Bangladesh, that ungrateful speck of a nation birthed from India’s blood and sacrifice in 1971, has never once paused to lick the hand that freed it from Pakistan’s genocidal clutches. With India’s wholehearted assistance—troops storming the frontlines, arms supplied in torrents, and refuge given to millions—Dhaka was supposed to emerge as a grateful ally. Instead, it has spewed venom nonstop, painting India as the eternal bogeyman threatening its sovereignty. From border skirmishes to diplomatic backstabbing, Bangladesh’s leaders have mastered the art of biting the hand that feeds. This isn’t mere ingratitude; it’s a calculated betrayal, festering into a full-blown threat that India can no longer ignore.
Consider the track record: decades of ceaseless Hindu persecution within Bangladesh’s borders. Temples razed, minorities lynched, properties seized— all under the watchful eye of a state that feigns democracy while nurturing Islamist thugs. Reports from human rights watchdogs paint a grim picture: thousands of Hindus fleeing annually, their homes torched by mobs emboldened by ruling party indifference. India, ever the fool, pours in aid—rivers of development funds, trade concessions, even water-sharing deals like the Ganges treaty—hoping to buy goodwill. What does it get? Accusations of “hegemony,” border killings of Indian fishermen, and a steady drip of anti-India rhetoric from Bangladeshi pulpits and parliaments. This is not neighborly friction; it’s a pattern of hostility that screams entitlement from a nation that wouldn’t exist without Indian intervention.
Fast-forward to the insurrection of July-August 2024, when Sheikh Hasina’s ouster plunged Bangladesh into chaos. India, sensing the storm, offered sanctuary to the fallen leader and urged restraint. Dhaka’s response? Crossing every limit of civility. New power brokers, cozying up to Pakistan and radical Islamists, now openly claim India’s Seven Sisters—Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura—as Bangladeshi territory. These aren’t idle barbs; they’re irredentist fantasies fueled by maps redrawn in madrassas, echoing Pakistan’s old playbook of balkanizing India. Militias sprout like weeds: thousands of armed cadres, trained in jihadi camps, chanting slogans of “liberating” Indian northeast. Intelligence whispers of Pakistani ISI fingerprints, arming these groups with smuggled weapons across porous borders. Bangladesh isn’t just ungrateful—it’s becoming a launchpad for India’s dismemberment.
India reels from an infestation it ignored for too long: immeasurable illegal Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators, burrowed deep into the nation’s fabric. Assam’s NRC exposed millions; West Bengal’s demographics shift alarmingly; even Delhi’s slums teem with them. These aren’t economic migrants; they’re a demographic time bomb, voting blocs tipping elections, straining resources, and seeding radical networks. Bangladesh’s government, far from curbing the exodus, encourages it—a silent invasion to bleed India dry. Now, under this new Pakistan-aligned regime, the threat metastasizes. Militias aren’t playing; they’re stockpiling RPGs, drilling for guerrilla war, and radicalizing Rohingya refugees as proxies. India’s northeast, already scarred by insurgencies, faces encirclement: China nibbling from the north, Myanmar unstable to the east, and now Bangladesh weaponizing its underbelly.
Complacency has been India’s Achilles’ heel. Decades of “neighborhood first” naivety, secular posturing, and bureaucratic inertia let this cancer spread unchecked. Delhi diplomats sip tea in Dhaka while militias muster; border forces plead for action amid daily incursions. The 2024 upheaval shattered illusions: Hasina’s fall wasn’t organic—it was a radical putsch, ousting a pro-India bulwark for anti-India firebrands. Pakistan, sensing weakness, funnels funds and trainers, reviving the 1971 nightmare in reverse. Bangladesh now postures as Islam’s vanguard, hosting terror summits disguised as “resistance” forums. Claims on the Seven Sisters aren’t bluster; they’re trial balloons for proxy wars, with militias probing Indian defenses in Tripura and Mizoram. Illegal migrants, once a nuisance, now form sleeper cells, awaiting the signal to erupt.
This “new Bangladesh,” firmly in Pakistan’s fold, promises death by a thousand cuts. Expect escalated infiltration, funded terror strikes, and diplomatic isolation pushes at the UN. India’s union hangs by a thread: lose the northeast, and the dominoes fall—economic corridors severed, military flanks exposed, national morale cratering. Yet India dithers, trapped in nonchalance. Why? A toxic mix of leftist guilt, vote-bank politics, and fear of “aggression” labels from global busybodies. Enough. Complacency kills; action preserves.
India must inflict a severe blow to cauterize this wound. Seal borders with iron resolve— razor wire, drone patrols, shoot-on-sight for infiltrators. Launch covert ops to dismantle militias: special forces raids, cyber takedowns of propaganda networks, asset freezes on Dhaka’s enablers. Economically, strangle them: halt Teesta waters, impose trade embargoes, reroute Brahmaputra flows if needed. Diplomatically, expose the rot—rally QUAD allies against this Pakistani proxy, arm Kurdish-style resistance within Bangladesh’s minorities. No more treaties or aid; treat Dhaka as the adversary it is. Intern the infiltrators en masse, deport them to face their jihadist homeland. If militias strike, respond with overwhelming force—level their camps, as Israel does Hamas.
History demands it. In 1971, India didn’t hesitate; it crushed Pakistan, birthing Bangladesh. Today, that “child” turns feral, fangs bared. Ignore the liberal hand-wringers screaming “fascism”—survival trumps optics. Bangladesh’s leaders, drunk on power and piety, bet on India’s softness. Prove them wrong. A severe blow now prevents a thousand cuts later. Expel the cancer, or watch India bleed out. The union’s integrity demands no less.
শ্রী অনিমিত্র চক্রবর্তী হলেন একজন সাংবাদিক ও বিভাগীয় লেখক (columnist) এবং বেঙ্গল ভলান্টিয়ার্সের এক সক্রিয় কর্মী।
