Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student front of the ruling Awami League in Bangladesh, the world’s third-largest Muslim nation, has expressed solidarity with the ongoing global pro-Palestine student movement by organizing processions across the country and demanding the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. This movement by BCL activists has been welcomed by the people of Bangladesh. The program includes raising the flag of Palestine in every educational institution throughout the country, processions, and student gatherings. Thousands of members of BCL have joined the program.

At Dhaka University, the solidarity event centered around the Raju Sculpture, where the Chhatra League’s central unit president and general secretary delivered speeches. Students across the campus carried placards and banners with messages such as “Free Palestine, stop the genocide”, amplifying their call for action.

BCL president Saddam Hussain in his speech said that the masks of those who identify themselves as the custodians of democracy have been exposed. He said, “We want an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. In the United States, I have seen Jewish students also speak out for the freedom of Palestine. I want to put a question to the people of the world, after the death of how many people you will call it genocide?”

Saddam Hussain said, “When America vetoed the independence of Palestine, the students of that country were speaking for Palestine”.

Silence of BNP

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s father of the nation, was the first head of the Bangladeshi government to recognize the Palestinian struggle for independence and showed solidarity against Israeli atrocities and illegal occupations. With the legacy of Bangabandhu, no government of Bangladesh has recognized Israel as a country. Presently, Bangabandhu’s daughter, Sheikh Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, has been extremely vocal against Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and is being seen as a powerful voice against injustice in the Muslim world.

In contrast, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam, known as Islamist parties, are maintaining stone-cold silence regarding solidarity towards Palestine. All wings of the BNP-led alliance are refraining from any anti-West activity or against Israel’s atrocities. It is now clear to the Bangladeshi people that BNP and its allies are seeking to return to power by appeasing Joe Biden and Western leaders. Angry Bangladeshi citizens are saying the BNP’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, who has been residing in London since 2007, is looking to return to power through an unconstitutional process "by licking the boots of Joe Biden". The silence of BNP and Jamaat has already drawn criticism in Bangladesh, while most people are branding these parties as a “club of hypocrites and Western mercenaries”.

Western double standards

BCL’s movement, on the other hand, strives for the recognition of Palestine’s sovereignty, upholding justice, and vehemently opposing genocide, breaches of international law, and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Israel. Condemning the atrocities, massacres, and ongoing human rights violations against innocent Palestinian civilians spanning over eight decades, BCL pledges unwavering support to those advocating for peace in the region. However, instead of holding Israeli oppressors accountable, President Joe Biden’s administration is assisting Israeli forces in continuing their killing of innocent Palestinians. It’s a classic double standard in US foreign policy.

Western leaders led by Biden are bluffing the Global  South leaders. They preach human rights, freedom of expression, the right to self-determination, and the right to religion, which they never practice themselves. By continuing the cruel repression of pro-Palestine and pro-peace movements in the United States and other Western countries, Western leaders have already turned into abettors of atrocities and crimes against humanity.

(The author is a political analyst based in Bangladesh. Views are personal. He can be contacted at writetomahossain@gmail.com)