'What is happening in Bangladesh can happen in India'

Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said what is happening in Bangladesh can happen in the country though "everything may look normal on the surface".

The former Union minister was speaking at the launch of academician Mujibur Rehman's book Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims.

"Everything may look normal in Kashmir. Everything may look normal here. We may be celebrating the victory, although of course some people believe that that victory or that success of 2024 was perhaps only marginal, perhaps a lot more needs to be done," he said.

"The fact remains that under the surface there is something," he said.

"What's happening in Bangladesh can happen here... the spread in our country prevents things blowing up in the manner in which they've blown up in Bangladesh," he said.

Bangladesh was rocked by waves of violent anti-government protests since mid-July, following which Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee the country.

Addressing the event, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha spoke about the Shaheen Bagh agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens and said it has not been given due credit.

"Success of Shaheen Bagh should not be measured on the scale of grandeur of what it achieved," Jha said.

"Remember what constituted the Shaheen Bagh protest...When the Parliament lost, the streets became alive," he said.

The protest against the new citizenship law spearheaded by women in Southeast Delhi's Shaheen Bagh continued for nearly 100 days and had inspired similar demonstrations across the country.

While Jha felt that the Shaheen Bagh agitation was successful, Khurshid was of the view that the agitation failed as many who were part of the protests continue to be in jail.

Khurshid also said that another agitation like that of Shaheen Bagh cannot take place in the country today.

"You mind if I said that Shaheen Bagh failed? A lot of us believe that Shaheen Bagh succeeded. But I know what's happening to the people who are associated with Shaheen Bagh. How many of them are still in prison? How many of them can't get bail? How many of them are being told that they are enemies of this country?" he said.

"If I ask myself tomorrow would there be a repeat of Shaheen Bagh and I'm not sure there would be because people have really suffered," he said.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, meanwhile, rued the low representation of Muslims in assemblies and Parliament, and also questioned if the situation for Muslims would have changed if the opposition was in power.

"The reality is Muslims have never voted for any right-wing candidate or BJP. Had there been a non-BJP government right now, would things have changed? No," he said.

Talking about the rise of the Hindu right wing, he said, "The Fuhrer (Hitler) did not invent anti-Jew sentiments... it was already there. Our society also had subterranean sentiments."

"We call Atal Bihari Vajpayee liberal... The fact of the matter is Vajpayee and Advani were creating a climate for the arrival of this gentleman," he said.

In his remarks, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that he was among the first MPs to meet the protesters at Shaheen Bagh, and they were not just Muslims, but were people from all faiths.

"Throughout the country, and I, myself have been to seven protests. There were people of all faiths at the protest," he said.

He said there was a sense of "Indianness" in the protest.

Trinamool Congress MP Jawahar Sircar said his party has a number of Muslim MPs, and pointed to Yusuf Pathan defeating Congress's Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Baharampore.

He took a dig at Owaisi and said, "All seats would have gone to BJP if Owaisi would have fought.

Owaisi retorted saying Muslims are voting for them out of compulsion.

"Muslims have done a favour to your party by voting en block for you. I am not the problem. The problem is your political mindset," he said.

"I can give empirical evidence that your party has not done anything for Muslims. We are voting out of compulsion. Remember when an alternative emerges everything goes," he said.

BJP slams Khurshid, terms his remarks as 'anarchist'

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday slammed as "anarchist" Khurshid's remarks that a Bangladesh-like situation could happen in India as well.

BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy castigated Khurshid and termed his remarks "anarchist".

"He is also a member of the CWC (Congress Working Committee), this is an anarchist statement, and I think it is a kind of sedition. It's unfortunate that the Congress is resorting to such anarchist statements to hide its failure," Rudy said.

Reacting to Khurshid's remarks, BJP MP Sambit Patra claimed that Khurshid had given a warning on behalf of his party.

"This is a serious issue. When we are witnessing such a situation in neighbouring countries, the main Opposition party Congress wants the same situation in India," BJP MP Sambit Patra told reporters outside Parliament.

He asked if it was a warning from the Congress.

He claimed some other Congress leaders have made similar remarks that protests and arson would happen in India just like Bangladesh.

"This is a warning Salman Khurshid has given on behalf of the Congress. Other leaders, including Shashi Tharoor, were present at the book launch event, in a way supporting what he said," Patra said.

"What is the thought process of the Congress party? Rahul Gandhi used to say there will be arson and riots in this country, there will be attacks on the PM, why was he saying that," Patra asked.

He also questioned Gandhi's "anti-India" comments during his foreign visits.

"Does the country's main Opposition party want the same thing in India? They are not able to win elections, they are venting their frustration by promoting this kind of anarchy and pushing the country towards destruction. This conspiracy of the Congress has been exposed before the public," he said.

Asked about Khurshid's statement, Tharoor said, "You'll have to ask him exactly what he meant, it is not my job to comment on comments of others."

"Generally speaking, the larger message that the Bangladesh experience has given is the importance of democracy, of free and fair elections, transparency, engaging people in the system, making sure all institutions of democracy function fairly," he said.

"When that happens, there will be much less cause of this kind of thing to occur," he said.

Tharoor also said that India should stand with the people of Bangladesh.

"Let us hope they will have a chance to determine their own political destiny," he said.

"Student leaders who ignited the protest wanted Muhammad Yunus to preside over the transition... In the long term, I assume there will be elections," he said.

Bangladesh has plunged into uncertainty after weeks of violent street protests over job quota forced Sheikh Hasina to quit as prime minister and flee.
Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday and appointed Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus as the head of an interim government.