Untold Facts

Good But

It was good to know from a press report that the P.M. Sheikh Hasina had admonished her cabinet colleague for inept talks and giving incorrect facts in the media. Let us hope that they would be more careful now on.

The physician Foreign Minister Dipu Moni made a statement that her Deputy Dr. Hasan refuted right then for factual error. And so the P.M. rightly admonished her.

I recall here an incident of my early life in late 20s. As a Pakistan central government scholarship holder I had the fortune to be in the USA for technological higher studies in mid sixties of the last century. The courses I had to follow apart from technological subjects included history and political science. One day in political science theory class Professor Dr. George Muer in course of a lecture commented that all technically trained persons were ‘half educated’. I took offence and asked him what he meant by that term ‘half educated’. He explained for me that as the technically trained persons undergo rigorously in the specific technical specialization areas, they get little or no worthy learning in social sciences, and so they remain half educated so far as the macro social milieu was concerned. I took his point. Possibly that incidental learning had many after effects on my thought. My subsequent persuasions were hardly technology but not only liberal education mainly in the University of London but also changed on to pursuing subject areas other than technology in my latter life and in teaching career.

In my retired life, I discovered that I have many half educated ones around me. Our two sons and the only daughter are physicians, two had post graduations, as well; two in-laws are also physicians with post graduations. Now I suffer from a sort of maniac. When my secondary school going granddaughter asked me questions about social issues in difference of her physician parents, I called them half educated ones that though hurt her but I found no alternative. She argued with me that physicians are good enough as they treat ailing persons as I am also in constant care of the physician sons, daughter and in laws. I did’t disagree with her for the utility but impressed on her that she must have a degree from the Oxford University in history or similar social science subjects to be able to appreciate what I meant to her using the term ‘half educated’. She, however, already had retorted to me that when she would finish the Oxford Degree in History I would not live but would die before her finishing the Oxford Degree. I replied to her that I needed not live to see her graduated; she would then herself appreciate what I meant by the term for the physicians, in this case.

Human knowledge is always partial and little compared to huge in store at this stage that many call the period of explosion of knowledge. But if one would keep one’s eyes open, he/she could have new knowledge at every moments of living life. Factual information is only a minute part of some attainment in cognitive domain. Such information gathering is feasible if one would consciously keep one’s mind independently open to new ideas and facts. I would put emphasis on the term independent or in this case thinking independently and rationally and not in a state of spoon-fed way.

Unfortunately, narrowly trained technical men and women though may be successful in application of their narrow area of skills, they may not necessarily be successful in the delicate area of public administration as particularly the Foreign Ministry that requires dealing with all countries of the world in varied persuasions. The matter may run into further trouble if playing sycophancy for the boss instead of free- thinking plays any part.

Ministers may not be expert that is quite likely given the political culture featuring Bangladesh society. But there should not have any shortage of experienced and knowledgeable persons in the bureaucracy. Such experienced persons could well be consulted before any minister would make any observation on any sensitive matter.

At the moment some may forgive many ministers making incorrect observations for they are novice, but so far as the future welfare of the country is concerned the ministers should be expected to behave responsibly in accuracy of facts and utterances as it remains a matter not only of dignity of the country but also of position in the estimation of many in the outside world, as well.

Author: M.T. Hussain

Sovereignty and subservience

I had opportunities to read through two senior journalists’ recent items, one in English and the other in Bengali, both lamenting for indignity of Bangladesh and of the P.M. Sheikh Hasina for her permitting out of protocol the Indian Foreign Secretary Shankar Menon’s one hour exclusive meeting on the 12th April evening in her office in Dhaka. The lamentations had some merit and dimension as they both felt that such breach of protocol amounted to a serious dent on the sovereignty of Bangladesh.

Although I have no scope to disagree with them, I would have a different feeling, in addition, into the matter.

It is well known that the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) is all through a political party very much reliable Indian guy. Since the death of Hossain Shahid Sorawardy in early 1963, the party had nothing of its own except to fall back upon Indian support and sustenance of various nature of the Indian government agencies, the Indian business interests notwithstanding the fact that the leader of mid sixty onwards to mid 1970s had been personally sustained by one of the notorious capitalist of Pakistan in collusion with the CIA.

The subsequent development had been more rigorous in the sense that the next hereditary and new leader had been fully sustained by the R&AW in the South Block for nearly six years from late August 1975 to mid May 1981. Sheikh Hasina is that exact product shaped and reconditioned by host of rigorous and extensive exercises. Who would disagree with this view of facts?

I recall right now some time before the December election, India’s Bengali High Commissioner in Dhaka threatened and reminded the ‘ungrateful’ Bangladeshis that short of their help Bangladesh would not have come into reality, and so the Bangladeshis must remain grateful forever to India for they brought about Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. I reacted to that sermon of the High Commissioner and told him straight way that gratefulness can’t be one-way matter but of two way issue. For the 1971 victory both Bangladesh and India should be grateful to both, because, Bangladesh had her independence for direct armed help of India, no doubt, but India also should be grateful to Bangladesh for the Bangladesh freedom fighters destroyed Pakistan, the number one enemy of India, and further that Bangladesh founded as the independent state out of East Pakistan fully ensured for India to permanently cool down and fully made safe from any armed threat as it could have been from federal army of Pakistan, should Bangladesh would not come about in 1971. The savings in Indian defense budget for 4,200 km. common border with India of former East Pakistan that account for billions of dollars in yearly recurring expenditure should have made India further grateful to Bangladesh.

The 2008 December election result have emboldened not only Hasina but also her long trusted patron across the border. In other words, they are not now any entity different from each other but almost one and one. Such closeness and deep affinity can’t put any bar of protocol on one to one meet as Menon did on the 12th April flown unannounced from Delhi. Why could ’t she say no and ask Menon instead to meet his counterpart, the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh? Pity. It would as such be useless to lament for the ‘breach’ of protocol that patriots and self respecting citizen of the sovereign Bangladesh must wish to show up. But unless and until she comes out of the psychological bondage and deeply conditioned psyche of subservience, God willing, there is no light in the dark tunnel ahead.

Author: M.T. Hussain

Fundamentalist Everywhere!

Ghost everywhere

A NGO chief based in Bangladesh, a renowned lady, expressed her deep concern in agony in an interview with a foreign Radio media on the 23 April morning (Dhaka Time) that she has been long worried about huge presence of MOULOBADI or ‘Fundamentalist’, meaning Muslim ‘Fundamentalists’ in all institutions in Bangladesh.

The ghost in others views

My first reaction was that she has kept her line of thinking with Joy, Waliur Rahman, etc. of the Awami League variety and lobby. Sheikh Hasina’s son Joy invented fundamentalists in the institutions like Army, BDR etc. that he considered hindrance to ‘lasting secularism’ in Bangladesh. Waliur Rahman loathed them, as well, in the same institutions. The propaganda kept not only in tune with what the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, a trained physician Moni made a hunch recently that Bangladesh must not go ahead to last as the ‘Moderate Muslim country’ but remain absolutely secular! Personally, I took them nothing in out of tune as Sheikh Hasina as well soon after taking oath in January stated in quite clear terms with a journalist of The Statesman (Kolkata) that she would make certain that Bangladesh becomes a secular state. Neither do I expect that the Hasina Government would go for anything except secularism, much less make Bangladesh a moderate Muslim country. That is why nothing to wonder that they would tolerate any bit of MOULOBAD or “Islamic Fundamentalism.” One would wonder further about Joy’s bashing the Muslim women in Bangladesh wearing Hijab, and his lamentation was that Hijab use in recent days increased by 500%! He would know his methodology for enumeration of the Hijab.

