Untold Facts

Hasina and Shafiq: Who’s Correct? Who’s wrong?

The Law Minister, a technocrat in the cabinet to whom Hasina owes a lot in securing her parole in standing 13 corruption cases and then on made possible for her rise to the position of the PM of Bangladesh for the second term and still being relieved through manipulation of all pending corruption cases, seems now to contradict each other in the so-called war crimes cases. The minister Shafiq clearly stated to a foreign media the other day that they are not going to make any trial for ‘war crimes’ but for ‘crimes against humanity’. Curiously enough Hasina and some of her other fully loyal sycophants ministers have been repeatedly stating that they are going to hold trial of the ‘War criminals’. Who’s right? Is Shafiq wrong?

War crime and crime against humanity may have something in common but they are essentially two different issues. Former is breach of civil rights and criminal offences during any recognized war and the other is breach of civil rights during other period. That the 1971 war of Bangladesh still after four decades hangs in its legitimacy- illegitimacy dimensions, it became logically and legally impossible to make trial of some presumed war criminals. That is why the Law Minister has categorically stated that they are not going to hold trial for ‘War crimes but for ‘Crime against humanity’-specifically for rape, murder, arson and genocide. Over enthusiasts in the matter including Hasina have gone on steps ahead in contradicting the Law Minister and still saying that they would hold trial for ‘war crimes’. Some even went further to state that such and such specific persons are the real ones who committed war crimes and must be hanged to death forgetting the critical fact about the listed main 195 for war crimes freed and sent home in 1974 by the then Bangladesh leader. It is thus difficult to understand the matter except in the other recent Political Trial (The Economist, 27 November 2009) out of shear personal vengeance, despite serious disapproval by civilized world communities.

Hasina on entering politics in Bangladesh in early 1980s kept on saying that she had entered politics not for love of anything much less politics that she hated but to avenge the blood of her father (daily Nayadiganta, 24 March 2009). In about 35 years she had her blood thirst met on the 27-28 January last. But not all, as yet. The rest is pending for her blood thirst of the six still at large that she has engaged the R&AW and MOSSAD agents at huge money investments from the public exchequer including the national intelligence services.

Those who are aware of her psychic make up of deep vengeance it is not difficult for them to understand that she would have some sadist pleasure in taking blood of some well known people who sympathized with the occurrence of the 15th August 1975. It is well known to them and the intelligence concerned that the overwhelming majority people did dissent the judicial murder of the five applauded heroes of the 15th August 1975 as are records available at home and abroad. History is witness that none lamented her father’s fall from power in tragic way not for without good reason but for his faults, misdeeds, corruption and betraying the people of Bangladesh so much so that his own party stalwart and speaker of the parliament Abdul Malek Ukil termed him soon after the 15th August 1975 as the notoriously absolute ruler FARAOH of pre-historic Egypt.

The welcome fall of the Faraoh was not only almost universal but all Islamist, Muslim, Pro Islamic, etc parties either were reborn or newly born. They all owed to the 15th August revolutionary change for they had all huge debt to the heroes like Farook, Huda, Shahreer, Mohiuddin etc. Naturally they are and their followers remained opposed to their judicial killing by egoist Hasina’s blood thirst. Unfortunately they are now falling victim to her more blood thirst. She is unlikely to restrain from taking more blood for she feels in her psyche unmet as yet.

War crime is an internationally admitted issue. But the crucial problem in this respect is that one has to define and limit war in specific term. Unfortunately in case of Bangladesh war the specificity of the term war remains in the last four decades without unanimity so much so that even the declaration of independence is still debated. It’s nothing like the wars like World Wars, Vietnam War, etc. Here it was a civil war, not any war between two recognized parties or countries. Well, the 13 day December war of 1971 was the real engagements between two recognized countries India and Pakistan as is there proof in the 16th December 1971 document of surrender signed by Pak’s Niazi and India’s Atora, none from Bangladesh side. Bangladesh was a party in theory and not in substance despite the fact that many youths of Bangladesh fought along with. Bangladesh in 1971 existed in air and in propaganda of the alien and hostile media based in Calcutta and London just only to dismember Pakistan, until then not only the largest Muslim country in the world but also emerging as one of the regional power. Let one recall that the remnant of Pakistan acquired nuclear power status just after the 1971 tragedy of dismemberment. One must try to vision what would be Pakistan’s position would be had that not been dismembered and remained together. Even so, and despite big power’s game for dominance there she remains a competing regional power as against Bangladesh so much vulnerable to mercy of India. Herein lied the logic and reason who had stood however feebly though to protect the unity and integrity of their own country, forefather’s created through democratic election in 1946 and not through any fraud, much less bullet, one and united Pakistan in 1971. That stand can not be construed as anything unpatriotic but very much patriotic. Any violation of specific human right remains outside the purview and indictable under the normal Cr.P.C. That was what Minister Shafiq, as I understand, had clearly stated earlier. But both Hasina and her most loyal ones stating different view must remind every sensible soul that she meant what she had in heart for blood thirst still unmet.

