India protests Bangladeshi official’s controversial post on facebook

New Delhi

India has strongly protested a now-deleted Facebook post by Mahfuj Alam, special assistant to Bangladesh’s interim chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, which suggested carving parts of eastern and north-eastern India into Bangladesh.

At a media briefing on Friday, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that India had lodged its protest with Bangladesh, acknowledging that the post had been removed but stressing the need for responsible public discourse.

Alam’s post, which was shared on December 16—the anniversary of Bangladesh’s Liberation War—alleged that the country's liberation struggle was incomplete without addressing its "geographical trap." The post, written in Bengali, criticized India’s policies and linked the 1947 partition to what he described as an "anti-Bengal" attitude among Hindu extremists.

Screenshots of the post, circulating on social media, also referenced uprisings in 1975 and 2024, which Alam claimed were necessary for Bangladesh's freedom from "India’s dependence and domination."

The diplomatic tension between the two nations has grown since the removal of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India following protests in Dhaka. Earlier this month, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Dhaka, reinforcing New Delhi’s commitment to fostering strong, mutually beneficial ties with Bangladesh.