ISSN 0971-9318 HIMALAYAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES (JOURNAL OF HIMALAYAN RESEARCH AND CULTURAL FOUNDATION) NGO in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC, United Nations Vol. 13 No. 4 October-December 2009 Indo-Bangladesh Relations Gurudas Das India-Bangladesh Relations Shelly Barbhuiya Crisis of Governance in Bangladesh Kazi S.M.Khasrul Alam Quddusi Bangladesh-China Relations Lailufar Yasmin Ethnic Cleansing in Bangladesh Richard L. Benkin Terrorism in Bangladesh Mansi Mehrotra HIMALAYAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES Editor : K. WARIKOO Assistant Editor : SHARAD K. SONI Sub Editor : MAHESH R. DEBATA © Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, New Delhi. ☛ All rights reserved. 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Hridaya Kaul Prof. Harish Kapur New Delhi (India) Professor Emeritus Graduate Institute of International Studies Geneva (Switzerland) Prof. Touraj Atabaki Prof. Devendra Kaushik International Institute of Social Gurgaon, Haryana (India) History University of Amsterdam Prof. Ganganath Jha The Netherlands Chairperson Centre for South, Central and Prof. Jayanta Kumar Ray Southeast Asian Studies Chairman Maulana Abul Kalam Azad School of International Studies Institute of Asian Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University Kolkata (India) New Delhi (India) Dr. Lokesh Chandra Prof. R. S. Yadav Director Department of Political Science International Academy of Kurukshetra University Indian Culture Kurukshetra, Haryana New Delhi (India) (India) Dr. Osmund Bopearachchi Dr. Sanjyot Mehendale Director of Research at CNRS Executive Director and Professor, Sorbonne Caucasus and Central Asia Program Laboratory of Archaeology University of California University of Paris (France) Berkeley, USA CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Gurudas Das is Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and Faculty in-Charge, Training and Placement, National Institute of Technology, Silchar, Assam. Shelly Barbhuiya is Research Scholar, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences National Institute of Technology, Silchar. Dr. Kazi S. M. Khasrul Alam Quddusi is Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Dr. Lailufar Yasmin is Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, Dhaka. Dr. Richard L. Benkin received his Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and has done extensive field work in Bangladesh. Dr. Mansi Mehrotra is a former Fellow at Centre for Land and Warfare Studies, New Delhi. HIMALAYAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES Vol. 13 No. 4 October-December 2009 CONTENTS Editorís Page 1-4 Indo-Bangladesh Relations: Issues in Trade, Transit and Security Gurudas Das 5-34 Indo-Bangladesh Relations: Issues and Challenges Shelly Barbhuiya 35-62 Crisis of Governance in Kazi S.M.Khasrul Bangladesh AlamQuddusi 63-73 Bangladesh-China Relations: Some Perspectives Lailufar Yasmin 74-78 Ethnic Cleansing in Bangladesh Richard L. Benkin 79-94 Terrorism in Bangladesh: A Security Threat for India Mansi Mehrotra 95-119 Editor’s Page Bordered by India on its west, north and east, Myanmar on the southeast and by the Bay of Bengal in the south, Bangladesh covering an area of about 140, 000 sq kms and with over 150 million people is among the worldís most densely populated countries. Bangladesh has been confronted with the problems of high population growth rate, poverty, floods and cyclones, which have been adversely affecting its economic development. Seventy five percent of the population lives in the rural areas and majority of labour force is employed in the informal economy. Two- thirds of Bangladeshís export earnings come from the garment industry, which employs more than three million workers, 90 per cent of whom are women. Notwithstanding these problems, the country has registered modest economic growth over the past few years, which is sustained by liberal foreign assistance, readymade garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working abroad.Though majority of its population (about 89 per cent) are Muslims, there are other communities such as Hindus (9.5 per cent), Buddhists, Christians and others (about 1.5 per cent). Independent Bangladesh emerged in December 1971 on the strength of Bengali nationalism and as a secular country. However, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, Bengali nationalism of the pre and post-liberation period was replaced by Bangladeshi nationalism. Soon after, the secular principle of the constitution of 1972 was dropped and the Islamic orientation of the polity became pronounced. The political-bureaucratic-military elite started using Islam to legitimize their leadership. Bangladesh now sought to emphasise its links with the Islamic Ummah and stressed the need to maintain special relations with the Islamic countries. This shift in its foreign policy brought Bangladesh certain economic benefits in terms of liberal assistance by the West Asian countries and consequent easing of pressure on its oil import bill. The country witnessed the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism, as Jamaat- e-Islami and other Islamic outfits such as Islamic Chhatro Shibir and Islami Oikyo Jot consolidated and expanded their institutional network fully utilizing the Islamic petro dollars. Of late, the existence of Islamist militant underground groups such as Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI), Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, Jaish-e-Mohmmad in Bangladesh and their continued anti-India activities, has been a major security threat to India. Himalayan and Central Asian Studies Vol. 13 No. 4, October-December 2009 1 Editor’s Page Two radical terrorist organizations, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were banned in February 2005. Given Bangladeshís commitment to the global campaign against terrorism, it would be in Dhakaís interest to curb the rise of Islamist extremism and terrorism. Bangladesh should continue to be seen as a moderate, pluralistic society committed to regional peace, democratic values and practices. Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina came to power with an overwhelming majority of 230 seats out of 300 in the ninth parliamentary election held on 29 December 2008.With about eighty per cent of the electorate having turned up to vote, Sheikh Hasina got a massive mandate to bring peace, stability and development in Bangladesh. During her second stint as the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina has demonstrated her resolve to curb forces of intolerance, extremism and terrorism and take her country back to the liberal, democratic and modernist path. It is after 34 years of long wait that the Supreme Court of Bangladesh awarded on 19 December 2009 death sentence to 12 killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.This judgement is a new milestone for Bangladesh, as it reestablished the rule of law and upheld the principles of sovereignty, nationalism and democracy, which were dear to Sheikh Mujib,the founder of Bangladesh. Five of these convicts were hanged on 28 January 2010. In another historic judgement delivered on 3 January 2010, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh lifted a four-year stay on a ban on the ì abuse of religion for political purposesî. This order marks a new beginning for the country in its walk back to the ìsecularî Bangladesh as was envisaged in its original constitution of 1972.Given the criticism by the main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) and its Islamic allies of this judgement, Sheikh Hasinaís government has to surmount the challenges in her efforts to take her country back to liberal, secular, democratic and modernist path, while maintaining fine balance between tradition and modernity. However,it remains to be seen if the new government succeeds in cleansing the country of extremists and terrorists. And another important test shall be to amend the Vested Property Act,so as to enable the return of Hindu properties confiscated or grabbed by virtue of this Act to their original owners. Sharing a common land border of over 4,100 kms., both Bangladesh and India are bound by age old traditions, culture and history. Notwithstanding the significant role played by India in the liberation of Bangladesh, relations between the two countries have been beset with several irritants. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism