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India Today
14 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Opinion: Former Bangladesh spy chief's China visit: What it means for Dhaka and Delhi
The former Bangladesh military intelligence chief's recent 12-day visit to China has raised alarm bells in New Delhi. Major-General (retired) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, who departed for China on June 6, returned to Dhaka on June 18. According to a Bangladeshi intelligence report this week, "His recent travel to China and return may warrant observation due to his past affiliations and the strategic sensitivity of the cases he was implicated in.' Sources also said that a senior national security official from the Yunus government is currently in China, having arrived there during Chowdhury's visit. advertisementRezzakul Haider Chowdhury, who has served as director-general of both the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and the National Security Intelligence, was jailed during the Awami League regime for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of a huge consignment of weapons meant for rebel groups in Northeast India and Bangladesh through the Chittagong port in April 2004. He was also sentenced to death for the attempted assassination of then-opposition leader and later prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in 2004, within three months of the Chittagong arms seizure. Several Awami League leaders and activists were killed in the grenade attack on a party rally in Dhaka, but Hasina miraculously escaped. An ISI asset? Chowdhury is seen in New Delhi as a 'high-grade asset' of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, who reportedly has close links to Chinese intelligence as well. Both countries have backed rebel groups in Northeast India since the 1950s. advertisementUnited Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) military wing chief Paresh Baruah was also convicted in the Chittagong arms haul case after Bangladesh police seized 10 truckloads of weapons, including 4,930 firearms (mostly assault rifles), 27,020 grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 2,000 grenade launching tubes, 300 rockets, 6392 magazines, and 11,40,520 bullets, when the consignment was being offloaded from two ships at a jetty in Bangladesh's port city of huge consignment of weapons, mostly manufactured by the Chinese ordnance behemoth Norinco Group, was loaded onto ships in the port of Beihai in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in March 2004. More weapons of US- and Israeli-make were added to the consignment and transferred to two Bangladeshi vessels in the Thai port of Ranong and brought to Chittagong, where it was seized on the night of April 1, 2004. The weapons were meant for ULFA and other rebel groups in Northeast India, as well as Islamist terror groups like the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. Chittagong arms haul case linkAfter the ouster of the Awami League government in August last year, the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus released those convicted of trying to smuggle in the largest illegal arms consignment. On January 16 this year, the Bangladesh High Court acquitted six people convicted in the Chittagong arms haul case, including Chowdhury and former state minister for home affairs, Lutfur Zaman Babar. The state did not challenge these acquittals. The high court also reduced the sentences of five others, including that of ULFA leader Paresh and Chowdhury were both very close to Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, whose mother, Begum Khaleda Zia, was prime minister at the time of the massive arms seizure in Chittagong. Yunus recently met Tarique Rahman in London and expressed his satisfaction about the meeting regarding the future roadmap for those acquitted were the late Matiur Rahman Nizami, former industries minister and Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Mohsin Uddin Talukder, the former managing director of the state-run Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited, KM Enamul Haque, its former general manager, and Nurul Amin, former additional secretary in the industries individuals were initially sentenced in the arms smuggling case. The court abated the appeals of Brigadier General (retd.) Abdur Rahim, the former director general of National Security Intelligence, labour supplier Deen Muhammad, and Haji Sobhan, a trawler owner, because all of them are now dead. The sentences of five others were also reduced. advertisementBaruah's sentence reducedParesh Baruah's life imprisonment sentence was reduced to 14 years. The ULFA leader is reportedly holed up in a clandestine location on the China-Myanmar border. Additionally, the sentences of four other accused have been reduced to 10 years each. These are Akbar Hossain Khan, a former NSI field officer, Major (retd.) Liaquat Hossain, the former deputy director of the NSI, Wing Commander (retd.) Sahab Uddin Ahmed, and former NSI director Hafizur intelligence officials said in 2004 that the Chittagong police were not informed about the attempt to bring in such a huge quantity of weapons by rogue elements in the Bangladeshi 'deep state', who were backing Northeast Indian rebel groups and Islamist radicals in Bangladesh. So, when they were informed about the unloading of the weapons consignment by their sources at the Chittagong docks, they rushed in to effect the seizure. But the cases were cold-stored and only made headway after the Awami League came to power in 2009. In January 2014, the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court and Special Tribunal-1 sentenced 14 individuals to death, including Babar, Nizami, and Baruah, in the attempted assassination case. In a separate case under the Arms Act, they also received life sentences for their involvement in the smuggling case. advertisementConcerns for India Indian security circles seem worried over these acquittals, and also the release of scores of known Islamist terror leaders like Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team. "These elements are close to Pakistan's ISI and could well be now used to foment trouble in India's eastern states. After Operation Sindoor, the ISI and Pakistan Army could use their Bangladesh assets to strike with maximum deniability,' said a senior Indian intelligence official on condition of anonymity. "Islamabad would be less than bothered and may actually welcome the possible worsening of India-Bangladesh relations.'India has also not taken kindly to Yunus' recent reference to India's Northeast as a landlocked region dependent on sea access on Bangladesh, a situation that the Nobel laureate said presented a great opportunity for the Chinese economy. His comments were made during a visit to China. Yunus again suggested drawing Northeast India into a regional grouping involving Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, which drew a sharp riposte from Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.(Writer is a former BBC and Reuters correspondent and author who has worked in Bangladesh as a senior editor with Expressed in this opinion piece are those of the Author)
Indian Express
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Opinion Bangladesh and Pakistan are finding new areas of convergence
The abduction and killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu leader in Dinajpur near Dhaka, marks the latest in a growing series of violent incidents targeting minorities in Bangladesh. These attacks have surged since August 2024, when Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power. The minorities issue has further strained India–Bangladesh relations, already tense due to the rhetoric and foreign policy choices of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. Dhaka's criticism of violence in West Bengal has prompted another sharp exchange of words between the two neighbours. As India and Bangladesh drift apart, the Yunus-led interim government has reached out to other regional powers, with the most notable pivot being towards Pakistan. This growing proximity is a significant shift from historical precedent and reflects the changing political landscape in South Asia. While some may question the durability of this renewed engagement, there is little doubt that Islamabad will make every effort to deepen ties with Dhaka. Bangladesh, for its part, appears willing to reciprocate — though it must also contend with bitter memories of the past. The first breakthrough came when Yunus met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the D-8 Summit in Egypt in December 2024. Yunus's recent visit to China and the reported Chinese plans to construct an air base at Lalmonirhat, near India's Northeast, were met with concern in New Delhi. Historically, Sheikh Hasina, upholding the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, saw little reason to engage with Pakistan. Yet, even when formal political ties were limited, some military links reportedly endured. Under the new dispensation in Dhaka, the Director General of Bangladesh's Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) visited Islamabad — a move swiftly reciprocated by a high-level delegation from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to Dhaka earlier this year. Unusually for intelligence exchanges, these visits were accompanied by extensive publicity and photo opportunities, seemingly intended to convey a political message. The first ISI visit marked a gap of nearly 35 years and was soon followed by a second delegation, which also toured the Chittagong region, indicating a further desire to engage. Still, this budding friendship remains fraught with uncertainties. Understandably, the post-Hasina political environment in Bangladesh reflects a new mood, but this does not mean that the country's youth and civil society have forgotten the trauma of the past. Despite public anger towards the legacy of Mujibur Rahman and his family, the genocide and mass rape of Bangladeshis during the 1971 war remain deeply etched in national memory. These unresolved historical wounds resurfaced during the Sixth Round of Foreign Secretary-Level Bilateral Consultations, held in Dhaka on April 17, after a gap of 15 years. Bangladesh demanded compensation of $4.52 billion from Pakistan, covering foreign aid, unpaid provident funds, savings instruments, and $200 million originally pledged by international donors for the victims of the 1970 cyclone. Bangladesh also reiterated its longstanding demand for a formal apology from Pakistan — something successive governments in Islamabad have avoided, with former President Pervez Musharraf offering only a vague 'regret'. These demands were also raised by previous Awami League administrations, including calls for the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis. In the current phase, military ties are also strengthening. Bangladesh recently participated in Pakistan's multilateral naval exercise, AMAN-25, and, according to media reports, has expressed interest in acquiring the JF-17 fighter aircraft. While Bangladesh has long relied on China for defence procurement, it now seeks to diversify its options. Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman recently visited Russia as well, at a time when three Russian warships were docked at Chittagong. Bangladesh's strategic calculus also shifted with the appointment of Khalilur Rahman — previously the Chief Advisor's High Representative on the Rohingya issue — as National Security Adviser, amid reports of growing US pressure on Dhaka to align more closely with American policies in Myanmar. Economic ties between Dhaka and Islamabad are also expanding. A cargo vessel from Karachi recently docked at Chittagong Port, and Bangladesh purchased 50,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan. These developments point to new areas of convergence. Both countries also share a growing unease about Delhi's posture in the region. While Bangladesh's youth and general public have rejected the Awami League's undemocratic and corrupt practices, they remain committed to the core values of the 1971 Liberation War — equality, freedom, justice, and democracy. The changes India wishes to see in Bangladesh cannot be achieved through cursory meetings. A sincere and meaningful dialogue remains essential.
