Bangladesh - News And Discussion

[Guest]

I am aware of that, so that would parley into "helping our own interests". What we did for Bangladesh in 1971 was in Indian interests, how we let these mullahs take over after 1971 was not in our interests.

We should have set the terms for their future statehood.

[Guest]

<b>Bangladeshi writer dares to say 'thank you India'</b>
Press Trust of India
Kolkata, February 2

If Taslima Nasreen has drawn flak from Muslim groups on both sides of the Indo-Bangladesh border for what she calls her 'bold' take on fundamentalism, here's another writer from Bangladesh who has dared to script a book saying 'thank you India' -- an acknowledgement not much in fashion in the land of Padma.

Though the book -- Contribution of India in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh -- has brought Salam Azad unpleasant moments in the shape of a month-long hiding with a tribal family and questioning by the Bangladesh intelligence agency NSI, the author is braving these 'minor odds' to put together an Indian edition to hit the stands soon.

"Bangladesh came into existence in 1971 only because the Indian Government directly supported its cause, Indian soldiers shed their blood and Indian intellectuals campaigned for us...Where is the harm in acknowledging historical truths?" Azad, in Kolkata to participate in the 29th Kolkata Book Fair, said.

Replete with heart rending stories of the sacrifice of Indian Army personnel and cold statistics painstakingly dug out from Army archives in Delhi, Kolkata and Agartala, Azad also recounts in a bold narrative the role of India in shaping up the newly-born war ravaged republic.

His 10 years of labour behind the book shows casualty list of over 9,856 Indian soldiers killed in the war, pictures of their mutilated bodies besides extensive interviews with retired Indian generals Sam Maneckshaw, JFR Jacob, Jagjit Singh Aurora and freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-vijnan_anand+Jan 25 2004, 05:55 PM-->QUOTE(vijnan_anand @ Jan 25 2004, 05:55 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-subhendu+Jan 26 2004, 12:38 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(subhendu @ Jan 26 2004, 12:38 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--emo&:furious--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /><!--endemo--> Lesson Learned: Next time let these Bangladeshi rats, and all Islamists countries, rot in their own cesspool.

No need to help them out, we should only help our own interests - and extract our pound of flesh! <!--emo&:furious--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Many of those killed by the Pakistanis in 1971 were Hindus. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Please rephrase that to, "<b>Most, </b> <b>if not all</b>, of those killed by the Pakistanis in 1971 were Hindus."

We have been fed this BS, that Bangladeshis (all alike) were persecuted during '71, for so long that when we see a BDee sith such enormous hate for India that we find ourselves shocked out of zoo-zoo-land.

Story is simple: BDees killed during '71 were almost all Hindus, except a few short, chawal-curry eating muslims.

[acharya]

Representing Bangladesh at the OIC:


The Bangladesh PM's nominee for its prepresentative to the Organisation of Islamic Countries has raised some resistance owing to his background:


By nominating Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury for Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, Begum Khaleda Zia shoots herself in the foot and antagonises India in the bargain. Salahuddin Qader, as her adviser on parliamentary affairs, enjoys the rank of cabinet minister. Even 32 years after Bangladesh’s liberation he swears by Pakistan and regrets that he and his father’s desperate bid to play Pakistan’s game in what was then East Pakistan did not succeed. He still takes pride in the fact that he personally tortured and butchered freedom fighters and leaders of minority communities — the instances are well documented by those demanding his trial and conviction as war criminal. Persecuting minorities and killing their notable leaders by his private army are still his forte, demonstrated by the recent murder of two noted monks, a Buddhist and a Hindu, in his parliamentary constituency. He had even murdered a student leader of the ruling BNP and made disparaging remarks about Begum Zia that led to his expulsion from the party. But his infinite capacity to unleash violence on communal lines, apart from his reputation as an India baiter facilitated his return. His strong overt linkages with Islamabad have helped.

Already his nomination has evoked protests from intellectuals besides a large section of the Press and Opposition. His nomination is considered an insult both to Bangladesh and the apex Islamic body. More so as Bangladesh has no dearth of eminently suitable candidates. In a sense Salahuddin’s nomination symbolises the mindset of Begum Zia’s government which is pro-Islamic and pro-Pakistan. She is playing with fire. Elements in her government are pleading for a confederation with Pakistan. Dhaka and Islamabad are jointly lobbying for Salahuddin’s candidature which should be a cause of concern for Delhi. This forum, has in the past, been manipulated against India. We should be firm with Bangladesh


On the other hand one should also ask why being seen as pro-India spells political death for any mainstream Bangladeshi politician and how it was that a country associated and assisted at its foundation to such a great degree by India, could become so antagonistic so quickly to the extent that it is virtually impossible to take a friendly position towards India by its political elite. While local socio-economic problems, rising Islamism and the anti-India card provide some of the explanations, this cannot be the whole story. A big brother attitude, needless quarreling over river basin projects and shabby treatment of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in West Bengal and Assam, all play a role. The fears over the OIC are also it seems slightly paranoid. It is true that in the past Pakistan has prevented India from being granted even pobserver status, despite the large Muslim population of the latter, but the OIC has hardly taken Islamabad's position on Kashmir as its policy stance. In fact, it is surprising how cordial relations between Arab nations and Asian Islamic ones have remained despite the running sore of Kashmir and Indo-Pak disputes; ties with Arab nationalism through NAM, links with secular regimes and greater trade and diplomatic wieght have added to this; few will risk damaging relations with India for the sake of Pakistan. Indian consistent support for Palestine can be seen as a quid pro quo over neglect over Kashmir; of course Indian policy in Kashmir has been much more benevolent, if not democratic or pluralistic, than Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories, making the whole taks easier. The generally favourable attitude towards India's huge Muslim minority also has not passed unnoticed; how far either of factors will make a difference now with the saffron turn in Indian politics remains a moot point. Either way, it has certainly made it easier for such "forums to be manipulated against India".

[Guest]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/15355

Poems Of The Tresses: The Arab Assault On Our Culture

By: Esam Sohail

One vocation shall still be most noble and fair:Content I’ll be the braider of your golden hair.-“The Braider of Her Hair”

Will the poets of today and tomorrow be able to continue their ancestors’ love affair with the flowing tresses of the Bengali woman (or any other woman for that matter)? Not if the steadily encroaching Arab cultural imperialism does to us what it did to many others.

The Persians had a flourishing culture and resisted and thus have managed, even amidst the mullah-led revolution of 1979, to prevent their heritage from being subsumed by the invading Arabs. The Phoenicians of the Levant, Nubians of East Africa, and Amazigh (Berber, Kablye, and Touareg) of West Africa were not so lucky: their languages are largely forgotten, their people fully or partially Arabized, and their developing cultures stunted.

It is a pity of heartbreaking proportions to witness a Berber child in a remote Libyan hilltop village who cannot understand the fairy tales in the native language of his ailing grandmother.

In our land the process started in the 1960s with Field Marshal Ayub Khan and his self-hating quislings like Governor Monem Khan who reputedly said tauba (penance) every time he spoke in Bengali because it was supposedly not God’s chosen tongue. They banned Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore from the airwaves, started a multi-million dollar program to re-write Bengali in the Arabic script, and used the state publicity machinery to make a mockery of our ‘Hinduized’ customs.

A woman’s sari and teep were symbols of unIslamic behavior, we were lectured; what they meant was that such flourish and elegance was unacceptable to their nouveu riche cultural masters in the oil sheikhdoms dotting the Persian Gulf. We threw the Ayub-Monem circle out in 1971 and gave our culture some breathing space. Yet, that respite has been short-lived.

In the past, in the Levant and Africa the cultural genocide was effected with a sword under the guise of religion. Today in Bangladesh and elsewhere, as the religious mask of the Arab invader remains intact his sword has been replaced by his abundant cash. Through his subsidies to our political parties and their leaders, the Arab sheikh is trying his best to corrupt the top.

The results are already glaringly obvious; be it the nationalist Begum Khaleda Zia or secularist Hasina Wajed, both don the hijab on their heads and otherwise wrap up their saris in the weirdest contortions to look like abayas. The pattern thus set by the leading ladies of the Republic is parroted by the wives and daughters of cabinet ministers and business tycoons.

But the grab of cultural imperialism goes far beyond the top levels of society. The millions of our compatriots employed by the Saudis and their Gulf vassals are daily indoctrinated with subtle messages of Arab cultural superiority. Some carry this virus of indoctrination back home to their friends, family, and neighbors.

Many poor children in the hinterlands and metropolises alike find no avenue for education but the mushrooming madrassas and maktabs run by Wahhabi funded clerics who transmit their misogyny, hatred, and prejudice to a brand new generation that is growing up to despise the culture of its forefathers.

More and more mosques, including the National Mosque of Baitul Mukarram, have clergy trained under Arab auspices and full of derision for our native traditions, as is obvious every Friday in the sermons of the Baitul Mukarram mufti, Maulana Obaidul Huq. The effects of this frontal assault on our heritage are becoming more apparent every passing day.

Already we use the Arabized Allah Hafiz as opposed to the traditional Khuda Hafiz to bid adieu. The government publishes many of its documents in Bengali, English, and Arabic while the chief airport has a shiny new Arabic welcome sign. Female newscasters often cover their heads, public and private offices have significant numbers of people who like dressing in the unprofessionally flowing Arab garb, and the Bengali-hating daily Inquilab is one of the highest circulating journals in the capital. Even the customary seats of intellectual secularism are not safe anymore.

The shock-troops of this cultural war, the Islami Chhatra Shibir (Islamic Students Camp), have bared their teeth, and guns, on our universities. In loud voices they demand that women students be segregated and veiled, if allowed at all that is.

These young fascists physically attack secular organizations and nationalist programs at will and their preferred method of ‘Islamic’ punishment is to cut off the tendons of those who stand up to them. Rarely are they held to account. Why should they be? After all, the leaders of their parent outfit Jamaat-e-Islami sit in the cabinet.

This, then, is the face of our kulturkampf. We are under assault and the attacker has the initiative.

It is a pity. Once upon a time when the ancestors of our Arab brethren were selling slaves in the markets of Timbuktu, our progenitors were writing epics and composing hymns of love. When they were riding camels and herding goats through barren deserts, we were building flourishing cities like Mahasthangarh and Sonargaon.

Armed with the Holy Qur’an in one hand and the dollar in the other, these denizens of debauchery are now engaged in a war of attrition against twenty five centuries of rich culture. A culture is not lost overnight; rather, like liberty itself, culture is eroded slowly and surreptitiously because its guardians slumber on the watch not knowing what is happening.

Unless we want to go the way of the Phoenicians and the Amazigh, we do need to realize what is happening. Like the Persians, we have a well-developed language and literature able to withstand the assault longer. But ‘longer’ does not denote ‘forever’.

We need to fight back. We need to resist. We need to stand up to the gnawing tentacles of Arab cultural imperialism.

Or else some generation down the road will never know the poetry woven in the flowing locks of a beautiful woman.

(The author is a banker and former college lecturer of international affairs. He writes from Kansas, USA and can be reached via email at sigalph235@hotmail.com).

[Guest]

<b>BANGLADESH’S ANTI-INDIAN GUN RUNNING AND INSURGENT HAVENS PERSIST </b>

[Guest]

<b>Saudi funding Bangla terror groups</b>

5 May 2004: <b>In the last one year, the Saudi government has funded Bangladesh’s radical political Islamic NGOs to the tune of $200 million, while its Islamic institutions have set up more than three-hundred madrasas in that country, some of them very close to the Indian border</b>.

Diplomats said that the Saudi government has also bankrolled the hardline Jamaat<b>-e-Islami Bangladesh, the terrorist organisation, the Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami-B, and the Islamic Chhatra Shivr</b>, and given three-thousand visas to Bangladeshi students to study at Saudi religious institutions.

The madrasas have been established by Jeddah’s grand mosque committee and other Saudi religious bodies.

At its recent meeting in Dhaka with the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), Border Security Force officials pointed to the mushrooming of terrorist camps near the border with India, and the BDR said these were madrasas, but refused permission for an inspection visit without approval from Bangladesh foreign office.

Diplomats and Indian officials fear that with Pakistan coming increasingly under the US scanner, terrorist groups, their front organisations, and terrorist money launderers are shifting base to Bangladesh, and they point to the appointment of Hassan Chaudhary, a confidant of prime minister Khalida Zia, as the country’s interlocutor with Islamic countries for donation and aid.

<b>Sources said that Hassan is wanted in at least two Islamic countries (Oman and Qatar) for violating foreign-exchange laws, and is alleged to be involved in money-laundering</b>.

Diplomats also said that the Begum Zia government is fully acquainted with Saudi funding to Bangladesh’s extremist and terrorist organisations

[Guest]

<b>SAUDI ARABIA TO DEPORT 8.8 MILLION IMMIGRANTS</b>

The Saudi government has decided to deport over 8.8 million foreign immigrants to their respective countries till 2012 and the reason behind this is the growing unemployment, reported BBC on Saturday.

<b>Majority of the foreign immigrants is from Pakistan and India. Over one million Pakistani and at least 1.5 million Indian immigrants are in Saudi Arabia to earn their livelihood.</b>*

According to official statistics, ten per cent Saudis are jobless. The Saudi government is also trying to create a balance between the local population and foreign immigrants.
It said it will not allow the number of foreigners of each country to cross ten per cent of total immigrants.

<b>According to the broadcast, this means that it will become more and more difficult for the Pakistani and Indian nationals to get new visas to go to Saudi Arabia to earn livelihood.</b>

<b>*</b>Over 80% of the Indians working in Saudi Arabia are Muslims (As India is a Secular Country and since India commenced Diplomatic Relations with Saudi Arabia the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia has always been a Muslim) and possibly in addition nearly 95% of all Bhukhanangadeshis are also Muslims.

As such Saudi Arabia – a Muslim Country – can deport Muslims but India cannot deport the 40 Million or so Illegal Bhukhanangadeshis and Lotastaanis. Jai Secular Bharat. <!--emo&:furious--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Cheers

[Guest]

Unable to view details with photographs, please visit
http://www.hrcbm.org/Kalia/kalia_05-18-4.html

Rampage and attacks have tormented and displaced hundreds of minority families at villages of Kalia Norail: An investigative report from HRCBM The report is submitted by Mr. Sudangshu Mallick, Secretary HRCBM- Khulna on May 22nd, 2004.

Note: Hearing the reports that ruling party cadres went on rampage at Kalia, Narile displacing hundreds of minority families, HRCBM has sent its Khulna chapter to verify the report. The alleged incident took place took placed on 05/06/04 and the reports were published in various daily newspapers.

Please read the translated report that was published on 05/08/04 Daily Janaktha at
http://www.hrcbm.org/NEWLOOK/kalia-05-08-04.html . Fearing backlash hundreds of minority families are living

Help us help them, please make a donation, click on the icon below

Alternatively you can mail us the check at
HRCBM
P.O. Box 5493
Santa Clara, CA 95056-5493
USA
Note: Your donation is tax deductible.

Write to local Administrations
Mr. Farhad Uddin is the DC of Narail district. His phone is 0481- 62301(off),
0481-62302 (resident) and Fax no 0481-62300.

Mr Aktar Ali is the SP of Narail district. His phone is 0481-62412 (off),
0481-62413 (resident) and Fax no 0481-62368.

The Report

Hundreds minority families of Chhota kalia, