Untold Facts

Foreign Ministry took six months for Self-Confidence!

FM took Six Months to Act
At long last the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry has made a rejoinder to Pinak’s latest of so many insinuations he had in his credit against sovereign Bangladesh. This was Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty’s blaming the ‘80% touts and pimps’ in Visa applicants and of the figure exactly of ‘25,000 of Bangladeshis’ yearly not returning to Bangladesh from India having had entered India after obtaining normal visas from the Indian High Commission Office in Dhaka! Many other similar and serious insinuations and derogatory comments by the same honorable person, a trained diplomat, went unattended or unheeded to, much less to make any protest or made any rejoinder to any by the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry (FM). One may wonder if the FM had to take over six months to gain self-confidence in dealing with similar delicate relational matter between Dhaka and Delhi to make the July 22 rejoinder.

There could be only one possible explanation of this amazingly undesirable delay and conspicuous inefficiency of the FM.

High Caste Bengali Attitudes
Pinak is a high caste Bengali as his surname CHAKRAVARTY indicates. His native tongue is exactly what most of the Bangladeshis speak though with little different in mode of accent and pronunciation, one could say Englishman’s English and American English. That is why he is more akin to the ‘Bengalis’ of Bangladesh and little with other Bengali speaking Bangladeshis. One may note that that is what remains the distinctiveness of the political divide of the people of Bangladesh since almost the very inception of independent Bangladesh. The 2008 December election provided victory to the so to say pure ‘Bengalis’ and defeat for the Bangladeshis. Pinak is well known to have a big role in that victory. Thus he became so close to the present government representing ‘Bengalism’ and not Bangladeshism. The confidence and closeness so developed made Pinak almost one of the government, and at times his loose talks were taken as anything between two very close friends, and hardly of any polished diplomat of a foreign country.

Intimacies
The ultra ‘Bengalis’ and the government for the last six months did not mind his fowl talks and many unmannerly utterances. But the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshis did refuse to relish any such of his utterances. And so did they continue to protest. One must wonder now if the Government’s deep love and closeness for common ‘Bengalism’ has some how been dented.

Bitter Past
If one would look back in history of the events of 1940s it was mainly the high caste Bengali CHAKRAVARTY’s, BANNERJEE’s, MUKERJEE’s etc. who with rare exception like Sarat Bose forced on the one and united Bengal to get divided into two. Had they been little tolerant at that time, we would remain together and Bangladesh would not have been a reality as it is now after 1947/1971. Dhaka would remain a district/divisional town and Kolkata the capital of united Bengal as it had been during the British period of 190 years (1757-1947). There would have been in that case no envoy of Delhi in Dhaka much less what Mr. Pinak holds the position here of High Commissioner of Delhi. But political dynamics at that time made what the reality is now. Bangladesh is now an independent country, Dhaka its capital and Kolkata centered Bengalis are not independent but member of a small unit or province of bigger India having capital in Delhi. One may wonder if Pinak has any inferiority complex as a marginal Bengali of India and not as fully independent as the Bengalis of Bangladesh.

Pinak’s Mental Complex
Mr. Pinak as a diplomat represent Delhi and not the Bengalis of West Bengal. Dhaka’s position is what Delhi’s in India. Bangladesh is a sovereign country what India is among independent nations. Thus it is not only Delhi but also her envoy in Dhaka Pinak must behave like a diplomat of a foreign country according to Geneva Conventions with full dignity in dealing with prestige, honor and people’s sentiment of another country. That Pinak is a Bengali and the present government in Dhaka represents ‘Bengalis’ is not all truth but only half-truth. Though almost all Bangladeshis speak Bengali as their own native language, the geographical border and history have given them a distinct identity not only different from the Bengalis of West Bengal but also from the people of India. How could Pinak be careless about the fact except in derogation of the honor and prestige of sovereign Bangladesh?

FM’s Self-Confidence at last
But the callous non-response of the FM to Pinak’s all those derogatory remarks in the last six months surpassed even Pinak’s sub-standard dealings. Even so, one may say, better late than never, and for the fact that the FM has gained the self-confidence for self-respect needed of a vital unit of the Bangladesh Government.

Author: M.T. Hussain