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Mamata faces music

Media, experts of both countries slam her for torpedoing talks

Staff Correspondent
Paschimbanga Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's last moment objection to the Teesta water sharing deal has drawn widespread criticisms from Indian newspapers, TV channels and experts of both countries.
The experts say that this will affect the relations between the two neighbours and created scopes for the opposition in Bangladesh to bash the Awami League-led government, which is perceived friendly and warmhearted towards India.
The deal that reportedly provided each country with almost 50-50 share of the river water met protest from Mamata. The Teesta issue has been a lingering pain for the neighbours and Mamata pulling out from Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's entourage during the Dhaka visit came as a huge embarrassment for India and was being viewed as a major dampener, reported NDTV.
NDTV online said Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told the channel that the presence of four chief ministers underlines the importance of the prime minister's visit and one more chief minister would have been useful.
Mamata's llth-hour opposition to the Teesta water deal has stunned diplomats and experts on both sides of the border and threatens to scupper Manmohan's first-ever visit to Bangladesh, said Indian daily The Hindu.
Quoting highly placed Indian officials The Hindu said this could jeopardise the remaining "second generation" river water sharing agreements that were to ride on the back of the Teesta accord.
"Frankly, what Paschimbanga is saying makes no sense to me. This has been discussed for years now, and every concern of theirs had been addressed,” said a senior Indian water resources ministry official in New Delhi.
Manmohan, who tried to persuade Chief Minister Mamata over the phone Monday to show flexibility on the Teesta water deal, is “disappointed" that his tour of Bangladesh has suffered an embarrassing hitch, reported The Telegraph.
M Shahiduzzaman, international relations professor at Dhaka University, said, “Mamata's refusal to come to Bangladesh is a big blow to Hasina who is dealing with the worst crisis of her political career at the moment."
Mamata's stance is certain to complicate matters for Hasina, he said, adding, “She will lose face either way. If she doesn't sign the deal, the opposition will pounce on her and if she accepts a lower share, the opposition will pounce on her too. Also, New Delhi would never want to show Hasina as a loser, they want Hasina to look good for their own benefits. With Mamata refusing to accompany Singh at the last moment, the prime minister himself has cut a very weak figure.”
Former Bangladeshi diplomat Muhammad Zamir said, "By not being proactive to the existing problems of Bangladesh, India is giving opportunity to the opposition in Bangladesh to bash the government, which is so unfortunate."
It is very disappointing that the Paschimbanga chief minister has not come to Bangladesh along with Manmohan Singh. If she had anything to say, she could explain it in Dhaka, he said, adding that Mamata must have understood the bilateral relationship and put it above a regional issue.
Zamir, a former foreign secretary, told The Daily Star that he still hopes that Manmohan Singh will be courageous enough in dealing with the issue as Bangladesh has always been courageous in resolving India's issues. Things should be reciprocal, he noted.
Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of International Relations at Dhaka University, said not signing the Teesta water sharing deal will have serious repercussions.
India may talk of peo-ple's concerns in Paschimbanga but the fact is that there was a lot of hype about the matter and the last minute decision can in no way be reasoned. "This is a sort of political tactic, I would say."
Public trust in both governments would nosedive, he said.
Imtiaz, however, said having no deal signed on Teesta does not mean that Bangladesh should not sign any accord on transit. Two are very separate issues, he said expressing hope that the transit treaty will be signed.
Meanwhile, Mamata's opposition Communist
Party of India (Marxist) was also critical about her decisions.
"Her sudden decision not to join the prime minister to go to Bangladesh one day before the visit has not only brought embarrassment to our country but also tarnished its image in the international arena," party leader Sitaram Yechurysaid.
He, however, said the issue of Teesta water sharing, on which Mamata raised objections, was "serious and very important", adding that CPI-M's objection was to the manner in which the chief minister decided not to go to Bangladesh.
He said, "Such major international agreements are not drafted overnight. She could have raised her objections much earlier.
Kolkata-based Anandabazar Patrika reported Mamata's objection to the water treaty and the pullout was a political technique that will improve her image in West Bengal.
"According to TYinamool Congress, it is the right technique and moment through which she brought the total situation under her control," said the report supporting Mamata's stance and blaming New Delhi for not consulting the issue with Mamata even though Indian media reported New Delhi had earlier discussed the Teesta water sharing issue.
Indian paper The Asian Age in its editorial yesterday said it is a pity that Manmohan Singh's two-day visit to Bangladesh may just get marred on account of insufficient domestic political sensitivity shown by New Delhi, unless last-minute repair work by the centre can meet the justified concerns of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Indian Express in its editorial remarked, "...West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's last-minute threat to refuse to accompany the prime minister to Dhaka, over the very issue of water-sharing, is disappointing."
It said "Banerjee has the right to disagree on river water as water-sharing is after all only one issue, albeit very important for both Bangladesh and West Bengal, but to haggle over a few cusecs of water therein is to miss the larger picture, which is precisely what Banerjee's latest tantrum amounts to”.
Mamata's absence may cloud the visit given that the India-Bangladesh story is overwhelmingly a West Bengal-Bangladesh story: from the management of border disputes to the exchange of enclaves, railway and road links, volume of trade through land routes, human trafficking and trans-border crime, itsaid.