Ebony empowerment
"Syed" BookhaNanga Deshi has something to say about India in this letter to the editor:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->REF : 8pc growth possible if graft, political feuds go - Says WB chief Wolfowitz
World Bank will be giving up to $9billion of aid money to India. It is very good news. <b>But thought India was getting very rich like Dubia and did not need any aid money! What is going on?</b>
<b>In India they publish India Today, a magazine similar to African-American empowerment magazines like EBONY</b>.
India Today is full of articles about achievements. It gives the impression that Indians are taking on the mighty of the world. Every little gain of India is milked as if it were the best in the world. If an Indian gets into a third rate racing car it makes out Formula One was won!
Although India has yet to achieve a racing track for Formula One just saying that India will have one is like having one!
Little Muslim Bahrain has as excellent track. Now Turkey has one too. China this year built the most exciting track in the world.
Getting $9billion aid will certainly help India achieve a track. Let us hope very soon!
Tariq Ali<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, people of BookhaNanga Desh only concern are Formula 1 road tracks in India and India's achievement, I can only say sour grapes and Ex-pakis have same problem as there ex-parent.
<b>Islamic Jihadists planning to enter in thousands using cover of border war - Bangladesh violates agreement with India - the border battle can resume again </b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The ceasefire was announced in a flag meeting near Muchia border outpost of BSF where anti-erosion work on Indian side of the river Mahananda was justified as it was beyond 150 yards from the zero line.
It was also decided that a higher-level meeting between BSF and BDR would be held to find a permanent solution to the problem.
There was heavy exchange of fire between the two forces on August 19 and 20 injuring two Indian villagers along the Indian border.
The villagers of Indian border, who were shifted to safer places, had returned home after the announcement of the ceasefire.
But the repair work on the Bangladesh side has caused panic. The villagers apprehend that this would aggravate the situation and might lead to fresh encounter between the two sides.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Bangladeshi bomber has Indian voter ID </b>
Pramod Kumar Singh / New Delhi
HOUSE IN WEST BENGAL VILLAGE AND IS CPM ACTIVIST------- A Bangladeshi accused of engineering the 400 serial explosions that rocked Dhaka and other towns across Bangladesh on August 17 has an Indian voter ID card, <b>a house in West Bengal where his name is included in the electoral roll and is an activist of the Communist Party of India (Marxist</b>). His family lives in Sonaberia town in Chittagong district of Bangladesh, a hotbed of jihadi activity.
Gayasuddin, one of the blast accused who was arrested by the police from Kadamtala in Satkhira region of Bangladesh on August 29, used to frequently cross the border into West Bengal where he has a house in Nityanand Khunti village of North 24 Parganas district.
According to intelligence operatives, he was last seen in Nityanand Khunti on August 26 but slipped out after villagers informed security agencies that he had come to seek refuge. The sources said that whenever Gayasuddin visited the village, he used to spend his nights at the village mosque.
<b>After dropping out of Sonaberia High School, Gayasuddin studied theology in a madarsa in the same town where he later became a qari. His wife and children continue to live in Sonaberia.</b>
<b>Believed to be an active supporter of the CPI(M), he used his West Bengal contacts to get a ration card despite his Bangladeshi nationality. His brothers Alauddin, Naseeruddin and Abu Hussain, who live in Nityanand Khnuti village, are also believed to be activists of the CPI(M).</b>
Gayasuddin was deeply involved with facilitating illegal immigration by Bangladeshis into West Bengal through Malda, Siliguri, Murshidabad and Dinajpur. West Bengal shares a 2,216 km-long porous border with Bangladesh.
Intelligence sources said that whenever Border Security Force (BSF) personnel enter a village along the border to identify illegal immigrants, aliens like Gayasuddin use loudspeakers installed in local mosques to raise an alarm by shouting "daakaat, daakaat" (dacoits, dacoits). With hordes of armed villagers streaming out of their homes, the BSF men are forced to beat a hasty retreat.
The unending influx of Bangladeshis into West Bengal has led to an alarming increase in criminal and subversive activities. Statistics show that there has been a 20 per cent increase in crimes ranging from rape to dacoity.
Illegal immigration from Bangladesh resulting in lakhs of aliens settling down in West Bengal, getting hold of ration cards and including their names in the electoral roll has had a political fallout. Analysis done by intelligence agencies shows that Bangladeshi immigrants can swing results in 52 Assembly constituencies and have a sizeable influence in 100 others in West Bengal.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>A difficult neighbour</b>
<b>Need for coherent Bangladesh policy </b>
by G Parthasarathy
<b>Lieut-Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora will be long remembered for leading the Indian Armyâs liberation of Bangladesh from the tyranny and oppression of occupying Punjabi Pakistani forces. General Aurora ensured that his soldiers behaved in an exemplary manner when they were in Bangladesh. The Indian Army was withdrawn from Bangladesh barely three months after its liberation.</b> When the General died earlier this year thousands in Bangladesh mourned his death and fondly remembered the soft spoken Sikh commander. A large number of prominent Bangladeshis signed the Condolence Book opened by Indian High Commissioner Veena Sikri. <b>Significantly, there was no message of condolence to General Auroraâs family or the Government and people of India from Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who had, a decade ago, expressed her grief and sent a message of condolence when Pakistanâs former Army Chief Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua died suddenly and somewhat mysteriously. </b>
<b>Begum Khaledaâs silence at the demise of General Aurora reflects the amnesia that afflicts the ruling establishment of her Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and its allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami today.</b> A number of people in Bangladesh are understandably envious and anxious of India âs size and potential. They also recognise Indiaâs role in their liberation.
