Evolve road map to handle impact of Bangladesh crisis

The crisis in Bangladesh has a lesson to be learnt by Indian politicians. It has proved to be a live example that dictatorships do not last long. This should come as an eye opener for our leaders and political parties who keep claiming that they will be in power for next 20 years.

It also clearly indicates that whichever party is in power should not lose touch with the people and should get proper feedback about the performance of the government and should also keep an eye on how the party rank and file was behaving with their constituents. They political leaders should understand that people can lose their patience when they are fed up with policies or laws that are against them.

The developments in Bangladesh are still evolving. It is time to show restraint in making comments. But unfortunately some Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid commented that such a situation can happen in India. Being a responsible national party, such comments should not be made when the situation across the borders has become highly sensitive.

Such issues should be discussed with utmost responsibility in the Parliament but it should not be used to wash dirty linen. At this point of time the discussion should be on the impact of the Bangladesh crisis on India. As the tumult in Bangladesh intensifies, West Bengal would be the first state to be impacted and will have to face a daunting challenge as there could be an influx of refugees which threatens to upend the state’s demographic challenge.

It could trigger another crisis of refugees as West Bengal shares a 2,216 kilometres of border with Bangladesh. The state had seen many waves of refugees entering West Bengal and in fact there are allegations against the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that she has been winning most elections because of the votes of the refugees. Their influx had changed the demography, politics and culture of West Bengal and has posed new challenges.

The BJP and Trinamul Congress always clash with each other on the issue of Rohingyas and it becomes an emotive issue during every election. There were many instances where Bengali Muslims did not allow Rohingyas to pray in their mosques nor do they socially interact with them. They don’t allow Rohingyas to marry into their families.

More than a thousand Rohingyas have been prosecuted under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and sent to correctional homes in West Bengal. They will only be moved to refugee camps once the UNHCR grants them refugee status. Some feel that the continued stay of illegally migrated Rohingyas could pose serious security risks for the country.

Hence what is most important in today’s situation particularly for the INDIA bloc is not to use the Bangladesh crisis as a stick to beat the government but to discuss the problems the country might face and find solutions to handle them.

One hopes that this good sense would prevail among the law makers and they would come with some practical solution to the problems

India may face from the Bangladesh crisis. It is time all parties rise above political lines and show utmost seriousness in analysing the situation and evolving a road map to face the situation effectively.