Rights group Odhikar in its yearly report has claimed that the Indian ruling party was largely responsible for destroying the electoral system in Bangladesh.
鈥楾he Indian ruling party influenced and supported the controversial and farcical national parliamentary elections of 2014, 2018 and 2024. The Indian ruling party is largely responsible for wiping out Bangladesh鈥檚 electoral system.鈥� Odhikar said in its yearly report for 2024 published on Monday.
The report also said that India and Awami League consistently did whatever was necessary to establish an authoritarian regime under Sheikh Hasina, including the commission of large scale human rights violations in Bangladesh.
鈥楤efore the controversial and fraudulent elections of January 5, 2014, almost all political parties in Bangladesh decided to boycott the elections. Sujata Singh, the then foreign secretary of the Indian government, visited Bangladesh and succeeded in convincing the Jatiya Party to partake in elections, even though they had decided to boycott,鈥� the Odhikar report said, referring media reports.聽
Members of Jatiya Party became ministers in the authoritarian Hasina government, and at the same time were members of the opposition party in the national assembly, the report added.
鈥業t is evident how India interfered in and influenced the Bangladesh鈥檚 electoral system,鈥� Odhikar director ASM Nasiruddin Elan told 抖阴精品.
He said that the 2014 general election was India鈥檚 beginning of interfering in Bangladesh electoral system.
The general public of Bangladesh protested against India鈥檚 unwanted role in Bangladesh鈥檚 internal and diplomatic affairs and organised 鈥業ndia out鈥� and 鈥業ndia boycott鈥� programmes, said the report, adding that the people of Bangladesh cherish their hard-won independence from Pakistan.
鈥楿nlike the Awami League government, they do not want any semblance of a repeat from the Indian regime,鈥� the report added.
鈥楽ubsequently, several pro-government news media in India began discrediting the mass movement by circulating disinformation regarding attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. There are complaints against the Indian establishment for fanning the campaigns to destabilise Bangladesh,鈥� the report said.聽
Independent fact-checkers have confirmed the Indian media campaign were based on fake news, said the report, adding that such fake and disruptive news continued to be published to date to destabilise the interim government.
The Odhikar report also said that in the aftermath of the deposal of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime amid a student-mass uprising on August 5, there were reports of attacks on the Hindu community and probes into those complaints found that out of the 1,415 complaints received of attacks and vandalism against the religious minority, 98.4 per cent were due to political reasons and 1.59 per cent were due to communal reasons.聽
The report also mentioned the incidents of human rights violation by the Indian Border Security Force, mentioning that the BSF killed at least 24 Bangladesh nationals and injured 29 others in 2024.
After the interim government took over in August, the BSF killed 10 Bangladesh nationals and injured six others till December.
Regarding custodial deaths in Bangladesh, the report says that in 2024, 83 people died in jail custody of which 20 died between August and December.
At least 121 people were killed in lynching in 2024, while 56 of them were killed between August and December.聽
A total of 293 people were killed and 9,466 were injured in 2024 in political violence across the country, said the report.
From August 9 to December 31 in 2024, at least 90 people were killed and 2,478 were injured in political violence.
The report further said that when there was no government in August 6鈥�8, at least four people were killed and nine were injured in political violence.
Total 18 extrajudicial killings were reported in 2024 of which 12 occurred between August 8 and December 31 during the interim government, the Odhikar report said.
