Bangladesh unrest: Congress putting ’Rajneeti’ over ’Rashtraneeti’, BJP on Salman Khurshid’s ‘can happen here’ remark

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday slammed Congress after party leader Salman Khurshid said that what was happening in Bangladesh can happen here in the country.

Over the last few months, Bangladesh has been on the boil due to violent protests against quotas, forcing Sheikh Hasina to resign as Prime Minister and flee to India on Monday.

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Reacting to Khurshid's remark, the BJP said that this is yet another instance of the Congress Party putting 'Rajneeti' over ‘Rashtraneet’.

Meanwhile, when questioned about the statement, Khurshid said, “I say whatever I say in public, never in private.”

What Salman Khurshid said:

Speaking at the launch of Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims, a book by academician Mujibur Rehman, the former minister said that what is happening in Bangladesh can happen in the country though "everything may look normal on the surface".

"Everything may look normal in Kashmir. Everything may look normal here. We may be celebrating the victory, although of course some people believe that that victory or that success of 2024 was perhaps only marginal, perhaps a lot more needs to be done," reported PTI quoting Khurshid.

The Congress leader further added that the fact remains that under the surface there is something," he said.

Khurshid also said that another agitation like that of Shaheen Bagh cannot take place in the country today.

You mind if I said that Shaheen Bagh failed?, asked Khurshid, addign, “A lot of us believe that Shaheen Bagh succeeded. But I know what's happening to the people who are associated with Shaheen Bagh.”

How BJP reacted?

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla hit-back at Congress and said, "The Congress Party says that it stands with the government of India as far as the issue of Bangladesh is concerned because this is not a political issue. No politics should be done on it. But leaders like Salman Khurshid try to provoke and incite the people of India, saying that whatever happened in Bangladesh, the violence that took place there can take place in India too. This is yet another instance of the Congress Party putting 'Rajneeti' over “Rashtraneeti'...”

BJP leader and MP Sambit Patra said that so many other leaders including Shashi Tharoor were present there (during book launch) and they in a way supported that statement.

“Rahul Gandhi whenever he went abroad, he used to meet many people secretly and spoke against India, now we are getting to know what was his intention,” stated Patra.

What happened in Bangladesh?

On Monday, amid growing demand from students and protestors,  Hasina, 76, who had been in power since 2009, resigned as Prime Minister. Hasina who landed in India, is seeking asylum in UK. Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said that his mother will not return to politics. Meanwhile, Bangladesh's Nobel-winning microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus will lead an interim government.