India, Aug. 30 -- The negotiations on Hasina's return should be done separately, and we should assure her that we are not forcing her to return. However, we must stop her press conferences.

India's strategic conundrum vis-a-vis then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, began with Bengal's first partition by Curzon in 1905. In reality, the tragedy unfolded much earlier with the "sale of Bengal" to the English with Clive's farcical victory in Plassey in 1757. Did Islam make a violent entrance into Bengal? This is an emotive issue. Was there a syncretic culture in Bengal from ancient times? Were the two distinct religious communities living in harmony, bound by a common culture, language, cuisine and racial origin? The census of 1872, followed by...