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PLEASURE IS ALL MINE

Populism, vision, reality...

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star. E-mail: husain.imam@thedailystar.net
INDIAN external affairs minister Salman Khurshid's welcoming remarks to Bangladesh media delegation around the third week of last month in New Delhi exuded extraordinary warmth towards Bangladesh and its people. He began by saluting the land that produced the famous Tagore song ekla cholo (go it alone if you have
to, in defense of truth!). And, Nazrul's poem Bidrohi rang so powerful to him even in English translation and how much more forceful it must be in its original Bangla version, he mused! Clearly, he was under the magical spell of that lyric and the poem respectively by two of our great poets and maestros.
That apart, he waxed eloquent on his association with and attachment to Bangladesh. Couched in personal terms he recalled while his grandfather Dr. Zakir Hossain was India's president, the latter's younger brother Dr. Mahmood Hossain was vice-chancellor of Dhaka University. Many of the senior leaders in Bangladesh society were either students of or had personal acquaintance with Dr. Mahmood Hossain, a scholar of outstanding stature.
So much for his charm going beyond normal diplomatic pleasantries; he would soon turn to the mundane. It is here that his candour and effortless ease rhymed in with a freethinking pluralistic India. He admitted to "a strain of hypocrisy in our two countries." He lamented that our democracies are yet to be at a satisfactory level where altruism and a sense of sacrifice would be shown to each other (when required).
He, however, made us sit up and take note of what he said next: The constitutional amendment relating to land boundary agreement will render de jure what is de facto reality on the ground. Earlier on the day, while referring to former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Deb Mukherjee's underlining humanitarian concern for people living in adversely possessed enclaves, Pinak Ranjan Chakrabarty, another erstwhile Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, had this to say: On his visit to some of the enclaves he had found transfer of land and exchange of people having taken place over time. They did the deal as people tend to sort out their adversities out of their own compulsion without waiting for the government to do it for them. Such an observation by Pinak ties up with Salman Khurshid saying giving de jure status to what is already de facto on the ground.
Salman, however, adds that symbolism and emotions are important between neighbours. It is important from humanitarian point of view that endorsement and ratification of border treaty take place. This will help dignify the status of the inhabitants of the enclaves in question.
Because so much time has passed since the signing of the land boundary agreement some people are 'suspicious' that the present efforts might be directed to changing an established order.
West Bengal government, which put a spanner on the works of both Teesta water sharing and implementation of land boundary agreement issues, 'has given a positive signal' as far as the latter agenda goes. The Indian external affairs minister gives the impression that it all boils down to compensating people who would be displaced in consequence of implementing border protocols. He said: "We have indicated some amount and are open to negotiation on the final figure."
On migration of people, the Indian minister alluded to the complexity of the region comprising West Bengal, Assam and Tripura vis-a-vis Bangladesh. Throughout centuries people have moved from one place to another, families and villages were divided and, therefore, trekking of people from one side to the other was a necessary collateral to the geographical push and pull factors.
Suggestion of giving work permits to citizens of both countries to obviate the confusion about illegal migration was aired, which perhaps could be worked on in time.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh for her part made two significant points: First, connectivities between the East and the West dating back to centuries have fallen in disuse since countries in South Asia acquired independence and charted their respective pathways. Now they have realised that in an increasingly interdependent world, some of the lost but important connectivity regime would have to be revived, especially in an era of primacy of economic development balancing out with geo- political considerations of security in a non-hegemonic world.
Second, Sujatha pointed out that contiguities are important as is evident in the economic integration and free borders across Europe one gets to see. Also Mexico-USA, Germany-Poland and Germany-France enjoy synergies. In such a context, multiplier effects spill over from one country to the other, most of them benign for the respective countries.
The foreign secretary alluded to the Indian PM's dream: "Breakfast in Kabul, lunch in Lahore, dinner in Delhi;” and then the cycle rotates in the reverse order with breakfast in Bangladesh and the rest following, added the Indian FS.
The choices of sites in the itinerary for the Bangladesh media delegation were remarkable in terms of showcasing India's talent development journeys going hand-in-hand with its growing standing as an emerging economic power.
The visits to India's highly prized Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Biocon, a cutting-edge enterprise, Sethy's Hospital Complex with a thrust for the poor, all in Bangalore, were eye-openers to the impressive lengths to which India has advanced, particularly in the last two decades.
Earlier in New Delhi we had a close look at the National Small Scale Industries Rapid Incubation
Centre, a one-stop service for innovative entrepreneurs to set up business. The weeklong trip culminated in the spectacular Infosys complex in Mysore. A modest beginning with $250 worth of seed money shared by six dashing and talented youngsters in 1981 has grown into a billion dollar enterprise sprawling on 337 acres of land. It has the capacity of training 14,000 learners over a six-month period into becoming IT technologists. Young people from many countries gravitate to it because of its problemsolving dynamics.
At the end of the day, however, what Bangladesh reaps as the harvest of the friendship it has extended to India unambiguously, will matter. In an important way, we came back with the feeling of an amiable India, a far cry from a big brotherly India one had associated with the image of our prime neighbour in the past. The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.
E-mail: husain.imam@thedailystar.net