BAL’s Agenda

There is nothing wrong or unbecoming of the Awami League for they maintain a semblance of establishing secularism in Bangladesh. What is not becoming is that they have to do so not only in rhetoric in air but also reverting back to the 1972 Constitution. That would mean that they have to amend the Constitution and scrap off the 5th Amendment, in particular. They have that strength of 2/3rd majority in the Parliament to do the scrapping off. It need not take a full session but just may be only hours, not even hours as the 4rth Amendment Hasina’s father Sheikh Muib did in 13 minutes in January 1975. That 4rth Amendment, we recall, provided for death knell of pluralism and multi-party democracy in Bangladesh. In about only seven months tragically though Mujib had his own death knell for betraying the people of basic freedom and for turning the country into ‘Animal Farm’ of the BAKSAL variety.

The fiasco of earlier majority

In 1975 Mujib had overwhelming majority in the Parliament that he secured in March 1973 election through vote rigging, stealing of ballot papers, snatching ballot boxes and above all through terrorizing all candidates of the tiny opposition and all his political opponents. Hasina’s cadres have been engaged quite effectively for terrorizing the people, the political opposition elements, in particular, since almost the day one of her term in the first week of January 2009 just as Mujib had engaged his fascist cadres soon after he returned to Dhaka on the 10th January 1972 from his captivity in Pakistan. Hasina’s second term in almost all accounts appears clearly a simile of what had been Mujib’s rule as in that began in early 1972 and ended tragically in mid August 1975.

Majority in Parliament and majority aspirations

The crucial difference in case of Hasina is that she has to go against the people’s sacred psychological belief in Islamic values to pure secular values. Mujib did not have to encounter this sort of difficulty or popular opposition as he went from one brand of secularism to another brand of the same secularism from multi-party to one party BAKSAL rule. For Hasina going back for the secularism of the 1972 variety would mean going against the Islamic aspirations of the majority people (90%). Will that be an easy task to go for?

Misunderstood Western secularism

The West is used to a sort of secularism in the recent political exercise. But it remains debatable if they are at all secular in the sense that they are 100% non-religious in politics. In reality that is not true. First, their society is overwhelmingly based on Christian ethics and morality. Second their legal system is not isolated but embedded in Christian values and morality. The US Constitution is no doubt secular so far as written words are concerned. But the conceptual bases had origin in belief in religion, in fact, Christianity. The US Constitution presumed that ‘men are created equal’ that clearly implied that they had a belief in lone supreme God, not in any way atheist they had been in the presumption for writing in words the Constitution over two hundred years ago. In fact, no human society or State can isolate State from belief system of the people concerned that if attempted to do so will only bring disaster in the management of the State.

Islamic jurists’ no to secularism

Earlier Hasina had her own definition of secularism quoting a sentence out of context from the Surah Kaferoon of the Holy Quran. That according to all Islamic jurists was a wrong translation and judgment made on wrong interpretation. One could only guess if she holds on the same stand of her own interpretation of secularism not acceptable to the right- minded Islamic scholars. That the Awami League gave written commitment to the people in their words that ‘no laws repugnant to the Quran shall be enacted’ was in it of their latest distancing away from secularism. What secularism would they go for now? Scrapping off BISMILLAH from the top of the Constitution? Scrapping of Article 8(1) of the Constitution that says Absolute faith and trust in the Almighty Allah?

Islam for religious tolerance

Islam stands for tolerance of other religion or belief system that does not mean that that is secularism but just only to let other belief stay along with Islam. But whoever would accept Islam it is made incumbent that such Muslims must enter into the faith in full and not in part (FIS SILME KAFFA). The reason is obvious in that Islam is a complete code of life inclusive both of worldly matters and spiritual aspect of individual life of the unseen after world.

Tolerant Bangladeshi Muslims

Historically people of this region now we call Bangladesh lived tolerantly with people of other faiths except at times some conflict as any conflict could be there in any human society for conflict of interests. The British being the foreign ruler colonizing the people for 190 years (1757-1947) created issues of conflict between the two major religious groups, Hindus and Muslims. It is further well known that they promoted a ‘class’ for making their agents in land holdings in a new feudal set up, in a new model of schooling, businesses, elite professions, etc. that for one reason or the other overwhelmingly favored the high caste Hindus and deprived the Muslims. The deprivations so made for nearly two centuries forced the Muslims to look for separate identity and entity. 1947 had been obvious that made East Bengal/ East Pakistan. The war of 1971, no matter if one would term as independence war or others as bid for secession of East Pakistan from federal Pakistan was a fact of latter history mainly underpinned by economic reasons. Thus Islam or the belief system of the majority people had in no measure been a matter of any score except in view of some ultra left.

Secularism in 1972 Constitution

Amazingly, the post 1971 Government of Bangladesh (former East Pakistan) framed the Constitution of the independent country included secularism as one of the four State principles. Some group maintained that that was a goal the 1971 independence war had in view. Others say that secularism was imposed on the framers of Bangladesh constitution by Delhi for they wanted Bangladesh to be a secular republic just as India made herself. It is a matter to ponder that though India is said to be secular her constitution does not have any article for secularism as any one of the set state principles enforceable by law of the country. The term secularism has been casually mentioned in the preamble of the constitution of India. How could then the framers of the Bangladesh constitution made that secularism an article of basic principle to follow inviolably in all State affairs? During the three and a half years of that Sham secularism, people experienced the worst of everything from politics economics and cultural matters. The majority Muslim people had yet additional others in dishonoring by the State even the verses of the Holy Quran, Muslim heritage, the Quranic learning in Madarasas, etc. The brand of secularists ended in killing pluralism and democracy that gave birth to lone party dictatorship of the notorious BAKSAL. The notoriety thus faced the obvious down fall curiously through a army coup d’etat by the patriotic army of the country in mid August 1975.

1972 follies rectified

The subsequent post 1975 government realized the follies of the pre 1975 government in important issues, one being the most unpopular anti-Islamic policies in the cover of secularism. That led ultimately to the amendment of the Constitution by the duly elected parliament in April 1979 known as the Fifth Amendment that replaced secularism for fundamental Islamic faith as one of the basic principles of the State of Bangladesh, having also provided for otherwise equality of all minority religious rights. The subsequent 8th Amendment of the Constitution giving Islam the status of State Religion further made the Constitution more responsive to the overwhelming majority (90%) people of the country.

5th Amendment responded to People’s aspirations

In the backdrop of amendments of the Constitution and development responsive to the people’s aspirations over the last three decades, it is useless to talk about dropping off the Islamic principles for reverting back to sham secularism of the early 1970s.

Muslims are a distinct identity

Muslims have their own way of life and living distinct from other religious groups. There is no valid point in condemning the religious Muslims as Fundamentalist as long as they do not obstruct others to practice and lead their lives, as they would wish to do. Any such condemnation, it should be noted, that is, condemning Muslims’ own way of religious practices and ways of life can not conform to one’s basic human rights, apart from violation of the Constitution and so also violation of UN charter, as well. The pejorative use of terms for Hijab or outer garment of young ladies used to better cover up their sex beauty from sexually passionate distant males, growing and keeping long beard and using special round cap worn by men as head gear, etc. if looked down upon as symptoms of so-called Fundamentalism, the Nuns and Rabbis can not escape the same condemnation that none is used to.

Religious people are not anti-socials

In fact, those who are strict in observances of Islamic religious practices are hardly seen engaged in anti-social works for internal restraints are integrated in their physical body and inner mind. The corrupt persons of various genres are in the main those of secular persuasion.

