Sentimental journey
The train to East Bengal in nostalgic minds never stopped running. Years rolled by; the vicissitudes of politics gradually weakened the physical and material bonds of thousands of refugees in West Bengal with their sweet homes across the border. The war of 1965 came and the formalities for entering Pakistan became absurd enough to make even a short trip eastwards impossible. The age-old rail link was snapped right and proper. In the last nine months the railways in the border areas of Bangladesh became targets of West Pakistani attack and despite the admirable performance of East Bengali Railway staff a certain amount of damage was done. True, such artificial breakdown of communication did little to obstruct emotional and cultural traffic between East and West Bengal. The great uprising which has created Bangladesh bears eloquent testimony to that. Memories, sweet or bitter, cannot be obliterated by official policy. To amend the words of Tagore, the mind can move even if trains do not run between points connected by vehicles of understanding.
With Bangladesh on the threshold of a new era, the statement of the India Railway Minister that the railway link between West Bengal and Bangladesh will be established before long promises to give material basis to an emotional reality. As the Minister has indicated, as soon as the Bangladesh Government asks for assistance in railway building, the Indian Government will buckle down to it seriously, which will mean even providing scarce material like steel. And India will not and should not expect to get much in return except the goodwill of a valiant people. It is time to put an end to all nonsense about the arrival of trainloads of food stuff from Bangladesh in the near future. A certain quantity of fish perhaps. But generally speaking Bangladesh will have to feed her own people first. Yet trains from Sealdah to Dacca will mean for many people a long sentimental journey, well worth the trouble. [Editorial]
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 17.12.1971