Untold Facts

Sheikh Hasina Afraid of BNP and the Legacy of Ziaur Rahman?

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:54:52 +0000

As always, a number of interesting and thought provoking articles and letters covering the current political situation in the country were noticed in the columns of the News From Bangladesh (NFB). I would particularly like refer to the ones written by Zoghlul Husain, Jalal Uddin Khan and Shimul Chowdhury published recently. The writers deserve appreciation for articulating the terrible fiasco Bangladesh in today, as well as warning the public what disaster loomed ahead if the situation was allowed to continue. Mr. Khan suggested some home improvement measures for the BNP, and they need careful consideration by the party if it wants to survive and contribute meaningfully to national politics and development, as well as to carry the legacy of President Ziaur Rhaman.

The Sheikh Hasina administration had been doing everything possible to eliminate the name of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, the valiant freedom fighter and the most successful Bangladesh president to date, from the country’s history. His only ‘crime’ was he had the ‘audacity’ to declare the independence of Bangladesh from the Chittagong Kalurghat Betar station on March 27, 1971 when political leaders failed to do so in time. The Awami League (AL) had to seek a verdict from a willing court to ‘punish’ Zia. One can fool one person all the time or some people sometime but not all people all the time. One cannot manufacture or dictate history; it will speak itself.

It looks like the public is paying the price for the ‘forced’ and ‘farcical’ elections on December 29, 2008 after which the AL led ‘mohajote’ was installed to power. Many nationalist observers and analysts have since been warning that Bangladesh would soon be sucked into the Indian hegemony, conforming to Nehru’s India Doctrine, which envisaged an Indian supremacy in South and Southeast Asia. The AL, its sponsored media and the pro-Indian lobbyists have engaged themselves in allaying such fears, some for protection of their crowns while others for cash rewards. National interests have hardly been of any concern to them. These elements find Indian ‘great friendship’ in the stoppage of waters at Farrakha, Tipaimukh and many other similar deadly contraptions! So what if our 52 joint rivers dry out at time of need and people keep crying Allah Megh De, Pani De in desperation? (Please read the article “India’s Dream, Bangladesh’s Disaster” by John Vidal published in NFB on July 16, 2010.) They feel nothing wrong at the regular BSF target shootings at Bangladeshis across the border, nor the Indian farmers encroaching inside our land. They do not care if we lose the South Talpatti or our maritime outlet to the sea. They think Bangladesh is out for sale and can be leased out for money, so let India use our ports and land routes for whatever purpose. They do not reason why Asian Highway had to enter Bangladesh from one side of India and exit to India again, reducing Bangladesh to a hapless transit point only. We need no military control in tribal areas in Chittagong Hill Tracts, so that India-trained miscreants and secessionists can keep it continually unstable. It is of no consequence to them if Indian goods and culture flood Bangladesh markets, even though Bangladesh can not export their goods to India for various ‘legal’ and ‘procedural’ reasons. The Hasina administration seems to move along the blue-print it was charted as a condition of its installation to authority.

The nation could not yet know the real story behind the February 25/26 BDR carnage last year, the worst since March 25/26, 1971, even though multiple connections with ruling elites were revealed. Fifty-seven senior officers, including the Director General of BDR, were massacred and their bodies brutally mutilated. Ladies and adult girls were not spared of the savagery during that period hitherto unheard in Bangladesh. Nobody would ever know why dozens of material witnesses were eliminated in the name of ‘heart attacks’ or ‘suicides’ while in custody. Perhaps as follow up of a greater plan, some of the brightest officers of the military were systematically sacked or retired and replaced with awamized officers. Yet, Sheikh Hasina does not seem to have faith in her politicized military. Otherwise, why would she engage Indian commandoes for her security and safety, if rumors were to be believed!

General Moin driven Caretaker Government instituted thousands of cases of corruption, graft and murder against political leaders, mostly belonging to Awami League and BNP, including the two former lady prime ministers. People had seen and experienced the highhandedness of those leaders over the past few decades and had no doubt about the correctness of the charges. Yet we found them coming out of the jails as puritans, and today sitting in the august national parliament and cabinet deciding the fate of Bangladesh and its dismayed sufferers. What an irony! Upon saddling in power, the Awami League took quick steps to withdraw thousands of cases against its men, thanks to an awamized and ever willing judiciary. At the same time, cases against the opposition BNP members are being strengthened with new cases being filed almost daily, particularly against the Zia family members, again thanks to a henpecked and spineless Duduk!

The current suppression and oppression to dissenting media reminds us of Sheikh Mujib’s emergency period in 1974 when all but four government-controlled newspapers were closed. The way Daily Amar Desh and its editor Mahmudur Rahman was thrashed, defying even court orders, can only be possible in a mythical ‘Mogher Mulluk’.

Awami League should in fact be thankful to the opposition BNP for not calling for any Hartal over the past 18 months. It should recall when it was in opposition in 1991-1996 and 2001-2006, how many days did it allow the BNP to run without a Hartal? Yet, it went wild to note the success of Hartal on June 27, 2010 and sent out its official and unofficial enforcement machineries to create trouble. The result was the arrest and persecution of thousands of opposition leaders and workers. The Deputy Home Minister publicly said that the opposition leaders should now ‘save their skins.’ Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, a disabled freedom fighter, the longest serving Foreign Secretary and an Ambassador to the US, was not spared of the harassment and continued to remain in custody.

Few disagree with a need of trial and punishment for the 1971 war criminals. In fact, the public in general and the freedom fighters in particular wonder why it had not taken place over the past 4 decades. However, that should not give a wholesale license to the AL to arrest, torture and harass the Islamic minded leaders on flimsy charges. Many observers suspect that it is in fact a deliberate effort by AL to keep a fictitious ‘Al-Quida/Taliban Connection’ alive in Bangladesh to solicit and maintain Indo-US-Israeli support. (Please read a letter by Shimul Chowdhury in NFB of July 16, 2010 titled “It is About Anything but the 1971 Liberation War.”)

Do all these mean that Sheikh Hasina is afraid of the BNP, the Jamaat-e-Islam and the legacy of Ziaur Rahman, or the public at large?

Author: Obaid Chowdhury
NY, USA

Self-defeating attitude of the Taliban

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:48:08 +0000

Among many stories that come out of Afghanistan I read one which is remarkably similar to the experience of the people of Swat and Waziristan. In the village of Hiratian in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, locals found the body of eight-year-old Dilawar hanging from a tree of a small fruit farm. The Taliban fighters had accused the boy of spying for the American forces; they kidnapped him, strung him up and left his body to sway in the wind for hours for all to see.

The murder was horrifying, yet few villagers come to the defence of anyone charged with spying for the hated Americans. But slowly, the details of the story emerged. The Taliban in the area had been collecting donations — money, food or weapons. They demanded money or a weapon from Mullah Qudoos, the boy’s father. Qudoos, poor and jobless, had neither. So the insurgents took his son instead. He was too young to be suicide bomber. So, they killed him to strike awe and set an example. When villagers learned the truth they erupted in fury. They openly vowed to fight the Taliban. Some called the Taliban “our oppressors.” Others swore never to help them again.

Hiratian lies in an area that is outside the government’s authority and has been under nearly continuous Taliban control for years. The political bankruptcy of direct Taliban rule in these areas has succeeded in doing what the Americans have not: turn the population against them. While the residents of Hiratian have not yet expressed their sentiment through action, villagers in other areas have. The Taliban exerted complete rule over large parts of Gizab district, in Dai Kundi province of central Afghanistan for years, until many villagers started refusing to cooperate with them earlier this year. All these areas have had few foreign troops. The insurgents imposed their harsh rule and the population suffered. Even after the large influx of troops in South Afghanistan over the past few years, the dynamic persisted: the Taliban were so powerful that it obviated the need to win over the population.

On the other hand, in those areas where the insurgency’s growth roughly coincided with or followed the arrival of the foreign forces — in the provinces near Kabul, for example — the Taliban have been more sophisticated. They have had to compete with the foreigners for the population’s allegiance, and in the process had to administer their rule with a softer touch. In such places, troop presence actually makes the insurgents more popular in local eyes. The conclusion is obvious. Without US troops in the area, the Taliban have no legitimacy.

It is a trend that belies conventional wisdom. It is hard to believe that increased effort to wage a war for ‘hearts and minds’, which at the heart of the COIN strategy, makes the Taliban popular. General Petraeus may well be smart enough to see that and move away from the present strategy of ‘surge’ which places reliance on a large U.S. military footprint. But the US has failed to rally Pashtun villagers to its side or to break the will of the resistance. For this reason many of these Pashtuns call for a negotiated ceasefire. They want to end the war their own way and rightly maintain that only they can deal with the Taliban and on their own terms. As the Taliban in Hiratian (as well as Swat and Waziristan) have shown that the Taliban can be their own worst enemy.

Negotiating between the populace and the resistance in Afghanistan would be protracted if the Americans continue to maintain a heavy military presence. I believe that a ‘threat’ of an early withdrawal would expedite matters. Instead of saying that the Americans ‘could stay long after the July next year deadline’ they should be saying that ‘withdrawal could begin’ as soon as all segments of populace and the resistance can come together to negotiate a settlement.

Many American strategists have already expressed the opinion that it is the future and fate of nuclear Pakistan, not the future and fate of Afghanistan, which should be the focus of US policy. The access of Afghanistan to the outside world would be through Pakistan. The alternative of Shia Iran, and Central Asian Republics (which are themselves land-locked) is not viable. It is the common interest of the USA and Pakistan-Afghanistan that Pakistan and Afghanistan should be friends – like twins conjoined at the hip, as President Karzai put it. Why the three of them are not pursuing what is their obvious common interest? It is because there is another group of three – India, Israel and the Neo-con America (supported by much of the Republican Party) – who would like the USA to not only stay longer in Afghanistan but also make use of the opportunity to strike at Pakistan and Iran.

