Retired Bangladeshi General Abdullahil Aman Azmi, following Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, is dreaming of India’s dismemberment. At an event in Dhaka on Tuesday, Azmi again spewed venom against India.
A retired Bangladeshi army general has stirred controversy by claiming that Bangladesh would not see “complete peace” until India “breaks into pieces.”ย Brigadier General (retd) Abdullahil Amaan Azmiย made the provocative remarks during an event at the National Press Club in Dhaka, triggering strong criticism and outrage in India.ย His remarks mirror the anti-India rhetoric voiced by Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir.
‘India must break into pieces forย Bangladesh’s peace’
Bangladesh will not see full peace as long as India does not break into pieces, Azmi said, while claiming that New Delhi “always keeps unrest alive” inside the country.ย
Azmi, a former Bangladeshi military officer, is the son of Ghulam Azam, the infamous former Jamaat-e-Islami chief and a convicted war criminal responsible for the genocide of Hindus and pro-liberation Bengalis during the 1971 Liberation War.
At the event, organized by the Sovereign Security Council ahead of the 28th anniversary of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord at the National Press Club, Azmi accused India of fuelling unrest from 1975 to 1996 in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, which includes three hilly districts within the Chittagong division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India.
“During Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s rule, the Chittagong People’s Committee for Hill Tracts (PCJSS) was formed under the leadership of Manabendra Narayan Larma. Its armed wing was the Shanti Bahini. India provided them shelter, weapons, and training. The result was a bloody Holi in the hills from 1975 to 1996,” the former army officer claimed.
The retired brigadier strongly criticised the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord signed by the Hasina government in 1997, calling it “so-called.”ย “The Shanti Bahini’s surrender of weapons at Khagrachari Stadium was merely a sham. Their armed activities continued internally, and later the UPDF (United People’s Democratic Front) was formed,” he said.
India must remain alert and prepared
Defence expert and former Army officer, Colonel Mayank Chaubey, said it was not a stray remark but a “mindset” that has quietly festered inside sections of Bangladesh’s power ecosystem for years. “Statements like these reveal why extremist groups feel emboldened today, the ideological ecosystem that enabled 1971 never truly went away,” he said.
“India doesn’t need to respond emotionally. But India must remain alert, prepared, and absolutely clear-eyed about the forces in the neighbourhood that openly dream of our breakup while smiling for diplomacy,” he added.
Azmi’s statement comes at a time when anti-India sentiments are already high in Bangladesh, and reports of attacks on minority Hindus are constantly emerging. Azmi’s statement is considered to further escalate tensions between the two countries.
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