Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim (Pir Saheb Charmonai) amir of Islami Andolon Bangladesh on Saturday alleged that the knee-jerk foreign policy of the government as well as India's aggressive water diplomacy have been destroying livelihoods in Bangladesh.

"Bangladesh is a riverine country. Most of the country's economy depends on rivers. But the wrong policies of the government of the country, the aggression of India's water policy and the knee-jerk foreign policy of the government are destroying the livelihood of this country by sometimes making it a desert and sometimes by flooding it," he said.

There used to be 24,000 kilometers of waterways in Bangladesh. It is now down to 4,000 kilometers. After the country's independence, 158 rivers have dried up due to negligence, he added.

Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim was addressing a massive mass procession at the North gate of the National Mosque Baitul Mukarram on Saturday afternoon.

In his speech, the Charmonai Pir also said with concern that," India has blocked the major water flows of the country, including the 54 joint rivers of India, with the help of Farakka, Gajaldoba, etc. They are destroying the food security of the country by blocking water at the required moment and destroying crops by releasing water during monsoons, killing people."

It is to be noted that from the national rally held in the capital on April 1st, the Amir of the Islami Andolon Bangladesh presented a three-month programme and 15-point demand against these state crises. As part of the announced programme, the mass march turned into a huge crowd Saturday.

Pir Saheb Charmonai lamented that our governments could not prevent Indian's unfair withdrawal of water and the construction of dams through joint negotiations or international negotiations. Year after year, India has been continuously destroying the livelihoods of millions of people by carrying out water aggression.

The governments have not been able to find any kind of solution due to its knee-jerk foreign policy, he said.

Indian water aggression has now become a matter of survival and death of the People of the country. This failure of governments can no longer be accepted, he added.

The gathering was also addressed among others by the party's Naib Amir Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim (Shaikh Charmonai), Presidium Member Prof. Ashraf Ali Akon and Prof. Mahbubur Rahman, Secretary General Principal Maulana Yunus Ahmad, Joint Secretary General Maulana Gazi Ataur Rahman, Assistant Secretary General Principal Sheikh Fazle Bari Masoud and Maulana Muhammad Imtiaz Alam, KM Atiqur Rahman and Central President of Islami Chhatra Andolan Bangladesh Nurul Karim Akram.