Hanging people “upside down” is an old wish of Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Recently, he expressed this desire once again regarding Bangladeshis and Rohingyas, terming them ‘infiltrators,’ which has sparked controversy in both Bangladesh and India.
“It’s a highly derogatory remark by a top-level politician against people of a neighbouring country,” said Major General (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman, president of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, told The Business Standard.
General Munir cautioned that the relations between the two neighbouring countries will not improve but rather deteriorate if such comments continue to come from the leadership.
Relations between Bangladesh and India are already strained, particularly after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought refuge in India following a mass uprising on 5 August.
Analysts view Sheikh Hasina as an asset for India in Bangladesh and believe her ouster was a significant setback for New Delhi, leading to unconsidered remarks from their politicians.
They noted that Amit Shah has made similar comments targeting his political rivals in the past and now directed them at Bangladesh.
During an election campaign last week, Amit Shah claimed that the BJP “will hang every Bangladeshi infiltrator upside down to give them a lesson” if people elect the party to power in Jharkhand, according to ANI.
“Infiltrators are the vote bank of Lalu Yadav, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and Rahul Baba’s Congress party. If you change the government, I promise that we will identify and throw out every single infiltrator from Jharkhand,” he was quoted as saying.
Aside from the “upside down” wish, Shah’s remarks echoed those of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At a rally in Jamshedpur on September 15, Modi stated that the infiltration of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis in Santhal Pargana and Kolhan was emerging as a real threat in Jharkhand.
Modi also accused Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren-led coalition government of JMM, Congress, and the RJD of refusing to acknowledge it for the sake of vote bank politics in the name of religion before the upcoming assembly elections.
Amit Shah later not only echoed his boss but also threatened to “hang every Bangladeshi infiltrator upside down.”
Bangladesh has lodged a strong protest against the highly deplorable remarks made by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah regarding Bangladeshi nationals during his recent visit to Jharkhand.
“Through the protest note handed over on 23 September to the Deputy High Commissioner of India in Dhaka, the ministry conveyed its serious reservations, deep sense of hurt, and extreme displeasure, and called upon the Government of India to advise political leaders to refrain from making such objectionable and unacceptable remarks,” stated a Bangladesh foreign ministry statement.
It emphasised that such remarks, coming from responsible positions against the nationals of a neighbouring country, undermine the spirit of mutual respect and understanding between the two friendly nations.
The “upside down” remark, however, is nothing new for Amit Shah.
Addressing a rally in Birbhum, West Bengal, in May this year, he stated that the tormentors of Sandeshkhali would be “straightened by hanging them upside down” and thrown behind bars, according to the Times of India.
“After the Lok Sabha polls, form a BJP government here. We will fix Mamata didi’s goons by hanging them upside down,” he was quoted as saying at a rally in West Bengal in April this year.
NDTV reported him telling election rallies in West Bengal that Mamata Banerjee came to power on the slogan of “Maa, Maati, Manush”.
In Sandeshkhali, Maa was tortured, Maati was given to Bangladeshi infiltrators, and Manush has been suffering due to corruption. “Vote for BJP and Mamata Banerjee’s goondas will be hung upside down and straightened,” he was quoted as saying.
Calling Bangladeshis “infiltrators” is also not new for Amit Shah. He has previously labelled them as termites. A report by the Indian Express on 24 September 2018, noted that raising the issue of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP president Amit Shah stated that “infiltrators have entered the country” and are “eating it like termites.”
