<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dhaka hawks want ancient Dhakeswari temple shifted
Pramod K Singh | New Delhi
In a bid to appease fundamentalist Muslims in the run-up to the 2007 general election in Bangladesh, certain sections of the Begum Khaleda Zia Government are mounting pressure to shift the historic Dhakeswari Kali temple located in the heart of Dhaka to a more nondescript smaller plot.Â
Ironically, Dhaka takes its name from this 12th century temple, the oldest surviving Kali shrine. The temple complex is based at Romona Park from where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman gave his famous clarion call to liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan on March 25, 1971.
According to sources, hardline Islamist Ministers in Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamat-e-Islami Government want the historic temple to be "shifted" to a smaller plot without any delay. This demand, voiced by organisations like the Jamat-e-Islami, has been festering for some time. Moti-ur-Rehman, Amir of Jamat-e-Islami, is Industries Minister in the Begum Zia Government.
In the event the Islamists succeed in forcing the Government to shift the temple, they hope to reap a rich harvest in the general election scheduled for next year.
Highly placed security sources say that the attempt to shift the temple is cause for concern. If this were to happen, it would have an impact in the districts along the Indo-Bangla border and elsewhere.
The minority Hindu community of Bangladesh is agitated over the fundamentalists' move. The Hindu Boudha Christian Aikya Parishad, which represented minorities' interests, has petitioned the Begum Zia Government to prevent the shifting of the temple, a declared place of worship (Debottar Bhumi) as it holds a great deal of symbolism for the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh and for Hindus worldwide.
Leaders of the Hindu Boudha Christian Aikya Parishad and the Bangladesh Puja Celebration Committee have reminded Begum Zia's Government of its assurance that the temple would not be shifted.
The president of the Parishad and renowned Bangladesh freedom fighter Major General CR Dutta, while denouncing the move, has said that shifting a temple and its sanctum sanctorum is against Hindu religious tenet.
He said the 2.2 acre plot on which the temple and an ashram exist at present is classified as a Hindu religious place, the nature of which cannot be changed, nor can it be taken over by the Government. The Parishad and the Puja Celebration Committee have chalked out a joint action plan to fight the fundamentalists' move.
The temple was build in the twelfth century by Ballal Sen. Later, sanyasi Gopal Giri of the Badrinath Ashram at Joshi Math, now in Uttaranchal, came to Dhaka and established a religious seat for his guru. Subsequently, devotees of Maa Anandamayi established the Maa Anandamayi Ashram near the temple.
After being mauled by the Indian Army, retreating Pakistani forces had attacked the temple during the 1971 liberation war. More than 100 ascetics, devotees and others were killed by Pakistani troops on March 27, 1971 during that attack.
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<b>The TATA Group of India which had earlier announced a big investment in Bangladesh has announced this week that it is putting on hold its plans in view of the uncertainity and delay in the project. With the coming of elections in Bangladesh the Government does not want to take any decision on matters which have an Indian component. The moment any decision is taken the Opposition political parties will use it as a political weapon.</b>
link<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Dhaka grabs 2 sq km of India's land </b>
Syed Zarir Hussain | Guwahati
Assam Minister says Bangladeshis have moved border posts ---- In a sudden and daring move, Bangladeshis, backed by their country's Army, have uprooted pillars demarcating the Indo-Bangla border along Dhubri and Karimganj districts of Assam, and forcibly grabbed at least 500 acres (2.02 sq km) of Indian territory. The land grab has taken place under the very nose of the Border Security Force.
By the time Assam Government or its police could respond to the situation, swarms of Bangladeshis had taken possession of the land, ferociously pushing back Indians who dared to go beyond the surreptitiously shifted border posts.Â
<b>The land grab came to light recently when tea pickers at Pallatal and Pramodnagar plantations in southern Assam's Karimganj district found a portion of the gardens being zealously guarded by Bangladeshis. When the workers tried to enter those areas of the gardens, they were shoved back.
The shocked workers informed the managers of the tea gardens and they, in turn, informed the local police. When policemen visited the two gardens, they found a sizeable area, which till the previous day was Indian territory, illegally occupied by Bangladeshis. The intruders were backed by Bangladesh Rifles soldiers.