The ruling elite, like its counterparts in Pakistan, however, has mutually reinforcing links with Jihadi and fundamentalist outfits. It believes that a policy of measured hostility towards India serves its political and strategic interests. It is this mindset that leads to Bangladesh refusing to exploit its gas resources to be sold to India even for sound economic reasons. It is also for this reason that Bangladesh fights shy of taking logical economic decisions to implement the agreement signed with the Tata Group providing for Indian investment of $ 2.6 billion in the 1000 MW power plant, a steel mill and a fertilizer unit based principally on gas, including recent discoveries at Phubari. <b>There is constant whining about the Bangladesh trade deficit with India, when no such complaints are heard about a similar trade deficit with China.</b>
Begum Khaledaâs allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami are compulsive India-baiters, who sided with Pakistani occupation forces in 1971. The ruling establishmentâs anti-Indian inclinations are evident from actions like its refusal to join the Asian Highway project because of the belief that the trans-Asian Highway will link Indiaâs northeastern states with the rest of the country. <b>Functionaries of the ruling dispensation have made no secret of their interest in establishing an Islamic emirate in the Muslim-majority districts of Assam. New Delhi also has hard intelligence information that Bangladesh has a deliberate policy of facilitating illegal immigration into India, constituting a creeping demographic invasion and takeover of Indian territories bordering Bangladesh. </b>
<b>Like the ISI in Pakistan, the ruling dispensation in Bangladesh has encouraged Wahabi-oriented and Saudi Arabia-funded groups like the Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) that swears allegiance to the Taliban. At least three BNP ministers - Mr Aminul Haq, Mr Fazlur Rahman Patal and Mr Ruhul Kuddus Dulu - are reportedly patrons of the JMJB. The Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, (HUJI) is a founding member of Osama bin Ladenâs International Islamic Front for âJihad against Jews and Crusadersâ. </b>The HUJI collaborates with the ISI and the Bangladesh intelligence network in training ULFA cadres in the Chitagong hill tracts. It also promotes Rohingya Muslim separatism in Arakan province of Myanmar. Despite crude attempts by Bangladesh to shift the blame to India for the bomb blasts of August 17, JMJB functionaries have been arrested for their involvement in the bomb blasts. General Musharraf aids terrorist groups like the Jaish-e-Mohamed and then finds that they are attempting to assassinate him because of his close ties with the US. Begum Khaleda faces a similar predicament in Bangladesh.
Western aid donors voiced their concern about the growth of religious extremism and political violence in Bangladesh at a World Bank meeting earlier this year. Referring to recent arms seizures in Bangladesh , Admiral William J Fallon of the US Pacific Command remarked: âThere were some arms shipments that were not going to the Army or to any group that is up to do good⦠We know there are people (in Bangladesh) who preach radicalism, who use religion for their own ends.â Facing growing isolation, Begum Khaleda rushed off to China on August 17. China has agreed to provide Bangladesh with over a dozen fighter aircraft. Aiding isolated regimes in South Asia to âcontainâ India is an integral part of Chinese strategic thinking.
The challenges posed by the support to terrorism, separatism and creeping demographic invasion by Bangladesh have to be addressed firmly within India. While we should enhance cooperation with Bangladesh in areas like promoting interaction at the peopleâs level and removing protectionist trade barriers, the overall approach should be one of carrot and stick. The growing presence of Islamic terrorist groups in Myanmar necessitates much closer cooperation with Yangon to finalise a coordinated strategy to deal with insurgencies and separatist movements. Home Secretary Vinod Duggal has recently visited Yangon and Gen J.J. Singh is set to do likewise. Islamic groups in Bangladesh have links with extremists in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Indiaâs counter-terrorism dialogue with ASEAN and its individual members has to be strengthened so that Bangladesh realises that it will have to mend its ways.
