Prophet remarks India’s matter… why should we instigate: Bangladesh

“First of all, this is an external issue (for Bangladesh). This is the issue of India, not of Bangladesh. We don’t have to say anything,” Mahmud said at an informal interaction with a group of visiting Indian journalists in Dhaka late on Saturday evening.

Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud.

5 min readDhakaJun 13, 2022 07:25 AM IST First published on: Jun 12, 2022 at 06:36 PM IST

The controversy around the derogatory references to the Prophet is India’s internal matter and the government in Dhaka need not respond to it, Information and Broadcasting Minister of Bangladesh Dr Hasan Mahmud said here Saturday.

“First of all, this is an external issue (for Bangladesh). This is the issue of India, not of Bangladesh. We don’t have to say anything,” Mahmud said at an informal interaction with a group of visiting journalists from Indian news organisations including The Indian Express.

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Mahmud congratulated Indian authorities for having taken action in the matter — one BJP spokesperson was suspended, the other dropped from membership— and said that he would not “ignite” the issue further.

Asked whether the silence of Dhaka when over a dozen Muslim countries and the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have protested or issued statements of condemnation, Mahmud said:

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“We are not compromised in any way at all. We strongly condemn any insult to the Holy Prophet whenever and wherever it happens. But the Government of India has taken action, and we thank them for it. We congratulate the Government of India. Now the law will take its course.”

The insult to the Prophet is not much of an issue in Bangladesh, the Minister said. “So why should I instigate, why should I ignite the issue? Has it not got enough attention (already)? My job is not to ignite,” he said.

There were some protests by Muslim groups in Dhaka on Friday, including one outside the city’s main mosque. Opposition parties and Islamist groups in Bangladesh have attacked their government’s failure to criticise the Modi government.

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The Bangladesh government has, however, remained firm on its refusal to be provoked; on Friday, Mahmud, who is also a senior office-bearer of the country’s ruling Awami League, warned in a party meeting in Gaibandha in northern Bangladesh that strict action would be taken against anyone creating “unnecessary confusion or incitement”, local media reported.

“We do not tolerate offending any religion and if anyone tries to create chaos in this country over the incidents of other countries, it will be controlled with iron hands,” The Daily Star quoted the Minister as having said.

In Dhaka on Saturday evening, Mahmud was also asked about the comments made from time to time against alleged Bangladeshi “infiltrators” by senior political figures in India. He replied that these leaders may have their domestic political compulsions, and that Bangladesh was not too worried about their statements.

“Because of domestic politics they may have said… Politicians say many things for reasons of domestic politics. We don’t ask for explanations, we understand… We don’t need to give attention to them,” Mahmud said.

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The relationship between Bangladesh and India has reached new heights under the leadership of Prime Ministers Hasina and Modi, the Minister said. He expressed his gratitude to the people and the government of India for standing with Bangladesh during the country’s war of liberation in 1971.

“The soldiers of India shed their blood for the people of Bangladesh. You (India) opened your doors and your hearts to our people. The relationship between the peoples of Bangladesh and India was born out of the ashes of war and forged in our blood. We are indeed blood brothers,” he said.

While some challenges remain, and there is much ground to be covered still to realise the full potential of trade and communication links between the two countries, the “Modi government has always been supportive of Bangladesh in all respects”, Mahmud said.

Asked about the long-delayed Teesta water-sharing agreement between the two countries, and whether that might impact the planned visit of Prime Minister Hasina to India later this year, the Minister said: “On Teesta, the problem is the provincial government (of West Bengal), not the Central government… So the PM can visit India even if Teesta is not yet done. But I hope the issue will be resolved. We want the problem to be resolved. That it has not been resolved so far is not because of the central government (of India).”