Diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh are expected to escalate further in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, following incendiary remarks by a senior legal official from the Mohammad Yunus-led interim government on Wednesday.
The official controversially implicated top Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Narandra Modi, in the deadly assault that left 26 tourists dead.
In a verified Facebook post, Dr Asif Nazrul, Legal Advisor to the Bangladesh’s interim government, irresponsibly implicated PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval in the attack— without a shred of evidence.
His statements, riddled with speculation and politically charged assertions, drew strong criticism for being not only baseless but also insensitive to the victims and their grieving families.
In his post on the social media platform, Nazrul stated: “I condemn the killing of tourists in Kashmir. However, we must investigate who is behind it. Read the following: It doesn’t matter to me whether or not India strikes back at Pakistan! I simply don’t buy the idea that weapons or militants could’ve entered Kashmir without some level of backing from Amit Shah or Ajit Doval. Earlier, militants had several infiltration routes, but with today’s advanced surveillance technology, those paths are constantly monitored. After the Kargil War, I visited Kashmir myself. Not once did I hear about ‘militants attacking tourists.’
A military commander told me militants don’t target tourists, Kashmir depends on tourism to survive, their target is security forces. Even during the peak of militancy, tourists were never the targets. Places like Pahalgam, Gulmarg, and Sonmarg were always heavily guarded by the military. Now, this claim that ‘militants asked for the religion of the victims before killing them’— that reeks of high-level planning. If Pakistan did this as payback for Balochistan, then the Modi government, which let these attackers slip through, has to answer for it. So what now — was the whole narrative that ‘Modi ended militant attacks’ just a lie?”
Security experts in India have pointed out that while investigations are still ongoing, such premature and accusatory comments only serve to politicise a deeply tragic incident. A senior official of the Union government’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “It is shocking that a high-ranking legal figure in Bangladesh would choose to make unsubstantiated and inflammatory claims while families mourn the loss of loved ones. His statement plays directly into the hands of those who seek to destabilise the region.”
Meanwhile, the Indian government has expressed hope that responsible nations will refrain from politicising terrorism and instead stand united against extremist threats. Many have called Nazrul’s remarks not only deeply offensive but also diplomatically damaging, particularly when cooperation in counterterrorism is more vital than ever.
Notably, “The Resistance Front” (TRF), a known proxy of the banned Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The TRF, designated a terrorist organization by India in 2023, emerged after the revocation of Article 370 and has since been involved in multiple terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir. The group's involvement further underscores the continuing threat posed by cross-border militancy.
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