Subail Bin Alam
After Sheikh Hasina fled, the propaganda being spewed out by various Indian IT channels and the resultant reaction of the Hindutva adherents, is leading to a steady deterioration of India’s bilateral relations with Bangladesh.
Given that India is much bigger than Bangladesh from a geopolitical angle, generally speaking it would be Bangladesh that would face the more damage. However, the manner in which India is withdrawing facilities to Bangladesh, it is India that stands to lose. And if Bangladesh can take advantage of this situation, the country will advance ahead in self-reliance.
First of all there is the matter of trade. There is a USD 7,160.81 million trade deficit with India. According to a report appearing in Banik Barta on 21 October 2024, exports from Bangladesh have dropped by another 6 per cent. Now if they shut down the ports, our traders can snap up this opportunity. Previously the prices of inions, potatoes and rice would shoot up. Now the country imports quite an adequate supply of onions. And our choices have expanded now, with vessels arriving directly from Pakistan. As we didn’t have this alternative choice before, we had to remain at India’s mercy. If we can arrange another alternative of Myanmar alongside Pakistan, we can avail food imports at even cheaper rates.
Bangladesh ranks fourth among countries from which India receives remittances. While there are no accurate figures of how many foreign nationals work in Bangladesh, Deutsche Welle reports that around 500,000 India are likely to be working here. And most of them are here on tourist visas. If steps could be taken to prevent those coming here on tourist visas to take up jobs, then the large number of unemployed persons in our country could be given jobs.
Our problem has been our subservient foreign policy that gave all to India. They cannot accept that now we want to remain on equal footing. This is a chance for us to become self-reliant. Can our businesspersons or the government avail this opportunity?
India has constructed dams on 53 out of the 54 common rivers. According to river researchers, in the sixties there had been over 750 rivers in Bangladesh. This has now dropped to only 230 in total. On average, every year droughts cause losses of Tk 27.34 billion (Tk 2,734 crore) and floods Tk 300 billion (Tk 30,000 crore). The government has not yet signed the UN International Watercourses Convention of 1997. This incident will put further pressure on them to ensure that we get our fair share.
Every year 2.47 million medical tourists travel to India from Bangladesh for treatment. A total of Tk 500 billion (Tk 50 thousand crore) is going abroad in this manner from medical treatment. This money could bring about radical changes in our health sector. It is only natural for people to choose different countries to go for better treatment. Already people have started looking into other countries for this purpose.
According to Odhikar, in the span of time between 2000 and 2020, a total of 1,236 were killed at the hands of India’s border force BSF. Another 1,145 were injured. Ain O Salish Kendra’s records state that between 2021 and 2023 a total 70 had died. Even on 6 December this year, they killed one person in Panchagargh. According to Article 7 of the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s Rome Statute; Principle 9 of UN Fundamental Principles, 1990; and Article 3 of the Geneva Convention 4, these are violations of international law. We need to seek justice at the ICC in this regard.
The majority of tourists visiting India are from Bangladesh, constituting 21.55 per cent of the total. India’s revenue from this sector is around Tk 17 billion. Just imagine what a contribution we are making to their economy?
Marquis Street in Kolkata, the capital of India’s West Bengal state, is known as mini Bangladesh. The streets and alleyways of that area teem with Bangladeshi tourists, shoppers and traders. These roads and lanes are now empty. In Kolkata, the traders of New Market thrive on shoppers from Bangladesh. Now there are no shoppers from Bangladesh and there is no business.
The hoteliers, hawkers, food shops, cabs are all in the red. India had stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshis, to the cost of the Indian nationals. All this is being reported in the Indian media. They say that with the lack of customers from Bangladesh, the traders and other businesspersons “will soon have to starve”.
Now let’s look at the unjust deals signed with this country. Till date, three line of credit or LoC agreements have been signed between Bangladesh and India. According to agreement, India is supposed to provide Bangladesh with USD 7.36 billion (USD 736 crore). But so far only USD 1.84 billion (USD 184 crore) has been released. And the work has to be carried out by India companies. And with the projects that they are funding, will facilitate transit and power to India’s seven states over Bangladesh’s territory. They were the beneficiaries. India is availing transit at a perfunctory cost, by road, river or using the Chittagong and Mongla ports. These deals that go against the interests of our country must be revoked.
It is now time to take into cognizance the deals signed with Adani, the Rampal deal and so on. There is no exit clause on the deal signed between Adani and the fallen Awami League government. There are other deals which haven’t been revealed, it is believed, and there is public pressure to bring these out in the open. The past prime minister had said, “India will never be able to forget what we have given it.” The people who went against the country’s interests to sign these contracts must also be made to face the law. Government bureaucrats are also as liable for this as the politicians.
SAARC must be revived if we are to be saved from India. We must make all-out efforts to join ASEAN. Despite the Rohingya issue with Myanmar, we need to start trade with them. India has created such problems no with Bangladesh alone. There have been ‘India Out’ campaigns in Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and even in Qatar. All ASEAN countries too, at one point of time or the other, have had heated relations with India. And everyone had managed to retrieve their dues.
Our problem has been our subservient foreign policy that gave all to India. They cannot accept that now we want to remain on equal footing. This is a chance for us to become self-reliant. Can our businesspersons or the government avail this opportunity?
prothom alo
