Maitree Express: the train uniting hearts

Bangladesh-India train unites hearts across borders once again

Trains travelled in both directions on Monday - the first service since the 1965 war between India and Pakistan.

Bangladesh - previously East Pakistan - gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 but Delhi and Dhaka only agreed to resume the train link in 2001.

The train has been dubbed the Maitreyi, or Friendship, Express.

One service left Dhaka on Bengali New Year's Day on Monday for the inaugural 500km (310 mile) run to Calcutta, with another train running from Calcutta to Dhaka.

Bangladesh and India's West Bengal state used to form united Bengal and many people on both sides of the border share a common language and have relatives on the other side.

With one-way tickets starting from $8, it is expected to be popular with Bangladeshis visiting family, looking for work, shopping or seeking medical treatment in their wealthier neighbour.

One man on the train said he was returning to his village in Bangladesh after 60 years. "I came to India as a refugee when I was six year old but for me Kalindi in Bangladesh, the village I was born, remains my motherland," said Janatosh Pal, his voice choked with emotion.

The route was suspended in 1965 after war broke out between India and Pakistan. Bangladesh was then part of Pakistan.

Public enthusiasm was palpable and thousands lined up on both sides of the railway track all the way from Calcutta to Gede on the border, waving at the train. A group representing Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, Nikhil Banga Nagarik Sangha (All Bengal Citizens Committee), briefly obstruct the train because they are opposed to it.

"There is no reason why India should develop close links with Bangladesh when Hindus are persecuted in that country," said the group's chief Subhas Chakrabarti.

Police blamed the group for planting three bombs on the route on Sunday. The bombs were defused and scores of the group's supporters were arrested while demonstrating near the tracks.

Bilateral relations were dogged by suspicion and rivalry for many years even though India helped Bangladesh win its independence from Pakistan, says our correspondent.

Disagreements over security arrangements delayed the implementation of the rail link after the two countries signed an agreement in 2001.

A passenger coach and freight trains already run between the two countries.

The Maitree Express

A rail track snapped in half along the India-Bangladesh border. And, the protagonist’s lament: "That is my country ... How near is it. Still, I can never reach there."

Ritwik Ghatak’s immortal scene from Komal Gandhar had captured the grief of a generation torn asunder by Partition and war. But, had his protagonist Bhrigu lived now, his dream of ‘reaching there’ wouldn’t have remained just a dream. For, Bengalis on either side of the international border got a gift to cherish this Poila Baisakh.

Forty-three years after the rail link between India and Bangladesh was snapped, a pair of trains — Maitree Express — rolled on relaid tracks to bridge the gap.

At 7.30 am, one train was flagged off from Kolkata station with 60-odd passengers. Its destination: Dhaka Cantonment.

The nostalgic mood was best captured by Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

"It is a strange feeling... of a kind that Apu and Durga may have felt when they watched the trains pass by their village. This has brought back to life something that was put to rest many years ago..."

The train that reached Kolkata from Dhaka in the evening was more crowded. It had 336 passengers on board, all of them overjoyed to be part of history.

The small crowd at the station clapped and cheered as the passengers got off. Railwaymen and children offered flower bouquets.

A group of passengers quickly got together under the banner of Bangladesh Bharat Friendship Society and marched towards the exit, wishing everybody "Shubho Nababarsho".

There were others like Sahadat Hussain Salim, who preferred to make a spectacle of themselves. Salim walked across the platform waving the Bangladeshi national flag.

"I am very happy to be here. We Bangladeshis share a common bond with you people. We especially thank you for standing by us during our war of liberation," he shouted.