SUSHMA SWARAJ’S VISIT
Rohingya crisis vis-à-vis Indo-Bangla ties
Veritable apocalypse of brutal decimation on a catastrophic scale of the Rohingya Muslims of Rakhaine in Myanmar through wholesale slaughter, arson, mass rapes by the military and violent Buddhists forced out the wretched humans whose ceaseless infiux into Bangladesh drew extraordinarily sympathetic attention of the peoples of the world and the UN in particular.
Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan flew 5,616km and visited Kutupalang refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar on Sep 7, 2017.
Disappointingly, from across the western border no Indian politician, let alone PM Mr. Narendra Modi, came after long 36 days until Oct 3 when Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited Dhaka.
He said, the relation between and Bangladesh has never been better and stands out as a model for other countries to emulate.
The horrendous Rohingya crisis when Bangladesh’s closest, most friendly and biggest neighbour India’s unconcerned, indifferent and insensitive attitude—-which was evident when Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi supported Suu Kyi, the most hated person on earth now, and didn’t mention the ethnic cleansing of the minority Rohingya Muslims’ influx and terrible burden on Bangladesh—- terribly upset the people here and elsewhere too perhaps.
In the backdrop of such a precarious situation Indian Foreign Minister Mrs. Sushma Swaraj’s inordinately belated two-day visit to Dhaka took place.
Giving the lowdown on India’s growing importance to Bangladesh Mrs. Swaraj said, “Among all neighbours of India Bangladesh comes first.” Delhi enormously accrues benefit from Dhaka’s exceedingly generous concessions.
Actions speak louder than words, and a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Myanmar government continues to spread disinformation with the intent to mislead the UN and the world by concealing actual history. In the early part of 15th century (circa 1406 AD) lower Burma’s king Meng-Sho-Ai defeated Arakanese king Meng-Shoa Mown and conquered Arakan.
Later on, Mown sought military assistance from the ruler of Goud, Sultan Jalal-al Deen Shah who helped him with a commander and many soldiers who defeated Burmese king Meng-Sho-Ai, and king Mown regained his kingdom.
He relocated his kingdom at Rohong from which were the people known as Rohingya and at his request the Muslim soldiers permanently settled in Arakan. [Vide Prof. Ebne Golam Samad’s article dated 20 October 2017, the daily Naya Diganta]
The people here are grateful to India for its cooperation during 1971 Liberation War in which 3 million people made supreme sacrifice. By the same token, India too should be grateful to Bangladesh which is her friend; for this reason India is relieved of the colossal burden of maintaining several divisions of troops and armaments in the Eastern frontier as she used to before 1972.
Good relations between the border guards can be maintained if the BSF stopped killings of innocent Bangladeshis. As of June 2015, at least 900 Bangladeshis were killed by India’s BSF over the last decade. (The Holiday, dated March 17, 2017). Dhaka is Delhi’s great benefactor.
According to the World Bank, Bangladesh ranks fifth (behind the UAE, the USA, Saudi Arabia and the UK) among the top 15 countries from which India draws remittance from her expatriates.
Indian expats in Bangladesh remit over $3.7 billion yearly. [Vide Dr. Habib Siddiqui weekly holiday.net/ homepage/ pages/UserHome. aspx?ID =5&date=03/07/2014]
Bangladeshis are bitter about India for a variety of cogent reasons.
These are: frequent killing of Bangladeshi civilians on the borders. In December 2010, Human Rights Watch released a report, “Trigger Happy: Excessive Use of Force by at the Bangladesh Border”, on December 9, 2010, documenting indiscriminate extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment by the Indian BSF troops.
[hrw.org/report/2010/12/09/trigger-happy/ excessive-use-force-indian-troops -Bangladesh-border ]
Indo-Bangladesh relations are often strained, and many Bangladeshis feel India likes to play “big brother” to smaller neighbours, including Bangladesh. Indian (then) Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee met with the Chief Adviser in Dhaka on February 26, 2007. Mukherjee invited Ahmed to the April 3-4, 2007, SAARC summit in Delhi, and both sides pledged to put Bangladesh-India relations on “an irreversible higher trajectory.”
Mukherjee again visited Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr hit the southwestern coastal districts on November 15, 2007 and offered help to rebuild 10 of the devastated villages.
Bangladesh Army Chief General Moeen U. Ahmed paid a 6-day visit to India beginning late February 2008 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart.
[Vide globalsecurity.org/ military/world/ bangladesh/ forrel-in.htm
A college teacher and educational research analyst in the US, Esam Sohail writes: “To put it charitably, Bangladesh under the Sheikh Hasina regime is far closer to the stature of Bhutan and Maldives vis-à-vis India than to, say, pluckier Nepal and prickly Sri Lanka.
With the Obama administration having subcontracted most of its South Asian policy to New Delhi, the mandarins at South Block are both the sword and the shield of the Hasina regime”. [Vide Bangladesh Just Became a Vassal State: Sheikh Hasina’s crackdown on dissent leaves her government over reliant on Delhi’s support.
[thediplomat.com/2016/10/bangladesh-just-became-a-vassal-state/]
Academic and author Prof. Taj Hashmi in his essay “Subservience of Bangladesh to India: Wake up Bangladesh, it is time for a foreign policy” states that in the early 1970s, the Founding Father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brave and wise enough not to allow India a freehand in running the foreign and domestic policies of Bangladesh.
President Ziaur Rahman followed suit and became friends with the West, China, and the Muslim World. He discourages dependence on the South Block of New Delhi in running the “foreign policy” of Bangladesh.
[Vide Countercurrents.org,India; October 2, 2017].
Bottom line is: Indo-Bangladesh relations must be based on genuine mutual respect.
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