Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ameer Maqbul Ahmad has issued the following statement on 10th April, 2017 expressing deep concern as 22 treaties and memorandum of understandings including a defence MoU have been signed during the trip of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India and it is heard that 14 other bilateral accords have been signed between the businessmen and non-government sector and defence MoU have been made as well prioritizing the Indian interest.
“The countrymen became deeply frustrated as the long awaited Teesta River sharing treaty has not been signed during the Prime Minister’s trip to India. It is the justifiable right of the people of Bangladesh to get the due share of water from Teesta River which is flowing through Bangladesh and India. India has kept the people of Bangladesh deprived from the due share of water of 54 common rivers including Teesta and Ganges. At this point, India has completely ignored the international water sharing principles and traditions. They had opened the Farakka dam experimentally for one and half month but that experiment is not done even after long 43 years. India has deprived Bangladesh from the water of Ganges and the Teesta River and using the water of those rivers unilaterally.
The accords and treaties which have been signed during this visit between India and Bangladesh have been signed between head of the government of these two countries. But surprisingly India has involved the chief minister of the Paschimbanga in the issue of Teesta River water sharing issue. Water would be shared between two countries. So like the other treaties, Teesta River water sharing treaties are also supposed to be signed between the Prime Ministers of two countries. But the people of Bangladesh have been made deprived from the water of Teesta River as the Indian authority used the so called objection of the Pashchimbanga’s Chief Minister as a trick. Without fixing any approximate date, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi further stated that Teesta River water sharing treaty will be signed within the tenure of the Sheikh Hasina government. Earlier, former Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh had made the same assurance. The people of Bangladesh think, these assurances are nothing but a manoeuvre for not sharing water with Bangladesh. The chief minister of Pashchimbanga Mamata Banarjee claimed that, there is not enough in Teesta River to share. She also advised to take water from 5 other rivers of the North Bengal. In this backdrop, she also disregards the international water sharing policy as well.
The people of the Bangladesh, particularly the riverside people of Teesta River have been disappointed as the Prime Minister failed to resolve the Teesta water crisis in this trip. Teesta River is the most crucial crisis of their lives. As there is no sufficient flow of water in Teesta, the water bodies of that region became dried and the entire localities have been turning into desert. The farmers cannot cultivate as they do not get water in the dry season. On the other hand, they are becoming of flood as India releases water in the rainy season. The people of Bangladesh want the due share of water from 54 common rivers including Teesta and Ganges Rivers.
Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign country. Our military are the firm protector of our freedom and national security. So far, they have been nurtured with a conscience of protecting and preserving the sovereignty. But the recent defence MoU with India is nothing but an ill trick to weaken the professionalism of the Bangladesh army. Mostly the Indian interest has been secured in the defence MoU. The Bangladeshi people could not be happy with the debt deal of 500 crore which has been signed to procure defence ammunitions, arms and other equipments. In all the signed treaties, Indian interest has been served instead of Bangladesh. The people of Bangladesh think and believe that, the Prime Minister has made these treaties and deals to receive blessings from India in order to stay in power forever. Overall, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has entirely failed to preserve the interest of Bangladesh. Despite the defence MoU, the murder of the innocent Bangladeshi civilians in the frontiers by Indian BSF will not be stopped. The business deficiencies will not be decreased. Rather it will be increased significantly, apprehended the concerned citizens.
With these treaties, the incumbent Awami League led grand alliance government has moved back from the principle of ‘Friendship to All and malice to none’. The people of Bangladesh will not accept these treaties and MoU as these deals have been signed with India sacrificing the national interest. For the sake of country’s freedom, independence and sovereignty, we are urging the government to disclose all the treaties and Memorandums of Understandings signed with India.