The pressure on Dhaka must be reinforced in regional forums and in Washington. If Bangladesh insists on pursuing its demands for âcompensationâ in negotiations for a free trade area in SAARC, we can conclude a free trade agreement within BIMSTEC that includes Myanmar and Thailand, but excludes Bangladesh . Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar appears to have reluctantly given up his weird idea for a gas pipeline from Myanmar through Bangladesh - an idea that was strongly resented by Myanmar. The Chairman of GAIL Prashanto Banerji recently acknowledged: âOur past experience shows that we get into all kinds of trouble when we try to work through a third country.â
The most serious challenge we face today from Bangladesh is its effort to promote a demographic invasion of India . West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who takes a statesman like view, recognises the dangers of such illegal immigration. Though Begum Khaleda acknowledged in 1992 that illegal immigration was a serious problem, the Bangladesh Government now pretends that the problem does not exist. <b>Hard options have to be exercised on this issue. One way would be to place Bangladesh immigrants in camps and ask the UNHCR to arrange for their relief, return and rehabilitation. Mechanisms should also be sought to have enclaves in Bangladesh territory to move the illegal immigrants into. Hard options cannot, forever, be precluded, or postponed.</b>Â <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
11-08-2005, 03:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-09-2005, 08:22 PM by ravish.)
In reply to Mr Dey's article above I would like to make the following submission.
1. The political leaders who started the movement in 1970 for greater autonomy for East Pakistan, had not expected the breaking up of Pakistan.
2. Actually the agitation went out of hand and with no tall leader in sight either in West Pakistan or in the Mukti Bahini, no peace talks were initiated.
3. With the influx of refugees into India, the situation became such that India was obliged to intervene in the matter.
4. The subsequent break up of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh were totally unexpected events.
5. When it did take place the tempers cooled down, BD and Pakistan leaders realized what damage they have done to themselves. The BD leaders went on the defensive and tried to distance themselves from India.
6. In the process BD has remained an improvised nation dependent on foreign donations, as most of the public energy and time is wasted the blame India campaign.
7. The net result is that BD remains a poor nation with no prospect of rapid industrialization or economic growth.
Thanks Ravish,
Very informative post.
I went through US newspapers, Time and life magazine from 1969 till 1972. What I felt going through information.
Creation of Bangladesh was indeed surprising and west failed to understand people mood. West was confused or didnât expect Indiaâs reaction. Sr. Bush was very vocal against India in UN, before and after formation of BD. But after 2 months tone changed, British and American started aid and other assistance programme.
M.Rahman suddenly became popular and till Oct-Nov he was asking for justice from West Pakistan.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Indira Gandhi â Time Nov 8-1971
As you know everybody admires our restraint. We get the verbal praise and the others, who are not restrained, get arms support, she indicated, amounted to consideration of genocide, a program on people who tried to bring democracy into practice.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Indira and Army general had some plan but didnât have long term peace objective/vision. I consider it was Indira's and Sam's lack of experience "what to do after invading country". Now we are paying price.
We failed to send back all refugees and not able to influence BD after 1974.
<b>WB stops funds for BD projects</b> <!--emo&:clapping--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clap.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='clap.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>DHAKA, Nov 8 : The government of Bangladesh on Tuesday started an investigation into the alleged irregularities in the tender process in three projects after the World Bank announced withdrawal of funds amounting to Tk60.8 million from the projects, said sources in the ministries concerned.
The World Bank, in a press statement issued on Monday, alleged collusion between two or more bidders to keep bids at an artificial level, with or without the knowledge of the procuring agency, and informed the press that they have demanded that the government return the money to the World Bank.</b>
The corruption charge made before the press by the multilateral lending agency has âembarrassed and annoyedâ the government leaders as well as officials who, however, apparently refrained from protesting against or challenging the World Bank in view of its global influence and power, the sources added.
The LGRD and cooperatives minister, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, is learnt to have directed the officials in his ministry to thoroughly probe into the matter before taking a strong stance and making attempt to refute the allegations.
The health and family welfare ministry will investigate the cause of cancellation of funds for its projects, said sources in the ministry.
The World Bank had questioned two projects under the LGRD and cooperatives ministry -â municipal services project and health and population programme project -â and another project under the health and family welfare ministry.
<b>The bankâs action followed its investigations that âfound evidence of inappropriate and collusive bidding practices that violated the procurement norms agreed upon between the World Bank and Bangladeshâ.</b>
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->
MMS interview with Bangladesh media ...
Exclusive Interview with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/11/15/d51115090177.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.ph...id=3D58641
Look East, terror may be lurking there: Gill
Press Trust of India
Posted online: Sunday, November 20, 2005 at 1447 hours IST
New Delhi, November 20: India needs to wake up to new realities believes
'Super Cop' K.P.S. Gill who wants the authorities to acknowledge the
'threats' emerging from the eastern neighbour-Bangladesh.
"Threats to India's security have been emanating from the East and the
north-east for a very long time now. But somehow the Indian security has
never considered it seriously," says gill, who is the president of
Institute of Conflict Management.
The former Punjab DGP, who is credited with rooting out terrorism from
militancy-infested Punjab and Assam, believes that as East has never
been the 'focus of attention' as far as India's security is concerned,
resultantly Bangladesh has never been seen as a 'cause of worry' for
India.
"It's time we understand the changing scenario in our neighbourhood.
Bangladesh has experienced an alarming rise in Islamist fundamentalism
in the recent years. The country is being used as a base and a training
centre by terrorists. Of late, it has become a supplier of arms and
weaponry to al-Qaida and allied terrorist outfits," says Gill who
believes 'strongly' that India needed to deal with this situation
seriously.
