Editorial
Manmohan's verbal bombshell
"Off -the -record" comments betray a lack of understanding of Bangladesh
The Indian Prime Minister's comments on Bangladesh come as a huge shock and surprise. Even more astonishing is the silence of our government. Its closest ally -- at the level of the PM no less -- has made a damning indictment of the political health of this country, describing it as so volatile that it could change for the worse at any moment. The Indian PM has further said that 25% of Bangladesh's population supports Jamaat-I-Islami, is "anti-Indian" and "in the clutches" of the Pakistani ISI.
The Bangladesh government has neither demanded a clarification nor protested the evaluation, displaying an attitude quite inexplicable for a sovereign government.
Dr. Manmohan Singh's statement is weak on facts and way off the mark in understanding. Data from past elections have consistently shown that support for the Jamaat and other Islamic parties has never exceeded 5-6% of the electorate. Nor are there reports of any significant ISI presence in this country. That is why it is all the more amazing that a man of Dr. Singh's stature, known for his measured words and diplomatic skills, should make such comments.
It could hardly have been a slip of words, given that he was speaking in a planned meeting with news editors and that the Indian Foreign Minister is due to visit Dhaka this week. It forces us to question whether India's image of and attitude towards Bangladesh has changed, despite the many signs of every day improvement in our bilateral relations.
This paper always stood for good and mutually beneficially relations with India and celebrated the progress that has been achieved by the Awami League government in this respect. We value the commitment -- reiterated by the Indian PM once again -- to resolve water-sharing and other outstanding issues.
The Indian Prime Minister referred to the generosity of India in providing US$1 billion credit line to Bangladesh. While this is an important contribution to our development, it must be mentioned that bulk of it is devoted to infra-structure building for transit purposes, and is tied to using Indian companies and materials.
Dr. Manmohan Singh's comments show a lack of understanding of Bangladesh. These also demonstrate a lack of confidence in the government and the stability of our political system. These have now been termed as off-the-record comments, and were not meant to be judgmental. Notwithstanding the deliberate damage control, we have to point out that there exists a serious lack of understanding on India's part about the reality in Bangladesh. There is a lot to learn from the Indian PM's remarks, even it were off-the-record; perhaps more so because they were off-the-record.
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