Dhaka (AsiaNews/Agencies) – After a stop of 43 years rail links between the Indian port city of Calcutta and the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka resumed today. Services were suspended in 1965 because of the Indo- Pakistani war. At the time Bangladesh, eastern Pakistan, was under the power of Islamabad.
The train, named Maitreyi (friendship) was inaugurated today by the Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and represents a warming in the difficult relations between New Delhi and the majority Muslim nation, which gained independence in 1971. Negotiations for the resumption of the rail service first begun in 2001, but were suspended when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia, came into power.
Today’s date is symbolic, as it marks the Bengalese New Year. One train left Dhaka and another simultaneously left Calcutta. They will both travel 345 km in circa 12 hours. For the time being the service will run once a week and an economy class ticket will cost 8 dollars. Indian railway managers expect the line will be a huge success, even though most people have not been well informed of the costs and running times. Many families divided by the “partition” and subsequent migration live divided between Bangladesh and west Bengal state. It is believed that the Dhaka-Calcutta line will be of use to many Bangladeshis who want to visit relatives or are in search of work and medical care, across the border.
But are those who oppose the train of friendship. It has not been welcomed by Nationalist and Hindu activists. During its’ inauguration a group of Hindu refugees attempted to stop its run, amid claims of persecution in Bangladesh. “There is no reason why India should develop close links with Bangladesh when Hindus are persecuted in that country”, said Subhas Chakrabarti, leader of the All Bengal Citizens Committee. Along the line the train was met with hostile slogans launched by followers of Sangh Parivar, a banner which groups together various branches of the hindutva ideological movement, and which fights to protect India’s Hindu identity.