BBC:
The killing of a Hindu man during recent violent protests in Bangladesh has pushed already strained ties between Dhaka and Delhi into a deeper crisis.
As the two neighbours accuse each other of destabilising relations, questions are growing over whether their once close, time-tested relationship is fraying beyond repair.
In India, the episode has sparked protests by Hindu nationalist groups. The man who was killed – Dipu Chandra Das, 27 – a member of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority, was accused of blasphemy and beaten to death by a mob last week in Mymensingh, in northern Bangladesh.
The incident happened as violent protests broke out over the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent student leader, in the capital, Dhaka.
Hadi’s supporters alleged that the main suspect, who they say is linked to the Awami League – the party of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina – had fled to India, further fuelling anti-India sentiment in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Bangladeshi police, however, said there was no confirmation that the suspect had left the country.
In recent days, the South Asian neighbours have suspended visa services in several cities, including Delhi, and accused each other of failing to ensure adequate security for their diplomatic missions.
The two countries have also summoned each other’s high commissioners to raise their security concerns.
“I sincerely hope tensions don’t escalate further on both sides,” Riva Ganguly Das, a former Indian high commissioner to Dhaka, told the BBC, adding that the “volatile situation” in Bangladesh made it difficult to predict which way things would go.