Later, it was discovered that the Bangladeshis had uprooted the concrete border pillars, separating the two countries, which once stood a short distance from the two tea gardens.</b>
Faced with hostile Bangladeshis and armed Bangladesh Rifles personnel, the policemen could do nothing to evict the intruders who had grabbed 299.04 acres of Pallatal Tea Estate and 11.73 acres of Pramodnagar Tea Estate in an overnight land-grabbing mission launched by Dhaka.
Meanwhile, another incident of border posts being shifted by intruders was reported from Mancachar revenue circle in western Assam's Dhubri district. There, too, the BSF had failed to prevent the intrusion. Police investigations revealed that Bangladeshis had usurped 189.06 acres in Mancachar.
These details have now been confirmed by Assam Government, which helplessly admitted on the floor of the State Assembly late Tuesday that "Bangladesh has occupied more than 2 sq km of Indian land by uprooting border pillars".
Speaking on the issue, State Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman told stunned legislators, "A total of about 499.83 acres of our territory has been encroached upon and occupied by Bangladesh after removing boundary pillars."
He confirmed that Bangladeshis have taken over 299.04 acres of Pallatal Tea Estate and 11.73 acres of Pramodnagar Tea Estate in Karimganj district. "In Dhubri district, 189.06 acres under Mancachar revenue circle has been encroached," Barman said, adding, "Even though the administrative power of these areas lies with the Assam Government, they are under the control of Bangladesh."
The Assam Government has alerted the Centre about the land grab by Bangladesh. "We have asked the Union Government to resolve the issue with Dhaka. The matter was also discussed at the Indo-Bangla Joint Border Commission meeting held recently," the Minister said. He was replying to a question by an Independent legislator.
Assam shares a 272-km long border with Bangladesh of which about 70 per cent has been fenced with barbed wire.
The remaining stretch of the border is merely separated by concrete pillars.
Illegal immigration by Bangladeshis is a major problem across the North-East, resulting in frequent clashes between the BSF and the Bangladesh Rifles. While the Assam Government has refused to provide official estimates of illegal immigration, there could be as many as one crore Bangladeshis living in this State.
Indigenous Assamese fear they will be reduced to a minority if unabated infiltration continues. This fear will be further heightened by Bangladeshis brazenly uprooting border posts, grabbing land and colonising Indian territory.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Indian government as usual in deep coma.
Can someone confirm whether they are in vegetative stage?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>India protests shelling by Bangladesh Rifles </b>
New Delhi
Taking a serious note of "unprovoked" firing and shelling of some areas of Assam by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), India on Monday lodged its protest by summoning Dhaka's envoy here.
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They had gone crazy.
<b>India factor plays a major role in Bangladesh politics ans as such in the pre run to any general election, the party in power ensures tension and uneasiness in bilateral relations. Almost all political parties feel that by playing the India card they will be able to master all the anti india votes in the constituency.So there will be no exceptionduring the forthcoming elections.</b>
Whats the reason behind hatred towards India? Is it religion or failed leadership of Bangladesh and India's lack of involvement in Bangladesh welfare?
Or India created a vaccum for others to exploit?
What UPA did with Nepal, one day will be another monster for India.
<b>What is the genesis of Bagladesh. India got divided into India and Pakistan on the basis of a homeland for the Muslims of the sub c. ontinent. The foundation of the new country Pakistan was laid on Islam . Subsequently, by an accident of history East Pakistan became Bangladesh. However, in this transformation no new foundation was laid except that there was some costatic changes when Bangladesh became a secular democratic republic. They soon realise their mistake and by a constitutional amend ment became an Islamic Republic.
