On India-Bangladesh relations, and Piash Karim
A conversation covering a wide range of issues at a very high level; and an upcoming event on one of the earliest critics of the fallen regime
Shafiqur Rahman and I talk with Biplab Pal, an Indian-America social media personality and tech entrepreneur.
Manjur Karim Piash was an American trained social scientist who returned to Bangladesh in 2007 to teach at the incipient BRAC University. He was an astute analyst of the identity politics that tore Bangladesh apart in 2013, and an earliest critic of the Hasina regime. He died suddenly a decade ago, and the fallen regime’s thugs denied him the tradition of a last respect at the Shaheed Minar that is usually granted to prominent intellectuals.
He is now honored in the liberated Shaheed Minar.
Further reading
The Best Books on The Indian Economy
Kaushik Basu, 21 June 2016
Insular India’s exporters will struggle to fill Chinese shoes
Alan Beatie, 2 Mar 2023
India’s civil society is under attack
The Economist, 21 Feb 2024
Indian Economy Is Rigged Under Plutocratic Influence. What About Elections?
Snehasis Mukhopadhyay, 28 Mar 2024
Books on Modern Indian History
Dinyar Patel, 29 March 2024
Who are Bengalis? Race science in Bengal
Projit Bihari Mukharji, 3 June 2024
Irfan Chowdhury, 1 Jul 2024
The Economist, 16 Sep 2024
Border killings: Understanding accountability
Quazi Omar Foysal, 18 Sep 2024
India, US both need a stable Bangladesh
Zillur Rahman, 25 Sep 2024
Teesta's tide: A defining moment for Modi, Yunus, and South Asia's future
Nazmus Sakib Khan, 2 Oct 2024
Dilshana Parul, 7 October 2024
A few critiques as usual -
1) You talked about how India is better at managing inflation than bangladesh because of the lower rate. I sort of disagree. I don't think the actual rate of inflation matters that much because the target is rather arbitrary. What matters is stability and predictability. BTW I do think India is better at managing inflation because it's central bank has more independence and it adopted an inflation targeting regime in 2015. Bangladesh hasn't explicitly. It's possible that after the recent bullshit we will also move to an inflation targeting regime.
2) Businesses don't usually openly ally with a single party because they prefer to hedge their bets. Supporting all parties is the optimal strategy.
3) The notion that capitalism undermines democracy is ridiculous. If you look at history capitalism has been a precursor to democratisation. Nearly all early Republics were in countries known for trade and commerce.
4) I don't think the Indian business influence in bangladesh is that relevant. China, Japan, Korea and America have much bigger investments in bangladesh. India bangladesh relations is always about identity politics. I would actually prefer more business influence but all of our surrounding Indian states are economic basketcases.
5) These Kolkata people are such shameless swine. They have ruined their own state with left wing policies, then move to capitalist countries and still shit on capitalism. Worthless bastards.
6) I think India bangladesh infrastructure and business cooperation will improve and it will improve under BNP.
Ershad, the man who made Islam the state religion, was also the one who reformed civil sharia.
Hasina, who was supposed to be pro India, made China the best FDI source for Bangladesh and also did military procurement and joint training with China.
Modi, who was seen as anti Muslim, was the one who resolved the border dispute with bangladesh.
Likewise, BNP will have the cultural cache to negotiate with India and not be seen as "selling of the country".