Bangladesh’s interim head of Government, Muhammad Yunus, has come under fire for presenting an illustrated book — featured a distorted map of Bangladesh, which includes India’s northeastern States and parts of West Bengal within its borders, to Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairperson, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, during the latter’s official visit to Dhaka.
The image of the gift, shared on Yunus’ verified X (formerly Twitter) account, quickly ignited a diplomatic storm. The depiction closely mirrors the so-called Greater Bangladesh map — an expansionist concept long promoted by Islamist group Sultanat-e-Bangla, which envisions Bangladesh extending into Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Myanmar’s Rakhine region.
This isn’t the first time the disputed map has caused tensions. It was first noticed in April 2025, when it appeared at an exhibition at the University of Dhaka during the Bengali New Year celebrations. The issue resurfaced in August 2025, when Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala raised it in Rajya Sabha, calling the depiction “a dangerous provocation.”
Earlier, in 2024, Yunus’s close aide Nahidul Islam also faced criticism after posting a similar map online, claiming it represented a vision of “Greater Bangladesh.”
This latest controversy follows Yunus’ earlier remarks during an April visit to China, where he referred to India’s northeastern States as “landlocked” and suggested Bangladesh serves as their “only access to the ocean.” The comments drew a sharp response from India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who emphasised the strategic role of the Northeast as a connectivity hub under the BIMSTEC regional framework. Relations between India and Bangladesh have cooled since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Government in 2024.
Naik Returns To Dhaka
New Delhi: Bangladesh has invited controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik for a visit later this year — marking his return to the country after nearly a decade-long ban. Naik, an Indian-born tele-evangelist currently residing in Malaysia, is expected to tour Bangladesh between November 28 and December 20, 2025, delivering a series of public lectures and religious talks. The move represents a striking policy reversal from the previous Government led by Sheikh Hasina, which banned Naik and his channel Peace TV in 2016. Critics argue that the invitation undermines Bangladesh’s efforts to counter extremism and could embolden radicals. Political observers note that Naik’s re-entry may deepen rifts within the country’s secular and religious factions.