For their very survival , all political parties are required to be anti-Indian in varying degree other wise, they cannot survive.Naturally, they have to be critical of India in most of their public speeches. This has a cascading effect on the general masses</b>.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Bangladeshi invasion </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Outlaws as law unto themselves
After the periodic mauling of Border Security Force jawans at the hands of Bangladesh Rifles personnel - even as India's political Centre mutely watches the depredations - is it surprising that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants hammered the daylights out of Delhi Police constables Friday last? The incident occurred in the heart of the Capital, in Jangpura's Sunlight colony under the Nizamuddin Police Station, whereby a gang of Bangladeshis overpowered a police team, snatched their service weapons, held them hostage and fired a few rounds injuring at least three constables. The policemen had gone to the settlement colony in search of an accused in a case of murder and were fortunate to escape without greater damage to their persons. However, the harm caused to the image of the Delhi Police as a result of the sheer audacity of the illegal immigrants would certainly be incalculable. In fact, the assault on the law-enforcers holds ominous portents. While this paper has been at the forefront of the campaign against the growing clout of the Bangladeshis - and this is so not merely in Delhi; they are a threat to law and order in other cities like Mumbai and Kolkata as well - it is clear that the repeated warnings sounded out to the powers-that-be have fallen on deaf ears. If authority had acted with iron hand earlier by cracking down on the illegal settlers, they wouldn't have got so emboldened as to not only indulge in criminal activities of all sorts but also reveal, as their latest act of shocking intransigence shows, their deep-seated contempt for the Indian legal system and one of its executive arms, the police, which functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. While it may beg the question how comes it that they are so derisory of the law of the land, the answer should once again come as no surprise: They were allowed to fraudulently settle in large swathes under successive Congress regimes over several years, and given ration cards and voter I-cards to nurture their 'Indian' identity. If they have felt coddled and pampered by Congress politicians as vote-banks in the past, what cause can they possibly have to fear Indian law?
The Government, and the Home Ministry in particular, must see the attack on Delhi Police as a warning of the shape of things to come. It is still not too late to begin the exercise of identifying and deporting alien Bangladeshis who, while enjoying the fruit of Indian society, are spitting on their hosts with impudence. With 15 to 20 million Bangladeshis living extra-legally in India, we need not fear an invasion. They are already here and, as the incident in the national capital prove, will stop at nothing in order to consolidate their felonious presence. The first step to counter this growing internal threat would be to arrest and severely punish the Bangladeshis who assaulted Delhi Police personnel. Question is whether even this much will prove tall order for the utterly effete Central Government.
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<b>The Red, Dotted Line</b>
<i>BSF, trigger-happy or on the job? Depends on the side of the fence.</i>
<b>Indian take</b> All those killed are into illegal activity: gangs ferrying arms, women and child trafficking.
<b>Bangla take</b> It's a BSF-smuggler nexus. Indian cartels use BSF to neutralise their Bangla rivals
is making/burning effigies not considered un-islamic?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> http://www.newagebd.com/2006/sep/30/front.html#11
<b>Bigots threaten to drive Ahmadiyyas out of country</b>
Staff Correspondent
Religious bigots under the banner of International Khatme Nabuwat Movement,
Bangladesh, on Friday threatened to storm and capture the <b>Ahmadiyya mosque at Nakhalpara in the city if the government failed to declare the community
ânon-Muslimâ by next Friday.</b>
<b>The bigots said they would drive the Ahmadiyyas out of the country </b>through a series of programmes and close all key installations and establishments,
including the secretariat, Banga Bhaban and the Prime Ministerâs Office if the
government failed to concede to their demand by the deadline.
They blocked traffic on Tongi Diversion Road and held a rally at the Nabisco
crossing after juma prayers on Friday in presence of the police and other
security forces. Traffic remained suspended on the road for about three hours.
More than 1,000 policemen were deployed at the crossing, GMG Lane, Volvo Lane
and Tabani Lane to avert troubles.
At a gathering near the Ahmadiyya mosque at Tejgaon, the Khatme Nabuwat
leaders demanded that the government should place a bill during the current
session of the parliament to declare the community non-Muslim.
The police blocked all roads leading to the Ahmadiyya mosque and traffic
remained suspended on Tongi Diversion Road between Moghbazar and Mahakhali
crossing during the rally.
The bigots branded the Ahmadiyyas ânon-believersâ and âanti-Islamic.â
Secretary general of the movement, Mohammad Nazmul Haque said, âwe are ready even to sacrifice our lives to make our plans successful and no force can hold us back.â
<b>âWe will not object to Ahmadiyyas performing their religious practices once
they are declared non-Muslims,â he added.</b>
Nayeb-e-Ameer Enayetullah Abbasi said: âThe government has done a mistake
ignoring our demands. We have decided to support those political parties in the
next election which would include our demands in their election manifestoes.â
Khatme Nabuwat Ameer, Mahamudul Hasan Momtaji said: âWe have taken to the
street to make the government declare the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims by next
Friday.â
Criticising Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami, he said, âyou have 18 members
in the parliament, but why did you fail to place a bill in this regard?â
He announced a demonstration programme at Nabisco crossing after Asr prayers
on Wednesday, and âsiegeâ of Ahmadiyya mosque at Nakhalpara on Friday
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Indian youth shot dead by Bangladesh jawans
Thursday October 19 2006 00:00 IST
UNI
BALURGHAT: Indian national Sourav Poddar (26) was allegedly gunned down by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) jawans at Dakshin Para of Hili border in south Dinajpur on Wednesday, the West Bengal police said.
