Untold Facts

Congratulations: Mr. Farhad Mazhar

Courageous
In a deeply thought provoking article about recent politics published on the 15th January 2010 in Dhaka daily Naya Diganta, the renowned columnist Mr. Farhad Mazhar has made a specific courageous reference to the 15th August 1975 historic occurrence that very few have made as yet. Personally I felt from the innermost of my heart and mind that he need be congratulated for making the specific meaningful reference.

Verbatim
His reference in Bengali verbatim read: ‘AUGUST ER PONERO TARIKHER GHOTONA NISOKI CRIMINAL ACT NOI. EKEI SANGE TAR RAJNOITIK CHORITRO O ASE. SHEI CHORITRER ANCHOLIK TATPORYA ASE. BHARATER SHASHOK SRENIR SAMARTHAN TAR DARKER…’ (That the 15th August, 75 occurrence was not just a simple criminal act, it had political implications having regional significance. She (Hasina) needs support of the Indian ruling class in the matter of (hanging) the imprisoned army personnel still in waiting …).

Tragic
It is tragic and very unfortunate for the people of Bangladesh that despite the truth that the 15th August 1975 occurred in jubilation and was celebrated as the Day of Deliverance, the happy moods of the people then now after nearly 35 years have almost lost in oblivion. The present new generation in the long gap of three and a half decades have been constantly fed with the massive propaganda that the 15th August 1975 occurrence in Dhaka was a simple case of murder and killing of the innocent President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujib, and had nothing to do whatsoever of any national need, not to speak of any of geo-political and international significance of Bangladesh at all! The truth and the fact of the matter were that the nation of Bangladesh urgently needed that change for her self- dignity, sovereignty and respectability at the international level. Short of the army putsch and the sniper change Bangladesh would only head for some uncertain blind alley of the lone party BAKSALite unenlightened dictatorship in total conflict with the democratic aspirations of the then 80 million people of the country.

Arbitrary
People of the older generation clearly recall the whimsical and arbitrary turning of the plural and democratic State of Bangladesh into a lone party system without any recourse to the people’s wishes or any referendum of the people. It was very much amazing to note that the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India concurred and felicitated the Bangladesh leader for summarily abandoning pluralism and introducing lone party BAKSAL dictatorship in late January 1975 even though India had the label of the largest democracy in the world! It was well known that the then Soviet Union had the blessing from behind for the lone party system, in fact, that was borrowed from them with some blessings.

Democracy Restored
The 15th August successful coup though had some unavoidable unfortunate bloodletting, though not on one side but on both sides in encounter of the brief coup, the historic success of the putsch dethroned the dictator, buried the lone party BAKSAL and most significantly re-paved the way for pluralism and multi-party democracy in Bangladesh. These are the good fruits the people have been enjoying since then for over three decades now on. If now for whatever excuse and plea the 15th August is adjudged and established as the day and event of killing and murder of some innocent persons, what rationale could there be of the pluralism and multiparty democracy that the people have been enjoying for over the last three decades?

Unhappy -Happy
Well, the 15th August occurrence made Russia and India unhappy, on the other hand though Bangladesh secured other and new friends who had for years since independence in late 1971 shied away even from recognizing Bangladesh as the independent country! People’s China, Saudi Arabia and some other Muslim countries were these new friends who right then not only recognized Bangladesh’s independence but also onwards became partners for reconstruction of Bangladesh.

The Fifth Amendment
There is a murmur now going on for abandonment of the 5th Amendment of the Constitution and reverting back to the 1972 Constitution. Should the 15th August not duly kept high in esteem as the victorious army coup and instead given a damn as an event of ordinary killing and murder under the Cr.P.C., the Fifth Amendment would loose its legal basis, because, the Amendment was primarily based on the legitimacy of the 15th August 1975 change of the government of Bangladesh.

Commutation Appeals
Immediately after the 19th November (09) verdict of the Supreme Court Special Bench confirming death sentence of the 12 accused in the 15th August case, many human rights organizations like the Amnesty International, The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, etc. have appealed to the Bangladesh President to commute the death sentences. The appeals should be heeded to as there are already 95 more civilized countries that have put moratorium on death sentence in their own countries for the fact that the sentence is itself contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Political Trial
That the trial of the case had lacuna from the beginning to the end in the shape of executive interference was open secret. That is why the internationally esteemed weekly, The Economist of the 27th November (09) issue has termed the trial as the POLITICAL TRIAL. The two words meant many things for the Bangladesh government to ponder in the matter.

Example
Mr. Farhad Mazhar must be congratulated by all patriotic elements not only for his courage to speak the real truth in the matter of the 15th August 1975 but also for others to gain honest courage in the critical matter of national importance at this point of time.