The Republican Party would like President Obama to be a ‘one term President’ failing to get re-elected and being held responsible for the ‘defeats’. The Zionist lobby in America would like the destruction of the military of two more countries – Pakistan and Iran – to ‘make Israel more secure’. India eagerly wants to split Pakistan into several countries like it did in 1971 but that is possible only if it can win a victory in a conventional war in which the USA neutralises the nuclear deterrent of Pakistan. The ruling coalition in Pakistan is of parties that opposed the creation of Pakistan or have since emerged with or adopted that agenda. The USA may be persuaded to opt for the course being recommended by India, Israel and Neocon America merely because the ruling coalition in Pakistan is eager to oblige without questioning what may be done to Pakistan by ‘the three’. All eyes in Pakistan are on the military.

The Army is headed by a wise General. But he is due to retire in November this year. It has been the practice to grant one year extension to every COAS in Pakistan. But Zardari-Geelani may decide against it because he cannot be relied upon to refuse to obey the Supreme Court (SC) if he is asked to impose its judgement. Such a situation may come about well before November if the SC decided that the President cannot hold the office of PPP Chairman. Nobody in Pakistan’s Government is giving much thought to the dwindling prospects of the Taliban and Pakistan’s role in: 1) honourable exit with continued friendly US engagement with Afghanistan; 2) a durable peace settlement in Afghanistan between the populace and the resistance. I believe that vague objectives of the USA and Pakistan have fudged the issues which precluded emergence of wise and viable common objectives. But USA and Pakistan-Afghanistan do have common interests; they can surely agree on common objectives.

The Taliban did rule Afghanistan for a time but their government was recognised only by three countries – Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It was because of perceived illegitimacy of their rule that it was hard for Pakistan to stand by them when they were invaded in 2001. They are now being offered negotiations and peace that the Afghan people desperately want and deserve. If the Taliban refuse to make a deal with the USA, there would be no recognition of their rule even in the remote eventuality of the American leaving Afghanistan like they left Viet Nam. Pakistan is sincere in its support of Afghans; it has made much sacrifice for their sake against Soviet occupation and now American occupation. The Muslim World has a stake in the Afghan leaders acting sensibly to guard the national interests. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have some influence over the Taliban. They can and they must act to bring about a peace settlement. ++

Author: Brig. Gen. Usman Khalid
The writer is the Secretary General of Rifah Party of Pakistan

Is PM Sheikh Hasina in control of her affairs?

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:44:30 +0000

A careful look at the political state of affairs in Bangladesh will substantiate an argument that the Sheikh Hasina regime is a continuation of the military-backed interim government that had ruled the country for about two years before her party came to power. Sheikh Hasina and many of her party people were incarcerated and tortured during those two years, and she claimed that there had been an attempt on her life through mixing poison with her food. Her statement in this regard can be interpreted in two ways: 1. She made a false statement to collect public sympathy, which explains why she is not taking any action against those who wanted to kill her; 2. Her statement is true, but she is unable to take any action, as she is not in command of the affairs of Bangladesh.

Instead of branding our Prime Minster as a liar, I find it morally more comfortable to believe the second interpretation. Sheikh Hasina receives dictation about how to run the country and about who to punish; and according to that dictation, the misdeeds of the military-backed interim regime are forgiven. The primary target is those people who constitute the biggest obstacle to the realization of a political and economic hegemony of a regional power, and it is that regional power that is virtually at the helm of the country. It is that neighboring country of ours that wants to exploit Bangladesh in every way possible, which BNP and Jamaat refuse to tolerate.This is the reason for the arrests of Mahmudur Rahman, Motiur Rahman Nizami, Maulana Saidee and Ali Ahsan Mujahid.

Author: Shimul Chaudhury

Awami Tyranny Should Force BNP to Rethink and Reach Out

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:40:39 +0000

It seems Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) is determined to crush BNP as well as BNP-Islamist Alliance just as Fakhruddin-Moinuddin-Shamsul Huda did try to break BNP into pieces and tear it apart. It seems the current brute Baksalite dictatorship is much worse than the 9/11 blueprint for the suppression, even annihilation, of BNP. It is clear that Awami League has already established a regime in its effort to perpetuate its rule of oppression and persecution turning the country into a gulag-type police state and politicizing every branch of the government. For example, look at

(1) Awami League’s harassing ouster attempts on Khaleda Zia from her house,
(2) Dropping thousands of lawsuits against Awami supporters while keeping active all those against the BNP leaders,
(3) Filing more and more lawsuits against the BNP followers,
(4) Throwing into jail and physically torturing during the evil practice of remand the BNP leaders one after another (Ehsanul Hoque Milon, Mahmudur Rahman, Goyesshor Chandra Roy, Shamsher Mobin Choudhury, Shahid Uddin Anny, Mirza Abbas and many more),
(5) Closing down the media outlets with or without the slightest hint of objective and unbiased stance such as Channel 1, Daily Amar Desh and the wonderful talk show Point of Order hosted by Kazi Zesin on Bangla Vision,
(6) Calling public meetings where BNP also previously called meetings around the country and declaring 144 so that BNP can be prevented from generating public support,
(7) Arresting and remanding top Jamat leaders,
(8) Endlessly attacking BNP-Jamat alliance right and left for the kind of misdeeds which they (AL) themselves are now committing, circumventing the all-empty slogan of “Din Bodol” into the nefarious and vindictive agenda of “Din Dokhol;” and
(9) Changing the names or naming scores of national institutions after Sheikh Mujib only by way of the ancient cult culture and idol worship and North Korean-style leader/hero worship (Bangabondhu Convention Center, B. Medical U, B. Shetu, B. SAF Games, B. International Airport (proposed), B. Avenue, B. Hall, B. College, so on. And now, Mr. Mohammad Musa, a diehard Awamite with a loud voice dedicated against BNP-Jamat alliance, who has been appointed secretary to this AL govt. under the freedom-fighters quota, has proposed the naming of Dhaka city as B. City on the talk show Trityo Matra. Apparently a God-fearing man, unfortunately, he has recently fallen from grace due to his alleged unjust and immoral relationships with a number of his house maids as reported in the daily Amader Shomoy. Ah! Mr. Mohammad Musa).

The above are just some examples of Awami destructive, vindictive and repressive politics. Under the circumstances, BNP should do everything possible to gather strength to take on AL. One of the things BNP should do is to reorganize its party apparatus. In this connection I would like to bring the following to the attention of Begum Khaleda Zia and the BNP leadership for their consideration:

1. BNP must immediately reach out and bring back B. Choudhury, Oli Ahmad, Mir Shawkat, Ferdous Koreshi, Choudhury Tanvir, Alamgir Kabir, and the independent MP (Mr. Azim) and others who until recently belonged to BNP. All of them will definitely make the party strong. If AL can accept Ershad and win the election and go on with such a dictatorial rule, why can’t BNP be able to accept those mentioned above?

2. BNP should drop those who are hopelessly weak and ineffective such as Dr. R A Ghani or Barkatullah Bhulu and replace them with those who are stronger and louder with a considerable amount of public influence.

3. BNP should bring to the forefront Major Hafizuddin Ahmed—an able and competent man, eloquent and articulate and forceful. Let’s forget about his so-called “reformist” past which, it is true, was extremely painful. He made a serious mistake but should be given a chance. He does indeed deserve a chance. He is an asset to the party, no doubt. If the late Saifur Rahman and Lt. Gen. Mahbubur Rahman could be back on the Standing Committee, why not Major Hafizuddin? He is a lot more, much more effective than Saifur and Mahbubur. Major Hafiz is one of the best and ablest men in BNP.

4. In order to strengthen and energize the party, BNP may consider dropping Khandoker Delwar and replacing him with some one abler and more charismatic, more inspiring. While Khandoker’s political statements are sound and shrewd, he is too old to be impressive and to motivate others. He is also not perceived to be a man of clean image. He is old and weak—another elderly sitting Saifur.

5. In order to strengthen and energize the party, BNP should increase the number of SC members and that of VPs and advisers to include many other prominent figures from around the country on regional representation basis so that all districts are represented in the central leadership and the rank and file supporters become happy, active, and excited.

6. A very important suggestion is that Madam Chairperson ought to meet will all organizational wings – SC members, VPs, Advisers, and Executive Committee members more frequently for regular exchange of views and ideas as well as the publicity on the media. Such frequent meetings, not just with SC members but all other party wings, are very important.

7. BNP Mohila Dal is very weak. It needs to be strengthened under the exciting leadership of the current female MPs who are doing a fantastic job strongly defending the party and vigorously attacking AL. Look how strong Awami Mohila organization.

8. There should be a BNP think tank comprising intellectuals and journalists and professors and lawyers and retired bureaucrats and army officers and technocrats and industrialists.

9. BNP should remain in alliance with Jamat and all other Islamic parties and strengthen the alliance. There must be a BNP Ulema Dal without delay. AL has already one.

10. BNP leaders are so soft and polite that they do not mind addressing Sheikh Mujib as “Bangabandhu” but unfortunately AL leaders never address Zia with respect as President or General Zia, who was also a great freedom fighter and whose magical announcement in his unsurpassable magical voice of the independence struggle on the Radio in 1971 took the struggle forward to success and would remain a key moment of utmost significance in the history of Bangladesh. BNP leaders should stop addressing AL leaders as “Manonyo” since they never address BNP leaders in the like manner. Anyway, in the West, no such form of address. All are addressed just by their proper names.

11. While BAL leaders attack anything and everything which has the slightest smell of opposition, BNP leaders are so simple and naïve they never attack the Daily Star, Observer, Prothom Alo and Bhorer Kagoj and Shangbad and Jugantor, all of which are directly supportive of AL, almost as its propaganda mouthpiece.

I hope BNP leadership would consider the above suggestions. They need to bring together those who are inspiring, loud-speaking, tough-talking, sharp, brilliant, smart, and intelligent with organizational skills and clean image.

Author:Jalal Uddin Khan

Genealogy of militancy in Bangladesh and some threatening worries

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:52:54 +0000

During the last four-party coalition government, some sporadic and inept militant incidents occurred across Bangladesh, which left the country people utterly shocked and dumb-founded. Such incidents involving religious zeal had no place in Bangladesh in the past. In no time, Bangladesh became a news headline and different theories were being concocted. As a result, the country terribly suffered both economically and politically.

Bangladeshi expatriates and migrant workers especially those in the Middle East and in countries like Malaysia started to have the brunt of this image injury of their country. They have been looked down upon with a prism of suspicion and distrust. Foreign investment in Bangladesh, especially in garment industries, was halted for a period and still is not as it had been before.

A neighboring country became the immediate beneficiary of the embarrassment that Bangladesh was having. While many Bangladeshi migrant workers were being sent home, those from that neighboring country started to receive special treatment. Their gate to the international labour market became wider.

The above facts should be important in understanding those militant incidents in Bangladesh in the 2005s. Militancy in Bangladesh did not benefit the political parties that were in power at that time or those who do not subscribe to India’s political interest in the region. So it would be a worthwhile investigation to look into the genealogy of militancy in Bangladesh.

In all likelihood, the strong intelligence service of the country that has been the beneficiary of all such negative developments in Bangladesh was behind these incidents, especially in the training of the militants. And in all likelihood, the preparation period of militancy was during the last Awami regime 1996-2001 when some quomi madrasas were allegedly being used for stirring up militancy and for training purposes.

Despite the widespread damage to Bangladesh’s image in the international world, those militant incidents failed to give the neighbouring country and its ally Awami League inside the country the fullest dividend. They failed to establish a link between militancy and Bangladesh Jamaat Islam, a party that refuses to bow down to the Indian political and economic hegemony.

In my opinion, the recent arrest of the three most prominent Jamaat leaders (Motiur Rahman Nizami, Delwar Hossain Saidee and Ali Ahsan M. Mujahid) is to wrap up that un-finished task. Members of the intelligence service of the neighbouring country and Awami League ministers are well aware of the huge love and respect that these three leaders command among the rank and file of Jamaat Islam. Tortures on such highly respected people and religious scholars will definitely upset many religious people in the country, especially those belonging to Jamaat Islam. Anger may lead some of them to militancy; few individuals may even take the wrong route of suicide bombing out of desperation. If such things happen, God forbid, Bangladesh will fall to the category of Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the full mission of the neighbouring country will be accomplished with the complicity of the Awami regime. Bangladesh is the last remaining hurdle for this regional power to reap the strategic and economic interests in South Asia.

Awami League and its subcontinental patron are using the sentiment of Bangladesh’s liberation war of 1971 for a wrong intention. I hope the people of Bangladesh will wise up to the viciousness of this plot against the country before it is too late, before we find our beloved country turned into another Afghanistan, another Pakistan!

Author: Shimul Chaudhury

BAL Brutality on Mahmudur Rahman

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 06:12:24 +0000

Bangladesh has become an utterly Baksalite country under the bully that is the present government with ruthless oppression cruelly descending down on all kinds of democratic dissent, however legitimate and rightful they may be, and wildly devouring any semblance of freedom of expression, however informed and critically discriminating that may be. The situation in the country is such that it has lapsed into a filthy demonic, draconian and iron-fisted rule, worse than any military dictatorships, Stalinist Russia, contemporary Arab and African mouth-gagging regimes and Prophet Musa’s pharaonic fearful Egypt. No wonder, following the assassination of Sheikh Mujib in 1975, the late Abdul Malek Ukil of his own party remarked in London with a feeling of great relief that Bangladesh had been saved from the tyranny and repression of a Bangladeshi pharaoh. Just to give one example (not to speak of the other recent nakedly biased actions like the blind and blanket changing of the names of many national institutions, and the dropping of thousands of lawsuits against the Awamites, etc), look at the tyrannical closure of Channel 1 (One), Kazi Zesin’s fantastic and brilliant talk show Point of Order on Bangla Vision and the esteemed Daily Amar Desh. It is an extremely painful and disturbing development that a man like Mahmudur Rahman, perhaps the finest technocrat-turned-intellectual politician and journalist Bdesh has ever seen, has been under arrest for no reason and brutally tortured during the 12-day remand like Bdesh scuttling back into the dark ages of pagan beastliness in the distant European past. May the Almighty Allah save the nation and its people from the brutish suppression of the current government. May He return the benevolent and patriotic elements to power in order to be able to bring to justice those who are now perpetrating and gloating with goatish glee at the inhuman, immoral and unacceptable torture hurled on the mega-mind that is Mahmudur, a national conscience, a towering national treasure, a solid storehouse of knowledge and learning. Mahmudur’s was a dispassionate and disenchanted critical dissection with a penchant for objective and fair and balanced analysis as opposed to the biased yellow slavish servility of other mean and mediocre semi-journalists and quasi-intellectuals licking the boots of the beastly and biodegradable political elements belonging to the present government. A man of unique intellectual luster, Mahmudur is a class by himself. Those who are torturing and stripping Mahmudur do not have family and children of their own? Don’t they have any sense of shame? Don’t they have their male and female parts attached or included in their body? Don’t they have mothers and daughters? Don’t they have sons and fathers? Curse on them and their children to be the victim of the same shame, same torture one day, even more and more and more. I hope one day they who are allowing themselves to be the raw and blunt tools of Awami torture and persecution will be punished. I hope that the hands of the opposition will be strengthened soon to retaliate the Awami vindictiveness with icy and iron hand.

