We have conceded everything that India wanted but we have not managed to receive anything in return except the warmth of India's friendship. One wonders whether this friendship is between the peoples of two neighbouring countries or between the two parties that have come to power here and in India, writes Professor M Maniruzzaman Miah
PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT TO DELHI
India's success and Bangladesh's failure
THE prime minister Sheikh Hasina was in the Indian capital on a four-day state visit, from January 10 to 13. She was invited to visit India by Manmohan Singh, the prime minister of India. For quite sometime before her visit began, media propaganda in respect of the success she would attain there reached its crescendo. It appeared as though all the outstanding problems between Bangladesh and India would be settled during her visit because of the personal 'chemistry' between her and the Indian policymakers, as one minister remarked. Those who have been keeping track of the Indo-Bangladesh relation since 1972 know it very well what a tortuous course it has gone through. However, three days before the prime minister's visit began, Ashraful Islam, the Awami League general secretary and a minister, and the day before Dipu Moni, the foreign minister at a Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies discussion meet, threw cold water on people's high expectations. By that time one would hazard the guess that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs got to know from the visit here of Nirupama Rao, the Indian foreign secretary, how things were going to shape up in the Indian capital. Anyway, it was Bangladesh prime minister's maiden visit to Delhi after her assumption of office as prime minister for the second time. It was expected, therefore, that she would be given a very warm welcome. And so was it. At the Rashtrapati Bhaban she was accorded a ceremonial red carpet reception. The Indian president awarded her the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for peace, disarmament and development.
Besides, she met quite a few influential ministers and high-profile personalities including Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister IK Gujral. On the face of it, she was treated very warmly and well. What Bangladeshis would like to know, however, is the outcome of it all. To be more precise, if a balance sheet of our gains and losses from the visit are made what it would look like. All the events that took place during the prime minister's visit have been listed and covered in the joint communiqué that was released to the press on the conclusion of the visit. What does the joint communiqué say?
The 51-paragraph communiqué does not perhaps warrant the finesse of a seasoned diplomat to make out what actually it is. Summarily speaking, as one can see, it has two major parts, the accords signed in Delhi, and the main body of the communiqué itself. The accords signed comprise three agreements, one memorandum of understanding and a cultural exchange programme. The agreements include one on 'mutual legal assistance' another on 'transfer of sentenced persons' and the third one on 'combating international terrorism, organised crime, and illicit drug trafficking'.
Interestingly enough, the full text of none of these has been released to the press till now, although more than three weeks have passed by since the return of the prime minister to Dhaka. In the absence of such a text, it is not very clear as to what type of criminal matters for legal assistance or transfer (not mutual, why?) of sentenced persons or organised crimes are meant in these accords. May we be permitted to note here that before the Chittagong Hill Tracts agreement was signed in 1997 several thousand rebels of Chittagong origin were engaged in organised crimes of looting, arson, killing, extortion, etc from Indian soil assisted by whom, one wonders! Even now on our south-western border, groups of large number of people under the banner of 'Bangasena' or 'Bangabhumi Andolon' whose avowed purpose is to slice away a chunk of Bangladesh territory are active. Then, there are a large number of Bangladeshis who fled and reportedly have found shelter in Kolkata from where they still continue extortion threatening over telephone to pay a handsome amount of money to their agents here. Will they come under the agreement of transfer? Perhaps not, for the simple reason that they have not been proceeded against or sentenced.
Our Indian friends want, as it appears, one or two rebels belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom, who might have been interned somewhere in this country to be handed over to them. Reportedly, one Rajkhowa, an ULFA leader, is in Indian hands under very mysterious circumstances. Another, one Anup Chetia, according to newspaper reports, is perhaps the other person to be handed over to the Indian authorities.
There is nothing wrong in mutual exchange of rebellious people rising against the country's integrity. But in all fairness, it should have been a two-way traffic. One wonders whether those Bangabhumi-wallahs and the extortionists or terrorists operating from Kolkata or somewhere in West Bengal would be brought to justice and those among them who are Bangladeshis will be handed over to the government of Bangladesh. Also whether or not the commitment made that they won't allow their respective territory for training, sanctuary and other operations by domestic or foreign terrorist organisations will be fulfilled in letter and spirit.
As mentioned above, one agreement relates to 'combating international terrorism'. That the presence of international terrorist outfits in Bangladesh may be there cannot perhaps be gainsaid. However, their operational strength is so weak that they have been and they can still be, we believe, controlled by the Bangladesh government itself. Internationalising the issue may pose security problem for us, as some would look at it. We think we need extreme caution to handle the matter.
It is not unexpected that the two prime ministers 'underscored the need for both countries to actively cooperate on security issues.' And both leaders reiterated the assurance that the territory of either would not be allowed for activities inimical to the other and resolved not to allow their respective territory to be used for training, sanctuary and operations by domestic or foreign terrorists. This is no doubt a welcome assertion. Let us hope that this would be followed in letter and spirit by both and some of the issues referred to above will not recur anymore and people involved in anti-Bangladesh terrorist activities in India will be handed over to Bangladesh.
'It has been agreed' that India will be allowed the 'use of Mongla and Chittagong seaports for movement of goods to and from India through road and rail.'
It has been 'agreed' that Ashuganj in Bangladesh and Silghat in India will be ports of call for inland water traffic.It has also been 'agreed' that Agartala will be linked with Akhaura by rail line which will be laid out by Indian finance to be received as grant.
Thus, India will have through passage from any point in that country to Chittagong port and onward to Akhaura by railway up to Agartala in Tripura, that is, transit route from any point in India to another point of the same country, a facility which she has been asking for since quite sometime past. During the earlier period of Awami Rule, transit facility to India could not be granted because of fierce opposition from the people here. Incidentally, to facilitate rail link to Agartala which could have been otherwise cut off from India, Radcliffe in 1947 awarded the Muslim majority areas like Badarpur, Karimganj and Baroigram junctions in the district of Karimganj albeit people of these areas voted massively in favour of Pakistan in the plebiscite prior to Redcliffe award. Thus, what India got as a narrow passage 63 years ago has now got a wide area as transit route to the same place.
But what does the communiqué tell us about some of the burning issues bedevilling our relationship like the Border Security Force of India killing innocent Bangladeshis along the border, sometimes mutilating their body before returning and at others not returning at all, or the yawning trade gap between the two countries or the issue of water-sharing and a host of others. On border killing by India's BSF, the phraseology used is 'check cross-border
crime' and 'both prime ministers have agreed that the respective border guarding forces exercise restraint.'
By the above not only shooting down Bangladeshis like game birds day in and day out (818 over last 10 years, 94 last year), the Bangladesh Rifles has been bracketed with the BSF. One wonders whether this is just and fair because there is no record of the BDR killing innocent Indians at normal times.
As to the trade gap, India has agreed to reduce the negative list of items to be exported from Bangladesh and also to remove the tariff and non-tariff barriers. Those items have not been listed though in the communiqué but as to the removal of non-tariff barrier, lo and behold, some businesspeople have already been denied visa to visit India. On top of that 'haats' have been agreed to be set up on the border, although the modalities are yet to be put in place. It may be recalled that border haats were established after liberation but later on were closed as they became uneconomic.
On Teesta water sharing, it has been proposed that a meeting of the Joint River Commission would be held soon to come to an agreement on the issue. One may recall that a memorandum of understanding was agreed upon between the two governments in 1983 but was never translated into a full-fledged agreement understandably because of non-cooperation from the upper riparian. The memo, as it appears, agreed to allocate 36 per cent to Bangladesh, 39 per cent to India and 25 per cent as environmental flow down the river.
Before any agreement is reached, the two sides must reach unanimity on the flow upstream, an allocation of a minimum of 25 per cent of flow as environmental flow for the sustenance of the river itself and an agreement for joint monitoring of the river flows along its course upstream of the Indian barrage. Unless this is done it will have the same fate of the 1996 Ganges Treaty due to which a large number of distributaries have gone dry and are still drying up
gradually in spite of the fact that
70 per cent of the dry season flow
of the Ganges is contributed by Nepal.
gradually in spite of the fact that
70 per cent of the dry season flow
of the Ganges is contributed by Nepal.
As to the Tipaimukh dam, our prime minister says that her counterpart has assured her that India won't take any measure that would put Bangladesh in any difficulty. Madam prime minister, may I be permitted to say that the same assurance was given to Khaleda Zia on the Farakka issue when she met the Indian prime minister PV Narsimha Rao in 1992. Such assurances have never been actually followed by action.
India has agreed to give dredger to us for dredging our rivers. Do people know that dredging has been necessitated by sedimentation on the river beds in turn, resulting from low flow from upstream?
We have also assured India of our support to her seeking a permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council.
There are many things more which space does not permit us to go for. Summarily speaking, we have conceded everything that India wanted without getting practically anything in return except the warmth of relationship and friendship of India.
However, one wonders whether this friendship is between the peoples of two neighbouring countries or between the two parties that have come to power here and in India. We say so because the communiqué notes that '… Recent elections in both countries presented them with a historic opportunity to write a new chapter in their relationship.'
Everyone in this country with minimum common sense will look for friendship between two countries based on sovereign equality and mutual respect for each other's needs for development and general welfare and perhaps not between two political parties that may come to power fortuitously at the same time.
Professor M Maniruzzaman Miah is a former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University. modzaman@gmail.com
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