Hasina government tried to prevent my meeting with Narendra Modi, says Khaleda

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has alleged there was a conspiracy to keep her from meeting Indian Prime Minister Naredndra Modi during his recent visit to Bangladesh.

She told the Indian news portal ‘The Sunday Guardian’ that the Bangladesh government had “tried whatever they could to see to it that the meeting did not happen”.

Khaleda thanked India for ensuring that it did finally take place.

She was asked about speculation in Dhaka about the possibility of her refusing to meet the Indian prime minister just as she had called off a meeting with the country’s President Pranab Mulherjee in March 2013.

She told interviewer Saurav Sanyal: “Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali publicly ruled out ‘any possibility’ of my meeting PM Narendra Modi during his stay in Bangladesh”.

“But then New Delhi put out the facts straight. On the eve of the prime minister's visit and just hours after the statement from Bangladesh, Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said in New Delhi that it was very much on and would happen.

“How can you justify this? I am thankful to the Indian authorities as this government in Bangladesh tried whatever they could to see to it that the meeting did not happen.

“They did not want me to have any discussion with Modiji.”

About her skipping the meeting with Mukherjee, Khaleda said it was purely for security concerns.

“Jamaat-e-Islami had called a general strike then to protest the conviction of its three top leaders for the 1971 war crimes.

“I had to call off my meeting with the president then as we received inputs that had I gone there to meet him, I would have been attacked.

“In fact there could have been a life threat. And if you recall, at that very spot near his hotel which I was supposed to cross, there was a petrol bomb explosion,” the former prime minister further said.

When asked why the Jamaat, her ally, would want to harm her, the BNP chief again hinted at a plot.

“Precisely, that is the point. Had anything happened to me, the entire blame would have been pinned on Jamaat.

“And that is what the game plan was of our opponents, which we understood and the meeting was called off. Today I am sharing with you the real story.”

Khaleda tried to dispel the notion that she is anti-India, a perception that gained currency after her cancelled meeting with Mukherjee.

“Why should I be anti-India? ...There is a concerted propaganda by the ruling government to try and paint me as anti-India and anti-Hindu.

“India and Bangladesh have had very strong bonding and we recognise full well the contribution India made for our liberation.

“Prime Minister Modi's visit is aimed at strengthening India-Bangla ties further.

“It suits them to project me as anti-India. There is a well-oiled propaganda machinery that works relentlessly to project me and BNP as anti-India,” she said in the interview.

When told the Jamaat, her alliance partner, was perceived to be religious hardliners and not quite pro-India, Khaleda said: “Jamaat is our alliance partner and that's it. In the alliance they have to listen to the BNP.”

The BNP leader also claimed the minorities in Bangladesh had suffered at the hands of the Awami League.

“Their houses have been looted, land taken away ... And we are projected as anti-Hindu? We are with Hindus and for the welfare of every citizen of the country.”

In the interview, Khaleda also defended her boycott of the last general election in Bangladesh, spelling out the reasons why she was demanding an election under a neutral administration.