Manufacturing anger: The ISI-Jamaat strategy to poison India-Bangladesh ties

New Delhi: The ISI and Jamaat-e-Islami have been pushing hard a propaganda campaign against India, whereby it is claimed that New Delhi is interfering with the electoral process in Bangladesh. While India has categorically rejected this claim, Intelligence agencies say that this propaganda would increase as the election date nears. 

While the ouster of Sheikh Hasina and the subsequent selection of Muhammad Yunus as the caretaker of the interim government have given the ISI plenty of information, there are still others in Bangladesh who share pro-India sentiments.

Officials say that the common man in Bangladesh does not entirely have an anti-India sentiment. Students and even other citizens have relied on India for its education and medical facilities. Trade with India is also very important for many Bangladeshis, and hence the pro-India sentiment remained high.

The ISI wants to change this perception and realises that unless it has the people on its side, it cannot tinker with their emotions. Both the ISI and Jamaat realise the importance of the latter winning the elections. It also understands that for it to push its radical agenda, it has to create a situation in which the people are anti-India.

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The ISI basically wants to replicate what it has done in Pakistan, an official says. Bangladesh watchers say that while there is a pro-India sentiment among many in the country, the people still do not like any sort of interference when it comes to their internal matters. The ISI and Jamaat have latched on to this and hence are trying to spread a false narrative that India is meddling in the elections that are scheduled for February 12.

Officials say that anti-India propaganda in Bangladesh is only going to increase ahead of the elections. The people are aware that Bangladesh was a prosperous country under Sheikh Hasina, who shared good relations with India. Further, the people also understand that New Delhi and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are in close contact. Both have expressed the desire to share good ties as neighbours. This is something that has not gone down too well with the ISI-controlled Jamaat.

A BNP victory is not something that the ISI would want. It has realised that it can control Dhaka if the Jamaat is in power. Under Yunus, ties with Pakistan have soared, and the ISI has been having its way in the country. With a BNP in power, the ISI would find it hard to push its agenda as the party wants to ensure that the country remains prosperous and shares good ties with its neighbours.

The very fact that the BNP decided not to team up with the Jamaat for the elections is a sign that it has no intention of pushing a radical agenda. It has learnt from the mistakes of the past, whereby it was branded pro-radical when it ran the government with the Jamaat-e-Islami, officials say.

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If the ISI and Jamaat manage to sway the opinion of the people against India, then there is a greater chance that they may not vote for the BNP. The Awami League has been banned from contesting the elections, and hence, there is a battle between the BNP and Jamaat.

By spreading false propaganda against India, the Jamaat hopes that the people’s opinion will change. The more that the people become anti-India, the more radical their approach would be, and this suits the Jamaat’s narrative perfectly. If the people feel that New Delhi is meddling with the election process in Bangladesh, then they would not like this. If the perception changes, then the people would not want a BNP in power as it would share close ties with India, officials add. This would make them swing towards the Jamaat, the official also added.

India has, however, made it clear that it wants a free and fair election. “We have consistently reiterated our position in favour of free, fair, inclusive and credible elections being held in Bangladesh in a peaceful atmosphere,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement, while reacting to the charges levelled by the Yunus government.