Does Bangladesh military deserve impunity?
By Rater Zonaki
Source: UPI Asia On-line
February 10, 2009
Hong Kong, China — Bangladeshi members of Parliament and the media have been speaking out against the former military-controlled emergency government, now that a new elected government is in place. They are demanding the prosecution of members of the military forces responsible for arresting and detaining high-ranking politicians, and subjecting them to physical and mental torture in custody.
Abdul Jalil, general secretary of the Awami League, which is now the ruling party, has demanded a parliamentary probe into such detentions. The veteran politician could not help crying while describing the torture he underwent in a detention center operated by the armed forces. He said around eight armed men had come to his office, blindfolded him and taken him away in a waiting car. They identified themselves as members of the Joint Forces.
Jalil was detained in custody where he was physically and psychologically tortured for five consecutive days. He was later paroled for treatment abroad, and after returning to Bangladesh, managed to get bail from the Supreme Court.
Another member of Parliament, Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir, has also described his arrest and torture in a number of articles, interviews and talk shows. He has declared his intention to sue the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Lt. Gen. Hassan Mashhud Chowdhury, and other members of the armed forces for torturing and treating him inhumanely in detention.
Barrister Moudud Ahmed – who was minister of law during the former Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led regime and lost his seat in Parliament in the recent election – has also been trying to convince people through the media that he was a victim of brutal torture and degrading treatment in the custody of the armed forces. Moudud also announced that he is writing a book on his life in prison.
However, Moudud’s hue and cry about custodial brutality appears to be aimed at personal or political gain. In fact, Moudud was law minister when the government validated actions of the armed forces during Operation Clean Heart, an 86-day crackdown on political dissenters in late 2002, which resulted in 58 deaths in the custody of the armed forces. The government termed all these deaths as "heart attacks."
More than 10,000 ordinary citizens were illegally arrested, arbitrarily detained and brutally tortured under fabricated charges by the military-dominated law-enforcement agencies. Moudud, as the minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, issued an ordinance to ensure blatant impunity to the perpetrators in January 2003, which was then enacted by Parliament.
Moudud and his government ignored the people's fundamental rights, especially the right to life and liberty. Later, he was a victim of the same treatment.
Talking about human rights, as Jalil, Alamgir and Moudud are now doing, is rare in Bangladesh’s political circles. This discussion conveys a message to ordinary victims that some politicians now understand the taste of pain. At the same time, their stories support claims made by human rights defenders that the armed forces and law-enforcement agencies operate torture cells.
The real picture of brutality by the armed forces and the police is much more severe than the stories of these three politicians. Ordinary citizens have long suffered immeasurable atrocities at the hands of the military during the state of emergency and the police during previous regimes.
Now the incumbent law minister, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, is talking about the "doctrine of necessity" as a means of justifying the actions of the military-controlled emergency government. Speaking of the armed forces, he told the media, "You cannot say all their actions or activities were within the bounds of the Constitution …Whatever they did, they did responding to the necessity of the time. So we are not giving legal cover to all their actions, we're not validating all their ordinances."
This raises the question as to whether the illegal arrests, detentions, torture and killings were a "necessity of the time." Are the present politicians ready to accept the armed forces' actions even though they defied the Constitution? Isn’t the so-called "doctrine of necessity" merely an excuse to once again grant impunity to the perpetrators of injustice, with the permission of the present government and at the demand of the armed forces?
It is not convincing that those now in power can accept and explain the former government’s brutal and unconstitutional actions under the "doctrine of necessity." Why can’t people like Moudud and Shafique face the truth behind the recurrent take-over of power by the armed forces?
Will the current batch of politicians also surrender to the armed forces instead of taking effective action to stop such brutality forever? Why is there no effective resistance to keep the soldiers in their barracks?
The door must be closed forever on the armed forces’ ability to take over and abuse power. The ruling party could start now by using its absolute majority in Parliament to criminalize torture and repeal Article 46 of the Constitution, which allows Parliament to grant impunity to state officers for any action, however brutal, taken to “restore order.”
The demand for justice by a few senior members of Parliament has aroused the interest of the people. But ordinary people will treat such demands as mere political rubbish unless the politicians follow through and effectively punish the perpetrators.
(Rater Zonaki is the pseudonym of a human rights defender based in Hong Kong working at the Asian Human Rights Commission. He is a Bangladeshi national with a degree in literature from a university in Dhaka. He began his career as a journalist in 1990 and engaged in human rights activism at the grassroots level in his country for more than a decade. He also worked as an editor for publications on human rights and socio-cultural issues and contributed to other similar publications.)
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
War criminals barred from leaving country
War criminals barred from leaving country
Govt alerts agencies concerned but no list prepared
Source: New Age
January 31 2009
The government on Friday ordered all agencies concerned to bar the suspected war criminals from leaving the country. ‘All relevant information about the war criminals have already been sent to the agencies concerned asking them to guard all points so that the war criminals cannot flee the country,(The Newage)
home minister Sahara Khatun told reporters after attending the 23rd annual conference of Bangladesh Law Association at the Annex Complex on the premises of the law faculty of Dhaka University.
The home minister came up with the statement after Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday night approved unanimously a resolution seeking speedy prosecution of the 1971 war criminals.
