India-Bangladesh relations appear to be entering a dangerous downward spiral, with little indication that tempers will cool anytime soon. In the wake of the assassination of student leader Sharif Usman Hadi, emotions are raw and patience is wearing thin on both sides. Dhaka has now summoned India’s high commissioner to lodge a formal protest over what it describes as violent incidents targeting Bangladeshi diplomatic facilities, including vandalism at visa centres and protests outside its mission in New Delhi.
Bangladesh argues that Indian authorities failed to prevent these demonstrations or to keep them at a safe distance from sensitive diplomatic sites, effectively allowing a persistent threat to develop. India, for its part, has levelled similar accusations against Bangladeshi authorities, alleging leniency towards protests outside the Indian mission in Dhaka. As these tit-for-tat complaints continue, a far more troubling undercurrent is gathering strength beneath the surface. Following Usman Hadi’s killing, another student leader in Bangladesh was shot and remains hospitalised. Disturbingly, celebratory reactions from segments of the Indian media have only served to inflame an already volatile situation. Matters were further aggravated when a Hindu man in Bangladesh was lynched over allegations of blasphemy. While Bangladeshi authorities acted swiftly and arrested those responsible, the incident triggered counter-protests in India, adding another combustible layer to an already charged atmosphere.
The tone in India has increasingly turned punitive. Supporters of the BJP, long accustomed to confrontation with Pakistan, now appear to be directing similar hostility towards Bangladesh. Calls for the expulsion of Bangladeshi players from the IPL, the imposition of sanctions and even military action are being aired openly. While such rhetoric has, troublingly, been normalised in the context of Pakistan, its redirection towards Bangladesh introduces a new and unpredictable dynamic, one whose consequences are difficult to foresee. What was once a diplomatic disagreement has now acquired national, religious and overtly hostile overtones.
With revolutionary fervour hardening attitudes on one side and Hindutva supremacist ideology driving discourse on the other, the space for compromise is rapidly shrinking. Unless restraint is exercised by political leaders and amplified by responsible media, this escalating confrontation risks slipping beyond the control of diplomacy altogether.