She has in addition to blood thirst power hungriness for unending period until her normal life ends to her son Joy and the line of royal accession to the Bangladesh throne she has been on this time since January 2009 in making for a new dynastic rule. In that dynastic throne making she wants no opposition worth the name but of only the HUQQA HUAs or the loyal sycophants.

Farook, Huda, Shahreer etc had been the most powerful opponents not only of herself and the party but also against Indian hegemony in support of the dynastic design whom she had already eliminated. She is now to sift out all those who could be formidable opponents against her evil lust for permanent power. That is what she is after in the label of so-called war crimes trial. Otherwise, she would have gone for the trial under ordinary Cr.P.C. of all those irrespective of party affiliations who violated specific human rights in 1971, not excluding many ethnic Bengali who remained until the last firmly for one and united Pakistan, not seceded Bangladesh, and of the fellow citizens of the country, the non-Bengali population in thousands massacred by the armed thugs of the leader and the killers of his party. The liability on these accounts of massacres can not be shrugged off by the then leader, as well.

Such possible complicacies and remorse apart, likely bitter relations with many countries, Muslim powerful countries, in particular, convinced Hasina’s father to put an end to the trial in whatever label that could have been after signing the Bangladesh India Pakistan treaty in April 1974. The 1973 Tribunal formed in July remained inoperative even in over two years the leader stayed in power and in this wordly life.

The composition of the investigating team of seven, the three judges for the tribunal and the 12 lawyers’ prosecution panel would be hardly transparent for all likely collusive executive interference that was made in other case mentioned above in an unusual haste in executing the five victims in clear judicial murder of political trial of the of the decorated freedom fighters and brilliant army officers on the 27-28 January midnight in Dhaka prison. There is nothing to expect any difference for the HUQQA HUAs have already announced verdict for hanging to death of such and such persons just as Hasina had long ago confirmed the accused as ‘murderer’ or KHUNI and so the death by hanging of the five mentioned above. After all, the judges here in Bangladesh are spineless ones with rare exceptions. Hasina’s lust for blood in the game may bring defeat for Shafiq.

Author: HB Khair

Hasina’s Caricature Continuing

That Hasina is champion of speaking repeated untruths and making propaganda of falsehood is known to all intelligent and inquiring men and women. She keeps on repeating that Ershad tried to rehabilitate Col ® Rashid, Major ® Huda, etc in politics. Well, they were facts of mid 1980s. They did very rightly so, because they were free citizens for the Indemnity Act of 26th August 1975 was in force. Careful men and women, however, can recall well that she herself in deep love with Ershad not only rehabilitated him but also legitimized his illegitimate rule during the same time. That she went with Ershad for the so-called Long Drive’ or ‘Love Drive’ to give him legitimacy in the mid 1980s election by herself and her party participated in and the main opposition party BNP boycotted is recorded on fact. Certainly she takes the advantage now of people’s short memory for grinding her own political axe.

Huda has already gone to the after world, I am sure, as one of the great Shahids or martyrs for he along with his four other great colleagues of the 15th August 1975 welcome change made the very difficult but much sought for dethroning the FARAOH possible in general jubilation of the people possible. For they had a ‘Political Trial’ (The Economist 27 November 2009) and mockery of justice in Kangaroo Court of the spineless judges formed by Hasina’s past party cadres, nothing of anything to uphold rule of law, making the clear cut mutiny as a simple murder case flouting illegally the indemnity inherent and specifically provided for by the legitimate government of post 15th August of President Khondoker Moustaque Ahmad. That was why the civilized countries and international organizations like Amnesty International, European Union, powerful Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia etc. had tried until the last moment to stop executing the five heroes on the night of the 27-28 January that was so illegally and immorally made just only to meet the lust of Hasina for blood in shear vengeance and nothing else. That the overwhelming majority people of Bangladesh except only the HUQQA HUAs of Hasina shared their disapproval for the judicial murder of the five heroes done in clear miscarriage of justice along with the civilized people.

Col ® Rashid convicted in the same case is yet to be brought back to Bangladesh from his fugitive status by her government and then put to the gallows in the same way. In the meantime, however, Hasina smarted to put Rashid’s only daughter and the baby grand daughter to the prison, understandably as the hostage. She did employ the same tactics in 1996 in caging Rashid’s wife Zobaeda in rigorous police remand as hostage for Rashid had been out of the country as fugitive and could not have been arrested in the framed up ‘murder case’. She failed to keep Zobaeda in prison for long, much less try her due to mounting international pressure; she was freed with honor and allowed to leave the country and since has not returned.

Recalling back about Hasina’s snare, typical of telling lies for befooling the gullible lots almost all the time, she announced publicly not to participate in the same election process in her Bengali verbatim in English version, ‘Whosoever would take part in the election would be national betrayer’. She had not the slightest remorse to turn herself as the ‘National betrayer’ as she announced to participate in the same election under Ershad, albeit, immediately after the Long or the Love drive.

She maintained love with Ershad, not to mean the sort of what Matiur Rahman Rentu had elaborated in his autobiography AMAR FANSI CHAI, and so the debauch was freed from long imprisonment just to gain political advantage and power of the Prime Minister in 1996. She had then made some political love with the Jamaat as well. Ershad is still in love but the Jamaat is on severe attack so much so that might face even extinction of the post 1971 kind.
These are some examples, not all, of Hasina’s political caricature that the sane people must reckon, the ‘slow poisoning’ episode being lately debated that went up to the court, to chart out the right mode and destiny for the people of Bangladesh vis a vis Hasina’s snares and political caricatures.

Author: B K Din

Hasina giving all not taking anything!

Report in a Dhaka daily on the 25th March stated quoting PM Hasina that she is on giving everything to the people and not taking anything. That sounded wonderful but hardly in substance for the people to believe.

If we recall what Hasina promised before the December 2008 election what we can see. She promised rice per Tk Ten/ Kg, but now people see that they can not buy the staple food item not at ten but at about three times higher price. Now she is saying that she did not make that promise but did so in 1996. Documentary proofs only established her in the matter as untruth.

She promised for providing jobs at least one to each family. Now after 15 months, she has done nothing except a token few of the party and just for publicity stunt.

She had promised to stop terrorism, but she did the opposite. Her youths everywhere even in colleges and universities have fully engaged in all terrorist acts. Tender snatching, rent seeking, terrorizing opponents- are these anything but terrorist acts?

She promised uninterrupted electric supply with minimum load shedding for the people by increasing production to 7,000 MW; the pity is that the total production is on an average barely 3,500 MW against the total demand of 5,500 MW. Load shedding in Dhaka city areas runs now nearly 10 hours in 24 hours. Now she is making fresh promises to import 150 MW or so electricity from India where they themselves are in short supply. Gas supply and water shortage is a daily matter with the urban people, particularly in Dhaka and Chittagong where they had been much better before.

She promised to make the parliament effective and centre of all national activities. She has turned the institution as something of mockery of personal vengeance and derogatory attacks on some dead leaders.
She had promised to contain corruption in the country, that looks now hollow talk as the ACC has already made toothless, clawless and also spineless so that her party people could go on earning two paisa underhand and get rich quick.

She promised to have a neutral and efficient administration; she has already made it most unfortunately fully politicized, biased and inefficient. Police is being used for protection of the party cadres and suppression of all opponents.

The independence of judiciary whatever had been there has by the 15th months passed been made totally subservient to the executive filled with less meritorious pliant party cadres and spineless lots.
I must, however, admit that though not promised before, she has given in full dimension one crucial thing. Politics, administration, judiciary etc, one may name as one would like, as the instruments of her shear vengeance and vengeance alone.

Let us now see if she has not taken anything so far from the public exchequer.

We need not talk about what she enjoys as the PM of one of the poorest country in the world. After all those are privileges, honorees allowances, etc as continuation of the colonial past.
What, however, she has got sanctioned uncommon to any democratic country should be accounted for moral grounds.

It is not she alone as the PM but for all of her extended family members-sister, daughter, son and their progeny got the preposterous act passed in the parliament for upkeep, maintenance and VVIP security whoever would stay alive wherever he or she would please to stay on including the unborn ones of the second and third generation. It is known that her family members not only divided but also live in various advanced countries, USA, England, Finland, etc. Hasina alone lives in Bangladesh but not all of the time as she keeps on traveling from one close relation’s place to another. I am not sure about the cost involved each year, because, they have been kept secret from public eye so far. Is there any example in any democratic country the sort of taking grant as Hasina has been granted and robbing the public exchequer? This is not any example of giving to the people but shamelessly and immorally fleecing public fund or stealing poor taxpayer’s purse. One would possibly give this taking a nod provided she and the extended family of 10 members now would be declared through the parliament a royal one of new brand in Bangladesh history that might somewhat legitimize the fund taking in this manner.

