DHAKA: A senior adviser to Bangladesh's interim administration has accused India of inciting unrest, following the deaths of three people in ethnic violence in the country’s south-eastern hill district.
"These incidents are being fuelled at India’s behest or at the behest of the fascists," Home Affairs Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told reporters at an event in Dhaka on Monday (Sept 29) in a reference to the party linked to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The unrest stems from a protest organised by ethnic minority groups on Sunday in the Khagrachhari district in response to the alleged rape of a tribal schoolgirl last week.
"Three people were killed by gunshots. The bodies have been kept at a local hospital," police officer Ahsan Habib told reporters, without clarifying whether they were shot by security forces.
Members of the Chakma and Marma tribes, under the banner of "Jumma - Student and People," staged the protest by blocking roads, burning tyres and tree trunks, severing the district's road connections to the rest of the country.
According to police, army troops and officers were also injured while attempting to control the unrest. The protests initially erupted on Saturday and continued into Sunday, despite a ban on rallies, processions and demonstrations being imposed by the local administration.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts, which accounts for nearly one tenth of Bangladesh’s landmass, was known for decades of bush war by the ethnic groups for self-determination until a peace accord between the government and the insurgents was signed in 1997.
Diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh have soured since an interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus was installed after the ousting of Hasina, who fled to India in the face of a mass uprising in August 2024. - dpa