By: Jalal Uddin Khan

AL and the Daily Amar Desh

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 06:07:51 +0000

AL Govt has started a dictatorial Baksali-style rule. Recently there has been dozens and dozens of lawsuits for anything that was thought to be slightly critical of them. Amar Desh, Channel One, Kazi Zesin’s talkshow Point of Order on Bangla Vision, BNP Parliamentary leader Joinal Abedin Farouk, Press Club President Shawkot Mahmud, BNP Standing Committee member Saka Choudhury are just some of the glaring examples. Ministers have been threatening with provocative speeches at the arguably reliable media reports. Where are the freedoms of speech and the media? The government wants others to ignore, be silent, connive at and even support their alleged misdeeds including the withdrawal of thousands of lawsuits against the Awami supporters, the release of Sajeda Choudhury’s son from the corruption case involving him and the matter of Sajeeb Wajed Joy as reported in the Amar Desh, a first-rate, prestigious national daily. As such, one is very apprehensive about the future of the country. If there is any allegation of corruption against anybody, let it be investigated and dealt with in a judicial manner within the system of the law of the country. Why lawsuit just for reporting an alleged corruption on the media? How can then the truth come out and the unhindered freedom of reporting by journalists be cultivated? Where is the democratic right to criticism? Why is there such a suppression of the media and the shielding of the alleged? All Bangladesh media should be vocal and come forward in defence of Amar Desh, a well-known reputable daily as it is.

Everybody should have the freedom to say whatever s/he likes to say in his/her logical estimation and sensible analysis of the government and politics of his/her country. Why should then AL be so tyrannical? In Western democracies everybody has the right to criticize anybody including the top political leaders. That’s how democracy survives and succeeds. Are we under the medieval or neo-modern or postmodern kingship or dictatorship? Are we under a Myanmar-style military junta or in repressive communist archipelago in which we are not allowed to be critical of the government or those close to the government? Tareq Rahman is criticised by AL right and left even though he is liked by the public as well as the party apparatus for a number of reasons not to be mentioned here. It is none of AL’s business if TR is made senior VP or senior JS of his party. On the contrary, one may question in what capacity Joy took part in the Govt. delegation meeting with the US Govt. or at the UN when he was none of the government, none of AL, none of the parliament.

Why should one be forced to say Bangabandhu instead of just Sheikh Mujib? It is a matter of one’s personal choice and personal conviction. One should not be forced if one does not want to. Look at George Washington, JFK, Mahathir Mohammad, Lee Kuan Yew, Charles De Gaulle, Winston Churchill, Mao Tsetung, Vladimir Lenin, Che Guavara, Fidel Castro, Adolf Hitler–all are just known and addressed by their simple proper names; all are remembered in a passing, casual manner once in a long while, not a million times a day. They are hardly celebrated with flower and fanfare on a daily basis. But this does not mean their legacies have been cornered or confined, truncated or tarnished, reduced or hindered; instead they are celebrated through the works, not words, of the leaders and the generations since their death.

AL does not mention President Zia’s name with respect and dignity as someone who was a freedom fighter of the highest order, who made the crucial and essential announcement of the fight for freedom and liberation in his magical and magnetic far-reaching voice over the Radio and who proved to be a great, exemplary president of the country successfully leading it to the road of democracy and prosperity.

When AL does not show respect to President Zia, a proud and illustrious son of the soil, one of the most bona-fide and heroic souls Bangladesh has ever seen, how can AL expect others to show respect to Sheikh Mujib? Millions of people mourned the assassination of Zia while they danced in joy at the assassination of Shekh Mujib. No assassination can ever be supported (it is always a heinous crime) but the rejoicing at the death of Sheikh Mujib, even by the elements of his own party, was indeed a fact. He was a great leader but his rule was highly compromised and controversial with people suffering from famine, anarchy, lack of security, Rakkhi-Bahini torture and the dictatorial operation of his government. All’s well that ends well. His post-71 role/rule was in dispute by all means. Sure he did a lot for the country, from Benapol to Tamabil, but so did General Zia too, from Teknaf to Tetulia. Having said so, we got to get out of the quagmire of the past, stop mudslinging at each other, unite the nation and move forward.