Author: BK Din

Hasina Exported Fascism to London

That an editor of a Dhaka daily visiting London a few days ago was attacked by fascist hoodlums in London, everyone confirmed that the attacker fascist were certainly Hasina’s exported goons to Britain. The confirmation is backed by the valid reason that the same person had been attacked here in Dhaka quite a few times by the same brand of fascists. His fault was that he remains the lone courageous editor here in Bangladesh among almost all lambs against the fascism of Hasina brand.
Those of us who are over seventy like me and kept track of the Awami League politics from outside interested for welfare of the common people have had enough of their fascism since about the last six decades.

The beginning in June 1949 was however noble to work as opposition to the then government party Muslim League in the newly established State of Pakistan. Soon degeneration took on, first ousting the founder President Maolana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and the founder General Secretary Shamsul Haq through fascist tactics. By mid fifties, prompted by Suhrawardy and clandestine support by the Indian Intelligence Agency Mujib moved up in leadership ladder. Suhrawardy’s sudden and mysterious death in a Beirut Hotel in 1963 opened clear avenues for Mujib to the top leadership of the League.

Neither Surawardy nor Indian top leadership trusted Mujib for anything worthwhile in their pursuits for they considered him as a person of very low caliber guided mainly by heart and little by head. Suhrarawardy’s death, however, gave Mujib opportunity to drive out in fascist mode all other more capable and honest leaders like Abdus Salam Khan, Amena Begum, Ataur Rahman Khan Etc. In the process consolidating his position of the Presidency of the party, he launched in 1966 soon after the 1965 India Pakistan war the Six Point program for the so-called autonomy, but in fact sowed seeds for secession of East Pakistan from federal control. Both the American intelligence the CIA and Indian Intelligence R&AW had the blessings for the secession.

The general election of 1970 hold under the LFO for framing a new constitution for federal Pakistan aided by massive propaganda from outside gave him and his party a landslide victory. Naturally he took that scope for making Bangladesh. Even so, not being sure he stayed at the fence. The scope thus was picked up by India to make armed aggression and secession a reality. The new position took place in his physical absence that made him the hero still bigger. Fascism had been his way since the beginning but turned more rigorously soon after he took the administration of independent Bangladesh on the 11th January 1972.

Three and a half years of fascist rule fortunately for the people ended on the 15th August 1975 revolution and army coup d etat. Once again the fascist rule reappeared after 21 years in mid 1996 by his surviving daughter Hasina. However, she had a bad end in 2001and relief from her fascist rule. Once again on from January 2009 the same fascism with more aggressiveness now has been oppressing the people not only at home but in London, as well.

Some one having deep insight into her psyche for he knew her from childhood has suggested that the London hoodlums of Hasina would soon be apprehended for there were closed circuit TV in the area the fascists attacked the editor. It may be a good omen; on the contrary, Hasina’s export earning might fall further that has already showed a downward turn during the one year Hasina is in power since 2009. Export of fascism would hardly make up the deficit.

Its pity for Hasina that on one side she has been encouraging fascist attacks on opposition elements, and on the other, she is saying that she would fully contain terrorists and Jangis! Were not the fascist attackers’ terrorists and Jangis?

She lives in and runs Bangladesh in all contradictions in every conceivable falsehood that is the obvious other side of fascism just like her father did let loose during 1972-mid 1975. Unfortunately the fascist FARAOH was finally caught red-handed and eliminated. One thus must wonder if she would have a similar end sooner than latter.

Author: B K DIN

What ‘Punjabi’ Taliban?

It is not enough that Washington limit India’s role in Afghanistan, which expanded in the first place due to Bush administration’s double game with Pakistan. US policymaking circles need to be cleansed of the flawed theories on Pakistan and the region fed to US by Indian sources. There is no such thing as Pashtun Taliban or Punjabi Taliban. Beware Pakistanis. Washington and its allies in Islamabad are out to mislead you. There is one real Afghan Taliban and another fake one, the TTP [aka Indo-American Taliban]. By using the term Punjabi Taliban, they want to divide Pakistanis and get at some Kashmiri freedom groups that might be based in the plains of central and northern Pakistan.

South Waziristan is an Indian outpost on Pakistani soil with a religious version of Mukti Bahini in place, the terror militia created by India in 1969 before its full-fledged and unprovoked invasion of East Pakistan two years later. The similarity is in using proxies. This is not an outlandish theory but an emerging fact anchored in hundreds of pieces of information and intelligence that Pakistani security forces have gathered from the western strip of Pakistan stretching from Balochistan and all the way to the tribal agencies in the north.

To simplify this, let’s start with the series of attacks on Lahore in the past fifteen months.

Attacking Pakistan’s military and attacking Lahore has been an old Indian obsession. The link was first made by Indian analysts associated with Indian military and intelligence. They theorized that since Pakistan’s military is mostly drawn from Punjab province, it only makes sense that the best way to punish it for involvement in occupied Kashmir is to attack that part of Pakistan where the families of Pakistani military officers live. Indian propagandists have long been promoting this flawed line of thinking. Explaining Pakistan in lingo-ethnic terms is something New Delhi turned into an art form after 1971. That’s when it successfully exploited this lingo-ethnic card to invade East Pakistan. Our Indian friends later took the same idea to Soviet Moscow to encourage them to meddle in Balochistan and NWFP using Afghan soil.

But after 9/11, this flawed theory was taken by the Indians to a new place: Washington, along with the ideas of independent Balochistan, Pashtunistan and the alleged ‘lingo-ethnic’ divide in Pakistan. Some US powerbrokers took fancy to this theory. To cut a long story short, that’s how US media’s anti-Pakistan bias in the past five years was heavily tinged with this Indian theory on Pakistan. It is also one way of explaining why Afghanistan gradually turned into an anti-Pakistan territory and India was empowered at Pakistan’s expense despite being celebrated by US officials as a ‘major non-NATO ally.’

It is interesting to see an overlap between this Indian security mindset and the TTP. This so-called Pakistani Taliban group attacks the same targets today that New Delhi’s security establishment has been focused on for decades: the army and Lahore.

‘Punjabi Taliban’ is another misnomer that serves the same agenda of forcing Pakistanis to see one another through lingo-ethnic glasses. There is no such thing in Pakistan. Those Pakistanis who volunteered with the Afghan Taliban or with Kashmiri freedom groups during the 1990s came from all linguistic backgrounds [Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Pashtun, Urdu-speaking, and Balochs]. To lump all of them together in one ‘Punjabi’ Taliban is wrong and malicious.

It is also part of the indirect desire to attack the geographic position of the Punjab province, where much of Pakistan’s strategic installations and military units are based. It would also mean taking the war to the heart of Pakistani military’s base as defined by the Indians who see it as Punjab-focused.

Pakistan’s political and military leaders should tell their friends in Washington that freezing the expansion in India’s role in Afghanistan is not enough. It should be accompanied by a cleansing within US policymaking circles to remove the poisonous Indian theories on Pakistan that so many within the US academia and media have embraced. Washington should understand that strategies such as inserting pro-US elements into power in Islamabad to contain Pakistan from within won’t work. A better course of action is to genuinely understand and respect Pakistani strategic concerns and interests and work with them, not covertly undermine them when the time is right and grudgingly accept them when the tides are rough.

Pakistanis will also have to understand that they will pay a heavy price for insisting on securing their own interests in the region. And it’s not hard to identify the culprits. India won’t just roll over with punches. And there are lobbies in Washington that won’t simply let go of Afghanistan after experiencing the sweet taste of regional imperialism.

All terror in Pakistan is linked to South Waziristan, where Pakistanis are recruited, brainwashed and then used to kill other Pakistanis. South Waziristan has been turned into Pakistan’s Tibet or Xinjiang. Our strategists understand this. It is time for our public opinion to see this reality without the distortions created by the multimillion dollar media campaigns by foreign governments that want us to see our problems through their eyes.

Author: Ahmed Quraishi

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Awami League Frame: Democratic Joy is Misfit

There are some honest suggestions for Hasina for grooming her son Joy for the succession to her throne. The main point of suggestion is to get him cleaned transparently, not through rhetoric alone much less more importantly in the degenerated Awami League Framework.
Apart from the positive side of Joy’s education in open society in the USA and also negatively of dynastic ambition’s likely hazards among the politically volatile people of Bangladesh, the main stumbling block could be elsewhere.

People of Bangladesh have been hoodwinked and befooled time and again by the recent past political leaders with rare exception of one hue or the other. In general they had given everything but honesty and integrity in democratic norms.

Possibly, the reasons were obvious. One, common poor people are rather simpleton, looks for anything to catch hold of like drowning man to catch at a straw that appears hopeful for bare survival. In addition, image building of certain persons by vested interests had not been that difficult here whoever had managed huge funding for propaganda inside and from outside. What could be bigger propaganda tool here for nearly half the population or about 75 millions of people sustaining lives at grinding poverty level earning less than one dollar a day when politicians promised time and again for cheaper rice, the main staple food starch in Bangladesh. Mujib promised to supply rice in open market at Taka 0.50 per Kg in 1970 and Hasina in 2008 at Taka 10 per Kg, and so won the elections in their own time with ‘absolute majority’, but unfortunately none kept the promises amazingly with any accountability afterwards whatsoever!

That sort of promises made and broken reminds me of T B Macaulay, the British bureaucrat and historian, who nearly two centuries ago pointed out that the Bengalis would make ready made promises that they would soon break without any slightest remorse!

We limit this essay on Awami League alone. There had been some transformations from the noble inception in 1949. The beginning was quite lofty having leaders like Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani as the President, Shamsul Haq as the General Secretary, etc. But the degeneration started in mid 1950s. After the ouster of Bhashani by hoodlums like Mujib etc and death of Suhrawardy in 1963, the degeneration took the final shape. Muijb topped the leadership and purged out still then there the honest persons like Abdus Salam Khan, Amena Begum, Ataur Rahman Khan, etc. absolutely for his power craziness.

In mid 1960s after his launching of the apparently innocent looking Six Point program for ‘autonomy’ that the CIA and the R&AW had the sole blessings that landed him in prison, it was only Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury who kept the Awami League afloat. His imprisonment, however, raised his popularity in negative sense. At this stage Bhashani of the NAP from out side through his Jalao Porao raised Mujib to the high position. The victory of the party in the 1970 election in East Pakistan and the stalemate of power sharing led to the civil war and India’s intervention in the December 1971 war. These crucial matters took place out of his knowledge and beyond physical presence that made him obviously through massive propaganda still bigger hero and so he turned as the absolute leader of independent Bangladesh. Naturally his luck favored him to become absolutely power hungry in midst of surrounding sycophants that Malek Ukil labeled in post August 1975 discourse as the FARAOH’s fall.

Oli Ahad, Mujib’s contemporary in politics and close to one another vouchsafed with full authority that Mujib was all along power hungry. He further noted with all knowledge that Mujib had no patriotism whatsoever but love for absolute power alone (See, Oli Ahad’s Jatiya Rajniti 1945 Theke 1975).

Here one may note carefully his upbringing in childhood and early youth. He was a juvenile delinquent so much so that affected his early schooling and passing Matriculation Examination with poor result at the age of about 22 years. The inside fact that made him delinquent and his foster father lamented his manners as a GOONDA or hoodlum was perhaps due to his birth of a Hindu unwed girl mother in Calcutta; the biological father having had refused to marry his mother, the girl’s father gave him in adoption to Sheikh Lutfur Rahman of Tungipara, Gopalganj, who would work as a Mohrar with the lawyer Chandi Das, the girl’s father. He married the girl and adopted Mujib as foster son in 1923 at his age about 3 years. Even as the foster father in his poor pecuniary condition as a low paid worker, later on after Pakistan established he got a promotion to become Peshkar from the position of Record Supplier in the Faridpur Dustrict Judge Court, he did almost everything possible to rare him and also give him education. But his disturbed birth and childhood obviously played some part in his delinquency. Even so, the Pakistan movement in Bengal based in Calcutta and Suhrawardy’s favor for rather a hoodlum youth opened his luck to get admission in the Islamia College, Calcutta, and then a bastion for Pakistan movement. It is well known that he had his BA Degree through fraudulence and impersonation for being a serious Muslim League worker. To be brief, the Bengal Muslim League, the Pakistan movement, Suhrawardy and his dole money made the beginning of his fortune there in 1940s. In 1949 June when the Awami Muslim League was formed in Dacca he happened to be the joint secretary two, first was Moustaque. One can imagine thus his rise, luck and becoming power crazy from early delinquency.

His rule in Bangladesh for little over three years and a half had been dotted with his power craziness. He ruined all modes and institutions of democracy for the same craze. He raised killer Rakhsmi Bahini just only to misuse and abuse all state powers at whims for his perpetuation in power. He closed down all newspapers except four under his direct control and throttled freedom of expression just only absolutely to perpetuate his power and authority. One might recall Stalin’s low birth that many think made him ruthless to kill as many as, in one count, 30 million people in satisfying his beastly ego in about two decades rule in former USSR. Mujib’s Rakhsmis killed nearly 40,000 plus in three and half years. Had he stayed in power any longer, one might guess how many more his Rakhsmis would have extra-judicially killed with impunity.

