Killings at the border: Appeasing India and our sovereignty

That day, evening TV bulletins reported the killing of another Bangladesh citizen at Benapole by the BSF. Every month, such news items are published several times. Apparently the members of the BSF have become trigger-happy and are using Bangladesh citizens for target practice. Only God knows how many Bangladeshis lost lives at their hands during the last few years.

We are a sovereign and independent nation. We earned our independence through a 9-month long glorious liberation war in which three million people sacrificed their lives. The Indians helped us. They provided food and shelter to 10 million refugees and sanctuary to our Mukti Bahini. Further, about 1,500 men and officers of the Indian armed forces lost their lives and more than 4,000 were wounded in the Bangladesh war. Thus, the relations between the two countries were cemented with blood. However, by that, the BSF did not earn a right to kill Bangladesh citizens indiscriminately.

Behind a facade of anti-Indian posture, the BNP has been pursuing a policy of toeing the Indian line since its inception. Its founder, President Ziaur Rahman, an ambitious soldier, who fought in the Liberation War from Indian safe-heaven, as well as Prime Minister Khaleda Zia have embarked on finely tuned clever maneuvers to appease India time and again, while accusing opponents day in and day out as Indian lackeys and propagating the fear that they would act subserviently and make Bangladesh an Indian colony.

However, is there an instance in which the opposition AL has compromised Bangladesh interests by succumbing to Indian persuasion or pressure? The PM never cited one. Neither is there any instance of AL promoting of Indian interests at the peril of Bangladesh.

The Bengali nationalism Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman propagated had no connection with the Bengali-speaking populace of India. However, soon after Bangladesh independence, Indian officials started calling people of Bangladesh as “Bangladeshi” to differentiate Bengali-speaking Indians from them. Ziaur Rahman, dancing to the Indian tune, incorporated it in the Bangladesh constitution to allay apprehension of rise of similar nationalism there.

In his dream of Saarc, Indians found resonance of the age old concept of “Mother India” comprising whole of South Asia and an opening to spread their hegemony over the entire region as its dominant partner. The trade agreement signed between Bangladesh and India during his time in 1980 incorporated the provision of “transit” through Bangladesh from one part of India to another.

The Saarc Preferential Trading Arrangement (Sapta) concluded during the previous tenure of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia as well as the trade agreement Bangladesh has signed during her last visit to India also contain provision for allowing transit to India through Bangladesh territory. Trade liberalization is desirable, but not at the cost of the nation's industries. However, during 1991-96 tenure of BNP government “import liberalization” made many small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh sick by opening its market for Indian goods without any reciprocal benefit. Import from India increased from $181 million in 1990-91 to $ 1100 million in 1995-96.

The average yearly import during 5-year tenure of AL was $1022 million, which, however, rose to $2030 million in 2004-05. The BNP governments made Bangladesh attractive market for Indian exporters. The trade imbalance between the two countries increased to about a billion dollar mark in favour of India in the last year of its previous tenure. While the AL government contained the imbalance, it started to grow again after the BNP returned to power. The trade imbalance reached almost two billion dollar mark in the year 2004-05.

Bangladesh was once the world's largest producer and exporter of jute and jute goods. However, the industry suffered set-backs due to mismanagement during 1970s and 80s. The BNP borrowed money from the World Bank not for their rehabilitation and modernization but to close them down during its previous tenure. This time they closed Adamjee, the largest mill in the world, along with a few more in Khulna and other places and thus facilitated increase in jute and jute goods production in India. What a unilateral patriotic move to benefit and appease the big neighbour. The former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared that Bangladesh would not export gas to India unless the country has a proven reserve to meet demands for the next 50 years. However, Mr. Mosharaf Hossain, State Minister for Energy, soon after BNP's coming to power, embarked on a scheme to export gas, which, however, did not materialize in the face of public opposition. Now it is said that country's gas reserve would not last beyond 2020, but again a scheme was hatched for indirect export of gas to India by providing guaranteed supply to Tata, in preference to domestic consumers and at a lower price, for production of steel from Indian ore for export to that country again.

After the surrender of Pakistan occupation forces on December 16, 1971 to the commander of Indian-Bangladesh Forces Lieutenant-General Jagjit Singh Aurora at Dhaka Race Course, the Indian government sent a host of civilian advisors to run Bangladesh administration. Soon after his return to Dhaka from captivity in Pakistan on January 10, 1972, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman asked them to pack up and go back home and then he requested Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to withdraw the Indian army from our soil. The Indian government complied without raising an eyebrow. Bangabandhu exercised the sovereign authority of Bangladesh government without any hesitation.

It is the solemn responsibility of any government worth its name to protect the lives of its citizens from attacks of outside forces. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia reminds us often that for upholding country's sovereignty there is no alternative to her government. However, her government is failing in protecting Bangladesh citizens from the BSF bullets. We have a world-class standing army and a commendable border security force, but they are of no help to unfortunate victims of BSF fire in the absence of the government's courage to confront India. Neither is the government able to protect them with diplomatic maneuvers.

Every time a Bangladeshi citizen is killed, the government fulfills its responsibility by sending a protest letter from BDR sector commander to BSF. This is not enough. The citizens deserve much more. The media reports on the just concluded India-Bangladesh Home Secretary level talks in Dhaka give no indication that the Bangladesh side has raised this issue at all. What pains and dismays me most is the acquiescence of the Bangladesh government of these heinous acts of the BSF.

It seems the BNP government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, with a record and mindset of appeasing India in every possible way, even jeopardizing national interests to come to power, has neither the aptitude nor the courage to protect its citizens from BSF fire. How such a government can be trusted with the sovereignty of the country? What we need is a government which can stand tall and negotiate with India as friendly equals to stop gunning down of Bangladeshi citizens by the BSF and protect the independence and sovereignty of the country.

The author is a former Secretary to the government.