Known for his 'expertise' in dealing with terrorism, he is a key advisor
to the governments and institutions on security-related issues. He
strongly believes that the government needs a rethink on the immigration
policy of the country.
"There is so much of illegal immigration. There are thousands of
Bangladeshis who come to India. We must understand that it is not always
due to poverty as some of these areas that they come to are no better,
economically, than the ones they have migrated from. So it's clear that
they are coming for some other purposes," he says.
Speaking at a recent panel discussion to mark the release of the
book--Bangladesh-The Next Afghanistan?--Gill also felt that the
Bangladesh government is doing little to combat terrorism in their
country.
"Bangladesh have sheltered terrorist groups from India for many years.
They have encouraged them, promoted them. Their ministers address these
terrorists as 'freedom fighters'," he says, adding that such a scenario
had 'serious implications' for South and South-East Asia
However, even as he indicted the Bangladeshi government for 'supporting'
terrorism, he added that 'this was in no way a reflection on the society
as a whole' and that the country was not completely shorn of liberals.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
and wonderous display of secular/intellectual dhimmitude follows
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->His argument found support in other panelists like--Justice G.N. Ray,
chairman, Press Council of India and H.K. Dua, editor, The Tribune who
believe that India should not haste in branding Bangladesh as a 'terror
state'.
"Even as there are many activities done to destabilise the state, we
should take into account the moderate elements in Bangladesh who want
peace," says Ray.
Dua believes that even if Bangladesh had seceded from the Indian
cultural ethos and had adopted a 'hostile' attitude towards India, we
should not disappoint the <b>secular and liberal elements of that country
who want 'only peace'.</b>Â <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->
"India should deal with the growing threat from Bangladesh carefully. It
is a soft state and the fundamentalism there has reached a serious
stage. But we should support all the secular people there, the writers,
the civil society, the journalists who have the courage to fight the
terror elements within their country," he says.
Dua reasons that one way to do so would be to discourage the
fundamentalist activities in our own country.
"We should not do anything here in India that encourages the terrorists
in Bangladesh. <b>We should condemn the fundamentalist elements of our country, discourage the rath yatras and outfits like Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) and stand by the secular fabric of our country. All this
will convey a strong message to militants in Bangladesh that we would
not tolerate any of their activities," he concludes.</b>Â <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
The bottom line: Bangladesh with its 'growing Islamic terrorism' today
is like an unexploded grenade and India has to gear itself to not just
prevent it from exploding but also be suitably equipped for the
aftermath of the explosion.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b><span style='color:blue'>India-Myanmar pipeline deal may leave BD out</span></b>
<b>DHAKA : Bangladesh is to be left out of the proposed one billion dollar India-Myanmar gas pipeline project, according to Indian officials, an internet (mizzimanews.com) report said.</b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Top officials in the Indian petroleum ministry told Mizzima a high level meeting was scheduled later this month to finalise a route for the gas pipeline from Myanmar directly to Indiaâs eastern states. "The Bangladesh route is as good as shelved," a top petroleum ministry official said. "We will now consider the route through northeast India and try to work out work schedules."
Gas Authority of India Limited chairman Proshanto Banerji said the line would instead pass through Indiaâs north-east border with Myanmar. Indiaâs preferred route is reportedly from Sittwe to Buthidaung in Chin State across the border to Chhimtuipui, Mizoram and then to Assam. Gas would then be transferred to a proposed national grid in northern Bengal. According to estimates the project will cost India $290 million, which could rise to $300 million if the project is delayed.
Mahmudur Rahman, adviser to Bangladeshâs energy minister, said officials in Dhaka had no objections to the change in plans. The country had asked for major trade concessions in return for allowing gas to be piped across its territory. "In commercial negotiations, every party will try to get maximum benefit and there is no harm in it," Rahman said. Bangladesh could have earned as much as $125 million a year in transit fees and other service charges from the pipeline.
Myanmar, Indian and Bangladeshi governments agreed in principle to co-operate on the gas pipeline and exploration project in January this year but Bangladesh failed to agree to any proposed terms.
<b>Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar visited Bangladesh in September to try to finalise the deal and while he was not available for comment, it seems his office too has given up on Bangladeshi involvement.
The new pipeline will have to be 40 per cent longer than the 850km Bangladesh route and <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>will cost considerably more. "But it will generate a lot of economic activity in the northeast and thatâs good for the region," said Assamâs leading economist Jayant Madhab Goswami.
But the northeastern route would go through insurgency-affected areas, though the recent peace talks with the United Liberation Front of Assam have generated hopes of peace in the area along the route.</span></b>
Comments : Even if the <b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>cost is USD 300 Million more</span></b> then this cost will be recouped within Three Years of the Operation of the Pipe Line
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Bangladesh : A new wave of terrorism by Islamists rocks the nation
- A.H. Jaffor Ullah
Terrorism linked to Islamic fundamentalism had been rising in Bangladesh ââ⬠a nation of about 145 million ââ⬠since mid 1990s. A section of terrorists who are using violence to propagate their brand of Islamism in the impoverished nation want to establish Shaââ¬â¢ria-based judiciary. These Islamists have ushered in a new arsenal in the country, which is suicide bombing on Tuesday, November 29, 2005. The members of the violent Islamic group had hit court houses in two cities, namely, Chittagong and Gazipur (formerly known as Joydebpur but changed the name to show Islamic demeanor of Bangladesh since August 1975) killing at least 9 people and injuring nearly 100 people.
