Al Jazeera :
Hilsa is Bangladesh’s national fish. Locally known as ilish, it is cherished as the queen among fish and forms part of the culinary identity of both Bangladesh and the bordering Indian state of West Bengal.
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina used the fish – which is found in the Bay of Bengal and in rivers – as a tool of diplomacy to foster ties with its western neighbour, India.
But Bangladesh’s interim government’s decision to briefly ban exports of the fish to India in September caused a culinary crisis of sorts ahead of the festival of Durga Puja in India.
Hilsa fish cooked in mustard sauce is a popular delicacy during the festival.
Some experts viewed the move as a diplomatic rebuke for New Delhi’s backing of Hasina, who has taken shelter in India after her removal in late August.
Dhaka insisted the ban aimed to reduce the cost of the freshwater fish domestically amid a leaner harvest this year. It, however, reversed its order within two weeks.
So what is the fish at the centre of it all, and is it more than just a popular meal?
What is hilsa, the fish at the centre of the India-Bangladesh diplomatic row?
Bangladesh exports 70 percent of the world’s hilsa.
But the prized catch is increasingly becoming rare and expensive, owing to overfishing, increased demand and environmental challenges like climate change.
Fishermen this year say they are also struggling to catch adequate amounts of hilsa due to rough sea conditions.
The exports add to the scarcity, with the fish unaffordable to most Bangladeshis due to its high cost. In 2024, the price of a 1.5kg hilsa fish reached about $15 (1,800 Bangladeshi taka) in local markets, compared with about $10.9 (1,300 taka) last year.
At 550,000 to 600,000 tonnes a year, hilsa contributes about 12 percent of Bangladesh’s total fish production, supporting approximately 500,000 fishers directly and two million people in related industries.
Some cherished staples of local cuisine include bhapa ilish (steamed hilsa), ilish polao (pilaf rice with hilsa), and shorshe ilish (hilsa in mustard sauce).
Did Bangladesh impose a ban on hilsa exports to India?
In September, Dhaka imposed an export ban on hilsa, specifically targeting shipments to India. This came in the run-up to the Durga Puja festival in October when demand typically peaks across the border.
Fisheries officials explained that the ban was necessary to prioritise domestic supply and manage the declining hilsa population.
“We cannot allow ilish to be exported while our own people cannot buy them.
This year, I have instructed the Ministry of Commerce to prevent any ilish exports to India during Durga Puja,” Farida Akhter, adviser to the Bangladesh Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock told the Dhaka Tribune.
However, weeks later, the Commerce Ministry reversed the ban and approved a 3,000-tonne shipment to India.
“Against the backdrop of appeals by the exporters, approval has been given to export 3,000 tonnes of hilsa fish (to India), fulfilling the specific conditions on the occasion of the upcoming Durga Puja,” read the ministry’s statement.
Hilsa prices have shot up sharply in India as Dhaka reduced exports by 1,000 tonnes. But the government has failed to bring down the prices in Bangladesh.
“A syndicate of fishermen who smuggled hilsa to India kept the price high,” said Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan, a research data analyst at the Bangladesh Peace Observatory under the Centre for Alternatives.
An expert from India said the brief ban marked “a firm departure” from Hasina’s practice of using the fish as a symbol of goodwill and friendship between Dhaka and New Delhi.
Hasina first used the fish as a diplomatic tool when she came to power in 1996. She gifted hilsa to then-West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu ahead of a landmark agreement on sharing water, a major bilateral issue between the neighbours.
In 2016, the former Bangladeshi prime minister sent a consignment of hilsa to Mamata Banerjee, who heads the government of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh.
A year later, former President Pranab Mukherjee, a prominent Bengali leader of the time, was gifted hilsa as a gesture of friendship.
But the interim government is likely to diverge from Hasina’s pro-India foreign policy, according to an expert on India-Bangladesh relations.
The move by the interim government “compromises the goodwill” between the two nations, Sohini Bose, associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in Kolkata, told Al Jazeera via email. Is this the first such ban? No.
Bangladesh imposed a ban on hilsa exports to India in 2012 following disputes over a water-sharing agreement. This was eventually lifted in January 2018 as a goodwill gesture.
Additionally, over the years Hasina’s government frequently made exceptions to the ban by “gifting” hundreds of tonnes of the fish ahead of Durga Puja.
Bangladesh also periodically imposes local bans on fishing hilsa to protect it during breeding periods.
The main ban is enforced for 22 days during October and has been a practice since 2007.
This restriction during hilsa’s spawning season gives it time to reproduce undisturbed.
The downside is that this poses economic challenges for fishermen, many of whom rely on hilsa for their livelihood, What other cultural symbols did Hasina use as a diplomatic tool?
Hasina has also gifted locally made sarees and mangoes to leaders across the border.
In 2021, Hasina reportedly sent 2,600kg of Haribhanga mangoes to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The gesture came as Bangladesh faced a delay in the supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses from India.
Why are ties between India and Bangladesh strained?
India backed Hasina until the end of her 15-year rule, which rights group say was marked by human rights abuses, electoral manipulations and a crackdown on opposition parties.
New Delhi also observed silence on a government crackdown that killed more than 300 protesters, shortly before she fled Bangladesh.
India’s hosting of Hasina has not gone down well with the interim government, which has sought Hasina’s extradition – a demand New Delhi is unlikely to honour.
Many in Bangladesh perceive New Delhi’s backing of Hasina as enabling her heavy-handed approach.
In her 15-year rule, Hasina fostered close ties with India, particularly through security cooperation agreements, which critics and opposition parties said were biased in favour of New Delhi.