India, Myanmar grabbing BD’s maritime territories

NCPMTRB leaders allege at press confce

UNB, Dhaka

Leaders of the National Committee for Protecting Maritime Territory and Resources of Bangladesh (NCPMTRB) on Saturday alleged that Bangladesh's two neighboring countries-India and Myanmar-are trying to grab much of its maritime territories.
They demanded the government strengthen the Bangladesh Navy and establish necessary institutions to protect the country's maritime territories and its resources.
Speaking at a press conference at the National Press Club, Prof Anu Mohammad said it is clear that Bangladesh is under a strong aggression of India and Myanmar as previous governments and even the current one have failed to perform their duties when it came to maritime issues.
"We're losing huge maritime territories to India and Myanmar, which is three times bigger than Bangladesh itself, simply because of negligence of the government," Prof Anu Mohammad said. He said had the previous Bangladesh governments been able to handle the issue strongly neither India nor Myanmar could dare to proceed with this issue after 1982.
Prof Anu said the Bangladesh delegations that visit different countries to discuss bilateral issues only put signatures on papers; even they hardly see the contents of any agreement. "They did never go for bargaining and thus they brought such a horrible situation for us."
Criticizing the remarks of the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, he said the envoy might come up with even harsher words as the government has failed to reply to his remarks the way it should have been."Such remarks manifest how aggressive the India government is. We had hoped that our government would give a befitting reply, as it was highly insulting for the people of Bangladesh, but it didn't," he said.
Professor Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said Bangladesh is losing its control over its own sea as there is no one to raise voice against it. "We need to mobilize public opinion both at home and abroad to stop India and Myanmar from grabbing Bangladesh's maritime territories," he said. Prof Islam said politicians could not prove their patriotism as they did not protest the bid.
Earlier, reading out a written paper, NCPMTRB convener Engineer M Enamul Haque said India and Myanmar would have to withdraw the claim over maritime territories, which were placed to the United Nations and demanded implementation of clauses of UNCLOS-III convention. Justice Golam Robbani, Engineer Sheikh Mohammad Shahid Ullah and Prof Ramjul Haque were also present at the press conference.