[🇧🇩] Indo-Bangla Relation: India's Regional Ambition, Geopolitical Reality, and Strategic Options For Bangladesh

[Saif]

বাংলাদেশ–ভারত সম্পর্কের সোনালি অধ্যায় ছিল দলের ও ব্যক্তির মধ্যে সীমাবদ্ধ: পররাষ্ট্র উপদেষ্টা

আমি মনে করি, কোনো এক পর্যায়ে, কোনো এক কারণে পাকিস্তানের সঙ্গে সম্পর্কে একটু টানাপোড়েন ছিল। এখন স্বাভাবিক একটা সম্পর্কে যদি উন্নীত হয়, আমাদের সবার খুশি হওয়া উচিত।

bangla.thedailystar.net

বাংলাদেশ–ভারত সম্পর্কের সোনালি অধ্যায় ছিল দলের ও ব্যক্তির মধ্যে সীমাবদ্ধ: পররাষ্ট্র উপদেষ্টা
আমি মনে করি, কোনো এক পর্যায়ে, কোনো এক কারণে পাকিস্তানের সঙ্গে সম্পর্কে একটু টানাপোড়েন ছিল। এখন স্বাভাবিক একটা সম্পর্কে যদি উন্নীত হয়, আমাদের সবার খুশি হওয়া উচিত।

পররাষ্ট্র উপদেষ্টা মো. তৌহিদ হোসেন | ছবি: সংগৃহীত

বাংলাদেশ–ভারত সম্পর্কের সোনালি অধ্যায় দলের ও ব্যক্তির মধ্যে সীমাবদ্ধ ছিল মন্তব্য করে অন্তর্বর্তীকালীন সরকারের পররাষ্ট্র উপদেষ্টা মো. তৌহিদ হোসেন বলেছেন, দ্বিপক্ষীয় এই সম্পর্ককে জনকেন্দ্রিক করতে হবে।

আজ সোমবার দুপুরে পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয়ে গণমাধ্যমকর্মীদের সঙ্গে আলাপকালে তিনি এ কথা বলেন।

আওয়ামী লীগের শাসনামলে ভারতের সঙ্গে বাংলাদেশের সম্পর্ক সোনালি অধ্যায় ছিল কি না জানতে চাইলে তিনি বলেন, 'শেখ হাসিনার সরকারের সময় বাংলাদেশ-ভারতের মধ্যে সুসম্পর্ক সরকার বা দলের ও ব্যক্তির মধ্যে সীমাবদ্ধ ছিল। আমরা চাই, জনসাধারণের মধ্যে সুসম্পর্ক গড়ে উঠুক। দু'দেশের মানুষের মাঝে এই বিশ্বাস তৈরি হোক যে, দ্বিপক্ষীয় সম্পর্ক খুব ভালো আছে।'

তিনি বলেন, ছাত্র-জনতার বিপ্লবের পরে ভারতীয় গণমাধ্যম অতিরঞ্জিত সংবাদ প্রচার করেছে। সে জন্য আন্তর্জাতিক গণমাধ্যম, যারা বস্তুনিষ্ঠ ও নিরপেক্ষ সংবাদ প্রকাশ করে, তারা এই দৃষ্টিভঙ্গি (ভারতীয় গণমাধ্যমের) গ্রহণ করেনি।

শেখ হাসিনার সরকারের সঙ্গে পশ্চিমা বিশ্বের এক ধরনের টানাপোড়েনের বিষয়টি স্বীকার করা উচিত বলেও উল্লেখ করেন পররাষ্ট্র উপদেষ্টা।

তিনি বলেন, যেসব ইস্যুতে টানাপোড়েন চলছিল, সেগুলো বর্তমান অন্তর্বর্তী সরকার এবং ছাত্র-জনতার এজেন্ডার সঙ্গে সংগতিপূর্ণ। কাজেই, এখানে দ্বন্দ্বের কোনো সুযোগ দেখি না।

পাকিস্তানের সঙ্গে দ্বিপক্ষীয় সম্পর্কের ব্যাপারে জানতে চাইলে পররাষ্ট্র উপদেষ্টা বলেন, আমরা সবার সঙ্গে বন্ধুত্বপূর্ণ ও গতিশীল সম্পর্ক চাই। আমি মনে করি, কোনো এক পর্যায়ে, কোনো এক কারণে পাকিস্তানের সঙ্গে সম্পর্কে একটু টানাপোড়েন ছিল। এখন স্বাভাবিক একটা সম্পর্কে যদি উন্নীত হয়, আমাদের সবার খুশি হওয়া উচিত।​

 

[Saif]

বাংলাদেশী পর্যটকের অভাবে ক্রেতাশূন্য কলকাতা নিউমার্কেট

 

[Bilal9]

বাংলাদেশী পর্যটকের অভাবে ক্রেতাশূন্য কলকাতা নিউমার্কেট

Bangladeshis have for the past few years contributed more than a hundred crore rupees to the Kolkata economy per month which was without the medical tourism proceeds.

