Traders from Assam’s Sribhumi district (formerly Karimganj district) on Monday indefinitely suspended import and export of goods from Bangladesh in protest against “growing attacks” on minorities in the neighbouring country.
“The suspension of trade will very soon extend to all four northeastern states sharing a border with Bangladesh in protest against the attack on minorities and the anti-India steps of the caretaker government in the neighbouring country. Trade is conducted through 13 land and river custom ports located across Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram,” said Amaresh Roy, general secretary of the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Guwahati.
The Karimganj District Exporters-Importers Coordination Committee, an umbrella body of four trade bodies with 400 members, decided to suspend trade activities on Saturday.
Roy said: “The decision became effective from Monday. Trading has come to a complete halt. We will not receive any goods from Bangladesh nor will we send any goods to Bangladesh over the targeting of Hindu minorities. They even dishonoured the Indian Tricolour on Saturday. It is an indefinite suspension of trade.” Trade with Bangladesh is conducted through the Sutarkandi land port and river port inside Sribhumi town.
Mostly limestone, ginger, fresh fruits, coal, rice and wheat are exported to Bangladesh through the land (Sutarkandi) and river ports in Sribhumi which borders Sylhet district of Bangladesh. The imports from Bangladesh included beverages, plastic products, cement, cotton waste, apparel and CI sheets. India’s biggest trade
partner in South Asia is Bangladesh.
On average 300 to 400 trucks supply goods to Bangladesh every day while 15-20 enter Sribhumi daily, Roy said.
Assam shares a 262km border with Bangladesh, of which 98.3km is in Karimganj. Tripura shares 856km, Meghalaya 318km and Mizoram 443km borders with the neighbouring nation which has been in turmoil since July following a student-led movement leading to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime on August 5.
The coordination committee informed the Sribhumi district administration about their decision not to do business with Bangladesh, however, an official said that it was a decision of private parties not of the government.
Security has already been tightened in the port areas of the Sutarkandi land port and the Sribhumi ferry customs port (located in the same district) which saw a “Chalo Bangladesh” protest on Sunday against the alleged atrocities of minorities and the insult to the Indian flag.
On Monday morning, suspended Congress MLA from Karimganj North, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, staged a protest at Bisarjan Ghat by burning food products from Bangladesh in protest of the atrocities against minorities in Bangla desh.
No treatment
There have been protests in Tripura where a leading private hospital in Agartala suspended its services to patients from Bangladesh.
The decision was taken by the ILS Super Speciality Hospital on Saturday, a staffer said on Monday, “keeping in mind” recent incidents of minorities being targetted in Bangladesh. There was also pressure from protestors to halt treating Bangladesh
nationals.
There was also a protest organised by the Hindu Sangharsh Samity over the November 25 arrest of former Iskcon member Chinmoy Krishna Das in front of the Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner’s office in Agartala on Monday.
