About six months ago, a boycott of the country's products was called as a protest against the Israeli brutality of the Israeli-Palestinian war, killing children, not allowing relief materials to enter and many other reasons, regardless of race and religion. Calls for a boycott of Israeli goods originated from non-Muslim countries. It is more common now. On March 26, the United Nations passed a worldwide call for an end to the war. But the product boycott has put Israel in a lot of trouble because their daily business is all over the world. Danger is inevitable if people continue to reject their products with disgust.
Rumors of boycotting Indian products in Bangladesh started on social media after the election on January 7. Blogger and online activist Pinaki Bhattacharya, a journalist, is said to have first made this call. In the beginning no one took much notice of it. Because India is such a big country, the market for their products is so wide, nothing will happen if only the people of Bangladesh boycott it. But how long will it take for the situation like Israel to start boycotting Indian products if Bangladeshis living around the world and their well-wishers start rejecting them?
Since its inception, calls for boycott of Indian products through social media have become stronger day by day. From the leaders of our country to the policy makers, juicy statements are heard regarding 'sari, egg, oil, onion, kebab' etc which is getting more and more popular and expanding rapidly.
Big political parties like BNP did not want to bother about this because even during the BNP regime, many Indian daily products were imported. Indian products should be imported after coming back to power. So till now BNP was only opposing the election. Although initially ignored, the issue of boycott of Indian products has come to the fore in Bangladesh due to the recent spate of talks between the members of the new cabinet. Two ministers in particular have played a major role in this matter. Hearing the speech of a minister that day, a newspaper commented - "The minister intensified the call for boycott of Indian products." "Perhaps the government of India is embarrassed and ashamed to hear such nonsense of the minister." Not everyone in India supports a single political party in Bangladesh.
There has been news about this in many newspapers. India's face has been officially exposed since the Minister's statement that India worked for the Awami League in the last national elections. That is - 'India has unilaterally supported the Awami League.' Here the aspect of the welfare of the immense people of Bangladesh has been ignored from the side of India. So more or less 60-70 percent of the people of Bangladesh are angry about it. Opposition parties in India also did not accept this biased behavior of their government. On that day, a person went to the market and expressed his anger, "Bangladeshis' boycott of Indian products is only based on anger and humiliation against the biased behavior of the BJP government."
BNP did not delay in making this statement a political issue because, for many reasons, the people of Bangladesh have been unhappy with India for many years. Their long-standing anger has become more vocal with calls for a boycott of the product.
India has always ignored the issues most associated with this anger. The people of Bangladesh did not take well the water distribution agreement of the same river, the non-stopping of border killings, the ban on the export of cattle, the imposition of additional tax on onions, etc. Between 2010 and 2020, 1,273 Bangladeshis lost their lives on the border in BSF firing. 1,283 people were injured. The killing of Felani shook the world conscience. This year, two Bangladeshis were shot dead at the border on Independence Day.
Neglecting and looking down on the people of Bangladesh is a topic of conversation among travelers returning to India these days. Especially if you go for treatment, why do you come here? Construction of Ram Mandir in place of Babri Masjid, Modi police kicking worshipers during Jumma Namaz, attack on Muslim students during Tarabi prayer in Gujarat, etc issues have not only hurt the supporters of BNP or Bangladesh's devout Awami League - Muslims all over the world. Foreign students have erupted in protest. But the Modi government is keeping quiet without paying attention to it. The undemocratic behavior of the Modi government in the last election has seriously injured the people of Bangladesh. Therefore, the call for boycott of Indian products is not limited to Bangladesh and may spread to many countries.
There is an uneven trade between India and Bangladesh. There is no room to underestimate the difference between the trades of the two countries. It is said that around 25 lakh people from Bangladesh visit India for medical treatment every year. The number of students, pilgrims and travelers is more.
India's fourth largest export is to Bangladesh and shipments to the Seven Sisters originate from Bangladesh. India exports soybeans, onions, spices, cosmetics etc. to Bangladesh. In 2022, the people of Bangladesh consumed 7 lakh 27 thousand tons of onion, 7 percent of which came from India.
They say that they made a mistake by making the country independent. Which many people in Bangladesh don't like. The border killings further deepened the long-standing suffering of the people suffering from the Lower Riparian to get their fair share of water from the Farakka and Teesta rivers. The youth of Bangladesh are suffering because of India's Phensedyl and other drugs.
But will India become more hostile to the BNP as BNP supports boycott of Indian goods? The one-sided policy towards a party will reflect more and they will continue to harbor more hatred towards India which will destroy the good neighborliness between the two countries.
So, according to the leaders, why did India help only one party to power? They have humiliated the majority of the people of this country by putting a party in power. Their rights have been taken away. Now many people in India are feeling embarrassed that a party in power has exposed its own ego while singing the praises of India. Even many of the ruling party are embarrassed by their statement.
The most talked about issue of the time is now the issue of boycott of Indian products. Some people have already commented, is BNP protesting like a lost traveler by throwing his cloak and setting it on fire? Or are you joking? Someone compared Bankim’s Kuntala Shoroshi to the way lost youth-traveler who went out in the forest and said, 'Pathik you have lost your way?'
But the problem lies elsewhere and they know it very well. The wayward traveler, lost in the forest and speechless at the sight of the beauty, could not answer. But as the long-time muted anger suddenly turned into public anger as everything seemed partisan, ugly and ostentatious in front of the BNP, a policymaker threw away his favorite blanket that warmed him in the harsh winter and expressed his anger. Along with the same anger, the rest protested by setting it on fire. Usually: the language of protest of one loved one at the cruel blow of another loved one is expressed as resistance and hate where the wayfarer is neither a child, nor a fool, nor a wanderer by himself. They feel that it is the language of protest after being subjected to difficult situations under the wrath of the power-hungry.
So BNP's support for boycott of Indian products is a good protest to get back the rightful rights. Through this protest, BNP can send a political message against India to the international community. That could pave their way to power in the future. Many may underestimate this and enter the debate. But there are precedents for ignoring many trivial events in history.
Author: Professor of Department of Social Work and former Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, Rajshahi University.