Chittagong City Corporation Election Watch

Updated XV: BNP wins 28 out of 41 Councillor seats.

Updated XIV: Mohiuddin Chowdhury alleges vote-rigging; has not accepted election result. Manzur Alam wants to work with Mohiuddin for Chittagong’s development.

Updated XIII: And finally, Manzur Alam unofficially declared the Mayor of Chittagong. He wins by a margin of 95,528 votes. Congratulations to him and to Mohiuddin Chowdhury, for his two decades of service to Chittagong. Mohiuddin is, by far, one of the ablest administrators in Bangladesh today. Let us hope he will be given a cabinet post by Hasina.

Update XII: With 580 out of 673 voting centers reporting, Manzur Alam is leading Mohiuddin Chowdhury by 88,201 votes. This is interesting, because in 2005 ( 4 years into incumbency), when BNP’s popularity was at its lowest point, BNP andidate Mir Nasir lost by around 91,000 votes.

Updated XI: With 400 out of 673 voting centers reporting, Manzur Alam (257,645 votes) is leading Mohiuddin Chowdhury (223,971 votes) by 33,674 votes.

Updated X: Manzur Alam now leading Mohiuddin by 17,599 votes.

Updated XI: Manzur Alam, like Lionel Messi, accelerating and pulling away now. Daily Star has him at 161,312, leading Mohiuddin at 147,006 by 14,306 votes.

Updated VIII: Daily Star gives up; reports Manzur leading Mohiuddin by more than 5,000 votes.

Updated VII: Prothom Alo reports Manzur leading 83,843 to Mohiuddin’s 78,844. Bdnews24 concurs.

Updated VI: Prothom Alo, Daily Star, and Bdnews24 are delaying reporting Manzur Alam’s lead, even though Returning Officer Jasmine Tuli has announced Manzur to be in the lead.

Updated V: Manzur Alam jumps into the lead. He has 58,395 votes to Mohiuddin’s 55,043, for a lead of 3,352 votes.

Updated IV: Daily Star reports Mohiuddin leading by 2,828 votes (41,425 – 38,597).

Updated III: One dead. Situation threatening to turn spiral out of control.

Updated II: Manzur’s supporters gathering outside Election Commission office. One police officer seriously injured in clashes between Manzur’s and Mohiuddin’s supporters. Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Manzur Alam’s Chief Election Agent, claims that the Election Commission officers are not allowing the publication of results from the centers in which Manzur is leading.

Updated I: The unofficial result shows Mohiuddin leading by only by 2,003 votes (36,799 – 34,796), but the figures coming out of the Election Commission consistently show Mohiuddin enjoying a far higher lead. According to the EC, Mohiuddin leads by 4,365 votes (28,750 – 24,385), more than double what the unofficial figures are predicting.

The odds were that the incumbent, Mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury would easily beat out his main supporter, Manzur Alam. Things started to get interesting when police detained Slahuddin Quader Chowdhury for six hours the night before the election. They wanted to arrest him, he refused to get down from his car (and stayed inside all six hours), the news quickly spread all across the city and thousands of opposition activists turned up to see what was going on, the Election Commission refused to be used as pawns for Chowdhury’s arrest, and he was ultimately allowed to go free. Unfortunately, the Government seems to be sticking to its ill-conceived domino theory, that led it to grossly manipulate the Bhola by-election: any BNP truimph will in turn precipitate a bigger truimph and lead to a more confident opposition which shall pressurize the government further.

All this only leads an air of tragic inevitability to the Government’s attempts to rig the Chittagong City election. First Mohiuddin Chowdhury, with 23,153 votes, was leading Manzur Alam, with 21,692 votes, by a meager 1,614 votes. But then, by magic (digital magic), Mohiuddin Chowdhury has 24,579 votes, while Manzur Alam has 19,051 votes, and the lead is a much healthier 5,528 votes. Can anyone explain how the government candidate’s vote tally can increase while the opposition candidate’s decreases? Actually, I’m sure most of us can, but the explanation is not a pleasant one.

 

We Protest the Crackdown on Free Speech in Bangladesh

 

Government Picks Up Amar Desh Publisher; Shuts Down Amar Desh; Arrests Editor Mahmudur Rahman

Updated I: Amar Desh report on the plot.

Updated II: Case filed against Mahmudur Rahman, validating his prediction.

Updated III: Government shuts down Amar Desh and cancels its publication declaration.

Updated IV: Police surround Amar Desh building; Mahmudur Rahman’s arrest likely.

Updated V: Mahmudur Rahman arrested.

Updated VI: Mahmudur Rahman produced in Court.

Updated VII: Another case filed against Mahmudur Rahman, Amar Desh Deputy Editor and Chief Correspondent Syed Abdal Ahmed, four other staff and another one hundred unnamed individuals.

