iastoss.

in
harveersinh@gmail.com

Indias Neighborhood: Bangladesh

Water Resources
India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers between them.
Teesta and Feni rivers along with the festering lack of confidence due to a perceived
Indian unilateral action at the Farakkha Barrage.
If China builds dams on the Brahmaputra, Bangladesh will suffer the most.
Global warming and the consequent rise in sea levels and pushing of Bangladeshis to
upstream locations will ensure an even higher stress.
Joint River Commission for water management was set up in 1972 by both the countries.
In 1983, an ad-hoc water sharing agreement was reached between India and Bangladesh,
whereby both countries were allocated 39% and 36% of the water flow respectively.
1996 bilateral treaty that established a 30-year water-sharing arrangement between
the two countries.
The Teesta which has its source in Sikkim flows through the northern part of West
Bengal in India before entering Bangladesh, where after coursing through about 45km of
irrigable land, merges with the Brahmaputra River (or Jamuna when it enters
Bangladesh).
In September 2011 when Indias Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, was due to sign a
pact with bangladesh regarding equal access and use of the Teesta River but the domestic
elements influenced the decision of the government
A regional water-sharing agreement along the lines of Indus Water Treaty with India,
China, Bangladesh, Burma and Thailand is the need of the hour, but the upper
riparian in this matter will pursue a cold water war strategy unless forced to see reason.
International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and Justice
In 20th century, international crimes flourished. The horrors of the twentieth century are
many. Acts of mass violence have taken place in so many countries and on so many
occasions it is hard to comprehend. According to some estimates, nearly 170 million
civilians have been subjected to genocide, war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
during the past century. The World Wars lead the world community to pledge that never
again would anything similar occur. But the shocking acts of the Nazis were not isolated
incidents, which we have since consigned to history. Hundreds of thousands and in some
cases millions of people have been murdered in, among others, Russia, Cambodia,
Vietnam, Sierra Leone, Chile, the Philippines, the Congo, Bangladesh, Uganda,
Iraq, Indonesia, East Timor, El Salvador, Burundi, Argentina, Somalia, Chad,
Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the second half of the past century.But what is possibly
even sadder is that we, meaning the world community, have witnessed these massacres
passively and stood idle and inactive. The result is that in almost every case in history,
1

iastoss.in
harveersinh@gmail.com

the dictator/president/head of state/military/leader responsible for carrying out these

atrocities despite in Nuremberg has escaped punishment, justice and even censure. In
Bangladesh also, they almost escaped the punishment but 2009 was the wake up call.
Background
Bangladesh had a violent birth in 1971: The country then called East Pakistan was
engulfed by torture, rape, mass-killing and other acts of genocide.
The army had the support of many of East Pakistans fundamentalist groups, including
Jamaat-e-Islami, which remains Bangladeshs largest Islamic party.
Estimates of the death toll vary from around 300,000 to the current governments
reckoning of 3mone in 20 of the population at that time.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) was a tribunal in Bangladesh that aims to
investigate and administer justice regarding the war crimes, crimes against humanity,
genocide and crimes against peace committed by Pakistan army and their local
collaborators during the war.
One of the electoral manifesto agenda of the Awami League was to initiate the trial
process of war criminals.
The proceedings of the tribunal were accused of being malpractices. The presiding judge
of Bangladeshs International Crimes Tribunal, Mohammed Nizamul Huq had resigned.
The ICT has handed down sentences including death on prominent leaders of the second
biggest opposition party and most important ally of the BNP, the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami
(JI) including death sentence to Abdul Quader Molla. Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed
and Ghulam Azad were also sentenced to death.
Migration
Bangladeshis form the largest group of migrants in India. As per 2001 census there are
3,084,826 people in India who came from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is one of the few countries (perhaps along with some regions of India) where
population growth has not stabilized. With an area or an economy that is not expanding at
a commensurate rate, this puts a massive stress on the available resources.
In short, this problem cannot be handled by Bangladesh and often gets diverted to India,
which borders it on three sides.
In India, this problem is seen in terms of the illegal immigration issue. It is not a wishful
or a fantastical conspiracy theory, but Demographic change in the border districts of West
Bengal and Assam is a reality.
o Dual immigration laws followed in India; The illegal migrants (determination by
Tribunal) Act 1983 was followed in Assam and the Foreigners Act 1946 is for the
rest of the country.