Some say that he did not do any financial corruption. Who gave the money for building his 32 Dhanmondi home? Under his nose his own people made Bangladesh a hell of ‘CORRUPTION BONANZA’ just as a London paper had the term used in early 1975. He himself had been the bonanza or the unending fountain of corruption. In fact, promotion and fostering of corruption bonanza by Mujib himself brought the national army men in conflict with him, in addition to his creation and better nursed the Para military force, introduction of lone party absolute dictatorial BKSAL, throttling of newspapers, endless extra judicial killings, etc. etc. that ultimately led to his fall in the army coup on the glorious 15th August 1975 for freedom, democracy, disbanding the killer Rakhsmi Bahini, freeing media and newspapers and multi-party Parliament. Mujib’s egocentricity and power craziness made the exit in disgraceful way obvious so much so that none was known to have lamented his fall but had been jubilant.
Even on the early morning of his fall, he got killed in encounter that was not to be, had he not shown his ego not abdicating but by ordering his eldest son Sheikh Kamal from inside the residence at Dhanmondi to fire on the mutineers, as is recently known from a statement of the coup leader Col Farook’s eldest son Tarek made from abroad.

Hasina as is seen from her all attitudes in most shameless way proudly inherits Mujib’s all those egos and anti democratic modes and methods as were clear in her first term and in the second term now with more aggressive viciousness. It is thus useless to suggest and expect that she would prepare Joy differently from the previous Awami League’s anti-democratic, pro corruption, actively fascistic and repressive framework against all genuinely lawful oppositions and legitimate dissents. But if Joy, as he was educated and groomed in the democratic climate of the USA, might have some point for optimism. The optimism would be that he must not fit in the old Awami League framework but must be in different mode that must be fully tolerant, gentle, patient and clearly democratic one. To all sensible people the Awamis are the most rotten fascist of the 21st century in Bangladesh that inherited Mujib’s disturbed childhood and his Calcutta dole days of meanness and mental craziness.

Joy’s father Dr Wazed was a gentle man, a typical simple Rangpuri, as I knew him from a distance, almost free from unusual rotten egoist attitude that both Mujib and Hasina were made of. Whether Joy could assiduously come out of the genetic disabilities and insufficiency of his maternal side or not that might be determinant one way or the other of a worthy beginning in gentle, tolerant and democratic political career for him in Bangladesh provided further that he could keep him outside the external domains of the Indian Intelligence, the R&AW and of the Israeli Intelligence, the MOSSAD, in particular.

Author: HB Khair

War Crimes to Crimes against Humanity

The Bangladesh Technocrat Law Minister Shafiq Ahmad in an interview with the BBC Bengali Radio Service aired at 7:30 P.M. on the 20 March in Dhaka seemed to have shifted from his and Hasina Government’s previous stance to put the ‘1971 War Criminals’ to now ‘Crime against Humanity’. He made the hint of shift on his return from a fairly long visit to the USA, UN etc. understandably having had exchange of opinions with some important persons about the issue there. He mentioned about the stance of Pakistan in the matter, as well, and made abundantly clear that the 195 listed Pakistani prisoners of war would not be indicted. In fact, they had been in the list as ‘war criminals’, no matter how genuine the list had been.

The reason for the shift of stance is best known to the Minister and the Government. But others would have quite a few points and explanations.

The first hurdle is the precise definitions of war and war crime. Even at the international discourse there is no complete unanimity but the definitions vary. In case of Bangladesh and Pakistan, agreed definitions are very hard to come by for legitimacy of the question of declaration of independence that is still being debated after four decades past in acrimony that looks no end to it. In terms of De Jure legitimacy, Bangladesh did not exist until February 1974, the day Pakistan officially recognized Bangladesh as an independent country and not before. The 1971 period of East Pakistan/ Bangladesh, according to international authentic documents happened to be in ‘civil war’ and not independence war. This was also even the top leader Mujib acceded to after three years in 1974 30th October, in his dialogue with the US Secretary of State Dr Henry Kissinger (See, US State Department declassified document made public on the 14th February 2009 and published in the weekly Holiday, Dhaka, 6th March 2009). The above points establish the fact that the 1971 war on Bangladesh was in fact a war engagement between Pakistan and India for 13 days in December.

Let us suppose for a moment, if the war would not have been won by any side just like many wars, Bangladesh would not stand anywhere in reality. If Pakistan had won, the fate of Bangladesh would have been just like the Tamils who fought for 26 years, gave lives of 70,000 or so and yet nowhere now in reality. Possibly, that is why Mujib did not take the risk to declare UDI in March 1971.The declaration of independence by Major Zia as he himself stated was ‘Revolt’ or mutiny of about 250 or so of the Eighth East Bengal Regiment, a small section of the federal Pakistan army. The declaration of independence of Bangladesh on the 10th/17th April 1971 in Calcutta by about 76 or so out of 219 or minority of MNAs and M.Ps of East Pakistan had no legitimacy for the simple reason that they had not been elected by the people for the job but for framing a federal constitution for the united Pakistan. The LFO (Legal Framework Order) had the mandate otherwise and not for Bangladesh.

Thus the confusion or lack of legitimacy for Bangladesh in 1971 made the question of war crime of 1971 more difficult to establish. In early 1972 the Mujib government made a presidential order number 8 for trial of those who sided with the Pakistan Army. The order was known as Collaborators Act of 1972. Thousands were arrested under the act and herded in prisons. Some were put on trial as well. But such trials turned into fiascos in most cases. In view of the problems arising, the government declared amnesty to most of the so-called collaborators, particularly when the new Constitution was framed and made in force in December 1972 as the fundamental rights provided in the constitution contradicted with the trial under the Act. To make up in a sort of hush up the government in July 1973 promulgated another act for trial of those involved in human rights violations in 1971. That turned the collaborators act dysfunctional. Despite some loud talks here in Dhaka even the July 1973 act remained non-operational. By 1974 things further eased after formal relations with Pakistan normalized and all prisoners of war detained in India freed and went back to their own place in Pakistan, Mujib boastfully announced that the sinners of 1971 had been forgiven, in his verbatim, ‘forgive and forget’! That was how the episode ended not to surface until recently. The post 1975 change government of President Zia rescinded the Collaborators Act quite realistically and as morally right putting death knell to the notorious and anti-human rights black law.

Since January 2009 the Bangladesh government of Hasina made it public that they would bring the 1971 ‘War Criminals’ to justice. They took preparations for over 14 months and now looks set to start the actual job. But there seems to have been a shift in the subject matter from ‘War Crime’ to ‘Crime against humanity’. They are both crimes but not the same. If they wish to go for war crime they would be stuck not only from inside but also at the international level. Possibly they can not face and meet the international standard for war crime that the 1971 position had actually been. On the contrary, crime against humanity is not that difficult to set and could be bone by normal Cr. P.C.
Even so, looking for witch hunting and for scapegoats can not be ruled out. Many of their mid level leaders have already made open in public that they must hang to death such and such big shots of particular political party, now mainly Islamic one. Some minister has gone so far as to say in open public meeting that they have had managed to hang the ‘killers’ of their common ‘father’, and hence they could also hang to death all the other as war criminals. Not unlikely, because they have a judiciary not only manned by their one time cadres but also by the spineless judges now almost totally filled the important positions. Rare exception only proves the general rule.

The witch hunting could be something dangerous exercises. Apart from the few old faces still alive of the 1971 days then active in politics if there would be any credible witnesses available even for the crime against humanity. Fake and made up witnesses would not be in short supply though for obvious moral erosion in society.

There is another issue. Crime against humanity in 1971 had not been perpetrated only by particular ‘Islamic’ men but also by the opposite side and individuals. Some such examples of human rights violations, for example, made against the non Bengali East Pakistanis beginning from the 1st March 1971 to beyond 1971 viciously perpetrated in various places of the country. How about the clear crime against humanity who killed retired from politics former Governor Abdul Monaem Khan at his own home in Dhaka in October 1971? How about those inhumanly tortured and killed soon after the 16th December all over the country including one great parliamentarian Moulvi Farid Ahmad of Cox Bazar and many others like him taken to be pro Pakistan? How about Kader Siddique’s killing in the Dhaka stadium on the 18th December 1971 that Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci had kept on record both in letters and photographs?

The Hasina government as has already been proved that her every internal political action against the real nationalist and Islamic forces are solely driven by vengeance and vengeance alone and nothing else just as they did in the case of the otherwise applauded heroes of the 15th August 1975 change. The pliant and spineless judges did give the verdict Hasina wanted to have in avenging blood for blood as she had promised on entering politics in early 1980s (See, daily Naya Diganta, 24 March 2009). The civilized world and all international humanitarian organizations stood against the hanging to death of the five army men and decorated freedom fighters that made her still more egoist. She is in all likely going to do in the case the same sort of ‘Political Trial’ as the 27th November 2009 international weekly The Economist viewed the 19th November 2009 verdict in the 15th August revolution case. It matters little in essence if they termed the victims in this case in vengeance driven ego of political trial for witch hunting not for ‘War crimes’ but somewhat euphemistically labeled for international consumption as ‘Crime against humanity’.

Should any quarter wish to make out cases for ‘War crimes’ or even ‘Crime against humanity’ now in 2010 A.D., 39 years after 1971, I am afraid, the number one person who must top the list would be Mujib for all grievously wrong commissions, one for instance, in inciting simple folks senselessly to turn as cannon fodders, on the one hand, and vacillating omissions not making UDI (Universal Declaration of Independence) in due time in March 1971, on the other.

Author: HB Khair