Author: H B Khair

Islamic attitude towards entrepreneurial development

Islam upholds the view that economic progress, though important to the well-being of humankind, cannot lead on its own to social justice and sustainable development. Human needs have deep religious/spiritual roots that must be accounted for and incorporated in the development process. The aim of ‘Islamic development’ therefore is to achieve a state of ‘human well-being’ based on spiritual/humanitarian and socio-economic foundations, as a stage towards the ultimate destination, well-being in the hereafter.

The philosophical differences between the Islamic and Western worldviews of the universe and the relationships between man and his Creator, his environment and other human beings are fundamental. A comprehensive inquiry into the disposition of both worldviews regarding the concept of ‘development’ reveals that in addition to differences in their core philosophies, they also differ in their focus, goals, approaches, applications and mechanisms.

It could be strongly argued that these differences are so real that they cannot be overlooked, marginalised or narrowed, nor can they be reconciled and integrated within a standardized single development model.

Such differences therefore do not only justify, but also necessitate the building of an alternative Islamic model of entrepreneurship that works towards the realisation and fulfilment of the Islamic vision of ‘well-being’.

A religion with a positive attitude to work and productivity is most likely to contribute positively towards the creation of new quality business entities and the fostering of a friendly entrepreneurship environment. It is anticipated that such a constructive attitude will produce fruitful results when complemented with a comprehensive framework and matched by political will and commitment from the state.

The suggestion that religion has a key role to play in shaping the mode and the level of entrepreneurial activity in a given society is gaining widespread acknowledgment and recognition. The link between religion and economic activity in the wider context was explored and demonstrated by the work of (Dodd & Seaman, 1998; Guiso, Sapienza & Zingales, 2004; Hirschman, 1983; Sood & Nasu, 1995; Wienen, 1997).

Among the basic rights that all individuals are entitled to, and should enjoy, is access to income. Chapra (1985) explained that socio-economic justice, based on the theory of “social equilibrium”, implies that people are entitled to have equal opportunity and does not entail that they should be equal in poverty or in richness. Earning lawful (halal) living is tenable through engagement in productive activities, namely: employment (working for others) and being self-employed and employing others (undertaking entrepreneurial activity). Although Islam endorses working for others for fixed salary, it encourages and stimulates Muslims to embark on entrepreneurship as the preferred option to earning halal income.

Beg (1979) noted that Islam does not only motivate Muslims to be entrepreneurs, but in fact, it makes it obligatory on them to work hard and gain halal earnings beyond their immediate needs in order to care for the community and the Muslim ummah at large. Earning halal income through entrepreneurship and helping others to earn a living spares the public wealth from being exploited by a few and discourages them from being dependent on the state. Public wealth belongs to the Muslim ummah, so it should be utilised in projects that serve the common need and the common interest of society.

Sadeq (1997) pointed out that entrepreneurship in Islam is highly regarded, and forcefully argued that Islam provides not only the incentives but also the conducive framework for economic and entrepreneurship development.

His argument is based on the interpretation of the Qur’anic verse “And when prayer is over, disperse in the world and search for the bounty of Allah” (Qur’an, 62, 10), and on the many traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Others have cited “It is He Who made the earth manageable for you, so traverse ye through its tracts and enjoy of the sustenance which He furnishes: but unto Him is the resurrection (Qur’an, 15, 67). Searching and steering through the earth’s tracts goes beyond simply finding employment opportunities or even engaging in basic entrepreneurial activities. The search implies the exploration of the unknown in order to discover new horizons and uncover new opportunities for the benefit of humankind. Such active search involves taking risks and requires innovative thinking and to Sadeq (1993), that is “entrepreneurship”.

The Holy Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) explicitly praise entrepreneurship and commend moral entrepreneurial activity; “But Allah hath permitted trade (bai) and forbidden usury (riba)” (Qur’an, 2, 275). The economic transaction of buying and selling for profit (bai) implies the existence of the entrepreneur.

It is narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “A faithful and trustworthy businessperson will be resurrected at the Day of Judgement with the prophets, the truthful, and the martyrs” (Ibn Majah; al-Tirmithi). Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and many of his close companions were trustworthy and successful entrepreneurs.

He explicitly emphasised the importance of entrepreneurship and encouraged Muslims to actively participate in business activity. Nu’aym Ibn Abd Al-Rahman narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said, “Nine-tenths of the sustenance (rizq) is derived from trade (business ventures)”.

The second Muslim khalifah, Omer bin Al-khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) also was a trader, and he used to say “nothing is more beloved to me than to earn my living through my own hard work and efforts”.

The concept of collective obligation (fard kifayah) in Islam is based on the ability of society to meet its minimum and basic needs from a specified activity or meet national challenges and obligations.

An appropriate share of the Muslim population should undertake entrepreneurial activities by their own choice and according to their own initiative to ensure the continuity of the nation’s economic viability.