Taqwa deterrent against moral erosion

In the vicious cycle of serious moral erosion in our society, the Islamic ‘Fundamentalists’, I am sure, must fare better in moral standard. If fundamentalists are everywhere and it means majority in Bangladesh turned fundamentalist or keep on constantly practicing the very core of first essential of Islamic practices, Taqwa or self restrain in all day to day dealings, that would be a good signal for the society to get rid off sooner than latter of the unprecedented floods of moral erosion.

Author: M.T. Hussain

195 and Beyond

Identified specifics!

Now that the romantics of the Hasina’s government have come down to the specific, ‘CHIHNITO’ or the already identified ones to be put to the trial for ‘war crimes’ of 1971, common people would have some pertinent questions to ask them.

Six issues to ponder about

First, what in specific was the war of 1971? Second, was that the war anything beyond December war for 13 days? Third, which parties had been lawfully involved? Fourth, which of the parties could claim lawful in engagements? Fifth, who had lawful authority to try any listed war criminal? Sixth, what lawful authority the Bangladesh government has for the trial?

Bangladesh did not exist in 1971

In 1971 Bangladesh fought no formal war with any country, simply because, Bangladesh existed nowhere in legal documents, albeit, in air. The air filled with the Deb Dulal of the then Calcutta (now Kolkata) Akash Bani and that of the London based BBC (Radio) Bengali Service. The political movements followed by failures of the rogue political leaders led to the self-inflicting crack down on the civilians by the national army (Pakistan) had been projected by those self styled anti-Pakistan media as the independence war of East Pakistan/ Bangladesh.

In propaganda

The propagandists continued to do the airy onslaught despite the fact that the sole elected leader of East Pakistan did not go in any way, neither written nor verbal, for UDI or Unilateral Declaration of Independence of East Pakistan/Bangladesh. Possibly the leader Sheikh Muijib could do so, as also many people voiced such slogan in March of 1971, but I maintain the hunch that he refrained from making the UDI for the people did in no way had given him or his party any nod whatsoever for the act of secession.

Mujib refused to be a secessionist

Mujib did personally time and again refused to be a secessionist as volumes of evidences are available. There had been other good reasons. One is that he had been a fighter in his early youth for establishment of Pakistan as a single country and viable state in 1940s, the then East Bengal overwhelmingly voted for the founding of Pakistan, more than any other provinces or regions afterwards comprising Pakistan. Even at the height of the real war between Pakistan and India in December 1971, there are authentic records that he described India as the aggressor against Pakistan’s sovereignty (Impact International, 28th September 1987, page 19, London). In 1974 30th October, as well, in his meeting with the US Secretary of Sate Henry Kissinger in Dhaka he mentioned India with shyness and described 1971 episode as the civil war period in East Pakistan Weekly Holiday, Dhaka, March 6, 09). That he distanced from Tajuddin, the ‘exile government’ P.M. in independent Bangladesh, and later on dismissed him from the Ministry and also to imprisonment had been other evidences, if some more evidences are at all required, that proved beyond doubt that he had been an out and out a Pakistani and not Bangladeshi as in the way that came about through Indian armed interference. One must not forget the fact that he had been dealing with de facto position of Bangladesh dictated by Delhi after 1971.

Mujib’s empathy for Bhutto

One may further ponder over yet another fact. Mujib had deep love and empathy for Zulfiquer Ali Bhutto, the President of dismembered Pakistan that he had admitted to Kissinger in the interview mentioned above. Why? Was that a simple humanitarian gesture to Bhutto alone? That was not so. He was not prepared to accept liquidation of Pakistan as Indian had the evil design from the very inset in 1947. Mujib knew well as many of average IQ knew that liquidation of Pakistan in one way or the other would also mean liquidation of Bangladesh that India doctrine meant in essence. Both need mutually dignified existence of both.

Common spiritual bondage

Whatever misgivings Pakistan and Bangladesh had in 1971, sensible people in both countries realize that the two peoples had an enduring common spiritual bondage that in no way to end in any time in posterity.

Rogues on both sides

The realities of the two peoples as briefly mentioned above Mujib had to look for way out in the war crimes trial. It was not that crimes had been perpetrated by one side or the federal Pakistani army alone but also from the other rogues on the opposite side. Political follies of both sides took on each other for their own perceived ends. If one group would take on the other group for trial it may be pure witch hunting of the winner take all. There are records elsewhere that had been denied and kept under turf since the early 1972 period that crimes in 1971 had as well been perpetrated by the other group. The matters had been taken on as one or the other could get hold of the perceived enemies. The facts recorded by one Harvard group (Sisson and Rose, 1990) and the other by another New York group (Small and Singer, 1982) had in their findings drawn conclusions that human rights violations had been more against the pro-Pakistani elements than against the pro Bangladeshi lot in 1971. Sharmila Bose (India) as well had the similar findings in 2005.

India alone could make the trial

It is true that the victors can take on trial of the criminals of the vanquished. That Bangladesh could do provided Bangladesh had been the real victor. The real victor in the 1971 war was not Bangladesh as such but India and India alone. The victory for independent Bangladesh was a by product of Indian armed victory in December 1971 as the surrender document clearly has had the mark signed by Niazi of Pakistan army and Arora of Indian army on the 16th December in Dhaka. The subsequent treaty of March 1972 with India euphemistically called ‘friendship’ but in reality agreeing to be subservient to India, the matter of enclave Berubary transfer in 1973, water sharing understanding at the Farakka barrage point in May 1974, etc. made Bangladesh more and more subservient to India step by step one after another. The victor India thus could put to trial the 195 listed as war criminals, and not Bangladesh. That is why all prisoners of war had been in India under their care and not under Bangladesh custody. Thus India decided the terms of conditions for freeing all and allowed them to return to Pakistan including the 195 listed for trial. No doubt that many freedom fighters fought heroically for independent Bangladesh and lost lives as well for freedom from Pakistan control but all formal credits had been taken away by India as the 16th December 1971 surrender document had in fact the signed evidence between Niazi and Arora.

Mujib forgave all

Mujib disowned the secessionist bid of some his followers that again proved by the fact that he made some humbug of the release of the listed criminals in his verbatim, ‘we know how to ‘forgive’ and so he said he did. The humbug only proved that he was more sympathetic to them. The same sort of sympathy Mujib had for the Bangladeshi natives who stood to preserve Pakistan. Some of the factual proofs were that he forgave all those in late 1973 who sided with Pakistan in 1971. Although he enacted a tribunal in mid 1973 to try specific criminals, none was prosecuted for in his lifetime for two more years he lived afterwards. Why, if he had any seriousness about the matter.

Other priorities

In reality, he had other priorities for the country facing many difficulties. Poor people had been dying of hunger. Indian hegemony had been biting each day in and out. Muslim world including Saudi Arabia had been distancing away from Bangladesh. So also was China (for details of Mujib- Kissinger, 30 October, 1974 dialogue, see weekly Holiday, Dhaka 6 March 2009). Though Pakistan’s recognition to Bangladesh in early 1974 eased some problems, the country had been having despair all around and no hope ahead. The leader was so desperate to assert sovereignty against hegemony of India that he made a special envoy of a veteran Muslim Leaguer Khawja Khairuddin who had been imprisoned for siding with Pakistan in 1971 for ideological reason, released him with honor and with a special passport issued, send him to Pakistan to work to seek formal recognition both of Saudi Arabia and People’s China as Pakistan had the best of relations with these countries. Since 1973 the war crime issue was nothing of a matter, because, Mujib himself settled the issue for wider understanding and concentrating energies for nation building. How could then the same issue be picked up now after about 36 years? Anything for doing justice or was for something else fishy and witch hunting of the political opponents?

