The International Farakka Committee on Tuesday called for protests across Bangladesh against India's "water aggression".
Speakers made the call at a roundtable organised to commemorate the Farakka Long March organized by Maulana Bhashani on 16 May 1976. The successful long march of lakhs of people helped in the signing of the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty of 1977 with a guarantee clause the following year.
The International Farakka Committee, Bangladesh, with the support of the International Farakka Committee (IFC), New York, organized the roundtable at the National Press Club.
The speakers called on the people from all walks of life to make a national mass rally organized at the Central Shaheed Minar on 16 May a success to accelerate the movement against water aggression.
The speakers at the event called on the interim government to take initiatives at national and international levels for the renewal of the Ganga Water Treaty with a guarantee clause, the conclusion of the Teesta Treaty, the implementation of the Teesta Master Plan and the overall management agreement on the remaining 52 joint rivers to ensure their environmental flows.
Former Water Resources Minister, Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram was the chief guest at the function.
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Professor Jasim Uddin Ahmad, former VC, Jahangirnagar University and Chief Advisor, IFC; Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, Senior Joint Secretary General, BNP; Syed Tipu Sultan, Chairman, International Farakka Committee (IFC), New York; Brig. Gen. Md. Hasan Nasir (retd), geopolitics analyst were special guests at the function also addressed by Qazi Mostafa Kamal and many others.
IFC Bangladesh President, Mustafa Kamal Majumder, presided over the event.
Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin said that the flow of water in Bangladesh has decreased due to the construction of numerous dams on each of the 54 shared rivers. He said that they also want to divert the water of the Brahmaputra river to the Ganges through the mountains. We get 65 percent of our water from this river, he said.
He described the bitter experience of various meetings on water distribution and said that they do not want to pay attention to our water needs in the downstream countries. India was a friend of Bangladesh during the Liberation War, but in the following years, it tried more to establish hegemony rather than friendship.
In the last 15 years, they turned Bangladesh into a colony by establishing a loyal government. The government that was sitting in this country protected the interests of other countries. The students and the masses of Bangladesh expelled them through a united movement.
Interestingly, now when China is building dams upstream of the Brahmaputra, India is seeking Bangladesh's help to protect the rights of the downstream countries, he added.
He said that if the 180 million people of Bangladesh are united, they will definitely be able to establish their fair rights to water.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said that the Indian government is carrying out water aggression against Bangladesh out of the mentality of nurturing their old desires to establish their hegemony. 180 million people live in this country. They are behaving arbitrarily against their natural environment.
He regretted that all the harsh language used against India's hegemonic mentality has been created by the leftists. But now they are not speaking out against India's water aggression. Everyone should work to protect the interests of the country.
He applauded the people struggling to establish the right to water and called on everyone to raise their voice against water aggression.
Brig. Gen (retd) Md. Hasan Nasir said that the flows of the 54 rivers passing through Bangladesh have been diverted, threatening the geographical security of this country. Except for the Ganga Agreement of 1977, no other agreement has protected the interests of Bangladesh.
Syed Tipu Sultan highlighted the history of the IFC water movement and said that when people protest, it also affects the water policy of the Indian government.
He said that if necessary, a gathering of lakhs of people will be called again to establish the right to water.
Professor Jasim Uddin Ahmad said that only the Ganga Accord of 1977 had a guarantee clause. This indispensable clause of the water agreement was not included in any other subsequent agreement.