When Modi Sir (this is how he is referred to in Bangladesh, amongst the youth I spoke with) arrived in Dhaka yesterday, it marked his first visit to the country. It will not by most estimates be his last. The prime minister’s Act East policy is incomplete without Bangladesh -- a gateway to the East and on to Myanmar and beyond.
Whilst Modi’s triumph with a thumping mandate last May had intrigued our neighbour, what it had also done was strike a note of caution in Bangladesh. In the last 12 months, that cautionary note has been suspended, or at least with the young, it has not been relevant enough. PM Modi’s Hindu identity is not on their minds. There have been no communal disturbances in India in the last one year that have alarmed, and Bollywood is still the gateway to the Indian psyche.
As 26-year-old Rakhy Uddin reminds me: “Bangladesh is smitten with Bollywood.” She speaks to me in fluent English, interspersed with confident Hindi, conversant in our ways and in our language. “Do you think Modi Sir will make visas easier?” she asks. “I tried for two weeks. Sometimes at midnight, because they said dates open up then, but to no avail.” And then more assertively: “We are not all terrorists.”
And indeed, they are not, and must not be viewed in that way. Our complicated relationship with Pakistan, our neighbour to the west, must not tar the approach we have to Bangladesh, a people steeped in the linguistic and cultural traditions that we identify with and celebrate in West Bengal. It is an immersion so intuitive that it readily stands up to the radicalisation that ails this region. And in fact, goes a step further in emboldening its polity -- a striking example of which is Sheikh Hasina and her government’s tough stand when it comes to battling terrorism despite opposition from hard-line political factions in the country.
It is an assertiveness that has not gone unnoticed in India, a country still grappling with the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks and Pakistan’s tardy judicial system and its doublespeak. When Modi came to power last year, it was with a majority that even his most ardent supporters -- referred to derisively as bhaktas or disciples (a moniker aimed equally at their perceived devotion to the man as well as their possible religious persuasion) -- could not have anticipated. Many have admitted that it took them by surprise. In the lower rungs of the political establishment, the standing joke is that anyone could have won with the Modi wave, even you or me.
A young India, with most of its population under the 35-year-age grid, was impatient for change and opportunity. The youth leader of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, does not quite resonate with the youth in the country -- his is a story of entitlement, a perceived reluctant foray into politics, and dynastic privilege that cushions him despite a devastating loss in the elections of 2014.
In any other democracy, a loss so cataclysmic for a party (Congress is down to double-digit numbers: 44 -- its lowest ever in parliament) would have seen its leader stepping back at least, if not retiring and handing it over to more experienced shepherds.
Instead, here, the ongoing debate is about Rahul’s latest avatar and the coronation date (currently moved to September from April) as president of the Congress Party. It is the kind of dynastic privilege that finds little resonance in a country where even the working middle-class person, considered privileged by most indices, lives a difficult life.
It is then unsurprising that a 63-year-old, once referred to as a chaiwalla by the Congress for his humble origins, and who has experienced poverty, has risen to the highest office in the land. Modi, in his first term in office, despite the surround sound, has been steadfastly working on his version of creating the Indian dream -- creating opportunities that tempt people away from divisive rhetoric and the futile jousting of minority vs majority that engages “liberals” as well as fringe elements.
The complaints against him have been superficial -- about his fashion sense or his frequent official tours abroad and, most recently, a furor has been raised over Yoga (a pet project of his) being too Hindu to be made compulsory for school-children. In the boarding school I went to, yoga was compulsory and advertised to prospective parents of all faiths as a value added experience. Today, it is something to divide people over.
It is this silliness that dominates the criticism against Modi, overshadowing the genuine concerns that exist when it comes to governing our large, diverse country. Recent surveys indicate that after one year in office, Modi’s popularity is still high with the aam aadmi. Across the border, Sayyeed, a graphic designer from Dhaka University, says that whilst he had reservations about Modi to start with, it is changing.
He was surprised to see him sweeping the streets on TV. “What prime minister does these things? Maybe it is symbolic only, but even then. We have never seen anything like this.” Indeed on this side of the border, neither have we.
Md Al-Amin, a 33-year-old MBA graduate who works in Dhaka, says that Modi has business sense. His travels abroad will bring business to India and his trip should also do the same for Bangladesh. The accusation of this government working for corporates is lost across the border, with there even being suggestions of a special Indian SEZ, something that will surely engineer another debate here on corporate favoritism if it happens.
But these are conversations that the Indian voter is getting accustomed to and has even become resistant to. Amin goes on to say that there are a lot of Indian CEOs in Dhaka and for Bangladesh, India and the US are the two countries that they look towards for economic advancement. India, in particular, because of its geographical proximity.
Religion finds little mention in the conversations I have with young people. If anything, there is kinship over our shared battle against terror and a confidence that Bangladesh will not go the Pakistan way, despite some elements working with a similar agenda. The young in Bangladesh, like the young here, are aspirational and seeking opportunity and friendship -- two things Prime Minister Modi brings with him.
But he may not be able to deliver on everything. Especially on one request -- that of resolving tensions between the warring ladies of Bangladeshi politics. “Isn’t he bringing that lady ... what is her name … Mamata from West Bengal this time? She didn’t come earlier and they didn’t get along,” Sayyed presses on.
Yes, Modi’s reputation as a consensus-builder is growing, but Bangladeshis frustrated by the daily political squabbles will have to suspend that wish. Back home in India, Modi has kept away from the warring between the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and Arvind Kejriwal as well. This visit is not addressing the important Teesta issue, but the historic Land Boundary Agreement is a done deal, hopefully ending decades of marginalisation of people who were stateless and denied basic rights.
Bangladesh is meeting Modi Sir for the first time -- the prime minister of India with the impressive mandate but also the vegetarian who has sent Dhaka chefs into a flurry, learning how to cook dhokla and khandvi. Chef Apoorva Kunte, a young Indian chef who works in Dhaka, has been teaching these two dishes for the formal meals. In coffee shop conversations in Dhaka, the young are still discussing Bollywood and the three Khans, but they are also talking about Modi, and as one put it to me in a telephonic chat, “He isn’t as hardcore as we expected.”