The minister refused to give the list of the war criminals barred from leaving the country.
‘Why ask for details,’ Sahara told reporters and walked away.
A high official of the home ministry, however, said that the ministry was yet to prepare a list of the war criminals.
After 1972, the government has not prepared any list of the war criminals, said another high official.
Immigration officials at the Zia International Airport and Benapole Land Port told New Age Friday evening that they had not yet received any such instructions.
A home ministry official said a general instruction was issued to the authorities concerned not to allow any suspected war criminals to leave the country. He, however, added that no list was sent to the authorities.
Law minister Shafique Ahmed also said that the home ministry had issued instructions to the authorities concerned in this regard after being asked to do so.
The government in 1972 prepared a list of 37,000 war criminals and they were also sued.
The process of trial and conviction was, however, impeded by a general amnesty for the collaborators, declared by the then prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on November 30, 1973.
Under the general amnesty, about 26,000 of the 37,000 people held or convicted under the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order 1972 were released. While the amnesty did not apply to those charged with murder, rape or arson, most of the collaborators, especially the bigwigs involved in abduction and other general collaboration charges, were released. A large number of persons charged with murder, rape or arson, including known collaborators, were also released.
The collaborators order was finally revoked on December 31, 1975 and almost all of the collaborators convicted or indicted were released in the early days of the regime of Ziaur Rahman.
The War Crimes Facts Finding Committee, a research organisation, on April 3, 2008, unveiled a list of 1,597 war criminals responsible for genocide, rape and other atrocities during the Liberation War.
Of those on the list, 369 are members of Pakistani military, 1,150 are their local collaborators, including members of Razakar and Al Badr [forces formed to aid the occupation army] and Peace Committee, and 78 are Biharis.
On December 23, 2008, Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad published a list of 600 war criminals responsible for mass killing, rape and other misdeeds during the country’s Liberation War.
Sector Commanders Forum, a platform of war veterans, on November 4 made public their preliminary list of 50 war criminals, which includes Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami and its secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid. It also demanded trial of war criminals under the International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday said that the party would back trial of war criminals if it was ‘properly’ done and was not politically motivated.
BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said the demand for trial of war criminals had their moral support and none should have any objection to it.
Grassroots level leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Friday asked the leadership of the party to take ‘legal protection’ against the government’s move for trial of war criminals.
When asked if the members of the central Majlish-e-Shura, highest decision making body of the party, had discussed the parliament’s decision on the ‘immediate trial of war criminals’, a central secretary admitted, ‘A number of delegates raised the issue. They advised the Jamaat leaders to take legal protection.’
Addressing a law association conference, state minister for law, Quamrul Islam sought cooperation from the members of the Bangladesh Law Association and the countrymen, especially lawyers, in the trial of the war criminals, a major election pledge of the present government.
‘This move of the government would be successful through a bold and unique role of the judges and the lawyers,’ he said.
Govt alerts agencies concerned but no list prepared
Source: New Age
January 31 2009
The government on Friday ordered all agencies concerned to bar the suspected war criminals from leaving the country. ‘All relevant information about the war criminals have already been sent to the agencies concerned asking them to guard all points so that the war criminals cannot flee the country,(The Newage)
home minister Sahara Khatun told reporters after attending the 23rd annual conference of Bangladesh Law Association at the Annex Complex on the premises of the law faculty of Dhaka University.
The home minister came up with the statement after Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday night approved unanimously a resolution seeking speedy prosecution of the 1971 war criminals.
The minister refused to give the list of the war criminals barred from leaving the country.
‘Why ask for details,’ Sahara told reporters and walked away.
A high official of the home ministry, however, said that the ministry was yet to prepare a list of the war criminals.
After 1972, the government has not prepared any list of the war criminals, said another high official.
Immigration officials at the Zia International Airport and Benapole Land Port told New Age Friday evening that they had not yet received any such instructions.
A home ministry official said a general instruction was issued to the authorities concerned not to allow any suspected war criminals to leave the country. He, however, added that no list was sent to the authorities.
Law minister Shafique Ahmed also said that the home ministry had issued instructions to the authorities concerned in this regard after being asked to do so.
The government in 1972 prepared a list of 37,000 war criminals and they were also sued.
The process of trial and conviction was, however, impeded by a general amnesty for the collaborators, declared by the then prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on November 30, 1973.
Under the general amnesty, about 26,000 of the 37,000 people held or convicted under the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order 1972 were released. While the amnesty did not apply to those charged with murder, rape or arson, most of the collaborators, especially the bigwigs involved in abduction and other general collaboration charges, were released. A large number of persons charged with murder, rape or arson, including known collaborators, were also released.
The collaborators order was finally revoked on December 31, 1975 and almost all of the collaborators convicted or indicted were released in the early days of the regime of Ziaur Rahman.
The War Crimes Facts Finding Committee, a research organisation, on April 3, 2008, unveiled a list of 1,597 war criminals responsible for genocide, rape and other atrocities during the Liberation War.
Of those on the list, 369 are members of Pakistani military, 1,150 are their local collaborators, including members of Razakar and Al Badr [forces formed to aid the occupation army] and Peace Committee, and 78 are Biharis.
On December 23, 2008, Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad published a list of 600 war criminals responsible for mass killing, rape and other misdeeds during the country’s Liberation War.
