Yunus' 'map gift' to Pakistani general raises eyebrows in India, Bangladesh calls claims 'fabricated' - What is the controversy

A controversy has broken out after Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus held a high level meeting with Pakistani General Sahir Shamshad Mirza recently. Bangladesh's interim leader shared pictures of him gifting a book to Mirza. However, it raised eyebrows in India as some reports claimed that the book depicted parts of northeast India as part of Bangladesh. The map was printed on the cover of a book that was presented to Mirza on at the state guest house Jamuna on Saturday (Oct 25). The book was titled Art of Triumph.

In a statement, the Bangladesh government called the report “completely false and fabricated." “The collection is a pictorial documentation of the mass uprising, capturing the historic struggle and sacrifice of students and citizens. The publication was released by the July Memorial Foundation," it added.

The Indian government has yet not responded to the development. After the meeting, Yunus’s office stated that discussions focused on strengthening bilateral trade, investment, and defence ties. General Mirza’s visit followed that of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar in August, who urged Bangladesh to “move forward” from the 1971 war’s painful legacy.

“Emphasising the shared historical, cultural and people-to-people ties between the two countries, General Mirza expressed Pakistan’s desire to strengthen cooperation in multiple sectors. He noted the vast potential for expanding trade, connectivity, and investment between Bangladesh and Pakistan,” said the Chief Adviser’s office in a press note.

Earlier in August, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that India is closely monitoring developments that have national security implications, including those about the anti-India map being diplayed in Bangladesh. On behalf of the government, Jaishankar said that his ministry has taken note of an Islamic group in Dhaka named ‘Saltanat-e-Bangla’, which is backed by a Turkish NGO called the 'Turkish Youth Federation', that has put out a map of the so-called ‘Greater Bangladesh’ that includes parts of India. A Turkish NGO-backed Islamist group in Dhaka allegedly displayed maps of ‘Greater Bangladesh’ — which comprised several Indian states of the Eastern and Northeast regions. According to a report published by the Economic Times, a group ‘Saltanat-e-Bangla’ allegedly put out the controversial map of "Greater Bangladesh". The map marked Myanmar's Arakan State, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and the entire Northeast region of India as part of ‘Greater Bangladesh’.