Home ›› 12 Sep 2022 ›› Governance
A legal notice has been served on the government seeking necessary action within seven days to permanently stop the export of hilsa to India.
Supreme Court lawyer Mahmudul Hasan served the notice on Sunday.
The notice was sent to the secretaries of commerce, fisheries and livestock, foreign, civil aviation and tourism ministries, chairman of the National Board of Revenue, chief controller of imports and exports, and chairman of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation.
The limited amount of hilsa fish available from the Padma river most often does not show up in the local markets, the notice claims.
“Due to the export of hilsa to India, its price has increased in the local markets of Bangladesh. What is sadder is that hilsa is being exported to India at a lower price than the market price in Bangladesh,” it added.
Referring to the fact that most of the hilsa from Padma river ends up being exported to India, the lawyer also said, “In fact, a limited amount of hilsa is available from the Padma river. Therefore, as a result of the export of these Padma hilsa to India, Padma hilsa is not available in sufficient quantity in the markets of Bangladesh.
“According to Bangladesh Export Policy-2021-24, Hilsa fish is not a freely exportable product. The Ministry of Commerce has allowed the export of hilsa to India completely unjustly, ignoring the interests of the people.”