Police said Sourav, a local resident, was shot at by BDR jawans when he protested against the riflemen, who were pushing some Bangladeshi nationals through the Hili border on Wednesday morning.
The local people immediately rushed to the spot and took the injured youth to Balurghat Sadar hospital. At around 1250 hours, Sourav was declared dead by the hospital authorities.
Reacting to BDR's intrusion and subsequently firing, the local people protested the âindifferent attitudeâ of the BSF and demanded immediate security against âforeign invasionâ. The BSF's 57 battalion has been posted at the Hili border.
Sanjit Das, an eyewitness, said although the BSF personnel were posted close to the scene, they did not react to the murder.
District magistrate of south Dinajpur, Syed Sarfaraj Ahamed told reporters that though the situation was very tense, it was under control.
The incident occurred when Sourav, who was returning home from tuitions, saw two BDR jawans pushing some Bangladeshi people inside the Indian border. When he protested this, the BDR opened fire on the 26-year-old-youth.
Eyewitnesses said the bullets pierced through Sourav's skull and he collapsed.
The BSF commanding officer said that arrangements were being made for a flag meeting with the BDR to take stock of the situation.
The BSF recovered some empty cartridges and caps belonging to the BDR jawans proved that they came much inside the Indian soil at the Dakshin Para area of the Hili border.
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What a bunch of shameless cowards we have become.
Front Page Hindu; it's the same news, whom to believe?
BSF, BDR exchange fire
Special Correspondent
Kolkata: A 27-year-old Indian was shot dead allegedly by a border guard of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in north Bengal even as the Border Security Force and the BDR exchanged fire in the southern part of West Bengal on Wednesday.
A woman and a youth working on a field on the Indian side were injured in the exchange of fire in the Chohotia border outpost area in North 24 Parganas district at 11.40 a.m. The exchange lasted nearly an hour, a senior BSF official told The Hindu .
"Unprovoked" firing of nearly 700 rounds by the BDR triggered the exchange, the BSF retaliating with around 200 rounds, the official said.
This year more than 15 exchanges of fire occurred in the sector, some a sequel to attempts by BSF jawans to check the movement of cattle smugglers into the country, he added.
A flag meeting was held in the afternoon. BSF authorities expressed concern over the "unprovoked and heavy firing by the BDR," the official said.
Around the same time of the exchange of fire, the BDR guard allegedly entered the Indian side in the Hili thana area of South Dinajpur and shot at a private tutor from point blank range. He died on way to hospital.
Authorities in the BSF's Malda sector said a "strong protest was lodged with the BDR's 14th Battalion in connection with the incident." A cap, presumed to belong to the BDR guard, was recovered from the spot, according to the district police.
<b>Indians lynch 3 Bangladeshi miscreants </b>
Syed Sajjad Ali
Agartala, October 17, 2006
Infuriated over continuous theft and cross border criminal activities, Indian villagers lynched three Bangladeshi cattle lifters on Monday night. The incident occurred at Khengrabari of Khowai, west Tripura, where border security force has tightened its position to thwart act of revenge by the Bangladeshis.
Police said at around 11.30 pm a group of alien miscreants entered the house of Binode Debbarma at Golakbari village and forced the house dwellers to give them a couple of cattle. As they were proceeding towards border the family members raised a hue and cry gathering a big crowd rushed to the spot.
People chased the Bangladeshis and caught hold of them at Khengrabari. The miscreants attacked them with sharp edged weapons, but were soon outnumbered by villagers.
Angry villagers got scope to settle scores and started beating them mercilessly. As a result three Bangladeshis sustained grievous injuries and died at the scene. The bodies were not identified so far.
BSF has informed the BDR about the incident and possession of corpses. Bangladesh has not responded till last report came in to accept the bodies. BSF has intensified strength as to prevent Bangladeshis from attacking Indians.