Author: Jalal Uddin Khan

Reasons for collective actions to shield Mahmudur Rahman from Awami regime’s cruel exercise of power

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 03:41:36 +0000

It appears that Sheikh Hasina’s government has a sinister plan to continue torturing editor Mahmudur Rahman in the name of legal proceedings. What is most worrying is that the Supreme Court (including the High Courst and Appellate divisions) is on holiday till 3 July 2010. If the repressive regime takes this long vacation as an opportunity to persecute this patriotic man in police custody, freedom loving people in Bangladesh and beyond have a very good reason to feel disturbed.

On a personal note, let me make it very clear that I am not a member of any political groups in Bangladesh. But I have deep respect for Mr Rahman, as I know that he has been honest and brave in exposing the wrongdoings of the people in power. When many columnists remained largely silent and exercised self-censorship during the last army-backed government, he was the one to write relentlessly against human rights violations during those two years. He was the man to challenge them! After Awami League came to power, he continued writing for the betterment of his country and against India’s political and economic hegemony in the region and against the Bangladesh government’s subservient policies.

Recently I contacted a lawyer who has been partly involved in handling Mr Rahman’s case. This is what he said to me:

“He [Mahmudur Rahman] was taken to an unknown place, eyes were folded, he was undressed, tortured,,,,was not allowed to sign a letter of authority for ‘appointment of lawyer’ (it was later allowed), he was kept in police custody without food and drink for long hours, he was not allowed to see his lawyers / family members for over 24 hours. He was arrested on 1 June, by now he has lost his weight @ 7 Kgs, he was taken on police custody for interrogation in criminal cases which were filed after he had been arrested!!!…..his life is endangered. Please see the reports (Naya Diganta, Amar Desh, others 3 June - 15 June). His very arrest was unlawful. He said to his lawyers/family members and even to the Court that he had been brutally tortured: physically and mentally….starvation, inhuman and degrading treatments in violation of all norms of human rights, constitutional safeguards….all have taken place by now….”

Upon court appearance, Mr Rahman told the judge that he was not supposed to be alive after what he had gone through in police custody and asked the judge to save his life.

Historically, Awami League, the political party currently in power in Bangladesh has always been against freedom of the press. On June 16, 1975, the then Awami League government had closed all newspapers except four under government control and banned all other political groups. Since this regime came to power in early 2009, it has kept torturing people of opposition political groups, threatening journalists and shut down television channels like Channel 1and Jamuna TV, and the second most widely-circulated newspaper Amar Desh.

What I have gathered after reading different news stories on Mr Mahmudur Rahman’s arrest and tortures on him is that: He was severely tortured by unidentified five people in one early morning in the name of remand; he was blindfolded, stripped naked. When those men started torturing him, he fainted and remained senseless for many hours. He was questioned not about the issues relating to his cases; but about other extra-judicial matters.

People in Bangladesh believe that Mr Rahman has been the target mainly for his writings where he talked about the regime’s complicity in the killings of about 60 army officers in February 2009 and about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Joy’s involvement in financial corruptions.

I most humbly request all to do whatever they can to put pressure on the Bangladesh government to rescue this uncompromising writer.

Author: Shimul Chaudhury

Mr Gates’ statement about Turkey-Israel relation and a BBC report

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:28:28 +0000

According to a BBC report titled “US Defence Secretary Gates blames EU for Turkey ‘drift’” (Wednesday 9 June 2010, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10275379.stm), the American Defence Secretary Robert Gates recently said that the strain relationship between Turkey and the Zionist state Israel was caused by EU’s denial to give Turkey its membership. We all understand that EU’s political stance on Turkey’s entry is influenced by Europe’s prejudice against Muslims and Muslim states and we all believe that Turkey’s inclusion in the EU is long overdue.

However, what is surprising is the fact that Mr Gates failed to see any other good reasons for Turkey’s diplomatic strain with Israel. Routine killings of Palestinians by the Israelis, usurpation of Palestinian land and dispossession of the Palestinians, the Israeli genocide of 2008 that left Gaza in tatters and killed over 1,400 people including women and children, the blockade of Gaza by Israel since Hamas was elected to power, the recent Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid flotilla that left 9 dead and dozens injured and so many recurrent human rights violations by Israel are no credible reasons to Mr Gates for which a country or individual can and should hate the Zionist state!

As members of the larger human community worldwide, it is time for us to stop and think about what we stand for. Has human life become so cheap and insignificant? Has diplomacy replaced our sense of humanity and concerns for human life? How long will the language of power dominate that of moral and ethical values? Is it so difficult for the western governments to consider Muslims as equal human beings?

