The vulnerabilities of the nation have been exposed on many fronts. Amidst incessant strikes, mayhem, and the mass arrest and repression of the opposition leaders, external factors too are conjuring up to pounce upon the nation’s sovereignty.

The arrival to Dhaka on April 6 of the commander of the US’s 7th fleet, Vice Admiral Scott H. Swift; the unexpected visit to the British High Commission of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to unveil a sculpture in honour of Queen Elizabeth; and the visit to India of our army chief, Gen. IK Bhuiyan - at a time when the nation was groaning in distress and the air was thick with the rumour of a likely military intervention to dissuade the marauding mobs from torching vehicles and infrastructures everywhere are few visible anecdotes with profound significance and ramifications.

Of all the above, Admiral Swift’s visit to Dhaka was perfectly matched with the human flooding in the capital of over a million Muslim devotees seeking to get laws passed against blasphemy and other anti-Islamic activities of the incumbent Awami League government and its sponsored agents like the Shahabagi zealots.
Given that the Hefajatul Islam followers demanded constitutional amendment to re-instate Bismillah and the ‘full faith on Allah’ in the governing principles of the nation, among many other things, the group’s praising by the ruling party high-ups smacks suspicion and smells of an existing hidden agenda that aims to catapult the outfit as an alternative to Jamat-I-Islam in the national politics.

Yet, the debate in the aftermath of the above events centered only on one issue: the demands of the Hefajat; which are being treated as outdated and impractical by many, including the PM who too had trashed away many of those demands during her BBC interview last week as unrealistic.

These outward gestures by all the players in the field do not, however, negate the facts that the ruling party orchestrated all of the above to bring the hitherto estranged US closer to the troubled regime by showing that the nation was infested with Islamic fanatics and religious zealots and the Hasina regime is the only hope to save the nation from such an impending scourge. At the same time, to deflect the blame of these behind the scene theatrics, ruling party leader Mahbub Alam Hanif even disclosed raw data about the 80 crore taka financing by the opposition BNP to organize the Hefajat showdown. Call it obfuscation or anything, but, in reality, the Hefajat theatrics had more smoke than fire and the outfit even reneged on its own promise to stage a lingering showdown if its followers were barred from reaching Dhaka, which is exactly what the government and its supporters did. The group’s inspiring of the devoted Muslims to walk even 100s of miles to attend the Dhaka congregation notwithstanding, what the outfit achieved in the end remains an unresolved puzzle. Even the 18 party- alliance has begun to distance itself from the Hefajat group, according to one reliable source.

Yet, to observers, the ongoing dramas are seen to having more to them than what meets the eye. The US’s 7th fleet is a massive war machine capable of subduing or defending any small nation from the sea. There are 60-100 ships, 200-300 aircraft and 40,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel assigned to the Fleet at any given time. The fleet has been looking for a safe haven in the Bay of Bengal to stay away from the threatening North Korean postures. Earlier, on September 16, 2012, Admiral Swift visited Dhaka and, when asked about his country’s quest to set up a base off the Bangladesh coast, Swift tried to dodge the issue and said, “We’re more interested to assist Bangladesh Army and Navy to enhance their ability to protect its maritime resources from pirates, protect the country from terrorist attack, and co-operate during natural disasters.”

One source said Dhaka had treated the US proposition for a base as ‘the last trump card to draw upon US help’ for the beleaguered AL regime. Hammed in by constant threats from various internal oppositions, the AL regime seems to be entertaining the proposition more seriously now. In the meanwhile, as our army chief was making an official trip to India, the situation at the Bangladesh-India border was anything but friendly and calm. Since February 28 when attacks were made on minority Hindu residences and religious places by some miscreants following the verdict on Delwar Hossain Sayedde’s case, Indian media reported the exodus of over 100,000 Hindus to India within the first 10 days. The exodus continues, according to many Indian media.

This has prompted the BSF to seek reinforcement from the regular army along the common borders while the Hindu fanatical outfit RSS has set up dozens of refugee camps with thousands of volunteers ready to receive the incoming refugees. The RSS is also pressing upon the central government in Delhi to pass a law to facilitate what it called the ‘arrival and settlement of persecuted Hindus from Bangladesh,” according to a diplomatic source. The source said the central government in Delhi has so far resisted the RSS demand on the plea that Bangladesh is the inheritor state of the 1950 Liaquat-Nehru treaty that has ensured the rights and the safety of the minority Hindus and the Muslims in both the states and it’s the responsibility of the Bangladesh government to comply with those treaty obligations. Be that what it may, what exactly the government wants from such hybrid foreign policy pursuance remains mysterious. The fact that it seeks to simultaneously befriend Russia, China, India and the USA is a conundrum that needs to be debated and answered now. It’s a high stake game which is destined to manifest its flip side sooner.
The Indian quest to emerge as a global power aside, Washington is upset with Delhi due to Delhi’s decision to trade with China and Russia with either local currency, or as barter. This particular move has reduced demand for US dollar by nearly three trillion.
On the other hand, Delhi is equally upset with Dhaka due to little progress having been made so far in finalizing the status of about nine MoUs into permanent treaties. Four of those MoUs relate to the transit and trans-shipment arrangements with Bangladesh which Delhi views as indispensable to preserving its sovereignty on the virtually disjointed Seven Sisters in the North East. Delhi wants these deals done before the AL regime quits power. Based on these complications in the realm of external relations, and the fast deteriorating situations within, the civic society and the armed forces must forge a bond to devise ways to preventing any unwarranted foreign intervention on the nation’s sovereignty.