Be generous. Be realistic

The anti-India feeling in Bangladesh is so strong, you can taste it. When even Sheikh Hasina, considered New Delhi8217;s friend, refuses to...

The anti-India feeling in Bangladesh is so strong, you can taste it. When even Sheikh Hasina, considered New Delhi8217;s friend, refuses to preside over the launching of a book that commends India8217;s contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh, the situation should cause concern. While in Dhaka, I was reminded of what people told me at Lahore and Islamabad after East Pakistan had seceded from West Pakistan: Hum ne dholak baja ke dekh li hai; tum bhi dekh lo We have experienced the drum beat, it8217;s your turn now.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had a curious explanation for the anti-India feeling. She said that since people in Bangladesh hated Sheikh Hasina and her party, the Awami League, they automatically hated India because 8216;8216;you are their friends.8217;8217; Law Minister Moudud Ahmed expressed similar sentiments. It seemed as if the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP had a planned strategy to whip up anti-India feeling so as to cover up its government8217;s bad performance. Since Jamat-e-Islami is a coalition partner, it has used the anti-India feeling to stoke the fires of fundamentalism. In fact, two Jamat ministers, holding charge of agriculture and social welfare, are all over Bangladesh, with their party cadres and welfare officers, to sow the seeds of prejudice. The one lakh-plus Ahmedi community is their special target. The Jamat wants it to be declared a non-Muslim minority as has been done by Pakistan. The Jamat also flaunts its pride in the fact that the name of Dhaka airport is written in Arabic, apart from English and Bengali.

The Jamat8217;s relentless effort to 8216;8216;Islamise8217;8217; Bangladesh has already taken shape. A fanatic Bangla Bhai, who is indulging in violence against the Awami League and the leftists, has already killed eight. He is said to have worked with Al-Qaida chief Osama-bin Laden. Bangla Bhai8217;s Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh JMJB, belatedly noticed by the Khalida government after America8217;s warning, has opened camps to train cadres at Bagmara, Durgapur, Atrai and Nalanda.

The Jamat on the one hand and the JMJB on the other appear to have an overall understanding with the ULFA, the underground Nagas and the ISI, all ploughing their own furrow. New Delhi considers these developments a threat to its security and has reportedly said so to Bangladesh Foreign Minister Morshed Khan when he was recently at Delhi.

He, in turn, is said to have drawn India8217;s attention to a list of 8216;8216;escaped criminals8217;8217; which Dhaka had forwarded to Delhi, a quid-pro-quo of sorts. Sheikh Hasina, extremely worried over the future of Bangladesh, feels helpless. 8216;8216;What can I do?8217;8217; she asks. 8216;8216;Those who have brought Khaleda to power should have known the repercussions. They are the ones who must think of a way out.8217;8217; She has no plans to go back to parliament which the Awami League has practically boycotted since the formation of the BNP government. The Awami League attends parliament for just a few hours after every 90 days lest the members should be disqualified for their absence. The former prime minister blames the Khaleda government for allowing the communal forces to become stronger. Her argument is that the BNP would rather have fundamentalists ruling the country than the Awami League. She also blames New Delhi for the present state of affairs and accuses it of 8216;8216;helping Khaleda.8217;8217; Her hatred for the Bangladesh Prime Minister is pathological as is Khaleda8217;s hatred for Hasina. No third group is on the horizon and I feel the country will oscillate from one leader to another for years to come. Both are in their mid-50s.

I found that donor countries are agitated. They felt concerned after the recent attack on the British High Commissioner at Hazrat Shahjalal8217;s shrine in Sylhet. Although Bangladesh has maintained a growth rate of five per cent, it is afraid that the anti-India feeling would make cooperation with New Delhi more difficult besides telling upon Dhaka8217;s economic future. Khaleda favours transshipment, not transit 8212; some progress.

Things would have looked still gloomier if elections in India had not lifted the pall of darkness somewhat. These polls have done what hundreds of goodwill delegations have failed to do. India is being spoken about in superlatives for its democratic and secular credentials. 8216;8216;Great elections, great people, great leaders,8217;8217; an editor of a leading daily from Dhaka e-mailed me.

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I found the comments still more effusive when I reached Bangladesh. Sonia Gandhi is their icon. Atal Bihari Vajpayee has gone down a peg 8212; only a peg. Bangladeshis never tire of exclaiming that only a country like India could have a Muslim as president, a Sikh as prime minister and a Roman Catholic as chief of the ruling United Progressive Alliance.

Our elections are converting the bias and prejudice against us into admiration, even adulation. I found people looking towards India with envy and hope. This is an opportune time to harness the goodwill that the polls have generated. I recall the days of the Bangladesh liberation when camaraderie oozed and the two countries prepared blueprints for integrated development. It looks like the same atmosphere of friendship can be revived.

8216;8216;After many years the train has arrived,8217;8217; said a senior Bangladesh minister. 8216;8216;If not boarded now, it would not come again.8217;8217; We can prove to them that India is there to help that country in its progress and development. Why not allow Bangladeshi products to come into India duty-free? Today our official trade is worth 1 billion as against 1 million from their side. The non-official trade is said to be 2 billion in favour of India. If we could help give the Bangladeshis more purchasing power, trade would be proportionately higher. Illegal migration might stop, people would find work in their own country. Dhaka seems prepared for the gas-based joint industrial collaborations to set the ball rolling. Is South Block listening? My five-day stay in Dhaka has convinced me that a generous and realistic attitude towards Bangladesh can help us fight the anti-India feeling there.