‘Did Zia give away Talpatti?’

He also asked whether BNP founder Ziaur Rahman had given away the island to India.

Joy was speaking at a discussion in Dhaka on Friday.

He said the Talpatti island was missing from all maps drawn in 1980, though the it existed at that time.

“So in all maps made in 1980, Talpatti was given away to India. So does that mean Ziaur Rahman gave away the island to India?”

The claim of sovereignty over the South Talpatti Island has been a key element of the anti-India rhetoric in Bangladeshi politics, although the sandbar landform disappeared into the ocean in the ’90s.

As per the verdict given by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague in the India-Bangladesh maritime boundary dispute, the part of the ocean where the island lay has fallen within Indian territory.

While the government is claiming that the verdict is a victory for both sides, the BNP leaders have been critical. They are saying Bangladesh has lost Talpatti Island and India has gained dominance in the Bay of Bengal.

“I will ask again – did this verdict happen by itself or did we put in all our efforts to succeed in it?” Joy asked.

“People who are doing propaganda over the verdict today, I have a question for them,” he said.

“What did you do during two terms in power? Why didn’t you appoint international lawyers?”

“Those who are talking about Talpatti, I will urge them to go to Talpatti and hold their protests there. I hope you can swim,” he said.

The island had emerged from the ocean after a 1970 cyclone at the mouth of Hariabhanga river. It disappeared in the 90s.

‘Those saying Zinabad should go to Pakistan’

Joy criticised BNP’s slogan, saying, “Those who say Bangladesh Zindabad should go to Pakistan.”

“Another political force is present in our country, which has never wanted our independence. They never wanted Bangladesh. They still want to be a part of Pakistan,” he said.

“We have been saying Joy Bangla since 1971. Why are they embarrassed to say Joy Bangla? They say, Bangladesh Zindabad”

“There is no Zindabad in Bengali, that is an Urdu word. I am confounded. They killed three million people on our soil. In 1952, people gave their lives to speak Bengali. Now, here in Bangladesh, a Bangalee cannot possibly speak in Urdu,” he said.

“I say they are not Bangalees, they’re Pakistanis,” he said.

“People who say Bangladesh Zindabad need to go back to Pakistan. We don’t need them in Bangladesh,” Joy said.

Source: Bd news24

6 COMMENTS

  1. Rather than Joy advocating for the people of Bangladesh, he should better convince Awami League to hold a fair election under a neutral election-time government so that people can freely decide who will form the government and who should take refuge in another country. Joy should have banned his own party for the word Awami (Urdu) before saying BNP has to take refuse in Pakistan for using Urdu in “Bangladesh Zindabaad”. If Awami leaders think that the Bay of Bengal victory is so great and Ziaur Rahman gave away Talpotti, then what is the “most traditional party” Awai League’s problem to test their popularity through a credible election? Why the farcical election was needed to keep Awami League in power? Joy must know that in the eyes of the people of Bangladesh, the current government is as legitimate as the Malek government in late 1971.

  2. Joy should go back to USA and live with his second wife and kid. He made enough money to become a billionaire from her mother’s business enterprise which is “Bangladesh Pvt Ltd.” She owns Bangladesh.

  3. I and millions (my guess would be most Bangladeshis) prefer saying Bangladesh Zindabad and not Joy Bangla and this is not a matter of semantics. The issue is sufficiently substantive.

    The slogan Joy Bangla, something that was coined by the Chchatra League in the 70s was appropriate within the context of one Pakistan where in contrast to the non-Bengali speaking counterparts of West Pakistan, the Bengalees of East Pakistan consituted a separate homogenious ethnic group that were fighting for autonomy. No doubt, in that particular political context the slogan of Joy Bangla made sense.

    After independence and separation from Pakistan this slogan not only has no relevance, rather it is politically diminishing. Because if we all abide by Mr. Wajed Joy’s advice,and join him to chant Joy Bangla, we shall simply be relegating ourselves from an indepedendent entity (this is what Bangladesh Zindabad slogan symbolizes) to an autonomous ethnic identity of the by-gone united Pakistan. Perhaps, this is what Mr. Wajed wants us to do. After all, his grandfather who made the Joy Bangla slogan popular wanted exactly that, he wanted to become Prime Minister of Pakistan within the framework of an autonomous Bengali East Pakistan.

  4. I never liked Joy Bangla’ even in those days, because it sounded similar to ‘Joy Hind’, with no malice to India. Similarly I have no problem with Urdu word ‘Zindabad’, because Urdu is just a language. If you want to use a unique slogan for Bangladesh our people can suggest one. Wait a minute, why are we giving so much attention and importance to Joy any way?

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