India and Bangladesh need a hilsa accord

If interlocutors can pull it off, the bilateral discord over the sharing of the Teesta waters, not to mention the issue of marooned enclaves, could be rendered irrelevant. Given that it arouses equally strong and unparalleled emotions on both sides of the border, an entente cordiale between India and Bangladesh over the future of the Hilsa fish (tenualosa ilisha) would be nothing short of historic. As it is, the Farakka barrage effectively blocked a major spawning route of hilsa on the Indian side, so the urgency of preserving the remaining stocks downriver and in Bangladesh is apparent. Therefore, a mutually-agreed no-fishing pact, in order to protect juveniles and breeding fish, would be akin to a no-war pact.

It would be a silver-scaly lining to the dark clouds — not merely literal ones — currently looming over the region. If the fish disappears from the estuarine waters of Bengal, there is no telling what the ripple effect would be on the psyche of the millions in India and Bangladesh who revere it with common devotion. Any agreement would come at an opportune time for Mamata Banerjee as well as Sheikh Hasina, considering both are heading for crucial elections and the popular mood is restive. The prospect of succulent hilsa forever after would be the very thing needed to calm agitated Bengali gourmands.