[ALOCHONA] Re: India’s Bangladesh Moment

Zoglul Husain <zoglul@hotmail.co.uk wrote:

Thank you for forwarding the article of Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Dipankar Banerjee on Manmohan Singh's intended visit to Bangladesh. 

Indeed, they are hell-bent on subjugation of Bangladesh territorially, infrastructurally, economically, politically and, above all, militarily. Anyone who has any illusion about India's goodwill for Bangladesh is totally deluded and will need to ponder deeply about how the 15-year-old innocent girl Felani was repeatedly shot in cold blood, which showed their most callous trigger-happiness in killing the Bangladeshis. They killed nearly one thousand poor Bangladeshi villagers in the last ten years in the border. Indian oppression, tyranny and mindlessness can be clearly seen in the huge numbers of their killings in Kashmir, Seven Sisters States, Gujarat, Singur, Nandigram, Orissa, etc., as well as in those, which are regularly perpetrated on the Dalits, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, the have-nots in general, the ethnic minorities, etc.
 
Naturally we view the article, you forwarded, in the light of the above observation. Manmohan's visit no doubt is intended by him to tighten the grip of the boa constrictor, which we have already been suffering from, ever since 1/11 2007. I wrote recently: "The present illegitimate govt was brought in power through a rigged election on 29 December 2008, with pre-determined results, under military deployment and conducted by the so-called Care Taker Government, which was a covert military govt for two years, run under emergency rules and which in turn was brought in by the vicious conspiracy of the so-called 1/11 2007 engineered by India-US (Bush) and supported by their allies, including their rubber stamp, the UN."
 
India did have a scheme to subjugate Bangladesh, which was supported by Bush. When Hasina visited India, she agreed with the MoU's designed by India and thereby she sold out the national interest and surrendered the sovereignty of Bangladesh. Manmohan wants to visit Bangladesh to tighten the noose. The people of Bangladesh reject those MoU's and they will smash Indian hegemony over Bangladesh to smithereens by building stiff resistance. 
 
The writer of the article, Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Dipankar Banerjee worked as Divisional Commander in Kashmir during 1991-92. It would be a pertinent question to ask: How many Kashmiris were butchered then, how many maimed and wounded, how many tortured, how many repressed, how many homes ruined and how many made homeless? His upbeat calculations about Bangladesh cannot be anything else except for his scheme of how to reduce Bangladesh to Kashmir or a vassal state. The people of Bangladesh of course will not yield. The writer also served as the Deputy Director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). Funded by the Indian govt, the IDSA trains civilian and military officers of India. At present he is the Founding Director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, which specialises in the study of defence, foreign and strategic policies in India. If he is upbeat about India-Bangladesh relations, the expectation of our well-being through him is bound to be downbeat. 
 
Unless India becomes a good neighbour, the visit of its Prime Minister to Bangladesh can only increase the people's agony and it can only call for stiffer resistance against Indian hegemonism.


On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 5:02 PM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> India's Bangladesh Moment
>
> Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Dipankar Banerjee
> Mentor, IPCS
>
> A historic opportunity awaits India in the next few months to address its fundamental security, cooperation in the region and its larger 'Look East Policy'. All of which can be enhanced through a strong partnership with our neighbour in the East, Bangladesh, overcoming years of suspicion. The time has come for a new approach, bold measures and out-of-the-box thinking.
>
> An international conference in New Delhi between India and ASEAN leaders in March 2011 indicated that the region is today poised for unprecedented cooperation. Even though China's influence and presence in ASEAN is much higher and growing even faster, there remain enough opportunities and space for simultaneous cooperation with India. That process will be facilitated through redefining our relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar, which in turn will benefit 400 million people that inhabit the entire region.
>
> The completely free and credible elections in Bangladesh in end 2009 ushered in a government with a large mandate. It also demonstrated that given the right opportunity, the people's choice would be peace, development and a tolerant society. Bangladesh is not a 'basket case' as Henry Kissinger so dismissively described it not so long ago. It is not also a 'failed state' like Pakistan, which for many decades kept it under its servitude. Instead it is a vibrant society where its rich language and culture and moderate Islam define its identity and nationalism. Yet, the nation is also densely populated, resource-scarce and susceptible to the frequent furies of nature. It provides a natural fit for a genuine partnership with India that is based on equity, self-respect and generosity as between friends, without insistence on 'equal reciprocity'.
>
> Over the years, parts of the population in Bangladesh have been influenced through Saudi money and Wahabi influence towards a more radical Islam. Their potential influence cannot be ignored, but should be recognized as a force that thrives only in times of economic difficulties. Dhaka has recently comprehensively addressed India's core security concerns by cooperating in countering terrorism. Insurgents from India's northeast, whose presence previous regimes flatly denied, were ferreted out and handed over. 
>  
> Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in Jan 2010 set the stage for a new partnership. Apart from three major agreements signed it also laid out a road map and initiated an eighteen track process to address other issues.
>
> But, decisions have a timeline and agreements take place in a political context. Just as sensible people in both countries understand the importance of genuine partnership and the economic opportunities that this will open up, there is still a sizeable community in Bangladesh that consider this a ripe issue for mobilizing anti-India sentiments. In an intensely bipartisan and divided polity, the government in power often succumbs to this pressure as elections loom. Then there are rising expectations, tendency of politicians in power to succumb to corruption over time and thus lose popular support. A time may soon come in Bangladesh when the cumulative effects of all these developments may become a serious obstacle even to agree to sensible agreements.
>
> Dhaka is looking to a visit from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consolidate this partnership. The time for moving forward is now. Elections to both the neighbouring Indian states, West Bengal and Assam, are in April and results are due in mid-May. Hopefully Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh will take place at the earliest, before the onset of monsoons. It is likely that negotiations on all tracks will not be completed by then. But, a few major breakthroughs and critical agreements that serve as real 'game changers' must be signed during this visit. What might these be?
>
> It is suggested that these should include the vital issues of territory, water, trade and connectivity. The enclaves issue is ripe for a solution and bold political decisions in conjunction with West Bengal should resolve them. The Teesta water-sharing negotiation too is at an advanced stage and it will be enormously helpful if this is agreed by that time. Over the years river water issues have become sensitive and a major resolution will be highly positive. A sensitive issue of late between India and Bangladesh has been the very adverse trade balance, which is ten times in India's favour. This is clearly unsustainable between friends. India can afford to have a zero-tariff regime for Bangladesh and not suffer a dent in its overall trade balance. But, if there is an apprehension that this may be misused, at least Bangladesh textile import tariffs should be eliminated. This will benefit maximum numbers of its citizens and an important constituency. Taken together these will be true game-changers in India-Bangladesh relations.
>
> In turn these would open up the whole question of connectivity already liberalized through direct access from Bangladesh to Bhutan and Nepal.  Building further on this through multiple nodes across Bangladesh will be of enormous financial benefit to its people in several substantive ways.
>
> The time has come to build public opinion in both countries to ensure that Manmohan Singh's visit is of historic significance to both countries.
>
> http://www.ipcs.org/article/india/indias-bangladesh-moment-3340.html

__._,_.___

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___