Bangladesh Not a Barren Field for Proxy War Against India: Lessons of 1971 and the Rogue Machinations of Pakistan

History is not a distant tale embalmed in the sepia of old photographs; it is a living, breathing presence that stalks our present and shapes our future.

For Bangladesh, the year 1971 is not merely history—it is destiny, blood, and eternal testament. Born from the fiery crucible of genocide and resistance, Bangladesh emerged from the shackles of Pakistan’s tyranny with the unwavering support of India, our tested and trusted friend. Today, more than five decades later, there are sinister forces like Pakistan like a rogue country who dream once again of turning Bangladesh into a barren battlefield for proxy war against India. We must rise in unison to say with iron resolve: Never again.

The Eternal Debt to India

India was not a passive bystander in 1971. She was the safe haven for ten million refugees fleeing Pakistani carnage, the training ground of the Mukti Bahini, and the decisive military force that crushed Pakistan’s occupation. “In times of test, family is best,” wrote the English poet George Herbert; in 1971, India became Bangladesh’s family, standing shoulder to shoulder against Pakistan’s genocidal regime.

Yet Pakistan, a rogue state with an unbroken tradition of exporting terrorism, continues to plot ways to destabilize South Asia. Its notorious intelligence agency, the ISI, has long wielded militancy as a weapon—from nurturing the Taliban to orchestrating bloodshed in Kashmir. To imagine that Pakistan’s machinations have ceased in Dhaka is naïve. As the coup of 5 August 2024 revealed, its fingerprints, in league with the CIA and their local agents, remain deeply etched into the conspiracy to unseat Sheikh Hasina.

Pakistan’s Rogue State Legacy

Pakistan was forged in violence in 1947, and violence has remained its national grammar ever since. The late American diplomat Richard Holbrooke once called Pakistan “the most dangerous country in the world,” a breeding ground of jihadist ideologies and clandestine operations. The 1971 genocide, in which three million Bengalis were slaughtered and hundreds of thousands of women violated, was not an aberration but a continuation of this rogue DNA.

In 2024–25, we see the same pathology resurfacing. By backing extremist networks within Bangladesh, Islamabad seeks to destabilize our sovereignty and weaken India, its eternal adversary. To allow Bangladesh to be used as Pakistan’s proxy battlefield against India would be to betray the martyrs of 1971.

The Present Crisis: A Conspiratorial Coup

The illegal overthrow of Sheikh Hasina’s elected government on 5 August 2024, followed by the unlawful usurpation of power by Muhammad Yunus on 8 August 2024, was not a spontaneous uprising but a carefully orchestrated coup. International analysts such as Michael Rubin have argued that the plot bore the fingerprints of American CIA, Pakistan’s ISI, financed by Turkey and Qatar, and camouflaged under the rhetoric of “reform.”

What followed was the systematic persecution of pro-liberation voices, original people of Bangladesh, the silencing of journalists, and the resurrection of Jamaat-e-Islami butchers of 1971—those same collaborators who aided Pakistan’s killing machine in 1971. The intent was clear: to dismantle the secular, democratic foundations of Bangladesh and turn it into a failed Pakistani-style state, ripe for proxy war against India and Dr. Yunus and his coterie are playing the pivotal role in this respect using his Nobel laureateship.

Why India Matters

For Bangladesh, India is not merely a neighbor; she is kin by blood and sacrifice. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself once remarked: “India is our tested friend. They stood by us in 1971 when the entire world turned its face away.” This friendship is not transactional—it is existential.

To turn Bangladesh into a launching pad for anti-Indian conspiracies would be an act of treachery, not only against our sovereignty but against the very spirit of 1971. Pakistan’s rogue designs must be thwarted, for if Bangladesh falls into the grip of extremists and proxy masters, South Asia will descend into unmitigated chaos.

The Price of Forgetfulness

The French philosopher Voltaire cautioned: “History never repeats itself. Man, always does.” If Bangladesh forgets the lessons of 1971, we shall once again fall prey to Pakistan’s manipulative designs. Already, the Yunus regime has opened space for Jamaati-Shibir networks to regroup. Already, whispers of ISI infiltration into our politics and military are circulating. To remain passive is to court disaster.

Let us recall the words of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: “Our struggle is for our emancipation! Our struggle is for our independence!” Today, our struggle is to preserve that independence from becoming a pawn in foreign proxy wars.

A Call for Resistance

We must summon the spirit of 1971. Just as the Mukti Bahini once rose from the villages and towns to resist the Pakistani army, so too must today’s Bangladeshis resist those who seek to turn our land into a proxy warzone. Civil society, the media, political parties loyal to the Liberation ideals, and above all, the common people—together we must form an unbreakable bulwark.

We must tell the world, in clear voice: Bangladesh is not for sale, not for conspiracy, not for proxy war. We are a sovereign nation, forged in the blood of our martyrs, and our allegiance lies with freedom, secularism, and the enduring friendship of India.

India’s Role and the Regional Balance

India, too, must recognize the urgency of the hour. Just as it intervened in 1971 to stop genocide, so today it cannot afford to allow Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar to sow seeds of extremism on its doorstep. A destabilized Bangladesh is not merely Bangladesh’s loss—it is India’s direct security threat.

Henry Kissinger once derisively called Bangladesh a “basket case.” Sheikh Hasina proved him spectacularly wrong, transforming the nation into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. To allow Yunus and his rogue backers to undo this progress is to betray the future of South Asia itself.

Termination Point: Never Again

Rabindranath Tagore wrote: “Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.” For Bangladesh, the dawn came in 1971, illuminated by the sacrifices of millions and the solidarity of India. We cannot allow the darkness of Pakistani conspiracies to extinguish that light. The Rogue country Pakistan must be stopped and their close ally but Bangladesh’s bitter enemy Dr. Yunus must be halted eternally.

To those who dream of turning Bangladesh into a barren field for proxy war against India, we declare: NEVER AGAIN. We shall not permit our sacred land, sanctified by blood and sacrifice, to be trampled by the same rogue forces that once sought our annihilation.

Bangladesh will remain sovereign, democratic, and bound in eternal friendship with India. For this is not only our history; it is our destiny.

By: Anwar A. Khan 

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