Failure to achieve such a level of performance means that the Islamic government has to step in and assume its legal and moral obligation to compensate for any shortfall of the private sector.

Perkins (2003) analysed the role of Islam in the process of “wealth creation”, and confirmed Weber’s conclusions: “There is no doubt that Islam is an economic hindrance and barrier to prosperity and fulfilment of human ambition, potential and welfare” (Perkins, 2003, pp. 5-6). However, the claims that Islam has the propensity to deter development (Weber, 1963) and that Muslims in general are low in achievement (McClelland, 1961) have been conceptually challenged even by Western intellectuals.

A number of Western thinkers, in addition to Muslim scholars, have acknowledged the progressive nature of Islam and recognised its positive attitude towards prosperity and the desirability of engaging in productive business activity. While Sullivan (2004) acknowledged that Islam is “a religion of knowledge”, Wienen (1997, p. 42) stated that “Islamic tradition has always included a positive approach to economic activity” and noted that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was “a merchant before his prophetic mission”. Zapalska, Brozik, and Shuklian (2005) stated that Islam generally has a positive attitude to entrepreneurship and the rights of ownership. Wilson (2006) acknowledged the uniqueness of the Islamic code of business ethics and the positive contributions that ‘trust’ can render to the economic activity in the form of cost effectiveness and organisation competence.

Author: Rasem N. Kayed and M. Kabir Hassan
Source: The New Nation

Palestine: A turning point?

One day before the first anniversary of the barbaric Israeli assault on Gaza that massacred 1434 Palestinians, the Israeli armed forces killed six Palestinians in two separate incidents in Gaza and the West Bank.

The 1.5 million people of Gaza continue to be under one of the most inhuman, unjust sieges in recent times — a siege that began eighteen months before the assault on Gaza on 27 December 2008. From all accounts, everyday is a struggle to survive; the most basic necessities of life are not readily available to the vast majority of the populace.

This Israeli imposed blockade will now be tightened through the construction of a bombproof steel wall by the Egyptian authorities along the Gaza border. The wall, demanded by Israel, is being built with the assistance of US money and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The situation in the West Bank is also grim. The multitude of checkpoints remains. For all intents and purposes, Israeli settlements are expanding and the Wall that attempts to separate Israeli settlements and West Bank aquifers from the Palestinians is as formidable as ever.

To make matters worse, Fatah, in charge of the West Bank, and Hamas, dominant over Gaza, are still at loggerheads.

If there is a silver lining, it comes in the form of the systematic expose of Israeli inhumanity and the injustices perpetrated against the Palestinians contained in two highly regarded reports presented to the UN in the course of the last nine months. In March 2009, Richard Falk, the UN’s Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories described Israel’s Gaza assault as ” a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law,” in a report to the UN Human Rights Council. Richard Goldstone who headed a UN fact-finding mission to Gaza criticized Israel’s collective punishment of the people of Gaza during the 22-day assault in his September report.

Though the UN General Assembly endorsed the Goldstone Report, there has been no action against Israel at the international level. The reason is obvious. The United States government and its European allies are determined to ensure that the Israeli government will never be in the dock. Other powers with some clout, obsessed as they are with their own interests, are not prepared to stick their neck out for the Palestinian cause. Most Arab and Muslim governments — rhetoric and UN votes aside— are afraid to antagonize the US partly because they are so dependent upon the latter for their political survival or their economic well-being.

This is why at the end of the day we have to rely upon elements within global citizenry to carry the Palestinian cause forward. After Gaza, groups such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Oxfam and Amnesty International have become much more vocal in their condemnation of Israel’s ruthless behavior in occupied Palestine. Individual journalists have also adopted a principled position in articulating the rights of the Palestinians. Malaysia’s Shahanaaz Habib is one such journalist.

In Britain, the Sussex University Students’ Union has voted to boycott Israeli goods. This is part of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign directed at forcing Israel to end the occupation of Palestine. It is the first time that a student body in Britain has made such a move.

Even in Israel, groups like Physicians for Human Rights and Breaking the Silence, comprising veteran Israeli soldiers, have accused their government of violating international law and transgressing the Geneva Conventions in the Gaza assault.

However, the most significant citizens’ initiatives since Gaza have come from the Gaza Freedom March (GFM) and the Viva Palestina convoy to Gaza. The first comprising 1400 individuals from more than 40 countries plans to march to the Erez border-crossing between Israel and Gaza to demand an end to the siege. The second made up of 220 vehicles hopes to deliver ambulances, food, medicines and other supplies to the people of Gaza. Two brave, young Malaysians, Juana Jaafar and Ram Kathigesu, are part of the convoy. In both instances, the Egyptian government is proving to be a hurdle.

Whether the two initiatives succeed or not, they may emerge as a critical turning point in the Palestinian struggle for liberation. They may set into motion an array of other moves aimed at mobilizing and galvanizing the people of the world behind one of the noblest causes of our time.

