BanglaBhoot
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'Reach out to people of Bangladesh'
PUNE: The biggest mistake India has made over and over again, with regards to Bangladesh, is to attach importance to the regime of the moment
instead of reaching out directly to its people, opined Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and former High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Veena Sikri.
Sikri was speaking at a seminar on "India in a turbulent neighourhood", organised by the Centre for Advanced Strategic Studies on Saturday.
Sikri said if India aspires to be a world power, it must sort out its neighbourhood problems on its own. Elaborating further, she said: "It is a mistake to leave it to the regime of the country to interpret India to them. Regimes are transient, and have their own vested interests. We must do it ourselves through as many people-centric projects as possible." She cited Afghanistan as a fine example of people power making a friend out of that country's people. "We need such projects in Bangladesh as well," she expressed, citing several instances of China having implemented a "multiplicity" of such projects.
Underlining the gap in perceptions between the people of the two countries she said, "Indians generally feel that the Bangladeshis have forgotten the sacrifices we made for the country in 1971. On the other hand, my interactions with the people of that country reveal that they feel India has forgotten them!"
Even as India's pre-occupation with Pakistan continues--there's little acknowledgement of the several positive developments in Bangladesh, especially the stunning victory of the pro-democratic Awami League, which is an affirmation of the fact that the people of Bangladesh continue to stand by the four principles of their Constitution: democracy, nationalism, secularism and social justice.
She said that even as India virtually left Bangladesh to its own devices post-assasination of Sheikh Mujib in 1975, Pakistan, on the other hand, has persisted with every effort to gain lost ground. "Primarily, they make inroads into Bangladesh through two channelsforces within the Bangladeshi army, and through the political party Jamat-E-Islami." However, if one were to ask the average Bangladeshi on the street, he has, by no means forgotten the atrocities committed by Pakistan on his people."
On the subject of Myanmar, Sikri said that even as the military regime has promised elections in 2010, the country is passing through a phase as interesting as it is confusing. "In the meanwhile, a lot of civil groups are working on educating people on their political-civil
rights," she said. "It is to be hoped that they elect a Parliament which will take that country closer to the forces of democracy."
With regards to Aung San Su Kyi, who is under house arrest, Sikri said that while she gave importance to democracy, she neglected the ethnic issues. "But recently, she made a statement to the effect that ethnic issues were just as important." The session was chaired by Lt Gen (Retd) Mukherjee.
'Reach out to people of Bangladesh' - Pune - Cities - The Times of India
PUNE: The biggest mistake India has made over and over again, with regards to Bangladesh, is to attach importance to the regime of the moment
instead of reaching out directly to its people, opined Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and former High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Veena Sikri.
Sikri was speaking at a seminar on "India in a turbulent neighourhood", organised by the Centre for Advanced Strategic Studies on Saturday.
Sikri said if India aspires to be a world power, it must sort out its neighbourhood problems on its own. Elaborating further, she said: "It is a mistake to leave it to the regime of the country to interpret India to them. Regimes are transient, and have their own vested interests. We must do it ourselves through as many people-centric projects as possible." She cited Afghanistan as a fine example of people power making a friend out of that country's people. "We need such projects in Bangladesh as well," she expressed, citing several instances of China having implemented a "multiplicity" of such projects.
Underlining the gap in perceptions between the people of the two countries she said, "Indians generally feel that the Bangladeshis have forgotten the sacrifices we made for the country in 1971. On the other hand, my interactions with the people of that country reveal that they feel India has forgotten them!"
Even as India's pre-occupation with Pakistan continues--there's little acknowledgement of the several positive developments in Bangladesh, especially the stunning victory of the pro-democratic Awami League, which is an affirmation of the fact that the people of Bangladesh continue to stand by the four principles of their Constitution: democracy, nationalism, secularism and social justice.
She said that even as India virtually left Bangladesh to its own devices post-assasination of Sheikh Mujib in 1975, Pakistan, on the other hand, has persisted with every effort to gain lost ground. "Primarily, they make inroads into Bangladesh through two channelsforces within the Bangladeshi army, and through the political party Jamat-E-Islami." However, if one were to ask the average Bangladeshi on the street, he has, by no means forgotten the atrocities committed by Pakistan on his people."
On the subject of Myanmar, Sikri said that even as the military regime has promised elections in 2010, the country is passing through a phase as interesting as it is confusing. "In the meanwhile, a lot of civil groups are working on educating people on their political-civil
rights," she said. "It is to be hoped that they elect a Parliament which will take that country closer to the forces of democracy."
With regards to Aung San Su Kyi, who is under house arrest, Sikri said that while she gave importance to democracy, she neglected the ethnic issues. "But recently, she made a statement to the effect that ethnic issues were just as important." The session was chaired by Lt Gen (Retd) Mukherjee.
'Reach out to people of Bangladesh' - Pune - Cities - The Times of India
