Calling July fighters ‘extremist group’ proves India’s bankruptcy
Staff Reporter :
In a statement issued on Wednesday, by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the democratic and peaceful movement of the July Unity was described as a movement of an “extremist group,” which is proof of India’s bankruptcy.
July Unity, which embodies the spirit of July and consists of more than a hundred social, cultural, and political platforms, believes that this is a direct violation of the limits of foreign policy and an attack on democracy and human rights.
The leaders of July Unity made these remarks at a press conference on Thursday.
They said that Sheikh Hasina and her collaborators fled to India after carrying out genocide in Bangladesh. By giving shelter to these killers, India has directly violated diplomatic norms. On Wednesday, 17 December, July Unity peacefully carried out a pre-announced “March to the Indian High Commission” program with justified demands.
At the scheduled time, the march began from Rampura Bridge. The objective was to register protest and present demands through a peaceful march. With that goal, when the procession reached Badda, it faced police obstruction.
Respecting the law, they staged a sit-in there. Former patriotic army officers, leaders and activists of political parties, social and cultural organizations, and various student organizations participated in the program and protested peacefully.
This peaceful democratic movement was declared by the Modi government as a movement of “some extremist groups in Dhaka.” July Unity strongly condemns and protests this statement of the Indian government.
July Unity believes that by addressing former patriotic army officers and July fighters as an “extremist group,” India has demonstrated its own bankruptcy.
During Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian rule, Bangladeshi citizens were repeatedly labeled as extremists or militants and killed. India is now attempting to make July fighters and patriotic former army officers targets for killing by branding them as extremists in the same manner.
So-called civil society figures in Bangladesh have accepted these comments of the Indian government and, through talk shows and newspaper columns, have labeled July Unity as Jamaat-Shibir or as extremists, thereby portraying them as legitimate targets for killing.
India’s labeling of the democratic movement of July fighters as an extremist movement is an extreme violation of norms. So far, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not sought any response regarding this incident.
We immediately demand that Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs seek an explanation from Delhi. If the Ministry does not demand accountability from Delhi within the next 72 hours, the unified platform of the July uprising, July Unity, will march to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In protest against the Indian government’s remarks describing former patriotic army officers, July fighters, and citizens of the country as an “extremist group,” July Unity will hold protest marches in the three divisions of Chattogram, Barishal, and Sylhet on Friday, 19 December.
If India is not brought under accountability within the next 72 hours for this “extremist group” remark, July Unity will march to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and submit a memorandum on Tuesday, 23 December.