The key issue of water sharing of the major rivers between Bangladesh and India has come to the fore again when Chief Adviser of Bangladesh's interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus has placed utmost emphasis on resolving it.
He made this statement to resolve the longstanding transboundary river water-sharing issue between the two closest neighbors in line with the international norms. That means Bangladesh as a lower riparian country has some specific rights over the upstream water that must be respected. Dr Yunus said this in a recent interview with the Indian news agency, the Press Trust of India.
Now Bangladesh's interim government seems keen to continue working with India to sink differences over the long-pending Teesta water-sharing treaty. Actually, Teesta water sharing has been unresolved for many years because of the opposition from the Indian side.
Bangladesh once was about to strike a deal on the Teesta water sharing in 2011 during the visit by the then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh to Dhaka. But it did not see the light in the last moment following a disagreement by the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
At the present time, the much-talked about water management demand of some rivers has been broached in the wake of the recent floods which severely affected at least 11 Bangladesh's southeastern districts. And India was blamed for releasing river water without prior warning that caused flash floods with heavy rains worsening the situation further.
This is why people from all strata from Feni, one of the highly flood-affected districts, on Friday organized a procession demanding India be brought to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with the help of the United Nations for the release of water by opening river dams. They also demanded reparations from India for the flood victims.
Flood-hit people have been in view that the recent floods were a direct consequence of India's unilateral handling of river water at its will. For instance, India built around 68 dams on 54 shared rivers with Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, in protest against India's water aggression, students from different universities have organized a long march toward Dumboor Dam on Gumti River in Tripura from the Dhaka's Shahbagh area.
This means people of Bangladesh have been growing restive over India for its water management practices, depriving Bangladesh of its due share of river water. Since the Teesta water sharing remains undecided, Bangladesh has not been given Teesta water in the dry summer season. On the other hand, during monsoon, India releases water triggering floods in Bangladesh.
Another contentious issue pointed out by Dr Yunus during his interview with PTI is indiscriminate border killings of Bangladeshi people by the members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF). According to an estimate, at least 1,236 Bangladeshis were killed in BSF shootings between 2000 and 2020.
People of Bangladesh believe that India will remain their closest friendly neighbor in years to come if New Delhi is truly willing to resolve all outstanding issues amicably in the interest of both countries.
