Bangladesh would not have been born but for the timely help that India provided by way of material, moral and military assistance to the Mukti Bahini of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, when his liberation struggle faced brutal repression from the Pakistani military rulers there. Now a nation of nearly 18 crore, Bangladesh is the world’s eighth populous nation that progressively strengthened its economy through the visionary leadership of successive governments, most notably of the now exiled Sheikh Hasina. Currently in exile in an undisclosed destination, facing a death warrant back home, and her Awami League party banned, she remains unruffled. Hasina has expressed optimism that she would return to Bangladesh before the year-end. Clearly, the present BNP dispensation appears to be on a weak footing with Tarique Rahman the current prime minister increasingly swinging on what looks like a trapeze act, evident also from his recent visit to China.
Breaking a long tradition of the elected prime ministers from Bangladesh making India the choice destination for their first overseas visit, Rahman chose to fly to China, sup with the red edifice there and signing pacts. A customary joint declaration at the end of the visit signalled Chinese support for Bangladesh in the management of the Teesta river. Sharing of Teesta waters had been under discussion between India and Bangladesh for the past few years, which however got stuck with resistance from Mamata Banerjee as West Bengal chief minister. Defeated in the recent assembly polls, Banerjee is now counselling patience to her Trinamool Congress rank and file. She wants them to stop the resistance to the central government’s negotiations with Bangladesh in the water-sharing dispute. Better sense should have prevailed upon her while she was the CM.
Rahman is facing serious odds even as his government is just months-old. Islamic entities with indirect backing from Pakistan are seeking to put spokes in the wheels of governance and allegedly pressing on the present dispensation for stronger anti-India stance and anti-(Hindu) minority move. Hasina says the last elections won by the BNP were stage-managed while her banned party had not been allowed to contest. She also stressed, “there’s no democracy, no rule of law, no security for the people now.” Rahman had at the outset, when he returned from his long foreign sojourn to take charge of the nation, stated clearly that his government’s foreign policy would be guided solely by the interests of the nation. Yet, by openly distancing himself from India and instead courting China, he has demonstrated both his inclinations and the domestic compulsions that bind his hands. Bangladesh, under an interim government guided by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus had distanced itself from India. Yunus chose to ignore the decades’ strong support that India extended to Bangladesh in multiple sectors, and more strongly under Sheikh Hasina’s five terms in power as Prime Minister. India, on its part, cannot remain a silent spectator to Chinese meddling in regional affairs. If Bangladesh opts to engage China, it would also open the door for Pakistan to step in and play its games in what was once East Pakistan.
