Bengali women on both sides of the border are known for their abiding romance with the six-yard wonder. Bangladeshi PM Shiekh Hasina deftly used this love for saris among Bengali women to turn the tables on the opposition leaders backing a boycott Indian products campaign that surfaced on social media in the aftermath of the country’s general election on January 7, 2024.
“How many Indian saris do their wives have?” She asked at an event organised on the occasion of the country’s Independence Day observed on March 26, 2024. “When they burn their Indian wives’ saris in front of their party office, only then will it be proven that they are truly committed to the boycotting Indian products,” she added evoking peals of laughter from the Tejgaon office of the ruling Awami League.
The trigger behind the dare to opposition from Hasina known for her elegant collection of Jamdani and Tangail Saris was on March 27, 2024, when Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary general, of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), the main opposition force in the country threw away his Kashmiri Shawl.
“Social media is buzzing with Boycott India Campaign. There is public dissent against the import of Indian goods. The wave of Indian products is visible,” the senior BNP leader had told the media a week ago.” Therefore, as a party representing people the BNP and other 63 democratic parties and citizens of the nation are expressing solidarity with the boycott of Indian products,” Rizvi added after tossing his shawl visuals of which are doing the rounds on social media.
The undercurrent of the anti-India sentiment in Muslim majority Bangladesh is not new, but it has become more visible mostly during sporting events like the celebrations in Dhaka after the Indian cricket team lost the match with Australia in the World Cup Finals last year.
General discontent over India’s alleged interference in Bangladesh politics goes back to the 1990s, but the murmurs have grown louder in recent years especially after the general election which was boycotted by the BNP and its allies in January 2024 in which Hasina returned to power for the fourth time in a row.
Since then, the BNP social media army, most of it which operates from Western countries like the party’s defacto chief Tariq Rehman has been trying to create a narrative that the one-sided election got legitimacy only because of India and that is why the people should boycott India and Indian products.
A source in Dhaka, close to the BNP dispensation said the idea for a boycott-India call was inspired by the developments in the Maldives, where Mohamed Muizzu used the anti-India sentiment to win the presidential elections. “The plan was to make it look like a people’s movement which gathered momentum and then use popular sentiment to embarrass the Hasina government and create chaos as India is an emotive issue.
The fact that the BNP which failed to execute its street protests after the elections is planning to use anti-India sentiment became clear on March 26, 2024 after when Rehman, during a online session with party colleagues in Chittagong said that the government in Bangladesh had become a slave of the neighbouring country.
While it’s true that the Boycott India campaign on the social media and crossed out photos of Indian products did get a traction among a section of the Bangladeshis, it did not capture the imagination of the majority in a country heavily dependent on Indian imports ranging from sugar and spices to saris and spare parts.
Against this backdrop, the speech of Rizvi on March 27, 2024 outside the BNP Naya Paltan office is seen by some in his party as an act of desperation. Many have questioned the rational behind the move that it would further distance the party from New Delhi. The discomfort in the BNP, which tried its best to reach India before the election was apparent as the matter came up for discussion at the meeting of the party’s highest policy decision making body this week.
“Our policy making body discussed this issue when some leaders wanted clarity on the party’s stand on the boycott call. Till now, our party has no official stand on it,” said Sayrul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP media cell.
“But it is also true that this call from the people and some of our leaders were supporting it, he added. Farida Yasmin, an Awami League MP and the president of the National Press Club said that the BNP was using this anti-India card after failing to impact on electoral politics. “This is nothing but a conspiracy, but it won’t have any effect or impact,” she said.
While the cracks in the BNP came apparent on the issue trade bodies like the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued statements saying that the boycott call did not impact the demand for Indian products is likely to rise, said a trade outfit source.
Amid the hectic festive shopping in Bangladesh, the ripples of which can be felt in Kolkata’s new Market where Bangladeshi shoppers are coming in droves Hasina added to the BNP embarrassment.
“When the BNP was in power, the wives of some ministers used to go to India. They used to buy sarees and travel here and there. They used to go with one suitcase and return with six-seven suitcases,” said Hasina, recounting what she learnt from her contacts during her days as an Opposition leader between 1991-96 and 2001-2006.
She broached another emotive issue for Bengalis, such as kitchen spices. “All the items like hot spices, onions, garlics, ginger which we need for cooking come from India. These should not be seen in anyone’s kitchen, said Hasina at the party programme.
Till late evening, the BNP did not come up with any official reactions to the PM’s dare but sources in the opposition camp said Rizvi, known as the mouthpiece of Rehman was still sticking to his guns as he felt the boycott call had the potential to gain popular support.
A senior editor of a Bangladeshi news media said that the sheer necessity of Indian products would ensure an utter failure of the boycott call, but not mark the end of anti-India sentiment. “The allegation of Indian meddling in politics will always be there. But the most important factor that has contributed to the anti-India sentiment in the last few years is the difficulty in getting an Indian visa, said the editor who wished to remain anonymous.
“The Indian High Commission in Dhaka has become like a fortress, which cannot be accessed. The behaviour towards the general public is so rude that it is making people more anti-India. There also have been instances of intimidation by some high-ranking officials towards journalists who have questioned India or its policies. Such an approach cannot be tolerated when India calls Bangladesh its most trusted friend,” added the senior journalist.
