International Farakka Committee calls for united movement to realise fair share of waters from rivers shared with India

Speakers at a discussion meeting on Saturday said that the demand for a fair share of water from common rivers flowing through India and Bangladesh will not be achieved until national unity is established.

Such remarks were made at the meeting organised by the International Farakka Committee (IFC) at the Maulana Akram Khan Hall of the National Press Club to commemorate the Farakka Long March.

The speakers observed that the voice against Farakka Dam is being raised from within India itself, but Bangladesh does not have a strong voice.

They also recalled the Farakka Long March organised by Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, a leader of the toiling masses of Bangladesh, and expressed their deep respect for him.

On 16 May, 1976, Maulana Bhasani organised this long march, six months before his death at the age of 96 in failing health, to demand an end to the unilateral withdrawal of Ganges water.

In 1976, neighbouring India was withdrawing water from the Ganges without an agreement after opening the Farakka Barrage for a trial period of 41 days the year before. As a result, the flow of water in the Bangladesh part of the Ganges came down, adversely affecting agriculture, fish production and water transport.

The speakers said that the movement of Maulana Bhasani created national unity in Bangladesh. As a result, the world public opinion swung towards Bangladesh's demand and the first Ganga Water Treaty was concluded in 1977.

Jatiya Party Chairman Mustafa Jamal Haider was the chief guest at the meeting. Writer and researcher Siraj Uddin Sathi, president of Bhasani Anusari Parishad Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu, chairman of Bangladesh Labour Party Mostafizur Rahman Iran, former Chief Editor of BSS Gaziul Hasan Khan and JAGPA senior vice-president Rashed Prodhan among others took part in the discussion held under the chairmanship of International Farakka Committee Coordinator Mostafa Kamal Majumder.

Mostafa Jamal Haider said that due to India's diplomacy, Bangladesh's rivers and water are facing destruction, and a process of desertification has started in the country.

He called on everyone to unite to face this problem. He said that since the formation and existence of Bangladesh depended on rivers and water, now the rights of water and sovereignty are one and the same.

Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu said Bangladesh would not have been created if Maulana Bhasani was not born. Along with the long march for Ganga water, Bhasani had written to the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, and the Prime Minister of India also replied to that letter.

Dr Mostafizur Rahman mentioned the plight of Bangladesh due to the withdrawal of water from 54 rivers by India and said that if the country has a war with India in the future, it will be over water.

Siraj Uddin Sathi said that the Farakka Long March is now more important than at any other time because water is being diverted upstream of all 54 of the 57 joint rivers that flow through Bangladesh.

As a result, floodplains in Bangladesh, the land of rivers, no longer go underwater during monsoons.

The speakers said that lack of water during the dry season leads to ecological disasters, and during the monsoons, abnormal floods hit the basins of various rivers, including the Teesta. Crops on vast lands and the homes of thousands of people are swept away.

They said the Ganga agreement must be renewed in 2026. On the other hand, the signing of an Agreement on the Teesta has become urgent.

In this situation, the government is called upon to take steps to sign sustainable basin-based agreements on all rivers with India by taking strength from the national consensus created in the country on river water.