Geographical Helplessness!M.T. Hussain Inferiority due to Encirclement by India! The pity is that so far in the last four decades the governments of Bangladesh with rare exception at times miserably failed to rise psychologically above the feelings of inferiority, vulnerability and helplessness for geographical containment of Bangladesh by India. The government now in power since January 2009 has been reminding the people repeatedly that Bangladesh must accept whatever India prescribes for everything internally and externally. That is why they are giving India the transit through the territory of Bangladesh, yielding the three CHT districts to the tribal people alone in exclusion of all other citizens in India's terms of pleasure, permitting India to have the Tipaimukh Dam in detriment of the water system and ecology of one fourth of Bangladesh just as earlier in 1997 gave India for 30 years the inequitable share of water of the Ganges/Padma river upstream, turning the BDR ineffectual than before by first intimidating and then killing about six dozen brilliant senior army officers in an orchestrated mayhem soon after the government saddled them in power in January 2009 that certainly looks like helping India possibly to turn the Bangladesh national army to be subservient and fully loyal to India. The conspicuous hush ups in the matter of the BDR massacre of 25-26 February 2009 (See M. Joynal Abedin, BDR Massacre, July 2009, London) by the present government is no mean task in finishing up the self-confident army that is now seen to be followed by dismissing senior and efficient top army officers, on the one hand, and re-appointing already retired lots having proven allegiance both to the government and India, on the other! In the machination of the CHANAKYA's theory and Macaulay's curriculum prescriptions of 'secularism' that this government has been in action programs to isolate the otherwise monotheist spiritual nation drawing enough psychological utilities in the face of scarce mundane items now in short supply at increasing rate than any time ever before particularly the youths essentially towards atheism. Is it realistic in the context of world power rivalry around the region and elsewhere that the geographical helplessness of Bangladesh almost fully encircled by India obviously made it so? Must not Bangladesh look beyond that it is also a fact of situational reality that there are many such smaller countries in other continents that do not fare geographically better than the position of Bangladesh? Nascent capability and inherent united power of the people can make wonders in such situation. Vulnerable since Birth It's one hundred percent true that smaller Bangladesh is encircled by much bigger India both in land and water geographical fronts. The real position remains so vulnerable since the days of 1947 partition of the British Indian empire and independence of India and Pakistan as two separate independent countries. For over two decades though Pakistan stayed divided into two distant wings separated by Indian territories in between, and also that Pakistan was smaller in size than India in all aspects, there was at least a psychological power balance in the region for they represented two peoples competing here for at least a millennium. The 1971 war and the founding of Bangladesh in the territory of East Pakistan disturbed the balance that favored India enormously on the one hand and Pakistan weaker than before, and Bangladesh the weakest of the three. The post 1971 vulnerability and helplessness had been so acute that even the international telephone system of Bangladesh was kept operative via Delhi that the post August 1975 coup government of Khondoker Moustaque Ahmad claimed to have had snapped and reinstalled the line via Singapore. The helplessness perceived in reality that a fiery left politician in late 1960 and now a minister in the cabinet in Bengali verbatim stated during closing days of Pakistan period, 'SHIALER MUKH THEKE MURGI BACHATE GIE JENO AMORA BAGHER MUKHE NA PORI' (Lest not we are grabbed by a Tiger while trying to save a live chicken from the mouth of a jackal). Severance from Indianization on the August 15 of 1975 In post independence Bangladesh the first government due to its sole dependence in the 1971 war of independence on India including the armed intervention of the Indian Army, Delhi continued to plan and dictate all basic policies and administration of Bangladesh by their renowned bureaucrats and professional intelligence personalities like D.P. Dhar, General Ovan etc. The Constitution was tailored to suit Delhi's goal in the region. Prescription for economy was given to stay as complementary and supplementary to India's much bigger economy. Education and culture was redesigned to conform to total 'Indianisation' (see Indian leading theoretician Balraj Modak for definition of the term Indianization) of the psyche of the younger generation. Bangladesh had little option for foreign policy of its own and so was the defense policy just only to suit Delhi's AKHAND BHARAT design and hegemony in the region. The 25-year unequal treaty of 1972 bonded Bangladesh to all helplessness. The cumulative effect was that independent Bangladesh soon turned into Bottomless Basket Case from the position of its firmly stable economy in pre 1971 days so much so that corrupt ridden or man made famines of the ruling class then in 1974 (Amartya Sen) cost lives of vulnerable thousands, if not lakhs. It was the obvious and decisive armed coup of the 15th August 1975 that the inefficient, public property grabbers and corrupt government's top boss was toppled that caused some shivering in much bigger India by the historic action of tiny and vulnerable Bangladesh yet confident enough against persistent hegemony of Delhi. Confidence built up and then shattered The post coup governments though had been shaky in fear of the possible armed intervention from Delhi, friends like China, Saudi Arabia, etc kept Delhi in check. That followed gaining confidence for some years. The 1982 army coup led by General Ershad, however, took the position of Bangladesh once again to the 1972-75 periods. His period of illegitimate rule until 1990 ended in promise for regaining national confidence during the subsequent nationalist government. But Delhi was not at rest and looked for opportune time for imposing control once again as they did during 1996-2001 and in a much bigger way since January 2009 now not only threatening the nation with brute majority but also in all pervading fascist modes and actions across the country. The Need is the Post 15th August determination What needed essentially are the self confident and spiritually motivated nationalist forces of the highest qualities just as of the 15th August 1975 and of the immediate post that only could free the country from Delhi's hegemony and 'radar control' for their GREAT GAME in the region. Otherwise, Bangladesh can hardly be expected to free herself from the helplessness it owed to its birth in facing with the much bigger India. In the mean time, however, the lackeys of Delhi and the well-known Fifth Columnist in their desperate bid to hold on to the power at the behest of Delhi may go all their way out for fascist attacks against the nationalist forces and political witch-hunting of all opposition elements. That on going real helplessness is to be redressed now by rock solid unity of all patriotic people. |
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