This was second incident of lynching of Bangladeshi cattle lifters in Tripura this year.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>East Pakistan-II </b>
Pioneer.com
Udayan Namboodiri
With another Bangladesh general election 90 days away, policy-makers in New Delhi are well advised to compare the existing situation with the run-up to the 1970 polls. Reason: The two poles of Bangladeshi national politics are locked in a war which can have no winners
This Saturday we focus on Bangladesh, a little nation which is a big headache for India. Five years back, when the BNP was swept to power by a massive post-9/11 Islamic assertion, Raisina Hill was thrown into confusion. How to deal with another East Pakistan? With another general election 90 days away (the countdown begins today) <b>policy-makers in New Delhi are well advised to compare the present situation with the run-up to the 1970 polls. Reason: The two poles of Bangladeshi national politics are locked in a war which can have no winners. The issue at stake is the interpretation of the Constitution, the founding principles of the nation. The silent director of this absurd theatre is Pakistan, a country which has neither forgotten the humiliation of 1971, nor learnt lessons from it</b>. Former CPI(M) Parliamentarian Gholam Yazdani, who has been an observer of Bangaldeshi politics for decades, has detailed the contours of the new crisis while veteran commentator DR Ahuja has restated the age-old underbelly of Indo-Bangla relations - infiltration.
The flashpoint came this week with the news of the large-scale exodus of Ministers, MPs and loyalists from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) surprising observers of this nation's effervescent politics. As the current term of the Khaleda Zia-led BNP coalition comes to end, 102 joined the newly formed Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to protest the "corrupt" regime and "extra-Constitutional role" of Tareq Rehman in party and Government affairs.
Tareq, to those unfamiliar with Bangladesh, is Khaleda's oldest son. Indians will immediately connect with the image he exudes if they recall Sanjay Gandhi. The young Zia straddles Bangladeshi national life in a manner which aspires to standards set by Sanjay in the 1970s. The only difference in Bangladesh's case is that Tareq doesn't have a regiment of his mother's sycophants at his disposal. In fact a depleted BNP is already under immense pressure to name a new caretaker head instead of KM Hasan to oversee the general elections in January. In its paranoia, it is likely to be driven to imposing stringent administrative measures to control the Awami League-led Opposition's protests, thus raising fears of large-scale pre-poll violence.
With the formation of the LDP by former Bangladesh President Badruddoza Chowdhury and BNP leader Oli Ahmed, the political situation in Bangladesh has taken a new turn. The bipolarity of national politics, which was déjà vu, is now a thing of the past. Oli Ahmed quit BNP as member of its standing committee on October 26. In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Oli, who is one of the founder-members of the party, said that he had decided to step down rather than put up with the corruption perpetuated by Tareq. <b>Accusing Khaleda of running a Government under instructions of "1971 war criminals", he also put a contemporary tinge to his crusade by underscoring the regime's failure to give good governance, particularly on the price management front</b>.
Naturally, this has bolstered the case of the Awami League-led 14-party Opposition. Sheikh Hasina has made an issue out of the appointment of the caretaker Government and the Chief Election Commissioner. She has accused BNP Secretary-General Mannan Bhuiyan of "deceiving" the nation on Eid by making false statements about Chief Election Commissioner MA Aziz. Both sides had earlier proposed Aziz's name as head of the caretaker Government which, by the country's Constitution, takes charge for 90 days preceding a general election. But the BNP subsequently underwent a policy shift and settled for Hasan. The firmness with which Mannan defended this decision at a meeting with his Awami counterpart this week led to a collapse of all democratic norms.
Â
The Awami and its allies have threatened to boycott the January polls. But it will certainly not be a demonstration of passive resistance. As is its wont, <b>the Awami will plunge the country into a cycle of violence and counter-violence. The focus of its angst is Hasan, a known BNP sympathiser. The Awami League has been opposed to KH Hasan's appointment on grounds that he was earlier a BNP official and, therefore, could not be expected to be neutral when free and fair polls are needed. However, Bangladesh's Constitution stipulates that the caretaker should be the immediate past chief justice - which Hasan is.</b> Added to that is the party's image of a victim of terrorism. An August 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka nearly killed Sheikh Hasina and left other senior leaders dead or injured. Another bomb attack led to the murder of former Finance Minister AMS Kibria. The Khaleda Government has not bothered to launch serious investigations into these killings.
