Dhaka’s Duty

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During External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Dhaka on Monday, a transit pact was signed between the two countries that would allow Indian road and rail transit facilities to connect to the Northeast. The Sheikh Hasina government has signed the pact precisely on the lines of the Indo-Bangladesh Trade Deal of 2006 in view of the stiff resistance to the pact from the main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The Trade Deal of 2006 was signed when BNP chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia visited India. The transit pact has been described as a major step forward in the bilateral ties between the two countries, which could have far-reaching impact on their economies. While there is no complaint against the evolving economic partnership between New Delhi and Dhaka and the framework it could help shape for an integrated economic system for the benefit of both sides, what is far more imperative is whether Dhaka would crack down on Islamist radicals who have sprouted everywhere in Bangladesh, thanks to the indulgence of the former regime backed by the fundamentalist Jamiat.

Pakistan’s ISI has an expert wing in Bangladesh dedicated solely to the task of pan-Islamism and annexation of suitable areas of the northeastern part of India to Bangladesh for the making of a greater Islamic state. The ISI’s sinister machinations entail patronage of terror outfits like Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI) and other extremist elements, followed by their export to India for different terror missions. Many recent terror attacks in the country, including in the Northeast, bear a HuJI imprint. Bangladesh is also home to militant groups from the Northeast, the most cherished of which is ULFA whose voice is no longer its own but that of the ISI and other terrorist and fundamentalist elements based in that country. ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah is said to have a major stake in the Bangladesh economy; his alleged business empire thriving on the loot extracted back home — from the same people and land that he had set out to ‘liberate’ about 30 years ago. Without the strategic camaraderie with the ISI and other radical groups in Bangladesh, and of course the covert back-up provided by the most influential of players in the Bangladesh establishment such as DGFI, the top ULFA leadership — safely ensconced in the posh areas of Dhaka — would not have sustained for so long. All this, the Hasina dispensation would need to address and completely neutralize if Dhaka were to seek a meaningful relationship with New Delhi. Trade and commerce cannot at all go together with an exported terror brand. The South Asian Anti-terrorism Task Force as mooted by the Hasina government is a welcome initiative, but it will take a lot of will and an open mind to confront the scourge of Islamist radicalism that has already taken deep roots in Bangladesh. But Sheikh Hasina must first ensure that she will weed out the ISI from her country, and with it all other terrorist outfits too. Can she? This alone should define New Delhi’s ties with Dhaka. Everything else is secondary — let there be no doubt about this.

source: the sentinel assam