This new wave of attack against judiciary of Bangladesh is a symbolic one. The Islamists favoring Shaââ¬â¢ria law for the nation do not believe in secular laws. To show their disdain for manmade law they are now targeting Bangladesh ââ¬â¢s court system. This is theirs unique way of thumbing nose to judiciary of this nation.
Ordinary people will be scarred to visit the courthouses lest they are injured by the bomb. Islamists are very clever; they know that their brand of scare tactic works rather well in this overpopulated nation.
This scribe had forewarned the intelligentsia and politicians of Bangladesh by writing a slue of articles but all the suggestion on how to combat the growing menace fell on the deaf ear. I was labeled an alarmist by a handful of writers while the government of Khaleda Zia was not happy knowing that I supported the seminal articles written by Mr. Bertil Lintner, Mr. Alex Perry, and Ms. Eliza Griswold. These are not puny journalists as one may think in Bangladesh . Mr. Lintner wrote for the Far Eastern Economic Review, Mr. Perry wrote for the Times while Ms. Griswold published her article on growth of Islamic fundamentalism in New York Times.
By early 2000 it was clear that Bangladesh society was heading for more violence led by Islamists. In the early phase, the jihadists blew up cultural programs and their wrath fell on communists and secularists. Under that backdrop, Mr. Lintner, Mr. Perry, and Ms. Griswold wrote their articles that sensed an impending evil for Bangladesh under the hands of Islamic extremists.
But guess what the reactions were? The government of Khaleda Zia banned the articles written by these respected journalists. Mrs. Zia and her lieutenants were all upset while they proclaimed that these articles are marring the good image of Bangladesh as moderate Muslim majority nation. The Khaleda Administration went so far as asking expatriate groups in the West to campaign against these articles written by the ââ¬Åforeignersââ¬Â that are so critical of her government. It has not eluded Lintner, Perry, and Griswold that Khaleda Zia shook hand with Jamaat to win the election in October 2001. Therefore, her government was looking the other way when Islamic goons were blasting grenades, bombs, and whatnot to create instability in the nation.
The Khaleda Zia administration was not the only critique of Mr. Lintner, Mr. Perry, and Ms. Griswold. The leading newspaper editors of Dhaka also became suddenly very patriotic as they hurled epithets to the ââ¬Åforeignââ¬Â reporters calling them reactionaries, sensationalists, and their work ââ¬â examples of yellow journalism. The late Enayetullah Khan of ââ¬ËNew Ageââ¬â¢ pooh-poohed the ââ¬Åforeignââ¬Â reporters calling their findings figment of imagination. How wrong was the editor of ââ¬ËNew Age?ââ¬â¢
It took late Enayetullah Khan at least three years before he called spade a spade. He realized that he was wrong all along. From his death bed he had the courage and fortitude to fire the warning shot against the fundamentalists who are bent on creating anarchy in Bangladesh .
Lately, a handful of lawmakers belonging to the ruling party are threatening to spill the beans; these politicians are saying that the government of Khaleda Zia is protecting the Islamists because they belong to the party Jamaat-i-Islami, which is a leading coalition partner of BNP. One of the dissident BNP lawmakers was disciplined and booted out of the party by Khaleda Zia for breaking party discipline.
In May 2004 when ââ¬ËBangla Bhaiââ¬â¢ menace came into the fore, quite a few parliament members from the western districts of Bangladesh belonging to the ruling BNP gave protection to the extremist leader while the police became silent spectators doing nothing but aiding and abetting the leaders and members of Jagrata Muslim Janata of Bangladesh (JMJB) who were torturing and killing minority Hindus and others who protested the scare tactics of Islamic goons.
The charade became a public affair when in the town of Rajshahi the ââ¬ËBangla Bhaiââ¬â¢ men paraded the street in motorcade with the assistance of Deputy Inspector General, Superintendent, and officer-in-charge of that city. The entire police force was in fact backing up the Islamic terrorists while Khaleda Zia, the premier, was thinking what to do with Bangla Bhai. Finally, she was forced to issue an arrest warrant for the extremist leader under pressure from newspaper reports and donor countries. However, by then, ââ¬ËBangla Bhaiââ¬â¢ and his lieutenants went underground. The same police that protected the leader and followers of JMJB in Rajshahi told the newsmen that the terrorists and their leader have probably gone to neighboring West Bengal . I am not making this up.