The 35-year history of Bangladesh has been bloodied many times by political assassinations, military interventions, coups and associated mayhem. After 20 years of repeated slippage into martial law, Bangladeshis seemed to have put the past behind them in February 1991, when a combined BNP-Awami struggle led to the country's first free and fair election. <b>After 25 years, it now seems that the past is catching up. In the background, Islamic fundamentalists, with tendencies mirroring that of the Taliban, are set to capitalise on the anarchy that the country is about to be plunged into. The country's return to abject Pakistani control is a foregone conclusion. </b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>On the brink again </b>
Pioneer.com
Gholam Yazdani
Bangladesh has witnessed the twisting of every moral of statecraft for the self-preservation of the ruling coterie. The buzz on the streets and chatter in the drawing rooms of Dhaka concerning the future of Bangladesh has rarely been so pessimistic as it has been in recent weeks. <b>The two main political parties, the Awami League (AL) and the BNP, are on a collision course. </b>
The general election in Bangladesh is scheduled for January 2007. It portends to be the make or break for the two parties. The AL, however, has some resilience and deeper roots, being the oldest political party of the country. The BNP, formed in 1979, was cobbled together from pro-liberation, anti-liberation, Right-wing fundamentalists, whose only objective is to grab power. The stakes for the BNP are, therefore, much higher.
Till about a year earlier, the West lauded Bangladesh's Caretaker Government (CG) system. Constitutionally, the provisions seek a neutral system to take over the running of the Government and conduct election within 90 days. The President exercises enhanced powers with the armed forces under his control. The Chief Advisor to the CG is the last retired Chief Justice of the country. He acts as the Prime Minister, with a selected group of advisors. The Central Election Commission (CEC) plays a critical role by finalising the voters' list and conducting the polls.
In the last five years, the BNP has manipulated the CG system to its advantage to ensure that the Chief Advisor, the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commission are all its lackeys. The next Chief Advisor to the CG is Justice KH Hasan, a founder-member of the BNP. Chief Election Commissioner MA Aziz has been close to the BNP from 1979. The members of the EC, including its Secretary ZA Zakaria, are all chosen party acolytes. The EC does not have much independence. Neither Mr Hasan nor Mr Aziz are acceptable to the AL and the 14-party Opposition alliance. The talks between the BNP and the AL on the electoral reform have failed and the latter has taken to street protest to get a fair play.
On October 22, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Ministers bid farewell to their respective Ministries, bringing to a closure the tenure of her Government. <b>As per the Constitution, the present Government was supposed to hand over power to the CG by October 28 or within a period of 15 days. The BNP-led Government, of which the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JeI-BD) is the second biggest constituent, had considered handing over power on November 12, after the anniversary of the so-called "Sepoy Mutiny" of November 7, 1975, in which Major General Zia-ur-Rahman was released from military arrest by Colonel Taher</b>. The late Zia, Khaleda's husband, who later became President of Bangladesh, betrayed Taher and had him hanged in a bizarre trial for sedition. The BNP, however, baulked at the last moment since the celebration of the "Sepoy Mutiny" could open up the Col Taher execution Pandora's Box.
The JeI-BD and BNP partnership has lost ground rapidly in the past two years. Bangladeshis has experienced corruption in everyday life, rising prices, shortages of essential commodities and weakening of the basic social infrastructure for the poor and middle classes. The Khaleda Government had faced violent demonstrations of an apolitical nature over its failure to address basic problems. At the same time, Bangladesh has been racked by terrorism.
The common perception holds that the JeI is the chief patron of terror. Arrested Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leaders like Sheikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam (aka Bangla Bhai), who are under the death sentence, implicated the JeI and BNP leaders by naming them in court as their mentors. There has been no denial from either the BNP or JeI.
It is significant that the BNP and the JeI, especially<b> the BNP top leadership from Khaleda Zia's family and her cronies, have decided to ignore the people's opinion and embark on a confrontationist path to win the election. </b>The BNP is neither monolithic nor ideology driven. No wonder it is fragmenting. <b>There has been a mass exodus from the ruling BNP with over 100 MPs, led by senior leader Col (retd) Oli Ahmed, a decorated freedom fighter of 1971, breaking away to form a new party Liberal Democratic Party.</b>
<b>For the central pro-Pakistan coterie in the BNP, led by the mother-brother-son coterie (Khaleda Zia, her brother Major (retd) Iskander, and Tareq Rahman) the last resort is to employ brute force to retain power.</b> The ruling coalition has three streams for power projection. Foremost is the administrative mechanism, including the election machinery and the security forces. International opinion is immaterial at the moment.
