Dhaka-Calcutta Bus Route: Why is BNP So Perturbed?
The government of Sheikh Hasina had decided to give its blessings to open a direct bus service from Dhaka to Calcutta some time this year. However, true to the nature of being the main opposition party, the BNP has recently showered its misgivings to this undertaking. So far, Khaleda Zia has given some economic reasons whose genuineness remains to be elucidated by the economists.
The main opposition party of Bangladesh literally uses the word "opposition" to oppose everything the present administration of Bangladesh proposes for the nation. In the US and elsewhere in the developed nations the opposition party plays a very important role in the legislative body to shape agenda and bills that come in the floor for discussion. But that mode of operation has no place in Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, the opposition politicians love to hit the street in a hurry, whenever they agree to disagree with the ruling party. I would be curious to know how many days the opposition politicians of Bangladesh had attended the national assembly. It may very well be a quotable statistics as to the number of days the BNP parliamentary members had gone to the street to show their resentment versus the days they remained confined to the four walls of Sangshad Bhavan. Like the little school children, who are dying to get outside the classroom when the final bell rings, the opposition politicians of Bangladesh also want to be in the street. They forgot one thing - that their constituency had elected them to attend the legislative session so that they may vote on important issues, and carry out important parliamentary functions.
Sometimes I wonder whether these elected politicians understand the job description of a parliamentary member. Wouldn't it be nice to put all the MPs to a school where the erudite professor of governmental studies may explain to them in detail the functions they are supposed to carry out as a member of an elite body. They should be quizzed thoroughly before a certificate of completion is to be awarded to them. Without the certification, they will not be permitted to attend the inaugural ceremony let alone attend the real session.
Getting back to the main topic, let me ask this blunt question - why is Begum Khaleda Zia so incensed by the prospect of a direct bus line from Dhaka to Calcutta? Is it really a bad idea to open direct bus line from Dhaka to Calcutta? She may like the idea of being in isolation. But should Bangladesh go into some kind of self-imposed isolation? How about shutting down all the air links to outside world? No air service to Calcutta, New Delhi, London, Persian Gulf States, Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, or any other destination in the globe! Would she be happy?
I think if Khaleda Zia and her lieutenants believe in isolation then we should seriously debate the issue, but just to say no bus service to Calcutta is a preposterous suggestion. She is really worried about the sari industries of Bangladesh. Her veiled threat focused on one thing - the consumer will go to Calcutta by busloads and bring back too much consumer products, mostly saris, and would cripple Bangladesh's vital industries. Is there any substance in it?
Western Bangladesh has long borders with West Bengal running north to south. Does she know how many saris are crossing borders everyday? The cross-border trade had been going on for the last fifty years right under the watchful eyes of our border patrol. Did she ever complain about it? What did she do to stop that while she was the Prime Minister for five long years?
Besides, it is not a difficult task to restrict inflow of Indian merchandise by bus if the Bangladesh authorities clearly define what items could be brought back by each passenger. I think it would be simply foolish to oppose the bus service from Dhaka to Calcutta only on the ground that too much merchandise would seep into Dhaka from W. Bengal.
Let me now enumerate the other reasons why Begum Khaleda Zia and her party are opposed to this idea of direct bus route from Dhaka to Calcutta. Are they afraid of importing culture from Calcutta to Bangladesh? Do they think that this direct bus route from Calcutta would open the floodgate of new ideas in the minds of the people in Bangladesh?
I have every reason to believe that Begum Zia and her party elite had imaginary paranoia about W. Bengal. This paranoia is the root cause of this anti-West Bengal attitude in the minds of BNP policymakers. BNP party had always espoused anti-West Bengal and anti-Indian policy for whatever reasons. I have also watched them from a great distance and even found them to have bias towards Pakistan. I sincerely hope that this policy of BNP has nothing to do with communalism but I cannot dissociate such thoughts altogether after I heard some strong rhetoric from Begum Zia from time to time.
In this age of globalization and glasnost, it will be a mistake of monumental proportion to close Bangladesh's border to outside world. The BNP policymakers should understand this very succinctly. We now live in a world where the motto is - sink or swim.
Bangladesh has to learn how to swim in the free trade market, otherwise she will sink down very fast. Our textile industry has to improve the quality of their output; otherwise, saris and other fabric materials will enter Bangladesh through legitimate or hidden routes. By shutting down the bus route between Dhaka and Calcutta, we cannot improve the quality of Bangladesh's textile materials.
On the cultural front all I have to say that Bombay's movie industry and satellite TV channels had already done an irreparable damage to the cultural milieu of Bangladesh. Opening the bus route between Dhaka and Calcutta cannot make the matter worse.
All in all, Begum Zia had found an imaginary evil in the proposed bus route between Dhaka and Calcutta. In keeping up with her past tradition, she is now opposing this benign venture too. Too often, she had cried "wolf." (Remember? CHT treaty was a bad thing for the country!) If she continues crying, "wolf," then soon no one would listen to her pleas.
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