India’s aggression and her major gain realized

As I have argued above that the Bangladesh was not recognized by any party or Bangladesh had no formal recognition by any country not even by India the major role player in 1971 war. In fact, Bangladesh was formally accepted and recognized by India as the independent country on the 6th December 1971 only after India made aggression on Pakistan for 3 days in starting the formal war on the 3rd December. In other words, as Bangladesh did in no way formally existed before 6th December 1971, she cannot put to trial any of the war criminals as of before 6th December 1971. India, of course, could do as the victor but did not do anything for she had the major gain already accrued in dismembering her ‘enemy number one’ united Pakistan for she left no competitor in the subcontinent.

Vietnam’s example out of place

There is another point; if one would bring the example of Vietnam for trial of war criminal in the case of Bangladesh, one has to bear in mind that Vietnam stayed as the same country after the war, but in the case of Pakistan it dismembered into two giving emergence of Bangladesh. Thus those who fought for preservation of one and united Pakistan did not do any crime for they patriotically did the sacred job of preserving sovereignty of one’s own country. Any breach of criminal act was a different matter; any such breach though morally must include rogues of both sides.

Legal jurisprudence’s no to retrospective effect

The 1973 tribunal formed in mid July cannot try any one for crimes committed in 1971, as it would mean making the law effective retrospectively that in it is unacceptable in legal jurisprudence.

1973 Tribunal violated the Constitution and UN Charter of Human Rights

The 1973 tribunal, in addition, as the more prudent jurists maintain that it violates not only the Constitution of Bangladesh but also Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Wasting energy in futility

It would as such be a futile exercise to bring to court any one outside those 195 as the so-called war criminals of 1971. But such attempt for any ‘trial’ would only tantamount to harassment of political witch hunting and nothing else that would only be counter productive and certain to back fire against peace and democracy in the country.

Author: M.T. Hussain

4,922 ranking of 6,000 in 2009 of the erstwhile Oxford of the East

Makka University
When Bangladesh ranked for the first time as the ‘most corrupt’ country in the world in 2000 A.D., the ranker Professor Mozaffor Ahmad had the misfortune of being rebuked fiercely by the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina not in any public meeting but in the sacred floor of the Parliament for long 27 minutes. Nobody dared to stop her then in the rebuking of the poor Professor of Dhaka University who earlier did the work through credible research for the TI or Transparency International Bangladesh chapter. I am not sure if there is some one, may be, the Education Minster of Hasina’s cabinet who would rise now to make any protest against the pitiable position of the Dhaka University that figured 4,922 among 6,000 in quality ranking. No, the poor Education Minister is just about 100 days in position and he should not be held anyway responsible for the poor performance ranking; nevertheless, he should have some thing to say in the matter of the university, the erstwhile ‘Oxford of the East’ also ridiculed then though as the Makkah University for being in a way ‘Islamic’ by the then Calcutta based elites, in particular.

Laments
In the mornings of the 19th and 20th April, I listened to in one audio media of two senior professors of the same university who made comments on the issue. One said very briefly that it was a pity. The other emphatically stated that there are now some professors in the university who would not normally qualify even to become a lecturer! Is that so? I heard earlier elsewhere of the same Professor, as well, making the same odd remark with the same force of his conviction.

Initial 49 years
It is now 88 years ago that the University of Dhaka was established by the then British Government not all on their own but in response to demand of the of the backward people of the then East Bengal whose majority had been the Muslims, and for that reason the Kolkata based advanced elite of the Hindu community seriously opposed the founding of the Dhaka University. Dr.Rashbihari Ghosh led petitions in a number of occasions to the Governor General of British India against founding a university in Dhaka. They had some reasons to do so. That East Bengal had been the agricultural hinterland of West Bengal for raw materials, jute, in particular, feeding raw materials to the Industries there mainly concentrated around the then capital city of Calcutta (now Kolkata). However, in response to the concerted demand by the Muslim League leaders the Government made a sort of compensation for the earlier annulment of the province of East Bengal and Assam and reintegration of the new province once again to West Bengal in December 1911, provided a ‘consolation prize’, and that was Dhaka university established in 1921 having had obtained huge donation of land by the then Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka. It was initially meant for residential teaching institution and further that it planned for learning of the traditional Arabic, Urdu and Persian languages the Muslims proudly inherited since the earlier days of Islam and Muslim rules of about a millennium in the Indian subcontinent.

Quality stayed high until late 1960s
No matter whatever sort of ridicule the university faced in the beginning it started with the model of the Christian Ox-Bridge and away from secular London University and so maintained consistently the standard. Despite the fact that the late 1940s had some jerk for the independence movement from the British, standard continued to stay up until late1960s. The 1971 war, however, made the difference. The fault was not the war itself but the way things went wrong afterwards.

The GONOTOKATUKI
The condensed syllabus introduced in 1972 and the GONOTOKATUKI or mass incriminating copying in even public examinations that both had been permitted as ‘booty’ for the learners’ participation in the 1971 war started to play havoc immediately afterwards so far as quality of achievements and so also Degree/Diploma obtained were concerned. Despite the fact that many honest teachers had rightly diagnosed the vicious ailments, authorities failed to ensure restoration of quality and standard of curricula offerings. The internal weaknesses and failures continued years after years. Foreign institutions of higher learning warned Bangladesh for the failures to maintain quality by denying recognition and admission of Bangladeshi graduates who earlier had almost open door policy in their institutions.

BUET & Dhaka Medical College improved
Later on after some years, BUET and Dhaka Medical graduates having had improved their quality started to get acceptability in advanced foreign institutions. But graduates of many other institutions did not mark well and failed to get acceptance. These facts should have been eye openers. But factors like over politicization both of the students and of the teachers blocked the way for better quality. Thus it is lately only a matter of blame game, as I see from outside as a curious onlooker and a retired teacher.

Preconditions for quality learning
Quality learning is a multi-way exercise. Though the main players are the teachers and the students, the overall institutional infrastructure, management, administration and above all devotion to teaching and learning remains one’s own matter of commitment and efforts put in as other crucial points.

Potentials not nurtured fully
The main items of learning aims are for acquisition of knowledge, values and skills. At the university level, student centered learning can give better attainments that are related to one’s seriousness and hard work. It is very much true that the intakes are of high quality for learning as the Dhaka University takes the best-graded students from the HSC passed levels. Such high quality intakes are supposed to have high potentials for quality learning and of graduate outputs. How is that they fail in high quality? That means the potentials have not been nourished and nurtured in full. Distractions made the quality low.

Distractions and erosion of moral values
Distractions are many and varied for students to concentrate their whole time and full energy. But what distraction has been prominent and crucial against motivation for seriousness in learning, to me, was the erosion of moral values among the high ups and its trickle down effect to younger people that played some part in putting hindrance to blooming of full potential of the learners, as well. For many teachers also this has been the obstructing issue. Secularization of education curricula at the higher level and also of the society involving the highly educated lot added fuel to fire of moral erosion. Outside distractions, particularly, from the vested interests of political muscles added further to encourage terrorism, on the one side, and fall in standards of quality learning of the students, on the other. The top leaders in politics who matter most are hardly anybody of high merit and so they signaled little to their cadres for learning quality.

Research!
I am not sure on what specific criteria the relevant ranking had been made, but research should be an important element in university academic works. On this score funding is a matter of crucial need, but again, as I see, dedication underpinned by high moral standard is a basic requirement of the researchers. On this score as well, I am afraid, very few ‘qualified’ researchers have made their mark as we knew earlier that research funds had been misused by many scholars at the Dhaka University.

Erosion of moral values and falls in quality
Past history of the University had been brilliant so far as quality was concerned. Unfortunately the fall and erosion of moral values made the mark in post 1971 Bangladesh. It, therefore, needs serious soul searching for finding satisfactory remedy of the poor quality ranking not only of the Dhaka University but also of all institutions, particularly of higher learning, not to say anything though here that Bangladesh’s primary and secondary schools are of worth in quality of learning.