Sector Commanders Forum, a platform of war veterans, on November 4 made public their preliminary list of 50 war criminals, which includes Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami and its secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid. It also demanded trial of war criminals under the International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday said that the party would back trial of war criminals if it was ‘properly’ done and was not politically motivated.
BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said the demand for trial of war criminals had their moral support and none should have any objection to it.
Grassroots level leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Friday asked the leadership of the party to take ‘legal protection’ against the government’s move for trial of war criminals.
When asked if the members of the central Majlish-e-Shura, highest decision making body of the party, had discussed the parliament’s decision on the ‘immediate trial of war criminals’, a central secretary admitted, ‘A number of delegates raised the issue. They advised the Jamaat leaders to take legal protection.’
Addressing a law association conference, state minister for law, Quamrul Islam sought cooperation from the members of the Bangladesh Law Association and the countrymen, especially lawyers, in the trial of the war criminals, a major election pledge of the present government.
‘This move of the government would be successful through a bold and unique role of the judges and the lawyers,’ he said.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Bangladesh: New Government Should Act on Rights
Bangladesh: New Government Should Act on Rights
Make Commitments at Next Week’s UN Meeting in Geneva
January 29, 2009
Source: Human Rights Watch
(New York) - The new Awami League government of Bangladesh has a unique opportunity and the responsibility to address major human rights problems that have been ignored by successive governments, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Prime Minister Shekh Hasina.
The letter makes specific recommendations for reform on subjects such as extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, corruption, and the role of the Rapid Action Battalion and Directorate General for Forces Intelligence.
"The new government has a large majority and a public hungry for reform," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "We look forward to the government using the strong mandate the prime minister and her party have obtained to tackle the very serious abuses that Bangladeshis face at the hands of the security forces and others."
Human Rights Watch urged the government to use the February 3 session of the UN Human Rights Council to show the priority it places on addressing longstanding human rights problems by making concrete and specific commitments. Bangladesh is one of the countries whose rights records will be scrutinized in February under the council's Universal Periodic Review mechanism.
"How the government responds to recommendations for human rights progress at the Human Rights Council will be an early test for the new government," said Adams.
Make Commitments at Next Week’s UN Meeting in Geneva
January 29, 2009
Source: Human Rights Watch
(New York) - The new Awami League government of Bangladesh has a unique opportunity and the responsibility to address major human rights problems that have been ignored by successive governments, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Prime Minister Shekh Hasina.
The letter makes specific recommendations for reform on subjects such as extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, corruption, and the role of the Rapid Action Battalion and Directorate General for Forces Intelligence.
"The new government has a large majority and a public hungry for reform," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "We look forward to the government using the strong mandate the prime minister and her party have obtained to tackle the very serious abuses that Bangladeshis face at the hands of the security forces and others."
Human Rights Watch urged the government to use the February 3 session of the UN Human Rights Council to show the priority it places on addressing longstanding human rights problems by making concrete and specific commitments. Bangladesh is one of the countries whose rights records will be scrutinized in February under the council's Universal Periodic Review mechanism.
"How the government responds to recommendations for human rights progress at the Human Rights Council will be an early test for the new government," said Adams.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Bangladeshi war criminals in the USA
Audacity of the supporters of Bangladeshi war criminals in the USA
During 1971 Bangladesh's war of liberation, a handful of hardcore Islamic militants carried on genocide in Pakistan occupied Bangladesh. In the name religion, they helped the brutal Pakistani army to perpetrate mass murder of innocent citizens and rape of women. Mr. Abul Kalam Azad is one of such notorious war criminals. Unfortunately, that despicable mass murderer is now a "respectable Islamic scholar" in Bangladesh. This happened because of certain historical events. On August 15 1975 the founding father of Bangladesh, the secular nationalist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with his family members and other party members in a pro-Pakistani military coup. After the coup, the country suddenly went to pro-Pakistani (to some extent soft on Islamism) direction.
Abul Kalam Azad and many brutal Islamist killers of 1971 emerged from their hideouts. Some of them were inside the country living underground. Some of them were living in countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. After 1975, the country of Bangladesh witnessed the expansion of Islamist and war criminal lobby, which were rejected by the people in 1971. One after another Bangladeshi military generals with a pro-Pakistani political persuasion ruled the country with iron fist. On the one hand they curtailed democratic freedom to a large extent, on the other the war criminals of 1971 were given enough opportunity to organize and strengthen their constituency. Thus Bangladeshi Islamist lobby gradually got a strong foothold in a number of Western countries. It goes without saying, their tentacles reached the heartland of the United States. That is why, Abul Kalam Azad does not have any problem visiting USA quite frequently. He was in this country in August of last year (2008)(source: deshivoice).
He is back in USA a few days ago. On January 24th, 2009 he had the golden opportunity to give a speech in the Muslim Community Center mosque in Silver Spring, Maryland. Presence of a few demonstrators in front of the mosque let him know loud and clear that his fundraising activity to strengthen Islamist lobby will not go unchallenged.