Updated VIII: A discerning reader, M. Amin, has commented below that the common thread running between the banning of Facebook and the closure of Amar Desh at this critical point may be the Government inquiry reports about the BDR massacre. These reports initially became available on Facebook, and Amar Desh has been publishing them on a daily basis.

Media reports are claiming that the government has picked up Hasmat Ali, the Publisher of Daily Amar Desh. Amar Desh Editor Mahmudur Rahman has claimed that the government has picked up Ali to pressurize him to file cases against Mahmudur Rahman. In true Bangladeshi fashion, the authorities are denying that they even have him in custody, and the family members are too terrified to speak out.

Why, so soon after the disastrous ban on Facebook, this crackdown on another media outlet? Mahmudur Rahman has long been a thorn on the side of this government; his paper broke the alleged corruption story between the Prime Minister’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and Chevron. Amar Desh also earned the ire of the First Family by detailing their internal squabbling about which of their relatives by marriage played the most anti-Bangladeshi role during the Liberation War of 1971.

Some of Amar Desh’s greatest hits from just the last two months:

Indian sky marshals to serve in Bangladesh.

Pro-Pakistan role of State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam’s family during 1971.

Marrying grandson of Rajakar is fine: Sajeda Chowdhury.

Details of the previously unpublish government report of the BDR massacre.

Sheikh Helal given unique treatment by the Court.

High Court Judge Iman Ali a British citizen; constitutionally barred from holding post.

Quamrul Islam sensitive about being removed as Public Prosecutor by the High Court during past Awami League government.

Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir blasts ACC, questions Latifur Rahman and Dr. Mozaffar Ahmed.

Corruption allegations against Rashed Khan Menon.

Battle of the in-laws: Nuru Mian v. Naila Musa (“Prince” Musa Bin Shamsher) (part 1) (part 2).

 

The MPO-PMO saga

About ten years ago, Zafar Iqbal wrote a piece in the Prothom Alo. While commenting on the general political situation, he noted that it was not true, as many people insisted, that all politicians had become corrupt and devoid of principles. As an example, Iqbal cited a member of Parliament who had recently been on the same flight with him. Upon arriving at ZIA, Iqbal recounted, he had expected a big, shiny SUV to come and pick the other person up. Instead, the lawmaker had suggested that they walk a little distance from the airport before getting a scooter, because the scooters right in front of the airport charged inflated fares.

At that time, Iqbal kept secret the identity of this person. However, in the subsequent years, it became known that he was talking about Nurul Islam Nahid, then a lawmaker from Sylhet and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education. No one would dispute Iqbal’s characterization of Nahid as an honest and principled person. Currently the Minister of Education, he belongs to the select group of Bangladeshi politicians who are doubly on the side of the angels: aside from being an AL politician, he also has a distinguished record of service on behalf of the Left, which means that he has a ready-made fan base amongst Bangladesh’s media personnel.

 

What’s Eating Awami League?

When Awami League, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, assumed power last year with a 270 seat coalition in our 300 seat Parliament, I think all of us expected that it would focus on good governance. The situation at the beginning of 2009 very much showed an Awami League that was secure in its position. The rational next step would be to focus on delivering effective governance across the country, strictly trying to curb both corruption and law-enforcement problems, and position Awami League as the party that brought peace and prosperity back to Bangladesh after the tumults of 2007-2008. Surely, this would be the best way to fashion a strategy that would witness a second consecutive electoral victory for Awami League in 2014, the holy grail of electoral politics in Bangladesh since the resumption of parliamentary democracy in 1991.

Yet, this is not the path chosen by Awami League. The facts are clear for everyone to see. BNP has not called a single citywide or countrywide hartal, or general strike, in the last one year. And what has Awami League done? They have gone out of the way to antagonize the opposition. They have made our national politics the domain of the petty. And they have made, in a move that violates all norms of civilized behavior, making comments about the dead body of a former president a political norm.

They say that the best revenge is living well. After the verdict in the Bangabandhu murder case, the Awami League government could have devoted the next four years towards achieving economic growth and sustainable development. Doing this would have helped erase the bitter memories of both 1972-1975 and 1996-2001 (for those who have forgotten, Sheikh Hasina is the only living former head of government to have lost an election after serving in office, as she did in her Rangpur electoral seat in 2001). Instead, just as BNP’s return to Parliament became certain, Sheikh Hasina herself launched a verbal attack on President Ziaur Rahman, asking about the whereabouts of his dead body. Awami League Members of Parliament have enthusiastically taken up this new line of slander, making our Parliament unfit for political discourse. On top of all this comes the news about Zia International Airport being renamed. Why is Awami League so fixed on the politics of confrontation?

