
BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi sought to enhance the campaign by symbolically discarding his Indian shawl.
Somoy National Desk
4 Minute Read
At that time, the BNP did not publicly address the issue. However, BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, sought to enhance the campaign by symbolically discarding his Indian shawl.
Read more: BNP calls for boycotting Indian goods
The BNP has accused India of influencing the recent election and has consequently called for a boycott of Indian goods. Political analysts note that leading up to the previous election, BNP officials frequently visited the embassies or high commissions of various Western nations in Dhaka.
Some ambassadors from influential countries have made public statements or taken actions indirectly supportive of the BNP, prompting satisfaction within the party. However, India has consistently maintained that elections in Bangladesh are an internal matter and that it is the prerogative of the Bangladeshi people to choose their leaders.
India has expressed its desire for free and fair elections, asserting its stance as a friendly nation. Analysts speculate whether the BNP expected India to exert pressure on the Awami League on their behalf and are disappointed by India's perceived lack of involvement.
Before the 11th national election in 2018, a delegation of senior leaders from the BNP, including representatives from Dhaka and one or two from London, visited India and held discussions with Indian think tanks. Their objective was to garner support from India for their party in the upcoming election. However, over the subsequent five years, the party refrained from making any public anti-India statements. This has led some political analysts to speculate whether their stance against India influenced their decision not to participate in the election.
When the senior joint general secretary of the BNP threw the Indian blanket and added fuel to the fire a day or two before that, another senior leader of the party openly told the media that they wanted the cooperation of all friendly countries, including India, in restoring democracy.
Read more: Rizvi’s threats, lies expose BNP’s aversion to truth, plot to muzzle freedom of speech
So, where did the BNP's India boycott movement originate? The biggest illegal arms shipment in the country’s history was caught when the BNP-Jamaat coalition government was in power. It was suspected that ten truckloads of weapons were being transported through Bangladesh for Indian separatists; later, it was revealed that Jamaat leader and then-Industry Minister Motiur Rahman Nizami was behind the arms shipments. So, once again, analysts seek to determine the BNP's motivations for the anti-India movement. Before the elections, the BNP was constantly agitating for a caretaker administration. At the time, they did not object to India. But, after the election, when there was no disturbance in the country or abroad, why did the BNP suddenly turn to this movement?
For several years, the political reality in Bangladesh has been that the BNP and the Awami League aggressively oppose each other. The Awami League is saying that the BNP is doing a boycott movement to destabilise the market. According to observers, the Awami League should not have made such statements. Because the market will continue at its current pace. Nobody can ever accomplish any good by intervening here. Analysts also question whether the government is using the BNP movement as an excuse for failing to control the price of products.
Some people hold the opposite opinion. They say that India was afraid and issued those statements through the Awami League.
According to political observers, is the call to boycott Indian products limited only to certain cosmetics? How much importance is the BNP weighing on its larger scale? Starting with onion, ginger, and garlic vegetables, many daily commodities are imported from India. Apart from this, one of the main sectors of Bangladesh’s foreign exchange earnings is the garment industry, where many raw materials come from India. What is the solution if the country’s economy is affected by the BNP's call to boycott?
Read more: People reject BNP’s call: Hasan
In today’s world, no one can sit in peace by boycotting anyone; the Ukraine-Russia war is a big proof of that. The West was more uneasy about cornering Russia with an exclusive ban on Russia. Therefore, analysts believe that ‘cutting off one's nose to spite one's face’ can never be a solution to political opposition. In this case, they advise everyone to proceed with understanding.
When asked about this, Bangladesh Bank’s former governor and economist, Dr Atiur Rahman, told Somoy, “This (call to boycott Indian products) is opposite to how the whole world is moving forward. The whole world has now become global; countries are using each other’s products.”
