Manzurul blasts govt for ‘subservience’ to India

Advisor of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) Manzurul Ahsan Khan has said successive governments in Bangladesh have lacked the grit to bargain with India.

The CPB leader made this angry remark at a rally in Sirajganj after a march headed for the Teesta barrage reached the district town on Friday.

The CPB and Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) are jointly agitating to press for an equal share of Teesta river waters, still a sticky issue between India and Bangladesh.

The CPB and BSD activists and supporters embarked on a three-day march on Thursday afternoon from capital Dhaka for the Teesta barrage in Lalmonirhat.
The two parties are protesting what they describe as the “weak foreign policy” of the ruling Awami League, demanding an equal share of 54 trans-border river waters, including the Teesta’s.

Manzurul told the rally that, though ministers had amassed assets in the past five years, they did little to increase the country’s water availability. He claimed that the crucial natural resource had, in fact, had suffered a steady depletion over the past years.

He claimed that none of the previous governments had bargained with India for a fair share of waters of the common rivers. “They lacked the courage to bargain.”

The CPB leader urged the people to assert their rights through a movement aimed at protecting national interests.

Presided over by Sirajganj district unit CPB General Secretary Ismail Hossain, the rally was addressed, among others, by BSD’s central General Secretary Khalekuzzaman, BSD leaders Bazlur Rashid Firoz, Abu Jafar Ahmed and Ruhin Hossain Prince.

The rally over, a procession from the town’s Swadhinata Square passed through key thoroughfares of the district town.
The Teesta barrage-bound long march later left Sirajganj for Bogra district.

The marchers are expected to reach the barrage on Saturday evening.