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 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.

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).

Jyoti Rahman: I agree with what you say. I’d also add another thing. BNP had the upper hand in the sec gen face offs during 2001-06. Mannan Bhuiyan did turn out to be a traitor, sure. but he ran rings around Jalil during the media events.
And this media contest is going to be an even more important thing in the coming years. with 20 odd tv channels and a politics-crazy nation, everything the leaders will say will be replayed 100s of time a day. In our political culture, it is extremely unlikely that the TWO NETRIS will face the tv camera in an impromptu manner. that role will fall on the sec gen. And this is where khondoker delwar performs most poorly. But it’s not just him. Other than Moudud (discredited) and Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury (too controversial), I can’t think of any other BNP leader of that generation who will do media well.

tacit: As election 2014 comes closer, Awami League will engage in a multitude of dirty tricks against BNP. The Secretary General (SG) needs to be someone who is a veteran of politics so that he can counter them effectively. If the government of Moeen U Ahmed could not bend KDH, then he is the perfect person to counter Awami League too. The SG also needs to have a reasonably clean image. Khondokar Delwar Hossain (KDH) did some very good work during the language movement, and despite the financial misappropriation of foodstuff from the parliament canteen charges, has a clean image.

BNP should think about appointing a spokesperson. As you said, none of the elder generation can really get their groove on in front of the electronic media. And I include Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury in this category: it’s easy to captivate people when you’re launching ad hominem attacks or making outlandish assertions against people. It’s much harder to pull this stunt off when actually trying to talk sense.

Rumi Ahmed: Thats why KDH need to be the senior counsellor to Khaleda Zia. He needs to help Khaleda Zia counter all the tricks of AL being the senior standing committe member. KDH has also shown that he does not shy away from questioning/ rebuffing Khaleda Zia. We need that kind of figure as senior counsellor AKA senior Vice Chairman.

Jyoti Rahman: CTG couldn’t bend KDH because the man has integrity and loyalty. I wouldn’t put it to any particular political acumen.

Also, a spokesperson wouldn’t be sufficient for the media. Nazrul islam khan is a very articulate person, but he has little authority. a spokesperson will be like him. The sec gen will need to be the party’s public face, as well as doing all the fieldwork.

Yes, a young mujib is very much what is needed.
The thing is, mujib to aar gacche dhore na….

tacit: I haven’t seen the youtube video, but people have mentioned it to me countless times.
Take the SG position away from KDH, and he’ll be about as important in the party as Dr. Gani. Pre 1/11, KDH was this close to losing Manikganj BNP to Harunur Rashid Munnu. I also highly value the fact that KDH can question/stand up to Khaleda Zia. In 2014, Khaleda Zia and BNP will again have to decide how much of AL’s election engineering to abide, and how far it can go as a party before the possibility of another 1/11 arises. It will be invaluable to have KDH around as a voice of reason then, as opposed to all the armchair-warriors who are already counseling KZ to launch andolon.

Rumi Ahmed: tacit, you are talking about current status quo of using Jt SGs to organize. Let me tell you what are the drawbacks to this.
Jt SGs are higher job aspirants in next council, most want to be SG or at least stading committe member. As a result, a Joint SG prefer to stay in Dhaka near party high command and avoid confronting with mid-level leaders. He needs to keep everybody happy for his aspiration for higher posts.

Exactly this is what happened before this council. Goyeshwar Roy was given responsibility of Chittagong. Goyeshwar preferred to stay back in Dhaka, speak to media as much as possible and avoid confrontations. He wants to be in standing committe and also be the SG.

Noman was assigned Dhaka divn., he himslef wants to be SG. Why he would make animosity with powerful players like Mirza Abbas or Khoka by hardballing with them for Dhaka city committee? He carefully avoided all confrontation, rather spend energy building his base in Chittagong to counter the rise of Amir Khasru.

Mirza Abbas was in charge of Rajshahi. He was so afraid of giving a empty field to Sadeq Hossain Khoka, he never left Dhaka. He also did not want to be involved with Rajshahi local Minu VS anti Minu groups.

In current format, SG is the highest post one can get unless you are Zia family member. So sitting in that post, you have attained your political opus, the main objective then is to run the party well, not pushing personal agenda.

On a different issue, being in standing committe does not make you powerless. Khondokar Mosharraf Hossain(KMH) is one example. He influences Khaleda in all decision making process. Collective, differing voices in Standing committe, like that of KDH, KMH, Goyeshwar Roy, Mirza Abbas, Sadeq HossainKhoka, Moudud Ahmed, Nazrul Islam Khan, SQC, Toriqul Islam, Jamiruddin Sircer, MK Anwar, Tarique Rahman would help Khaleda Zia take the right policy decision. Khaleda Zia has a habit of consulting with Standing committee before all decisions. So I am not afraid that we will be missing the service of KDH. (However I still don’t know who was deciding for BNP during Iajuddin Govt. This decision maker need to be quarantined.)

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

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.

The Ugly:

BNP’s treatment of Tarique Rahman was not a great show case moment for BNP. If BNP’s politics is only intended for its grassroots activists, then Tarique’s ascension could have been a great triumph. But BNP cannot forget there is a jury out there. The younger generation of voters, the swing voters, the educated urban-rural middle class. These groups brought BNP to power in 1991 and 2001 and kicked BNP out of power in 2008. After the showcase event of inauguration ceremony, nothing else took place in the daylong event except election of Tarique Rahman to a newly created post, Senior Vice Chairman. The whole council looked like the coronation event of the crown prince.

Traditionally Khaleda Zia ran BNP politics with decisions made after detailed discussion with bunch of seasoned gentlemen politicians in the standing committee. During 2001-2006 rule, as the street level thugs, sycophants, corrupt-ambitious newbie, disconnected Dhaka based businessmen had no way to reach and influence that standing committee, they used Tarique Rahman to bypass the standing committee and influence-execute crucial political decisions. By turning it’s 2009 council into Tarique Rahman coronation celebrations, BNP may have executed some political calculations like ensuring a council elected high party rank for him. No one from now on can say Tarique was forced into party leadership, he never came elected in a council. They may have been also afraid that media may play with the fact negatively if Tarique Rahman is not adequately garlanded in the council. They probably were afraid of the imaginary Daily Star news report, ” While all the Joint Secretary Generals got promoted to higher party ranks, BNP leader’s controversial son Tarique Rahman was kept in his old post of Sr Joint Secretary general. Reliable sources say that councilor after councilor in the closed door session came up with scathing criticism of misdeeds of Tarique Rahman and BNP chairperson had no option but to shun her son from more important party responsibility…” . Additionally BNP leadership may have thought that a higher party rank may make it more difficult for current ruling party to further harass Tarique Rahman. BNP may also have thought it was a good response to all the rubbish that is being published in one newspaper implicating Tarique with 21st August murders.

But by doing so, BNP totally failed to see a bigger picture. The promotion of Tarique was very short sighted and reactionary. There is absolutely no answer to the questions like, 1. Why senior VC? IS KZ planning on retiring from politics soon? Is Mrs. Zia incapacitated in any form that may bar her from executing her leadership responsibilities and an alternate leader was needed? 2. How current elevated position change Tarique Rahman’s clout in BNP politics? 3. God forbid, if something happens to Mrs. Zia today, is there any chance Tarique may not get party leadership because he was in a lowly post of Joint Secretary?

And most importantly what happened in this council to identify the persons responsible for political miscalculations during Iajuddin rule and make them answer for the mistakes?

Dynastic politics is a reality in Bangladesh, and there is no questioning that Tarique Rahman will have to keep BNP together in the absence of her mother. And the skepticism about Tarique assuming Senior Vice Chairmanship of BNP is not to discount the physical-mental torture Tarique endured during two years military rule of Bangladesh. This skepticism also does not endorse the media propaganda that was (and is being) conducted against Tarique by powerful media of Bangladesh. Tarique’s role after military takeover of January 11 2007 is exemplary. He endured worst of physical torture, his vertebral column got fractured severely as a result of those military conducted torture. Despite years of all-out effort to dig out something negative about Tarique, no concrete financial corruption case could be made against Tarique yet. And gloriously he was the first one in post 1/11 Bangladesh to publicly speak out against physical torture under military custody.

But our political entities must understand that (and I believe, the other main entity, Awami League leadership has understood this quite well), in Bangladesh, people love to pick their own leader. They will pick the same person, a Khaleda, a Hasina, a Joy, a Tarique— when time comes. But the same people will not like it when the same Tarique will be promoted before his time really comes. A leader’s children are under constant surveillance. They are inherent suspects of all sorts of conspiracies/ corruptions. This is a global phenomenon. In this background, the best approach for a ‘to be leader’ is to keep as low profile as possible. For Tarique, the best thing is to get treatment as well as some law/ political science education / Public relations education in UK while he fights cases against him in courts.
Anyone who loves Bangladesh and wants to see it as a viable democratic nation must be prepared to see two major functional political parties in Bangladesh. In this context, no one should dream to see BNP vanished from the map of Bangladesh. A prosperous Bangladesh needs a strong BNP under effective, strong and popular leadership. Without that, not only BNP — the whole country will suffer.

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 (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.

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.

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.

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.

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.