Bangladesh has distanced itself from controversial remarks made by retired Major General ALM Fazlur Rahman, who suggested that Dhaka should "invade and occupy" India’s northeastern states if there was an India-Pakistan conflict.
Shafiqul Alam, press adviser to chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, clarified that Rahman’s comments were made in his personal capacity and do not represent the official stance of the Bangladesh government.
On April 29, Rahman said that Bangladesh should “invade and occupy” India’s seven northeastern states if New Delhi were to launch an attack on Pakistan.
The former chief of Bangladesh Rifles and current chairman of the National Independent Commission of Inquiry took to Facebook, and said: “If India attacks Pakistan, Bangladesh should occupy seven states of North East India. In this regard, I think it is necessary to start a discussion on a joint military system with China,” reported Hindustan Times.
Rahman’s post came amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan following the recent Pahalgam terror attack and coincides with the cooling of Dhaka’s relations with New Delhi after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year
As per reports, fellow commission member Shahnawaz Khan Chandan — a former member of the Islamist student group Islami Chhatra Shibir and currently an assistant professor at Dhaka’s Jagannath University — endorsed the post with a ‘like’.
Chandan is widely considered a close confidante of Yunus.
According to NDTV, Rahman is currently heading an investigation into the 2009 Pilkhana massacre — a mutiny at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles that claimed 74 lives, including those of several military officers.
In this role, Rahman holds a position equivalent to an appellate division judge of Bangladesh’s Supreme Court.
Diplomatic ties between Dhaka and Islamabad have warmed in recent months, with Bangladesh and Pakistan holding their first foreign secretary-level talks in nearly 15 years earlier this month in Dhaka.
During a recent visit to China, Chief Adviser Yunus reiterated his strategic outlook on India’s northeast, branding the states as “landlocked” and presenting Bangladesh as their “only guardian of the ocean.”
The remark has been interpreted by analysts as a possible move to encourage Chinese economic and strategic involvement in the region through Bangladesh.
While the Indian government is yet to issue an official response to Rahman’s statements, external affairs minister S Jaishankar had earlier responded to Yunus’ “chicken’s neck” reference by reaffirming India’s commitment to regional cooperation.
“Cooperation is not about cherry-picking,” Jaishankar had said.
On April 16, he further underscored India’s focus on boosting connectivity in the Northeast and positioning it as a hub for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also advised Dhaka against engaging in “rhetoric that vitiates the environment.”
