The Indo-Bangladesh relations have never been cordial. Regrettably, India’s expansionist policy in the region and anti-Bangladesh propaganda continued unabated. In Bangladesh, India is viewed as a bully, throwing its weight around and threatening the sovereignty of its smaller neighbors. There are several issues between the two countries, which are of grave concern for Bangladesh. These include water issue, land issue, fencing of border, Indian support to Chakma community, smuggling from India etc. India is continuously interfering into the internal affairs of Bangladesh. She is supporting the Chakma refugees of Bangladesh in order to create unrest in that country. Her expansionist design intends to merge the whole Bangladesh into Indian Territory. For this purpose India is supporting many separatist groups and fifth columnists for covert and overt operations.
Human Rights Congress of Bangladeshi Minorities (HRCBM), a Hindu organization is creating communal violence in Bangladesh. It is facilitating the settlement of Hindus in border districts of the country in order to facilitate Indian annexation of border territory of Bangladesh. The area identified is about 30% border territory of Bangladesh and has been named a Bango Bhumi to be annexed with India. This organization is portraying Bangladesh as a Talibanized society, propagating that Islam is a root cause of all ills, damaging relations between UN and Bangladesh, creating social unrest in Bangladesh and encouraging the boycott of Bangladeshi products.
Most important issue that mars bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh is water. Bangladesh, which shares 54 rivers with India as a lower riparian, has serious differences with New Delhi that hinder agreement on eight rivers, besides the continuing complaints by Dhaka over sharing of Ganges water. The Indian plan, which is now under review, to build a big river-linking-project that includes diversion of water from Ganges and Brahmaputra, has become yet another source of antagonism between the two countries who have not been able to sort out their differences over a whole range of issues that continue to fuel political tension which, in turn, does not allow the resolution of differences over water.
In 1996, Indo-Bangladesh treaty was signed on the Farakka Barrage, which is another hurdle between the two states. Using Farakka Barrage and similar barrages on rivers entering Bangladeshi delta, India is withholding water defying international laws, thus starving local irrigation and fishing industry. According to the treaty, India is supposed to allow at least 35,000 cusecs of water to flow into Bangladesh, but it hardly reaches above 25,000 cusecs.
India’s river linking project (RLP) is the most critical issue. Most of the rivers, which Bangladesh shares with India are controlled and managed by India. The plan seeks to provide increased amount of surface water from trans-boundary Rivers to other parts in India. The Indian River linking project, if implemented as planned, would be the most destructive project on earth. Diverting just 10 to 20 percent of water of the Bhramaputra River in India could cause 100 Bangladeshi rivers to dry. The Indian plan seeks to divert up to 40 percent of the flow from some major rivers. Barrister Harun Ur Rashid, a former Bangladesh ambassador to the UN, writes in his article, ‘during negotiations in 1977 on the Ganges water Agreement a senior member of delegation disclosed informally that ‘if the India’s canal link proposal (Jogighopa to Farraka) through Bangladesh was not accepted, India eventually would transfer water from Brahmaputra to the Ganges through its territory above Bangladesh’. And the presently planned proposal seems to be the continuation of such an ideology of India. Water has become an electoral issue in India and river linking project is a political agenda. Not only Bangladesh but also the people of Bihar, Orissa, Assam, west Bengal and Karnataka are opposed to the project.
Economic growth of Bangladesh has been hampered due to excessive penetration of Indian smuggled goods into the markets of Bangladesh. According to reports, wholesale markets of Indian commodities have been opened in the 16 districts of northern Bangladesh. These wholesale markets sell and supply only Indian goods. Smugglers availing the tense relations that prevail between Bangladesh Riffles (BDR) and BSF, push Indian commodities to Bangladesh territory without paying any import tax or custom. As a result, Indian low quality goods are sold comparatively at lower rates than the far better quality products of Bangladesh. Due to this uneven competition many local entrepreneurs closed down their mills and factories and diverted their capital to illegal business of Indian goods, which is causing unbearable damage to the economy of the country. The current political turmoil in Bangladesh fomented by India may lead to its garment industry losing to India. India is conspiring to shift the export orders from Bangladesh to it on the pretext of political uncertainty in the country.
Indian intelligence agencies have also flooded Bangladesh with fake paper money to ruin its economy. These smugglers cum agents enjoy bringing fake paper currency to Bangladesh because it is not only profitable but also easy and less risky. The smugglers get 40% to 50% commission from Indians for using fake currency in Bangladesh. Presence of fake currency has created a serious problem in normal transaction of money in the region, as people are suspicious of the purity of money that they receive even from the banks. The law enforcing agencies of Bangladesh have arrested more than a hundred agents of Indian intelligence agencies and recovered fake currency.
India is being developed as regional headquarters by different Multinational Companies. That is why Bangladesh and other South Asian Countries have to submit their reports to Indian regional headquarters. It seems as if India is representative of all neighbouring countries. Whereas India can not be a true representative of all South Asian countries because it has its nefarious designs to create its hegemony in whole region. Indian behaviour towards Bangladesh speaks volumes of her double standards and open negation of its high claims of boosting ties with neighbouring countries and burying past bitterness.
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