Dhaka, Nov 19: Former Bangladesh Minister and Awami League leader Mohammad Ali Arafat on Tuesday criticized the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, asserting that a government backed by Islamist extremists would never understand the party’s relationship with India.
Arafat’s statement followed the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentencing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two of her top aides for “crimes against humanity” related to the July demonstrations last year. Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal received a death sentence, while former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment after turning state witness. Dhaka has also urged New Delhi to immediately hand over Hasina and Kamal under treaty obligations.
Taking to X, Arafat said, “Our relations with India are not based only on 1971 but also on our mutual interests on many fronts, including jointly combating domestic and transnational terrorist groups. Under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, the government not only signed the Land Boundary Agreement with India but also resolved the maritime boundary issue through respectful and constructive engagement.”
He highlighted the benefits of cooperation in communications and energy sectors and stressed that Awami League views ties with India through the lens of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, rather than through the Pakistani military perspective.
“Diplomacy based on cooperation and collaboration through the perspective of 1971 will always help resolve problems and improve the well-being of people on both sides, as it did under Sheikh Hasina. In contrast, diplomacy with India shaped by the prescriptions of the Pakistani military establishment will lead only to mutual loss, with the people ultimately becoming the main losers,” Arafat added.