As Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus stated, "The Bangladesh-India relationship is deep and multifaceted. We can have our differences but that cannot define it." We have said this many times before and reiterate now that our bilateral relationship must be based on a "win-win" policy, rooted in mutual respect, non-hegemony, and the pursuit of shared prosperity and deeper understanding. In my early days as the editor of The Daily Star, I wrote, "For India, there are only two neighbours—China and Pakistan. The rest of us are geographic entities to be praised, cajoled, reprimanded and even punished as the situation would call for."

Sheikh Hasina's last tenure in power (2009-mid 2024) appears to have been a period of "praise." However, after the student-led people's uprising toppled her regime, a powerful section of the Indian media has shifted into the "reprimand" mode, with some even suggesting "punishment." Much of the social media discourse seems to support this.

Let me start with my unequivocal position that oppression of minorities anywhere in the world, including in my own country, must be condemned and speedily resolved. It should never recur. Communal conflict has been an age-old phenomenon in South Asia following the British colonial policy of "Divide and Rule." It is a regrettable fact that, after 77 years of the departure of the British, we have still not been able to solve it.