The last time the National Security Advisor (NSA), Shiv Shankar Menon, visited Bengal to meet with Mamata Banerjee, it was to convey to her Prime Minister, Dr Man Mohan Singh’s missive about the need to collaborate with Bangladesh, on the issue of sharing the waters of the Teesta River. Mamata spurned that request and called off her visit to the neighbouring country at the last moment. Her sulks are legendary and her reactions often verge on the infantile. Such political games are played by chief ministers that have a larger than life image of themselves. Mamata was sulking at the UPA Government’s unyielding attitude to the Rs 47,000 crore special package she demanded for boosting the infrastructure of West Bengal. Mamata has remained non-committal towards the UPA after her demand was politely turned down. Nor is Mamata a friend of the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. She along with Jayalalitha and Mayawati nurtured ambitions of leading a third front on the eve of the last parliamentary elections. Those dreams are getting further and further away from Mamata’s reach. She is not in a very enviable position today for it is not easy to cross swords with the ruling party in the world’s largest democracy.
The recent incidents in Burdwan where two suspected Bangladeshi militants were killed in a blast on October 2, have turned the spotlight on West Bengal yet again. The West Bengal Police dragged their feet on the investigation. Mamata herself became defensive about the existence of terror cells in West Bengal. In such a situation the Centre had no option but to intervene. Mamata’s explosive histrionics are no longer working. The Burdwan blast are serious national security threats not only for India but for Bangladesh as well, as the militants are suspected to be acting at the behest of Khaleda Zia, a stiff opponent of the present prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The explosion, in which militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is involved, occurred in a rented house in Khagragarh in Burdwan. The incident is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). It is not often that the NSA personally visits a crime site such as the one at Burdwan. The fact that he did so suggests the seriousness with which the Prime Minister’s Office views this case. Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina has had very cordial bilateral relations (apart from the abortion of the Teesta Project) with the UPA Government. During her tenure terror camps belonging to outfits from the North Eastern states were busted and several insurgent leaders surrendered or signed a truce with the Government. This relationship must be nurtured if India’s North East is to remain an integral part of India. The NSA, Mr Doval, a shrewd former intelligence man is seized of the matter. Hence the Burdwan visit! No part of India can be allowed to turn into a sleeper camp for terrorist groups of any persuasion.
