“It is a challenge, have to be very careful”: Ex-Indian Army Chief Shankar Roychowdhary on Bangladesh unrest

New Delhi [India], August 6 (ANI): Former Chief of Army Staff, Shankar Roychowdhury feels the situation in Bangladesh following the resignation of Sheikh Hasin is a challenge for India.

“When a neighbouring country has widespread disturbance this is a cause for concern. It is a challenge and we have to be very careful. All measures are based on intelligence,” the former Army chief said.

Defence expert Dhruv Katoch said that the “tense and serious” situation in Bangladesh will have implications for India also.

“Now the Bangladesh Army Chief has stated that Sheikh Hasina has resigned and she has left for India and as per the latest reports she has landed in Agartala. So Sheikh Hasina is in India now and she is in Agartala. The Army chief has said an interim government will be formed. Whatever permutation and combination comes up from now onwards till a proper general election is held again in Bangladesh, I think the Army is going to call the shots. The Army will rule Bangladesh from behind. That is it,” Dhruv Katoch said while speaking to ANI.

“Now considering India, we have had a long-standing problem of insurgencies in the northeast which have been contained now practically to such an extent that peace prevails all over except one or two pockets in Manipur. By and large, the region has remained peaceful. I’m afraid that with this sort of arrangement coming up now there is going to be a problem,” he added.

Former Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Vidya Bhushan Soni said that the overall situation in Bangladesh is unfortunately very tragic.

“If you push the agenda too far, people are not going to accept it because it affects the daily life of an average Bangladeshi in that case. Like what she introduced was this reservation in the jobs for the so-called warriors of the independence war,” Vidya Bhushan Soni said.

Soni added that the protests were coming, but Hasina could not see it because she was overconfident.

Former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Foreign Secretary, Harsh Shringla said that there is a possibility of a foreign hand behind the stir against Sheikh Hasina.

“It is in India’s interest that peace is restored in Dhaka, India will engage with whoever is in power arrangement in Bangladesh. People-to-people relations are strong between the two countries,” he said.

Bangladesh is facing a fluid political situation with the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigning from her post in the wake of mounting protests.

Sheikh Hasina on Monday evening landed at the Hindon Air Base near New Delhi in a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. Sheikh Hasina resigned and left Bangladesh’s Dhaka on Monday.

After Hasina left the country, many people entered the Ganabhaban, the residence of the Prime Minister. A Bangladeshi media, Prothom Alo, reported that people were seen decamping with various items from public buildings.

A crowd was also noticed inside the Parliament building and people were seen taking things from inside the Parliament building as well.

The Bangladesh protests majorly by students demanded an end to a quota system for government jobs and had grown into an uprising against Hasina and her ruling Awami League party.