Guwahati: Voices in Bangladesh spewing hatred for India were heard again, drawing a sharp response from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Hasnat Abdullah, a senior leader of newly-formed National Citizen Party (NCP), warned on Monday that Dhaka could offer refuge to forces hostile to India, including separatist groups, potentially threatening to split India’s ‘seven sisters’ of the Northeast.
“I want to make it clear to India that if you provide shelter to forces that do not respect Bangladesh’s sovereignty, potential, voting rights, and human rights, Bangladesh will respond,” Abdullah said while addressing a gathering at Dhaka’s Central Shaheed Minar, possibly referring to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been in exile in India since fleeing Bangladesh in August 2024
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Abdullah said that Bangladesh will offer sanctuary to “separatist and anti-India forces,” and such support could be used to isolate the ‘seven sisters’ — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Four of those states — Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram — share a land border with Bangladesh.
“If Bangladesh is destabilised, the fire of resistance will spread beyond its borders,” Hasnat was quoted as saying by local media.
“Even after 54 years of independence, Bangladesh continues to face attempts by ‘vultures’ seeking to exert control over the country,” Hasnat claimed.
The Assam CM called the thought of merging India’s Northeast with Bangladesh “irresponsible and dangerous,” and warned that India will not remain silent.
“For the last one year, statements have been coming again and again from that country that the states of Northeast India should be separated and made a part of Bangladesh,” Biswa Sarma said on the sidelines of a programme in Lumding.
Experts in India believe militant and separatist groups operating in the Northeast have often used Bangladeshi territory as a safe haven, transit route and logistical base.