Does India properly behave with Bangladesh?
India is our big neighbor. India helped us to get our independent Bangladesh in 1971. However, that help might be more in need for India to split up the then Pakistan so that her rival (Pakistan) can be weaken. Anyway we got benefited for India’s help in 1971 whatever be the aim of India that time. Recently Bangladesh’s current prime minister sheikh Hasina visited India and made several controversial agreements with India.
Personally in this modern time I am not against of allowing India to use our Chittagong and Mongla ports if both Bangladeshi and Indian people properly get benefited for that.
However, India is still far from showing as a good neighbor and friend. Their border security force (BSF) frequently kills Bangladeshi people! This behavior is barbaric and totally unacceptable. If any Bangladeshi tries to cross the India-Bangladesh border illegally their BSF can arrest him/her and prosecute as per the Indian laws.
That’s fine. But instead of doing so they indiscriminately killed many Bangladeshi. While in Europe most of the countries even abolishing their common border, creating single currency, making visa free access of one country to another for their citizen, in this modern time it is hard to believe Indian BSF’s barbaric behavior indeed!
What Sheik Hasina did with her Indian counterpart in this regard? It is very important issue indeed. India made Farakka Barrage and the adverse effects of it is immense. Many parts of Bangladesh are gradually becoming desert due to that. India is not giving Bangladesh water share properly. Why we need to negotiate about it in the first place?
Can India show that they are civilized enough? Ganga/Padma is an international river so India should use their commonsense and should give due water share without our asking. Yes, that’s right. That should be called civilized behavior.
I am not against India at all. I want to see India should be more powerful country so that there could a balance of power between India and China in this region. This is important. China is not a democratic country and human rights in China are very poor.
I do not consider current Chinese government is a civilized government. That Chinese government can kill thousands of their own people just for asking democracy! On the other hand, India is a big democratic country and Bangladesh too.
India is the home for huge number of Muslims. We share common culture, language and many other things. Therefore, for many reasons being a Bangladeshi I could expect to have a cordial and very friendly relationship with India. But friendship can only work by maintaining equal, mutual respect and understanding.
Dr Anisur Rahman, 17.02.2010