What Did Sheikh Hasina Gave India That India Will Remember Forever?

By Shariful Hasan
Online Activist and Political Analyst

This question has become one of the most frequently raised and most controversial in Bangladesh’s political discourse. A statement made by Sheikh Hasina has given rise to various rumors, misinterpretations and false narratives. Many claim that she gave away some of the country’s resources, land or strategic advantages to India. In some cases, the exaggeration has gone so far as to turn into a national narrative that Bangladesh was handed over to India. And people are swallowing it wholesale.

THE NARRATIVE OF INDIAN AGGRESSION

Ever since Sheikh Hasina’s remark, “What we gave India, India will remember forever,” was circulated, various allegations have surfaced. Some say she gave India Bangladesh’s gas, others say she surrendered border land or a corridor, while still others claim she sacrificed the country’s sovereignty.

These rumors have spread so widely on social media and in certain political circles that many believe Hasina gifted India some major material asset. None of these claims is supported by facts. The actual meaning of the statement was entirely different.

 

INDIA’S BIGGEST WORRY : THE INSURGENT GROUPS OF THE NORTHEAST

Establishing control over the northeastern states was extremely difficult for India’s central government, because the region lies thousands of kilometers from Delhi and is connected to the mainland only through the Siliguri Corridor, or “Chicken’s Neck,” which is just 20 to 22 kilometers wide. As a result, deploying troops and equipment, intervening administratively on short notice, and maintaining supply lines were all logistically complex and time-consuming.

Compounding this was the roughly 1,600 to 1,800-kilometer stretch of border with Bangladesh — out of a total India-Bangladesh border of about 4,096 kilometers — that remained unguarded and ran through rivers, hills and jungles. Large portions of this stretch went unfenced or only partially secured for a long time, and shifting river courses and difficult terrain made full surveillance or security impossible.

Taking advantage of this open border, various insurgent and separatist groups — including ULFA, NSCN, PLA, NDFB and ATTF — established training camps, weapons-procurement networks and safe havens in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet, Sherpur and other border areas beginning in the 1980s and 1990s. Multiple ULFA camps and its leadership operated there undisturbed for years.

Because of the distance and terrain, operations by Indian security forces were slow and costly, insurgents could easily cross the border and go into hiding, arms and funding flowed uninterrupted, and ethnic ties among local populations further aided the militants. As a result, establishing full control became an extremely difficult and prolonged process for the central government.

 

BANGLADESH: A SAFE ROUTE AND LOGISTICS HUB FOR SEPARATISTS

India and Bangladesh share a border of about 4,096 kilometers. A large portion of that border — roughly 1,600 to 1,800 kilometers — connects to India’s northeastern states, known collectively as the “Seven Sisters.” For a long time, separatist groups from India’s northeast, including ULFA, NLFT, ATTF and NDFB, among others, used this border and Bay of Bengal routes to treat Bangladesh as a safe haven, a training center and a channel for arms smuggling.

The situation grew especially acute during the BNP government’s tenure, particularly from 2001 to 2006. Indian insurgents set up camps on Bangladeshi soil, their leaders based themselves in Dhaka and other cities, and they smuggled arms and ammunition across the border.

The 2004 Chittagong arms haul stands as a glaring example: after several smaller shipments reportedly passed through undetected, the largest shipment was, perhaps fortunately, intercepted. Ten truckloads of arms and ammunition were recovered there, destined for ULFA and other northeastern separatists via Bangladesh’s border and seaports.

The comings and goings and residence in Bangladesh of many top leaders, including Anup Chetia, were widely known. In this way, Bangladesh at one time became a crucial safe route and logistics hub for insurgents from India’s northeast.

SEPARATISTS CORNERED AS THEIR SAFE ROUTE WAS DISMANTLED

After the Awami League government came to power in 2009, the situation changed fundamentally. The government adopted a zero-tolerance policy and took strict measures to dismantle India’s separatist networks.

One by one, top leaders based in Bangladesh were caught. ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, general secretary Sashadhar Choudhury, Chitraban Hazarika and several other leaders were arrested and handed over to India.

In 2015, Anup Chetia was also sent to India. Camps operating on Bangladeshi soil were dismantled, networks were broken up, and arms-smuggling routes were shut down.

ULFA leaders themselves have acknowledged the direct impact of this hard-line stance. After signing a peace agreement with the Indian government in 2023, ULFA foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury said:

“The situation in Bangladesh suddenly changed after Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League won the 2008 election and formed the government. The Awami League government decided it needed to help India — because India had helped them during the 1971 Liberation War. They removed all the camps of Indian insurgent groups. Red corner notices were issued against us, and large photographs of us were put up at the airport.”

News source: Confession of ULFA foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury

ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia stated even more plainly:

“We realized Bangladesh was no longer a safe haven for us. But we had nowhere else to go — we had already been driven out of Bhutan in 2003. Our leaders were being caught and jailed one after another. We became directionless. Our military chief, Paresh Baruah, was in another country. In that situation, we had no other option but to respond to the peace talks initiated by Assam’s civil society.”

It was precisely because of Sheikh Hasina’s government’s tough measures that ULFA and many other insurgent groups became disoriented and cornered, forcing them toward peace talks with the Indian government starting in 2011.

After prolonged negotiations, ULFA’s pro-talks faction signed a peace agreement with the Indian government and the Assam government in December 2023, ending 44 years of armed struggle. In this way, Hasina’s security policy not only destroyed the networks of separatists and insurgent groups but also paved the way for lasting peace in India’s northeast.

WHAT DID SHEIKH HASINA ACTUALLY GAVE INDIA?

Sheikh Hasina gave India border security and peace. She shut down the opportunity for anti-India separatists to use Bangladeshi soil as a safe base. By dismantling the old safe routes and networks, she helped restore stability to India’s northeast and forced insurgent groups to the negotiating table for peace talks.

This was not a transfer of land, gas or any material resource; rather, it was security cooperation, which was of tremendous importance to India.

 

SHEIKH HASINA’S ORIGINAL STATEMENT

At a news conference at Ganabhaban on May 30, 2018, Sheikh Hasina said in clear terms:

“We want nothing in return. What we have given India, they will remember for their whole lives. … We gave India peace. We gave them back peace from daily bombings and gunfire. They must remember this. … We decided that no one would be allowed to use our soil to run a separatist movement.”

News Link:

India should remember what we’ve given: Hasina

This statement itself proves that what she gave was peace and security — not any resource.
The prevailing rumors are merely an attempt to obscure this reality.