'It was essential and necessary to hold the general elections'
Veena Sikri, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, talked to Rezaul Karim of The Daily Star about the January 5 Parliamentary election in Bangladesh and about issues of bilateral interest. The following are excerpts from the conversation:
Former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri said that India's stance during the January 5 elections was not to support the Awami League but to support continuation of constitutional and democratic process in Bangladesh.
“It is clear that if the elections were not held, there would have been a serious constitutional crisis and violence in Bangladesh,” she said.
Sikri, who was the only female high commissioner of India to Bangladesh, served in Dhaka from December 2003 to November 2006 when the BNP-Jamaat led 4-party alliance was in power. She said that India always supported democratic and constitutional process and did not approve of violence.
In an interview with The Daily Star recently, the former Indian envoy said: “When you have elections every party has the choice to take part in the elections. But it is not fair to say the election is not participatory or election cannot be held if one party does not want to participate in the polls.”
In this context, she cited the example of Jammu and Kashmir where the Election Commission held elections despite demands by political parties to defer the polls schedule as they did not find the time suitable for the election.
But after the EC decided to hold the elections, the parties agreed to participate because boycott was not the solution in a democratic process. She added: “EC is an institution and it is very important in democracy.”
She was asked about the common disappointment in Bangladesh over the January 5 Parliamentary elections in which more than half of the seats were uncontested and most of the remainder offered only token opposition, and the results of the elections did not appear to credibly express the will of the Bangladeshi people. Veena Sikri termed it unfortunate and said it was a pity that more than half of the candidates in the parliamentary constituencies were elected unopposed.
In reply to a question about the Western world's, particularly the US and EU, call for dialogue to find a way to hold elections that are free, fair, peaceful, and credible, reflecting the will of the Bangladeshi people, the retired diplomat said dialogue and consultation were needed in any democracy to resolve problems and move ahead for progress and advancement of the country.
“Dialogue is not to go back or bring back the caretaker government provision in Bangladesh as it was abolished by the highest court,” she said, and called for holding dialogue among political parties to build a strong EC which could take action without anyone's influence.
Asked to evaluate her time in Dhaka and the present upbeat mood in India-Bangladesh relations, the former Indian high commissioner said she witnessed the rise of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) in Bangladesh, synchronised bomb blasts across the country, and 10-truck arms haul in Chittagong, among many other incidents.
She said terrorism was the single biggest issue at that time and it was challenging as the ruling BNP-Jamaat alliance was in “complete denial” of that.
She said there were two vital issues when she was posted in Dhaka -- one was the camps of Indian insurgency groups inside Bangladesh and operating from the territory of Bangladesh, and the other was Bangladesh's own militants.
Veena said India always provided information about camps inside Bangladesh at meetings between India's BSF and the then BDR. Besides, there was the issue of use of Bangladesh soil by Pakistan terrorist groups. But the then BNP government was always in complete denial of that, she said and added that JMB began operating during the time she was in Dhaka. Jamaat-e-Islami chief and then minister, Motiur Rahman Nizami, had repeatedly claimed that the JMB did not exist in Bangladesh.
Although 'Bangla Bhai' executed people in public in Rajshahi, the BNP refused to accept such killing took place. However, she said the BNP-Jamaat government admitted it after a lot of hue and cry and a series of bomb as well as suicidal attacks.
Veena Sikri thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for uprooting militants and insurgent groups after she came to the power in 2009.
Speaking about the upbeat relations since Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League came to power, she said: “Certainly, I would say that since 2009 the spirit of cooperation between India and Bangladesh has been very strong.”
“Of course, it does not mean that every problem has been solved. But, I think that the spirit of cooperation is the very first requirement for finding a solution. Both the sides are willing to cooperate and understand the importance of finding solutions. That is important,” she said.
Turning to two pending issues -- Land Boundary Agreement and signing of Teesta River Water Sharing deal -- Veena Sikri said the BJP government of Narendra Modi absolutely supports LBA and it is expected to be implemented soon. But, Veena Sirki believes that more needs to be done to get the Teesta agreement signed.
“I think during the UPA government, they did not go to the parliament for two years. But now, after Modi assumed power, I see a commitment to implement the LBA,” she said.
Discussion on LBA has restarted and old political problems are not coming into play. “I am hopeful that it will be done in the winter session of parliament …by this December,” she added.
Asked whether she thought that state politics in bordering states like Assam and West Bengal would obstruct the implementation of the LBA, she said: “if you take West Bengal, you have both LBA and Teesta, LBA is not a big issue, but the Teesta is important to West Bengal.”
“I think a lot of things, including how we share the water, what the percentage of water is shared, etc., have been agreed upon on Teesta, but the problem is about the quantum of water, and there were two different figures from India and Bangladesh,” she observed.
Bangladesh and India need to somehow come to an understanding because water flow of Teesta is very low in the lean season, she said. She cited the Ganges water-sharing treaty and said it was possible as both sides had been able to exchange 40 years of data of water flow.
But in case of Teesta, this data is not available, she said, and added that India and Bangladesh needed to do a joint hydrological survey to measure the level of water to find a solution. Veena Sikri also said there were a lot of technicalities that could be discussed to clear the way for signing the treaty.
The former Indian envoy stressed the need for collective approach to resolve problems between the two countries. She said Bangladesh, due to its unique location, could play an active role and be an important centre for economic activities in regional groupings like Saarc and Bimstec, and in sub-regional cooperation.
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