Mamata Banerji's political line on Bangladesh -- oppose everything from Teesta water sharing agreement to land boundary agreement -- may be born out of her political compulsions in West Bengal, but it hurts Tripura's interest seriously. For that matter, other Northeastern states who look forward to use of Bangladesh territory to connect to the Indian mainland are all affected by Mamata's line . If Mamata had not thrown tantrums and blocked these agreements, a grateful Hasina would have surely extended to India the use of Chittagong port and passage through its territory for Indian goods and people.

 

Who then would be the biggest gainer ! Surely, Tripura. Because she would then be the gateway between India's mainland and its northeast. Goods from there would cost much less because transport costs would sharply go down. People from Tripura and elsewhere in Northeast would be able to use Bangladesh territory- and transport -- to reach West Bengal and the rest of India and not pay thousands for air travel.

 

As a state surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh, we in Tripura catch cold if Dhaka sneezes. So even those who may be unhappy with the Left Front but who have the interest of Tripura at heart will have to think twice before accepting Mamata's politics in our tiny state. 

 

I have good friends among those who have joined her party in Tripura. Leaders like Ratan Chakrabarty are very close old friends. But I am sure leaders like Ratanda will realise the danger of Mamata's Bangladesh line and what it means for Tripura. They may have joined Trinamul in sheer frustration with the Congress in the state but at the end of the day the state's interests will merit greater priority than personal or political interests.

I would leave it to them to explain to their one and only Supreme leader how her hostility to the present regime in Dhaka is costing us adversely in Northeast, surely in Tripura.

 

How can we accept a politician who is doing everything possible to make things difficult for a secular regime in Bangladesh ! A line that provides fillip to the Islamic fundamentalists in Bengal and then we see the party fielding a Hindu Mahasabha leader from Varanasi !  Despite Mamata's strident opposition to Teesta and Land boundary agreement , Hasina has been kind enough to allow Tripura bring all its heavy equipment for the Palatana project . Now her government has also allowed Tripura to use the same Chittagong-Asuganj route to bring in 10000 MT of foodgrains for our state ! It is a different issue -- and one that merits strict enquiry and action -- whether the route is being properly used to bring our foodgrains or whether vested interests are continuing to use the long route through Assam for that purpose. 

 

Mamata has said she is looking forward to her party doing well in Northeast. Perhaps she is buoyed by her party's showing in Manipur and Arunachal elections where Congress leaders who did not get tickets jumped into her bandwagon and some of them won the polls on their own showing.

She may have made an impact in Manipur by her stand against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and might also do so by her line on land accquisition in Assam, where she is cultivating KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi. But if she remains hostile to the present government in Bangladesh and denies Tripura and the rest of the region access to the mainland through that country, her politics will not be acceptable in Tripura. Our tiny state will have to play smartly into the regional geopolitics and cannot afford loosing out because some bigwig in Calcutta has other ideas . 

 

In 1978, Biren Dutta , the founder of Communist Party in Tripura, had advocated making Dasarath Dev the chief minister after the Left came to power. He was sure that would have nipped the tribal insurgency in the bud. Nripen Chakrabarti was doubtlessly a great leader but the special circumstances of Tripura demanded a tribal chief minister . But CPI(M) Politburo leaders like Promode Dasgupta preferred to go by the apparent demographics and pushed for Nripen Chakarabarty. Biren Dutta was turned down. The rest is history -- and that shows why critical decisions in Tripura better be taken with our interests in mind and not left to some elder brother or sister in Calcutta.