India, Bangladesh must try to avoid adverse CAA effect

Whatever the migrations in the past, as matters stand today, the people of Bangladesh have no economic reasons to move to India and especially our Northeastern states

Last week, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 came into effect after heated debates in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, where some of our leaders made harsh comments about Bangladesh that can hurt our relations and trade prospects with an important neighbour.

Some leaders said Bangladesh was a theocratic state where minorities were being persecuted and tortured, which is not true. But for a brief period during the 1980s and some stray incidents thereafter, Bangladesh has been largely secular in its administration and treatment of minorities. Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the country has been very friendly to India,