Following the bloody student-led mass protests and the fall of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s elected government on 5 August 2024, Sheikh Hasina fled to India. In the wake of the pro-revolution student interim government, strong anti-India sentiments arose. Many claim that Bengalis are ungrateful, arguing that although India liberated Bangladesh and rescued its people from the genocide committed by the Pakistan Army, Bengalis today are anti-Indian. This perception, however, is misleading. To understand the truth, history must be briefly revisited.
Under the British colonial policy of “divide and rule,” the Muslim League was established in Dhaka in 1905 with British support, in opposition to the Indian National Congress (INC). The British encouraged Hindu-Muslim riots, which ultimately led to the Two-Nation Theory and the division of united India. At that time, the INC was the only major political party struggling for an independent and united India. While most Bengali Muslims demanded the creation of Pakistan, the INC continued to advocate for unity. INC leaders were imprisoned, tortured, and even executed by the British, whereas the Muslim League maintained relatively cordial relations with the colonial administration. The British deliberately supported the League to deepen divisions between Hindu and Muslim communities.
The creation of Pakistan in 1947 was heavily shaped by this colonial strategy. Rather than emerging purely from an organic nationalist movement, Bengali support for Pakistan was formed through the partition of British India on religious grounds under the so-called “Two-Nation Theory.” This division fractured the subcontinent and weakened political unity among Muslims themselves. Later, Pakistan attacked India in Kashmir and occupied independent Balochistan on 27 March 1948. Since then, the Baloch nation has suffered under Pakistani occupation.
Bengalis, who had initially supported the creation of Pakistan, later faced severe oppression at the hands of the Pakistan Army. Events such as the 1952 Language Movement (Bhasha Andolon), in which hundreds of students, teachers, and scholars were killed, exposed the brutality of the Pakistani state. This repression generated deep resentment, and educated Bengalis came to realize that the creation of Pakistan had been a grave historical mistake. From this realization emerged the demand for an independent Bengali nation.
The 1970 elections, Operation Searchlight in 1971, and the Bangladesh Liberation War bore witness to widespread atrocities, including mass killings and systematic sexual violence. These crimes are well documented in Bengali historical texts and post-war investigations, including the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, which highlighted the cruelty of the Pakistan Army against Bengalis.
During the Liberation War, religious political parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim League, Nizam-e-Islam, and Jamiat Ulema Pakistan—along with their associated groups like the Razakars, Al-Shams, and Al-Badr—betrayed their own people by supporting the Pakistan Army against the Mukti Bahini freedom fighters.
Globally, many Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries, as well as superpowers like the United States and China, supported Pakistan and opposed the creation of Bangladesh. India, however, stood apart. It provided shelter to millions of refugees, rescued victims of genocide, and ultimately went to war against Pakistan, leading to Bangladesh’s liberation.
After independence, collaborators were prosecuted, and their families were barred from state privileges and employment. This was necessary to deliver justice and strengthen nationalism. Since then, India has consistently maintained friendly relations with Bangladesh and supported its development.
In August 2024, riots led by student groups and pro-Pakistan religious elements toppled the democratic government. Bangladesh was effectively overtaken by forces tied to the ideological legacy of the Razakars and Al-Badr. Today, many political officials and students influenced by these ideologies openly threaten India’s security, including ambitions to sever the “chicken neck” corridor and occupy the Seven Sisters region. This hostility is fueled by Pakistan, China, and other Muslim countries, whose interference has intensified through military and governmental exchanges with Bangladesh. Yet, ordinary Bengalis—such as moderate, educated youth from families who suffered Pakistan’s cruelty during the liberation war, along with national parties that endured under Pakistan’s oppression—still remember India’s decisive role in their freedom.
The targeted killing of Osman Hadi by unknown gunmen has intensified concerns about Bangladesh’s freedom. Bangladesh will only be truly free when it is liberated from traitors and anti-India groups, and when all remnants of the 1971 collaborators are held accountable. Pakistan, meanwhile, continues to leverage religious identity as a strategic tool in its policy toward India, maintaining close ties with China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan—relationships India often perceives as hostile.
In this context, India must rethink its geography and neutralize anti-Indian forces inside Bangladesh. With Pakistan already facing internal conflicts involving the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), India must collaborate with the Baloch and Sindhi movements to support the disintegration of Pakistan. Backing a secular Republic of Balochistan would fundamentally alter regional power dynamics, weaken Pakistan’s strategic position, and reduce China’s influence in South Asia and the Middle East.
The emergence of an independent and secular Baloch Republic would align with India’s national security interests and reshape regional alliances, potentially influencing Turkey, Bangladesh, and several Arab states.
In light of these factors, India may consider evaluating the Baloch cause within a broader strategic framework, as part of efforts to counter hostile regional alignments and address long-term security concerns. In this plan, India must further strengthen its relations with Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s trade route blockade has accelerated India–Afghanistan economic ties. India should establish industries and production centers in Afghanistan, supporting medicine manufacturing, healthcare infrastructure, and the construction of refineries and industrial facilities across multiple sectors. These initiatives will create jobs, reduce poverty, and strengthen Afghanistan’s economy.
India must also prepare contingency plans, including reclaiming Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) before a potential collapse of the Pakistani state by the TTP. This would ensure India becomes a contiguous neighbor of Afghanistan and gains direct access to the Central Asian republics.
Strategically, India should formally recognize the Afghan Taliban—as Russia has already done—and deepen coordination with Kabul. New Delhi must engage secular Baloch nationalists, particularly BLA leadership, to support the establishment of a free, independent Balochistan. Simultaneously, India should encourage Afghanistan to absorb Pakistan’s Pashtun province (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), merging it into a Greater Afghanistan. Such steps would secure long-term stability for the entire region—for India, Afghanistan, Balochistan, and Bangladesh—as a disintegrated Pakistan would neutralize China from region and anti-India forces in Bangladesh as well.
About the Author
Fatima Baloch is a senior geopolitical and regional expert who writes extensively on Afghanistan, Balochistan, and India, with a focus on strategic dynamics and regional security.
