Home Minister to India: Hasina card and friendship are contradictory
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed addresses a discussion at DU senate bhaban on Saturday. Photo: Collected.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has issued a warning to India regarding the political activities of death-sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently residing in India.
He said, "You will play the Hasina card and want friendly relations with Bangladesh; remember, the two are contradictory. I hope the Indian government will understand this."
He made these remarks as the chief guest at a discussion meeting organized at Dhaka University's Nawab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban on Saturday, marking the second anniversary of the July Mass Uprising. The discussion, titled "The Role of University Teachers in the Fall of the Fascist Government," was organized by the Dhaka University White Panel and the University Teachers Association of Bangladesh (UTAB).
At the meeting, the Home Minister said that if India allows the former Prime Minister, who fled in the face of the mass uprising, to engage in political activities from there, then India must rethink its friendly relations with Bangladesh.
Calling on India not to support Hasina's political statements and anti-Bangladesh activities, Salahuddin Ahmed said, "Bangladesh wants to maintain friendly diplomatic relations with neighboring India based on mutual dependence and sovereignty."
Regarding the mass uprising, he said, "It was not Newton's apple, but rather the fruit of 17 years of continuous struggle. We had to ripen it; it never fell automatically. We had to achieve this apple, this movement, this mass uprising, as the result of a long 17-year chain of movements."
Addressing the NCP (National Citizen Party), Salahuddin Ahmed said, "Our new friends in politics talk about new arrangements and new politics but follow the old system's path. I would urge them to correct themselves. One cannot behave like a university professor while being a primary school student in politics. They must learn; they have a long way to go. The field of politics is very difficult, treacherous, and thorny. It is not so easy."
