By Karan Thapar

Frankly, I blame Henry Kissinger. Way back in the 1970s he called Bangladesh “an international basket-case”. At the time, no doubt, it was. Television images of the frequent devastating floods it suffered confirmed this characterization. So the description stuck.

Today, Bangladesh is a very different country. The world may be slow in changing its opinion – although I’m not so sure of that – but we in India have no right to be trapped in the 1970s. Yet that’s precisely what the junior Home Minister revealed last weekend.

“Half of Bangladesh will be empty (vacant) if India offers citizenship to them.”, said G. Kishan Reddy. “Half of Bangladeshis will come over to India if citizenship is promised.” Apart from the fact he was unforgivably undiplomatic and undeniably offensive, Kishan Reddy also revealed that he’s utterly ignorant of the true state of Bangladesh. Worse, he doesn’t know that in comparison to India, Bangladesh is performing far better on many, if not most, of the indices that determine quality of life.

First, Bangladesh is growing at a rate that we in India can only envy and hope to achieve 2 or 3 years down the road. Whilst we slip below 5 per cent, Bangladesh is racing ahead at 8. Second, whilst Nirmala Sitharaman desperately strives to attract investment leaving China by offering 15 per cent rates of corporate tax, Bangladesh is one of the two countries where it’s actually going. Consequently, high streets in London and New York are brimming with clothes made in Bangladesh but very few produced in Ludhiana and Tirupur. No wonder Bangladesh’s merchandise exports grew in double digits in fiscal 2019; India’s sharply fell.

However, economic performance is only one part of the growing difference that separates India from Bangladesh. The other is more telling. To put it bluntly, life in Bangladesh appears a lot more attractive than it is on the western side of that country’s border. In case you haven’t realized, that’s India.

Just look at the facts. Life expectancy for males and females in Bangladesh is 71/74. In India it’s just 67/70. When you research below this broad picture the difference becomes even more striking.

First, take children. Neonatal mortality in India is 22.73 per 1,000 live births, its just 17.12 in Bangladesh. Infant mortality is 29.94 in India versus 25.14 in Bangladesh. Our under-five mortality is 38.69, theirs is 30.16.

Now, come to women. In Bangladesh 71 per cent above the age of 15 are literate, only 66 per cent in India. In Bangladesh female labour participation is 30 per cent and rising, ours is 23 per cent and has fallen by 8 per cent in the last decade.

Finally, the ratio of high school enrolment for boys and girls, a measure that indicates how the future is developing, is 0.94 in India but 1.14 in Bangladesh. Not only are things better on the other side of the border, they’re going to get better still. We’re falling behind.

So when A. K. Abdul Momen, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, says “some Indian nationals are entering Bangladesh illegally for economic reasons” he may well be right. People migrate to improve their lives and life in Bangladesh seems decidedly better. If you’re an Indian muslim in danger of lynching because you trade in meat, accused of love-jihad because you’ve fallen in love with a hindu or in fear of losing your citizenship you could easily be tempted to cross to the other side.

At the moment, there can’t be too many inclined to journey in the opposite direction. Amit Shah might not be amused, but the statistics I’ve quoted suggest it’s more attractive to be a termite in Bangladesh than a legal citizen in India.

One last point: someone should tell Kishan Reddy that if America promises citizenship half of India will cross over. Actually, it will be far more. And, by the way, the fact America’s doors are presently shut isn’t stopping us. We have our own termites too!