11-06-2005, 05:50 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>A difficult neighbour</b>
<b>Need for coherent Bangladesh policy </b>
by G Parthasarathy
<b>Lieut-Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora will be long remembered for leading the Indian Armyâs liberation of Bangladesh from the tyranny and oppression of occupying Punjabi Pakistani forces. General Aurora ensured that his soldiers behaved in an exemplary manner when they were in Bangladesh. The Indian Army was withdrawn from Bangladesh barely three months after its liberation.</b> When the General died earlier this year thousands in Bangladesh mourned his death and fondly remembered the soft spoken Sikh commander. A large number of prominent Bangladeshis signed the Condolence Book opened by Indian High Commissioner Veena Sikri. <b>Significantly, there was no message of condolence to General Auroraâs family or the Government and people of India from Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who had, a decade ago, expressed her grief and sent a message of condolence when Pakistanâs former Army Chief Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua died suddenly and somewhat mysteriously. </b>
<b>Begum Khaledaâs silence at the demise of General Aurora reflects the amnesia that afflicts the ruling establishment of her Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and its allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami today.</b> A number of people in Bangladesh are understandably envious and anxious of India âs size and potential. They also recognise Indiaâs role in their liberation.
The ruling elite, like its counterparts in Pakistan, however, has mutually reinforcing links with Jihadi and fundamentalist outfits. It believes that a policy of measured hostility towards India serves its political and strategic interests. It is this mindset that leads to Bangladesh refusing to exploit its gas resources to be sold to India even for sound economic reasons. It is also for this reason that Bangladesh fights shy of taking logical economic decisions to implement the agreement signed with the Tata Group providing for Indian investment of $ 2.6 billion in the 1000 MW power plant, a steel mill and a fertilizer unit based principally on gas, including recent discoveries at Phubari. <b>There is constant whining about the Bangladesh trade deficit with India, when no such complaints are heard about a similar trade deficit with China.</b>
Begum Khaledaâs allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami are compulsive India-baiters, who sided with Pakistani occupation forces in 1971. The ruling establishmentâs anti-Indian inclinations are evident from actions like its refusal to join the Asian Highway project because of the belief that the trans-Asian Highway will link Indiaâs northeastern states with the rest of the country. <b>Functionaries of the ruling dispensation have made no secret of their interest in establishing an Islamic emirate in the Muslim-majority districts of Assam. New Delhi also has hard intelligence information that Bangladesh has a deliberate policy of facilitating illegal immigration into India, constituting a creeping demographic invasion and takeover of Indian territories bordering Bangladesh. </b>
<b>Like the ISI in Pakistan, the ruling dispensation in Bangladesh has encouraged Wahabi-oriented and Saudi Arabia-funded groups like the Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) that swears allegiance to the Taliban. At least three BNP ministers - Mr Aminul Haq, Mr Fazlur Rahman Patal and Mr Ruhul Kuddus Dulu - are reportedly patrons of the JMJB. The Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, (HUJI) is a founding member of Osama bin Ladenâs International Islamic Front for âJihad against Jews and Crusadersâ. </b>The HUJI collaborates with the ISI and the Bangladesh intelligence network in training ULFA cadres in the Chitagong hill tracts. It also promotes Rohingya Muslim separatism in Arakan province of Myanmar. Despite crude attempts by Bangladesh to shift the blame to India for the bomb blasts of August 17, JMJB functionaries have been arrested for their involvement in the bomb blasts. General Musharraf aids terrorist groups like the Jaish-e-Mohamed and then finds that they are attempting to assassinate him because of his close ties with the US. Begum Khaleda faces a similar predicament in Bangladesh.
Western aid donors voiced their concern about the growth of religious extremism and political violence in Bangladesh at a World Bank meeting earlier this year. Referring to recent arms seizures in Bangladesh , Admiral William J Fallon of the US Pacific Command remarked: âThere were some arms shipments that were not going to the Army or to any group that is up to do good⦠We know there are people (in Bangladesh) who preach radicalism, who use religion for their own ends.â Facing growing isolation, Begum Khaleda rushed off to China on August 17. China has agreed to provide Bangladesh with over a dozen fighter aircraft. Aiding isolated regimes in South Asia to âcontainâ India is an integral part of Chinese strategic thinking.
