Untold Facts

Bhashani to Jalil: Continuum of Vengeance

Obvious
The obvious has happened. Former AL General Secretary Mr. Abdul Jalil is certain to face the music just as many others in line from 1950s faced the same music of vengeance almost in continuum one after another for ‘erring’.

NBR?
On the 15th October (09) in somewhat ‘supersonic speed’, the NBR (National Bureau of Revenue) discovered Mr. Jalil for evading tax of about Taka four Lakhs for the fiscal years from 2003 to 2008, filed a case in hours in a magistrate court in Dhaka for the default. The magistrate was smart enough to issue a warrant of arrest very promptly right then. The promptness is a fishy one for the previous day the Anti Corruption Commission Chairman Mr. Golam Rahman, an experienced bureaucrat, seriously and virulently complained about unusually long hanging over for disposal of many corruption cases for years in many courts of the country. Is not then the corruption case filed in hours against Jalil and smartly warrant of arrest issued against him are something to wonder? This is nothing said to condone the case, if there is any substance, but to wonder only about the speed in view of the facts that Jalil has of late been declared for some ‘sin’ persona non grata in the party he offered decades of dedicated and valuable services including in the post of General Secretary for about five years until 2008.

Vengeance against Shamsul Haq
If one would have scope and knowledge to look back of the relevant issues, one must discover that for any ‘erring’ the type of vengeance in action is nothing new but of continuum of the party now in power in Bangladesh. The vengeance like a cobra in extreme anger fell first on the founder General Secretary Shamsul Haq in early 1950 that ended him up for vengeance in the Dhaka (Dacca) Prison. Cynics continue to hold that his wife Afia Khatun (later on Afia Dil) and two of their small daughters had to flee the country to USA as soon as Haq was in the prison. DR. Ashraf Siddiqi, the renowned educator of the country now in his late eighties about three years ago stated in an article that he saw Haq begging at the Nazimuddin Road in Dacca on his release from the prison. I confirmed with him the fact later on. I had a report from some one known to me of the intelligence department that Haq had been at the Hazrat Shah Jalal Mazar of Sylhet. Another report I read about but not I could have authenticated that Haq died a lonely man in some one’s residence in Tangail, his home district in Bangladesh. That was how the end of the founder General Secretary being helpless victim of vengeance.

Against Bhashani
The Founder President of the party Maolana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani had not only had longer life until late 1976 but also went through struggles against vengeance and reprisals of the juniors whom Bhashani raised almost like own younger progeny. I clearly recall being then a student at the Ahsanullah Engineering College (now BUET), Dacca, attack of Bhshani’s meeting held at the Sadarghat Rupmahal Cinema hall in mid 1957 by the hoodlums of the same party he himself formed for lofty ideal in 1949 and not for acting as hoodlums led by the person well known by that time as the GOONDARAJ (king of hoodlums). Bhashani’s ‘sin’ was that he dissociated from the AL for that party turned to lackey of the imperialists and subservient of the regional hegemony. Bhashni, however, remained undaunted and had his National Awami Party vigorously organized on the basis of all Pakistan. At one stage he worked hard for the Awami League Leader in late 1960s for then he felt that the leader was being unreasonably detained by the military government of Pakistan and got him freed from treason charge in late 1968. The Maolana had received little fair deal in independent Bangladesh from the same Awami League leader and the absolute dictator but only repression in matters of restriction of his free movement and speech – put him in house arrest for over long three years, proscribed his periodicals HAQ KATHA, SATYA KATHA, etc. till the murderous dictator fell in jubilation of the people on the 15th August 1975 in the successful army coup (Oli Ahad, Jatiya Rajniti 1945-75, Dacca, p.494).

Ill fated
Similar ill fate awaited on and on as victims of vengeance for Advocate Abdus Salam Khan, Amena Begum, Ataur Rahman Khan, Tajuddin Ahmad that were all thrust upon egoistically by the ‘father’. All vengeance in the similar ‘fatherly’ fashion were inflicted on Dr. Kamal Hossain, Sohel Taj (Tajuddin’s son) and the latest on the 15th October to Jalil by the renowned daughter and now the seating Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Not unlikely that some more may follow the punishment for any ‘sin’ of dissent in the years ahead or as long the equally notoriously dictator Daughter stays in power.

Not alone
Although Jalil looks like alone the victim of shear vengeance at this time he may not remain alone for the fraud made in the last December general election done in concert with several evil forces including the power of hegemony in the region that he courageously blasted in September in London and the people have accepted the truth in the matter, people soon may come out to the street for restoring power to the people from the fraudulent usurpers. Jalil might then become the next political hero of Bangladesh.

Author: Dr. M.T. Hussain