Opinion The open corridor

Things did not quite turn out that way,though. The Indira-Mujib deal lost much of its shine when the Indian authorities,for reasons which had to do with India’s constitutional framework,proved unable to put it into implementation mode. In Bangladesh,particularly after the violent overthrow of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s government in August 1975,right-wing elements as well as citizens across the spectrum thought they spotted a serious element of insincerity on India’s part. Within Bangladesh,a series of coups and counter-coups,followed by growing political instability,weakened the country’s resolve in persuading India to take swift action on the enclaves. But,of course,interest in the issue on either India’s part or Bangladesh’s never waned or wavered. In October 1982,months after General Ershad seized power in Bangladesh,a new agreement was reached with the Indian authorities over access to the enclaves. It then went swiftly to the backburner. In June 1992,however,provision was made for the people of the enclaves to use the corridor six hours a day. This arrangement stayed in place till June 1996. A month later,the Indian authorities doubled the time to 12 hours a day for Bangladeshis in the enclaves to move between the mainland and their homes. The arrangement stayed in place till September this year.

Given this long history of the enclaves vis-à-vis the Teen Bigha corridor,the visit to Angorpota and Dahagram by Sheikh Hasina is certainly being looked upon as the opening up of a new phase of warmth in India-Bangladesh relations. That expectation is pretty natural,since the Teen Bigha corridor will henceforth remain open 24 hours a day. To be sure,the absence of the West Bengal chief minister,Mamata Banerjee,and her cabinet colleagues in the enclaves or at Teen Bigha on the day of the Bangladesh leader’s visit has not been seen as a friendly gesture in Bangladesh. On the other hand,the presence of two Union ministers and their interaction with Sheikh Hasina is considered to be one more sign of the keenness of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government to remove all rundown fences which have kept India and Bangladesh divided in quite a few areas.

For Bangladesh’s people,the resolution of the enclaves issue is somewhat of a turning back from the dark legacy of the communal division of India in 1947. The enclaves remained a thorn in the ties between India and pre-1971 Pakistan,and not until Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took it up for the seriousness attached to it did things get moving. For Sheikh Hasina,a guarantee of access to and from the enclaves by India adds a new feather to her cap. In light of the progress Dhaka and Delhi have made in recent weeks on such issues as access to the Indian market for Bangladeshi goods and transit facilities for India to and from its northeastern region through Bangladesh territory,the opening up of the corridor has surely given a new impetus to connectivity.

For Bangladesh’s prime minister,now that ties with India are back on a friendly and collaborative plane,the job is to convince Bangladeshis that she can achieve a similar feat in governance at home. After all,the next spate of general elections is less than two and a half years away.

The writer is executive editor,‘The Daily Star’,Dhaka
express@expressindia.com

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