Prashant Kumar Sharma
India-Bangladesh relation in the past has witnessed many vicissitudes sometimes leading to very bad patches of relations. On the other hand, these two countries have also shown extraordinary cooperation and understanding on many issues of bilateral concern.
The construction of Farrakka Barage in 1975 and allocation of sharing of Ganges water have been one of the most contentious issues in India –Bangladesh relation. Sloka Nath in her paper on “Environmental Diplamacy: Saving the Sunderbans and Restoring Indo-Bangladesh Friendship”, stated that this construction caused diversion of Ganges water upstream adversely affecting the Sunderbans. Most parts of the Sunderbans have now surpassed their water-salinity thresholds and degraded much of the fragile ecosystem, which in turn also enhanced the human migratory trend. The continuous exodus of the Bangladeshi people into the Indian territory have gone undocumented that is alleged to have created havoc and conflict on the Indian states adjoining the border. The migration of the people of Bangladesh into India is not a new phenomenon, as it is transpiring since pre-partition epoch. Though the border is porous, the large influx of migration of Bangladeshi people after its independence is taking place through these porous border that is labeled as ‘Illegal migration’ in India. The illegal migration across the border has become a regular proclivity, as it constitutes the very vital issues of public discourse in India. These illegal migrations or say, unauthorized migration has already culminated into the formation of a quagmire in which the bilateral relation between India and Bangladesh was stuck grappling to come out of it. The straining relation became more strained. Not only this, there are issues revolving around that determine the extent of relationship.
There has been well-established fear in Bangladesh of Indian Hegemony. Tahmima Anam in her piece, “How Bangladeshis see India”, elucidates that Bangladesh has embarked to go-ahead crossing ‘the great bear hug of India’ from its three sides of the border. The well-founded disagreement over the way the whole thing related to the Farraka barrage and Ganga water sharing went has reportedly made the Bangladesh disgruntled. The maritime boundary dispute over the New moore islands was evident that had been the bone of contention for many years. In this backdrop, the issues generated in wake of the climate change have also added a new dimension in the relationship, particularly over the issues of wetland management. The magnitude of the impact could be located in the submergence of New Moore Island due to the rising sea. With the permanent submergence of this island, the long-standing dispute between India and Bangladesh put to an end. People are increasingly becoming displaced within their own territory on both sides of the border. However, the matter gets worse when it comes to the large scale of influx of population into other country undocumented. Moreover, this thing is set to affect the relation of India and Bangladesh for longer period.
Ashok Swain, in his paper on “Displacing the Conflict: Environmental Destruction in Bangladesh and Ethnic Conflict in India”, has rightly pointed out, “Wherever migrants settle, they flood the labour market, and add to local demand for food and other necessities of life, thus putting new burdens on the receiving society. The assimilation of migrants into a new society is not easy at the best of times, but when it takes place in a developing and multi-ethnic society like India, the situation is likely to get even worse. The resulting scarcities generate strong feelings of ‘nativism’ among the original inhabitants of the area.” The influx of the large-scale environmentally displaced Bangladeshi population into India has triggered many conflicts in various part of the country. For Instance, Indian state of Assam became the first place to witness conflict in 1979 when a parliamentary by-election to the ‘Mangaldoi Constituency’ was called in owing to the demise of the incumbent, but now it has diffused to other parts of India.
Friedman (2009), in ‘How will Climate Refugee Impact National Security?’ has quoted Cleo Paskal, an associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. Paskal says that the prospects of large-scale migration from Bangladesh to India denote a real threat to India. Therefore, she further clarifies that a stable India is needed and climate migration has the potential to destabilize India. In addition, trying to put pressure on India to take in refugees will cause undermining of Bangladesh’s credibility in India’s eyes. Myers (2002), in “Environmental Refugees: Growing Phenomenon of the 21st Century”, has surmised that climate refugees from Bangladesh might alone outnumber the all-current refugees worldwide. In the last 40 years, the Bangladeshi migrants have flooded the Indian population by 12 to 17 million brought about by environmental scarcity, as stated by Homer-Dixon.
