A fresh look at Delhi-Dhaka ties

Avijit Mukherjee, son of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Lok Sabha MP, recently on a private visit to Dhaka, has left a good impression by his clarity of thought on a rather tangled issue. He said, the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh were not taking place on religious grounds! If it were, he argued, the majority community would have been spared the onslaught; but clearly it is not. 

As you may have noticed with trepidation that the list of victims is already long enough to evoke growing unease. No point comparing with the horror of mass killing enacted elsewhere to derive a false consolation from! 

Once an oasis of religious and communal harmony, Bangladesh hogs news lines today for the wrong reasons along with basking in the sunshine of its resilient growth profile. This contradiction cannot tarnish its upscale image in economy and development based on incremental value additions by its enterprising people. The country has an inherent strength in her homogeneity to bounce back in the near future. That hope springs eternally in our heart.

'Certain quarters' not looking kindly up on the developing relations between India and Bangladesh, maybe trying to put a spanner in the works, as perceived by Avijit. In a broader perspective, however, one wonders whether 'those quarters' are not working to chip away at Bangladesh's image in the international arena. Are we looking at the prospect of regional and international conspiracy theories? The tying up of the minority issues with terrorism is a new phenomenon we have to contend with.

Yet, Avijit is spot on when he says Bangladesh is developing and with her rapid development – in which India likes to be beside her as a 'friend' and not a 'big brother' – threats of terrorism will wither away. 

Not surprisingly, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's press conference at the end of BJP government's two years was largely taken up by concerns over 'attacks' on minorities. She endorsed Awami League government's 'tough approach' reflected through the arrest of a huge number of suspects. Sushma added with aplomb what could be more gratifying than to note that more than 1,00,000 religious leaders (Mufti, Alem and Ulema) signed up to a 'Fatwa' repudiating that terrorism and extremism have no place whatsoever in Islam. 

On the subject of the call by Alems, to fight terrorism, the details read exhaustive and thoroughgoing enough underpinned by an elaborate operational strategy, it seems. Led by Fariduddin Masud, the grand imam of Sholakia mosque and chairman of Jamatul Ulema, the documentation has 30 parts, 26 covering divisional headquarters and 4 for women Alems. The principal call bears the stamp of Darul Ulm Deobandh, Mainul Islam Hathazari Madrasa, Islamic Research Centre, Charmonai Jamia Rashidia Islamia, Shaikh Zakaria Research Centre and Jamatul Asad Madrasa. Hefazate Islam leaders have endorsed the call. 

Masud emphatically stated that those who commit terrorism in the name of religion do so prompted by the dream of going to heaven. But when they will come to realise that they are taking the path to hell and not to heaven, they will refrain from treading it. Although complete elimination would be elusive, the cleric hoped for a substantial lessoning of the scourge if the call was implemented.

As if chiming in with the initiative, 14-party alliance leaders through a human chain directed MPs and local leaders to instill a message of resistance in the public mind. Clearly, community involvement spearheaded by a collective political will underpinned by civil society support could do wonders in freezing the subversive elements on their tracks. 

The attention span naturally rivets on to some bilateral issues. On the Teesta question Sushma Swaraj stressed that India-Bangladesh and West Bengal government will have to be on the same page to script an accord. Now that Mamata has got a second term with a stronger mandate her hands, to that extent, are strengthened to translate her original commitment to Bangladesh into a reality on the ground. This is a litmus test for Indo-Bangladesh relations going forward.

Avijit struck a responsive chord in many Bangladeshi hearts when he voiced urgency for simplifying visa procedures currently hemmed in by complications, intermittent efforts to the contrary. Emphasising the need for people-to-people contacts for better understanding, there appears to be no alternative to pushing the envelope, as it were. 

A word about 'zero tolerance' of border killings that we feel strongly about : a border of peace should be an ideal realised between two mature countries.

The writer is a contributor to The Daily Star. He can be reached at shahhusainimam@gmail.com