A month ago Indian fish traders wrote to Bangladesh asking for hilsa. Their letter requested that the ban on exporting hilsa from Bangladesh to India be lifted. Yet within a short time the opposite has happened: hilsa is now being imported into Bangladesh from Gujarat in India.

On 12 August, Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary of the Fish Importers' Association of West Bengal, wrote to Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir seeking permission for hilsa exports from Bangladesh. The letter asked the Bangladesh government to arrange for hilsa to be sent to West Bengal and other Indian states for this year's Durga Puja.

In the letter the Indian fish importers congratulated Khandaker Abdul Muktadir on taking office as commerce minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. They expressed hope that his experience and dedication would further increase cooperation and mutual understanding between India and Bangladesh.

Requesting hilsa exports to India, the letter said they had imported hilsa from Bangladesh since 1996 through the Benapole land customs station (West Bengal, India) and the Akhaura land customs station (Tripura, India).

In July 2012, however, the Bangladesh government banned hilsa exports. Since then they have applied regularly to the Bangladesh government to lift the ban, but without result, the letter said.

The letter also said that from September 2019 the Bangladesh government began granting special permission for hilsa exports for one month during Durga Puja. The Indian importers claimed that the initiative was later not carried out.

The importers also highlighted the cultural and social ties between the people of the two Bengals. People on both sides share a special closeness in language, food and culture, they said, and fish lovers in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura wait for their favourite food, hilsa.

The letter humbly asked the Bangladesh government to lift the ban on hilsa exports. The importers hoped that hilsa exports to India would again be allowed for Durga Puja, which would benefit people in India, especially in West Bengal.

Contacted about the letter, Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary of the Fish Importers' Association in Howrah, West Bengal, told Jagonews24 that, as every year, they had written to the government this year asking for hilsa from Bangladesh for Durga Puja.

He said they had applied so that hilsa could be imported from Bangladesh this year too, and hoped the Bangladesh government would again allow hilsa to be sent to India for the festival.

Within a month of the request for exports to India, "tasteless, scentless" hilsa from Gujarat is entering Bangladesh. Usually hilsa is exported from Bangladesh to India every year around Durga Puja. This time the reverse has happened: instead of exports, hilsa is being imported into Bangladesh from Gujarat.

The secretary of the West Bengal Fish Importers' Association confirmed that about 500 tonnes of Gujarat hilsa have already reached Bangladesh. He said they visited Bangladesh with a delegation last month and met Commerce Secretary Ataur Rahman Khan and the Indian High Commissioner, but there was no discussion then of sending Gujarat hilsa.

Syed Anwar Maqsood added that Gujarat has produced a large amount of hilsa this year, so they decided to send hilsa to Bangladesh before the Puja. About 500 tonnes of Gujarat hilsa have already been sent.

Noting that hilsa production in Bangladesh has been low this year, he said that, the way things are going, more Gujarat hilsa may be exported to Bangladesh.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.