Bangladesh has hit us where it hurts. It has banned the export of Padma Hilsa or Ilish to India a month before Durga Puja. The Hilsa is not just a fish. It is both an emotion and an initiation ritual. It’s food that makes us work—we have to sift through its endless bones to understand the near-perfect texture of the freshwater fish.
And it’s all the more important during Durga Puja, West Bengal’s biggest celebration. It’s when Bengalis unleash their foodie side to gorge on the most delectable dishes. The Padma Hilsa occupies the top spot.
Even when Bangladesh had banned the export of the fish to India, exceptions were usually made during the festive season. It was former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who reintroduced what is now called, ‘hilsa diplomacy’. Since 2019, more than 1,000 tonnes of hilsa from the Padma River have been exported to India in the run-up to Durga Puja.
While others may not understand, this move by the country’s interim government is akin to denying basic rights to Bengalis. Bangladeshi Ilish from Padma, a distributary of river Ganga, is essential to Bengali pujo food. The disruption in Hilsa diplomacy will affect and perhaps unite the usually combative Ghotis, who trace their origins to West Bengal, and Banglas, who are originally from East Bengal.
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A part of the culture
There is a running joke in the eastern part of the country that when parents get upset about their daughters choosing a husband who is not from West Bengal or any of the neighbouring states, like Assam and Odisha, they serve their son-in-law hilsa. It’s a test for acceptance—if he can navigate through the bones of the fish with ease, he wins.
The one hilsa dish that everyone savours is a steamed version with mustard paste. When this was made at home, no amount of rice would be enough. My mother would always have an extra cooker of rice ready.
There is also the very simple bhaja or fry, which doesn’t use anything more than salt and turmeric. The key is the pungent mustard oil it’s fried in. The oil is also mixed with the rice and the fish. A green chilli completes the meal.
The ban is all the more devastating because hilsa is a seasonal fish, and people wait through the year for the best-tasting variety. And this peak season coincides with Durga Puja.
The price of the fish—which ranges from Rs 1,000 per kg to Rs 2,000 per kg—also means people wait for a special occasion to relish it.
The fish is not just a delicacy, it’s also closely tied to Bengal’s culture.
Pohela Boishakh or Bengali New Year is incomplete without a meal of hilsa with panta bhat or fermented rice.
In many Bengali Hindu families, hilsa is bought when there is a puja at home. Some even offer it to the goddess Lakshmi. Without the fish, the puja is considered to be incomplete. Hilsa is also a part of wedding rituals. It is gifted to the bride by the groom’s family.
And Durga Puja is the most important of all. The people of not just Bengal, but Assam and Tripura, wait for the arrival of Padma Hilsa, just like they wait for goddess Durga.
The ban has been put into effect due to low supply. “We cannot allow ilish to be exported while our own people cannot buy them,” said Farida Akhter, the advisor to the Bangladesh Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock to Dhaka Tribune. Traders in Bengal even wrote the interim government, asking for the decision to be reversed. But the request has been denied.
Sure, the hilsa is found in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, but they are of an inferior quality. If one has to eat hilsa, it should be the Padma Hilsa. Anything else is just a consolation prize.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
If you feel you are stupid, just read this, you won’t feel less stupid but feel happy that someone is more stupidier than you and calls them journalist in today’s time
What a load of crap, Tina are you in bed with momin or a sell out. No mention of atrocities in Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh and you are worried about Hilda. Maybe you can get some Hindu dead body parts to eat
The author must have known about the Bengali culture only from those exaggerated stereotyped bollywood movies. Otherwise Hilsa has no connection with Durgapuja customs whatsoever and having a Hilsa meal on Pohela boishakh that’s 15th April is out of question because resident Bengalis know very well, we’ll only get served a 8 month old frozen Hilsa on the plate.
Stop fanning the hate politics in the name of independent journalism. Hold a little bit of accountability.
Since when Hilsa become relevent to Durga puja , gutter article .
This article is fed by radical Bangladeshis. There is no impact on any Bengali family because of this Hilasa. Stop feeding your radical minds.
what a load of garbafe from couptaji and his equallydemented side kicks. No one cares about some demented bongsm who value hilda fish more tha national secirity and national interest. shift your office to bangladesh so that you can eat fish evry meal. what a bunch of stupid losers
Hilsa is not basic rights.basic rights is water.and we are thriving for it.tell your cm and pm to give us our deserving water.then we can have a common ground to talk and someone said about onion.you played this card few years back.now we have found alternative.be happy
There is no water in the river due to dams in India. Therefore, hilsa breeding is stopped.
Well, Bangladesh doesn’t produce enormous amount of Hilsa. The supply of it can never match with demand.
Here, in Bangladesh, people also celebrate Durga Pujo. And they had to do it without Hilsa fish for so called Hilsa Diplomacy. The Interim Government has decided to direct the supply to Bengalis living in Bangladesh. I don’t see any problem in this move.
India should have hit back with a onion and potato ban during Milad. The interim government is blithely banning export of Hilsa while importing the commodities they need from India. India is again setting the reprehensible standards of genuflecting before Islamist governments in Dhaka. Good relationships are based on give and take and not one way traffic.