Boycotting India will not benefit Bangladesh

A social media campaign has been going on for quite some time urging the countrymen to boycott Indian products. The campaigners are announcing that they will use products made in Bangladesh or any other country instead of Indian products. Expressing solidarity with the social media movement to boycott Indian products, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi set fire to an Indian shawl in front of the party’s Naya Paltan office in the capital. I assumed that BNP leaders and activists would now continue to bring Indian products including sarees and shawls from their homes and burn them on the streets. But after Naya Paltan there was no such burning campaign of Indian products.

Boycotting Indian goods started back in 1947, but only in the media. Anti-Indian sentiments are still the same as they were in 1947, neither reduced nor increased in proportion. However, BNP did not agree with Rizvi's decision; the party termed Rizvi's decision to burn the Indian shawl personal. BNP was in power several times, they know that maintaining good relations with a neighbouring country is essential not only for Bangladesh but also for a partisan government. BNP once in power tried to increase trade with eastern countries except India, but did not succeed. Bangladesh became volatile with the shock of an onion. A few years ago, when India stopped exporting onions, Bangladesh imported onions from Egypt after searching onions in different countries. But the people of the country had no taste for those big oval onions imported from Egypt.

Awami League is inciting BNP against India, and Rizvi Sahib stepped into the trap of that incitement and burnt his expensive Kashmiri shawl without talking to the party leaders. Why did Rizvi Sahib buy Kashmir's expensive shawl instead of buying khaddar of Cumilla? No one in my neighbourhood knows one of my nephews from leftist politics unless he is called ‘Khaddar Kashem’. Bangladeshi looms, jamdani and Tangail sarees are also valued in India, and Bangladeshi cosmetics are in high demand in the seven eastern states of India. Indian sarees are likely to decline in value. My wife has not worn a saree since she performed Hajj. The campaign that women's bodies are not covered fully if they wear a saree is also going on vigorously. But my wife’s wedding saree came from India; it is still in the closet. I asked my wife to burn it, but she did not agree.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader mentioned without any context that no other country dared to play foul in the national elections as India stood beside us. The powerful countries of the world support or oppose the weaker countries for their own interests. In the UK election, Donald Trump endorsed Boris Johnson through a statement, while Russia endorsed Donald Trump. Because of China's support, Myanmar does not care about the whole world. Bolstered by America's support, Israel is ignoring 57 Muslim-majority countries. With the support of US Ambassador Peter Haas, the BNP dreamt of toppling the Awami League government. India is also supporting the Awami League for its own interests. BNP's anti-India stance in politics is similar to that of Muslim League during Pakistan. BNP gets unstinted support from pro-Pakistan and pro-China people, because it opposes India. So, anti-India is an integral part of BNP politics for no reason.

BNP thinks that the pressure that the United States and European countries had put on the Awami League government before the elections has collapsed because of India. America and Western countries did not create the pressure without self-interest, just to establish democracy. India also has such interests. India does not want Pakistan's spy agency ISI base to be established on its border again, India does not want 10 truckloads of weapons to be handed over to Indian armed separatist groups again like during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, and obviously, India does not want someone like Khaleda Zia of BNP to insult their president again by canceling a pre-scheduled meeting. Bangladesh can easily boycott Indian products if it becomes independent in the production of various products. India also once tried to become self-reliant by rejecting foreign products. Due to the country’s conservationist policies, popular beverage giant Coca-Cola and software giant IBM were forced to pull out of India in 1977.

Indian president and prime minister have used their own ambassador cars for a long time. Indians have a strong sense of nationalism. They do not buy anything when they visit Bangladesh. And when Eid comes, millions of Bangladeshis go to Kolkata New Market and buy things in sacks. Millions of people go to India for medical treatment, and all Bangladeshis, regardless of party affiliation, are full of praise for India after returning from the country. Bangladeshis are spending billions of rupees in visa fee, air-hotel fare, food, transportation, shopping etc. India is getting all the money.

But Mr Rizvi knows very well why the people of Bangladesh are not responding to his call, why even the blind supporters of BNP are not accepting the boycott. The small territory of Bangladesh is struggling to provide food for 180 million people. Due to scarcity of land, in order to produce one crop, the production of other crops has to be abandoned. Arable lands are being filled with remittances from expatriates where buildings are being built. Now, Bangladesh has to import even potatoes. Bangladesh imports everything starting from a pin to aircrafts. The import cost is twice the export revenue. So, there is absolutely no opportunity to boycott Indian products, because the government does not decide which products will be imported from which country, the businessmen decide. Traders will buy products from where they can get products at low prices.

The cost of goods imported from India will increase by 20 to 40 percent if imported from other countries. Goods worth about $14 billion are imported from India every year. The cost of importing the same goods from other countries is $20 billion. Apart from this, importing from India takes less time and transport cost. Earlier, an average of 350 trucks used to come through Benapole, now after the call for boycotting Indian goods, 400 trucks come on an average every day.

If self-reliance could be achieved through the boycotting of Indian products, this boycott would be certainly justified. But boycotting Indian products would not ultimately hamper the interest of India, because only 3.5 percent of what India exports to the world comes to Bangladesh. So, if Indian products are boycotted, Bangladesh will be paralyzed, not India. India's foreign exchange reserves now stand at $645.5 billion. The call for boycotting India was first raised by Awami League opponents living abroad; they are now the policy makers of BNP. BNP was confused by their campaign during the last general election also.

Bangladesh imports 97 products from India. The import cost of the products which are being boycotted is a small part of the total imports. Most of the expenditure is on import of industrial raw materials. Billions of dollars are also spent on importing fuel and edible oil, coal and food grains. Without India's cotton, the textile industry would shut down, without the import of engines and accessories from India, the transport sector would grind to a halt. Mr Rizvi should remember, businessmen do politics to do business, not to oppose India incurring losses. Of course, if there is a dollar crisis, imports would automatically decrease; there will be no need for a boycott.

After threatening India for some time, Maldives is now urgently requesting India to send essential commodities. India is sending goods to Maldives in response to its request. Similarly, despite calling for boycotting India, BNP invited Indian diplomats for Iftar. BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan requested India to stand by in the struggle to restore democracy in Bangladesh.

However, some are also making jokes on social media over the call for boycotting India. They say it is not even possible for the BNP to boycott everything coming from India, because BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam's wife's house is in Baharampur in Murshidabad district of India.

Writer: Former executive director of Bangladesh Bank and former MD of Security Printing Corporation.