In the Sribhumi district of Assam, at least 500 traders have announced that they will no longer be importing or exporting to Bangladesh due to the rising violence against minorities and disrespect for the Tricolor in the neighbouring country.
On Monday, the traders assembled at a river port close to Sribhumi town, where some of them set fire to Bangladeshi goods that had previously been shipped here.
The Karimganj District Export-Import Coordination Committee's Amaresh Roy stated that they oppose violence against Bangladesh's religious minorities, including Christians and Hindus.
He said: “They continuously disparage India without cause, but most recently, we witnessed an insult to our national flag there; this is intolerable. The nation comes first for us, and we do not wish to carry on doing business with that kind of nation.”
According to Roy, the Sribhumi district is home to several trade unions, and the coordination committee serves as a forum for them all.
“We have jointly taken the decision and the trade will be discontinued until the normalcy returns in Bangladesh,” he stated.
There are 13 land ports and four water ports in northeastern India, including Bangladesh and Sribhumi. The busiest land ports are Sutarkandi in Sribhumi, Dawki in Meghalaya, and Akhaura in Tripura.
Coal, stone, limestone, ginger, onion, rice, dry chilli, and fruits are the main exports from the northeast. Wooden furniture, plastics, cement, GI sheets, waste cotton, iron rods, fish, pickles, soft drinks, biscuits, and a few other food items are also being imported to Bangladesh.
Roy claimed that following the onset of the widespread violence in Bangladesh on August 5, commerce was suspended for about two months.
“The majority of traders in Bangladesh were hiding for political reasons, and the country's major banks refused to provide Letters of Credit (LC). However, the trade began in October,” he added.
Large-scale demonstrations against violence against Hindus in Bangladesh were held in the Barak Valley region of Assam, which is made up of the districts of Cachar, Hailakandi, and Sribhumi. Following the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das of Iskcon last week, the protest grew more intense.
Joining the traders, local MLA from the Sribhumi district Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha declared that they would not permit any trade with Bangladesh until the attacks on Hindu minorities ceased.
In a letter to the District Commissioner of Sribhumi, Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi, he wrote, “As the sentiment of the people of Sribhumi District is on high regarding the arrest of Chinmoykrishna Das & due to targeting the Hindu religious minority community. I hereby request you to stop the export & import with Bangladesh via the Sutarkandi Border and Sribhumi Steamerghat through the riverine route till the situation normalises in Bangladesh.”
However, Dwivedi underlined that the government has not issued an order to halt commerce with Bangladesh and that they will not interfere until such orders are issued.
“These transactions take place between private parties, and independent businessmen are free to choose who they want and do not wish to do business with. We have no say in the matter. There is not an official embargo on imports; all I can say is that no order from the appropriate authorities has been issued,” he mentioned.
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