Author: M.T. Hussain

Cover up and Ploy

Shankar Menon’s Dhaka visit and speculations

On the 19th April morning, a few Dhaka dailies made lead news of an issue lifted from two Indian dailies (Ananda Bazar and Indian Express) earlier made news following Indian Foreign Secretary Shib Shankar Mnon’s unannounced and in that sense indecorous visit to Dhaka on the 12-13th for hours. The news item was that Menon came to Dhaka to pass on the very sensitive information to P.M. Sheikh Hasina that a plot is made to kill her and some of her senior colleagues. Interestingly, in another Dhaka daily on the same day, 19th April, both the Foreign Minister Moni and her Deputy Hasan denied any such issue Menon had discussed with them in their meeting held separately. They, however, did not say anything about if the P.M. had any such specific information in the one-hour exclusive meeting passed on to her by Menon. Thus the matter remains something fishy one as there was no statement so far as yet made either by Dhaka or by Delhi on the visit except that Menon incidentally stated something casual of any diplomat in his brief press meet nothing any serious of the kind. It, therefore, gave way naturally for hunches and speculations of the unusual visit Menon made without prior notice to Dhaka. Some medias have as such took advantage of speculations and made stories as some wished to make for certain end they loved to make. Why should the Foreign Ministry make no clear-cut statement in the matter?

RAW’s hand!

There are reports and reasonable analysis already published in a prestigious English weekly in Dhaka that Menon’s visit had mainly been directed to make a ‘cover-up’ of the BDR massacre that many here and outside have been blaming on the Indian R&AW, Research and Analysis Wing, that is, the Indian central intelligence agency.

Diverting attention

The other hunch is that at this moment Hasina and so also the Indian government both need an issue in hype for diverting the popular demand for credibly unearthing the BDR massacre and for neutral justice for the most notorious game had likely involvement of some powerful M.P.’s like Nanak, Tapash etc. of the party in power, even including Hasina’s American citizen only son Joy for his known anti-army roles in the name of ‘research’ in association with some Carl Ciovacco, a Jew and of controversial identity.

Romanticism with Qaomi Madarasa

Among other issues now burning one as it is about the Qaomi Madarasas numbering nearly 15,000 had
been attacked unreasonably as the ‘breeding place of terrorists’ by the Law Minister Shafiq Ahmad that made a situation of some sort of explosion already brewed in Bangladesh. Hasina met herself formally two delegates, on the 17th and the 18th April, one after another and so also her controversial Law Minister with nothing sorted out in sight of the on going tension except that the P.M. promised to set up a commission in the matter soon after she returns from her impending visit to Saudi Arabia. Another group led by Fazlul Haq Amini who is more political than other groups did not sit with the government but stayed out in protest for public meeting for the issue at the MUKTANGON in the capital city on the 18th that was dispersed by police by using force.

Exercise in Counter Productivity

The government has taken on another controversial issue in the trial of the so-called war criminals of 1971 that neither her father Sheikh Mujib though constituted in mid 1973 the so-called International Crimes Tribunal Act but did not bring even a single soul for trial until his fall in 1975 nor her government in 1996-2001 at all ventured to take up for obvious fall-outs, backlashes and counter productivity.

Inept but act of vengeance

The inept act of her cabinet in canceling out of shear enmity and vengeance the lease of Begum Khaleda Zia’s home made 29 years ago that has already fuelled the fire of popular feelings against the government Hasina desperately needs to divert attention of the people from.

Macro economy under threat

In the economic front as well except for tidbits of lowering prices of rice and wheat, a popular issue though among the very poor millions but hardly among the middle class who control political movements, other economic indicators have been in serious downturn as the prices of paddy, wheat, etc. have gone on so much so that productivity in the next season is certain to fall adversely, despite the proposed special subsidy package of about Taka 34,240 million announced on 19 April to meet some negative effects in some areas including to make up losses to the farmers’ agriculture production. The recession has already started to take its toll in increasing unemployment as thousands of expatriate workers returning home day in and day out almost penniless and no scope for employment inside the country for them, because the millions unemployed at home have already been groaning in the pinch of bare livelihood. The export oriented garment industries, earning nearly 75 % of foreign exchange, in particular, have been complaining of their shrinking export market for worldwide recession. Friendship in excess with India has lately injured some of our budding small-scale production system. A report published in the Weekly Holiday on the 17th April stated the fact that small scale diary farms are under threat from Indian imported powdered milk competing adversely against the milk producers in the region of Pabna and Serajganj so much so that the diary farmers failing to compete and sell their produce not only in the open market but also to the bigger cooperative companies like Milk Vita, Pran, etc have gone in protest to spill their huge unsold liquid milk on the highway! In many other sectors, intrusion of Indian goods and products into Bangladesh market through smuggling made a hell of everything. One such is the cotton spinning mills. Dozens of cotton spinning mills have gone out of production for heaps of cotton threads lying unsold as at present nearly worth of Taka 400,000 million or so. This alone caused unemployment of about 6 lakhs or 0.6 million of laborers. The cumulative effect on economy and so in politics is certain to surface sooner than latter. Such impending issuers would obviously need the government and their trusted mentor from across to divert people’s attention from internal day to day life sustaining problems and miseries, in general, and the BDR massacres’ likely cover up, in particular, by creating hypes of emotion through airing the sensational plot of the kind in the anvil.

Security and Insecurity

It is not only in Bangladesh that the life of the top boss is in danger of possible sniper attacks, but a matter common almost in any country. That is why it is the special security system she enjoys much more than in many countries.

City dwellers plight

It may be mentioned here that the lives of the city dwellers in Dhaka who matter in movement against established government in Bangladesh have been growing restive every day passing for shortage of electricity experiencing oddly load shedding in my area for 10 hours in 24 hour day-night, acute shortage of water supply, etc. in this scorching heat of the Mid April summer and to further increase in days to come.

Be not rash

What is important possibly for her and what should the advisers tell her in simple plain words that she must not to go on making new enemies that she often does either ineptly or by action programs undertaken out of shear vengeance as the renowned BBC journalist (retired) Serajur Rahman has recently reminded through his personal experience with her years ago and published in a daily in Dhaka that ‘She hates politics but somehow got into it just only to avenge the killing and blood of her father’(Bengali verbatim, AMI RAJNITI GHRINA KORI KINTU PITRIHOTYAR PROTISHODHER JONYA RAJNITI KORSI) !

M.T. Hussain

Bashing the National Army and the Qaomi Madarasa at a go-why?

‘Researchers’ Bashing the Madrasa and the Army
The BBC Bengali Radio Service in their program tuned in Dhaka on the 16th April at 7-30 pm program had a ‘research result’ broadcast that stated that the Bangladesh Army increased its Madarasa background recruits from 5% in 2001 to 30-35% by 2006. The increase in the Madarasa background recruits was not only looked down upon by the ‘researcher’ but also condemned the two Islamic party ministers of the period for their undue influence and interference to get the increase done. The researcher, however, declined to disclose his methodology for the research, but referred to another similar research result obtained at 35% earlier done in the USA (Harvard) implying that they had the basic data for research from the Harvard group. As is known that the Harvard research and the figure obtained from was done by Sheikh Hasina’s son Joy under supervision of his guide, a Jew. Joy had similar other credits of bashing Bangladesh’s national army not all on his own but also as a continuum of his grand father Sheikh Mujib and his mother Sheikh Hasina, as well. The research result intended to conclude that by so increasing the number of Madrasa learning recruits in the army the armed services institutions are being made JANGIBADI or terrorist ridden that the Dhaka Bengali daily Ittefaq on the 17th April made a 3 column headline in red that was their reporting item from the same workshop of the same research group workshop held in Dhaka on the previous day!

