Bangladesh student leader threatens India – “will isolate Seven Sisters, give refuge to separatists

The leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP) in Manipur, Hasnat Abdullah, has escalated his provocative comments targeting India, threatening to isolate the Seven Sister states and provide refuge for Northeast separatists in the case of a destabilization of Bangladesh.

“If Bangladesh is unsettled, then the fire of resistance will spread across boundaries. Since you are sheltering those who are unsettling us, we shall also take in the separatists of seven sisters,” Hasnat told an all-party rally against uneasiness organized by a political organization called Inqilab Mancha at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on Monday.

“What I want to say clearly to India: If you give haven to forces that do not respect Bangladesh’s sovereignty, rights to vote, rights to human rights, Bangladesh will retaliate,” he told reporters.

“This is happening in a country which has achieved 54 years of independence, and vultures are waiting there to control that country,” he said, referring to Bangladesh without mentioning India, which he accuses of interference in Bangladesh's matters.

But his colleague and NCP Convener Nahid Islam demanded nationwide rallies for Victory Day against “Indian interference,” as Victory Day is celebrated to mark sovereignty over Pakistan in 1971.

“On the Victory Day tomorrow, we will not go to the streets to mark the celebration. Rather, we will go to the streets to resist. We will stage rallies of resistance in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh against the Indian hegemony and all the anti-Bangladesh conspiracy theories," NCP Convener Nadim Aziz told the media on Monday.

The rally was called by the Inqilab Mancha, which came out of the protest movements among students that originated in the July uprising, following the attempted assassination of their spokesperson, Sharif Osman Hadi, who was then a parliamentary candidate as well.

It brought together supporters from a broad ideological platform ranging from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, Gano Odhikar Parishad, AB Party, toIslami Andolan Bangladesh, according to local media.

Islam: “The attack is proof of a larger political attack.” “With the bullet hitting Osman Hadi, the July Revolution has been attacked.”

In a speech given to the media two days prior, Islam accused India and the Awami League of a possible connection to the attack, but he did not give any evidence. He stated the Awami League was operating from exile in New Delhi with the help of India and intended to regain power in the government, police, universities, and media of Bangladesh.

“Unless the Awami League problem can be completely settled in society and in politics, none of us will be safe,” he said after a meeting with Bangladesh’s interim Chief Muhammad Yunus, which was attended by opposition party leaders as well as Hadi’s family members.

After that, a statement was made by the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh, requesting that New Delhi should not let suspects trying to kill him enter Indian territory and that they should be arrested and extradited if they manage to enter Indian territory. In fact, India’s MEA on Sunday stated, “India has never allowed its territory to be used for activities inimical to the interests of the friendly people of Bangladesh.