Anyone could visit the archive of on-line newspapers and read the details of police statement. In summary, the police and Khaleda Zia Administration have backed ââ¬ËBangla Bhaiââ¬â¢ and his men in the summer months of 2004. Only after details of torture and killings were publicized in newspaper, and the political pressure exerted by donor nations became too unbearable did Khaleda Zia Administration made the volte-face and started to initiate a massive manhunt to arrest ââ¬ËBangla Bhaiââ¬â¢ and his men. It has been over a year since police were crisscrossing Bangladesh in search of the terrorist leaders but the man has simply vanished into the thin air.
The spate of bombing is on the rise in Bangladesh for at least six years. The blasting of grenades reached a catastrophic proportion on August 21, 2004, when dozens of military-grade hand grenades were lobbed on Sheikh Hasina and her lieutenants as Awami League organized an outdoor rally. The leader was miraculously saved but she lost a few of her trusted party leaders. A year later on August 17, 2005, the Islamists blasted over 500 bombs over a period of one hour in every administrative district. The firepower of these homemade bombs was very low; consequently only 2 deaths resulted from the blasts.
But the event was a highly ââ¬Åsuccessfulââ¬Â one. The Islamists proved the point that they are well organized to blast hundred of bombs or hand grenades synchronously. That event alone scared the hell out of all the newspaper editors and intelligentsia of Bangladesh .
The blast was a watershed in the annals of Bangladesh history. It was only after 8-17 blasts that the nation shook and shivered knowing fully well that Islamists are united to unleash their firepower.
As these menacing acts were acting out in various parts of Bangladesh the government of Khaleda Zia took her case to the people. This time the plea was as follows: these bombings were done by the intelligence department of a neighboring nation. To give credence to her cock-and-bull story she asked a lone Justice to look into the incident of August 21, 2004, bombing of public meeting that took place in Bongobandhu Avenue . A Justice by the name Joynul Abedin went as far as saying that a foreign government with the assistance of local hoodlums engineered the blasts.
The government of Khaleda Zia knew who were behind the blasts because their proverbial thumb impressions were left allover the crime scene. A few knowledgeable people inside Bangladesh even hinted the involvement of military. But to refute all the claims Mrs. Zia had to invent this conspiracy theory to malign Bangladesh ââ¬â¢s next-door neighbor.
The event of 8-17 marathon blasts changed the perception of Bangladeshi people vis-Ã -vis who is behind the crime. The Islamists now make no bones about who is the mastermind behind the blasts. They took full credit for the blasts. Therefore, the battle line is being drawn. The Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, is now on a fix. How to handle the matter without creating a rift with her coalition member, Jamaat, who many in Bangladesh think is the party behind the grenade and homemade bomb blasts.
It remains to be seen how these episodes of bomb blasts against judges, and courthouse play out in Bangladesh . The ordinary citizens are simply fed up with the spate of blasts. There may be many surprises waiting to happen when the next parliamentary election takes place in the country. The ruling party may have to pay a price for being so cozy with the Islamists.
Bangladesh ââ¬â¢s history is replete with surprises. The time between now and the next parliamentary election is eon away and many events may unfold. Therefore, stay tuned. Oh, one more thing. Bangladesh ââ¬â¢s politics is full of caprice; therefore, one never knows what is in store for this unpredictable nation.
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from Ithaca , New York.
<b>It is very strange that Mr Dey is unable to understand why BD wants to be in company of the Arabs.The answer is very simple:-
The leaders of Bangladesh want to maintain a safe distance from predominantly Hindu India but at the same time it finds some undercurrents within the society who want to maintain their link with Bengali Culture. To ensure that there is no destabilisation on this Front, the BD political leadership try to give company to the Muslim Umma as much as possible.The tragedy is that the third generation converts who constitute a majority of the BD population are not accepted by the Arabs as true Muslims of some standing.Hence this identity crisis.
</b>
A letter from a Bhooka Nanga Desh Cab Driver:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bangaldesh's social development indexes are much better than India's
Friday December 02 2005 16:34:09 PM BDT
REF : NFB should stop publishing these anti Indian articles
Don't delude yourself into believing that you or your immigrant brothers represent India.India is 70% of its people who have nothing to eat, are unhealthy and unhygenic. <b>Only 5% of the Indian families have private latrines versus 60% in Bangladesh. This <i>perecntage </i>will soon hit 100% by the action of the Bangladesh Government(s). </b><!--emo&:eager--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/lmaosmiley.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='lmaosmiley.gif' /><!--endemo-->
The only India success is the success of its size. Devide your success by the number of Indians - this is what you are. India has no future because future of a country doesn't depend on software geeks ( intelectual labor class) imported by the West because the whites do not want to do these jobs. National success depends on social development. <b>Bangaldesh's social development indexes are much better than India's</b>. <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rolleyes.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Nasir Ali
Los Angeles
USA<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Link
You know, something is not really Kosher about Yahoo News. Type "India" , on any day, and between the news links, one ALWAYS finds links to letters written from some Bangladeshi Fakir in - <b>News From Bangladesh</b>.
Something is up, for sure.
