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Refuting claims centring around Indo-Bangla relations


Bangladeshpost
Published : 22 Aug 2020 08:31 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 01:23 PM

Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed

The point of modern propaganda, says Former Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth. 

Indian media ‘The Hindu’ has published a report written by Kallol Bhattacharya, where it has been claimed that Bangladesh and Pakistan are trying to build a new relationship by bypassing the shameful history of 1971. Referring to the construction of a new terminal in Sylhet, the report said Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) has won an agreement to build a new terminal at MAG Osmania Airport in Sylhet. That place is considered to be the border of northeastern India and a sensitive area for New Delhi. 

The report quoted Bhorer Kagoj (a Bangladeshi national daily) editor as saying that Bangladesh had not sent a letter expressing sympathy to India over the Covid-19 issue. “Since the Sheikh Hasina government came to power, the pace of implementation of ongoing Indian projects in Bangladesh has slowed down. Dhaka has always supported the implementation of Chinese projects in infrastructural development. Even after repeated requests for the last four months, the Indian High Commissioner did not get a chance to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina”, the Bhorer Kagoj article further stated.

The Hindu report claims that the phone call made by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina regarding the situation of bilateral diplomatic relations has become a matter of concern. It also mentions that India praised Bangladesh, saying that Dhaka thinks the Kashmir issue is an internal matter of India.

According to ‘The Hindu’, a section of Sheikh Hasina’s office is actively supporting strong ties with China. In the last 10 months, relations with Pakistan’s ally China have improved rapidly. Moreover, ‘Bhorer Kagoj,’ reported that the locomotives India sent to Bangladesh are second hand and are at least seven to five years old. 

“The story was not only misleading and devoid of any fact, it was apparently written with an aim to bring a strain in India-Bangladesh relations. We have seen other mischievous stories from the same source, which pertain to our ties with Bangladesh,” Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said while adding that “these locos have been provided from our existing inventory based on a specific request and an urgent requirement of Bangladesh”, reports ‘India Vs Disinformation’ on 1 August. 

Mr. Shankar Kumar in his report, titled “Bangladeshi daily’s ‘mischievous’ report on India, goes against merits of journalism”, mentions that Bhorer Kagoj rubbed India the wrong way by concocting stories on the locomotive issue. 

Regarding the failed attempt of Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das to get an appointment with Prime Minister Skeikh Hasina, it mentions that this was the height of misrepresentation of facts, compelling MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava to term it as a “concocted” story. But then such shenanigans are not new in Bangladesh or Pakistan. It further says, there are anti-India elements which are looking for every opportunity to hammer India’s good relationship with neighbours into smithereens, but how hard they may try, truth can’t be fudged.

The thing is that India and Bangladesh share a close tie and this relationship is usually considered as a textbook example of a neighborly relationship. Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, a senior fellow with ORF, has rightly said that before reaching any conclusion about the future of the relationship between India and Bangladesh, it will be worthwhile to closely analyse the recent developments in the bilateral relationship to verify the validity of some of the media outlets’ fabricated claims.

Bhattacharjee has mentioned in her article “India-Bangladesh relations: A different stroke”, “According to Bangladesh foreign ministry there is no question of not responding to the Indian High commissioner’s meeting request. Further, the ministry informed due to outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is maintaining social distance and is not meeting any foreigners. 

In the last few months Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has not met any foreigners, then why such hue and cry were made about the meeting with Indian envoy. Also, the matter of getting an appointment with prime minister depends on the request made by any foreign mission. Indian High Commission has not made such meeting request in the period mentioned in the report. Indian High Commission has only sent a letter seeking an appointment for meeting on 22 July.”

It is crucial to understand in this regard the meaning of what Bangladesh Foreign Minister recently said. He said, “India and Bangladesh relationship has been rock solid and the past few years has been golden years for the bilateral relationship”. It is well-known to everyone that Bangladesh follows a principle of friendship with all and malice with none. It was this policy that led Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to go forward with the call. Bangladesh has always clarified that for any meaningful relationship with Pakistan the country should first apologise for the atrocities they committed in 1971. Until now no such attempt has been made by Pakistan in this regard. These two instances are enough to rule out the claims made in the fabricated reports.

There is no denying that India and Bangladesh share a unique bond ingrained in blood and it cannot be compared with any other country. Moreover, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been careful in balancing her country’s relationship with both China and India, and she skillfully explained the differences between the two countries. During her visit to China in July 2019, she observed that Bangladesh’s relationship with India is organic that goes beyond a few billion while China is a partner in mega projects and economic engagement. The statement distinctly showcases Bangladesh’s definition of its relationship with the two Asian powers (China and India).

Bhattacharjee in her article said that the cooperation between the two countries has deepened in areas of tackling disasters like the Covid-19 pandemic and connectivity. Her reasoning is that Bangladesh has been a major supporter of Prime Minister Modi’s call for a regional emergency fund for fighting Covid-19 and declared to contribute $1.5 million to the fund in March 2020. “India also provided medical aid to Bangladesh for dealing with Covid-19 pandemic. Besides, railway connectivity got a major boost as freight services were increased in the past few months. 

Another important development of the period has been India providing 10 locomotives to the railways in Bangladesh as grant in aid because it needed the locomotives to run its services, since most of the existing ones have crossed their service life and the new engine order is likely to take some time to arrive from the USA. Again, the maritime connectivity was enhanced as a trial for the transshipment to India’s Northeast through Chattogram and was completed in July. 

The inland waterways connectivity between India and Bangladesh has also been strengthened. In May, the two countries signed an addendum to the protocol on inland water trade and transit and added two new routes and five ports of call.” These occurrences reflect the kind of bonding Bangladesh and India share between them.

“Also, the cosy relationship between the two countries could be witnessed from the interactions amongst the leaders of the two countries. In July, India External Affairs Minister and Bangladeshi Foreign Minister met over a video conference where the two ministers were appreciative of the bilateral relationship. Besides, India high Commissioner met Abdul Quader, Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina’s number two in the party. The recent progress attained in the relationship would not have been possible without a positive understanding between the two countries”, she added.

India has been a long-standing friend for us since our inception. In fact, they played a significant role during the liberation war of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has always maintained a peaceful foreign policy and tried to maintain fair diplomatic relationship with all the countries. It is true that sustaining India and Bangladesh relationship will require support from all quarters. 

Recognising its uniqueness while analysing the relationship will contribute immensely to strengthening the bond between the two countries. However, we should also not forget that we care about the relationship with our neighbours and we should continue working on that, but we always need to put the interest of our nation before the rest of our neighbors. It takes courage and mettle to do so, and Bangladeshis are capable of it.


The writer is Advocate, Bangladesh Supreme Court.