Fool me once... The story of Indian Hegemony in Bangladesh

Fool me once... The story of Indian Hegemony in Bangladesh. 

My grandfather was a Colonel of the fighting arm of Pakistan Army. He was a war veteran of the 1948, 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars. During 1971 he became a prisoner of war in India for almost three years. 

Although he was a man of few words, I would always probe him about his experiences in Bangladesh, which was East Pakistan then, and everytime he would give the same straightforward explanation. "The Bengalis were deceived by the Hindus"

The Hindutva Establishment in India that was working under the influence of the "Akhand Bharat"(United India) mantra, wanted to establish Hindutva Fascist rule in the subcontinent. 

 

In 1971 the Bengalis of East Pakistan, traded their Pakistani allies for their new unintended Indian masters. The disenfranchised Bengali youth of the late 1960s had signed a pact with the devil. 

These Bengali youths under the spell of Indian propaganda that we now call "astroturfing," were sold a dream which transpired into an ongoing nightmare.

Pakistani Forces had lost heart during the battle, mainly due to the negative public sentiments and reactions in East Pakistan towards them. These were essentially created through Indian propaganda and the egotistical policies of politicians in both East and West Pakistan. 

Very soon after the youth of Bangladesh helped India dislodge the Pakistani Army, they realised their mistake after witnessing the sinister events that occurred after this event. 

The youngsters during the uprising were warned repeatedly by wise Bengali friends, not to fall for Indian tricks, but being human they thought the grass was greener on the Indian side. They were played by the Indians, only to realise their mistake when it was too late to do anything except tow Indian lines.

One such Bengali youngster was Zain ul Abedin, who had joined the Indian commissioned Bengali proxy known as the BLF. ( Mujib Bahini ) He later wrote a book titled "RAW and Bangladesh" as an acknowledgement of the mistake made by the majority of Bengalis, by ignoring the warnings of the wise people among them. 

Zain ul Abedin narrates the shattered dreams of the Bengali people like himself who were decieved by the Indians. In his book he states: "The realisation of what lay in store for us started as soon as we crossed over to India..."

The Bengalis had a right to govern East Pakistan themselves but in the process they failed to realise that a country always needs an Army and If that army doesn't belong to their own country then it becomes that of it's enemy's.

Bangladesh was created to gain independence from Pakistan but in the process the Bengalis enslaved themselves in an Indian hegemony.

Zain ul Abedin describes how his Indian handlers treated them with disgust, taking them as agents and not friends.

Bangladesh fell for the design that the Hindutva Fascist establishment have and still want to further implement for centuries. 

Zain ul Abedin described this realisation by the Bengalis, stating: " the real Indian face lay bare after the surrender of Pakistani forces, when I saw the large scale loot and plunder by Indian Army personal. " 

He further explains the horrifying ordeal saying: "The Indian Soldiers appeared to be the modern edition of Marhata Cavalry who is notorious in history for plundering Bengal during the middle age".

It was the plan of the Indian forces all along and remained reserved only until the last Pakistani soldier was removed from the scene. 

Zain ul Abedin states: "The Indian Soldiers swooped on everything they found and carried it away to India".

The reality shock faced by the Bengalis is described by Zain ul Abedin : "Their ( Indian Soldiers ) haste for plunder made our people believe that they had been waiting for such an opportunity for centuries and they were not ready to waste a single moment when the cherished opportunity arrived".

Even today, the people of Bangladesh continue to find themselves in a catch-22 situation under Indian hegemony where the Indian soldiers of yesteryear have been replaced by the spies of RAW. 

Zain ul Abedin being a fighter, bravely writes in his book that: "RAW has spread it's tentacles in almost all spheres of Bangladesh. Its network is growing like a cancer".

Zain ul Abedin wrote about this situation in Bangladesh where his compatriots were tricked into accepting India's hegemony. He goes on to say: "It was evident from the conduct of the Indian Army that they treated Bangladesh as a colony." 

He further states that: "It is now evident that India had helped the creation of Bangladesh with the intention that it would be a step towards the reunification of India". 

This fantasy of "Akhand Bharat" is what drives Indian state policies. All the disinformation campaigns to malign and break Pakistan can be traced back to the dreams of Hindutva Fascists. 

It's common knowledge that India gets preferential treatment in almost all bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India. India continues denying water and trade rights to Bangladesh aswell as an ethnic subjugation of the Bengali Muslims. 

The only light at the end of the dark tunnel for Bangladesh is it's youth. Today the youth of Bangladesh are standing up for their rights in the face of Hindutva Fascism. 

Zain ul Abedin was a fighter who accepted the mistakes made by himself and his compatriots, and he choose not to stay quiet, but instead expose the iron grip of RAW over  Bangladeshi society. 

However as a former fighter he also asks in his book, of the people of Bangladesh, and all the well wishers of his country, that they break RAW's supremacy in the country by not repeating history and making the same mistakes made in 1971. Afterall, they do say "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me."

Extracts from  'RAW and Bangladesh': by Zain Ul Abideen

(Screenshot of inscription attached)

Above article written by Major Adil Raja(R) originally appeared in The Nation on 16 Dec 2020.