Hilsa

Before the turmoil, Bangladesh exported an average of 5,000 tonnes of Hilsa to India annually, a practice that began in 1996

The Fish Importers' Association on Sunday welcomed Bangladesh's interim government's decision to allow the export of over 3,000 tonnes of Hilsa to India during the upcoming Durga Puja festivities. The association said it was a "good and positive" response, which will satiate the taste buds of Bengalis during the festive season. "We expect the first consignment of Hilsa to arrive in markets in Kolkata and its neighbourhood via the Petrapole border by September 26," Association secretary Syed Anwar Maqsood told PTI here. "It's fine even if 500 of the 3,000 tonnes arrive in the first phase... let Hilsa lovers of West Bengal get a chance to savour their favourite Padma Hilsa from Bangladesh. We thank the interim government for understanding the situation following requests from India. Hilsa is sent every year during Durga Puja. We hope the export of Hilsa to India becomes a more regular affair in the coming days," he said. Maqsood, in a letter to Bangladesh's interim government on ...

Traditionally, the former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina would send shipments of Hilsa to India annually as a goodwill gesture around August to October, despite export restrictions

Perhaps the very first hilsa innovation, Ilish Macher Dum Polao can be attributed to the 17th century ancestors of Siddhartha Bahubalindra of the Moynagarh Rajbari