The BDR Mayhem and timing
The timing of the bashing itself of the Qaomi Madarasa as a whole is significant as some other groups as persons of particular genre has gone on making the same offensive as soon as Hasina took up the running of Bangladesh in January 2009. Curiously enough that the bashing was made more extensive following the BDR mayhem of the 25-26 February that many consider as a ‘cover up’ (See, M.I. Ali’s item on Indian Foreign Secretary Menon’s indecorous visit to Dhaka on 12-13 April for hours in Weekly Holiday, Dhaka, 17 April, 2009) of the real game, if not for the Great Game of Indian former Bengal Army Chief General Shankar Roy Choudhury. I am sure, many still alive of the previous generation like me may well recall similar bashing of Madarasa education as a whole in early 1970s by some of the ministers the Awami League Government of Sheikh Mujib soon after independence of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Army has its own rules and norms
The Bangladesh Army is a constitutional institution of the country like any but with difference that the institution has its exclusively own rules and norms for defense needs of the country as of any independent country. The first of many essential ingredients is secrecy and confidentiality along with recruitment processes of new entrants, specific motivation, mode of training elements, discipline, hierarchy of administration, obedience, absolute loyalty to the country, etc. as I could perceive as an outsider civilian from experience obtained from some of close junior family relations recruited and serving in the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Recruitment rules
First, let’s take the issue of recruitment. Non-commissioned recruits need not have post secondary certificate. Physical fitness of adult age is the first essential requirement as for in any job. For recruitment in the commissioned rank minimum educational qualification is Higher Secondary Certificate. For professions in the Army Education Core, Master Degree is the minimum need. In the Engineering and Medical cores, Professional Bachelor degrees are required. In addition, for final recruitment to pass through, the commissioned rank men and women has to pass through the rigorous ISSB examination extended for days. There is no short cut to the rigorous process in the recruitment. Then on continues on the job training, training in use of arms and ammunitions etc. that I know not everything.

Army’s motivation
Unlike any other profession the armed forces undergo motivational training for fighting against enemy of the State with real arms and ammunitions to protect and preserve the geographical boundary of the country. That is their prime job. And for that job they are given clear idea about enemy’s goals and aims that might in the way hurt the sovereignty of the country. For geographical location, the enemy against sovereignty of Bangladesh could only be India and to some extent Myanmar so far as the common borders are concerned, nearly 4,156 km (3976 km land, 180 km water) with India and about 271 km (208 km land, 63 km water) with Myanmar. For historical reasons, as well, except for a short prelude of 1971, Indian hegemony remains the biggest thereat to the sovereignty of smaller Bangladesh. It is as such only reasonable and logical that the Bangladesh army must have a enemy in view not only in training mode but also in psychological make up that they have to fight, if need be, Indian bigger army alone, in case any such threat to the sovereignty come in future from that end. Such training mode of the army would not mean though that the people of Bangladesh would not be friendly to India or the Government would be enemy to India but be normally friendly.

Secrecy issue
Coming back to the issue of secrecy of many matters of the armed forces beginning from recruitment to organization and management of the institution, one should wonder how the Harvard group and the local group claiming certain facts obtained from inside but unwilling to disclose them to the citizens of Bangladesh, and yet have drawn their conclusions that the recruits from the Madarasa background to all cadres of army had dramatically increased from 5% to 35% during the 2001-2006 term of the BNP led government. It must be more amazing to hear their claim that the increase had been made by undue influence and interference of the two Islamic party powerful ministers in the then cabinet of Begum Khaleda Zia. Did they forcibly change the recruitment rules and processes? If they at all did anything how could the researchers get the secret information out of the source? One must wonder if the researchers’ made fake claims.

35%!
Let’s now consider for a moment that the 35% figure was correct. If this was the fact, on what ground the Madarasa educated ones could be excluded from entry into the armed services provided they met all minimum requirements and passed all tests and drills. Could any citizen of the country be disqualified just only for the reason that one went to Madarasa for some elementary and primary learning in the holy Quran and the Hadith, Muslims’ essential learning in early childhood? The constitutional right of any citizen can not put any such bar to any otherwise qualified boys and girls. Some departments of the Dhaka University did try to go for such whimsical venture for admission in courses for higher studies but failed in the court.

Succession and vengeance for Vedic end
Hasina’s son Joy, the likely second or third in the throne of Bangladesh, as it appeared from his research aim, wishes to have an army for Bangladesh not only fully secularized but also amenable to the big Indian design in the subcontinent in what is well known as the India Doctrine. The attitude is undoubtedly a subservient one, albeit, a guarantee for the family continuity in succession of the State power. In such arrangement, there may come a sort of outward peace, but in no way anything sustainable for distinct historical identity of Bangladesh as a dignified nation based on its own culture of nearly a millennium marked by features distinctly different from the Indian Vedic identity. That is what made Bangladesh bound in the geography, no matter, much smaller than very big India, but a proud nation sustaining life from egalitarian Islamic value system as distinctly different from the caste ridden social system of India that is manifested not only in exploitation and inequality between man and man but also made a mockery of democracy.

People’s pains
Joy had, no doubt, other painful memory of his maternal grandfather’s tragic killing by army men. He shares also attitude of vengeance for the incident with his mother. But if he would mean politics for welfare of the poverty stricken 150 million people of Bangladesh, they can not escape the vicious scenario (Joy was then barely four years old not to have any memory of the poor and destitute thousands died of hunger in Dhaka streets) of the days and time when the army took arms to remove the leader from the power in Dhaka. That happened not only as the victorious coup d ‘etat but also that the incident came as the sigh of great relief to the people from tyranny of autocracy, oppression and exploitation through hoodwinking the whole people. In other words, the leader once thought to be the angel turned into something else of total despise by the same people who felt totally betrayed by his corrupt, inefficient and humbug administration of three and a half years rule, and so they joyfully celebrated the fall and the change in mid August 1975. Nothing short of his removal, for some in painful way though, could restore pluralism and multi-party democracy in Bangladesh that the people now enjoy since after mid August 1975 and certainly Joy’s mother got saddled in the throne this time for the second term for the coup makers effectively buried the notorious lone party BAKSAL and he also sees himself as the second or third of inheritance in possible succession through multi-party democracy.

Madarasa nothing new
The Qaomi Madarasa has not only lived for the one and a half millennium from the divinely beginning in the early seventh century A.D. in the City State of Medina under the guidance of the great Prophet of Islam but also kept alive for continuity of Muslim spirituality until our time not only in Bangladesh but also all over the Muslim world by the people themselves in the communities of their own countries. Muslim parents hardly ignore for their children first of all at primary school age to be educated in these institutions. It is as such quite logical that Muslim youths entering the armed services profession would have some Madarasa learning. My early boyhood experience in early 1940s was that my parents had first sent me to Qaomi Madarasa at our own locality managed by our family and then on to primary school. In this sense there should be no objection of anyone if almost all the entrants in the army could be of some Madarasa background as the 90% people are Muslims in Bangladesh.

Need for change
The Madarasa education may need some development and improvement in curricula but that does not in any way mean, as I understand a as life long educator now formally retired over a decade ago, that we shun the Madarasa education, much less put any bar for entry of these adult boys and girls into the country’s armed forces.

Propaganda
The evil propaganda in the garb of research findings as are the two mentioned above need not stop as we had many in the past not only against Madarasa learning but also against the Muslim Ummah as a whole that we must face up to with our own instrument of knowledge and not with arms and ammunition in hands.

