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That the Indian government did not call off President , despite a tense law and order situation there and ‘hartal’ (strike) calls by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its ally the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), is the most clear affirmation that India is committed to closer and better relations with Bangladesh.
President Mukherjee is the first Indian head of state to visit Dhaka in almost 40 years. President VV Giri visited that country in 1974, when Bangladesh had just emerged as an independent nation, after a long and bloody struggle, and some help from India. As India’s first Bengali – origin President, the visit, his first one abroad since he assumed office in July 2012, carries added resonance with a country that is fiercely proud of its Bengali roots and culture.
Bangladesh is currently in the throes of a vicious internal struggle to reclaim its ‘soul’ and the ideals of its ‘liberation war’ of 1971 as a democratic, primarily secular, ‘Bengali’ state, in which the vast majority of people are Islamic. Members of civil society and vast numbers of the country’s youth, born well after 1971, have united in trying to remove the pernicious influence of the fundamentalist JI from the country’s politics.
The JI, since before 1971, sought to retain its close ties with Pakistan and almost succeeded in turning Bangladesh into a fundamentalist Islamic state during the tenure of the previous BNP – JI government headed by Khaleda Zia. It is fighting now for its survival by instigating its trademark violence against democratic forces.
Although India deals with whichever government governs in Dhaka, it reached out to opposition chief Khaleda Zia. Even President Mukherjee met her when she visited Delhi last year, but there is little doubt New Delhi is closer to the Awami League, party of Bangladesh’s liberation struggle, currently running the government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
BNP’s Khaleda Zia cancelling her meeting with President Mukherjee during his just-concluded Dhaka visit, after first seeking it, has not gone down well with either Indian or Bangladeshi governments. Indicating that she has decided to support the JI, the episode is, however, unlikely to negatively impact bilateral ties.
Between 2001 and 2006, Bangladeshi politics was vitiated with violence and strident anti-minority and anti-Indian sentiment, creating a major security problem for India. Pakistan’s Inter – Services Intelligence (ISI) used Bangladesh as its launching pad for a host of terrorist acts, to fuel insurgent violence in the northeastern states and to subvert the Indian economy by flooding in fake currency.
Bilateral relations have blossomed since Sheikh Hasina’s AL returned to power in 2008 and her successful visit to New Delhi in January 2010, followed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in September 2011. Bangladesh has pro-actively addressed India’s security concerns and, in turn, India has allowed duty free access for Bangla textiles to Indian markets, and extended a line of credit of one billion US dollars for infrastructure development, primarily rail, land and waterways connectivity.
India also agreed to ratify the Land Boundary Agreement of 1974, completing the exchange of 162 enclaves of territory in each others’ countries, helping to finalize the border and largely resolving the issue of illegal migration. The government will place the LBA Bill in parliament where, because it involves territorial exchange and a Constitutional amendment, a two-thirds majority is required to pass it. Both countries also agreed on an interim accord on sharing the Teesta river waters. The treaty remained unsigned during the September 2011 PM visit to Dhaka, because of objections from the West Bengal government. It is likely, sources indicated, that the Treaty will be signed and the issue resolved during the visit of PM Sheikh Hasina to India later this year.
As Bangladesh prepares for elections scheduled in end 2013 India, which has supported the youth-led, pro-democracy movement centred in Dhaka’s Shahbagh, is anxiously watching which path will prevail in this crucial neighbouring country; democracy or fundamentalism.
Nilova Roy Chaudhury is Editor, Symbiosis – IRGAmag.
March 7, 2013.