Bangladesh’s Surroundings, Forest and Local weather Change Advisor and caretaker authorities spokesperson Syeda Rizwana Hasan speaks throughout a press convention in Dhaka on August 13, 2024. | Picture credit score: AFP
Bangladesh could take into account approaching a global platform to resolve the Teesta waters dispute, the brand new caretaker authorities’s adviser on water, forests, atmosphere and local weather change, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, stated on Wednesday.
Referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s powerful stance on the Teesta, Ms Hasan stated the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus would handle points associated to the shared rivers between the 2 nations “forcefully”.
“We won’t again down from placing ahead Bangladesh’s rights over the waters of the Teesta river. It’s essential to have seen that in India, Mamata Banerjee is saying that she won’t give us water whereas depriving her personal individuals of it. So, we’ll put ahead the aspirations of our individuals dwelling alongside the banks of the Teesta river,” Ms. Hasan stated at a press meet on the secretariat.
Advocating for Bangladesh
Ms Hasan has been considered one of Bangladesh’s strongest advocates for its atmosphere and water assets, for which she received the 2012 Magsaysay Award. She introduced that the brand new Bangladesh authorities would maintain a dialogue with New Delhi on shared rivers, together with the Teesta. “The Joint River Fee has been negotiating on the waters of the Teesta, however this time we’ll embrace the individuals dwelling alongside the Teesta in Bangladesh,” she promised.
“It isn’t in our palms whether or not we’ll get the water or not, however we must discuss this difficulty at all times. We are going to convey it very clearly to India,” Ms Hasan stated, noting that Bangladesh has agreements with India on shared rivers such because the Kushiyara and Feni. She added that Dhaka and New Delhi must negotiate the renewal of their 1996 settlement on sharing Ganga water, which was concluded in the course of the first time period of the now-ousted Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The Kushiyara settlement was signed in September 2022, when Ms Hasina visited New Delhi, finalising the primary settlement on shared rivers because the 1996 Ganga settlement.
Nonetheless, the Teesta negotiations didn’t make any headway throughout Hasina’s final 15-year time period, which ended on August 5 when her authorities was ousted by an enormous public motion.
‘Solely calls for’
Talking about his “mandate” to take care of Bangladesh’s pursuits relating to the shared rivers, Hasan stated, “We are going to keep pleasant relations with India however will put ahead our calls for and claims firmly and should even strategy worldwide platforms to debate our simply calls for.” He famous that Bangladesh has acquired invites to debate water-related points from a number of nations, together with China. “Wherever we deem it needed, we’ll ship our interlocutor,” Hasan stated.
Rivers shared between the 2 nations got here into deal with Wednesday as elements of jap Bangladesh, particularly Comilla and Moulavibazar, flooded after heavy rains lashed neighbouring Tripura in latest days.
The protests proceed
Dhaka, which was hit by heavy rains on Wednesday, was additionally rocked by dramatic protests by college students, employees and merchants demanding punishment for businessmen related to former Prime Minister Ms Hasina.
Police remained vigilant and selected to not perform any punitive motion even because the capital witnessed day-long chaos on the streets because of the protest. Police forces proceed to hold out their public duties with out weapons and are sometimes seen underneath the safety of the navy. Public sentiment stays excessive because of the massive variety of casualties that occurred in police firing within the first days of August.
