TWO NATION THEORY IN PRACTICE -
Hindu West Bengal and Muslim Bangladesh still very much divided by politics, culture and religion –
Mamata stays away
bdnews24.com - 07 November 2013
Mamata Banerjee has indicated yet again she is not going to be part of the India-Bangladesh bonhomie under the present regimes in Delhi and Dhaka.
On Wednesday, as Indian home minister Sushil Shinde and Bangladesh home minister MK Alamgir inaugurated the BSF-BGB joint retreat at Petrapole-Benapole border , Mamata Banerjee stayed away.
Instead, she sent her food minister Jyotipriya Mallick to represent the state government at the event that was marked by grace and nostalgia.
"For a while, it appeared the boundaries of the two Bengals did not exist. That is the feeling I got from the ceremony," said scribe Jayanta Gupta of the Times of India.
Unlike the retreat at Wagah on India-Pakistan border, which is marked by macho and aggression with high goose-step marching by border guards, the inaugural Joint Retreat at Petrapole was marked by Rabindrasangeet and Nazrul geeti and by graceful marching of BSF and BGB troopers.
Shinde and Alamgir were seen sharing jokes in presence of BSF chief Subha Joshi and BGB chief Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed.
But Mamata's absence was interpreted as a 'political statement'.
"She can inaugurate 100 Durga Puja pandals and feed 100,000 people on Kali Puja by being personally present. But she can't attend an important state function like this which brings India and Bangladesh together," says Sukhoranjan Dasgupta, author of 'Midnight Massacre', a book on the 1975 Bangladesh coup.
"She is making a political statement and that is not in the interest of the two Bengals."
Banerjee's resistance has prevented the Indian government from going ahead with the Teesta water sharing deal and passing the land boundary agreement in the parliament.
Shinde said India and Bangladesh will come yet more closer in days to come. Alamgir agreed.
"India helped us in our worst days when we faced Pakistani genocide. It will always stand by us," he said.
http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/11/07/mamata-stays-away