The bedrock of India-Bangladesh alliance is based on trust and mutual cooperation and will be celebrated on 26 March 2021 when Bangladesh celebrates its 50th Independence Day.
On 26 March 2021, the Republic of Bangladesh will celebrate its Golden Jubilee of freedom, defining the reign of tyranny and oppression inflicted directly by the West Pakistani military industrial alliance, which led to probably one of the bloodiest and most horrific conflicts in the Indian subcontinent. Interestingly, this year also marks the centenary celebrations of “Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujubir Rahman”, who single-handedly stood firm against dictatorship and atrocities and had the vision to carve out an independent Bangladesh, keeping alive the core principles of democracy and freedom of the Bengali people at its heart.
Soon after the partition of the Indian subcontinent based on the flawed two-nation theory, the Eastern Wing was subjected to premeditated and calculated suppression and subjugation. The president of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on his maiden voyage struck the first blow when he said that “Urdu and only Urdu would be the state language of Pakistan”, thus undermining the sentiments and aspirations of more than half of the population of Pakistan, which in turn was the majority share of Pakistan’s human collective capital. The students of Dhaka University and civilians protested on the streets in one of the most violent and gruesome demonstrations in love and appreciation of their mother language. They paid the price on 21 February 1952 when heavy handed law enforcement agencies opened fire on peaceful protesters in cold blood. Since then even the United Nations has acknowledged 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the martyrs who struggled for Bengali language, to ensure that the Bengali identity was not lost.
There was an attitude of gross bias, bigotry and intolerance towards the residents of East Pakistan in comparison to their West Pakistan compatriots, who enjoyed the lion’s share of resources, revenues and riches (especially the jute dollar cash crop revenue). With the West Pakistani—predominantly Punjabi—military establishment having an iron grip on the entire country, there was a complete erosion of democratic forces and the population of East Pakistan felt even more annihilated and vanquished.
As luck would have it, in November 1970, the worst possible cyclone in recorded history, Cyclone Bhola, struck East Pakistan, wiping out half a million people. Ignorance and inabilityto activate of state and international resources for rescue and rehabilitation further aggravated the deep divide between the East and the West. In the 1970 free and possibly only fair general elections in Pakistan, the Awami League under the leadership of the charismatic Sheikh Mujubir Rahman won an absolute majority of 160 seats in the 300-member Assembly and was poised to form the next government of Pakistan. However, a deep-seated conspiracy obstructed the flow of democracy and thus changed the direction of history.
Following the barbaric military crackdown, called Operation Searchlight, on 26 March 1971, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians—men women and children—were mercilessly butchered throughout East Pakistan. It is estimated that as many as 10 million refugees crossed the borders into neighbouring India to seek refuge from the reign of terror which lasted from 26 March to 16 December 1971. Under the joint efforts of Mukti Bahini (Bengali liberation force) and the Indian Armed Forces the West Pakistani military establishment capitulated, resulting in the surrender of 90,000-plus Pakistani military and other officials. Sheikh Mujubir Rahman had been arrested on the night of Operation Searchlight and was rumoured to have had his grave dug, facing imminent liquidation by the West Pakistani establishment. But he stood tall even when death was imminent. By his side stood the iron lady Mrs Indira Gandhi of India who vouched that she would do whatever possible and necessary to ensure that the people of Bangladesh got what they had struggled for and would never give up her resolve to free the Sheikh so that he could return to his people as their true leader.
This year marks 50 years of Bangladesh Liberation War. The blood and sacrifice of thousands of people is testimony to fact that both neighbours have enshrined the principles of democracy and pluralism as their founding factor. In 2015 the leaderships of both India and Bangladesh under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed further strengthened bilateral cooperation by signing the historic Land Boundary Agreement and the exchange of enclaves. This was probably the only instance in which geographical boundaries were recalibrated peacefully to suit the interests of both countries.
As the world endures the perils of a global pandemic, India plays a leading role in providing vaccines to the entire world community. The bilateral relationship between India and Bangladesh scaled new heights when Bangladesh was given Covid 19 vaccines by India. New cross border international connectivity projects (Maitri Setu) connecting India and Bangladesh and beyond are being developed at a rapid pace and will improve not only trade and commerce but also people to people contact which are the roots of this relationship based on harmony and concord.
The bedrock of this alliance is based on trust and mutual cooperation and will be celebrated on 26 March 2021 when Bangladesh celebrates its 50th Independence Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will stand side by side with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on that day, just the way the two countries stood in 1971. And thus the two mature democracies of South Asia will complement each other on their path to possibility and success.
Priyajit Debsarkar is author and geopolitical analyst, www.priyajit.co.uk. Twitter @PDebsarkar