Muddying the whole picture is the current persecution of Shibir members. So far, news reports indicate that about five hundred activists have been arrested, most for the simple reason of being members of Shibir (an untold number of ordinary people have also been swept up in the dragnet, and then released after paying extortion to the police). The politics of Jamaat, and Shibir, its student wing, is extremely questionable, sometimes bordering on the despicable. However, that does not justify the current wave of persecution against its members.

All signs indicate that Sheikh Hasina is not interested in mere electoral success. Does she hanker for a simpler time, for a time without BNP? For a time when Awami League and BNP would not have to be mentioned in the same breath? For a time when a discussion about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would not invariably draw comparisons to his successor, Ziaur Rahman? For a time when Khaleda Zia was not, arguably, the most popular politician living? Would Sheikh Hasina like to turn the clock back to 1974? Can she?

Are a nine-tenths parliamentary majority, complaint media, and willing foreign powers enough to turn a two-party state into a one-party state? Does it matter if an attempt is made to achieve this transformation? If there was such an attempt, would it be worth talking about?

 

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.

 

Eki kotha shuni aj monthorar mukhe…

Thu, Jan 29th, 2009 12:12 am BdST
bdnews24.com correspondent

Dhaka, Jan 28 (bdnews24.com) – The Election Commission has requested banks and other institutions not to make national identity cards mandatory for their services, as an estimated 15 million eligible citizens are yet to get their cards, an EC official said on Wednesday.

“The EC has already written to the Cabinet Division, Bangladesh Bank, secretary to the President’s office, all ministries, divisions and relevant organisations not to make the national ID card compulsory for opening bank accounts, getting credit and other services,” EC secretary Humayun Kabir told bdnews24.com.

“The Commission took the decision because ID cards have not reached all and a gazette notification by the government is also still awaited.

“Some 20-30 percent of eligible citizens, or 15 million people, have yet to receive their cards for reasons ranging from failing to register as voters or non-collection of cards issued.”

At least 20 percent of more than 80 million registered voters have not collected their cards, he said.

“Mistakes in the cards already issued are another problem,” he said.

“Moreover, the government hasn’t yet issued a gazette notification making the cards ‘mandatory’,” said Kabir.

The National Identity Authorities Ordinance 2008 requires the government to issue the gazette to make the ID cards compulsory.

Director of the National Identity Card Project, Brig Gen Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury, told bdnews24.com, “The project will start updating the voter list with photos and distributing the national ID cards afresh, if the government asks.”

“Pilot programmes will be undertaken before updating the voter list and national ID card project. The first such pilots will be done in places around Dhaka,” said Kabir.

According to the Voter List Ordinance, updating should be done annually during the month of January.

“But because of the national and Upazila polls, the Election Commission could not do the job within the timeframe this year,” said the EC secretary.

The fresh updating will start after the City Corporation elections in Dhaka and Chittagong and subsequent municipal elections, starting in April, he said.

**********************************************
That what about the claim that this Godsent voter list prevented 15 million fake voters?

 

Ziaur Rahman 101

[ Today is 73rd Birth Anniversary of Late President Ziaur Rahman. When he took over the helm of Bangladesh, he was only 39 years old. This post commemorates President Zia.]

What is Ziaur Rahman’s biggest contribution to Bangladesh?

Ziaur Rahman gave our nation a clear identity. After independence, our national identity was declared as ‘Bangali’ and expectedly this created a lot of confusion. This identity ignored the non-Bangali citizens including the indigenous people of different part of Bangladesh as well as the urdu speaking citizens. Ziaur Rahman first coined the word ‘Bangladeshi’ as our national identity and successive government since then has maintained this identity. He also presented his vision of Bangladeshi nationalism and sutured together the geographic, historic, religious, cultural and political components of our nationhood. He based his politics on nationalism at a time when nationalism has not yet become a pan-global craze. In this context he can be called the father of Bangladeshi nationalism or father of our current national identity.

 

1/11-An Obituary and a failing grade

This is not intended to be an anniversary piece on the events those took place in Bangladesh on 11 January 2007. This is why it has not been posted on the anniversary day. This is intended to be an obituary of ‘thing’ called 1/11. And unfortunately this obituary does not have much good to say about 1/11.

As it is clear from the two lines written above, 1/11, as a political-national event has not been clearly defined yet. There has not been any consensus in what to call the events of 11 January 2007 or the ‘thing’ called 1/11. It was definitely not a popular mass uprising as the nation has experienced in 1969 or in 1990. It could be an offshoot of a failed or ineffective violent street agitation. Is it a military coup? May be it was a military coup. But then it would be the first of its kind in this planet with undisguised sponsorship of the United Nations and not so tacit instigation of the western diplomats as well as diplomats from a neighboring country. And it would be those new kinds of relatively soft military coups, as being seen in Thailand, Pakistan etc. In this kind of coup, some senior military leadership work in close liaison with business community, civil society leaders and the media to bring in a government that will be more sympathetic towards the needs of the urban, educated citizenry. 1/11 may indeed be an attempt in that route. Especially initial minus-two formula, nation building speeches by the army chief, en-masse persecution of the politicians etc were copycat events of a typical military-civil society takeover.

 

The Sovereign Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh

On the eve of withdrawal of state of emergency, the foreign diplomats stationed in Bangladesh have asked the government for special protection. On December 17, the people of Bangladesh has finally regained their fundamental rights nearly two years after it was postponed by a covert military coup. No doubt, the diplomats were happy, enjoying their life while the people of their host country were tied down and gagged. No doubt they liked the people to remain that way as they immediately asked for special protection because of withdrawal of state of emergency.
And the army chief recently claimed that despite requests being made to him by diplomats, he did not declare martial law. Wow! What a dangerous statement! For Gods sake Bangladesh is an independent sovereign democratic nation. And the diplomats, breaking all international code of conduct, meeting the Army general and persuading him to overthrow a constitutional government!!! Do they know the meaning of the word ‘conspiracy’? What the army chief did that time? Did he report it to his Supreme Commander? Should not he? Must not he? If he had not, what that act tantamount to?
Its about the time we understand the real meaning of spirit of our independence, the spirit of 1971, the spirit of 3 million lives and the value of 3 million lives. The spirit of 1971 does not only mean hanging leaders of Jamaat e islami (In selected years). The spirit of 1971 means upholding the sovereignty of the nation. The value of 1971 means to stand up, heads high, against being poodle of arrogant foreign diplomats and have the country run by the people and for the people.

 

The snake is still hissing…and national interest of Bangladesh

Two news item in yesterdays newspapers say it all.

Daily Prothom Alo broke the news to the nation day before yesterday. The news was that BNP leader, Khaleda Zia’s heir apparent Mr. Tarique Rahman resigned from his party post and has retired from politics. This news surprised many political observers and to them something did not sound right. Khaleda Zia herself mentioned that her son would not be able to be involved in ground political activities in Bangladesh while he undergoes treatment abroad and this treatment be as long as two-three years. But a formal resignation and faxing it to newspaper offices after midnight was rather unusual.

Anyway the uneasy political analysts did not have to wait too long. This news item published in the New Age mentions how an ailing and hurting Tarique Rahman was virtually held hostage at ZIA airport by members of military intelligence, DGFI. Here is how New Age described it,

…Tarique was made to sign a paper, which he was very unwilling to do, by members of the intelligence agencies at the Zia International Airport, according to sources in the airport. ‘They threatened Tarique Rahman that he would not be allowed to fly unless he signed the undertaking,’ said an airport source. ‘The word “undertaking” was, however, replaced with “statement” as he was unwilling to sign the paper,’ he added. According to the text of the paper written in incorrect Bangla and carrying Tarique’s ‘signature’, which was faxed from ‘SIG CEN DGFI’ through the number 8752921 at 12.34am on September 12 to New Age and some other newspapers too, he ‘relieved himself’ of the charge of senior joint secretary-general of BNP and retired from active politics…

This is a copy of the Undertaking statement (Undated and in plain paper) published in Daily Amader Shomoy. Amader Shomoy also published the news item without mentioning the name of DGFI.

From the above incidence, one should rest assured that General Moeen and his con men in DGFI are still very much active behind the scene. They are still breathing at the neck of Bangladesh.

And one also should wonder that while this government came with all the indignation of righteousness and despite the fact that they claim themselves bunch of honest, educated “do-gooders”; all they did in last two years are nothing but dirty politics.

People in Bangladesh won’t need to be reminded how ex-prime minister and leader of the most organized and one of the largest political parties in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina was arrested hours after she dared criticize DGFI for it’s illegitimate activities.

Generally the question will arise that on what ground DGFI has to poke its nose in partisan politics of the country. Who they are to take undertaking from politicians whether he/she will do politics or not?

Those days are coming when the DGFI and those few generals also have to sign another undertaking. This undertaking will be given to the nation that they would refrain from illegally poking their nose into jurisdictions which is not their mandate.

Since 1/11/2007; the activities of the army chief and the leadership of DGFI have seriously undermined the integrity of these two institutions. Never in the past, had an army chief (without holding any administrative leadership role like CMLA etc.) abused his post so much for petty personal political gains. Same thing is true of DGFI, which has ventured way deep into a territory which is definitely not their jurisdiction. DGFI was a fine institution and this organization was built by hardworking members of Bangladesh armed forces. And the truth is that an overwhelming majority of the members of these forces do not support the current activities of DGFI. One army chief and some of his con men generals have used this organization for their personal gain and vendetta. If a democratic government is allowed to take over after a meaningful election, there is no doubt this fine institution will come under the wrath and may even be stripped off essential fund and authority. This will be a loss. Weakening of armed force definitely does not serve the national interest of Bangladesh.

 

We needed one more…

 It has been almost one and half year. The pressure started soon after the military coup of January 11, 2007 and it continues today. The pressure over the months has gotten astronomically uglier.

I am talking about a political leader and chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Two time elected PM Mrs. Khaleda Zia. I am talking about this person who ruled the country for over ten years, who lead anti dictatorship movement for nine years, who was the first-lady of the country for nearly five years and who was in Pakistan army custody during the nine months of our liberation war.

 
Now , thanks to a military coup, Mrs. Khaleda Zia is in jail. Even Pakistan army did not jail her. They kept her under house arrest. So did Ersahd. He did not dare that either.

 
The current government not only jailed her, they tortured her. They have arrested both her sons and tortured them inhumanly. And the military intelligence people ( Who affectively are the government these days) made sure that Khaleda Zia is informed of all the graphic detail of the tortures on her sons.

 

 

The dances of the ghosts

It has been inertia all over. A writer’s block has gripped me lately. So apparently is the case for most of the political bloggers who are usually vibrant on the net, I presume. And while we keep ourselves aloof, the black cloud looming over the horizon of Bangladesh gets bigger and darker.

[A facelift of the autocrat]

 

Since the military takeover of 11 January 2007, what we are seeing can be called a systemic reversal of the revolution of 1990. The spirit of democracy, freedom of speech and political rights, what we earned through a lengthy and bloody 8 years of struggle, are under serious attack.

First time since December 6 1990, the press has been controlled by this government, and again the police/military has brutalized the students, the senior political leaders are kept in jail for indefinite period without any charges.

And more interestingly, the fallen autocrat and his cohorts have suddenly gained back a strong voice. Convicted felon and corrupt HM Ershad started a political tour of the country and giving the nation lecture against the corrupts. Ershad’s lackeys are all over in the TV, other media, political stages, lecturing against the parties who fought and won against them to bring back democracy. It is extremely shameful to watch gleaming Ershad walking with demeanor of the impending savior of the nation. It is nauseating to watch corrupt Anisul Islam Mahmood, Shahidul Islam et el get high profile media coverage when they declare that BNP’s participation is not at all important.

And more ominously, mainstream media is slowly making case for Ershad. A good rebuttal by Syed Borhan Kabir (From an Awami League point of view) against some nefarious efforts to exonerate Ershad by trashes like Pir Habibur Rahman and Sunil Shuvoroy.

People tend to forget that this Ershad should have been dead many years ago. This scum has personally ordered shooting and killing of more than hundred people. Starting from the seven students killed in 14 February 1983, Ershad continued his killing spree until the final hours of his regime. In one single event, 24 January 1988 or 1989, police shooting at the meeting of Sheikh Hasina in Laldighi Maidan took away the life of 24 young men. This blogger still recalls carrying the body of Shamim, an activists of Sitakunda Thana Chhatra League, in an effort to hide it from being snatched by the army.

Ershad and all these Anisul Islam Mahmoods should have been given capital punishment quickly after December 1990 revolution. A democratic and tolerant government and society spared their lives. And now those demons, gaining back their power, are coming in full force against those democratic tolerant values that saved their lives.

Today, while these ghosts of a fallen dictator dances, there rises another dictator, covertly, hidden behid those black clouds.

 

Bangladesh 2008. A Failing Grade.

1. Somalia 114.2
2. Sudan 113.0
3. Zimbabwe 112.5
4. Chad 110.9
5. Iraq 110.6
6. D. R. Congo 106.7
7. Afghanistan 105.4
8. Cote d’Ivoire 104.6
9. Pakistan 103.8
10. Central African Republic 103.7
11. Guinea 101.8
12. Bangladesh 100.3
13. Burma 100.3
14. Haiti 99.3
15. North Korea 97.7
16. Ethiopia 96.1

                                                                 [ Graph: The Fund For Peace, Washington, D.C.]

The above is the list of the worst performers in the The failed States Index 2008 recently published jointly by  US based Foreign Policy Magazine and The Fund For peace. According to this ranking, Bangladesh in the year 2007-2008 had the fastest decline towards a failed nationhood.  Bangladesh was 17th worst in 2005,  improved to 19th in 2006 but started to decline in 2007 when she ranked 16th and this year Bangladesh ranked 12th, a tie with Burma.  Countries who traditionally fared much worse than us, have improved and passed us in last two years. Notable among these are Haiti,  Rwanda or Sierra Leon.  The foreign policy magazines clearly identifies the states with significant improvement,

In 2007, several countries that have long served as the poster children for failed states managed to achieve some unlikely gains. The Ivory Coast, which unraveled in 2002 after a flawed election divided north and south, experienced a year of relative calm thanks to a new peace agreement. Liberia, the most improved country in last year’s index, continued to make gains due to a renewed anticorruption effort and the resettlement of nearly 100,000 refugees. And Haiti, long considered the basket case of the Western Hemisphere, stepped back from the edge, with moderate improvements in security in the capital’s violence-ravaged slums.

 

But the report was alarmed at the fast decline of Bangladesh as it points out,

Bangladesh took this year’s hardest fall, set off in part by postponed elections, a feuding, deadlocked government, and the imposition of emergency rule that has dragged on for more than 18 months…

 

A very interesting observation by the Foreign Policy magazine was the irony of our contribution to UN peacekeeping force. 

Ironically, Bangladesh and Pakistan are the world’s top two contributors of U.N. peacekeepers, often deploying troops to the very countries enjoying this year’s biggest advances. Pakistanis constitute the largest national U.N. contingent operating in Liberia. More than 9,000 Bangladeshi troops wear U.N. blue helmets around the world, a third of them in the Ivory Coast. It is a reminder that while helping to maintain peace abroad might be an attractive national project, keeping the peace at home can be even more elusive.

 

Foreign policy magazine emphasizes, very clearly, the need of a vibrant and independent Parliament and decries the role of customized rubber stamp parliament our de facto ruler in planning on imposing on our nation.

Every autocrat’s wish list probably includes having a country rich in resources, a public prone to hero worship, and a rubber-stamp parliament. But, when it comes to legislatures, dictators should be careful what they wish for: The world’s most vulnerable states are also home to the weakest parliaments, according to the Parliamentary Powers Index, a ranking of these bodies based on factors such as the power to declare war, impeach the executive, and establish veto-proof laws. Leaders most adept at legislative manipulation often simply extend their own rule; last year, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev persuaded his pliant parliament to declare him president for life. Others, like Burma’s military junta, simply ban the legislature from convening altogether. But these results should send a clear message to the world’s autocrats: Sometimes, it can be a good thing if the House wins.

 

It is not a happy thing to blog about. This report does not make any Bangladeshi happy. But I post this, with a flicker of hope that, our fellow NRBs and Urban Bangladeshi’s will wake up from the dream and see the reality. The reality is that the current Army Chief controlled puppet government of Bangladesh is not the panacea and not even the better of two bad. Report after report is coming out with damning indictment of this government’s performance. And it is not a matter of whether this government was given adequate time or not. After the take over of 11 January, 2007, on most of the objective indicators of a nation’s well being, Bangladesh’s decade long development has taken a U turn.

And most most importantly this report clearly cites the failure of a designed democracy to suit a military General or an elite class. This report has clearly shown that a free, strong, vibrant and fairly elected parliament is vital to nations well being.
But with great apprehension I suspect that we are heading towards a direction away from a free, strong, vibrant and fairly elected parliament. At least these rhetoric’s of army chief General Moeen U Ahmed, “If they want to make trouble, let them” ; or “”You can judge the people of a nation by the type of leaders they select,” etc. make us fear that we may be heading towards a rubber stamp ‘Yes General’ Parliament.

 

The fine prints of indoor politics

The government issued a circular Monday ordering the easing a ban on indoor politics all across the country.

Before the vocal world of savy Bangladeshis succumb to the irresistable urge to congratulate their beloved entity, let me remind all of the strings those are attached to this mock gesture towards democracy.

1. There will be no meetings in open places.
2. The political parties have to inform the police about any meeting, 48 hours ahead of its start.
3. But the electronic media will not be allowed to broadcast the meetings live.
4. Political parties will not be able to use loudspeakers for the meetings.
5. The meetings will take decisions only on organisational activities and elections. No other discussions are allowed, according to the circular.
6. The government has limited the venues for meetings to houses, community centres, hotels, restaurants and party offices.

 

Unwinding of the claw

There are not too many people in this world who could share the magnitude of the personal tragedy ex Prime minister Sheikh Hasina endured. Both her parents, all her three brothers, sister in laws, dozens of uncles-aunths; all have been hunted and killed execution style in one single night. Eldest daughter of a household traditionaly is the most caring for the rest of the family. So was Sehikh Hasina. Life for Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh rahana jolted on 15 th August 1975. Since then, life has never been the same again.

 

 

The rule of law in Bangladesh

1. Senior Lawyer Barrister Shafiq Ahmed, on behalf of the lawyers representing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina complained that they had been harassed by military intelligence agency people. He made this allegation when journalists asked for his comment on Sheikh Hasina trail that day. He also alleged that the agency men are trying to scare them off representing Sheikh Hasina.
This medieval tactic is being applied by a government which has grabbed and are clinging illegally to power apparently to ‘re-establish’ rule of law and a fair judiciary in Bangladesh. And those people, whose actions have been instrumental in establishing this illegal rule of law, who used to be vocal against every single slightest diversion of righteousness are dead silent these days. Neither Kamal Hossain, Amirul islam, Rokonuddin Mahmood, nor media-civil aka retired society stars of last ten years made a single noise about this issue.

 

Then and Now

Then (During 80s military rule), we had one senior journalist turned street sweeper: Anwar Zahid. Now we have at least three, Mahfuz Anam, Motiur Rahmna and Naimul Islam Khan. 

Then (during 80s) we had one national clown AKA domesticated opposition leader: ASM Abdur Rab. Now we have at least a dozen. They include Dr Kamal Hossain, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Tofael Ahmed, Amir Hossain Amu, Saifur Rahman, Abdur Razzak, Hasanul Haq Inu etc.  

Then the areas sorrounding Dhaka University and Shaheed miner were forbidden zones for ruling and military establishment.  The memory of Ershad’s half naked PM was very fresh. Now, when the military chief goes to Ekushey BioMela, Dhaka University Students wait in line to buy his autographed book.

Then we had strong voices of dissent in Shafik Rehman, Naimul Islam Khan, Minar Mahmud, Mojammel Babu. Now we have Nurul kabir, Farhad Mozhar, Shameran Abed.  

Then we had a poet General’s poetry getting undue prominent coverage in west Bengal’s Ananda Bazaar potrika. Now we have another Shantiniketoni General getting unusually big horses from his taller counter part.  

Then all the good government business deals used to go to all those who had a bracketed “retd” thing.  Now all the good government business deals are going to all those who has a bracketed “retd” thing. 

Then Jamaat was doing politics, unhindered. Now, Jamaat is doing politics, unhindered.

 

Hijack of BNP — 5th attempt

Ok, the attack is on again.

The generals leading this latest version of BNP hijack attempt are

 1. DGFI Brigediers.

2. Mannan Bhuiyan ( behind the scene)

3. Saifur-Hafiz.

4. Brig Hannan Shah.

5. Goyeshwar Roy/ Nazrul Khan/Shahjahan

The vital moves made so far

1. Delwar, Rizvi,  80’s student leaders including Kh Babul, Asaduzzaman etc are under a a virtual seige.

2. The highcourt case dealing with this issue is being delayed ( By a so called free judiciary) so that DGFI/Govt gets enough time to execute the hijack plan.

3. Election commission is also in a waiting mode to let the hijack be completed first.

4. There has been a gag on the lawyers/ family visiting Khaleda Zia and the media from speaking about Khaleda’s illness that may require hospital visit.

5. Delaying Khaleda case ( By independent judiciary!!!) to prevent her from speaking in public before BNP take over is completed.

6. Releasing of Brig Gen Hannan Shah ( again, by indepedent judiciary !!!. Did any other senior politician else get bail so far in post 1/11 Bangladesh? )

7. Case against Saifur- Manan to keep them committed to their treachery.

The Goal,

1. Ensure a BNP that will be friendly to General Moeen U Ahmed before emergency is lifted and election schedule is announced.  Awami League is already under control of a friendly leadership.

2.  Ensure a predicted election result and a government that will uphold the spirit of 1/11 revolution.

3.  Save the ass of General Moeen and his Brigedier troop.

The Problem,

1. The BNP support base and the grass root.

2. The still untamed AL intelligentsia.

3. Khondokar Delwar Hossain.

4. Chances of a strong BNP performance if they are allowed to participate in Dec 2008 election.

The sign

One day before the previous coup attempt, Election Commissioner Suhul Hossain declared that the letter would go to the person who will be secretary two days later.  One day later DGFI designed a coup to appoint a new BNP secretary. ECs participation in the DGFI hatched conspiracy got exposed.

Just yesterday Maj Hafiz made another similar off guard remark. He predicted that He and Saifur would go with Delwar to the meeing with EC. This statement probably explains what is being planned. Delwar etc may be forced into a “unification” before the dialogue.

The Fear

Can delwar keep holding the fort under the immense pressure he, few of his colleague and his family is facing minute in minute out.  My confidence is also eroding.

Footnote,

In 1975, military killed Bangabandhu and broke in room by room, searched all members of his family including all his sons, daughter in laws, extended family members, killed them execution style. Still it required only four years for a full resurgence of Awami League. It may be easy for the army to design and form a party but hijacking a party against the will of the support base is never possible.

Update 1:

The mouthpiece of DGFI has published the framework of BNP hijack.

Here it is.

 

Horse For the Midnight Riders

This New Age Editorial  sums up the major concerns very well. Although I understand New Age’s concern and feeling of humiliation at this governments spineless giving in to all the Indian conditions before a train communication can start, I do not share the humiliation much. I feel the benefits are worth this tiny bit of humiliation. India’s BSF is killing Bangladeshi citizens day in day out. Nobody is too much bothered or humiliated about it. Have BDR shoot a BSF jawan or Indian citizen, you will see how the hell ( AKA Indian press) break lose on us.

 I, however, feel more humiliated at the arrogance and blatant disregard of the public by a bunch of military officials belonging to Bangladesh armed forces. Just go pick up the top leaders of the country, each enjoying the respect and recognition as the leader of almost 50%  of the population; throw them in the jail and keep them behind bar for an indefinite period without any charges! Total impunity, total lack of accountability, total recklessness!! How a bunch of paid professional soldiers, who are fed, clothed, accomodated, educated, armed, rested by the peoples’ money, can torture the leaders of the people so inhumanly? Who gives them the right or the courage or the guts to torture the son of one such leaderby hanging him from the celing?

 The following editorial discusses the questions raised the Army Chief’s India visit. Lets not be redundant. But I want to take this opportunity to remind the readers about what India did after the gruesome killings of 15th August and Jail killing of 3rd November.  They did nothing ( Not asking for a rebuke/invasion, what about a condemnation or concern at all the killings?). They simply remained silent about the unfolding of events and was eager to extend their cooperation to the successive new regimes, starting with that of Mustaque/Faruq gong. While they remained totally silent after 1/11 suspension of democracy,  recently India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh is acting like the ” Master Moshai” to all the Bangladeshis! Once a while I wonder whether India really wants a progressive, secular, economically strong and stable democracy on its east border or they want another rogue failing Islamic state with a strong branding as a hub of terrorism.  Who does not want to be the only good kid in the block?

New Age Editorial

Moeen’s extraordinary India visit and govt’s approval of security cage on border

The unelected government of Fakhruddin Ahmed has visibly swallowed the Indian proposal of constructing a ‘security cage’ on both sides of the border to resume direct passenger train service between Dhaka and Kolkata – a humiliating proposal that the previous government had refused to accept. The people of Bangladesh have always been in favour of maintaining close contact with the people of India, with whom they share common history and culture in many areas, and therefore welcome the perceived train services. The people of Bangladesh, however, rightly felt uncomfortable with the Indian idea of passing the trains through a ‘box-type’ cage to be constructed on the ‘no man’s land, which, the Indian negotiators believe, would deter illegal immigration, if there is any. Bangladesh had, therefore, rightly been refusing to entertain the humiliating proposal. Subsequently, the agreement of the direct train service, initiated in July 2001 and almost finalised in July 2007, did not materialise. Suddenly, Fakhruddin’s cabinet approved the Indian proposal on Monday! Notably, India has direct train services with its arch rival Pakistan, but the trains do not pass through any cages.
   What, however, is especially noteworthy is that the cabinet approval of the Indian proposal came the day General Moeen U Ahmed, chief of our armed forces, which propelled Fakhruddin to power, began his extraordinary visit to New Delhi, the capital of India. The visit appears extraordinary because the general, who is believed to have been the prime backer of the otherwise unpopular government of Fakhruddin Ahmed, is scheduled to hold talks with a couple of Indian cabinet members including foreign minister Pranab Mukharjee, and also the chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal, Buddhadev Bhattacharya. This is alarming. In ordinary visits, our general is not supposed to have official talks with foreign politicians, particularly when the two countries involved have quite a good number of disputed issues to be resolved through political negotiations. That the visit is an extraordinary one is also reflected in the political enthusiasm of the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, who had reportedly visited prior to the general’s departure for Delhi, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, the secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Zillur Rahman, the acting president of the Awami League. None of the parties involved clearly told our people as to what transpired in those meetings, creating a lot of concerns in the public mind as regards what issues would come up during general Moeen’s discussions with Indian policy makers. The concern has further deepened after our government’s approval of the Indian proposal to construct the controversial security cage on no man’s land immediately before the visit. Are the unelected incumbents passing any message to the Indian political establishment? We do not know.
   However, what we know is that the hegemonic powers, regional or global, usually like weak governments in the neighbourhood as the hegemon finds it easy to settle disputed issues with the weak to the former’s advantage. And the weakest government is the one which is not elected by the people, as is the case in Bangladesh today. The weak governments, if ambitious to cling to power without people’s mandate for long, usually seek cooperation of the hegemonic powers, and at times they succeed in it, albeit at the cost of national interests. We only hope that general Moeen’s extraordinary visit to Delhi would not cost us very dearly, and expect that he upon his return would apprise us all, at the least, of what issues he discussed with Indian leaders, and what are the possible implications of those discussions for our people.