Author: M.T. Hussain

100 Days of Vicious Vengeance

Propaganda for 100 days
It is nothing unusual that on the 100th day of their rule of Bangladesh, the Awami League’s third term in their show up in the State power and second term of Sheikh Hasina that started in early January 2009 and finished 100 days has as usual with their propaganda from inside and from across the border, particularly in Kolkata, went unparallel.

Crushing Poverty
In Bangladesh, one of the poorest country in the world and with millions starving each day in and out for no work, no money to buy basic essentials including food cereal rice and wheat, in particular, from the open market, the question of food security is in rhetoric rather than in reality.

Cereal price down
Even so, the poorest of the poor should be happier that the prices of basic cereals have gone down for whatever reason that could not be clearly perceived at that level. Say, for example, the worldwide recession if improved, the prices of essentials would again go up signaling that it was a temporary phenomenon and nothing durable or sustainable over a long period ahead. The continuation of the VGF (Vulnerable Group Feeding), restart of the OMS (Open Market Sale), organizing food rationing for the poor, reactivating the TCB (Trading Corporation of Bangladesh) or market intervention, etc. left with no doubt that widespread poverty in the country remains a continuing evil ahead, for how long it’s anybody’s guess.

Production incentive lost
The other worrying issue is that should the price level of food cereals remain low for years, productivity of all such items is certain to fall for loss of incentive for the producers or the farmers in this case. In such case import bill of food cereals would not only adversely affect the macro economy but also increased dependence on outside source for supply against Bangladesh’s demand. That the government reduced the OMS price of rice fixed earlier from Taka 18/ per Kg to Taka 16/, never to be able to reduce to Taka 10/ that would further shatter the macro-economy as had been ineptly promised in their election manifesto in December 2008.

Obama’s Change and DIN BADAL
During the December election campaign particularly of the Awami League that brought them the big ‘win’, if one would give damn to the fraud in the whole matter, was that Sheikh Hasina possibly had stolen the term ‘Change’ that Barak Obama coined and continued to use in his Presidential campaign in 2008, when by accident of history or by design Hasina stayed in that country for about six months for ‘treatment of ears and eyes’ but translated in Bengali Obama’s term for “DIN BADAL”.

Unenlightened feudal mindset
To me, the first and foremost change needed in Bangladesh politics is the mindset of the politicians, albeit, others, as well playing important roles in reshaping mindset of the new progeny. One may call it also as change of political culture of the country that we had in the past to something else. To what in more specific term?

Democracy misunderstood
If we take the case of democracy and pluralism, first of all that means equality, respect for and dignity of each and every individual, no matter high or low in social status. I wonder at times that the remnant of feudal mindset of many of our top leaders hardly fits into plural democratic demand as are in practice in the West. Although I don’t expect anything change overnight, there should have been a beginning somewhere that at least I expected when I heard the word DIN BADAL or Change that Obama had coined. That the DIN BADAL now has boiled down in Bangladesh for the last one hundred days having no sign of its end except in reprisal and vengeance.

Vengeance rooted back
It is appreciable that vengeance of the particular genre had its root in early 1980s when Hasina took to politics by the magnanimous approach to her of General Zia and the President of Bangladesh who had his sole burden to bring back Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh from self-exile in India then stayed about six years. Within 17 days of her arrival in Dhaka, Zia was brutally killed by some elements supported by the Indian Federal Intelligence Agency, R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing, certainly a misnomer if not anything else). She proved her involvement, at least indirectly, in the killing of Zia when on the day 30th May of Zia’s killing, she tried to flee Bangladesh through Akhaura border once again to India. She was, however, apprehended by the law enforcing agency of Bangladesh,

Politics for avenging father’s blood
In an interview at the London BBC Bengali Service immediately afterwards, she stated in verbatim that she hated politics to take on to except for inflicting vengeance of her father’s killing (See, BBC’s Serajur Rahman’s item, 24 March 2009, Dhaka Bengali daily Noya Diganata).

Kill ten for one
That she was only after blood in beastly vengeance well documented in various sources when in power for the first term in an official visit to Chittagong she openly asked her cadres to ‘Kill ten for one’ of their killed by their imagined opponents.

Taka 50,000 advance for killing Khaleda
During her 2001 election campaign tour in northern districts, as Matiur Rahman Rentu had recorded in his autobiographical sketch AMAR FANSI CHAI, she offered the boatmen of the Ferry of the Dharla river in cash Taka 50,000 in advance for drowning to death Begum Khaleda Zia into the river while she would be visiting that area and would cross over the river in that ferry. She further promised to pay another Taka 50,000 when the drowning job would be finished.

Orchestrated game for her father’s ‘killers’
The whole game she orchestrated for the trial of the so-called ‘killers’ of her father during her first term through manipulation of the State power and also giving perks on the one hand and intimidating the judges in the framed up trial during five years, June 1996 to July 2001, on the other, producing only gross miscarriage of justice in the so-called ‘murder case’ that by all legal norms had been a victorious coup d’ etat being itself indemnified has remained in history the most notorious example of her vicious vengeance.

Humbug about war crimes trial
The war crimes trial that her father made lot of humbug about and then abandoned for practical difficulties and moral questions involved is taken now in 2009 after 38 years when it is almost impossible to meaningfully pursue even any single case in the matter as no evidence is available for natural reason of time lag. Besides, Bangladesh, much less the government of independent Bangladesh, did not exist in the soil except the Government of East Pakistan; many like me would serve and draw regular salaries as employees of the East Pakistan Government until November 1971. Neither did any government in the world recognize the entity of independent of Bangladesh but only India lately though on the 6th December and that also for legal complicacies for her waging war on the 3rd December. How come then the war of Bangladesh in 1971 and so the imaginary war crime in Bangladesh during March to December 1971? Well, there had been civil strife and so had human rights violations in East Pakistan and that also perpetrated by some rogue elements of both sides, not of one group. That Bangladesh did not exist in reality, instrument framed after that period as the so-called Collaborators Act of 1972 and so also the 1973 War Crimes Tribunal had been that provided for giving retrospective effect is certain to be invalid or of no legal effect as no law can be given retrospective effect in legal jurisprudence.

25-26 February BDR massacre
It is argued at many levels inside the country and outside the border that it was only Hasina’s misperceived vengeance that took lives of over six dozens of valuable senior army officers in the 25-26 February BDR campus mayhem. That herself and some other among her close associates have already been proved by the fact that she is not serious about bringing out neutral report on the massacre of unprecedented nature in history, and just buying time to make the likely report of their own liking that she did in the framed up case of the coup heroes of the 15th August 1975.

Khaleda’s Moinul Road Residence
Hasina’s vengeance stooped to the lowest of minimum sense of dignity and lack of humane feeling to Khaleda’s residence she bought in lease for 99 years nearly three decades ago, and the lease to expire in another seven decades hence in late 2060 A.D. That was offered to Khaleda then by humane consideration as a helpless widow following her husband’s brutal killings in May 1981, and she had nowhere to go for a living being the widow with two young children to look after of the late army chief and the civilian President Ziaur Rahman. Hasina in her all pliant members cabinet and in Srajur Rahman’s term ‘HUKKA HUA’ took the unlawful decision to cancel the lease document of the old Bungalow of about 40 years old wherein she lived for about 30 years with all the memories of her celebrated husband and the former President of Bangladesh.

100 days of vicious vengeance
Thus I would have my fully considered opinion that Hasina’s 100 days in power of the rule should be notoriously marked by the vicious vengeance and vengeance alone of the worst kind that included killings of the comrades of the same genre among the students not beyond knowledge of Hasina but that is what she entered into politics for vengeance of the only goal in view.

