Veena Sikri, the only woman to serve as the Indian envoy in Bangladesh, recalled on Wednesday the challenging time she spent in Dhaka during her term from December 2003 to November 2006.
She is in Dhaka to attend the maiden India-Bangladesh High Commissioners’ Summit at Dhaka University slated for Friday.
During her tenure, she had seen the rise of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), synchronised bomb blasts across the country and 10-truck arms haul in Chittagong, among other incidents.
That was the time when India used to complain about Bangladesh sheltering Indian insurgent groups and letting terrorists use Bangladesh soil against her.
Photo: tanvir ahammed/ bdnews24.com
The issue of terrorism is back again in the forefront, this time with a bomb blast in West Bengal’s Burdwan district, as she prepares to take part in the high commissioners’ summit.
“Terrorism was the single biggest issue that time,” she told bdnews24.com in an interview, and it was “challenging” because the ruling BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami alliance was in “complete denial” of it.
She, however, thanked Prime Minister Hasina for uprooting militants and insurgent groups after she came to power in 2009.
Sikri said there were two issues when she was the Indian envoy in Dhaka.
“One was that Indian insurgency groups were carrying out their activities by setting up camps inside Bangladesh, and other was Bangladesh’s own militants.
“It was a serious problem.”
She said India always provided information about camps inside Bangladesh at meetings between India’s BSF and the then BDR.
“Side-by-side there was the issue of terrorist groups within Bangladesh and the issue of using Bangladesh soil by Pakistan terrorist groups,” she added.
The diplomat said JMB began operating during the time she was in Dhaka.
“It formed as a group in late '90s and after the 9/11 attack in the US, when the Taliban was forced out of Afghanistan, all Bangladeshis who were with the Taliban came back and regrouped in Bangladesh.”
She said Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, who was a minister then, had repeatedly claimed that “the JMB does not exist in Bangladesh”.
Although in Rajshahi ‘Bangla Bhai’ executed people in public like the present IS, the BNP refused to accept such killing took place.
“Suddenly, the government conceded that after a lot of hue and cry and a series of bomb attacks,” she remembered.
Photo: tanvir ahammed/ bdnews24.com
“Sheikh Hasina took very strong action. She has taken strong measures against everybody.”
“We were very happy that she uprooted all Indian insurgents.”
“BNP just denied it. They were in complete denial.”
Sikri said many of the JMB cadres were from Islami Chhatra Shibir, Jamaat’s student wing. “But still they were in denial.”
According to her, the Oct 2 Burdwan blast was a “very dangerous” occurrence, indicating they were still “active and getting financial support from somewhere, and were out to destabilise both India and Bangladesh”.
She said members of this group had sneaked into India after facing the heat in Bangladesh.
“Now we must work together,” she said.
“We must appreciate that Sheikh Hasina has made it clear that India and Bangladesh must work together.”
She emphasised that “both governments signed all documents related to security co-operation”, something that, she said, was not possible during Khaleda’s time.
“We must work hard bilaterally and through SAARC,” she stressed, recalling how a SAARC summit had to be postponed because of security concerns.
On the Burdwan issue, the NIA, police and other security agencies were working together, she said.
“The BGB and BSF will meet and they will discuss the issue.
“I really see a strong spirit of friendship and cooperation between India and Bangladesh.”
Photo: tanvir ahammed/ bdnews24.com
The former envoy reiterated that India would “definitely not” let its soil to be used against Bangladesh.
She said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had taken a “soft position” against these elements during the elections but now appeared to have seen the mistake.
“Last week, when the National Security Adviser met Mamata she recognised that some mistakes had been made and police were not quite active in unearthing them. Now, she recognises that it is a serious problem.”
“This is a good sign,” Sikri said of Mamata Banerjee’s ‘realisation’.
“People of West Bengal don’t want illegal activities, they don’t want to see bomb blasts.”
She said she found a strong popular opinion against the JMB in West Bengal.
The former envoy said the High Commissioners’ summit was “a good step to give a fresh perspective to India-Bangladesh relations”.
She was also optimistic India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi would ratify the land boundary agreement, but suggested a joint survey of Teesta waters to get the treaty inked.
She, however, stressed Track II diplomacy with people-to-people contact to find new ways of resolving problems between the two nations.
“We must think out of the box."
Past and present high commissioners of Dhaka and Delhi will convene in the Friday summit organised by the Dhaka University’s International Relations Department and the India-Bangladesh Foundation.
