Modi's B'desh visit a message to W Bengal voters?

As Prime Minister prepares to visit Bangladesh just before the West Bengal Assembly polls, ETV Bharat takes a look at the history of relations between the two countries and how important the PM's visit to Bangladesh is, in view of the West Bengal polls.

Hyderabad (Telangana): The 1971 India-Pakistan war was a military confrontation that led to the birth of a new country in South Asia, Bangladesh. The guns fell silent more than 48 years ago — but the scars of Bangladesh's short, bloody struggle for independence still run deep. In December 1971 — Indira Gandhi sent Indian troops to fight the Pakistan army in support of the Bangladesh war of independence. The intervention brought a conclusion to the war in 13 short days and led to the birth of a new nation. It is a war that will never be forgotten. The violence eventually led to freedom. It is what made east Pakistan gain independence and become Bangladesh. This is how it all began. In the 1950s the centralised Pakistani state was run undemocratically by a military-bureaucratic oligarchy dominated by West Pakistan. Under this system, Bengalis had no political say. But West Pakistan dominance was challenged in 1970 during general elections East Pakistan' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League had a clear overall majority, enough to become the prime minister. But west Pakistan was not willing to let a leader from its eastern provincial wing rule the country. After political negotiations failed, the Pakistani army under General Yahya Khan decided to crackdown.

WHAT FOLLOWED WAS INTENSE BLOODSHED AS A WAY OF REPRESSION

West Pakistan kicked in operation searchlight across the whole of East Pakistan on March 26, 1971. As many as 3 million were killed by Pakistani soldiers in a brutal campaign of rape, murder and pillage. It was a genocide of immeasurable proportions.

INDIRA GANDHI'S DECISION

As Pakistan's atrocities increased, the then Indian PM Indira Gandhi decided to step in. India opened its borders. Some 10 million Bangladeshis refugees fled to safety in India. When the Pakistan air force launched pre-emptive strikes on airfields in western India on December 3, 1971. India responded by formally declaring war on December 4. Pakistan attacked at several places along India's western border with Pakistan, but the Indian army successfully held their positions. The Indian army went on to capture around 15,010 kilometres of Pakistan territory. On December 16, India registered a victory in its name. The Pakistani forces stationed in East Pakistan surrendered. She also appealed to world leaders to intervene and pressurise Pakistan to stop its brutalities but India did not have much time and a quick response became necessary. Indira Gandhi announced in Parliament that India had accorded recognition to the Bangladesh Government.

BANGLADESH - A NEW NATION EMERGED

SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN became a leader of an independent Bangladesh. Lasting just 13 days, the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 is considered one of the shortest wars in history.

Indo-Bangladesh cooperation history

India was the first country to recognize Bangladesh as an independent state and established diplomatic relations with the country immediately after its independence in December 1971. In the last more than four decades, the two countries have continued to consolidate their political, economic, trade and cultural relations and have built a comprehensive institutional framework to promote bilateral cooperation.

India-Bangladesh bilateral relations were reinforced in 2019 with intense high-level engagements at the political and official level. President of Bangladesh Md. Abdul Hamid attended the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet members on 30 May 2019. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited New Delhi on an official visit from 03-06 October 2019. Both the Prime Ministers also met in a high-level event on the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2019.

WATCH: WATCH: Modi addresses public rally in Assam

Prime Minister Hasina and the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee jointly inaugurated the historic pink ball test cricket match between India and Bangladesh in Kolkata on 22 November 2019. These high-level visits charted the pathway for strengthening the multifaceted partnership between the two countries. The two Prime Ministers jointly inaugurated four bilateral developmental projects in March 2019 in Bangladesh through video-conferencing including (i) supply of 500 trucks, 300 double-decker buses and 200 AC buses under the second Line of Credit, (ii) extension of National Knowledge Network to Bangladesh, (iii) establishment of 36 community clinics in five districts of Bangladesh and (iv) establishment of 11 water treatment plants in Bangladesh and another three projects in October 2019 including (i) inauguration of Vivekananda Bhaban at Rama Krishna Mission in Dhaka, (ii) import of bulk LPG from Bangladesh and (iii) inauguration of Bangladesh-India Professional Skill Development Institute (BIPSDI) at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB), Khulna.

