It is good to see that regardless of political affiliation Bangladeshi's unanimously agree on their confidence on China that China will not harm Bangladesh and its people's interest.
And every time Indians start a thread like this we Bangladeshi's should promote this website, and point out India's damning track record on this same issue, which is called by some as "water terrorism":
.:: International Farakka Committee ::.
EDITORIAL
On July 18-19, 1998, International Farakka Committee (IFC), Inc., NY, U.S.A., and Institution of Engineers Bangladesh (IEB) jointly organized an International Conference on the 'Problems of Surface and Groundwater Management, Arsenic Contamination, and Desertification Syndrome in Bangladesh'. The conference was well attended. A former U.S. Congressman, scientists and experts, policy planners of the Government, political leaders, leaders of opposition and NGOs attended the conference. National and international experts presented their papers in technical sessions. In the plenary session of the conference, 10-point recommendations were unanimously adopted and a draft for national water management plan was finalized.
First a decision was taken to publish the proceedings of 1998 Dhaka Conference. Due to unavoidable circumstances, the publication was delayed by a few years. We therefore decided to include a few important papers and documentations and awareness-creating activities which were not presented in the conference. We also updated the conference papers and renamed the publication as 'National Documentation on the Problems of Arsenic and Farakka'.
It is a well-known fact both nationally and internationally that Bangladesh faces two major catastrophe, Arsenic Poisoning in Groundwater and Desertification Syndrome, due to adverse impact of the Farakka Barrage. Withdrawal of water from Ganges (Padma) by India has started to affect the lives and environment of northern Bangladesh, apart from its devastating effects in the south. Therefore, two important articles about the impacts and consequences of the Farakka Treaty have been included.
Arsenic poisoning is a matter of grave concern now. It is one of the biggest outbreaks of poisoning in the present era and about more than half of the population of the country is at risk of arsenic poising. A report by World Health Organization predicts that within a few years, one out of 10 adult deaths across much of southern Bangladesh could be from cancer triggered by arsenic. Tens of millions of people are at risk. We have therefore included a few important articles on arsenic related hazards from experts, although they were not presented in 1998 Conference.
International Farakka Committee is making tremendous efforts for mobilizing international opinion on these two major issues of concern for Bangladesh. Two articles, 'Arsenic, a Massive Killer - Who is to be Blamed! ' by IFC Chairman, Atiqur R. K. Eusufzai, and 'Water Diversion, Arsenic Peril, and the Role of Bangladeshi Expatriates to Mitigate Arsenic Mass Poisoning in Bangladesh' by Sayed Tipu Sultan, Secretary General of IFC, have been included in this volume as evidence of the role of IFC in mobilizing international opinion to save the lives of millions in Bangladesh.
Earlier IFC had also organized two important International Seminars on 'Farakka Agreement, Arsenic Problem, Natural Gas, Transit, and other related national issues of Bangladesh', at Hotel LaGuardia, New York, 1997, and on 'Farakka Barrage' at Columbia University, New York, U.S.A., 1993. Abstracts of papers presented in those conferences have been included in this documentation as a matter of record.
We strongly feel and want to state categorically that the problems of arsenic and Farakka need urgent solution on which the very survival of millions depend, and therefore Bangladesh as a nation and the United Nations as well must act to prevent the consequent disaster.
The phrase 'Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)' has, in recent years, came into coinage. Considering the ecodisaster and untold miseries, the Farakka Barrage has inflicted upon the upper reaches (Bihar and West Bengal) and the lower reaches (Bangladesh) of the Ganges, this deadly dam may be aptly called a 'Weapon of Mass Destruction'. Its decommissioning, by invoking of a sense of justice and eco-consciousness, will no doubt usher in a new era of neighbourly cooperation and prosperity in South Asia and will certainly stand up as an example worth being emulated by the rest of the world.
We are planning to distribute this National Documentation to policy planners, experts and leaders of opinion in Bangladesh, UN and other International Organizations, members of Senate and Congress of U.S.A., and other concerned people in Europe and North America to create sufficient world opinion for addressing these problems as eco-concerns of the shared earth.
I would like to thank the members of the Editorial Board for their sincere help and to all the authors for their contributions.
I do hope this National Documentation will provide valuable information and important insight which would enable us to deal with the problems of arsenic and Farakka. Let me conclude with the hope that these two serious problems would be solved in the near future, so that Bangladesh may survive and prosper.
Professor Dr. Jasim Uddin Ahmad
Dhaka, July 2003