By samuel Baid
They say a friend in need is a friend indeed. India and Bangladesh proved this adage in 1971, when the latter became a free country, and also subsequently — many pinpricks notwithstanding. The six-point programme, on which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Awami League fought and won the December 1970 elections in united Pakistan, sought economic emancipation for the people of East Pakistan, who had groaned under the oppressive political and economic domination of West Pakistan since the creation of the Pakistani state in 1947.
India's very first concern about Bangladesh after its liberation was its economy. The Pakistanis, who flew out of Dhaka before its fall on December 16, 1971, had taken with them gold and cash, and had refused to give Bangladesh its share in the assets of united Pakistan. Worse, the Pakistani Army in Dhaka was ordered by the military High Command to kill all political, economic and social thinkers so that Bangladesh could never be reconstructed after its liberation. A campaign of character assassination before the physical assassination of 'Father of the Bangladeshi nation' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was launched in Pakistan, and astrologers were hired to predict his violent death.
If we examine Pakistan's Urdu Press of the early 1970s, we can see the projection of Bangladesh as a destitute, starving nation. India's efforts to help were mischievously interpreted as designs to occupy Bangladesh. It has been India's desire ever since to defeat such doomsday predictions.
India did not bother about Pakistani propaganda. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent one of India's top economists, Dr Manmohan Singh, to Dhaka to meet Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and work out an economic programme for the newly liberated country. Dr Singh's more recent September visit to Dhaka as Prime Minister of India was a continuation of these efforts to strengthen economic relations with Bangladesh. On his way home, Dr Singh told journalists of his first visit to Dhaka: 'I worked with Nurul Islam, the then Chairman of Bangladesh's Planning Commission to finalise the economic programme.'
Dr Singh's recent visit to Dhaka was a productive one. That an agreement on the Teesta River was left out did not make this visit less successful. Important factors that contributed to the success include Dhaka's realisation that India has become a global economic power, and the toning down of the earlier hostile attitude of the main opposition party, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), towards India. On the eve of Dr Singh's visit to Dhaka, Dr Gowhar Rizvi, who is the foreign relations adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told a Chennai newspaper in an interview that the BNP and its ally, the Jamaat-i-Islami, had considerably toned down their anti-India rhetoric and voiced support for improved relations with India. 'Interestingly, the anti-Indian bogey failed to garner votes for the BNP,' he said.
Dr Singh held the same view after meeting BNP leader Khaleda Zia and Jatiyo Party Chief Hussain Mohammad Ershad. He told newsmen that 'they are willing to work with us to strengthen bilateral relations'.
It is fortunate that Bangladesh does not suffer from the ideological hang-ups of its Pakistani days. With Pakistan, it is impossible for India to talk business because it always throws an ideological spanner in the works, including the enduring question of Kashmir. Between India and Bangladesh, issues are different and can be rationally resolved. Also, unlike Pakistan, it is not the Bangla Army that runs India policy off-stage.
During Dr Singh's visit, he and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina presided over the signing of a new land border agreement. Borders have long been a bone of contention, a problem caused by hasty partition in 1947. India's enclaves in Bangladesh and Bangladesh's enclaves in India have been a source of much bitterness between the two countries, affecting about 2 lakh people. With rationalisation of the border, the enclave problem will be resolved. Dr Singh said the border agreement could also help check the illegal movement of people and goods across the border.
Dr Singh and Sheikh Hasina also signed a vision statement to tackle all future bilateral problems. India agreed to allow duty-free imports of 46 lines of garments from Bangladesh to help reduce its deficit balance of trade vis-à-vis India.
How the present leadership of Bangladesh views relations with India was summed up by Dr Rizvi: 'I think it would not be a great exaggeration to claim that the forging of relations between India and Bangladesh is an exemplar for the region…Bangladesh and India have charted a new course and their cooperative approach offers a model for their countries to resolve their problems with their neighbours. India is rapidly emerging as an economic super power and its neighbours can confidently look forward to partaking in its prosperity, trade and technological innovations.'
The world should credit Sheikh Hasina with rescuing her country from becoming the second home of terror after Pakistan. She could see that anti-India sentiments were being promoted in Bangladesh, taking the country towards Talibanisation and the ultimate destruction of all the ideals for which Bangladesh was liberated at the cost of millions of lives. Any perceptive person can see that Pakistan has lapsed into chaos because of its negative India policy. Before Sheikh Hasina returned as Prime Minister, Bangladesh was following those footsteps.
Under the Prime Ministership of Khaleda Zia, who ruled with the support of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Bangladesh provided a safe haven to ULFA militants and opened insurgent camps. Khaleda Zia's dependence on the Jamaat and Islamic Oikya Jote allowed Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HUJAI) to prepare the ground for the Talibanisation of Bangladesh by creating a political vacuum in the country. The attack on Sheikh Hasina (then the opposition leader) on August 21, 2004 was apparently meant to paralyse the political system. The HUJAI, which had been declared a terrorist organisation by the US, was said to be behind the attack. She escaped but 20 of her party men were killed, and another 300 injured.
When she came to power, Hasina reversed the Zia government's policy of supporting cross-border terrorism against India. She put a stop to the covert aid being given to Indian insurgents, braving all criticism against this step.
Sheikh Hasina is cool-headed person, who looks ahead to the long-term interests of Bangladesh. She can give fiery speeches but does not play on the people's sentiments. Yet she enjoys mass support.
Dr Rizvi said in his interview that the 'anti-India bogey' failed to get Khaleda Zia votes. That reminds one of the 1997 election in Pakistan, which Benazir Bhutto fought on an anti-India ticket. She lost badly. On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif of the Muslim League fought that same election on the promise of normalisation of relations with India and won a massive number of votes. Later, Benazir Bhutto was to acknowledge that Mr Sharif's victory was due to his positive stance on India.