IANS/Dhaka


Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her country needs Teesta river water and it is India’s duty to ensure a fair share of it, a media report said.
“It is the Indian government’s responsibility. This is not my headache, but theirs. Talks will continue. I need that water,” Hasina said, reported bdnews24.com.
In a press briefing at her official residence, Hasina hinted at other options, if a treaty was not signed.
“We are the lower riparian country. The water has to come. If it (the deal) does not happen, then we have
alternatives,” she said.
The Sheikh Hasina-led government began initiatives after assuming office in 2009 to ink a deal on Teesta water-sharing with India.
The treaty, however, was vetoed at the last minute by India’s West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee despite New Delhi’s efforts to see it through.
The prime minister hoped that there would be no problem in taking bilateral relations forward with the new Indian government, observing she had dealt with five Indian prime ministers in her three terms in office.
“We worked, maintained good relations with them, and solved many issues. We sorted out the long-pending issue concerning the sharing of Ganges waters. We have reached a consensus on the Tipamukh dam,” she added.
During a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi May27, Bangladesh parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said she found him “positive” on solving outstanding bilateral issues like sharing Teesta water and implementing the Land Boundary Agreement.
Reacting to Law Minister Anisul Huq’s comments on Jamaat’s trial, Prime Minister Hasina said legal obstacles barred the government from pursuing further charges against the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami for crimes during the 1971.
“The law minister’s comment is legally correct,” she told a crowded press conference late on Saturday at her official residence even as anti-war crime groups came up with strong protests against the comments by Huq who said Jamaat’s trial as a party was impossible under existing laws.
Hasina said: “A case on the Jamaat issue is now pending with the Supreme Court. They (SC) will decide if Jamaat will remain as a party or be banned”.
The premier’s comments came as platforms like Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee and Gonojagoron Mancha alleged that some ministers and leaders of ruling Awami League appeared soft on Jamaat despite a process underway to bring to justice members of the extreme right-wing party for crimes against humanity during the country’s 1971 liberation war.
Jamaat was opposed to Bangladesh’s independence while most of its leaders are currently being tried in two special tribunals and one of them was hanged last year after a trial for atrocities committed and siding with Pakistani troops during the war.
But Huq’s comments came as the prosecution team of the country’s International Crimes Tribunal was nearly set to bring formal charges against Jamaat to be tried as a party alongside its leaders.
“Suppose Jamaat faces trial and is convicted for war crimes. Then the leaders of the party will serve the punishment for the crimes of Jamaat as per the existing laws of the country. But many leaders of Jamaat have already been sentenced by the tribunal,” Huq said earlier this week.
He added: “So, how can a person be punished for the same offence again? It should be considered that imposing punishment twice is contradictory under the
constitution”.