Be mindful: India lodges strong protest with Bangladesh over interim govt adviser’s now-deleted social media post

The Indian government has lodged a stern protest with Bangladesh over a now-deleted social media post by a leader and asked ‘all concerned’ to remain mindful while making such remarks.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We have actually strongly registered our protest on this issue. We understand that the post that you referred to has been taken down.”

He was referring to the remark by Bangladeshi leader Mahfuj Alam where in a social media post he showed Indian territories like West Bengal, Assam and Tripura as parts of Bangladesh.

Alam is considered a close aide of Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus.

According to reports, he was one of the key organisers of the mass protests in Bangladesh this year which led to the downfall of the former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government.

Jaiswal said: “We would like to remind all concerned to be mindful of their public comments.”

“While India has repeatedly signalled interest in fostering relations with the people and the interim government of Bangladesh, such comments underline the need for responsibility in public articulation,” he said.

“And once again to repeat that we have strongly protested against this with the Bangladesh government,” he said.

Bangladesh Watch X page shared the Facebook post of Alam, an adviser in the interim government, where he said India maintains a “contain” and “ghettoize” policy towards Bangladesh.

In his provocative post, he said that to be truly victorious, independent, and liberated, Bangladesh must “come out of its cage” and expand geographically.

Relationship between India and Bangladesh reached a new low after Sheikh Hasina was ousted on August 5 and Muhammad Yunus took charge of the interim government on August 8.

India had protested against the rising atrocities against Hindus in the Muslim-majority South Asian nation.

The arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in November further escalated tension between the two neighbouring countries.