Author: Chandra Muzaffar

Scapegoats of Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh

The highly prestigious international weekly, The Economist of the 27th November issue headlined the 19th November verdict of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Special Bench as the POLITICAL TRIAL: OF SHEIKH HASINA. It is not still clear much less anybody is sure if the Prime Minister of Bangladesh will sue the international news magazine for defamation or not.

Some other human rights organizations, however, were rather softer in their approach to the President and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in the matter of the verdict. The Amnesty International, a prestigious human rights organization of independent standing has had very promptly on the 20th November that was; the following day the verdict was given for the 12 to death sentence to the former army officers of Bangladesh, appealed for commutation of the sentences.

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales has also issued appeal on the 24th November to the President of Bangladesh to commute the death sentences of those 12 ‘accused’. Some other organizations from other international levels, as well, I knew, have made the same humanitarian appeal that I have no information in specific as yet.
None did any undesired appeal or unreasonable request, because, worldwide as also in their own countries and organizations, death sentences do not exist, and, in fact, not in, at least, 94 countries of the world for the sentence is not only contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also barbarous.

Bangladesh has judiciary of the British colonial past of the 19th century where therein the death sentence is provided, but the English judiciary itself in their own free land does not have any death penalty for their citizens. How come Bangladesh as an independent country committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights still has the death penalty?

In reality the system left over by the colonialists hardly in many cases ensure fair justice, and in the post colonial period the unenlightened rulers and the some inept judges in unison resort to misuse and abuse the due process for blatant miscarriage of justice, more often than not, for punishing the small fries as the scapegoats, in particular.

The period of 1972-mid 1975 had been such a vicious period of total fear and intimidation of all political opponents of the ruling ones. The then rulers unleashed reign of terrors at free will and misuse of all organs of the government - Police, executive, judiciary etc. for personal ends of the top executive. The immediate post independence period in early 1970s the ruling party and the bosses used every organs as instruments of their private fiefdoms for oppression, torture and even extra-judicial killing of imaginary political opponents in thousands at random with impunity, in addition, the judiciary was forced to obey boss’s order in important suits. Miscarriage of justice and judicial murder for scapegoats thus made occurrences making judiciary a mockery of justice. The common people had some respite once the then lone party BAKSAL Government and the ruthless dictator fell through drastic and somewhat cruel actions. The people rejoiced spontaneously the fall of the government in the 15th August 1975 successful coup d etat.
In 1996 specifically for a particular case driven by top boss’s arrogance and until the mid of 2001 the 15th August mutiny was turned into an ordinary murder case. In the suit small fries were apprehended as scapegoats as they had been opponents but not big fishes for they sided with the ruling power thus conveniently escaped any indictment.

Now since January 2009, there had been huge orchestrations by the ruling party for the small fries to hang to death keeping with the revengeful will of the topmost boss. The Supreme Court on the 19th November 2009 did exactly the same that The Economist in their wisdom sarcastically headlined as mentioned above.

It is known from the verdict that the five judges in their judicial acumen took the 15th August bloodletting as the intent to murder and murder of the President on the 15th August 1975 at his Dhaka residence. They found nothing that the mutineers had been there for toppling the oppressive lone party dictatorial government having had no peaceful democratic means to change the government anything short of the coup d etat. Not only that they failed to identify factual differences between the intent to make mutiny and intent to make simple murder but also curiously enough not to let the accused have the benefit of doubt that always goes for the accused!

Poor judges, unlike those of richer countries insured with full social security guaranteed by the State and society, of Bangladesh are extremely vulnerable to almost everything for life sustenance on the boss of the government, and in the particular case, the boss herself was the daughter of the fallen victim of the 15th August occurrence. So had been clearly the miscarriage of justice leading possibly to the judicial murder of the accused in the adventurously concocted case.

Sensing the judicial murder, other responsible persons from inside including one former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (BBC Bengali Service Radio Interview, dated 26 March 2001), another Supreme Court Appeal Division retired justice (Dhaka Bengali daily Naya Diganta, Amardesh etc, dated 16th August 2008), etc. and from outside have, as well, appealed for good sense, at least, to commute the death sentences of the 12 accused small fries made scapegoats, leaving off the supposed to be number one accused for his failure to hold on to Command Responsibility under the Hague Convention of 1907, the then Army Chief, General Safiullah, under whose chain of command the lower ranking officers engineered the 15th August 1975 coup d etat in Dhaka. He escaped indictment, much less punishment, for the simple reason that he sided with the ruling boss’s party in power, and those who refused to line up with the P.M. had been made scapegoats by Hasina.

Though the last rung of the due process in the Supreme Court REVIEW is still to be considered in weeks, one can only hope that there would not be judicial murder of the accused that at this point of time looks certain.

Author: H.B. Khair