I have no idea what the total contribution with medical tourism would be. I'd feign a guess, maybe three times as much per month, probably more.

And some Kolkata Bengali haters come up with names like "Kangladeshi". SMH. I do not know what these people lack in terms of common sense.

 

[Bilal9]

The following are two articles published by the Dhaka Tribune by its editor, Zafar Sobhan, both should be deeply insightful and eye-opening for non-Bangladeshi readers.
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[h3]10 things India needs to know about Bangladesh[/h3]
It is the Bangladeshi people with whom India needs to forge a relationship and not one deeply unpopular and discredited political party

Zafar Sobhan

1. Neither Islamist nor militant
   
   The movement that toppled Sheikh Hasina is not an Islamist revolution. The students at the forefront of the movement are committed, conscientious patriots who wish to see nothing more than a functional, fair, and free Bangladesh. They are democrats and they wish to see a truly democratic Bangladesh, as do all Bangladeshis. They are the furthest thing imaginable from Islamists or militants. Neither is Bangladesh an Islamist country nor a hotbed of militancy. Yes, it is a Muslim majority country, and yes, their religious faith is a key component of the identity of many, possibly most Muslim Bangladeshis. But that doesn’t make them radicals or anything other than God-fearing, law-abiding men and women who simply want to live their lives in peace and in harmony with their neighbours.
2. Hindus are not in danger
   
   Yes, in the initial chaos following Sheikh Hasina’s fleeing, there was a short period of anarchy and lawlessness, and, yes, unfortunately some of those who were targeted were members of the Hindu community. At times like this, those targeted are often the most powerless and as we all know in south Asia, minorities sadly always remain vulnerable. But the notion that Hindus were the subject of some kind of pogrom and that their targeting and dispossession was in fact an integral prong of the revolution is a fiction. Things have already calmed down considerably and as important as the reports of minorities under attack were, the accounts of Muslims and Hindus teaming up to protect temples and minority neighbourhoods were far more typical, widespread, and noteworthy. Things are far from perfect in Bangladesh when it comes to minority rights, but minorities in Bangladesh are much safer and more secure than in, say, India, just to pick a random country by way of comparison.
   
   
   
3. No anarchy
   
   Contrary to popular belief, Bangladesh has not descended into a Hobbesian state of chaos and anarchy since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. Such was the suddenness with which she decided to flee that it did initially create a complete power vacuum that resulted in a very unstable situation for some days. But with the interim government under Dr. Muhammad Yunus in place, things are becoming more stable and secure every day, even though the challenge of maintaining safety and security and law and order remains considerable. Things are not helped by the fact that a decade of AL corruption and misrule has left all institutions in a shambles and needing reconstitution from the ground up. That said, given the fragility of the situation – there were no police on the streets for over a week, forcing the students and concerned citizens to partner together to protect neighbourhoods and provide law and order – the fact that there was so little lawlessness during this time was astounding. And things are slowly but surely returning to normal.
   
   
4. Popular support
   
   There is widespread popular support for the interim government led by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who is a widely respected figure, with a reputation for probity, competence, and vision, both inside the country and out. If there is one Bangladeshi who can lead us at this watershed moment in the nation’s history, it is he, and this is widely recognized and acknowledged. There are of course divisions within the interim government as there are within the larger society, but he is widely seen to be the man who can bridge these divisions and bring Bangladesh together. After 15 years of deeply divisive leadership, it’s like a breath of fresh air, and the difference it makes having someone of his stature at the helm of national affairs is palpable. The country is with him.
   
   
   
5. Everything is relative
   
   While it has to be acknowledged that things are very far from perfect, that’s not a very helpful measure to use when assessing where things stand in Bangladesh today. It is regrettable that law enforcement and the legal system seem to be using their old playbook, with many of the cases that have been brought against former AL honchos blatantly flimsy and tendentious, with due process a far cry. Similarly, there remains a fair amount of confusion and lack of transparency as to how decisions are being made and what we can expect moving forward. But Bangladeshis prefer to measure the way things are today against the rampant criminality and corruption of the past decade, to say nothing of the bloodshed of the last month when Hasina turned her guns on her own people, and by that measure of comparison, we are light years better off than we were before.
   
