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Opposition leader and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has urged India to cancel its planned Tipaimukh dam project, in the wake of talks between prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Manmohan Singh during the NAM summit in Egypt earlier in the week.
Khaleda also said the opposition would "stand beside the government" in protecting national interests.
Khaleda, addressing a BNP programme on the Tipaimukh project on Saturday, praised Singh's assurance to Hasina that his country would do nothing to harm Bangladesh.
She said the Indian government must, therefore, halt the proposed dam on the strength of Singh's assurance.
Khaleda also said the Bangladesh government should not "bow down" to India on this matter.
"We want to support the government in protecting national interests. We will stand beside them. The people will too," she said.
"Cancellation of Tipaimukh project will mitigate the tensions between Bangladesh and Indian over this issue. It will bring accord in the region, and strengthen ties with our neighbour," said Khaleda.
Environmentalists and civil society in India have also raised their voice against the dam, she added.
She said the dam would have an adverse impact on "water, environment, ecology, fish resources and crops" and called for national solidarity against the Tipaimukh project.
Emphasising the importance of an united national stance against the project, Khaleda said, "Without national unity it will be difficult to address the problem."
"That's why we have taken an initiative, realising the seriousness of the concerns among the people."
"As a responsible opposition, BNP has collected necessary data on Tipaimukh project. And this information and data will help the government in making a decision."
BNP's programme at the Sheraton Hotel Saturday included presentations by experts of data gathered so far on the proposed dam.
Political party leaders, cabinet members, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on water resources ministry, academics, environmentalists and MPs from greater Sylhet were invited to the presentation.
The main opposition party has been strongly protesting against the planned dam at Tipaimukh in India's Monipur state.
Environmentalists in Bangladesh and India have also raised concerns that the dam on the cross-border Barak river may have serious impact in downstream areas, especially the northeast Sylhet region in Bangladesh.
India assures Bangladesh
Prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Manmohan Singh held their first bilateral talks last Wednesday on the sidelines of the two-day Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
The first meeting between Hasina, who returned to power in January this year, and Singh, in his second stint in office, touched on India's planned Tipaimukh Dam and concerns about its impact in Bangladesh.
During the meeting, Hasina expressed the hope that all contentious issues, including the dam, would be resolved through dialogue with India.
Singh gave assurances to Hasina that India would not do anything that would be against Bangladesh's interests.
Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation, selected to inspect the planned Tipaimukh dam site, will depart for India on July 29.
'Bangladesh consent given without impact data'
In a separate programme on Saturday, BNP vice-president Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said that government officials in Bangladesh had given their consent to construction of the Tipaimukh dam as far back as 1972, without fully understanding the potential impact of the controversial project.
Hafiz, a former BNP water resources minister, said 13 meetings of the Joint River Commission were held till 1975, and during the period the then Awami League government had agreed to the proposed site of the dam.
"Later, in 1978, Bangladesh demanded an expert survey. All this went on clandestinely," Hafiz told a meeting organised by the International Farakka Committee at the National Press Club.
He said a further three meetings of the Joint River Commission were held between 1996 and 2001 under the AL administration, although the Tipaimukh dam project had not been discussed at the meetings.
Speaking earlier, Workers' Party president Rashed Khan Menon MP accused the BNP-led alliance of failing to take any action regarding the planned dam during their administration.
"Khaleda Zia did not utter a single word on the matter when she was prime minister, even though I supplied a detailed report on the project to the then water resources minister in 2003," said Menon.
He said the BNP were raising the issue now they are out of power, when they failed to take any steps while in government.
Menon, however, was also concerned about the dam's impact. "We have to inform people about the harmful impact of the dam. If necessary, there can be a joint commission with India, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh."
He said the Ganges Treaty with India clearly stated that constructions on certain rivers required international dialogue.
"Our Joint River Commission is very weak on this issue. They don't have the authority to take any decisions. They only act according to political decisions," said Menon.
Hafiz, speaking after Menon, said, "The BNP government during its tenure sent three letters to India regarding the dam, but got no response."
"We don't want to get into a squabble with our neighbour, but we do want a solution to this problem," said Hafiz.
Mostafa Kamal, coordinator of the International Farakka Committee and editor of New Nation chaired the conference.
Source: bdnews24.com
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