Anti-India slogans once again echoed in Dhaka as protests returned to Bangladesh, this time against Prime Minister Tarique Rahman over rising prices, a prolonged power crisis and fuel and gas shortages. On Friday, National Citizen Party convenor Nahid Islam, known for his anti-India rhetoric, held a mass protest rally in Dhaka and demanded the resignation of the Home and Energy ministers.
The rally, held in front of the National Museum in Dhaka and drawing a massive crowd, was not limited to domestic issues. Videos circulating on social media show NCP leaders raising the slogan "Dilli na Dhaka", with thousands gathered at the rally responding with "Dhaka, Dhaka". Nahid Islam and the NCP are known for whipping up anti-India sentiments at their rallies, as was seen in the run-up to the Bangladesh elections earlier this year. The agitation was also attended by radical NCP MP Hasnat Abdullah, who last year threatened to cut off India's Seven Sisters and drew India's ire.
What Nahid Islam said at the rally
The usual rhetoric of India conspiring against Bangladesh was raised by Nahid during his address. He said the current government will not be able to protect Bangladesh from India's conspiracies, according to a report in Prothom Alo. Nahid, one of the prominent faces of the 2024 July uprising that led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, also mentioned alleged killings along the border and claimed Muslims were being persecuted in Assam and West Bengal. He also alleged there were plans to demolish mosques in Delhi. However, he offered no evidence to substantiate any of these claims or back them up with facts.
The NCP convener also warned that if the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty was not renegotiated fairly, the people of Bangladesh would take to the streets again, saying they will not compromise even an inch on their rightful share. The 30-year-old treaty between India and Bangladesh expires in December this year and has become a critical diplomatic issue amid turbulent bilateral ties. Bangladesh's Water Resources Minister has pressed for a new treaty by December 12. The treaty governs the sharing of Ganga waters at the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal during the lean season from January 1 to May 31. The Ganga, known as the Padma in Bangladesh, is the country's lifeline, and nearly one-third of its population depends on the river system for livelihood.
How anti-India rhetoric returned after Hasina
The latest slogans against New Delhi come against a steady rise in anti-India rhetoric in Bangladesh following the ouster of Hasina in August 2024. During the tenure of interim chief Muhammad Yunus, the rhetoric sometimes turned sharp, and several political and student leaders made provocative remarks targeting India as Bangladesh warmed up to Pakistan. Before the Bangladesh elections, Nahid had called for nationwide rallies against Indian interference, while Hasnat Abdullah threatened to isolate India's seven north-eastern states and shelter anti-India elements, invoking the sensitive Siliguri Corridor, popularly known as the Chicken's Neck, which connects the Northeast to the Indian mainland. In December last year he had said that if Bangladesh is destabilised, the fire of resistance will spread beyond borders, and since India was housing those who destabilise Bangladesh, it would give refuge to the separatists of the seven sisters too. Such rhetoric was not restricted to student leaders. Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, a retired brigadier general and son of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam, went further by saying Bangladesh could not achieve lasting peace unless India was shattered into pieces. After the Tarique Rahman-led BNP government came to power in February, such provocative remarks subsided, but fresh unrest over a power crisis and domestic issues has seen the return of anti-India slogans. Several thousand leaders and activists joined the rally, which local media called the NCP's biggest grassroots event since the February election.
The power crisis and inflation behind the anger
Over the past few months, a gas and energy crisis has hit Bangladesh amid disruptions caused by turmoil in the Middle East. Bangladesh imports over 90 percent of its oil and 30 percent of its gas. Several parts of the country have been experiencing excessive power outages, which has hit production at most Bangladeshi garment factories, and rising prices for imported gas have only added to the pressure. Inflation has remained high at around 8.5 percent in 2026, according to the World Bank, with prices shooting up for both food and non-food items while workers' wages have failed to keep pace. Poverty has also risen, with about 2.1 million additional people living in poverty compared with the previous year, and rising deaths of children due to measles have added to the outrage. Taken together, these issues have fuelled considerable anger among the middle and lower classes against the eight-month-old BNP government. Against this backdrop, the NCP has demanded the resignation of Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku. At the rally on Friday, Nahid warned of besieging Tarique Rahman's residence if the ministers did not step down, saying both ministers have failed and that processions would be held across the country to besiege Rahman and ensure the demands are met. NCP MP Akhter Hossen said that while LPG costs Tk 1,000 in Kolkata, people in Bangladesh buy the same for more than double that price, asking whether the Iran war does not affect Kolkata and saying the Energy Minister must answer. Much of the anger was directed at PM Rahman, with Nahid saying Bangladesh was witnessing the rise of a new autocrat, claiming Rahman came from London to Dhaka with a plan to establish corruption, looting, extortion, terrorism and occupation, and that having ousted one autocrat, the people would defeat both the fallen autocrat and this new one. While the latest rally was primarily directed against the BNP government over domestic grievances, the remarks against New Delhi show that anti-India sentiment continues to be a loud strand in Bangladeshi politics.