The challenges posed by the support to terrorism, separatism and creeping demographic invasion by Bangladesh have to be addressed firmly within India. While we should enhance cooperation with Bangladesh in areas like promoting interaction at the peopleâs level and removing protectionist trade barriers, the overall approach should be one of carrot and stick. The growing presence of Islamic terrorist groups in Myanmar necessitates much closer cooperation with Yangon to finalise a coordinated strategy to deal with insurgencies and separatist movements. Home Secretary Vinod Duggal has recently visited Yangon and Gen J.J. Singh is set to do likewise. Islamic groups in Bangladesh have links with extremists in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Indiaâs counter-terrorism dialogue with ASEAN and its individual members has to be strengthened so that Bangladesh realises that it will have to mend its ways.
The pressure on Dhaka must be reinforced in regional forums and in Washington. If Bangladesh insists on pursuing its demands for âcompensationâ in negotiations for a free trade area in SAARC, we can conclude a free trade agreement within BIMSTEC that includes Myanmar and Thailand, but excludes Bangladesh . Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar appears to have reluctantly given up his weird idea for a gas pipeline from Myanmar through Bangladesh - an idea that was strongly resented by Myanmar. The Chairman of GAIL Prashanto Banerji recently acknowledged: âOur past experience shows that we get into all kinds of trouble when we try to work through a third country.â
The most serious challenge we face today from Bangladesh is its effort to promote a demographic invasion of India . West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who takes a statesman like view, recognises the dangers of such illegal immigration. Though Begum Khaleda acknowledged in 1992 that illegal immigration was a serious problem, the Bangladesh Government now pretends that the problem does not exist. <b>Hard options have to be exercised on this issue. One way would be to place Bangladesh immigrants in camps and ask the UNHCR to arrange for their relief, return and rehabilitation. Mechanisms should also be sought to have enclaves in Bangladesh territory to move the illegal immigrants into. Hard options cannot, forever, be precluded, or postponed.</b>Â <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Need for coherent Bangladesh policy </b>
by G Parthasarathy
<b>Lieut-Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora will be long remembered for leading the Indian Armyâs liberation of Bangladesh from the tyranny and oppression of occupying Punjabi Pakistani forces. General Aurora ensured that his soldiers behaved in an exemplary manner when they were in Bangladesh. The Indian Army was withdrawn from Bangladesh barely three months after its liberation.</b> When the General died earlier this year thousands in Bangladesh mourned his death and fondly remembered the soft spoken Sikh commander. A large number of prominent Bangladeshis signed the Condolence Book opened by Indian High Commissioner Veena Sikri. <b>Significantly, there was no message of condolence to General Auroraâs family or the Government and people of India from Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who had, a decade ago, expressed her grief and sent a message of condolence when Pakistanâs former Army Chief Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua died suddenly and somewhat mysteriously. </b>
<b>Begum Khaledaâs silence at the demise of General Aurora reflects the amnesia that afflicts the ruling establishment of her Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and its allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami today.</b> A number of people in Bangladesh are understandably envious and anxious of India âs size and potential. They also recognise Indiaâs role in their liberation.
