How many warning bells must ring before New Delhi wakes up? How long will India play the polite bystander while its eastern neighbour slides into the abyss? History has a cruel sense of déjà vu. We have seen this movie before. And we know how it ends.

Bangladesh is no longer just ‘unstable’ today. It is slipping, inch by inch, into a dangerous vacuum. Power is scattered. Radicals are emboldened. External players are circling like vultures. And India, which has the most at stake, is stuck in diplomatic small talk.

Read in Hindi: बांग्लादेश में उथल-पुथल और भारत की दुविधा

Others don’t hesitate. Russia didn’t. Israel doesn’t. The US rarely does. India alone seems paralysed by protocol. The question is blunt: what happens tomorrow if extremists capture state power in Dhaka, with a nuclear plant running next door? At that stage, regret will be the only policy option left. And regret is the costliest currency in geopolitics. This is the last call. Delay now won’t be a mistake. It will be a security sin.

Bangladesh, once India’s closest ally in the east, has changed beyond recognition since Sheikh Hasina was pushed out in August 2024. What began as student protests quickly spiralled into chaos. Hasina sought refuge in India. An interim regime under Muhammad Yunus stepped in, sold as temporary, moral, and benign. That promise evaporated fast.

Into the vacuum marched radicals, anti-India voices, Pakistani handlers and Chinese strategists. The ground reality is ugly. Attacks on Hindus are rising. Temples are vandalised. Homes are looted. Women and children aren’t spared. Hate against India is no longer whispered; it’s shouted from rooftops. Yunus condemns. The mobs continue.

This is not just a minority issue. It is a warning flare. About eight per cent of Bangladesh’s population is Hindu. Thousands of incidents have been reported since August 2024. Justice is missing. Fear is permanent.

India feels the tremors. Protests have erupted from Delhi to Mumbai. Public anger is boiling. Many Indians no longer see this as someone else’s problem. It is about security. And self-respect.

The tragedy cuts deeper because of history. India midwifed Bangladesh’s birth in 1971. The Indian Army broke Pakistan and buried the Two-Nation Theory. Under Mujibur Rahman and later Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh stayed secular and friendly. That legacy is now under assault.

We made a similar error after 1971 with Pakistan, won the war, lost the peace. Leniency gave Pakistan time to go nuclear and export terror. Bangladesh today is walking down that same road. Different slogans. Same destination.

Meanwhile, Dhaka drifts. Advisors resign. Elections are postponed. Extremist leaders return from exile. Marches demanding a ‘Khilafat’ parade openly through the capital. Secularism is no longer just weakened; it’s mocked.

India’s choices are shrinking. Diplomacy has hit a wall. Economic pressure is slow poison. Doing nothing is the most dangerous option of all, especially with the Rooppur nuclear plant nearing full operation in a volatile state. So, the uncomfortable question must be asked: has intervention become unavoidable?

Limited, targeted action to stabilise the situation, protect minorities, and smash radical networks will carry risks. There will be global lectures. There always are. But history is clear: timely courage prevents long-term chaos.

Wait longer, and Bangladesh becomes a permanent ulcer on India’s eastern flank. Act now, and the slide can still be halted. Sometimes peace doesn’t come from patience. Sometimes it comes from resolve.