The other stream is to arm the BNP and JeI cadres and include assassination as a political tactics. Sheikh Hasina survived at least three assassination attempts in the past three years. According to media reports earlier this year, <b> Tareq Zia, along with the National Security Intelligence (NSI) Chief Rezaqul Haider, travelled to Dubai in March and met Dawood Ibrahim. The Dawood clan's expertise in eliminating targets.</b>
The last stream is the Bangladesh armed forces, especially the Army. <b>Ms Zia has started a new move to politicise the armed forces holding durbars in military cantonments with the three service chiefs in attendance</b>. Her theme has been "redefining the role" of the armed forces in countering not only external but also internal enemies. She emphasised on the role of the Army to "protect democracy", linking the 1975 Army coup that ultimately brought her husband Zia-ur-Rahman to Presidency. It <b>may well be Ms Zia's strategy to bring the Army out on to the streets if the 14-party Opposition combine decide not to participate in the election.</b>
The Zia family, which operates out of the BNP headquarters, <b>Hawa Bhavan, has divided the armed forces along political lines. Even apolitical army officers have been sidelined in favour of pro-BNP and JeI(BD) officers and other ranks. This is a deadly cocktail for any regime in future. Irrespective of whether she wins of loses, Ms Zia will end up a state of "virgin earth upturned". </b>
Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed, too, must introspect on her policies and actions. <b>There are real fears in Bangladesh today that 1971 may be re-enacted. Civil society fears a 1971-like catharsis</b>.
<i>(The writer is a former CPI(M) Member of Parliament)</i>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Gathering storm </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Begum Zia faces turbulent times
There is never a silly season in Bangladesh, a small country with big obsessions. The Government of Begum Khaleda Zia, till a few days ago confident of sailing through next January's hustings with the help of a pliant caretaker Government, has suddenly run into rough weather. On the eve of the 90-day "neutral rule" that precedes each election, all its calculations have gone awry. The first blow has come in the form of 102 senior leaders, including Ministers and MPs, walking out of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to join a new outfit headed by Begum Zia's friend-turned-foe Badruddoza Choudhury. As if this were not bad enough for the embattled regime, Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina Wajed has announced a 1996-type poll boycott if former Chief Justice KM Hasan is sworn in as head of the caretaker Government whose mandate under the Constitution is to conduct a free and fair election. Now Justice Hasan has been dropped, although apparently not because of Sheikh Hasina's objection, but owing to "sudden illness". There is only one truth behind all these developments: Politics in Bangladesh is saturated with so much corruption, nepotism and gangsterism that political parties are collapsing under the collective burden of these vices. Sheikh Hasina may appear to straddle the moral high ground at the moment, but Bangladeshis are as familiar with her brand of misgovernance as they are with Begum Zia's poor performance. The only thing to be conceded in Sheikh Hasina's favour this time is that her famous 2001 charge that the BNP had won the election using unfair means has been somewhat vindicated five years later. Begum Zia's considerable hold over the educated elite has given her the advantage of influencing the administration regardless of whether she is in power or not. She appointed Justice Hasan as Chief Justice knowing he would prove useful during the coming election. Bangladeshi law says only the last incumbent as Chief Justice can head a caretaker Government. From the moment she promoted Justice Hasan, her objective was clear to most, if not all, Bangladeshis. This blunder has destroyed her last vestige of credibility.
The Awami League, which never accepted its defeat in the 2001 election, has had a stormy period in the opposition, surviving top level assassinations and suffering many murders. It commands the international community's sympathy as it is seen battling for democracy and fighting Islamic fundamentalism whose evil shadow now dogs Bangladeshi society and politics, thanks to Begum Zia's alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami and her Government's distinct bias against that country's secular culture and traditions. With last week's developments, the wicket will only get stickier for Begum Zia and she could well find her party - and its dubious allies - being swept aside by a resurgent Awami League. Provided, people get to vote in January.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Political activists leave
Haroon Habib
DHAKA: Many people, believed to be political activists of the outgoing Government, have left for India during the last few days for fear of reprisals from opponents.
At Benapole on the border with West Bengal, 2,200 people crossed the border on Thursday and 2,700 on Friday with valid documents.
Immigration officials say this is "quite unusual."
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More BD vermin enter into India.
The infiltration of terrorists into India and the persecution and genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh. Based upon writings of Arun Shourie
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...1742796978
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