Bangladeshi diaspora set to swell as most afraid of returning home
Times of India | 7 August 2024
Kolkata: The ongoing violence in Bangladesh is adding to the ranks of Bangladeshis stuck outside homeland or living in exile, who fear they will never be able to return to their country.
TOI on Tuesday spoke to several Bangladeshi nationals, who wanted to prolong their stays abroad as they feared for their lives.
Rice exporter Biplab Roy, 41, had come to Kolkata a month ago for his wife's treatment.On Tuesday, the businessman was at the Bangladesh deputy high commission, trying to get an extension for their visas that will expire on August 18.
A resident of Batiaghata in Khulna district, Roy is also mahasampadak of Jatiya Sramik League for Khulna, an arm of Awami League.
"A few of my political opponents went to my residence, where my mother is alone, and threatened her. If we go back now, our lives will be at risk. Bangladesh is my motherland and I wish to go back but until there is a long spell of peace, I am not ready to return," he said.
A Dhaka-based theatre personality, whose father was a prominent figure of Bangladesh's Bhasha Andolon, also fears returning due to his association with Awami League. His house in Barishal was attacked on Monday. "I came to Delhi for an Indo-Bangla research project on ‘Gano Sangeet'. I am deeply shaken by what happened to my family home in Barishal. My sisters are living in fear after the vandalism. I find myself stranded and fearing for my life if I return. I may need to extend my visa for a prolonged stay in India," he said.
Biswajit Saha, an Awami League functionary, who narrowly survived a violent attack at his residence in Bangladesh's Kachua Bagerhat on Monday night, managed to flee to India on Tuesday and take shelter at a cousin's house in Duttapukur. "I found out that many Awami League functionaries, including myself, were on BNP's hit list. My family members fled and took shelter elsewhere," he said. On Monday evening, a mob attacked his house.
"Around 6 pm, they first started ransacking shops, looting valuables and setting them ablaze. My grocery store adjacent to my house was completely gutted. I fled the house and hid in a nearby litchi orchard the whole night. In the wee hours of Tuesday, I manged to reach Petrapole border and cross over to India. But I don't know the whereabouts of my family members," Saha said, breaking down in tears.
Unlike Roy or Saha, who left their homeland recently, Ananya Azad has been living in an undisclosed location in Europe for several years now. She had fled to Germany in 2015, after her name came up on the hit list of Ansarullah Banga Team, an outfit that was behind the attack on atheist bloggers in Bangladesh. Ananya's father, litterateur Humayun Azad, survived an attack on his life on the Bangla Academy premises on February 27, 2004.
"My father fled to Germany on August 7 and was found dead on August 12, 2004. I never visited Bangladesh after I left my country in 2015. After Monday's incident, my family members are scared. People have no idea what Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam can do with this country and its people. It is scary. If it happens, I'll never ever see my homeland," she said.