Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. Democracy is endangered in and around Indian sub-continent and almost in all the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) sallied
Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. Afghanistan is ruled by Taliban, a declared terrorist organisation turned into ruler of an Islamic monarchy supported by Pakistan. Due to developmental stakes of India in Afghanistan for the last many years, it is in harmony with India for now, though many business interests were lost.
Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom, a constitutional monarchy with Parliamentary form of government, headed by a King – Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk and a Prime Minister – Tsering Tobgay. It has been an eye sore to China but maintains good relations with India too.
Maldives, a water locked a tiny country with a group of islands in the Indian Ocean. It has a Presidential system of government. It is an Islamic state. Mohamed Muizzu of People’s National Congress (PNC) became the President of Maldives in 2023. He came to power with his anti-Indian plank and has drifted towards China due to weak diplomatic strategies by Modi government.
Nepal, federal democratic republic has been under the influence of China and communist ideologies. It has been enjoying the closeness of India at the same time dancing to the tunes of China
Pakistan is a rogue Islamic state and had been indulging in terrorist activities in India. The rulers have been unfriendly with India which has not made diplomatic moves to solve the soured relations with it. It is a country of a false democracy. Dictatorship is the order of the and the army has been the inspiration and life line of the country.
Sri Lanka had been having sweet relationship with India always. But of late, it had developed anti-India tendencies under the diplomatic manipulations of China. The rulers of Sri Lanka have become despotic and dictatorial. The result was disorder and anarchy which led to the fleeing of the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the President in a parliamentarian election in the political turmoil took place in 2022 and anti-government protests and demonstrations held by the public due to the worsening economy, the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksha slanted towards China and drenched Sri Lanka into deep debt China. Sri Lanka has not come out its crises as yet and relations with India are not good enough. Myanmar, though not a SAARC nation, its relations are not good with India due to control of military junta there. Most of the opposition leaders had been under arrest and imprisoned. Manipur imbroglio was stated to be worsened due to extremists from Myanmar helped the riot torn arsonists. China surrounds India and her neighbourhood
Sheikh Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. India is surrounded by dictatorial regimes and governments including China and Russia. There has been no sign of democratic set up in these countries, particularly in China which is led by a life time President and Dictator Xi Jinping. India under the present regime has been playing a second fiddle.
Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. China has been encroaching upon Indian territory and indulging in skirmishes all the time and Narendra Modi remained unmoved. China has been dominating all over the Asian Continent and the world by its dumping business of cheap goods and basic medicinal ingredients etc.
India’s failed regional diplomacy in the internal un democratic imbroglio
Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. India has not been able to impress upon its neighbouring countries for establishing democratic principles of governance. It has not been playing a role of the regional guru of democracy. The reasons for its failure because democracy itself is in danger in India for the last ten years.
Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. The system of election is manipulated and managed. Opposition leaders are haunted, raided, jailed using investigating agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department.
Business houses and Industry are being handed over to a couple of friends of the regime. Opposition governments dismantled, destabilised and over thrown. High prices of essential commodities and high unemployment afflicting the youth and the general public. Farmers and peasants are agitating. Laws are amended to suit the ruling dispensation. Institutions are made subservient. Minorities are attacked, subdued and their rights and privileges are restricted.
Media curtailed and controlled and it has become a lap-lock media (Godi- media) eulogising the leader and its misgovernance. According to Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, the government is ruled by MAA MAA (Modi, Adani, Amit Shah; Mohan Bhagwat, Ambani, Ajith Doval) and everything else revolves around it. The India National Congress dispensation was rocked and devastated. The Gandhi family was defamed, harassed and subjected to unprecedented questioning.
The Thakeres’ were thwarted, split, unseated and threatened. The Pawars’ were attacked, split and demoralised. The Lallu family ditched, supressed and subjugated to a failed submission. The Mulayam warlords were victimised, split and subjected to decimation, which did not happen. Mayawati was mollified, sidelined and its cadres were decapacitated and her party was dismantled. Nitish Kumar at the verge extinction due to Modicide efffect. Most of the Regional Parties are at the verge of closing their offices.
The Southern regimes were smashed when K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the ex-Chief Minister of Telangana State was defeated. The Andhra Pradesh regime led by Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was ransacked in the elections. In Odisha Naveen Patnaik was dismantled in the elections when Narendra Modi took away all the seats of Members of Parliament and his government was over thrown in the elections 2024.
