From: banerjee@aludra.usc.edu (Samit Banerjee)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Ganga Water sharing
Date: 26 Dec 1992 12:23:48 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu
Keywords: Farakka Barrage

In article <BzvLyw.ADI@news.udel.edu> khaleq@brahms.udel.edu (Mohame Khalequzzaman) writes:

[stuff about the merits of a reservoir in Nepal, deleted]

>The Indian Govt. still uses the argument of "flushing" Calcutta Port as a
>defence for the need of Farakka.  Haldia may (or will) face the same siltation
>problem, so the issue will remain valid from Indian stand point.  

No Haldia unlike Calcutta is a sea port. There will be absolutely no need
for dredging or flushing as siltation is not likely to occur.

>is causing flooding problem in the downstream region of the Hooghly River.
>The farmers living downstream from the Barrage can't be very happy about it.

Probably. But like I said earlier, Farakka merely diverts water and does not
have a reservoir. If the barrage had not been there, the flooding would still
have occurred and probably on a larger scale.

>I find hard to believe that the geoscientists wouldn't understand the merit
>of the project, but you may be right.  

Oh they understood the merits alright. What they didn't count on was a 3% per
year population growth in Northern India and the resulting increased
water consumption upstream.

>Now that they have realized, don't you
>think they can make a point to the Govt. in this regard.  After all, it will
>ease the relationship bvetween two neighbors.  It will be a political and 
>economical (since it doen't for India the way they planned for) gain.

Yes you are right. That would be welcome. However, the river waters dispute 
is one in a series of irritants in Indo-BD relations. My belief is that
once political relations improve, things of this nature can be easily
worked out. It is the intent to have good relations that is missing on
both sides of the border.

>We can only hope and pray, because the ball is on your court.  Yes it is
>purely a political issue.  Off the record, all of my Indian geoscientists
>friends always understand that and admit so.

No the ball is in your court too. No relation between two countries
can be a one way street and BD will also have to play it's role. But I agree 
that India as the bigger neighbour, can take the initiative. 


>Agreed.  "Hate-India" has not become a political weapon (!) for some of the
>politicians until the Farakka and other issues started to affect Bangladeshi
>economy.  

No, I think issues like Farakka were deliberately played up by politicians
in your country to pander to a domestic audience. The "hate India"
platform provided a convenient excuse to divert public attention from the
crushing economic problems which you faced.

>Following the Liberation War the frienship between these countries
>reached a historic height.  

Yes and the reason was that for the only time in your history you had a 
secular and democratically elected Government. Following Mujib's death
and the series of coups that lead to Zia-ur-Rahaman's accession, BD became
a fundamentalist and military dictatorship. History tells us that good
relations between theocratic states and democracies are rare, if at all 
possible. 

And I am not simply saying this because BD is a Islamic country. You only 
have to look at Nepal which was ruled by a monarchy until recently to 
realise the truth. Now that Nepal is a democracy again, relations with 
India have improved by leaps and bounds. And Nepal is the world's only 
Hindu country. 


>For the Bangladeshis there is no reason (I mean
>average Bangladeshis like me) to hate India unless they start to humiliate us.
>We don't have the ability or need to humiliate India.  But to defend one's
>interest is a human right.

Oh, the fight is not between you and me. Both of us are essentially products
of a system in our respective countries. On a personal level, we may be the
best of friends but it is the political leadership in our countries that
must have the foresight to forge better relations.

-- 
Samit Banerjee				|			
University of Southern California,	| If you take yourself too seriously, 
Internet  banerjee@aludra.usc.edu       | you will be only one who does.
Bellnet: (213) 342-1401			|			 	
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh