Sheikh Hasina, the leader of an avowedly secular party, is set to return to power in Bangladesh, the
other end of South Asia’s arc of instability stretching from Afghanistan through Pakistan to India.
And because the teeming region, home to a fifth of the world’s population, is so closely intertwined
Hasina’s election and the change that she has promised to bring to her country will almost certainly have a bearing across South Asia, but especially for India and Pakistan.
Bangladesh, as far as New Delhi is concerned, is the eastern launching pad for Islamist militants hostile to it, complementing Pakistan on the west. So even if the heat is turned on the militants in Pakistan as India is demanding following the attacks in Mumbai, they or their controllers can unleash groups such as Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) based in Bangladesh.
India’s new Home Minister P. Chidambaram told a parliament debate this month that Bangladesh had a responsibility to control the HuJI.
Hasina has said she wouldn’t allow her nation to be used to attack other countries, and her election has been welcomed in New Delhi. In particular the defeat of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party and an ally of Hasina’s bitter rival Khaleda Zia, is seen as a sign that the country wants to stick to a secular democratic path. In that, New Delhi is hoping Hasina would act against the hardline forces who have attacked her as well .
But how far can she really go? She has a huge parlimentary majority but no politician in Bangladesh can been seen as doing India’s bidding. India, which was instrumental in Bangladesh’s birth as an independent nation from what was then East Pakistan, has over time been seen as a big brother, a hegemonic power.
Tensions are rarely far from the surface, with New Delhi routinely accusing Bangladesh of allowing tens of thousands of people to cross into its territory and live as illegal immigrants. Dhaka, in turn, accuses border guards of killing innocent Bangladeshis on the frontier, in the name of curbing infiltration.
This month the nations were feuding over the maritime border in the Bay of Bengal.
What of Pakistan? It has, as has “all weather ally” China, cultivated close ties with all of India’s neighbours including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. How will it, and especially the military-intelligence establishment view Hasina’s return to power and her promise to crack down on hardline groups? The links of some of these groups such as the Huji go all the way to Pakistan, the Indians say.
And New Delhi is on a diplomatic offensive at the moment, trying to convince governments worldwide of the threat posed by these Pakistan-based organisations.
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I’m a Kashmiri Muslim, I migrated to Bangalore for education and a job with dreams. Believe me or not, I have got almost everything what I wanted, a good education, a respectable job, and of course a good people around me.
I even went back to valley and got few of my cousins here, now everyone of us are settled down here and we are slowly rebuilding our land, homes, and business in Kashmir. Therefore, in reality i would say most of us in the Valley know that life in India is must more superior than in Pakistan. At least we have freedom to move around the country for a job and earning, I don’t think we get such freedom in Pakistan.
Please note most of the Valley people have changed our minds now to be a part of India just because some of us were are the best examples to those who live in the valley.
We at first believed in a Separate or freedom state with the help from outside, however our lives were miserable, suffering for a single meal with no business and earning, then we thought to try the other way and we are well settled now.
This is the reality. We The people of Valley were part of India and will always be a part of India.
To my fellow Kashmiris here, please open your eyes and see the reality, its been almost 25 years I migrated to south of india, and now living with a good life. My parents and relatives still live in the valley, and we are supporting them from here to rebuild our business, homes etc back, I hope sooner the valley will be opened for tourism.
- Posted by Kashmiri, Indiachircut:
You have raised some very good points (sorry I am replying to your post so late).
Yes, if India were to give up Kashmir to independence, Pakistan would have to give up their portion also. There’s no doubt about that.
On your second point, yes, India is a secular democracy. But Kashmir is a special case. It seems more like Kashmiri nationalism nowadays than Muslim nationalism. Pandits must return to Kashmir, Buddhists in Ladakh must be included in all decisions, and Hindu Dogras of Jammu also. But your concern about secularism and the plight of other Indian Muslims is a very real concern. I cannot give you answer on that.
But on your comment that “Pakistan is a hellhole for minorities”, I cannot agree with you there. In the past 20-25 years there has been progress, though slow, on the betterment of minorities in Pakistan. It was accelerated under the Musharraf regime. Hindu temples restored and functioning, Sikh gurdwaras and pilgrimages proliferating, minorites inducted into the armed forces, their last chief justice a Hindu. The situation still needs improvement, but treatment of minorities in Pakistan has vastly improved.
I myself have no answers about Kashmir except to say India and Pakistan should continue dialogue on it, there should be no interference from outside powers and perhaps, through goodwill on all sides, there can be a uniquely South Asian solution that satisfies all parties.