Author: M.T. Hussain

No to Shankar’s Great Game

Shankar’s Great Game theory
That Shankar has brought in the issue of GREAT GAME (GG) in late March 2009 (published on the 24 March in the London edition of the Indian English daily Asian Age) following the February 25-26 brutal massacre at the BDR campus is really a fishy matter. Why should he wish to drag Bangladesh into the India and Pakistan Great Game he perceived at this moment?

Two Nukes war
Should that war he perceived at all break out, it should remain an engagement between the two nuclear powers in the subcontinent. Bangladesh is not a nuclear power, not anything in priority for there are many other priorities like poverty alleviation, provide employment to millions of unemployed hands, ensure food security for all vulnerable groups of millions rather than to engage fruitlessly in military fights with any country in the region unless forced by adventures of some enemy in defending the country and uphold its sovereignty.

RAW, Sunita, Ishaal and Shankar
That General Shankar signaled the war issue following the BDR tragedy is significant in the sense that they had fishes in the matter. There are many reports here and there that Delhi made the acid test in the BDR game for their part of the GG. That the Indian central intelligence agency, R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing) was directly involved for Indian hand in the matter as among many Indian born scholar Sunita Paul and Ishaal Zehra had in their internet dispatches made respectively abundantly clear on the 29th March and 6th April 2009.

Sutar, Baidya and Shankar
Press reports from across the border following the misfortune of the BDR mayhem stated that the so-called Bangabhumi movement started new offensives against Bangladesh. The Banglabhumi movement is a brainchild of the Bengalis based in Kolkata, not necessarily of all Bengalis of West Bengal (Pashim Bango) but some like former Awami League M.P. Chitta Ranjan Sutar, Kalidas Bidya etc of Bangladesh born, as well. Whether Shankar has any direct contact with the Bangabhumiwalas (claimants of Bangabhumi) is a matter of anybody’s guess.

Bangabhumi as second option
It may be worthwhile to briefly state about few facts about the Bangabhumi movement. The sole and present aim of the movement is to secure about one fourth of the Bangladesh territory comprising 17 administrative districts in the south west and west of Bangladesh land mass seceded from Bangladesh and made an independent country wherein only the Hindus would live. The Hindus to be settled there, they claim, were those whose ancestors migrated from Bangladesh to West Bengal etc following the aftermath of the 1971 war and also those who are still in Bangladesh but feel unease to live in Bangladesh for the larger neighbor Muslims are not fair in their social dealings with them. The movement started in late 1970s following two major incidents. One that Awami League M.P. Sutar’s plea with the then Indian P.M. Indira Gandhi failed (she said, in verbatim, AVI MUMKIN NEHI) as he wished her to act decisively to annex Bangladesh into India following the independence of Bangladesh. The other was that when the Bangladesh President Sheikh Mujib was toppled in a military coup in 1975 that dashed completely their hope for annexation of Bangladesh into India, they went on to establish instead the Bangobhumi as an independent country. They have already raised their army, one as the Bangosena or the army of the State of Bangobhumi. It was amazing to know that General Shankar viewed the 1971 victory in the war as the victory for India in the GG and 1975 August coup and removal of the great Sheikh as the defeat in the GG for India and win for Pakistan! For Bangladesh, however, the facts remained that on both cases of 1971 and 1975 August coup Bangladesh had had won.

15th August 1977 Bangbhumi Founding
There was a report published and I came across that on the second death anniversary of Mujib, Hasina’s father, on he 15th August 1977, the Bangabhumi movement was launched in Kolkata in a function that was attended by Sheikh Hasina who then had been living in self-exile in India, specifically, in Delhi’s South Block or the head quarter of the Indian intelligence agency, the R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing). That seemed quite likely, because, that was an emotional occasion for her.

Bangabhumi’s Psychological pressure
Bangabhumi movement may not be anything to do with the GG, because, it is a matter between Bangladesh and India. It cannot be anything of nuclear but could just only be a limited conventional war between Bangladesh and India. But the psychological pressure of Delhi on Dhaka remains for all time in perpetuity. That certainly goes in favor of Delhi that they could accrue other gains and force Dhaka remain amenable to bigger India. Shankar’s GG bogey has certainly added to pressures on Dhaka that Delhi has constantly been maintaining.

Non-Bengali Shankor Menon’s brief visit
One may make an intelligent guess if the Indian Foreign Secretary Shib Shankar Menon’s dashing to Dhaka for hours on the 13 April without any formal prior notice just as the Western leaders did in Afghanistan on number of occasions was directed to put another psychological pressure on Dhaka in the BDR matter.

Reprisal
Bengali Shankar may have, it may be recalled, another psychological gain in the score of pre-1947 hatred of the Kolkata based elite attitudes for reprisal against the entity of the then seceded East Bengal/ East Pakistan/Bangladesh.

GG not of Bangladesh
Anyway the GG matter General Shakar Roy Chowdhury has referred to is, in no way, as I see it, anything relevant to Bangladesh, much less its involvement in the so-called Great Game.

Author: M.T. Hussain

Say BIG NO to Delhi’s Radar Control on Dhaka

Now it’s over a fortnight, Bangladesh Government has said amazingly and very much worryingly nothing on the remark the former and only Bengali Indian Army Chief Shankar Roy Chowdhury made in a serious derogatory way in his verbatim, ‘Delhi can’t afford to let Dhaka slip of it its radar.’ Possibly it’s now too late, but better late than never, that Dhaka on its own right for assertion of its sovereign entity of Bangladesh must condemn the statement though demi-official General Chowdhury made somewhat in a foolhardy way.

Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign country since for about four decades now. It matters little that Bangladesh is much smaller in size in all dimensions compared to India. There are smaller countries than what Bangladesh is in terms of geographical area in and around the world. In population size that matters most, Bangladesh is not a small country of thousands or few millions but of 150 million people thus account for about the 8th largest in the world. General Chowdhury has thus put to indignity the 150 million sovereign people of Bangladesh. How could he do that? On what right and privilege? He has to make right and dignified answers to such questions. Let him do so.
The first concern for the dignity of the people of Bangladesh in the matter if when and how the hurt feeling of the nation and the country is going to be conveyed to General Chowdhury, in particular, and to Delhi, in general.

Evidences of the Indian ultimate design for re-establishing the AKHANDA BHARAT or reunited India of the RAMRAJYA of the Hindu epic is nothing new to informed circle. Bangladesh has obviously been in the design more seriously since 1971. The BDR February mayhem was nothing isolated of the design. Recent dispatches about involvement of the Indian intelligence agency R&AW, one made by an Indian born scholar Sunita Paul on the 29th March and in her 30 pertinent points raised therein and another by Ishaal Zehra made on the 6th April (Bangladesh Open Source Intelligence Monitors) may well be taken as the latest of proofs, if any further proof is at all required, in the unprecedented brutal killings of over six dozens of the army officials and brilliant sons of the soil in the BDR campus.

As an ordinary but conscious senior citizen and not anyone of the government, my sincere and honest feeling in the matter is that there is no point for hide and seek but to tell him in a simple and straight forward way that he has, by his foolhardy rhetoric, intended to dent the sovereignty of Bangladesh and the pride of sovereign feeling of the 150 million. Should the Bangladesh Government now saddled in power in Dhaka escape the responsibility and fail to lodge the strongest protest to Delhi in the matter can’t be acceptable to the people of Bangladesh.

National dignity can’t be upheld by behaving in any way that looks clearly friendship of the subservient with the mentor and master.

There are facts of history that might have made the head of the Bangladesh Government amenable to Delhi. That would be better served, I am sure, if kept limited to personal scores and not in any dealings of the state, much less in the question of the sovereignty.

People have the only option to look forward for the Government to immediately lodge a strong protest to Delhi and to General Chowdhury that he has not done the right thing and so must apologize and so also must withdraw immediately his derogatory remark in the matter.

Author: M.T. Hussain