iastoss.in
harveersinh@gmail.com

o Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has also given its assessment stating that
some Bangladeshis are being trained as saboteurs in Pakistan, acting as a security
threat.
o Another difficulty is the riverine terrain of the border area, which makes fencing
difficult and poor border management policy
o Despite the border agreement signed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
and Sheik Mujibur Rahman. 40.6 Km still remains undemarcated and another 6.5
km is still disputed.
o Bangladeshi migrants fulfill the technical requirements of an Indian citizen by
possessing voters identity card, ration card, putting the local authorities on a fix.
o Further problem exists because the migrants have settled down permanently,
encroached lands and are enjoying the rights of natural citizens.
Indian government for recognizing illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, the most
publicized is the Illegal Migrant Determination Tribunal (IMDT), which was established
by Parliament in 1983. It was designed especially for Assam State, where the issue of
illegal immigration has long been a cause of social and ethnic tension. Unfortunately, the
IMDT did not perform as expected. From its inception in 1983 through to the 2000s, the
tribunal identified a mere 10,000 illegal immigrants, and deported only 1,400.
Considering its poor performance, the Supreme Court of India struck down the law in
2005 and required that the Foreigners Act of 1946 be enforced throughout India to deport
illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Commonality of language, culture and religion between the two countries emerged as a
major challenge in identifying immigrants, making deportation extremely difficult. The
immigrants speak the same language as many Indians, and often have familial
connections that make it easy to assimilate with the local population. Bangladeshs
consistent denial that its citizens are illegally crossing the border also complicates
matters. Even when Indian authorities have identified illegal immigrants, deporting them
becomes almost impossible given the reluctance of Bangladeshi authorities to cooperate.
BSF estimate shows that most of the illegal immigration is happening in the riverine
territory than in fenced areas. Riverine structure makes around 1/3 of the demarcated
borders, so there is really not much that can be done except a huge vigil and raising
multiple battalions of BSF.
It is visible in the riots in various districts of Assam where resentments are apparent.
All this requires political will, unfortunate as it does not exist in India in a broad
measure.

Extradition
Various groups such as ULFA, NDFB, NSCN(IM), KLO, NLFT, ATTF etc. have been
harbored in Bangladesh in the past and continue to be
The opposite case of Shanti Bahini is a moot point because as per the agreement with the
Sh. Hasina government and the previous regimes, these have now been disbanded.
3

iastoss.in
harveersinh@gmail.com

ULFA Chief Paresh Barua said to be operational from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh had already stopped HUJI activities from its soil.
India had signed an extradition treaty with Bangladesh.
Trans-Shipment
If Bangladesh wants to economically tie itself to the Indian growth engine, it has to see
reason and enable trans-shipment of goods from India to Indian territories in the
Northeast.
A regional hub that helps Bhutan, East Nepal, parts of Burma and parts of Yunnan will
only ensure the economic benefits for Bangladesh.
India (and especially parts of Tripura and Meghalaya) stand to gain a lot by having a
shorter route to the Bay of Bengal and it should not be surprising that these states are at
the forefront of the trans-shipment issue.
South Asian Growth Quadrangle region (SAGQ) consisting of Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Nepal and India as a practical solution to the region's socio-economic problems.
this region was the gateway to the fast growing and lucrative markets in South Asia, Far
East and Australia.
The projects could be identified in the areas of energy, hydel resources, oil, gas and coal
and industries based on natural resources like tea, jute, aromatic plants, herbs and
medicinal plants, besides the industries of leather, cotton and textiles and fisheries
Sea boundary demarcation
New Moor Island (Hariabhanga River)
is also a controversy.
India and Bangladesh have reasonably
wisened up to the possibility of joint
exploration of contentious water blocks
for oil exploration purposes.
The same cannot be said about Burma
and Bangladesh. There is an imminent
possibility of a war between the triggerhappy (despite a numerically minority
armed forces strength) Burmans and the
Bangladeshis and India will be forced to
pick sides rather than advise from a
cautionary role.
To delimit their maritime boundary, India applies the equidistance principle and
Bangladesh claims one based on equity principle.

Enclaves
4

iastoss.in
harveersinh@gmail.com

India to exchange 111 of its enclaves in Bangladesh in return for 51 Bangladesh enclaves
in India.
Under the agreement India would give up claims for just over 17,000 acres of land which
will be transferred to Bangladesh.
In turn Bangladesh would cede around 7,000 acres, which would then join Indian
territory.
A land swap agreement would also give citizenship rights to close to 52,000 people:
37,000 on the Bangladesh side and close to 15,000 on the Indian side.
the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreementhas implications not only for foreign
relations but also for larger questions of human rights, the right to livelihood and even the
larger contours of what constitutes foreign policy in India today.