Supreme Court Decides the fate of the Fifth Amendment

In 2005, a High Court bench led by Justice Khairul Huq declared the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh illegal. The full judgment is available at Unheard Voice. It is a fascinating read. Justice Khairul Huq’s portion is slightly longer than Justice A. T. M. Fazle Kabir’s. Page 336-337 contains the reasons that the Fifth Amendment was found to be invalid.

This case is worth thinking about, because it does not deal with legal technicality, or arcane judicial procedure. This case is about the design, the blueprint if you will, of the State of Bangladesh. It is also about whether we, the people of Bangladesh, tell our government what to do, or whether they turn around and tell us what to do. Who gets the last word, the people or the government?

The Constitution of Bangladesh is the supreme law of Bangladesh. The First Parliament of independent Bangladesh, as elected representatives of a sovereign people, approved it. This constitution is a written contract between us, the people of Bangladesh, and the government, whom we allow the exercise of state power on our behalf. This contract is binding upon all organs of this government: the parliament, the president, the Supreme Court and all lower courts, the military, the police, and our local representatives, all must abide by it.

 

need a united front at home

The number of comments in Jyoti’s India related blog post is astounding. This says how contentious the issue of our relationship with India. This post does will not focus on the relationship itself, rather the intention of this post is how our nation is doing and should do in the domestic front in India related matter.

Looking at the op-eds, TV talk shows, blog posts, sadly one thing becomes clear that the nation again is divided in two groups, one group sees all good in what India does and the other group can’t believe India can do anything but harming Bangladesh. And more sadly this division grossly matches, with some rare exceptions, the fault line that divides nation into Awami league and BNP supporters. What has become very predictable is that a BNP supporter will see nothing but conspiracy to occupy and ruin Bangladesh in any dealing with India. This mindset is so prevalent and strong that even the chairperson of BNP can’t resist deviating from written speech and make stupid comments like “The country has been sold to India…etc.” . It will be almost impossible to find a BNP supporter who is willing to take a positive attitude about Awami League’s dealings with India. However, in BNP perspective, the mistrust is more on an unholy alliance of India-Awami League to harm BNP than India herself harming Bangladesh. Hence while BNP leadership are comfortable in dealing with India, but not at all with an India- Awami League government treaty.

 

The True Face of 1/11

The latest victim of the Caretaker Government passed away on January 7, 2010. B. M. Bakir Hossain was arrested by the Caretaker Government on February 2007. Like most other BNP-leaning political figures, the CTG pressed the two standard cases against him: one by the Anti-Corruption Commission, alleging the amassing illegal wealth, and the other by the National Revenue Board, alleging non-payment of tax. Bakir Hossain was granted bail for the Anti Corruption Commission case. The tax case was quashed by the High Court. However, the government opposed this move by apealing through the Attorney General in the Appellate Division, not once, not twice, but four times, to ensure he could not be set free. Unfortunately, Bakir Hossain’s party affiliation cost him his life. The Appellate Division granted Awami League leader Pankaj Devnath bail on exactly the same case in which it denied Bakir Hossain bail.

The last days of his life are a sad indictment on both our prison administration and the state of our healthcare facilities. On 22 December, Bakir Hossain fell ill at arond 11 AM. He was taken to the Prison Hospital, where he lost fell unconscious. After dilly-dallying for five hourse, the prison administration agreed to transfer him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). However, the DMCH authorities refused to admit him. He was then rushed to BSMMU Hospital. However, there was no empty spot at the Intensive Care Unit at BSMMU. He was then taken to BIRDEM Hospital. Then, at 2 AM, he was taken to a private clinic at Lalmatia. Finally, two days after his illness, a spot was found for him at the Intensive Care Unit of Apollo Hospital. It was finally at Apollo Hospital that he passed away.

How can a man who is not convicted of anything be kept in the prison for three years? How can the Appellate Division justify denying him bail even after four hearings? When the last hearing took place, on 4 January 2010, Bakir Hossain was already on life-support at ICU. Yet, the Appellate Division did not grant him the bail, even then, that could have saved his life, and instead set January 11 for the date of the next hearing. On January 11, Bakir Hossain was already dead. The Attorney General had the decency not to show his face in the courtroom when this case came up. As Barrister Rafiqul Huq, Bakir Hossain’s counsel, told the Court, his client did not need bail from this Honourable Court any longer, Allah had given Bakir Hossain permanent bail.  

This news was a sickening reminder of the oppressive days of 2007-2008 when the Moeenuddin and Fakhruddin’s Caretaker Government kept the citizens of Bangladesh deprived of our basic rights. Three years on, as the true nature of the CTG becomes more and more apparent, its defenders are all curiously muted. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who famously claimed that the Caretaker Government was a creation of Awam League, has now taken to claiming that BNP was solely responsible for bringing about the Caretaker Government. The few public defenders of the Caretaker Government had to publish articles like this, claiming that BNP is “evil,” and attempting to dress the personnel changes instituted by that government as major reform. No mention is made of the torture and the extortion, the suffering, and the physical and emotional toll exacted on the people of our country: that would take too long to explain away.

Therefore, three years later, let us take a trip down that house of horrors, and relive those days with Jasimuddin Mallick, Organizing Secretary of Noakhali District Awami League.

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They probably wanted to kill me. They used to take me to the torture cell daily twice or thrice and stick pins into my tongue and nails, and give me electric shocks. Bamboo and iron rods would be placed on my fingers and my entire body. They failed to kill me through crossfire. Their weapons fell from their hands. Then, they tried to inject me with B virus. They pushed me to the brink of death. They used to torture Tareq Rahman more than they tortured me. Tareq’s screams from the torture cell would reverberate around the building.

This account is by Organizing Secretary of Noakhali District Awami League and UP Chairman Jasimuddin Mallick. He in currentlyunder treatment at BSMMU. Having survived death by crossfire through sheer luck, Mallick said he can still hear the cries of torture by Tareq Rahman, [Giasuddin] Mamun, and Obaidul Quader; they were screaming for their lives and begging for water. Mallick gave this exclusive interview to Manabzamin lying in his bed at BSMMU Hospital. He also said, ” That building in Banani was a torture cell for politicians. They wanted to remove all promising politicians from the country.”

Mallick revealed that he was arrested from his own business enterprise, Jhalak Garments, by a team of military men led by Major Jubair. He was kept overnight at the police station. He was tortured at night by the Officer-in-Charge and three other police officers. They beat him, first with bamboo sticks, then with iron rods. He kept slipping in and out of consciousness due to the torture. Whenever he would wake up, they would start beating him again. Next he was taken to the stadium. He would be given sleeping pills right after being tortured, so he lost track of how much time he spent there. Then he was moved, first to Comilla, then to Dhaka. First, he did not know where he was being kept. After a few days, he realized that he was being kept at a building in Banani. He was kept in Cell Four. Tareq Rahman was kept at Cell Six. Giasuddin Mamun was kept at Cell Three. Obaidul Quader was also close by.

Describing the torture, Mallick said that he would be taken to the torture cell twice or thrice daily. He would be placed in a moving chair and have his arms tied to the chair. Then official would come for interrogation. Electric shocks would be administered through machines. He said he would beg and cry for a drop of water, but none of the officers ever obliged him.

Describing the torture on Tareq Rahman, Mallick said Tareq would also be taken to the torture cell twice or thrice a day. Tareq would walk to the cell, but he would always have to be carried back. His eyes would always be blindfolded. I could hear him cry out when he was being tortured. He would shout, “Please don’t kill me; I will do whatever you want.” I later heard that he would be lifted to a height and then dropped on the floor; that is how spinal cord was broken. I met Tareq in the corridor one day. He used to know me from before. He could not stand properly due to all the injuries on his body. He still smiled and asked me how I was doing. He told me to stay strong and keep faith in Allah. He told me that such injustice could not continue for long. I never got another occasion to speak to him after that. But his screams still reverberate in my ears whenever I shut my eyes.

Mallick said Giasuddin Mamun would also scream loudly when he was being tortured. He heard that nuts would be placed on both of his ears and then a machine would be used to press down on them. Mamun would then keep screaming and become unconscious. During one instance of this torture, blood started flowing and Mamun became grievously injured. The bloodflow could not be staunched by any means. Some specialist doctors were summoned to handle the situation but even they could not help Mamun. Ultimately, he had to be taken abroad and given treatment. However, this incident was kept scret from the press. Obaidul Quader (then Awami League Joint Organizing Secretary, now Presidium Member) was also severely tortured at that time.

Mallick said, “In March, I was taken for crossfire after being given my last rites. As far as I remember, it was an empty place near Aminbazar. It was an open space surrounded by sand in all directions. Colonel Gulzar told me to run, otherwise they would shoot me. However, I refused to run. Then someone kicked me from behind and I fell to the ground. I was again picked up and told to run. However, I stood still. Colonel Gulzar then gave instructions to fire. Then I started reciting the Kalimah Shahada and remembering Hazrat Shah Jalal. However, the weapon jammed in the officer’s hand. He tried to shoot me several times, but could not. I then tried telling them that I was not a terrorist, and that I had no weapons; my political enemies had given them false information about me. They then took me back to my cell. The next morning, Colonel Gulzar told me if they could not shoot me, they would kill me slowly. Then he instructed someone to inject me in the stomach. That day I was sent to Noakhali Police Station. I was sent to the jail the next day. I came down with veru high fever while in jail. But I was never given any treatment.”

“I obtained bail from High Court and left jail on 11th Novermber, 2007. I first went to the Noakhali Central Hospital, and then to Labaid in Dhaka. There I was diagnosed with the B-virus. I started passing blood with my excretion. A few days later, I got admitted to BSMMU Hospital. After running smoe tests on me, the doctors told me I was having liver cirrhosis. I went back home after getting some treatment.”

Mallick had to be readmitted to BSMMU Hospital on January 3 of this year due to his failing health. He is getting treatment in Cabin 410 on the fourth floor. The Chief of BSMMU’s Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Liver Transplant Division Professor Shahidur Rahman told Manabzamin that Mallick currently has liver cirrhosis. To keep him alive, he will soon need a liver transplant. This operation is not possible in Bangladesh. They’re in touch with a hospital in Delhi, but it will take almost two million rupees. 

It will take Mallick almost four million taka to go through with the surgery. He has not been able to raise more than one million. He has applied to the Prime Minister for financial assistance. Mallick said he had faced down a lot of oppression throughout his whole life, inspired by the ideals of Bangabandhu. Now he faced death. He needed financial assistance from the Prime Minister and Awami League President to get on with his life.

 

Chevron gate of Bangladesh: when the real message gets clouded…

The recent controversy on Chevron deal and the follow up political rumblings surrounding the PM’s son and her energy advisor on one side and Amar Desh editor on the other side has captivated nation’s attention for the last few weeks. While we debate how freedom of speech is being used to trash political opponents, or how political thuggery is trying to gag free speech, the very important issue of a specific corruption allegation is getting crowded out.

 Let’s keep Mr Sajib Wajed or Mr Mahmudur Rahman out of the issue. Mahmudur rahman is making full use of the victimhood, and his showmanship on this issue is ugly. And Mr Wajed is also dragged in this issue unnecessarily or prematurely. It is an unfortunate fact of life for the children of politicians of Bangladesh and beyond that they are always under close scrutiny and often victim of rampant character assassination attempts.

 However, leaving these individuals aside, we are still left with a specific corruption allegation that has merit enough to demand further discussion and scrutiny. Amar Desh reports a specific corruption report with copies of leaked official correspondence.

The specifics of the corruption allegation are self revealing. A $52 million job was allocated to Chevron without required transparency that includes a tender process. And while protesting the report, PM’s energy advisor repeatedly misrepresented facts. While he said there was no bid in three tenders, the fact is that the Government cancelled earlier lowest bid from Korean Company Hyundai only to award the job to Chevron. He also lied about his agenda for the US trip.

Instead of relying on Amar Desh, let’s turn to the premiere newspaper of Bangladesh, the Daily Star.    The Daily Star printed at least seven reports on this specific issue. (Interestingly, while Amar Desh report is based on government documents, the Daily Star series report, as usual, is based on unnamed sources.  But let’s leave this aside, as no one would accuse the Daily Star of partisan hatred of the current government, or Mr Mahfuz Anam, its editor, of ugly showmanship.

On April 11 2009, the Daily Star warned that a compressor station for gas distribution pipeline was being planned to be awarded to Chevron which would “… unduly give Chevron the authority to control major chunk of the country’s gas distribution system. This will definitely create a number of serious legal complications over the authority and ownership of the compressor station and the distribution pipeline” .

Another follow up report published on June 21 2009 quotes a gas transmission expert: “Even if we accept the idea of pumping PSC investment in compressor, I say Muchai gets no priority for a compressor station now. Because of high volume of gas produced by Chevron, the gas pressure at Muchai and onwards is 1024 pressure per inch (PSI). This pressure will stay for a couple of years at this point. But we need a compressor at Ashuganj where the pressure drops to 700-800psi. A number of new plants are being set up close to the Ashuganj pipeline system. Then why prioritise Muchai now?”

The same report also quotes another official: “Petrobangla’s extreme reliance on foreign investment in the gas sector has already created a precarious situation for the national exchequer. The cost of gas is now very high because foreign companies are producing more gas than the national companies which have been denied adequate funds for their healthy growth”.

 

A Judge and two ministers

A new Chief Justice has just sworn in. Justice Tofazzal Hossain took oath yesterday but will be at the helm of nations Judiciary for a relatively short term. Future will decide how well he served his role as nations chief judge. However, his promotion clearly breaches a promise made to the nation by this government. Criticizing previous BNP government for manipulation and politicization of judiciary, the current ruling party made a promise to the nation to stop any further manipulation and politicization of judiciary.

As we continue to see the glorious role being played by the high court judges in upholding human rights and rule of law, we also see the ever growing urge in ruling party to see a subservient judiciary.

Justice Tofazzal Hossain has been made chief Justice superseding Justice Fazlul Karim. The time honored tradition of promoting judges according to seniority has again been breached. Definitely the government has a standard which one has to fulfill before one is promoted to higher ranks.

Recent comments made by the full and half ministers for Law about a sitting judge reminds us of the standard government leadership expects.

In threatening and criticizing Justice nazrul Islam Chowdhury for the comments he made in a human rights related meeting, the state minister of law reportedly stated that, ” He was recruited by our government. Such a statement from him is unfortunate. ওই বিচারপতি ১৯৯৬ থেকে ২০০১ সালে আমাদের সরকারের সময়ে নিয়োগপ্রাপ্ত। তার কাছ থেকে এ ধরনের বক্তব্য আসা দুঃখজনক।”

Taking two sentences out of context from a long speech, both the ministers launched attack on Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury. In his long speech Justice Chowdhury discussed in detail on article 70 of our constitution which kind of make sour parliament not the perfect debate ground. At the end of his speech he also brought the issue of extra Judicial killing. He said,

… বিচারবহির্ভূত হত্যাকাণ্ড অবশ্যই বন্ধ করতে হবে। বিচারবহির্ভূত হত্যা বিচার বিভাগের জন্য বড় ধরনের আঘাত। আমরা বিচারপতিরা জনগণের অধিকার রক্ষার শপথ নিয়েছি। কিন্তু আমাদের সামনেই যখন বিনা বিচারে কাউকে হত্যা করা হয়, তখন আমাদের জন্য সেটা আঘাতস্বরূপ। কোনো আইনশৃঙ্খলা রক্ষাকারী বাহিনীর সদস্যের হাতে কাউকে হত্যার দায়িত্ব তুলে দেয়া যায় না। এটা জাতির জন্য আত্মহত্যার শামিল। …যারা সংসদ সদস্য হবেন, তাদেরকে আইন প্রণয়নের বিষয়ে সম্যক ধারণা থাকতে হবে। সংসদ সদস্যদের দায়িত্ব হলো জনগণের মঙ্গলের জন্য আইন তৈরি করা। আইনের খুঁটিনাটি বিষয় নিয়ে বিতর্ক করা। আইনের একটি শব্দ, সেমিকোলন—এসব বিষয় নিয়ে দিনের পর দিন বিতর্ক হতে পারে। কেরানিরা আইনের ড্রাফট তৈরি করে আর সংসদ সদস্যরা সেটা হো হো করে তালি বাজিয়ে পাস করে দেবেন, এটা তাদের দায়িত্ব নয়। অনেক সংসদ সদস্য আইনের ড্রাফটটি অনেক সময় পড়েও দেখেন না। দলীয় লোক আইন উত্থাপন করেছেন, তাই এটা পাস।

…Extra Judicial Killing must stop. Extra Judicial Killing is a rude attack on the judiciary. We, the judges have taken oath to uphold the rights of people. But when someone is killed ( by the state) in front of us, it is a direct attack on us. No law enforcement agency can be given the right to take the life of a citizen. It is like a suicide for the nation. Members of Parliament must have comprehensive knowledge in drafting laws. It is the responsibility of the Members of Parliament to make laws those are beneficial for the people, debate on every nitty gritty of the proposed law. There can be debate day after day about one single word, a semi colon etc in  a proposed law. Parliament clerks will draft the laws and the Members of Parliament will approve it hand clapping and saying Ho Ho, ( without doing any debate)–it is not their job.  Many Members of Parliamen sometimes don’t even read the draft law. They only vote for it as the bill was brought in a member belonging to the same party…

While even we  the bloggers refrain from making harsh comments against a sitting judge, these two ministers did not shy away from making sweeping comments against a sitting judge. While one has threatened to unseat the judge by revoking supreme judicial council, the full minister of law made public statement saying the judge made those comments out of his own ignorance.

The comments of these two ministers make me worry about the future of our independent judiciary. The high court division has been doing great job in upholding the rights of the citizens of the country. The nation is proud of them and hope to remain proud of them.

A recent op-ed my Badruddin Umar also makes a strong case against the minister’s threats against the judge.

 

Corruption Allegations Surface Against Sajeeb Wazed Joy

Update 12/21/09: Advisor Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury just muddied the waters, even further today, blatantly and categorically lying about his trip to the United States at the press conference.

When asked about his trip:

Dr. Chowdhury said that he did not do anything except for participate in an expatriate (BDI) conference.

However, this press release from the Bangladeshi Embassy in Washington DC (page 15 of 18) shows that he came down to Washington DC the day after the conference closed, had meetings at the Department of Energy, and had lunch as the US Chamber of Commerce with, alongside others, officials from Chevron.

Original Post:

On 17th December, Amar Desh published a news report alleging that Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, took bribes from Chevron, the US power giant, with Advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr. Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury acting as the middleman. The report made these specific allegation:

1. This bribe was given in exchange for allowing Chevron to proceed with the installation of a $52 million compressor station. The installation of this compressor station was awarded to Chevron without inviting any tenders from competing bidders.

2. A $5 million bribe was taken from Chevron in exchange of this work-order.

3. Out of this amount, $2 milion was given to Sajeeb Wazed Joy by Dr. Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury on 14th October, 2009 at Texas.

4. The proposed compressor station is currently unnecessary.

5. The above allegation are made in a letter on Petobangla (state-run organization responsible for oil and gas exploration) stationery, which was sent to the Prime Minister’s office.

6. Subsequently, Petrobangla and the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Natural Resources exchanged letters about which organization should be the lead agency in investigating this matter.

The first thing to note about this report is that Amar Desh is not claiming to have found out this alleged corruption by themselves. Rather, they are claiming they have the copies of the specific documents that record these allegations and the subsequent exchange of letters between the two agencies (quiet understandable given the people involved). The allegations are extraordinarily detailed. They mention the project in which this alleged financial impropriety took place, the reason for the bribe, the amount of the bribe, and even the location where bribe was handed over. What is left unmentioned, but remains pertinent, is that Sheikh Hasina is the minister in charge of this ministry, and thus, bears direct responsibility for all activities and transactions in this ministry.

Now, had this been the end of the matter, the story would have died down in a couple of days. The editorial stance of Amar Desh is decidedly anti-government, and absent further developments, this story would have gone nowehere. However, this story was given further rleevance by the Awami League themselves.

At a discussion meeting held the day after this report was published, Awami League leaders roundly criticized this news report, and the newspaper publishing this report. The money quote would be from Jahangir Alam Nanak, Minister of State for Local Government and Rural Development, who addressed his comments directly to Mahmudur Rahman, the editor of Amar Desh: “Do not exceed the limits of our patience. If people get angry, you won’t be able to come out in public. You want to belittle Sajeeb Wazed Joy and rehabilitate Tareq Rahman? That will never happen.”

The over-the-top reaction from Awami League leaders was a fairly accurate representation of their tolerance of negative press. No one has the right to threaten a newspaper and its editor simply because a report containing an allegation of corruption is published. One suspects that with the negative news emanating from the Copenhagen where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasins is currently leading a high-profile delegation (although a final deal will definitely materialize), the stripping of Jatiyo Party MP Abul Kashem of his post by the High Court, the news about Jubo League men beating up two reporters in Bogra, the Supreme Court holding the appointment of the Law Secretary illegal, the fact that disqualified MP Jasimuddin is still drawing benefits from the Parliament Secretariat, and pressure mounting in the government to stop extra-judicial “crossfire” murders and bring RAB under accountability, the government and the ruling party was already buffeted by an extremely negative news cycle. Meanwhile, the opposition BNP appears rejuvenated after its successful council. The Amar Desh report was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.

 Today, Amar Desh published the rejoinder that the government sent in, and its own response to the rejoinder. The government rejoinder does not address the main allegations raised in the news report. As Amar Desh’s response correctly notes, the newspaper is not pulling these facts out of thin air. They claim to have copies of the documents that detail this allegation and the subsequent bureaucratic hissy-fit. The governemnt’s rejoinder ignores the initial complaint sent from Petrobangla, and whether the accusations made in that letter were true.

Assuming that these allegations are completely false, it should be an easy matter to disprove them. They can be rebutted point-by-point. One hopes that that is the path the government takes; rather than resorting to jingoistic threats against journalistic independence. This is also a good point to remind ourselves that we are all innocent until proven guilty, and those who are proved innocent can then, in turn, bring their own claims in a court of law. Also, such allegations are rather a rather common occurrence in democracies. Factual inquiries should be met by facts, and facts alone. Along that path lies democratic maturity.

 

Who Should Be next Secretary General of BNP?

Rumi Ahmed : I am sincerely hoping to see Mirza Fakhrul Islam as the new Secretary General of BNP. But I am afraid we may end up seeing Khondokar Delwar Hossain as a status quo. . Mr. Delwar needs to move on. On record is all my praises and support for Delwar when he held BNP during its worst time. But now he needs to move on.

Jyoti Rahman:: The new Secretary General needs to be somebody who:
a. can project youth, vitality, and freshness
b. have a strong enough personality to impose his will on various factions (I presume Khaleda Zia endorsement is given)
c. Can stand up to Tarique Rahman if he repeats past mistakes
d. Doesn’t have personal ambition to challenge Tarique Rahman

tacit: I think BNP should stick with Khondokar Delwar Hossain. He is better than the alternatives (Khondokar Mosharraf, Nazmul Huda). Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is still too young and unseasoned, He needs to be given more administrative responsibility first.

Rumi Ahmed: : tacit, most of previous BNP Secretary Generals were not seasoned politicians. B Chowdhury was a political novice, so was Col Mostafizur Rahman. But when Khaleda Zia herself was a novice, she needed a seasoned politician, hence KM Obaidur Rahman did the job fairly well in helping her rebuild the party. And after that all the Secretary Generals came up from mid rank and file. Salam Talukder, Abdul Manan Bhuiyan are examples. I heard none of the names until they became Scretary General. Mannan Bhuiyan was Krishak Dal president before becoming Secretray General. So is Mr Mirza Alamgir now.

You need a Purnaiya Pandit ( seasoned politician) if the leader in novice. But Khaleda Zia is no longer novice, rather she is one of the most seasoned living politicians in Bangladesh now. She needs someone like young Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of 1950s. Someone young and charismatic, energetic with good negotiating skill, who will keep travelling from thana to thana and organize. He would prevent incidents like that in Chittagong council from happening, he will hardball with Dhaka city committee leaders/ Manikganj district leaders into a consensus committee.

If you ask me, I would have said, Khondokar Delwar Hossain deserved the newly created post of vcxzt senior vice Chairman. Tarique Rahman should have been Joint Secretary for a total of 16 years ( Like all the current Joint SGs are).

 

Some Things Money Can’t Buy…

Wool coat with Faux Fur Hood = $ 250.00

Round-trip ticket from Dhaka to Sweden = $ 1670.00

Cost of solar panel installed on the roof of State Minister for Forest and Environment Dr. Hasan Mahmud’s residence = $ 533.33

Comments made in cabinet meetings such as “”The prime minister in the meeting gave directives to stop felling of trees.” = $ 0

A Prime Minister who can stop Awami League MPs from denuding the forest in our coastal regions and building brick-fields in the middle of forests = Priceless

 

BNP Council 2009—the good, the bad and the ugly

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of two major political parties of Bangladesh just held it’s 5th council. Although mandated to be held every two years, the last council took place 16 years ago. It may be premature to analyze the positive and negative sides of the council, but it is definitely the good time to start the deliberation.

The Good:

Fairy speaking, this is the only real council attempt by a major party in this tour. Awami League’s council was a Dhaka based eyewash. Contrary to AL’s public event, BNP tried to come from bottom up and do a real council. Starting with Thana level then district/ metropolitan level and then central level. Although BNP could successfully elect a committee in 49 out of 75 district level committees and some council including that of Chittagong, Rajbari etc got foiled due to infighting on committee positions, the whole process paints a positive tone on BNP’s politics. First of all it shows the energy and potential of BNP grassroots, especially in a time after a major political and electoral debacle. Additionally BNP can showcase all these as the ‘unpaved roads of democracy’. Committees were not centrally assigned to Dhaka based lackeys, rather people in villages- unions-upazillas- Zillas took the ownership and raised enough hue and cry to see a committee of their liking.

Other positive features of the council definitely would include unprecedented organizational excellence in arranging such a political event, especially by an opposition political party. Khaleda Zia’s speech was good, inclusive and with adequate respect for the timely issues like spirit of 1971. Also very heartening was a conciliatory tone both from the ruling party and the opposition. BNP published 8 fairly good quality books. This was definitely a much needed front for BNP to start working on. And in general, the media covered the event with a positive attitude. This is definitely unprecedented for any event related to BNP.

The Bad:

Not a single major political party council since inception of Bangladesh in 1971 could elect its committee during the council. BNP failed to come out as an exception. Also failing to break with tradition, the council was nothing but formalities, colorful stage events of courtesy speeches. Totally missing was any substance. Council means councilors will speak their mind ad libitum, criticize failings, wrong decisions. Also missing was any policy discussion. How BNP should look like in 10, 20 or 50 years; how BNP will face issues like Tipaimukh- PIlkhana-transit-Jamaat, how to reach out to newer generations etc —- were the kinds of discussions a council is for. Another very odd feature of BNP’s 2009 council was total absence of centrist, leftists, progressive, political outlets and civic society groups. They completely failed to attract any outlet politically to the left of BNP. Only attended and spoke were leaders of rightist outfits such as Jamaat, Nezam e islami, Khelafat, JAGPA, BJP. Khaleda Zia herself wrote in an op-ed several months ago that BNP is a party, which stays right of the left and left of the rightists’ parties. Nation failed to see anything on the left of BNP during the council opening session.

 

A Verdict in November

Take from the altar of the ancients, not the ashes, but the fire. – Gustav Mahler

The verdict of the Appellate Division regarding the murder of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and members of his family is an important milestone in our political and judicial history. The men accused of the murder went through our entire judicial system, from the District Court to the Appellate Division. Some of the individuals initially accused were acquitted. Those who were convicted had the chance to present all suitable defences, and were accorded all the rights which our state gives defendants in criminal prosecutions.

For all those individuals who were affected by the gruesome murders, one hopes that this comes as some salve to the personal wound that will undoubtedly haunt them the rest of their lives. The psychological trauma that comes from the assassination of loved ones, and the dislocation that comes from seeing our elders and guardians lying bloodied and lifeless, is unparalleled. We hope the pain that they carry around every day is a little lighter today.

As a result of the verdict today, at least five individuals will soon die. I hope their families will make peace with that, and be able to continue with normal and productive lives.

However, where justice ends, reflection begins.

Let’s think of sets, and Venn diagrams.

Think about the set of people who had responsibility for the 15th August massacre. Narrow that set to all individuals alive today. Are there only twelve people in that set?

Let’s narrow it still further. Let’s think about all the people against whom there exists tangible evidence regarding dereliction of duty or involvement in conspiracy. Are there only twelve people in that set?

Let’s narrow the set still further. Only include the people who were at Dhanmondi Road 32 that fateful night and morning, with weapons in their hand and murder in their heart. Have we gotten all of them?

Here’s the funny thing, just as there were people there that night and early morning who were not supposed to be there, there are a lot of people that morning who should have been there, but were not.

One think about police guards and the army units guarding the President. But where was the Rakkhi Bahini, the President’s hand-created paramilitary unit? Where were the leaders of Awami League? At least some of them had fought in the war four years past, they could have potentially held off the attackers until help arrived.

“Shafiullah, your units are attacking me.”

“Sir, I am seeing what to do. Can you leave your residence?”

A response worthy of all the commanders of the Army of Bengal who stood idle at Plassey.

“Tofael, send the Rakkhi Bahini.”

“We are under attack by Army tanks, sir.”

Only, it later turned out, the tank was disarmed, it did not have any shells in it.

In a sense, it is of lesser importance to pinpoint those who pumped all those bullets in Sheilh Mujib, Begum Mujib, and their family members. Army units started surrounding their home and taking positions to shell Dhanmondi from the evening of 14th August, at least twelve hours before the massacre. How could the entire machinery of the state remain inert for twelve hours? Consultation and conspiracy regarding this started at least months ago. Apparently Indian intelligence warned Sheikh Mujib of the attack. So did at least one civilian intelligence agency. Then Deputy Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman visited the President and warned him regarding grumblings of unrest in the Army.

Who then, were the individuals who negated all these warnings? The individuals who said, “Mujib Bhai, nothing will happen?” 

Of course, whom would President Sheikh Mujib trust, a superseded officer such as Ziaur Rahman, who was never a part of the AL inner circle? Or Khandkar Mushtaque Ahmed, the “Ukil baba” in the marriages of both Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Kamal?

Zia? Or Dalim, a close personal friend of the Sheikh family who could take personal grievances directly to the President?  

Bangladesh started rejecting the perpetrators of the massacre soon after, as evidenced by the flight of the guilty to various countries within two months of the massacre. Make no mistake about it, history would have been different today if they had all stayed in Bangladesh. It is no accident that the most prominent of those convicted to death is Lt. Col. Syed Faruq Rehman, a former Presidential candidate in 1988 and former chief of Freedom Party. It is not a coincidence that he never fled Bangladesh, but instead chose to stay and attempt to shape Bangladesh’s political climate in his favor.

Part of the reason Sheikh Shaheb never paid heed to any warnings about uprising because he blinded himself to the most egregious fault in our collective nature. We love to over-exult when the times are good. However, when the chips are down, and it is time for action: we are hesitant, doubtful, and faltering. Today, Dhaka is full of people claiming that they have borne a burden in their heart for 34 years. In addition to being a grievous insult to those who have actually borne a burden for 34 years, it is also a lie. It is easy for people to stand in Bangladesh in 2009, with a ten-month AL government with a nine-tenth majority in the Parliament and Sheikh Mujib’s daughter as Prime Minister and his close associate as President, and claim that this is the single greatest moment in their lives. It was, likewise, extremely easy to tell the President of Bangladesh, and the dictator of our state (not in the sense we understand it, but in the actual sense of the word), that there was no way that a couple of army punks would dare to against Sheikh Mujib. And boy, if they did, they would soon see “koto dhane koto chaal.”

Except, when it really matters, action trumps words. And there was only one side in 15th August 1975 that took action. Something our current Prime Minister, and all future prime ministers, would do well to remember and internalize.

It is our nation’s sincerest hope that such a circumstance as 15th August 1975 never occurs again. That force never substitutes political discourse again. Let us go forward to better times.

 

Remand Benodon

Remand benodon (Entertainment).

In the middle ages and in current age in some countries still in the middle age, one of the most popular entertainments was watching torture and execution of the bed elements of the society, the criminals, and the downtrodden. Citizen from all walk of like will gather in the arena to watch and enjoy the unforgettable entertainment of torture and execution of a bed soul. Elites used to get the courtside seats, the general mass in the back seats. Kids used to accompany the parents.

We think we have come a long way from those dark ages. Did we really? The electrifying spread of Saddam execution video, its popularity– does it ring some bell? What about Bangladesh? If we change the context a bit, I do not see much change in the instinct.
In Bangladesh we have a thing called remand. A man/ woman under any sort of suspicion can be taken to undisclosed place by unidentified law enforcement agency people and can be kept for days to months. IN recent years remand lasted from a day to 4 to five months. During this time, the person being held cease to have any kind of basic right. He/ she can’t access any lawyer/ family. He can’t make any communication with anybody. Nobody would know where the person is being taken. People who have been through remand say that during this time they were subjected to all form of torture literally non stop.

Recently torture in the name of remand has become a household feared word. Remand has gained an added dimension by media’s usage of purported remand confessions to make entertaining news. Although torture in police custody is nothing new in Bangladesh, making that event a national entertainment is probably around three years old.
During the military regime of January 2007 to January 2009, almost all of the nation was drunk in a fiesta of entertainment coming out of so called torture confessions. There were two kinds of entertainment values. First the shear fun of knowing a leader of opposing political views is getting a great thrashing while in remand. And second was from all the earth shattering purported confessions being published in the print media. During last military regime, our print media (except the honorable exception of English Daily New Age), gleefully published all the dreadful crimes the political and business leaders committed. And later all the news headlines proved to be false. Not a single media apologized and retracted all the character assassinations they have committed.
During the days of the current elected government the fanfare of remand continued, but with an added spice. One person is picked to get some good thrashing; government’s judiciary provides a remand. Then thrashing starts. And newspapers, as expected, start publishing all the horror stories.

And if the person in remand happens to be a young woman, nothing can get better than that. Invariably erotically charged stories will come out how that women lived with many men, how she was violated, used-reused, how many people married her and divorced her etc. The stories however keep on changing. If one reads same newspaper on three consecutive days, there will be three conflicting version of the same story.

Remains buried under all these sadistic national entertainment— independent-passionate judiciary, responsible journalism and basic human rights.
Who cares.

 

Bangladesh 2009: Judiciary approved, state conducted torture

Ex state minister for Home affairs and expelled BNP leader Lutfuzzaman Babar has been taken into remand under a directive of Supreme Court chamber judge Mozammel Hossain. Earlier a two judge high court bench directed the government to interrogate Mr Babar in Dhaka Central Jail where Mr Babar is in custody now. This supreme court verdict, indirectly, marks a demarcation line between interrogation and remand. The Attorney General asked for something more than simple interrogation and the appellate divn chamber judge M Mozammel Hossain used his constitutional power to allow the state to do ’something more’ on Mr Babar. Even Attorney General Mahbubey Alam stated that “…the investigators are empowered to decide the place and mode of the interrogation,..”.

 It is an open secret that remand means torture. Every single person who have been through remand in recent past have termed their remand time as living in hell. A senior BNP leader today described remand as killing someone, by stripping him of his self esteem, hope and physical well being. Senior national leaders including current PM, deputy leader of the house, leader of the opposition, senior ministers, parliamentary standing committee chiefs have said, on numerous occassions and on record, that rermand equals torture.

We used to see a lot of remands during the immediate past military regime. People from both sides of political dichotomy in Bangladesh were tortured in the name of remand. And during that time, on many occasions, high court came to reprieve by blocking remand petitions. Many current ruling party leader benefited from such directives of high court. And that time the military government arm twisted Appellate division to overturn many of the high court blocked remand petitions. It is very unfortunate that a democratically elected government run by a party which claims to carry a liberal ideology will resort to the tactics of a cruel military regime. Today, two persons, Justice M Muzammel Hossain and Attorney general Mahbubey Alam paved way for the state to torture a person.  This report in a mainstream vernacular newspaper describes the cirmstances that led to the unprecedented verdict of the supreme court. It must be taken into heart that a supreme court judge and an attorney general are not merely persons. They are institutions. They represent the state and the constitution. Personal political bias, grudge and political calculations must not guide these sort of institutions to resort to unconstitutional activities like torture. Torture does not bring any good for anybody. Torture can not be a tool of a civilized society. Torture can only take the nation back into the dark middle ages.

 

It Was A Long Dark Plot: The Latest Fiction from Daily Star

Apparently, Daily Star has uncovered what neither the past Caretaker Government nor this Awami League Government could, that the August 21 grenade attack on the then-Leader of the Opposition and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was orchestrated by Lutfozzaman Babar and others in Hawa Bhaban, in presence of a Hawa Bhaban “bigwig.”

Of course, it is hard to imagine why Awami League would not gleefully trumpet any evidence linking senior BNP leaders to any crime, let alone something as horrible as murder, and leave it to Daily Star to break the news. If there was an iota, a trace, or a scintilla of truth to this accusation, this would have come out a long time ago. Awami League MPs have already asked for Khaleda Zia to be arrested for the bomb blast near Fazle Noor Taposh. If there existed any evidence at all linking BNP leaders to the August 21 blast, our brave Home Minister and Home State Minister, and our valiant Commerce Minister, would have flooded the airwaves with that information a long time ago.

Let’s parse the report and see the sources DS tries to attribute:

1. “A highly privileged document in which a top accused of the grenade carnage gave some descriptions about how the killing mission had been organised”

2. “This correspondent talked with investigators and intelligence officials involved with the probe over the last five years”

3. “Detained Salam Pintu”

4. “Huji sources”

5. “An influential Huji leader”

6. “number of officials involved with the investigations”

7. “Former CID inspector Munshi Atiqur Rahman”

8. “Bangla Bhai”

This news report goes against every rule of journalism. It bears the same relationship to journalism that the “chotis” on sale in front of New Market bear to literature. It’s sad that this hack, Julfikar Ali Manik, also writes in the New York Times about Bangladesh. And in Outlook India, about Moeen U. Ahmed’s steely resolve and his plan to build a hospital by auctioning the luxury cars that were seized during the anti-corruption drive.

Of the only two live human beings quoted as source, one of them is Abdul Salam Pintu. Let us see what the Awam League government has been doing with him the past six months. From New Age:

The High Court bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Raisuddin also ordered proper medical treatment of Pintu by specialist physicians.

The court passed the order reprimanding the government and attorney general Mahbubey Alam for remanding Pintu in custody in the case in which the government had sought time for preparation for the hearing .

‘We adjourned the hearing after you [attorney general] sought time. But the petitioner is being tortured in police custody on remand. It is very unfortunate,’ Justice Dastagir Husain told Mahbubey Alam.

Pintu’s counsel Khandker Mahbub Hossain drew the court’s attention to the matter saying Pintu had filed a petition seeking bail in the case. The High Court on October 8 adjourned the hearing in the bail petition as the government had sought time. But Pintu was remanded in custody on October 11 for three days for interrogation in the same case.

‘Pintu is being tortured in police custody to extract confessional statement from him,’ the defence counsel said adding that Pintu was taken to Rajarbagh police lines hospital for treatment.

The attorney general, however, tried to defend the government action and said, ‘The grenade attack, which killed 24 people and injured 200 others, including Sheikh Hasina, is very serious after the August 15, 1975 carnage in which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with his family was killed.’

‘You cannot do whatever you wish just because you have power… Today you have power, but tomorrow you may not have and who knows you won’t be tortured then,’ Justice Dastagir Husain said.

How did Daily Star cover the same story?

The High Court (HC) yesterday directed the authorities concerned to interrogate former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu at the jail gate in the cases against him.

The court also asked the authorities to make arrangements for his treatment, if he (now in Dhaka Central Jail) is ill.

An HC bench comprised of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Rais Uddin came up with the order upon a petition filed by Pintu’s brother Shamsur Rahman Toha on behalf of him.

It was stated in the petition that Pintu was tortured in the name of interrogation while on remand, and he would be taken on further remand.

A Dhaka court on Sunday placed Pintu, accused in two criminal cases in the August 21 grenade attack, on a three-day fresh remand to trace suppliers of Arges grenades used in the carnage that left 23 people dead.

Contacted, Additional Attorney General AKM Zahirul Hoque said Pintu was not tortured while on remand, and the government provides him treatment if he is ill.

Pintu was arrested on January 17 last year in the grenade attack case.

Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain appeared for Pintu.

I think the bias is self-evident.

Of course, Daily Star has had a long love affair with Hawa Bhaban.

The good news is that Daily Star’s readers know they are being lied to. Some of the reader comments, posted on the news report:

Your correspondent dishes out a story planted by CID without verification and providing any concrete evidence. Having a statement purported to have been made by a person under custody is not good enough. DS should be more circumspect with such news reports. Partisan politics should have no role in investigation of this nature.

Thanks for the report. The Daily Star advertises that they do journalism without favour or fear.
So keeping the above slogan in mind I have to ask a question.
Who is this Hawa bhaban bigwig? Why are you scared to print Tarique Rahman’s Name?

Thanks for the story.There is nothing new in this article.
Mr Manik, you just compiled reports which are allready known to the mass people like us. There is nothing new at all. Please, don’t make reports to increase the sale of your daily.
Have courage to speak the truth and give us something more authentic.

As the old saying goes: you can’t fool all the people, all the time.

 

Dear Prime Minister, Please Don’t Make It All About The Family

Chaired by Sheikh Hasina, the Cabinet recently passed a bill titled Father of the Nation’s Family Members Security Act 2009. It provided for lifetime security for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and her sister, Sheikh Rehana, by the Special Security Force, Bangladesh’s elite protection agency that normally guards the President and the Prime Minister (and occasionally outgoing Chief Advisers). Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana are also to be provided housing for life by the government. Even though Parliament is yet to ratify this draft, the government has announced it will start acting on the draft and treat it as law.

During her last administration, in 2001, Hasina’s AL government also passed a similar measure. Then, Gano Bhaban had been prepared as Hasina’s lifelong residence. However, the move provoked a hostile reaction from the general population. It was seen as a way to elicit lifelong benefits from the state. There were also concerns that the upcoming election, to take place in October 2001, would be improperly affected if one of the leaders, Sheikh Hasina, received protocol equivalent to a head of state, and the other, Khaleda Zia, did not.

After BNP won the 2001 election with a two-third supermajority, it scrapped the law. However, it did not, foolishly, enact a law that provided all past prime ministers with security covers, as is the case in India. In August 2004, grenades were hurled at Sheikh Hasina that injured her and killed Ivy Rahman, wife of President Zillur Rahman, and 23 others. This attack can be seen as the turning-point for the BNP government; things went inexorably downhill for them from there. The attack on a past prime minister, and the country-wide bomb blasts a year later, dealt a body-blow to the aspirations of a party that claimed that it could keep Bangladesh safe. Thus, BNP’s “Desh Bacha0″ campaign in 2008 was a resounding failure; the voters punished them, even after five years of unprecendented economic growth, by giving AL an even bigger supermajority.

The current draft law will probably not face significant opposition from anyone, since the 2004 attack is still fresh in everyone’s mind. Sheikh Hasina has a long history of alleging personal assassination attempts on her; during the early 90s, she famously showed a bullet casing as proof that someone had shot at her, even though the casing would normally be with the person who had shot the gun, and not the purported victim. Nevertheless, I think the commonly-held sentiment is that if lifelong protection makes those around Hasina any less paranoid, then it is probably well worth it.

However, I wonder why Hasina has to complicate things by bringing her family into it. Sheikh Hasina has earned her position in Bangladesh by her own efforts. She has had a fabulously rich life-story, led Awami League for close to two decades, championed the causes of one half of our mainstream politics, and helmed Bangladesh for five years previously, and will do so, at least, for five more years in the future, by the grace of the Almighty. She deserves lifelong head of state treatment on her own merits, not on the basis of her lineage.

(Speaking of fabulous life-stories, would someone please take down Sheikh Hasina’s official biography in the Awami League website? While I understand that the current American administration is quiet de rigueur in Dhaka, stealing the words of the inaugural speech by an American president is probably streching it a bit too far. The next thing you know, one of our intrepid web sleuths will be involved, and the story will emerge with an amusing, alliterative marque. Princess of plagarism, anyone?)

Including Sheikh Rehana, an expatriate who resides in London, in the same protective category only needlessly complicates things. If Sheikh Rehana has decided to permanently stay in Bangladesh, that would be welcome news, although we have not heard anything on that note. Barring that, will the Government of Bangladesh, with the taxpayer’s money, outfit a nice residence for her in Kensington? or Soho?

After the brutal death of their father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana adopted, what must have seemed to them, the most sensible strategy for keeping their family safe. Hasina and Rehana had escaped the August 1975 massacre because they had been abroad. Very well, they would keep their family abroad from now on, out of the reach of any Bangladeshis with the wrong notions. Thus, Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, currently graces the rolling hills of Virginia, US, while Hasina’s daughter, Saima Wajed Putul, lives in Toronto, Canada. Sheikh Rehana’s charming children: Radwan Siddiq Bobby, Azmina Siddiq Rupanti and Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, are also expatriates. Therefore, it is puzzling why Hasina would complicate something as simple as giving an ex-prime minister lifelong security coverage by involving her family into the matter. Surely, there are very few people in Bangladesh who think dynasties are the future of politics in Bangladesh.

The great mystery of succeeding in Bangladeshi politics is to keep things simple. There is no reason why the next five years should not be a period of growth and prosperity. It is only desired that Hasina, and her ministers, display a measure of empathy and moderation. History will take care of the rest.

 

In Other News: Bollywood is still making Hindi movies

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday said Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty might have violated diplomatic norms through his comments on controversial Tipaimukh dam and Bangladeshi water experts.

This comes after Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty has said, over the last two years, as he has graced our humble land with his beatific presence:

• Tipaimukh Dam is being opposed by “so-called” Bangladeshi experts on water-management.
• Bangladesh will not be affected by the Tipaimukh Dam.
• India will exercise sole control over all water flowing through the Tipaimulh Dam.
• Most Bangladeshi expers opposing the Tipaimukh Dam are misinformed.
• No international law can stop India from constructing the Tipaimukh Dam.
• BNP is opposing the Tipaimukh Dam solely to get political mileage.
• Any accusation that India is depriving Bangladesh of its due share of water is just empty political solgan.
• Anyone who says that India has not consulted Bangladesh over Tipaimukh Dam is lying.
• Those opposing the Tipaimukh Dam are only trying to poison the minds of friendly people of Bangladesh against India.
• There would be no problems holding the December 2008 parliamentary election under Emergency Law.

And, my personal favorite:

• India will not starve its own citizens just to send help to Bangladesh.

 

Only If He Had Known…

Today, the Obama Administration formally announced that they will be detaining people, through Presidential decree, even after they have been acquitted by American courts.

Somewhere, Moeen U Ahmed is shaking his head and cussing out Dr. Kamal Hossain.

 

Awami League: Inner Contradictions Becoming Deafening

The recent exchange between Abdul Jalil, Awami League General Secretary, and Dr. Alaluddin Ahmed, Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, had laid bare some of the key rifts currently plaguing our ruling party. The Awami League (AL) currently has about four-fifths of the seats in our parliament; they also won about 49% of the vote in the last election held in December 29, 2008. Extrapolating back from this result, if elections would have been held on January 22, 2007, AL would have still had a similar majority. However, what has changed in the past two years are the individuals who would have been the key actors in an AL government.

In any government formed after AL won 2007 elections, Abdul Jalil, as General Secretary of AL, the most popular AL leader from North Bengal, and a key mastermind of the anti-BNP government tactics, would have been one of the senior ministers. The behemoth LGRD ministry, traditionally reserved for the number-twos of the party in power, would have become his personal fiefdom. He would have added his name to the illustrious list of former LGRD kingpins such as Barrister Abdus Salam Talukdar, (now President) Zillur Rahman, and Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, with a large budget, infrastructure spanning the length of Bangladesh, and a gargantuan patronage network, at his disposal.

The 2007 cabinet would also include heavyweights such as Tofael Ahmed, Abdur Razzaq, and Amir Hossain Amu, leaders with long decades of service to AL, serving in their second or third cabinet, experienced in the ways of the bureaucracy, and capable of implementing their own agenda. Sheikh Hasina would come close to, as close to as possible in our current personality-driven politics, being the primus inter pares, the first among equals in her council of ministers.

Instead, the current AL cabinet, much like the current Zimbabwe under-19 team, wears a forlorn look. Motia Chowdhury, who in those fiery days of her youth reputedly used to desire her wish to flay Sheikh Mujibur Rahman alive in no uncertain terms, is the senior minister from AL. Two of the five-most senior ministers are imports from General Ershad’s Jatiyo Party, another, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, is here in his capacity as the Prime Minister’s personal lawyer during the last two years. Both the Home Minister and the Foreign Minister are first-time MPs. Most of the other ministers and state ministers have never served in any ministry previously. The cabinet also contains, alongside several former Communist leaders, possibly Bangladesh’s first serving Communist cabinet minister, making it a matter of time before the we start hearing about the Awami League-Communist government.

Missing are Jalil, Tofael, Razzaq, Amu, Suranjit Sengupta, Dr. Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Sheikh Selim, and the entire starting bench of AL leaders. When making this decision, Sheikh Hasina has also had to give up experience and government-savvy. As a result, the current cabinet’s newbies are still learning how to move files through their ministry’s bureaucracy, how to get project allocations for their desired projects, and how to keep DOs from dying in the bowels of their respective ministries.

As a counterweight, Hasina has hired six unelected advisers, with the rank of cabinet ministers, to shortcircuit the cabinet, report directly to her in the PMO, and keep the machinery running. As a result, this government is the most centralized administration ever to run our country. Most of the cabinet members do not have Hasina’s trust – when she had to go to Senakunjo to face down the distraught army officers, she only took Motia Chowdhury with her. The PM is having to do all the heavy-lifting by herself in quite a number of issues. While things go right, most of the cabinet will not mind going along this arrangement. But when things go wrong, as they did in February 25, PM will have to take on the blame solo. And she may find there are those within the party more than happy to point their fingers at her.

Jalil’s recent outburst, calling the current arrangement unconstitutional, is but the tip of the iceberg. The real strife between those six to eight individuals who would have been at the top of a 2007 AL cabinet, and the six to eight individuals who are at the top of the current cabinet, is just starting. Those who have been left out include those who were taken to the jail and tortured by the Caretaker Government after being identified as being personally loyal to Sheikh Hasina, and those who were used to try and oust Hasina from her party position. It will be interesting to see if they are able to make common cause, and how long it takes them to do so.

It is indeed ironic that the leader of a 230-plus member parliamentary party finds herself lonely in government. Hasina would do well to remember that strengh, at least in a democracy, lies in numbers. The alternative may not be to her liking.

 

Mr. Motiur Rahman, please explain yourself

On reading the special editorialwritten by Matiur Rahman, Prothom Alo editor, the day his masterMoeen U. Ahmed retired as Army Chief, a number of questions came up. Actually, what came up first was disgust at the incredible level of smugness that was on display as Matiur Rahman pretended that the change of government that took place on January 11, 2007 did not happen with his direct knowledge and collusion. But eventually, on a second and third reading, some questions did come up.

The intial point that struck me was the sheer disregard of journalistic ethos that Mr. Rahman puts on display here. If any of us bloggers had written this piece, our inboxes would be flooded by now with demands that we either back up what we wrote as facts or admit that they are baseless innuendo. I do not see why the standard should be any different for the editor of Bangladesh’s most widely-circulated Bangla newspaper. In his article, Matiur Rahman states:

• After last year’s election, a powerful portion of the Army wanted Moeen’s tenure as Army Chief extended by another year.
• Presumably the same part of the Army wanted Moeen to become either Defense Minister or the “Joint Chief of Staff.”
• After the Pilkhana massacre, Army officers openly criticized Moeen, inside and outside the Army, for not being able to save the lives of his men.
• The Government would still like to reward Moeen.
• Diplomatic sources say that Moeen may be made the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Let us take these points one by one. After Moeen toppled the caretaker government in 2007 and promoted himself to General, he spent a great deal of time and energy putting his men in as many key army positions as he could, and sending army officers who refused to countenance his authority into forced retirement. Thus, it is probably not a surprise that Moeen still has a constituency left in the Army, even though, ideally, the entire Army should be his constituency.

That there were ever any suggestions of Moeen being made Defense Minister or Joint Chief of Staff is quiet sensational news. If Motiur Rahman knew about this previously but did not inform us, his readers, he has done us a great disservice. As far as I know, Bangladesh has never had a Defense Minister, with the Prime Minister not being able to trust anyone else (unwisely, in my opinion) with this portfolio. For a very brief period of time, Khandoqar Mushtaq’s government did set up a Combined Chief of Staff, but that was more to keep Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman, as Army Chief, from having any real power, than anything else. Moeen has already permanently distorted our defense establishment by promoting himself to General rank, giving nations around the world one more reason to titter at us behind our back. Appointing the same man to one of the posts described above would have been a momentous step; one we deserved to hear about ahead of time.

The Pilkhana massacre laid bare the full extent of the damage that Moeen had done to the very institution he was supposed to protect and safeguard: the Bangladesh Army. Barely two years after he had stormed into Bongobhaban, the Presidential Palace, and forced President Iajuddin Ahmed to retire as Chief Advisor, a democratic government barely two months old could scarcely trust him to again lead an operation in the heart of Dhaka. And so it was they fifty-plus of our officers were tortured and killed, while the government sat and dithered before, first allowing enough armour units to enter Dhaka, and then letting them approach Pilkhana. Moeen has undone the work of thousands of honest and dedicated officers who obeyed the constitutional dictate that our armed forces stay subservient to the civilian government, through his coup in 2007 and the torture he inflicted on a broad swathe of politicians from all across the political spectrum the next two years. Going forward, it will take years to mend the damage he has wrought.

Therefore, we do not see how Matiur Rahman can now claim that Army officers have criticized and blamed Moeen for the loss of lives in Pilkhana. Why was Matiur Rahman silent when the government instituted an Army-probe into this massacre under the same person who was blamed for letting it happen? How could such a probe have any credibility with members of our armed forces, let alone the general public?

Even after making these incredible allegations, Matiur Rahman then turns around and claims that even after the Pilkhana massacre, the government would like to still reward Moeen. The question begs to be asked, what is the government rewarding Moeen for? Providing the incompetent leadership that allowed so many of his men to be killed? Indirectly causing the mutiny – by green-lighting the BDR into Operation DalBhaat? Or, as Matiur Rahman hints near the end, because of the election held in 29 December, 2008? Do we really want to become a nation that remains in thrall to its Army Chief for allowing elections to go through?

And do we really want our United Nations representative to be a wannabe military strongman? Asif Ali Zardari and Pervez Musharraf made a far more explicit pact after the Pakistani election. But even Musharraf did not have the gumption of trying to claim diplomatic immunity and representing our country in the world stage.

Of course, if Moeen ever leaves Bangladesh, we can rest assured he will never return again. His underling Brig. Fazlul Bari had the right idea when he decided he liked America too much. One can confidently expect Moeen to follow suit; he has already made his liking for the balmy climate of Florida well-known. Perhaps, once they are united there, advance accommodations could be arranged for Gen. Masud as well.

Fighting the rearguard battle to justify his own support for the overthrow of the CTG in 2007, Matiur Rahman claims that the new regime had “massive support” from the people. Yet, in the very next sentence, he is forced to acknowledge that Awami League only supported this move initially, until the true nature of the regime that followed became clear and Sheikh Hasina was herself thrown into jail after she spoke out against military intervention, through DGFI, in politics. BNP, of course, never supported the regime. Then how does Matiur Rahman find broad support for a regime which is not supported by BNP and AL, which together represent about 260 of the 300 seats in both the current as well as the former parliament?

The job of a newspaper editor is different from that of a gossip columnist. It is really different from that of a sycophant. Unfortunately, Mr. Matiur Rahman seems unclear about both these distinctions. The activities of our last regime left behind enough tar to cover most of its proponents and supporters. With this piece, Matiur Rahman just slapped some more tar firmly on his face.

 

President Ziaur Rahman (1936-1981): In Memoriam

I hear… of your recent saying that both the Army and the Government needed a Dictator. Only those generals who gain success can set up military dictatorships. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship.”

- Abraham Lincoln, message to General Joseph Hooker, Army of the Potomac

May 30 is the 28th anniversary of President Ziaur Rahman’s death. It came approximately 10 years and 2 months after he gave a radio announcement, from Chittagong, declaring the Independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then in the custody of the Pakistani Army.

During our Independence War, he was Sector Commander over much of today’s Chittagong Division, and commander of Bangladesh Army’s ‘Z” brigade. At the end of the war, with Pakistani forces crumbling before the assault of joint Indo-Bangladeshi forces and surrendering on 16 December 1971, he was awarded the Bir Uttom.

At the onset of independence, Zia became one of the senior-most officers of the Bangladesh Army. His performance during the nine-month war and his radio announcement at the onset of the war marked him as different from his fellow officers. He was made Brigade Commander of Comilla, close to where his force had done most of the fighting during the war.

The Government brought him to Dhaka in June 1972 and made him Deputy Chief of Staff, under Major General Shafiullah, who commanded the “S” Brigade during the Independence War. It is as Deputy CoS that he moved into the 6 Shahid Moinul Road residence, where he would live the rest of his life. It is from this post that he observed the imposition of one-party dictatorship in Bangladesh when Sheikh Mujib, by a constitutional amendment, made Bangladesh a one-party state, banned all other political parties, all but four newspapers, and named himself President.

After the brutal assassination of Sheikh Mujib and most of the members of his family by a group of army officers, Zia was elevated to Chief of Staff but placed under Major General Khalilur Rahman, who was made Chief of Defense Staff. The regime, after killing Mujib’s four most-trusted political lieutenants, heroes in their own right, planned to send Zia abroad, as it sent Shafiullah. However, before that could transpire, the murderers were toppled by a counter-coup led by Brig. Khaled Musharraf, Chief of General Staff, one the most valiant leaders in our Independence War. Zia was placed under house-arrest. He was then freed by a counter-counter-coup by Col. (rt) Abu Taher, fellow Sector Commander, and leader of the banned Jatiyo Samajtrantik Dal (National Socialist Party). The counter-coup also tragically resulted in Brig. Mosharraf’s death.

Shafiullah, Zia, Mosharrah, and Taher were all awarded the Bir Uttom, the highest gallantry decoration awarded to living participants. Under normal circumstances, they should, by all right, have been able to look forward to long careers in our defense forces, promotions to command rank, and eventual retirement with the whole-hearted blessings of a grateful nation. Instead, Shafiullah was abroad, Mosharraf was dead, and Taher advoced a left-leaning revolutionary state. With the adoption of one-party statehood by the Parliament, the Awami League, until then Bangladesh’s pre-eminent political party, had also been disbanded. Zia found himself with no credible political establishment to hand over power to, a faction-ridden armed forces that was more dangerous to Bangladeshis than to foreign enemies, and an economy on the brink of collapse.

His subsequent actions, becoming Chief Martial Law Administrator, founding BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party), introducing multi-party democracy, allowing the publication of newspapers, holding parliamentary elections (in which Awami League became the largest opposition party in parliament), trying to revitalize the country’s industrial sector, and adopting a muscular foreign policy, were the attempts of an imperfect man to try and make the best of an imperfect situation. He survived eighteen coup attempts, before being killed by the nineteenth one, in his beloved Chittagong, the scene of his life’s greatest hour, where he had come to resolve inter-party factions in his young BNP. Bangladehis from all walks of life poured into his funeral prayer service, making it the single largest such gathering in Bangladesh’s history.

I can not know, but I imagine he must have been a little tired by the end of his life. If the last thought that flashed through his mind was his young widow and the two little boys he left behind; maybe, after death, he found the peace he had been denied in life. The generation which should have together led Bangladesh, together turn old and hale and watched their children grow up in a free country as free men and women, and in the twilight of their lives accepted our accolades as Bangladesh’s greatest generation, had together torn each other apart. His would be the last life to be lost in that decade-long bloodbath, but by the sacrifice of his own life, he would bring the killing to an end; all subsequent transfers of power in our country would be bloodless, if not voluntary.

Testimony is paid to Zia, throughout the year, by Awami League leaders who slander and villify him every chance they get. They try to tear down the man who allowed them to re-form, and graciously accepted their leader’s return from exile in India. His statues are broken down, and bridges leading to his memorial in Dhaka, beside the National Parliament, are mysteriously removed under the cover of night. All debates about the fate of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his great predecessor, inevitably contain someone viciously belittling him.

Yet, the idea of Zia remains. Our only head of state to have actively fought the Pakistanis in a field of battle, today he sleeps the well-deserved sleep of those who have fought the good fight. It remains to us to do our best in the imperfect world he left for us.

 

Torture Debate Rocks United States

Barack Obama stood out in a crowded field of contenders by opposing the War in Iraq, and speaking out boldly and forcefully for rule of law. In a country that prides itself on being “a nation of laws, not men,” this was an effective way for a freshmen senator with little political organization to stand out in a contest that was supposed to be a cakewalk for Hillary Clinton. And while his victory in November seemed almost preordained, this rhetoric kept him afloat at a time when his candidacy seemed very much a long-shot, an exploratory run for 2012, or 2016.

Signaling his intent to change the way things were under George W. Bush, Obama gave the Justice Department the lead in the handling of those imprisoned by the United States in Guantanamo during the last eight years. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is America’s equivalent of the Home Ministry and Law Ministry put together; and under a good leader, it is enormously powerful. Particularly heartening was Attorney General Eric Holder’s straightforward acknowledgement that waterboarding, along with other techniques used by the Bush administration, were indeed torture.

The nation’s attention was wrenched back to torture when the Justice Department released a set of memos written by the Office of Legal Counsel in 2002 that made it legal for American officials to torture those held in American custody. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) an office in the DOJ that interprets the law for the rest of the executive branch; effectively, if the OLC says that something is legal, then it is legal. The memo was authored by Jay Bybee, then Assistant Attorney General at the OLC, and John Yoo, his deputy. The memos effectively make a host of torture legal; including attention grasp, walling, waterboarding, and being put in a coffin-like space with insects.

Ann Coulter reacted: “This is what Muslims do to each other on first dates.”

CIA and the FBI’s professional interrogators have long made clear their disdain of torture, maintaining that a person will make any confession under torture that will make the pain stop. One of the individuals tortured, Abu Zubaydah, was later revealed to be insane. Even though the Bush administration maintained that torture was only used to prevent an imminent terrorist attack on the United States, allegations have arisen that torture was used to get any information linking Saddam Hossein’s regime to Al Qaeda that could have been used to justify President Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.

While releasing the memos, Obama made clear that he was neither going to prosecute Bybee and Yoo, the lawyers who authored the memo, nor the CIA personnel who actually carried out the torture. However, it was soon recognized that Obama had spoken prematurely, since in any matter involving potential criminal prosecution, the DOJ is able, independent of the more politicized White House, to press ahead on its own.

The question has now become, should torture be prosecuted and punished?

Torture is illegal in the United States. The Convention Against Torture was signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and ratified by the US Senate in 1994. Under Article VI of the United States Constitution, it is the supreme law of the land, in par with laws passed by the Congress. Under this treaty, the United States is obligated to investigate any occurrences of torture. If it does not do so, another country has the authority to carry out these investigations. Spain has already indicted six individuals, including Bybee, Yoo, and Bush’s Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, in its own investigation of torture. The prosecution of lawyers for their legal advice has impeccable precedents in law: lawyers and judges for Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Reich were tried and sentenced by the Allied Powers after World War Two.

Bybee was appointed to the Federal Appeals Court, essentially our High Court, by Bush; where he serves for life unless Congress impeaches him. Yoo is now a professor at the elite Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley. Prosecuting either will not be painless, just like the self-examination that the Democrats must go through now will not be painless. Just like any good Washington scandal, this trouble is bipartisan: key democratic leaders, including then House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, were briefed by the CIA regarding the torture. She knew about the torture, and chose to keep silent.

This scandal has come at a time when Pelosi, now Speaker of the House, is at the height of her power. Commanding solid Democratic majorities in both chambers of the Congress, shepherding to passage a new President’s legislative agenda, and boosting impeccable liberal credentials, America’s first female Speaker was well-set to begin a reign of power unmatched since Sam Rayburn held the gavel, and his protégé, Lyndon Johnson, sat a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. An already-iconic figure amongst the liberals, she is despised by America’s conservatives. Her daughter Alexandra Pelosi, making a documentary for HBO, followed John McCain around the country during his presidential campaign. Describing Republican political rallies, she noted during an interview:

[T]he warm-up speakers that were criticizing the Democrats in Washington, would give these incredibly offensive speeches that all ended with the punch line of something really derogatory with the name Pelosi next to it. It really got the crowds worked up. And I had to call my father during the campaign and say to him, “Dad, did you know how hated you are in America? Did you know that your last name has become a symbol of just like every four-letter word?”

However, this scandal has already cast doubts on Pelosi’s political future. Her district, California-8, covers the liberal bastion of San Francisco; a seat held by Democrats since 1949, which has returned Pelosi eleven times with over 75% of the vote. Her constituents will not take easily to their own Member acting as an enabler for the Bush administration’s torture.

It would be unfair to characterize the outrage as coming only from the left. Fox News Host Shepard Smith, during a debate with his colleagues, responded to the argument made by many of his colleagues about the utility of torture in preventing future threats to America, when he banged his fist on his desk, and bawled out: “We are America! I don’t give a rat’s ass if it helps! We do not f****** torture! And the moment that is not the case, I want off the train.”

The current debate regarding torture prosecution have raised questions about ignoring violations of the law when it serves a purported greater good, and the extent to which former government officials should be prosecuted for breaking the law. Societies around the world have to grapple with these questions; and the answers they choose have grave consequences about their future trajectory.