Mr Gates really baffles us and offends our human conscience, as he could not condemn Israel for such continuous, blatant human rights violations and for all its murderous acts; he rather seems to be more concerned with the practices and practicalities of diplomacy. BBC’s report is no less baffling. It begins the said report with “Turkey’s growing hostility to Israel”. What hostility has Turkey shown or done to Israel? Isn’t it Israel that humiliated Turkey’s ambassador to the country and isn’t it Israel that killed Turkish citizens? How long shall we have to read such biased reports? I don’t know what God’s plan is. But what I believe is that these injustices by the Western governments and distortions of facts by the media should stop for the sake of our common humanity.

Author: Shimul Chaudhury

Thoughts on BAKSAL, Mahmudur Rahman and the media

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:26:36 +0000

The first Awami regime after the birth of Bangladesh introduced a one-party political system in the country by banning all other political groups and shutting down all opposition news outlets. This is a fact and not a fiction. That regime committed a criminal act and waged a war against democracy, for which Awami League has never apologized. People of the country including those belonging to Awami League know this very well.

The political strategy the current Awami regime is following gives us a clear signal that Sheikh Hasina’s government wants to remain in power for a very long time by re-establishing the one-party political system in Bangladesh; and that is why she is stifling political dissents and disallowing opposition rallies, which she may dare to believe will lead to the perpetual rule of her party.

Despite this blatant undemocratic stance of Awami League, both domestic and foreign media are largely silent about Awami brutalities. Since the media largely influence public opinion, people of the country are thus kept in oblivion about the fascist nature of the current regime in Bangladesh. What a section of media usually highlights, for example, is Jamaat-e-Islam’s political stance of 1971 in favour of a united Pakistan. After about four decades of the liberation of Bangladesh, Jamaat’s political stance in 1971 can be interpreted in two ways: firstly, it was totally wrong to espouse to retain a united Pakistan given all the inequalities that existed between West Pakistan and East Pakistan; secondly, the way Indian BSF personnel are killing hundreds of Bangladeshis every year and given other Indian economic and political exploitations of Bangladesh may vindicate the Jamaat fear of 1971 that a Bangladesh axed from Pakistan would be subject to Indian hostilities, which is actually the present day reality. However, this is a matter of political and historical analysis and should be done in an academic way.

Nonetheless, if Jamaat’s stance was wrong (and I believe it was), it can also be interpreted as its right to hold a political opinion. What is important to note is that Jamaat leaders have wholeheartedly accepted Bangladesh and shown loyalty to the state. I do not know any Jamaat leader who has said that Bangladesh should rejoin Pakistan. In terms of the gravity of crime, establishing BAKSAL was not a lesser offense. What is more, Awami League has not yet declared that it would never pursue such a political goal and their current activities suggest that they do not tolerate any opposition parties or dissent voices. The current Awami government has practically turned many police stations in Bangladesh into torture cells for the opposition party people and for the ones like Mahmudur Rahman who expose the regime’s misdeeds.

Unfortunately, the Awami BAKSAL crime is not highlighted in the media. The line of reporting of a section of Bangladeshi newspapers seems to meet the ‘wishes’ of a neighboring country that is bent on scoring political and economic dividends from Bangladesh while Awami League in power. Shutting down electronic and print media is now deemed to be taken for granted. While an editor is being tortured most inhumanly in police custody, many media agencies are turning blind eyes to the regime’s fascist inclination. Tortures on Mahmudur Rahman have now become a normal practice and many media people are not using their influence to rescue him.

Let us imagine that an editor of one of the many newspapers ‘loyal’ to the neighboring country is tortured in the way Mahmudur Rahman is, what would be the reaction of the local and international media? The leverage of our neighbouring country in international politics and in the media world may be the main reason why global media is largely silent about the tortures on Mahmudur Rahman. It is true that being a poor country we may not be able to exercise such leverage in the near future. But what is frustrating is that a section of our local media is also keen on going along with outside instructions in its reportage.

Mahmudur Rahman’s patriotism is now being tested, and I believe he will remain firm and true to his country in the face of all these state persecutions. We pray to God so that we will see him alive and unharmed after the inhuman remand tortures he is going through at the moment. Mahmudur Rahman’s love for the country has set a target which is beyond the reach many editors who are busy earning the pleasure of the regime.

We know about a number of sweet sounding international organizations like Amnesty International, PEN, Article 19, Reporters sans frontier and Human Rights Watch that are supposed to defend free speech and human rights. Unfortunately, we may not see their intervention to stop the tortures on Mahmudur Rahman, and that is perhaps because he does not fit in their international political agendas. However, I strongly believe that a Mahmudur Rahman – alive or dead – after these tortures in remands will have a greater claim on the gratitude of the people of Bangladesh. A true national hero is in the making, while editors of many newspapers are carousing in the kitchen and pantry of Awami League and its foreign patrons.

Author: Shimul Chaudhury