ISLAMABAD: A senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the leader of the opposition in India’s West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday called for Bangladesh to be “taught a lesson,” invoking Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, while leading a protest in Kolkata.
“A lesson should be taught [to Bangladesh]. Like Israel taught in Gaza,” Adhikari said while marching to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission alongside party leaders and seers, according to the Times of India.
TRT World later shared the video footage of the incident on their official Instagram page.
The comments referenced Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which has drawn widespread international scrutiny. Israel’s military campaign has killed over 70,000 Palestinians and injured 179,100 since October 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Earlier this year, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel is responsible for genocide in Gaza, resulting in mass civilian casualties, the deliberate starvation of the population, the collapse of health and education systems, and violations of binding orders issued by the International Court of Justice.
Adhikari also linked his remarks to India’s recent confrontation with Pakistan.
“Our country’s 100 crore Hindus; the government is being run in the interest of Hindus. A lesson should be taught. Like we taught Pakistan during Operation Sindoor,” he said, according to the Times of India.
India’s ruling party rivals condemned the language. The Trinamool Congress wrote on X that the Bharatiya Janata Party had “perfected hate and intolerance into an art form,” accusing Adhikari of making incendiary and extremist remarks.
The controversy unfolded amid renewed political debate in India over the outcome of the May conflict with Pakistan. Earlier this month, senior Indian Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had said India was “completely defeated” during the fighting, claiming the “entire Indian Air Force” was grounded.
“On the very first day, we faced a complete defeat,” Chavan said while addressing a meeting of party workers in Pune.
After another Bharatiya Janata Party politician, Subrahmanyam Swamy, claimed that Pakistan had downed five Indian aircraft during the escalation, India’s top military commander acknowledged losses. Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue that India had suffered “some losses.”
According to Indian media, US President Donald Trump has at least 25 times cited claims that five to eight “brand new, beautiful” aircraft were shot down during the Pakistan-India May conflict.