   
   
6. Anger against the outgoing regime
   
   Remarkably, perhaps, for a prime minister who was elected in a landslide in 2008 and who had presided over impressive growth and development during her tenure in office, the ousted PM Sheikh Hasina was a widely feared and reviled figure. Her ruling Awami League was even less popular. In a free and fair election it is doubtful that they could be elected dogcatcher anywhere outside of their political stronghold of Gopalganj, something which the PM understood very well, hence her disinclination to test her popularity at the polls in 2014, 2018, and earlier this year. If the discontent with her dictatorial rule and the corruption and criminality that came with it were simmering below the surface for years, this boiled over into incandescent anger with her murderous response to the student protests that left hundreds dead, thousands maimed, and the entire country shocked and still coming to terms with the ferocity of the assault perpetrated on its own people by the erstwhile government. She has lost an entire generation, and the AL won’t sniff power again for a decade, possibly much, much longer. Bangladeshis will never forgive her or forget what she did.
   
   
   
7. We hold India responsible
   
   The Bangladeshi people hold India squarely responsible for everything they have suffered in the past decade of increasingly autocratic AL misrule. The reason is simple: everyone knows – as do you – that it was India who propped up and supported the Hasina regime, batting for it internationally, being the first to recognize its bogus elections, soft-pedalling its dictatorial nature, and defending it and protecting it at every turn. It was this knowledge that India unquestioningly had her back that emboldened Hasina in her worst excesses and insulated her from the consequences of her misrule. India’s relationship was with Sheikh Hasina and the government, and its concern for the welfare or opinion of the Bangladeshi people was non-existent. Hasina was the best of friends to India, and that’s all that mattered. India supported Hasina right to the bitter end, with contemptuous disregard for how this made it look in Bangladesh or the price they would have to pay as a result. Now with their brilliant Bangladesh policy in ruins India will need to rebuild the trust and confidence of the Bangladeshi people from scratch.
   
   
   
8. India is still batting for Hasina
   
   It doesn’t help that more than two weeks after her ouster, India appears to still be supporting Hasina and the AL, and that it hasn’t at all come to terms with the catastrophe of its Bangladesh policy. A tide of misinformation and disinformation continues to gush forth from India, attempting to paint the revolution in Bangladesh in the worst and most mendacious of lights. Sheikh Hasina remains an honoured guest of the republic of India and her son, presumably at the behest, or at the very least with the approval, of his masters in New Delhi openly calls on India to ensure elections in Bangladesh in short order, suggesting to Bangladeshis that India somehow feels that it has that right. India has yet to come to terms with the fact that it backed a scrub, has lost badly, and that it needs to make its peace both with the interim government and the Bangladeshi people if it wishes to repair its relations with its eastern neighbour.
   
   
   
9. It’s not just Hasina
   
   Let me be blunt here. The Bangladeshi people’s antipathy towards India does not stem solely from its support of Hasina and her atrocities. Bangladeshi beef with India predates 2009 although it has certainly been exacerbated both by the rightward shift in Indian politics and India’s support of the AL. Amit Shah’s referring to Bangladeshis as “termites” is only the extreme end of how far too many Indians think of Bangladeshis. Anti-Bangladeshi rhetoric and thought is ubiquitous throughout India and Bangladeshis understand very well the low opinion that many if not most Indians harbour about us. If Indians are honest with themselves, they will acknowledge that their attitude towards Bangladesh and Bangladeshis can be described as patronising and condescending at best, dismissive and contemptuous at worst. Worst of all is the old “you all are only free because of us” chestnut. While it is undeniable that India played a seminal role in 1971, it’s time to give that particular line a rest. Are the French meant to still be crawlingly deferential to the English and Americans? Good luck with that. Why should Bangladesh be any different? And please note that I haven’t even mentioned border killings, water sharing, or extortionate power deals.
   
   
   
10. We want to be friends
    
    Be all of the above as it may, Bangladesh neither seeks nor can afford enmity with India. We understand that India has long been an important friend to Bangladesh, starting from its invaluable support for our Liberation War in 1971. We recognize that India is a burgeoning world power and that good relations between the two countries are not just desirable but in fact indispensable. We share a 4,000 plus kilometre border and so many of our issues can only be resolved bilaterally or regionally. We appreciate that India has security concerns that impact its relationship with us. We also understand that the ties that bind our two countries are far greater than that which divides us, and that well-meaning Indians want the best for Bangladesh as well-meaning Bangladeshis want the best for India. But moving forward, if the relationship is to be repaired and developed in a way that is frankly imperative for both countries, it will have to be done so on the basis of mutual respect and with a recognition that it is the Bangladeshi people with whom India needs to forge a relationship, not one deeply unpopular and discredited political party and its dictatorial leader.

 

[Bilal9]

The following are two articles published by the Dhaka Tribune by its editor, Zafar Sobhan, both should be deeply insightful and eye-opening for non-Bangladeshi readers.
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[h3]Time to listen to Bangladeshi voices[/h3]
The good news in Bangladesh today far outweighs the bad

The continuing meltdown in India’s political, foreign policy, media, and intellectual establishments three weeks into the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government is truly a sight to behold.

