BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday accused India of provoking radical Hindu groups in Bangladesh as part of their dream to establish dominance in the subcontinent.
Speaking as the chief guest at a programme in the capital's Gulshan, which demanded the boycott of Indian products, he said, "The fundamentalists of India divided their people in the name of religion and now they want to spread communalism in other countries of the subcontinent."
"India is using communalism in Bangladesh as a pretext to establish dominance in the subcontinent by inciting radical Hindus," Rizvi said.
He added, "The fundamentalist groups are hatching plots to destroy the democratic traditions of India and other countries in the subcontinent."
Rizvi stated that Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Pakistan are no longer aligned with India due to its hateful and malicious approach.
"Bangladesh is also not with you. This is solely because of your arrogance and the exploitative attitude you continue to demonstrate," he said.
Rizvi emphasised that Bangladesh is a self-sufficient nation, which achieved its independence through the sacrifice of three million lives and the loss of dignity of 200,000 women.
"Can you suppress this country of 180-190 million people by simply frowning your eyes and frightening us with false propaganda?" he said.
"What has happened to you that you have suddenly started desperately spreading propaganda against Bangladesh?"
Before August 5, he said, a despised government under Sheikh Hasina was in power in Bangladesh, one that did not hesitate to kill children in the country to cling to power.
"They did not hesitate to make their own people, who love democracy, disappear forever. They used to kill people along the rivers and canals through crossfire. Why was that Hasina government so dear to you? Because, with your provocation, Sheikh Hasina did whatever she wanted in this country," Rizvi added.
He mentioned that India may think the people of Bangladesh would face great problems if it stopped exporting onions, garlic, ginger, and soybean oil.
"Don't forget, the people of Bangladesh are hardworking and they know how to produce onions, garlic, and ginger themselves. You think you are the only country in the world. Are there no other countries from which we can import onions, garlic, and oil?" Rizvi said.
He also reminded India that the people of Bangladesh had built cattle and goat farms in every village and slaughtered 12 million cattle in a single Eid, following India's cessation of cattle exports for five to six years.