- Posted by AlethiaAll those who are commenting from places far away from kashmir..I am in Amritsar. Dont tell me you are very logical by saying the border can be fully manned and gaurded 24/7. the border is so difficult that even fencing the full border is not practically possible. The biggest infiltration from the pakistani side happened during 2 wars over kashmir between India and pakistan the non-native muslims from somewhere else were pushed in to kashmir by pakistan in thousands..who have committed crime, rape and murder to native kashmiris to make the place their strong hold and still work on pakistani pay-roll and are supported with weapons, drugs and fake currency by pakistan.. now that they have their generations firmly rooted in kashmir they cannot be nabbed unless they are caught red handed with a pak connection..the native muslims in kashmir still support Indian army and police to nab such people when they are planning any crime.
- Posted by OmBangladesh should learn from Pakistan, how not to behave.
- Posted by reddyThe news here is Sheikh Hasina has promised India to crack down on HuJI militants. Finally a good news is at least coming from the east ,if not from the west.
Ali & Umeir,
- Posted by mitchellWhy wont you people spread love between India and Pakistan just for a change .
Your statements against Indian Security Forces are very harsh. No Indian here ever mentioned Pakistani army’s incompetency in Bangladesh and I don’t want to. The so called suppression by Indians against Kashmiris would not have happened if Pakistan hadn’t supported extremism in the first place. No wonder you never gave peace call in any of your posts. I am an Indian and I particularly don’t like the Indian occupation of Kashmir at all . If the protests have started peacefully without extremism ,today there would have definitely been some progress. Alas most of the Pakistani population see their happiness in their neighbor’s sufferings. .I am not lying and let me quote one of you, ” India needs a good lesson ,not what these 10 kids have taught ,but a good lesson”. One of you two had said that in some reuters blog before..
In this decade a few inch of sympathy Indians had towards the kashmiri freedom is dead. Yeah suppose say India has liberated kashmir today and tomorrow jehadis like lakhvi will rule it either directly or by proxy ,they will say Mughals once ruled Agra and they will want to annex Delhi next and they will now use Srinagar as their base to plot against India and India will have to bang its head again. The islamic state of kashmir will not come soon and the liberation of kashmir has no meaning until Pakistan put its own house in order and genuinely crack down militants. Else Kashmir will become even worse ,like NWFP..
If is true that RAW is indeed carrying out proxy war(many of you mentioned that) to destabilize Pakistani provinces ,I seriously disapprove RAW’s method. ‘Tit for Tat’ policy employed by the Indian Government is not going to solve any of its problems ..
Alethia,
If Kashmir is to gain independence it has to gain from both India and Pakistan. That means a loss not just to india but also to pakistan.
Now try to say to a Pakistanis that they must relinquish Kashmir and lets see the response.
When the Amarnath Agitation was at its peak I also pondered on why we need to keep a dark hole called Kashmir which is gobbling so much of our resources (man, money, energy etc) that could be better utilized somewhere else. And then i realized two things.
- Posted by chirkut1) India is a secular democracy. Separation of Kashmir will send a very wrong signal to the rest of the country that Muslims cannot live together with other people and carve out land for themselves whenever they reach majority. This happened in 1947 and if it happens again then i will be disastrous for the minority Muslim population in rest of India.
2) We as a secular republic have to take care of our Minorities. Kashmir has minority Hindu and Buddhist population and an independent Kashmir will be disastrous to them. We have seen in 1947 what happens to Minority if we leave to Mullahs. Pakistan is a hell hole for minorities we all know. But for Bangladesh which has teetered back to its secular values has seen many anti-minority pogroms in the past. Still many Mullahs run amok in Bangladesh. Read about Chakma if you want to know more.
India and Pakistan should get on with the business of settling the Kashmir dispute to their satisfaction and, most of all, to the satisfaction of the suffering Kashmiri populace. Of course, the Pandits’ grievances must be addressed and they must be allowed to return to Kashmir in peace and security. Other problems must be resolved such as the interests of the people of Ladakh. And very importantly, all groups must be allowed to stay in place in Kashmir with no transfer of population such that happened in 1947.
I know that it is very difficult for India to accept even the idea of the possible loss of Kashmir. Any country would be resistant. And from that perspective I am very sympathetic to India.
But India should come to terms with reality. Perhaps the ultimate solution would not be so bad.
I will not offer any solution of my own except to say that the Kashmiri people, the Indian people and the Pakistani people need a solution.
- Posted by Alethia