If they don’t mind me pointing out the obvious, I would have to observe that they are taking this a lot worse than I thought they would.

In fact, I hope I will be forgiven for the observation that India seems to be taking the fall of the Hasina government almost as badly as Pakistan took Bangladesh achieving independence in 1971.

The violence of their response may indeed indicate something a little bit revelatory about how India viewed Bangladesh these last 15 years, and, honestly, the extent of the beating of breasts, rending of garments, gnashing of teeth, and chewing of furniture could scarcely have been greater had a part of India’s actual territory fallen.

Such was the sense of ownership over the Sheikh Hasina regime and the vice-regal confidence with which India viewed its operations in Bangladesh that to see it all come crumbling down in a matter of a few short days must have been a shock. It is clear that the Indian establishment is still very far from getting over it.

I should, at this point, hasten to clarify that it is not all Indians. There have been many fair-minded and heterodox voices within the Indian media and even political firmament who have broken ranks with the consensus chorus of dismay, and both cautiously welcomed the fall of an autocrat and been willing to introspect as to what the lessons might be for India.

But these voices have been few and far between, a tiny drop in comparison to the massive tide of recrimination and disinformation that has flowed steadily throughout the Indian national consciousness and continues largely unabated till today.

The recrimination is perhaps more understandable. The ouster of a leader and a regime that they felt they had in their pocket must have come as a serious shock to the system, and indeed the fact that the Hasina regime could unravel so rapidly and so completely came as a shock to those of us inside the country too.

No one likes to lose a friend, and Hasina was the best friend India ever had. She reigned courtesy of India’s steadfast support which insulated her from the consequences of her misrule, and the fact that her ouster leaves India’s Bangladesh policy in ruins, with no clear sense of how to right things, is obviously hard to take.

Equally difficult must be coming to terms with the massive intelligence failure that resulted in such a reversal. If the events of the past month have laid bare the utter poverty of India’s Bangladesh policy, it is no less of an indictment of their on-the-ground intelligence. How the men at the top still have a job, I don’t know.

But while the above may be to some extent understandable and even excusable, what is inexcusable are the torrents of misinformation and disinformation that have been gushing forth from Indian media and social media channels and amplified by politicians, that have completely distorted the Indian understanding of what is happening in Bangladesh. None of this is conducive to the rebuilding of the bilateral relationship along workable terms that both sides need.

Most of the rhetoric coming out of India paints Bangladesh as a hotbed of militancy and the student-led people’s movement to oust Hasina as an Islamic revolution, neither of which is anywhere close to the truth. Nor are Hindus under sustained attack in this post-Hasina Bangladesh, though Indian media and social media is painting the interim administration of Dr Muhammad Yunus as the second coming of Aurangzeb.

Most galling of all is the insulting imputation that Bangladesh remains under the sway of Pakistan and its infamous ISI. I mean, really? The 2000s called and want their understanding of geo-strategic realities back.

Let me break something down for my friends across the border: Bangladesh is now a bigger country than Pakistan. Our economy is larger than Pakistan’s in absolute terms even though they have 80 million more people. In terms of GDP per capita, Pakistan is fully 30 percent lower than Bangladesh.

What next? Is Bangladesh under the sway of the nefarious Maldives National Defense Force perchance? Are we in the pocket of the sultanate of Brunei? A little respect, please.

My advice to my Indian friends would be to listen more and say less. Listen to Bangladeshis. Do not get your information about Bangladesh from Indian sources who are either themselves misinformed about Bangladesh or trying mightily to misinform you, or both. Engage with Bangladesh with an open mind and jettison your preconceived narratives and notions about the country.

My advice to anyone else outside the country would be similar: get your news about Bangladesh from Bangladeshis and not from third parties, especially Indian voices that clearly have a stake in the failure of the Monsoon Revolution.

Don’t fall for the agitprop being churned out by the Indian troll farms and amplified by their establishment media. Take the time to search out the truth about Bangladesh today, and you will be surprised and inspired by what you learn.

There is a great story unfolding in Bangladesh today. It is by no means certain to succeed and the situation in the country remains balanced on a knife edge. Is the situation in Bangladesh perfect? Far from it. But is it an improvement over what we suffered for the past decade? Absolutely. Is there disheartening and dismaying news when it comes to law and order and rule of law. Undoubtedly.

But the good news in Bangladesh today far outweighs the bad, and it is so important that those outside the country understand the enormity of what is happening in Bangladesh and just how remarkable these last few weeks have been.

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Zafar Sobhan is Editor, Dhaka Tribune.