On 25th January, 2009, this killer of 1971, was invited to speak in a Mosque's Fundraising Dinner in New York. The program was scheduled in a basement of Tajmahal Restaurant, in Hillside, Jamaica, New York. Before the evening the place was crowded by expat Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. In the meantime a number of expatriate Bangladeshi activists staged a demonstration outside the restaurant. One after another activist was rendering speech detailing the war crime this "Islamic scholar" committed in nine months of 1971. As one of the concluding speakers was finishing his speech, a few supporters of Abul Kalam Azad started to hurl insults to the speakers. They were quite amazingly accompanied by another very notorious mass murderer of Bangladeshis, now a US citizen, Ashrafuzzaman Khan.
A scuffle broke out between the two parties. One of the activists was seriously injured. His nose was bleeding visibly. In the meantime the police came to scene. One of the supporters of Abul Kalam Azad/Ashrafuzzaman Khan was arrested. An updated report says, the "Islamic scholar" could not make it to give his fundraising sermon. The owner of the restaurant, a freedom fighter of Bangladesh war of liberation, did not mind to cancel the event thus losing six thousand dollars in this economic crisis period.
Below you will find the first link to the press conference of the activists regarding the incidence. Please note, the speeches were given in Bengali:
Now you will see the link to the scuffle and police intervention:
During 1971 Bangladesh's war of liberation, a handful of hardcore Islamic militants carried on genocide in Pakistan occupied Bangladesh. In the name religion, they helped the brutal Pakistani army to perpetrate mass murder of innocent citizens and rape of women. Mr. Abul Kalam Azad is one of such notorious war criminals. Unfortunately, that despicable mass murderer is now a "respectable Islamic scholar" in Bangladesh. This happened because of certain historical events. On August 15 1975 the founding father of Bangladesh, the secular nationalist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with his family members and other party members in a pro-Pakistani military coup. After the coup, the country suddenly went to pro-Pakistani (to some extent soft on Islamism) direction.
Abul Kalam Azad and many brutal Islamist killers of 1971 emerged from their hideouts. Some of them were inside the country living underground. Some of them were living in countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. After 1975, the country of Bangladesh witnessed the expansion of Islamist and war criminal lobby, which were rejected by the people in 1971. One after another Bangladeshi military generals with a pro-Pakistani political persuasion ruled the country with iron fist. On the one hand they curtailed democratic freedom to a large extent, on the other the war criminals of 1971 were given enough opportunity to organize and strengthen their constituency. Thus Bangladeshi Islamist lobby gradually got a strong foothold in a number of Western countries. It goes without saying, their tentacles reached the heartland of the United States. That is why, Abul Kalam Azad does not have any problem visiting USA quite frequently. He was in this country in August of last year (2008)(source: deshivoice).
He is back in USA a few days ago. On January 24th, 2009 he had the golden opportunity to give a speech in the Muslim Community Center mosque in Silver Spring, Maryland. Presence of a few demonstrators in front of the mosque let him know loud and clear that his fundraising activity to strengthen Islamist lobby will not go unchallenged.
On 25th January, 2009, this killer of 1971, was invited to speak in a Mosque's Fundraising Dinner in New York. The program was scheduled in a basement of Tajmahal Restaurant, in Hillside, Jamaica, New York. Before the evening the place was crowded by expat Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. In the meantime a number of expatriate Bangladeshi activists staged a demonstration outside the restaurant. One after another activist was rendering speech detailing the war crime this "Islamic scholar" committed in nine months of 1971. As one of the concluding speakers was finishing his speech, a few supporters of Abul Kalam Azad started to hurl insults to the speakers. They were quite amazingly accompanied by another very notorious mass murderer of Bangladeshis, now a US citizen, Ashrafuzzaman Khan.
A scuffle broke out between the two parties. One of the activists was seriously injured. His nose was bleeding visibly. In the meantime the police came to scene. One of the supporters of Abul Kalam Azad/Ashrafuzzaman Khan was arrested. An updated report says, the "Islamic scholar" could not make it to give his fundraising sermon. The owner of the restaurant, a freedom fighter of Bangladesh war of liberation, did not mind to cancel the event thus losing six thousand dollars in this economic crisis period.
Below you will find the first link to the press conference of the activists regarding the incidence. Please note, the speeches were given in Bengali:
Now you will see the link to the scuffle and police intervention:
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Dr. Yunus, is anything but a skilful person!
The Nobel laureate, Dr. Yunus, is anything but a skilful person!
Dr. Shabbir Ahmed
The tyranny and misrule of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the fundamentalist Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) for the duration 2001 through 2006 had help create a bad image for the politicians in general in Bangladesh. A good number of educated people in nation of 145 million harbor a very negative impression about politicians. This negativity had become so ingrained among our educated people that many of them prefer grouping all political parties and politicians under a same set and within a single pair of brackets. To them, there is no iota of difference between Awami League (AL) and BNP. Likewise, they do not find any difference between Mrs. Sheikh Hasina and Mrs. Khaleda Zia even though they possess totally different educational and political background.
In the aftermath of one-eleven, all the politicians in general were subjugated through intimidation and torture. The military-backed caretaker government went an extra mile to mix all good and bad apples and put them all in one basket.. The snobbish urban educated elites tried to portray all the politicians as bad apples. These opportunists thought that it was their time to undermine all the politicians and take the opportunity to gain power through a top-down process. They are too comfort-loving impatient people who do not want to take time and build the support base through a time-consuming bottom-up political process. In fact, they prefer support from the civil-military bureaucracy for getting to the helm of the power in a quick fashion.. After one-eleven, a group of urban educated elites wanted to take events in their favor by snatching the victory of the people who brought down the Khakeda-Nizami- Tarek controlled caretaker government under BNP-appointed President Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed.
Bangladesh’s only Nobel Laureate, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, took the lead to snatch the victory of the democracy-loving people and paved the way for the urban elites to capture the power. During the emergency rule under the army-backed caretaker government, it was a free pass for Dr. Yunus to float a political party and talk about his politics while many veteran politicians were trying to avoid arrest by taking shelter under a so-called reform process.
Dr. Yunus and his associates’ perceived strategy was to use a negative propaganda and vicious campaign against the popular political leaders for capturing power. In this effort, Dr. Yunus had surpassed all. His remarks were so severe and caustic that he labeled all the politicians as corrupt at one point of time. He did not want to separate those who did corrupt practices by abusing the government power and those who did not. In fact, a vast majority of politicians never did govern Bangladesh but they were eager beaver to assume power bypassing the normal way, viz., building a grassroots organization. Also, since these folks have never run the government, they were never mired in corruption; therefore, it was very easy for them to say that they unlike AL and BNP politicians are clean as a whistle. Unfortunately, Dr. Yunus colored all the politicians as “black.” In his analyses, there were no white or gray colors. A few politicians at that time requested him to distinguish between colors and distinctively identify black, white, or gray. Dr. Yunus maintained his silence but continued "building" his party. During the Cold War era, it was relatively easy for the urban elite forces to take a side and get support for clinging to power with the help of civil-military bureaucracy. Now the condition is not the same as it were in 70s and 80s.
Under the backdrop of the present geo-political condition, Dr. Yunus and the urban elites could not able to strengthen their political base, if there were any, even with the support from the civil-military bureaucratic forces. He had to give up his short-lived ambition for political power in a rather pre-mature fashion. Thereafter, many events and drama took place. Finally, an election was held on December 29, 2008in which Awami League alone secured about three-fourth majority in the parliament.
It was a matter of great surprise to see Dr. Yunus in the oath-taking ceremony of the winning political leaders, whom he bluntly and indiscriminately labeled as corrupt. Did he make a false statement about all the politicians? Has he changed his position about the politicians? Maybe, he has changed his views about politicians because he has many businesses to run for the poor people through his Grameen Bank and Grameen cell phone. He has a business on yogurt (Shakti dai) as well. For all his businesses, he might need support from the government formed by the politicians he tried to undermine not too long ago. As an intelligent businessman, Dr. Yunus has probably shifted his position like a skilful politician and by attending the oath ceremony of the newly elected politicians he proved it again that he is a very clever businessman.
Dr. Shabbir Ahmed
The tyranny and misrule of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the fundamentalist Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) for the duration 2001 through 2006 had help create a bad image for the politicians in general in Bangladesh. A good number of educated people in nation of 145 million harbor a very negative impression about politicians. This negativity had become so ingrained among our educated people that many of them prefer grouping all political parties and politicians under a same set and within a single pair of brackets. To them, there is no iota of difference between Awami League (AL) and BNP. Likewise, they do not find any difference between Mrs. Sheikh Hasina and Mrs. Khaleda Zia even though they possess totally different educational and political background.
In the aftermath of one-eleven, all the politicians in general were subjugated through intimidation and torture. The military-backed caretaker government went an extra mile to mix all good and bad apples and put them all in one basket.. The snobbish urban educated elites tried to portray all the politicians as bad apples. These opportunists thought that it was their time to undermine all the politicians and take the opportunity to gain power through a top-down process. They are too comfort-loving impatient people who do not want to take time and build the support base through a time-consuming bottom-up political process. In fact, they prefer support from the civil-military bureaucracy for getting to the helm of the power in a quick fashion.. After one-eleven, a group of urban educated elites wanted to take events in their favor by snatching the victory of the people who brought down the Khakeda-Nizami- Tarek controlled caretaker government under BNP-appointed President Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed.
Bangladesh’s only Nobel Laureate, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, took the lead to snatch the victory of the democracy-loving people and paved the way for the urban elites to capture the power. During the emergency rule under the army-backed caretaker government, it was a free pass for Dr. Yunus to float a political party and talk about his politics while many veteran politicians were trying to avoid arrest by taking shelter under a so-called reform process.
Dr. Yunus and his associates’ perceived strategy was to use a negative propaganda and vicious campaign against the popular political leaders for capturing power. In this effort, Dr. Yunus had surpassed all. His remarks were so severe and caustic that he labeled all the politicians as corrupt at one point of time. He did not want to separate those who did corrupt practices by abusing the government power and those who did not. In fact, a vast majority of politicians never did govern Bangladesh but they were eager beaver to assume power bypassing the normal way, viz., building a grassroots organization. Also, since these folks have never run the government, they were never mired in corruption; therefore, it was very easy for them to say that they unlike AL and BNP politicians are clean as a whistle. Unfortunately, Dr. Yunus colored all the politicians as “black.” In his analyses, there were no white or gray colors. A few politicians at that time requested him to distinguish between colors and distinctively identify black, white, or gray. Dr. Yunus maintained his silence but continued "building" his party. During the Cold War era, it was relatively easy for the urban elite forces to take a side and get support for clinging to power with the help of civil-military bureaucracy. Now the condition is not the same as it were in 70s and 80s.
Under the backdrop of the present geo-political condition, Dr. Yunus and the urban elites could not able to strengthen their political base, if there were any, even with the support from the civil-military bureaucratic forces. He had to give up his short-lived ambition for political power in a rather pre-mature fashion. Thereafter, many events and drama took place. Finally, an election was held on December 29, 2008in which Awami League alone secured about three-fourth majority in the parliament.
It was a matter of great surprise to see Dr. Yunus in the oath-taking ceremony of the winning political leaders, whom he bluntly and indiscriminately labeled as corrupt. Did he make a false statement about all the politicians? Has he changed his position about the politicians? Maybe, he has changed his views about politicians because he has many businesses to run for the poor people through his Grameen Bank and Grameen cell phone. He has a business on yogurt (Shakti dai) as well. For all his businesses, he might need support from the government formed by the politicians he tried to undermine not too long ago. As an intelligent businessman, Dr. Yunus has probably shifted his position like a skilful politician and by attending the oath ceremony of the newly elected politicians he proved it again that he is a very clever businessman.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Would ‘Kokogate’ spare Khaleda Zia’s family?
Would ‘Kokogate’ spare Khaleda Zia’s family?
By A.H. Jaffor Ullah
Khaleda Zia has every reason to consternate when all the major global news network such as Reuters, AP, AFP, etc., are reporting that her youngest son, Arafat Rahman Koko, is in the thick of an extortion operation centered in Dhaka during 2002-2006 when she was the PM of Bangladesh. For better or worse, let me call this investigation the Kokogate. Bangladesh has never experienced anything big like this and trust me, when it will be over, there will be casualties. This investigation has the underpinning of quite a few foreign governments who are very eager to see that the culprits who ran this extortion scheme are taken to task.
The timing for the U.S. government officials to visit Dhaka could not have been better. The newly elected government of Hasina wants to put an end to political extortion and the U.S. authorities know that it will be easier to make the extortion case against Khaleda Zia's son right now than say a year ago when a caretaker government was running the country.
Khaleda Zia had it too good when she was running the country from October 2001 to October 2006. She let her eldest son, Tarek Rahman, run a parallel government sitting in ‘Hawa Bhavan’, while her second son, Arafat Rahman Koko, an “accomplished” businessman run the business side of the family. How good things could be for Zia family. Political power, money, they have everything. But like any side story of Mahabharata, all the power, all the misbegotten wealth, could not keep the family in high standing.
Khaleda Zia suffered a catastrophic defeat in December 29, 2008 parliamentary election. She never offered her concession speech to the victor, Sheikh Hasina. To add insult to injury, she said that the election was rigged on the face of all the newspaper report that which stated that this was the most fair election this nation of 145 million ever had. Hundreds of foreign observers also had opined that the election was peaceful and fair and there weren't any violence on the day of election.
Khaleda Zia's worst fear may come true now that the foreign governments’ agents are in Dhaka to brief the ACC, the chief corruption fighting wing of the government, and other agencies of Bangladesh government. It was very convenient for her in old days to say that her family has many political enemies and all the allegations are false and politically motivated. However, Bangladeshis are not in a mood to listen to her vituperation.
Most newspaper editorials published in Dhaka had commended the works of foreign government. Bangladesh's people are also most eager to see that the $ 200 million, which Khaleda Zia’s “smart” son with so much business acumen had extracted from German company Siemens, find its way to return government treasury. China Communications Construction Co, a giant port builder in China also bribed Khaleda Zia’s son, Koko, to obtain a lucrative construction job in Bangladesh. It seems as if Khaleda’s two boys became Mr. Ten Percent in the heydays of Khaleda rule!
I see a parallel between what happens in low-income urban minority families in America with that of what happened to Khaleda Zia's family. Simply driven by greed many young men in urban America get involved in illegal drug business. They willingly take the risk, earn fast buck, and give part of the easy money to their single mother who gladly accepts it only to find a few days later that her son was gunned down by the rival gang in a turf fight. Well, something almost similar happens to Khaleda Zia family.
The two sons of Khaleda Zia get involved in making easy but illegal money because they know very well that as long as their mother is in catbird seat of power in Bangladesh, they could extort money from foreign companies who want to do business in Bangladesh. It will be laughable if I hear that Khaleda Zia was not aware of her sons' involvement in all these misadventures. Now she will have to prepare herself to pay the penalty for the sin of her sons. I sometimes wonder if General Zia were alive today, how he was to react to his sons’ follies.
The heart of the problem the Zia family is facing these days lies in the fact that these folks are not educated at all. People go to the seat of higher learning to open their mind and learn from the follies made by powerful people throughout the history starting from antiquity. A truly educated person won't do what Koko and Tarek have done most willingly. They simply thought that they are untouchable. Did not Khaleda Zia warn them about their high risk misadventure when they were abusing power that emanated from their mother? In my judgment, Khaleda Zia bears some responsibility in this fiasco.
Please do compare the performance of Khaleda Zia's family with that of Sheikh Hasina vis-à-vis influence peddling and making tons of money with it. Unlike Khaleda Zia whose family is into hedonism and making gobs of money to sustain such worldly pleasure, Hasina Wajed gave education to her two children. Also, I am yet to see a bona fide complaint made against Hasina Wajed’s two kids in respect to making easy money by influence peddling. Lately, in the Internet I read some unsubstantiated allegations, which stated that Sheikh Hasina’s son has business of worth $ 300 million. The last I know that Hasina’s son was employed and then he went for grad school. A person who has assets over $ 300 million won’t work under another person or will not go for a master’s degree. Until no confirmation comes, I would characterize this mere a mudslinging to redirect our attention from emerging Kokogate.
From various news reports on Kokogate I learned that besides Khaleda Zia’s two sons quite a few BNP ministers from 2001 to 2006 are also partners in this extortion scheme. The ACC officials in Dhaka are tightlipped about the identity of this crime syndicate. During Khaleda Zia’s reign these politicians thought no power inside Bangladesh could ever touch them. But sadly how wrong they were!
The ill-gotten $ 200 million, which was laundered by various financial institutions, is now ensconced in a bank in Singapore. This rumor about Khaleda Zia’s sons depositing millions of bribe money in Singapore bank was circulating in various South Asian websites in the Net for more than a year but when 2 U.S. government agents from Washington DC came to Dhaka to investigate the laundered money, many heads were turning in Dhaka. Also, there is a deafening silence in BNP camps and that includes Khaleda Zia herself.
In a just society no crime should ever go unpunished, but then Bangladesh never aspired to have a just society. Even then, a crime committed by Khaleda Zia’s two illiterate sons is not going to go unpunished. I am hoping the wheel of justice would turn finally and the sons of Khaleda Zia and their sidekicks from BNP would rot in jail. This time the authorities should not treat them as VIP. They have committed a serious crime when they thought they were above the law. Now harsh reality is setting in. The take home message is — no one is above the law.
There should be learning for Khaleda Zia too. She failed to educate her sons and that was not all. She let loose her boys to control the government and sell favors. Many sidekicks gathered around Khaleda Zia’s boys and we learned that they were all unsavory characters like her sons. Together, they became a crime syndicate of high order. Their profligate lifestyle in Dhaka during Khaleda’s rule was talk-of-the-town. Thus, when Tarek Rahman’s sidekick, Mamun, was arrested in early 2007, it became a very hot topic of conversation both in the media and in drawing rooms.
In summary, the revelation that Khaleda Zia’s “smart” businessman son Koko had ensconced a cool sum of $ 200 million in Singapore Bank is making news allover the world. This money was not hard earned, but came as manna from heaven. Thanks to Khaleda Zia for paving the way to heaven for her sons. During her “difficult” reign, dollar bills were literally falling from sky but it was for her two sons and a bunch of cronies. The payback time nears now. Who says – crime pays? Similar to single mothers in Brooklyn, Bronx, and many other cities in America, who found it out that the crime spree of their kids did not last long, Khaleda Zia will also learn the same bitter lesson rather belatedly. Nobody is above the law. Those two notorious and profligate boys of Bangladesh’s ex-PM Khaleda will this time learn a lesson of lifetime. The bread of deceit was sweet to Tarek and Koko; but afterwards their mouths shall be filled with gravel. Need I say more?
------------------------
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA
E Mail : jhankar@bellsouth.net
By A.H. Jaffor Ullah
Khaleda Zia has every reason to consternate when all the major global news network such as Reuters, AP, AFP, etc., are reporting that her youngest son, Arafat Rahman Koko, is in the thick of an extortion operation centered in Dhaka during 2002-2006 when she was the PM of Bangladesh. For better or worse, let me call this investigation the Kokogate. Bangladesh has never experienced anything big like this and trust me, when it will be over, there will be casualties. This investigation has the underpinning of quite a few foreign governments who are very eager to see that the culprits who ran this extortion scheme are taken to task.
The timing for the U.S. government officials to visit Dhaka could not have been better. The newly elected government of Hasina wants to put an end to political extortion and the U.S. authorities know that it will be easier to make the extortion case against Khaleda Zia's son right now than say a year ago when a caretaker government was running the country.
Khaleda Zia had it too good when she was running the country from October 2001 to October 2006. She let her eldest son, Tarek Rahman, run a parallel government sitting in ‘Hawa Bhavan’, while her second son, Arafat Rahman Koko, an “accomplished” businessman run the business side of the family. How good things could be for Zia family. Political power, money, they have everything. But like any side story of Mahabharata, all the power, all the misbegotten wealth, could not keep the family in high standing.
Khaleda Zia suffered a catastrophic defeat in December 29, 2008 parliamentary election. She never offered her concession speech to the victor, Sheikh Hasina. To add insult to injury, she said that the election was rigged on the face of all the newspaper report that which stated that this was the most fair election this nation of 145 million ever had. Hundreds of foreign observers also had opined that the election was peaceful and fair and there weren't any violence on the day of election.
Khaleda Zia's worst fear may come true now that the foreign governments’ agents are in Dhaka to brief the ACC, the chief corruption fighting wing of the government, and other agencies of Bangladesh government. It was very convenient for her in old days to say that her family has many political enemies and all the allegations are false and politically motivated. However, Bangladeshis are not in a mood to listen to her vituperation.
Most newspaper editorials published in Dhaka had commended the works of foreign government. Bangladesh's people are also most eager to see that the $ 200 million, which Khaleda Zia’s “smart” son with so much business acumen had extracted from German company Siemens, find its way to return government treasury. China Communications Construction Co, a giant port builder in China also bribed Khaleda Zia’s son, Koko, to obtain a lucrative construction job in Bangladesh. It seems as if Khaleda’s two boys became Mr. Ten Percent in the heydays of Khaleda rule!
I see a parallel between what happens in low-income urban minority families in America with that of what happened to Khaleda Zia's family. Simply driven by greed many young men in urban America get involved in illegal drug business. They willingly take the risk, earn fast buck, and give part of the easy money to their single mother who gladly accepts it only to find a few days later that her son was gunned down by the rival gang in a turf fight. Well, something almost similar happens to Khaleda Zia family.
The two sons of Khaleda Zia get involved in making easy but illegal money because they know very well that as long as their mother is in catbird seat of power in Bangladesh, they could extort money from foreign companies who want to do business in Bangladesh. It will be laughable if I hear that Khaleda Zia was not aware of her sons' involvement in all these misadventures. Now she will have to prepare herself to pay the penalty for the sin of her sons. I sometimes wonder if General Zia were alive today, how he was to react to his sons’ follies.
The heart of the problem the Zia family is facing these days lies in the fact that these folks are not educated at all. People go to the seat of higher learning to open their mind and learn from the follies made by powerful people throughout the history starting from antiquity. A truly educated person won't do what Koko and Tarek have done most willingly. They simply thought that they are untouchable. Did not Khaleda Zia warn them about their high risk misadventure when they were abusing power that emanated from their mother? In my judgment, Khaleda Zia bears some responsibility in this fiasco.
Please do compare the performance of Khaleda Zia's family with that of Sheikh Hasina vis-à-vis influence peddling and making tons of money with it. Unlike Khaleda Zia whose family is into hedonism and making gobs of money to sustain such worldly pleasure, Hasina Wajed gave education to her two children. Also, I am yet to see a bona fide complaint made against Hasina Wajed’s two kids in respect to making easy money by influence peddling. Lately, in the Internet I read some unsubstantiated allegations, which stated that Sheikh Hasina’s son has business of worth $ 300 million. The last I know that Hasina’s son was employed and then he went for grad school. A person who has assets over $ 300 million won’t work under another person or will not go for a master’s degree. Until no confirmation comes, I would characterize this mere a mudslinging to redirect our attention from emerging Kokogate.
From various news reports on Kokogate I learned that besides Khaleda Zia’s two sons quite a few BNP ministers from 2001 to 2006 are also partners in this extortion scheme. The ACC officials in Dhaka are tightlipped about the identity of this crime syndicate. During Khaleda Zia’s reign these politicians thought no power inside Bangladesh could ever touch them. But sadly how wrong they were!
The ill-gotten $ 200 million, which was laundered by various financial institutions, is now ensconced in a bank in Singapore. This rumor about Khaleda Zia’s sons depositing millions of bribe money in Singapore bank was circulating in various South Asian websites in the Net for more than a year but when 2 U.S. government agents from Washington DC came to Dhaka to investigate the laundered money, many heads were turning in Dhaka. Also, there is a deafening silence in BNP camps and that includes Khaleda Zia herself.
In a just society no crime should ever go unpunished, but then Bangladesh never aspired to have a just society. Even then, a crime committed by Khaleda Zia’s two illiterate sons is not going to go unpunished. I am hoping the wheel of justice would turn finally and the sons of Khaleda Zia and their sidekicks from BNP would rot in jail. This time the authorities should not treat them as VIP. They have committed a serious crime when they thought they were above the law. Now harsh reality is setting in. The take home message is — no one is above the law.
There should be learning for Khaleda Zia too. She failed to educate her sons and that was not all. She let loose her boys to control the government and sell favors. Many sidekicks gathered around Khaleda Zia’s boys and we learned that they were all unsavory characters like her sons. Together, they became a crime syndicate of high order. Their profligate lifestyle in Dhaka during Khaleda’s rule was talk-of-the-town. Thus, when Tarek Rahman’s sidekick, Mamun, was arrested in early 2007, it became a very hot topic of conversation both in the media and in drawing rooms.
In summary, the revelation that Khaleda Zia’s “smart” businessman son Koko had ensconced a cool sum of $ 200 million in Singapore Bank is making news allover the world. This money was not hard earned, but came as manna from heaven. Thanks to Khaleda Zia for paving the way to heaven for her sons. During her “difficult” reign, dollar bills were literally falling from sky but it was for her two sons and a bunch of cronies. The payback time nears now. Who says – crime pays? Similar to single mothers in Brooklyn, Bronx, and many other cities in America, who found it out that the crime spree of their kids did not last long, Khaleda Zia will also learn the same bitter lesson rather belatedly. Nobody is above the law. Those two notorious and profligate boys of Bangladesh’s ex-PM Khaleda will this time learn a lesson of lifetime. The bread of deceit was sweet to Tarek and Koko; but afterwards their mouths shall be filled with gravel. Need I say more?
------------------------
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA
E Mail : jhankar@bellsouth.net
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