If social development indexes are so good in BD why are they streaming into India? By the way, what are they developing with? BD has the most fertile land in the Indian Subcontinent, yet their agriculture cannot even produce enough to feed even half their population. Everything from Rice to vegetables and cooking oil goes from India. There is no industrial production to speak save a little bit of soaps and cheap cosmetics and textiles. Apparently the two major industries in BD are fisheries (since it is criss crossed by rivers and has a long coastline, fish is plentiful) and Textiles. This industry needs a bit of clarification. The investment for this industry is either Amarican, European or Japanese. The cloth goes from either India or Thailand. Ditto for sewing thread. The sewing machines are either Indian (Singer or Usha) or Chinese. Only the labour is Bangladeshi - doing the cutting and sewing as per international designs. You will notice that every major clothing lebel (like Walmart, Kelvin Kline, etc) has either it's own operation or a sub contractor in BD, where they get their apparels sewn at slave labour rates. All the raw materials are imported (read provided by the Brandname Companies) and the finished products are exported and some smuggled into India. Apart from these there are no industries to speak of. BD is sitting on one of the largest reserves of Natural Gas in Asia, yet they don't even know how to extract it properly - leave alone piping it and distributing. But of course, letting Kaffir Hindu India do it for them is total haram and can't even be contemplated. We would rather burn the gas and enjoy the fireworks! There is another nugget - every govt. in the world has its financial year starting from March, when the place their national budget, right? BD's financial year starts from April. The govt. of BD is never in a condition to place it's national budget, unless it knows beforehand how much 'alms' it has received from the rich donor nations in the world! Every govt. expenditure depends upon such aid. So it utilises the month of March to gather info about aid from various governments around the world and then publishes its national budget accordingly in April.
As per the UN index of corrupt nations in the world, BD is the most corrupt nation on the face of the earth. Believing the statistics put forth by it's Government would be a big mistake.
Here are some facts of SDI regarding India and BD
Country Human Development index Selected year
1990 1995 1997 2000 2001
<b>Bangladesh 0.414 0.443 0.440 0.478 0.502
India 0.519 0.553 0.545 0.577 0.590 </b>
Iran 0.646 0.690 0.715 0.721 0.719
Pakistan 0.440 0.472 0.508 0.499 0.499
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Table 2. SocialDevelopme Index
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.Table 3.SDI Ranking And differencefrom
Country ranking
Korea 3 -0.017
Singapore 2- 0.047
Thailand 5 - 0.057
Iran 9 - 0.093
China80.042
Pakistan 18 - 0.046
Myanmar 14 - 0.134
<b>India 12 - 0.093
Bangladesh 16 - 0.097 </b>
Link
Islamists demand Bangladeshi women wear veil
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A banned Islamist militant group blamed for a series of bombings in Bangladesh has threatened to kill women, <b>including non-Muslims, if they do not wear the veil, a statement said.</b>
The statement by the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen came hours after Thursday's suicide bomb attack in a northern town that killed at least eight people, the latest of a series of blasts blamed on militant groups in their campaign for an Islamic state.
"Women will be killed if they are found to move around without wearing burqa (veil) from the first day of Jilhaj," the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen said in the statement sent to a Dhaka newspaper office.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bangladesh is the world's third-most-populous Muslim country after Indonesia and Pakistan.
State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar said last month that Islamists had formed a 2,000-strong suicide squad to press home their demands.
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The problem with Bangladesh since 1971 hasw been that except for the period of Gen Ershad, there has been no political stability. The small time local politicians have dominated the central stage and have been making money most of the time.The whole process has brought disrepute ot the entire democratic process.
In the recent past, the so called democratic forces have taken the assistance of the fundamentalist elements to remain in power.This has resulted in the administration being soft on fundamentalist activities.Hence we see the current state of unrest in Bangladesh.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> OP-ED
<b>Bangladesh: A broken soul at 35</b>
Pioneer.com
On the anniversary of its birth, Bangladesh is gradually returning to its blood-dipped origins, says Udayan Namboodiri
As Bangladesh prepares to celebrate its 35th "Victory Day" on December 16, Bangladeshis are on the verge of losing their hard won uniqueness in the Islamic world for which three million people died in 1971. Democracy, liberal culture and even the Bengali language for which they struggled since 1951, are now under siege.
Shaking the fundamentals of their nationhood are the same elements who tried to crush the indomitable Bengali spirit in collusion with the Pakistanis during the bloody months that preceded the first "Victory Day". Ten years back, at the time of the silver jubilee, Bangladeshis recalled their glorious Mukti Juddha (liberation struggle) and collectively sought to revive that ethos in order to put the dark memories of the first two decades behind them. But today, a sense of hopelessness grips the national psyche.
The country is in the grip of state-abetted Islamist fundamentalism and terrorism is a fact of life. The Prime Minister and chairman of the main party of the ruling Four Party Alliance (FPA), the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Begum Khaleda Zia, is readying for next year's election and appears to be in no mood to reverse the situation which can only happen if she breaks her alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), the political godfather of the jihadis.
