I’m thirsty too
The government of Hasina Wajid is simply going against the whims and desires of the people of Bangladesh. For the honourable and egoistic people of Bangladesh, it is simply an insult that they are mastered by the Indians
At last, with a smile of success and a feeling of achievement, Lady Hasina returned to her home after completion of her visit to the land of her godfather — Narendra Modi. It was no doubt a very fruitful visit from Hasina’s point of view but for the people of Bangladesh, it was dawn of a new series of trials and tribulations. A very prominent Muslim country Bangladesh has simply become a colonial state of India, the only Hindu country in the world. And the credit of deforming Bangladesh’s identity certainly goes to Sheikh Hasina. According to the Hindustan Times, India and Bangladesh inked 22 pacts after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina. Among the decisions taken was a credit line, opening transportation channels with progress signaled on defence and water-sharing deals.
Three defence sector pacts were signed in the form of an umbrella framework agreement on various aspects of defence cooperation. Three other pacts aimed at aiding Bangladesh in various aspects of the civil nuclear energy programme, from setting up nuclear power units to addressing issues related to nuclear safety, were signed. The South-Asian Monitor said commenting upon the new development of relations between India and Bangladesh, ‘A large section of the people on the Bangladesh side, however, feels that the relationship lacks balance. The give-and-take, in their opinion, is more of all give and no take, with India on the receiving side. Whether it is trade, communications, diplomacy, cultural exchange or any other field, India somehow seems to get the upper hand. This is seen as a Big Brother syndrome.’ Hasina’s signing different pacts with India has given a rise to anger throughout Bangladesh. BNP senior joint secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said talking to media, “If Bangladesh adopts its defence policy as per India’s will; our independence will be at stake.” He alleged that the MoU was for the interest of ‘those who have remained in power using force in Bangladesh’. An old worker of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party said, “We are sold out to India — we are a slave nation — we are monkeys whose strings are in the hands of the Indian extremists.”
A very bitter reality is that the government of Hasina Wajid is simply going against the whims and desires of the people of Bangladesh. For the honourable and egoistic people of Bangladesh, it is simply an insult that they are mastered by the Indians. Bangladesh is an independent country and the people of Bangladesh could never allow anyone to be the ruler of their fate. Sheikh Hasina is dealing the people of Bangladesh as they are her personal slaves who don’t have any ego or self-esteem. The leaders of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party are very worried about defence pact with India because, according to them, the country would lose independence and sovereignty, if the government takes any ‘defence policy’ in line with Indian military strategy. The Bangladesh government, the foreign ministry and the defence ministry, all are still silent on this issue.
The Hindustan Times says, ‘The inability to ink Teesta pact will make it difficult for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to keep the momentum in ties with India. Moreover the ‘centre’ cannot do much about Teesta so long as Mamata Banerjee does not play ball’
Bangladesh and India have been quarrelling on various conflicting issues since long, Teesta water-sharing pact is also one of such conflicting issues. For the last two decades India and Bangladesh have been negotiating the ‘bone of contention’ Teesta river water-sharing pact. After his recent meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked hopeful for the early signing of the pact but the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spilt water on all his hopes by insisting that instead of Teesta, the centre should look at other river systems to share water with Bangladesh. The Hindustan Timessays, ‘The inability to ink Teesta pact will make it difficult for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to keep the momentum in ties with India. Moreover the ‘centre’ cannot do much about Teesta so long as Mamata Banerjee does not play ball’. Analysts are of the opinion that in presence of Mamata Banerjee, it is next to impossible that the Teesta Water Pact is materialised.
Mamata has ever been touchy regarding this pact. In a recent statement she said talking to the media, “There is very little water in Teesta River; it is our lifeline, the lifeline of North Bengal.” She further said addressing the two countries, “Your problem is water, not Teesta. I am willing to look at any alternate proposal to address your issues. What we can do is that there are many other rivers in the area (India-Bangladesh), we can use water from them.” In short, the condition of relationship between India and Bangladesh is not as easy and relaxed as the premiers of the two countries are trying to express through their words. Let us see how long this honey moon period of Bangladesh and India continues.