Dhaka, Dec 5 (UNI) A senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader on Thursday called for the “boycott of Indian products” to protest against the desecration of the Bangladesh national flag and the attack on the Assistant High Commission in Agartala.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also set fire to the Indian saree of his wife as an example, amidst the chanting of anti-Indian slogans by the party supporters.
“Those who tear down our country’s flag… we will boycott their (Indi’s) products,” he said while addressing a function in front of the Jatiya Press Club, UNB reported.
The event was held under the banner of ‘Buy local products and be blessed’ to encourage the boycott of Indian products and the use of Bangladeshi products.
Rizvi said Bangladeshi women should no longer buy Indian sarees, soaps, toothpaste or anything from India.
He claimed that Bangladesh is self-sufficient in onion production as well, and added, “So we will not be dependent on them (India)… we will boycott Indian products.”
Bangladesh imports large quantities of rice, onions, wheat from India besides raw materials for its industries.
He urged the women to boycott Indian made sarees. “We will wear the sarees of Tangail, the silk sarees of Rajshahi, or the khaddar of Comilla,” he said.
The BNP leader, however, asked the people not to desecrate the Indian flag and belittle its dignity.
Rizvi said, “They (India) like cruel Hasina, not the people of Bangladesh. They don’t want Bangladesh to survive.”
Tensions between India and Bangladesh have risen since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5 by a “students-led” mass uprising, and its replacement by the army backed-Interim government of Mohammed Younus. India has time and again protested against the spiraling attacks on the minority Hindu community members and urged the current government to ensure their safety and security.
Matters came to a head over the arrest and denial of bail to Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das over charges of sedition, with Hindus in Bangladesh and India demanding his release.
