Readers Respond
Here are some comments that came in response to Sunday's The Daily Star news report headlined “BNP's India politics at a crossroads”
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BNP will lose much of its popularity if it renounces its anti-India policy. Ali
We must not forget that India so far has not ratified and honoured any of the treaties or promises with Bangladesh. So when they suddenly give us a special treatment, we have to understand the motive behind it. Mizan
I think neither anti-India nor pro-India policy is favourable to our national interest. So, any party, regardless of its own interest, should behave with India in a way so that our national interest can be secured. Shah Deeldar
It is up to BNP…how they want to play the game. Hardliners have very little choices. Go forward with the prudent neighbourly policies or be prepared to be treated as pariah with very little communication and trade. Farid Hossain
We should have our independent foreign policy towards India as well as all other countries on the basis of mutual interest. Sharier Rahman
BNP's friendly approach towards India is commendable. India has directly or indirectly been trying to control our life since independence and it continued killing our innocent poor people on borders. Their unfriendly attitude towards us should stop. Niloufar Sarker
Our experience with India is that they sheltered millions of our refugees during our War of Independence. They allowed our freedom fighters to operate from their soil and fought against Pakistan alongside our people to liberate us. India was our friend in need. Sengupta, Canada
BNP's hardliners must admit that their politics is not for confrontation and BNP must work out a plan to improve its relation with India. Nasirullah Mridha, USA
In present geo-political circumstances, anti-India politics would not prove conducive for BNP to ascend to power. At last they realised. Dr. Iftikhar-ul-Awwal
Khaleda Zia's recent visit to India drew a lot of attention and controversy in the print and electronic media, both in India and Bangladesh. This was because BNP always considered India a threat to Bangladesh's economic and political well being and its sovereignty. This perception about India has not changed because of its antagonistic attitude towards Bangladesh's major problem areas such as land boundaries, border killings, sharing waters of common rivers, issues of trade and investment, etc. India is also trying to build dams which would adversely affect our physical environment and soil. Most of these problems could be settled but we are being duped by India over the years. By keeping the irritants alive, India perhaps wanted to have transit from Bangladesh, use our ports, etc. Even the AL government failed to get for Bangladesh any substantial deal like that of Teesta or a confirmation of a no-fire-zone in the border belts. A democratic party like BNP has to take a practical approach to safeguard its self-interest.
BNP will lose much of its popularity if it renounces its anti-India policy. Ali
We must not forget that India so far has not ratified and honoured any of the treaties or promises with Bangladesh. So when they suddenly give us a special treatment, we have to understand the motive behind it. Mizan
I think neither anti-India nor pro-India policy is favourable to our national interest. So, any party, regardless of its own interest, should behave with India in a way so that our national interest can be secured. Shah Deeldar
It is up to BNP…how they want to play the game. Hardliners have very little choices. Go forward with the prudent neighbourly policies or be prepared to be treated as pariah with very little communication and trade. Farid Hossain
We should have our independent foreign policy towards India as well as all other countries on the basis of mutual interest. Sharier Rahman
BNP's friendly approach towards India is commendable. India has directly or indirectly been trying to control our life since independence and it continued killing our innocent poor people on borders. Their unfriendly attitude towards us should stop. Niloufar Sarker
Our experience with India is that they sheltered millions of our refugees during our War of Independence. They allowed our freedom fighters to operate from their soil and fought against Pakistan alongside our people to liberate us. India was our friend in need. Sengupta, Canada
BNP's hardliners must admit that their politics is not for confrontation and BNP must work out a plan to improve its relation with India. Nasirullah Mridha, USA
In present geo-political circumstances, anti-India politics would not prove conducive for BNP to ascend to power. At last they realised. Dr. Iftikhar-ul-Awwal
Khaleda Zia's recent visit to India drew a lot of attention and controversy in the print and electronic media, both in India and Bangladesh. This was because BNP always considered India a threat to Bangladesh's economic and political well being and its sovereignty. This perception about India has not changed because of its antagonistic attitude towards Bangladesh's major problem areas such as land boundaries, border killings, sharing waters of common rivers, issues of trade and investment, etc. India is also trying to build dams which would adversely affect our physical environment and soil. Most of these problems could be settled but we are being duped by India over the years. By keeping the irritants alive, India perhaps wanted to have transit from Bangladesh, use our ports, etc. Even the AL government failed to get for Bangladesh any substantial deal like that of Teesta or a confirmation of a no-fire-zone in the border belts. A democratic party like BNP has to take a practical approach to safeguard its self-interest.
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