By Muhammad Shoaib, Dhaka
The Indian product boycott program is underway in Bangladesh. Pinaki Bhattacharya, a Bangladeshi writer and activist living in France, has called firstly for a boycott of Indian products. Originally, this call was made by Pinaki Bhattacharya, who was angered by India’s role in the January 7 mock elections. Perhaps neither the government of Bangladesh nor India anticipated such a strong response from the people to the boycott of Indian products in response to his call, nor did the BNP. The momentum of boycotting Indian products has increased as the days have passed. This movement, named ‘India Out,’ has evolved into a social movement, with ordinary people seeing it as a genuine form of protest. At one point, the BNP expressed solidarity with this program.
As long as this program remained a social movement initiated by Pinaki Bhattacharya, with only one person involved, neither the government nor the Awami League showed any reaction to it. However, whenever the BNP expressed solidarity with this program, they began to react. They attempted to portray this program as an initiative of the BNP.
Not only Obaidul Quader, the Joint General Secretary of the Awami League, but also the Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud are involved in this matter. Hasan Mahmud is of the opinion that, in addition to destabilizing the country’s market by calling for a boycott of Indian products, the main objective of the BNP is to increase the price of goods.
He explained that many consumer goods in Bangladesh originate from India, given the extensive border spanning thousands of kilometers between the two countries. Some border trade also occurs legally. Hasan Mahmud asserted that the BNP’s primary aim is to destabilize the country’s market by advocating for the boycott of Indian products, resulting in increased prices of goods. This strategy, he suggested, is designed to inflict suffering on the people and drive up the cost of goods.
The ongoing boycott of Indian products is not initiated by the BNP but by Pinaki Bhattacharya. Following the January 7 mock elections, Pinaki Bhattacharya announced the “India Out” program through YouTube in the middle of that month. Initially, many believed it would be confined to social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube, but it quickly gained traction among the general public. By January, importers of Indian goods noticed a decline in sales, prompting various supermarkets to offer discounts on Indian products. However, people, particularly youth disillusioned with the electoral process, began actively participating in this silent protest, realizing India’s influence, particularly the Modi government’s, in Bangladesh’s elections. People voluntarily decided to abstain from purchasing Indian products without any organized picketing.
The Awami League, especially figures like Obaidul Quader, are perturbed by the widespread participation in the boycott. Obaidul Quader has resorted to using puns to mock the BNP. The success of the boycott, with participation from all segments of Bangladeshi society, has left the Awami League unsettled. It’s evident that they are feeling the heat. Now, it’s the people’s turn to respond to them.