Narendra Modi’s own Party leaders were eliminated systematically like L.K. Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vasundara Raje Scindia, Yeddyurappa, Subrahmanyam Swamy, Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi etc. Chief Ministers of BJP ruled States tossed, shuffled and reshuffled to weaken them. Efforts are on to replace Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh.
Policies and rules made to benefit certain business houses to turn India into a capitalist economy. Efforts made to change the Constitution when Narendra Modi declared that he was winning 370 and 400+ for NDA which would have enabled him to change the Constitution which boomeranged. He could only manage 240 seats less than an absolute majority of 272 to form government independently. He managed to form the government with NDA partners- Chandra Babu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and Nitish Kumar of Bihar. Narendra Modi standing on the crutches of these regional leaders
India failed to assess the internal happenings in Bangladesh
Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. When Narendra Modi is on a weak wicket, how could he make efforts to restore democratic governments of the neighbourhood. Sheikh Hasina Wajed seems to have derived inspiration from India. She had been at the helm of affairs for the last 15 years continuously. She took the same measures as had been prevailing in India. She attacked the opposition, raided them, jailed them and not allowed them to participate in the elections in a democratic way. She rigged the election and won.
Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. The aftermath her exit the incidents are mindboggling. Awami Leage office was grounded. Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre was destroyed. Pro Pakistan Students’ wing and Bangladesh National Party workers created havoc destroyed properties temples and the properties of the supporters of Awami Leage and many of its leaders were killed. Social media was agog with anti-India rhetoric. The upsurge has been more than a student movement for abolition of reservation policies as had been initially anticipated.
The youth was on the street demanding government jobs by abolishing reservation system. They were on the streets stressing on their demands. The courts came to their rescue and Hasina agreed to abolish the reservation system and implement the reservation policies announced by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
But Awami Leage cadres resented and they started counter attacks on the supporters of the quota system put forth by the Court. But however, their agitation to demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina due to prevailing worse economic situation and spiralling prices continued. The student agitators were joined by anti-social elements, ISI supported goons and religious fundamentalists and other antagonist of India including China sympathisers.
The police brutalities aggravated the situation when more than a hundred were killed. It was almost a police state and some of the Hasina supportive elements were deployed to thwart the arsonists who used a brute force to control the mob which resulted in the causalities. The army was also called to control the mob violences. Lakhs of people marched to the residence of Hasina Wajed which was ransacked. She was advised by the Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman, to leave the country to save herself from any untoward happening. She resigned and the army arranged her an aircraft to cross over to India.
In the continued violence, the extreme elements attacked Hindu temples and broke the statute of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Hasina was a given a safe passage and she was brought to an India military base of at Hindon and she is kept in secure place. She was received by Ajith Doval, India’s National Security Advisor. No political leaders dared to meet her. She is stranded, a waiting for safe exit since United Kingdom denied her entry. She might prefer to fly to USA.
India has a lot of stakes in the Bangladesh affairs since India had been its friendly from its formation. It is closely associated with Bangladesh culturally, geographically, demographically and diplomatically. The Bangladesh opposition led by Begum Khalia Zia and his party Bangladesh National Party had been having anti-India tendencies. If elections are conducted democratically, she may bounce back to power and the trouble would start from the day one. China would be its close ally, which would not be in the interest of India. India would be losing one more sensitive country.
Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. Ajith Doval’s apathy and External Affairs Minister’s mishap – a fallacy in foreign policy.
Sheikh Hasina Wajed – Democrat turned Dictator – Dictators are destined to decamp. The foreign policy has been not good for India in the present regime and the Foreign Minister S. Shivshankar has been a flop. Ajith Doval was confined to curtail the internal political scenario all the time and save his boss from losing power. All the neighbours are not in good terms with India. India has lost Canada and Maldives. The United States of America and United Kingdom have not been happy with it.
The Arab world is irritated when India supported Israel in the war against Palestine. Ukraine is also not happy with India’s policies against its aggression by Russia. France, Germany, Türkiye all are not in good terms. India needs to redraw its foreign policy. Non-Aligned Moment has not seen any forward movement in the last 10 years of Modi rule.
The SAARC has not seen any light of the day. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are interested in building their images, while the affairs of external happenings are astray in the weak hands of S. Shivshankar. Hasina failed to grasp the reasons behind the unrest and the result was lethal. She had to fled the country for which her family sacrificed to make it a reality. Dictators are destined to decamp, a disgrace to humanity.