Bengali women on both sides of the border are known for their abiding romance with the six-yard wonder.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina deftly used this love for saris among Bengali women to turn the tables on Opposition leaders backing a "boycott Indian products" campaign that surfaced on social media in the aftermath of the country's general election on January 7.

"How many Indian saris do their wives have?" she asked at an event organised on the occasion of the country's Independence Day observed on Tuesday.

"When they burn their wives' Indian saris in front of their party office, only then will it be proven that they are truly committed to boycotting Indian products," she added, evoking peals of laughter from the audience at the Tejgaon office of the ruling Awami League.

The trigger behind the dare to the Opposition from Hasina — known for her elegant collection of Jamdani and Tangail saris — was last Wednesday's incident when Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary-general of the BNP, the main Opposition force in the country, threw away his Kashmiri shawl.

"Social media is buzzing with the 'boycott India' campaign. There is a public dissent against the import of Indian goods. The wave of boycotting Indian products is visible," the senior BNP leader had told the media a week ago.

"Therefore, as a party representing the people, BNP and 63 democratic parties and patriotic citizens of the nation are expressing solidarity with the boycott of Indian products," Rizvi added after tossing off his shawl, visuals of which are doing the rounds on social media.

The undercurrent of anti-India sentiment in Muslim-majority Bangladesh is not new, but it has become visible mostly during sporting events like the celebrations in Dhaka last year after India’s loss in the cricket World Cup final.

General discontent over India's alleged interference in Bangladesh politics goes back to the 1990s, but the murmurs have grown louder in recent years, especially after the general election — which was boycotted by the BNP and its allies — in January in which Hasina returned to power for the fourth time in a row.

Since then the BNP's social media army, most of whom live in western countries like the party's de-facto chief Tareq Rahman, has been trying to create a narrative that the "one-sided election" got legitimacy only because of India and that's why people should boycott India and Indian products.

A source in Dhaka close to the BNP dispensation said that the idea for a boycott-India call was inspired by developments in the Maldives, where Mohamed Muizzu used the anti-India sentiment to win the presidential election.

"The plan was to make it look like a people's movement, which gathered momentum on social media.... And then use popular sentiment to embarrass the Hasina government and create chaos as India is an emotive issue," said the source.

The fact that the BNP, which failed to execute its plan of continued street protests after the elections, is planning to use anti-India sentiment became clear on Tuesday when Rahman, during an online session with party colleagues in Chittagong, said the government in Bangladesh had "become a slave" of a neighbouring country.

While it is true that the #BoycottIndia campaign on social media and crossed-out photos of Indian products did get traction among a section of Bangladeshis, it did not capture the imagination of the majority in a country heavily dependent on Indian imports ranging from sugar and spices to saris and spare parts.

Against this backdrop, last Wednesday's spectacle by Rizvi outside the BNP's Naya Paltan office is seen by some in his party as an act of desperation. Many have questioned the rationale behind the move that would further distance the party from New Delhi.

The discomfort in the BNP, which had tried its best to reach out to New Delhi before the election, was apparent as the matter came up for discussion at the meeting of the party's highest policymaking body earlier this week.

"Our policymaking body discussed the issue when some leaders wanted clarity on the party's stand on the boycott call.... Till now, our party doesn't have any official stand on it," said Sayrul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP's media cell.

"But it is also true that this is a call from the people and some of our leaders are supporting it," he added.

Farida Yasmin, an Awami League MP and the president of the National Press Club, said that the BNP was using the anti-India card after failing to make any impact on electoral politics. "This is nothing but a conspiracy, but it won't have any impact," she said.

While the cracks in the BNP camp became apparent on the issue, trade bodies like the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued statements saying that the boycott call did not impact the demand for Indian products. With Id a few days away, the demand for Indian products is likely to rise, said a trade outfit source.

Amid the hectic festive shopping in Bangladesh — the ripples of which can be felt in Calcutta's New Market where Bangladeshi shoppers are coming in droves — Hasina added to the BNP's embarrassment.

"When the BNP was in power, the wives of some ministers used to go to India. They used to buy sarees and travel here and there... They used to go with one suitcase and returned with six-seven suitcases," said Hasina, recounting what she learnt from her contacts during her days as an Opposition leader between 1991-1996 and 2001-2006.

She broached another emotive issue for Bengalis — kitchen spices. "All the items like hot spices, onions, garlic, ginger, which we need for cooking, come from India.... These should not be seen in anyone's kitchen," said Hasina at the party programme.

Till late evening, the BNP did not come up with any official reaction to the Prime Minister's dare, but sources in the Opposition camp said that Rizvi, known as the mouthpiece of the exiled Rahman, was still sticking to his guns as he felt that the boycott call had the potential to gain popular support.

A senior editor of a Bangladeshi daily said that the sheer necessity of Indian products would ensure "an utter failure" of the boycott call, but not mark the end of "anti-India sentiment".

"The allegation of Indian meddling in politics will always be there.... But the most important factor that has contributed to the anti-India sentiment in the last few years is the rising difficulty in getting an Indian visa," said the editor, who did not wish to be named.

"The Indian High Commission in Dhaka has become like a fortress, which cannot be accessed.... The behaviour towards the general public is so rude that it makes people more anti-India. There have also been instances of intimidation by some high-ranking officials towards journalists who have questioned India or its policies. Such an approach cannot be tolerated when India calls Bangladesh its most trusted friend," added the senior journalist.