Editorial
Working together against terrorism
Greater understanding of Bangladesh's effort needed
The just concluded talks between the home secretaries of Bangladesh and India have focused on several bi-lateral issues with the main thrust on terrorism. It is only appropriate that it be so. The agreement to have necessary arrangements in place that would allow exchange of intelligence between the two sides including facilitating sharing of current and actionable intelligence between the two border forces, one hopes, would be implemented without delay, because there is an urgent need to join hands in tackling the scourge of terrorism to which Bangladesh has been so painfully exposed in the last two years. The idea of reviving the joint working group (JWG) of the home ministry is a good idea but we would like to see the JWG meet regularly to address the contentious issues, including border management. This has remained a touchy matter between the two countries, particularly with so many unarmed Bangladeshi citizens falling victim to BSF firing in the last one year, although reportedly, the situation has improved in recent months. The expressed commitment not to allow each other's territory to be used by the miscreants or by the anti-state elements for subversive activities must be followed up with concrete actions. We have no doubt that harbouring Indian miscreants is not and cannot be a policy that the Bangladesh government pursues, since it has absolutely nothing to gain from such a policy, and that is what our big neighbour must understand. We have expressed our firm commitment to stamp out terrorism and not to allow our territory to be used against our neighbour, but if anything further needs to be done on ground to allay India's apprehensions Bangladesh should have no hesitation in doing whatever is appropriate in that regard. By the same token we would like to see the end of the blitz that Bangladesh is subjected to from time to time by the Indian media painting it as 'hotbed of terrorists' and 'Talibanised' country. There has been a concord of view particularly on the border management issue, which once put in operation will help to make the borders more manageable and certainly more peaceful. Both countries must appreciate the uniqueness of the border and approach its management problems more humanely, something that depends largely on cooperation of the border forces. What have been articulated on paper must bee seen through on the ground and the process should start without delay.
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