New Delhi: In what many observers could have seen coming, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has eventually blamed the US for her ouster from power earlier this week. According to reports, Hasina has alleged that Washington conspired to ensure her downfall after she refused to give St Martin Island in Bangladesh on lease to the US.
"I could have remained in power if I had left St Martin and the Bay of Bengal to America," a media report quoted Hasina, who is currently living near Delhi after fleeing from Dhaka last Monday, as saying in a message to the supporters of her Awami League party.
She also reportedly said in her message that a "white man" had offered her a smooth return to power after the parliamentary elections in January this year if she offered an airbase on lease.
In June last year, Hasina had said in a press conference, without naming the US, that she could stay in power if she leased St Martin Island to foreigners. But she would not lease the territory of Bangladesh to anyone to stay in power.
However, Brian Schiller, spokesperson of the US Embassy in Dhaka, had said that his country and Bangladesh "adhere to a strong and cooperative partnership".
"We respect the sovereignty of Bangladesh and have not claimed any territory of the country, including St Martin," Schiller was quoted as saying.
Where exactly is the St Martin Island?
St Martin Island is a small island of three sq km in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about nine km south of the tip of Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and forming the southernmost part of Bangladesh. There is a small adjoining island that is separated at high tide, called Chera Dwip. It is about eight km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar, at the mouth of the Naf River.
Millennia ago, the island used to be an extension of the Teknaf peninsula, but a portion of this peninsula later got submerged and thus the southernmost part of the aforementioned peninsula became an island and was disconnected from the Bangladesh mainland. Arabian merchants first settled on the island in the 18th century and named it 'Jazira'. During British occupation, the island was named after the then Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Mr Martin as St Martin Island. Local names of the island are Narikel Jinjira which means 'Coconut Island', and Daruchini Dwip which means 'Cinnamon Island'. It is the only coral island in Bangladesh.
Most of the island's approximately 3,700 inhabitants live primarily from fishing. The other staple crops are rice and coconut. Being very common on the island, algae are collected, dried, and exported to Myanmar. Between October and April, the fishermen from neighbouring areas bring their caught fish to the island's temporary wholesale market. However, imports of chicken, meat and other foods come in from mainland Bangladesh and Myanmar. As the centre and the south are mainly farmland and makeshift huts, most of the permanent structures are around the far north. During the rainy season, because of the dangerous conditions in the Bay of Bengal, the inhabitants have no scope to go to the mainland (Teknaf) and their lives can become dangerous.
What is the strategic importance of St Martin Island?
Despite its small size, St Martin Island holds significant strategic importance for Bangladesh due to its geopolitical location, economic potential, and environmental significance. The island is strategically located near the maritime boundaries of Bangladesh and Myanmar, and it lies close to some of the busiest sea lanes in the world. This proximity to the Bay of Bengal's international maritime routes gives the island a crucial position in regional geopolitics. Control over the island allows Bangladesh to exert influence over these crucial sea lanes, enhancing its maritime security and strategic depth in the Bay of Bengal.
St Martin Island's location also makes it a focal point in the context of regional maritime disputes. In June this year, Bangladeshi boats and ships carrying passengers from Teknaf to St Martin were fired at by Myanmar armed forces, bringing transport between the mainland and the island to a standstill.
"Soon after this, three ships of Myanmar navy were seen off the coast of St Martin scaring the residents of the island," well-known Bangladeshi writer and former civil servant Hasnat Abdul Hye stated in an article in the Financial Express of Bangladesh in June. "For over nine days the islanders’ supply of food and medicine remained suspended because of indiscriminate firing by Myanmar forces, ostensibly targeting Arakan rebels."
According to Hye, St Martin Island assumed a new status of importance with the competing claims of Bangladesh and Myanmar over territorial limits in the Bay of Bengal.
"The potentials of finding oil and gas in the Bay made ownership and sovereignty over the Bay of great importance," his article further reads. "The UN court that adjudicated the dispute over the maritime boundary took St Martin as the base for delimiting the maritime border between the two countries. According to observers, Bangladesh got more than 128,600 nautical miles of the Bay because of its ownership of St Martin. It may be the tipping point that made Myanmar look at St Martin with a jaundiced eye. In 2018 the Ministry of Population of Myanmar put up a map in their website showing St Martin within their territorial limits. After a protest by Bangladesh's foreign ministry, the map was removed."
Why would the US be interested in St Martin Island as Hasina has alleged?
St Martin Island is located in the Bay of Bengal, a critical region in the broader Indo-Pacific strategy of Washington. The Indo-Pacific has become the focal point of US strategic policy, particularly in the context of the growing influence of China. The Bay of Bengal serves as a crucial maritime zone that connects the Indian Ocean with Southeast Asia, and by extension, with the broader Pacific region. The US has initiated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, commonly known as the Quad, which also comprises India, Japan and Australia, to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of Chinese hegemony in the region that stretches from the east coast of Japan to the east coast of Africa.
The island’s proximity to key maritime routes that pass through the Bay of Bengal means that it holds strategic importance for ensuring the security of these sea lanes, which are vital for global trade.
According to Bangladeshi academic and activist Sharin Shajahan Naomi, the US offer to Bangladesh to take up St Martin Island on lease for setting up an airbase has been standing for a long time.
"What Hasina is saying does hold some water," Naomi told ETV Bharat.
In fact, Hasina had alleged interference by the US in the run-up to the parliamentary elections held in her country in January this year. Ahead of the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh held in January this year, she persistently refused to accept the opposition parties’ demand to install an interim government during the poll process. Though the US, EU and other Western powers persuaded her to accept the opposition's demand, she dismissed this as outside interference in an internal matter.
Hasina’s allegations against the US in her message to the Awami League from India came to light only on Sunday. It remains to be seen how Washington reacts to this.
