Political uncertainty in Bangladesh is a serious threat to South Asia, says Pankaj Nath, senior Awami League leader in 'hiding'

 "Land grabbing and atrocities against Minorities are regular and matters of great concern"

The interaction started on a very emotional note. He had just received a social media message from his younger daughter on Father's Day and the dotting kid wrote - "You have always been my safe place ... my first hero".

"What to tell you Niren Babu.... what can a man do and how much courage one can have. Kids always know how to bowl over dads," remarked Pankaj Nath, a former Bangladesh MP from Borishal-4. 

As a dad, I could not agree more. 

The Awami League leader was speaking from his hideout and he tried his best diplomatic hat to handle questions on trials and tribulation of his party, its leader Sheikh Hasina and his country.

To first question when did his association with the Awami League  started, Pankaj Nath said : Well, it started when I was a kid... my father was jailed in 1969 when Bangladesh was not born and we were under Pakistani dictatorship. My baba Harinarayan Nath had participated in the protest seeking Banga Bandhu's release and whem I was very young... maybe in my teens, I be became a footsoldier".

He became MP in 2014 and 2018 on Awami League ticket and in 2024 as an Independent.

"In your journalistic sense you mah say Bangladesh is passing through interesting phase; but I will say my country is going through a bad phase and our people are suffering. We showed a lot of promise under Sheikh Hasina we were doing so well in GDP etc and just a few months, we have derailed it all".

To a question with moist in his eyes and choked voice as our conversation was on video for a while, he said - "Under the situation... the US, the global community and India can do a lot..and can do everything. But what India wants to do is strictly India's decision. The contemporary setting and political uncertainty is a serious threat to the region.... and the world has to appreciate that".

"In other words I should say, the US amd Europe will have to be convinced... some of it is understood by key global players. Like the Humanitarian Corridor .... it is linked to the existential crisis of Bangladesh," Nath said.

Without spelling out further he said -  "At times our brave soldiers and senior military officers understand issues of national and regional interest better than many others".

Cautious in choosing words, it is understood he was referring cold war between interim head Muhammad Yunus and army chief Waqar uz Zaman.

Gen Zaman opposed the corridor and even called a bloody corridor.

Answering a question on what India should do, he said --- "In my humble understanding I feel India can raise voice to spread a strong message for an inclusive and credible election. Well any sensible man should do that I suppose". 

Notably, Bangladesh Army Chief reached out to Russia -- India's friend.

Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar Uz Zaman visited Russia on April 7 where he reportedly met Russian Deputy Defense Minister General Fomin and Army Chief General Oleg Salyukov.

  Between Yunus and Gen Zaman what's the real game ? 

The former is a stooge of America but the military man maybe closer to China. His softness towards India or opppsing the Humanitarian corridor is basically tactical.

After former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted on August 5, 2024, Bangladesh has been at the centre of power struggle between the interim government of Bangladesh led by Muhammad Yunus and the Bangladesh Army under Army Chief General Waqar Uz Zaman. 

Certainly when Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar Uz Zaman visited Russia, it caught eyeballs across the world and it also forced people to raise eyebrows.

Gen Zaman says he is opposed to the "bloody corridor" and he has started calling for elections by December 2025.

This disturbs the power equilibrium signalling Bangladesh army's discomfort with the current interim civilian arrangement. This may obviously bring us to legitimate queries - how should India react and how is China reacting.

Lt Gen Abhay Krishna (retd) sums up the paradox quite well.

"On the Rakhine corridor issue, New Delhi may actually find itself in silent alignment with Beijing. This is a case of diplomatic billiards. Supporting Waqar Zaman’s resistance to the corridor, even informally, helps India in more ways than one," he says.

I asked him to elaborate things further and he maintained:

"It keeps Bangladesh in check, prevents a US beachhead and may even open the door for India to engage directly with groups like the Arakan Army or the Chin rebels".

He has a point. The engagement with Arakans is perhaps already happening quietly in Mizoram.

It is understood that New Delhi has built goodwill by offering non-lethal support and diplomacy rather than taking sides in the broader Myanmar conflict.