The ruling elite, like its counterparts in Pakistan, however, has mutually reinforcing links with Jihadi and fundamentalist outfits. It believes that a policy of measured hostility towards India serves its political and strategic interests. It is this mindset that leads to Bangladesh refusing to exploit its gas resources to be sold to India even for sound economic reasons. It is also for this reason that Bangladesh fights shy of taking logical economic decisions to implement the agreement signed with the Tata Group providing for Indian investment of $ 2.6 billion in the 1000 MW power plant, a steel mill and a fertilizer unit based principally on gas, including recent discoveries at Phubari. <b>There is constant whining about the Bangladesh trade deficit with India, when no such complaints are heard about a similar trade deficit with China.</b>
Begum Khaledaâs allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami are compulsive India-baiters, who sided with Pakistani occupation forces in 1971. The ruling establishmentâs anti-Indian inclinations are evident from actions like its refusal to join the Asian Highway project because of the belief that the trans-Asian Highway will link Indiaâs northeastern states with the rest of the country. <b>Functionaries of the ruling dispensation have made no secret of their interest in establishing an Islamic emirate in the Muslim-majority districts of Assam. New Delhi also has hard intelligence information that Bangladesh has a deliberate policy of facilitating illegal immigration into India, constituting a creeping demographic invasion and takeover of Indian territories bordering Bangladesh. </b>
<b>Like the ISI in Pakistan, the ruling dispensation in Bangladesh has encouraged Wahabi-oriented and Saudi Arabia-funded groups like the Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) that swears allegiance to the Taliban. At least three BNP ministers - Mr Aminul Haq, Mr Fazlur Rahman Patal and Mr Ruhul Kuddus Dulu - are reportedly patrons of the JMJB. The Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, (HUJI) is a founding member of Osama bin Ladenâs International Islamic Front for âJihad against Jews and Crusadersâ. </b>The HUJI collaborates with the ISI and the Bangladesh intelligence network in training ULFA cadres in the Chitagong hill tracts. It also promotes Rohingya Muslim separatism in Arakan province of Myanmar. Despite crude attempts by Bangladesh to shift the blame to India for the bomb blasts of August 17, JMJB functionaries have been arrested for their involvement in the bomb blasts. General Musharraf aids terrorist groups like the Jaish-e-Mohamed and then finds that they are attempting to assassinate him because of his close ties with the US. Begum Khaleda faces a similar predicament in Bangladesh.
Western aid donors voiced their concern about the growth of religious extremism and political violence in Bangladesh at a World Bank meeting earlier this year. Referring to recent arms seizures in Bangladesh , Admiral William J Fallon of the US Pacific Command remarked: âThere were some arms shipments that were not going to the Army or to any group that is up to do good⦠We know there are people (in Bangladesh) who preach radicalism, who use religion for their own ends.â Facing growing isolation, Begum Khaleda rushed off to China on August 17. China has agreed to provide Bangladesh with over a dozen fighter aircraft. Aiding isolated regimes in South Asia to âcontainâ India is an integral part of Chinese strategic thinking.
The challenges posed by the support to terrorism, separatism and creeping demographic invasion by Bangladesh have to be addressed firmly within India. While we should enhance cooperation with Bangladesh in areas like promoting interaction at the peopleâs level and removing protectionist trade barriers, the overall approach should be one of carrot and stick. The growing presence of Islamic terrorist groups in Myanmar necessitates much closer cooperation with Yangon to finalise a coordinated strategy to deal with insurgencies and separatist movements. Home Secretary Vinod Duggal has recently visited Yangon and Gen J.J. Singh is set to do likewise. Islamic groups in Bangladesh have links with extremists in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Indiaâs counter-terrorism dialogue with ASEAN and its individual members has to be strengthened so that Bangladesh realises that it will have to mend its ways.
The pressure on Dhaka must be reinforced in regional forums and in Washington. If Bangladesh insists on pursuing its demands for âcompensationâ in negotiations for a free trade area in SAARC, we can conclude a free trade agreement within BIMSTEC that includes Myanmar and Thailand, but excludes Bangladesh . Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar appears to have reluctantly given up his weird idea for a gas pipeline from Myanmar through Bangladesh - an idea that was strongly resented by Myanmar. The Chairman of GAIL Prashanto Banerji recently acknowledged: âOur past experience shows that we get into all kinds of trouble when we try to work through a third country.â
The most serious challenge we face today from Bangladesh is its effort to promote a demographic invasion of India . West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who takes a statesman like view, recognises the dangers of such illegal immigration. Though Begum Khaleda acknowledged in 1992 that illegal immigration was a serious problem, the Bangladesh Government now pretends that the problem does not exist. <b>Hard options have to be exercised on this issue. One way would be to place Bangladesh immigrants in camps and ask the UNHCR to arrange for their relief, return and rehabilitation. Mechanisms should also be sought to have enclaves in Bangladesh territory to move the illegal immigrants into. Hard options cannot, forever, be precluded, or postponed.</b>Â <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->