Maxim van Bommel, in “Good fences don’t make good neighbors: Outlining the complexities of protecting climate displaces, with special reference to India and Bangladesh”, has stated that the Bangladeshi migration to India is a ‘silent demographic invasion.’ Bangladesh is the seventh most populated country in the world in spite of its very small size. Chirantan Kumar, in his article, “Migration and Refugee issue between India and Bangladesh”, quoted D.N. Bezboruah who said that Bangladesh would be facing a crisis of ‘lebensraum’ (living space) by the end of the first decade of 21st century. Moreover, Sanjoy Hazarika opined that Bangladesh depicts the ‘Malthusian nightmare, with too many people on too little land.’
The population of any country happens to be an asset for that country, but the situation worsens, when the same asset turns fatal for the long-term viability of a country. The rapidly growing population of Bangladesh is a matter of big concern not only for the Bangladesh, it would also engender tumultuous situation across the Indian Border States. Bangladesh is surrounded by the so-called ‘great bear hug of India’ from three sides. If any calamity takes place in Bangladesh, None but India would be optimal destination for the displaced population of Bangladesh. India would be under compulsion to give them access to its resources on the humanitarian ground. Even if this happens, it would not be the first time when India by virtue of its benevolent nature would be lending its friendly hand to Bangladesh. Increasing population, precisely in the context of Bangladesh, is a disaster in itself. If anybody says that it is not a disaster for Bangladesh then surely it is going to be an impending disaster for India. That is why the growing Bangladeshi population would be of paramount concern for India as far as its national interest and security is concerned.
However, the sense of cooperation should come out from the both sides, especially as far as the issue of migration is concerned. There is a well-known proverb ‘one hand does not make a clap.’ To make a clap the touch of two hands are required. One hand of India may be eager to give jolt to one of the hands of Bangladesh to be clapped. Nevertheless, Bangladesh seems recalcitrant on issue of migration that is bound to create instability on the Indian side. The lackluster attitude of Bangladesh to accept the factual of the rampant illegal migration has already agitated India.
Smita Gupta, in her piece, “Parliament puts seal of approval on LBA”, describes the recently concluded Land Boundary Agreement and its ratification by Indian Parliament in its ‘The constitution (119th Amendment Bill).’ This became the 100th Constitutional amendment for swapping territories between India and Bangladesh that proved to be the landmark agreement, 41 years after the Indira Gandhi and Seikh Mujibur Rahman pact in 1974. This agreement conveyed the positive waves of messages across Bangladesh, and adoption of the bill, to which Bangladesh terms as ‘huge diplomatic success’, and its Foreign Minister AH Mahmood termed it ‘an opening of a new chapter in ties.’ Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi has compared this agreement to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and stated that this marks ‘a watershed moment in our bilateral ties with Bangladesh (NDTV, 06 June 2015).’
With operationalization of Land Boundary Agreement, the long lasting dispute between India and Bangladesh seems cease to exist. This landmark effort has shown a new light to India and Bangladesh in ushering their relation to a new height. Bangladesh should come forward on the dais to settle down all outstanding issues pertaining to the question of illegal migration and forthcoming misery of large-scale influx of climate change affected population.
The urgency to come forward in the positive manner on the part of Bangladesh emanates from the fact that barbed wire fencing of the border by India will obviously worsen the already aggravated situation in Bangladesh in the backdrop of climate change. The climate change impacts are triggering newer dimensions of vulnerability, threats and tension between India and Bangladesh. It is expected that owing to the rise of sea level many millions of Bangladeshis in future will take refuge in India, exacerbating further the ongoing dispute between India and Bangladesh. What is required for India and Bangladesh is not to indulge in any blame game; and rather they should proceed to find out the solution of rampant illegal migration; and to improve the environmental integrity through devising a monitoring mechanism for a sustainable future.
Prashant Kumar Sharma is a Ph.D Research Scholar Centre for South Asian Studies School of International Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India
Cortesy: http://www.wisdomblow.com/?p=6789
