AMN /
DHAKA- RSS idealogue and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Secretary General Ram Madhav has lauded Bangladesh democracy and extended his party’s “wholehearted” support to the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“The way Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is trying to uphold democracy and the constitution and protecting the democratic institutions in the country is simply a laudable effort…we as a big neighour support her hard work in this regard,” he said.
Ram Madhav was addressing the opening ceremony of a dialogue on Bangladesh-India Relations at a local hotel Friday evening.
Foreign Minister of Bangladesh AH Mahmood Ali joined the functions as the chief guest jointly organized by Friends of Bangladesh, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and India Foundation, Delhi.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsha Bardhan Shringla, Vice President of Friends of Bangladesh (India Chapter) Satyam Roy Chowdhury and coordinator of Friends of Bangladesh ASM Shamsul Arefin also spoke on the occasion.
Madhav, one of the top BJP leaders, said democratic freedom does not mean burning buses and public property. Democracy means freedom but their freedom is not absolute rather their freedom is a freedom within the framework of their constitution.
He said freedom does not give us license to say that we’ll destroy the constitutional system… we’ll destroy the democracy. It does not give us permission to burn buses, burn public property and engage in violence.
“Peace is an ‘absolute necessity’ to protect democracy and the constitution,” he said adding both Bangladesh and India have very ‘well-drafted’ constitutions and we need to protect and uphold the constitution.
Talking about Bangladesh-India relations that now reached a newer height based on trust and mutual understanding, Madhav said the relation is important for India also as India is a big country and big democracy and Bangladesh has a huge population.
After four decades, he said that he had realised that India is a big country but not a big brother of Bangladesh. “Our development story should be complementary…we are very good neighbours…we enjoy our relationship,” he added.
The BJP leader said India’s friendship with Bangladesh is natural as geography, language, history and cultural bonds unite both the countries.
Describing Bangladesh and India as partners in ‘progress, peace and partners in prosperity, he said the idea of neighbourhood is not rivalry but partnership.
Quoting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Madhav said – India, Bangladesh not just ‘Pass Pass’ but ‘Saath Saath’. “Our growth and development stories should be complimentary. We should grow together and we should work together.”