The External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar visited Dhaka in August 2019 and met the Prime Minister and Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh. The Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Information and Broadcasting and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Prakash Javadekar visited Dhaka in November 2019 to attend the 15th Meeting of Governing Council of South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP) and met Md. Hasan Mahmud, Information Minister of Bangladesh.

From the Bangladesh side, important Ministerial level visits included that of Foreign Affairs Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen in February 2019 to attend the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting, Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan for the Home Minister Level Talks in August 2019 and Railways Minister Md. Nurul Islam Sujan in August 2019 to discuss various issues related to cooperation in the railway sector.

In addition to the above high-level visits and exchanges between the two countries, there have also been various visits at the senior official level for participating in various bilateral mechanisms. The multi-dimensional cooperation between the two countries ranges from traditional sectors of tourism, health and education to frontier technologies of nuclear science, space and information technology. Ten MOUs/agreements for cooperation in various sectors were signed by the two countries on various occasions in 2019.

MODI's BANGLADESH VISIT A MESSAGE TO BENGAL VOTERS

On the very day that West Bengal begins the first phase of polling, PM Modi is scheduled to visit a shrine sacred to the 'Matua' community at Orakandi in the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh. With its 294 seats, West Bengal represents a key challenge to the prospects of the BJP and it will be keen to improve upon the paltry 3 seats it won during the 2016 Assembly polls. As per some reports, there are, at least, 70 assembly constituencies where the fates of the candidates could come to be decided by the Matua vote. The Matuas would like to see the CAA implemented as soon as possible.

One day before West Bengal goes for the first phase of its assembly election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Dhaka to take part in the birth centenary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On March 27, the day West Bengal goes to polls in the first phase, PM Narendra Modi will be in Orakhandi in Bangladesh offering prayers at the Matua temple, a move redolent with intense political symbolism.

Modi will also offer prayers at the Jessoreshwari Kali temple at Satkhira outside Dhaka. Both these events are intended to resonate with voters in West Bengal. On his first visit in 2015, Modi had visited Dhakeshwari temple and offered prayers there, but then Mamata Banerjee had also accompanied him on his trip to Bangladesh. This time the two are locked in an intense political battle for Bengal.

During his upcoming two-day visit to the neighbouring country on March 26-27, Modi is expected to visit a sacred shrine of the 'Matua' community, which helped the BJP win 18 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to send across a political message from Bangladesh to electorates in West Bengal, which will go to poll in eight phases starting on March 27.

There has been disquiet in Bangladesh over the CAA that seeks to provide citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The BJP is under pressure from the Matua community to implement the CAA as promised before the general elections. The overwhelming support of the Matua community is one of the factors attributed to the BJP’s victory in 18 parliamentary constituencies in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It won over the support of the refugee community, promising them citizenship under the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The delay in framing rules to implement the Act, however, has now made the community restive, making the BJP apprehensive of losing their votes.

ORAKANDI IS SEEN AS AN ATTEMPT TO TOUCH A CHORD WITH THE MATUAS.

The shrine at Orakandi is the most sacred pilgrimage centre for the ‘Matua’ community, a Hindu sect born out of a reformist movement around 1860 by Harichand Thakur. The apex body of the Namasudra community, a Scheduled Caste group, the Matua Mahasangha was first formed at Orakandi. The founder of the sect, Harichand Thakur, also died in 1878 at Orakandi, enhancing the religious significance of the place for the community that can influence the outcome in about 70 assembly constituencies, some of which will go to poll on March 27, the day Modi is likely to be at Orakandi On the same day, Modi is also expected to visit the Shikarpur temple, dedicated to goddess Sunanda, an incarnation or avatar of goddess Durga as per Hindu mythology.