National unity, diplomacy and stronger military must for sovereign equality with India

Indian BSF at the Bangladesh-India border.

The need for a comprehensive strategy for national unity with sustainable democracy, economic development, well-articulated foreign policy, international alignment and a modernised military was emphasised in the capital on Saturday for developing relations with India on the basis of mutual respect.

The roundtable on July Revolution: India-Bangladesh Relations was organised by Centre for Security and Development Studies at a Gulshan hotel. Security experts, former diplomats, members of the academia and strategic institutions took part in the function presided over by CSDS chairman Major Gen AMSA Amin (retd).

The speakers were of the opinion that the sovereignty of the country was on the verge of collapse during the 16 years of the immediate past Awami League autocratic rule heavily supported by India regardless of the the damages caused to democracy, human rights as the government surrendered Bangladesh's national interests just for support to stay in power.

They said that for immediate strategic gains the large neighbour played the militancy card to supress rightist elements in Bangladesh although the Indian society turned deeply communal despite constitunally professing secularism.

The speakers said that the deep-rooted cause of undermining Bangladesh's national interests was the 'Akhand Bharat' policy of Indian rulers who expressly treat its neighbours with disrespect and want them to join that country. They said if countries like the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal can successfully resist this hegemonism why not Bangladesh, the eighth largest country in the world with a polulation of 180 million. 

Brig. Gen Rokonuddin (retd) presented a paper at the roundtable which was addreaasd by Lt. Gen Aminul Karim, former military secretary to the President, Major General Fazle Elahi Akbar (retd) Chairman, Foundation for Strategic and Peace Studies, Major Gen Jamil (retd), Commodore Jasim (retd), Col. Shahadat (retd),  Major Yunus Ali (retd), Prof. Abdul Latif Masum, ex-vc Patuakhali University, Prof. Hasan Zaman Chowdhury of Dhaka University, Prof Golam Rasul of IUBAT, Prof Jasim Uddin and Omar Nasir Abdullah of NSU, Ambassador Shahed Aktar, Dr. Razia Sultana of BIISS, and researchers Shafiul Alam Shahin and Rajib Mandal. Col Ashrafuddin (retd) moderated the session.

In his paper Brig. Rokonuddin dwelt on how India's policy of relying on one party and one person in dealing with Bangladesh during the 16 years of AL rule seriously harmed bilateral relations and called for a dispassionate approach to rebuild the relationship based on mutual respect for each other.

Other speakers said that it was but for the July mass upsurge led by the youths that a new opportunity has come to reassert the sovereignty status of Bangladesh. The last autocratic government had given everything to the neighbour without considereing Bangladesh's national interests. 

The large neighbour also utilised its relationships with international military and economic powers to interfere with Bangladesh's democracy and governance. India's permission was needed even to repair airports and political leaders were either invited or went to New Delhi to get their concurrence before elections. Inferiority complex of our leaders was responsible for this.

They called for changing the narratives on the 1971 war of liberation which was a glory of our freedom fighters not a gift from the neighbouring country.