There are signs, however, that Begum Khaleda no longer carries the BNP fully with her. Cracks are beginning to show in the party's unity. A senior BNP leader and member of its national standing committee, KM Obaidur Reheman, recently told the media that a "specific power" which had conducted "destructive activities" during 1971 has "risen again". He called on the people to jointly face the challenge. Obaidur Reheman did not leave much to the imagination. No prizes for guessing the identity of this "specific power": He meant Pakistan, whose not-so-covert role in undermining national unity is now a settled fact.
The presence of Pakistani collaborators like Salauddin Qader Choudhary and Haris Choudhary in the circle around Begum Zia has reinforced this conviction. Nobody in Bangladesh denies that the JeI is Pakistan's Trojan Horse. Now, the BNP has a large presence of former freedom fighters who had either fought under Begum Zia's late husband, Ziaur Rahman, against the Pakistanis or had deserted the Awami League in frustration over its leader, Sheikh Hasina's, intemperance. These elements have had enough of Begum Zia's nexus with the ISI. Being freedom fighters themselves, they recall the Pakistani atrocities and realise the ISI's place as an independent power centre in Pakistan. If it can defy General Pervez Musharraf with impunity, what chance does Begum Zia have when it decides to destroy Bangladesh?
Another senior leader and Member of Parliament, Mr Abu Hena, went public recently with an accusation that left nothing to the imagination. He not only reiterated the charge that the Khaleda regime is sponsoring Islamist terror, but also specifically named Minister for Industries in the FPA Government Matiur Reheman Nizami as an agent. Begum Zia moves swiftly to expel him from the party. But fear of disciplinary action did not deter another senior BNP MP and freedom fighter, Col (Retd) Oli Ahmed, to make similar accusations. He is yet to be expelled from the party.
These leaders represent saner elements within the BNP, who are now admitting that it was a mistake to take the JeI as a partner in the last election. It may not be long before demands start piling up for Begum Zia to break out of the Islamist trap and go it alone in the 2006 poll. But hardliners and neophytes, who fear an alternative to the status quo, are sure to act as a counter-weight to these old nationalists. Health Minister Khondekar Hasharraf Hossain recently told the Bangladeshi media that "this kind of talk" was in line of the Awami League strategy to break the ruling coalition and was "not acceptable".
Against a foreground made up of typical election-year manouvering, Pakistan is slowly but surely moving to consolidate its grip over the national polity. Islamist fundamentalism and terrorism are not overnight phenomena in Bangladesh. They are key elements of "Operation Garland", a strategy planned and crafted in Islamabad to not only rule Bangladesh through proxy, but also open up an eastern front against Pakistan's primal enemy, India.
<b>The operational plan was to break Jammu & Kashmir and western Bangladesh away from India's influence to promote secessionists in the Northeast from bases in Bangladesh</b>. That national policy has endured through all the coups and upheavals faced by Pakistan because, to its ruling elite, all domestic turmoil is secondary to the focus on emasculating India by fomenting terrorism.
The run-up to the Bangladeshi election will undoubtedly see the revival of the "India issue", which had been the mainstay of Begum Khaleda's campaigns in 1991 and 1996, but, surprisingly, had vanished from her agenda in 2001. This time, <b>she has coolly passed on the blame for the deteriorating internal security situation by linking the Awami League with general Bangladeshi paranoia over India's "Hindu designs</b>".
The Awami is broadly identified with the Hindu vote. The JeI's madarsa network has successfully spread this message to the nooks and corners of Bangladesh. The most serious charge against Bangladeshi Hindus, and, by extension, India, for terrorism in Bangladesh, came from BNP Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr Lutfuzzaman Babar. On December 8 , a suicide attack took place in front of the office of a progressive cultural organisation in Netrakona, Babbar's constituency.
Providentially for Mr Babar and the pro-Pakistani lobby, a Hindu, Jabab Biswas, died in the explosion among others. Although eyewitnesses said the suicide bomber came on a bicycle and exploded himself, Home Minister Babar pounced on this opportunity to use a poor Hindu, a bicycle mechanic, to declare to international and national media the Hindu element in Bangladesh's terrorism.
Babar's political articles may be a poor effort to obfuscate the scourge of Islamist terrorism and divert attention. Educated Bangladeshis are unlikely to buy this story. But there is a dangerous side to this pantomime.
<b>The anti-India and pro-Pakistan elements in the Government and their militant allies have been priming the Imams against terrorism, but with an angle</b>. Babar has given them one by opening a disingenuous campaign that Bangladeshi Hindus, along with the Awami League, are "infiltrating" religious organisations to turn them into terrorists so that Islam and the FPA regime may be denigrated. This might sound an incredible theory, but it can cut ice with Bangladesh's fundamentalist vote-bank.
For Begum Zia, Babar and his ilk are coming in handy to shore up her plummeting popularity. But, the BNP has no endgame in sight. Pakistan and its ally, JeI Bangladesh, have theirs. Put mildly, Bangladesh is in for a replay of 1971. India must respond pro-actively. And there are no soft options.
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