India sides with Dhaka over Islamist execution

India has firmly stood with Bangladesh, with Pakistan mobilizing Muslim nations against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government in Dhaka over recent execution of a radical Islamist.

India’s message of strong support for the Hasina government in Bangladesh was conveyed by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who visited Dhaka on Wednesday and Thursday. Jaishankar in fact landed in Dhaka just hours after Motiur Rahman Nizami, chief of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, was hanged in Dhaka Central Jail early Wednesday.

Jaishankar called on Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Wednesday. He conveyed to Hasina a firm message of support from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also called on Foreign Minister of Bangladesh A H Mahmood Ali.

Nizami was accused of helping the Pakistan Army during the 1971 Liberation War that led to the birth of Bangladesh. He was convicted and sentenced to death by a special tribunal for orchestrating killing of several intellectuals with the help of his pro-Pakistan militia Al- Badr 45 years ago.

He was also convicted of aiding and abetting Pakistani Army personnel in killing of over 500 people and the raping of 30 to 40 women in what was till then known as East Pakistan. He was executed after the Supreme Court of Bangladesh upheld his conviction and the sentence awarded to him.

A senior official in New Delhi told DH that India’s full support to the Hasina government in Bangladesh had been clearly indicated by the foreign secretary’s timely visit to Dhaka, particularly as it had taken place at a time when radical Jamaat-e-Islami had resorted to violence to impose a shutdown to protest the execution of its leader.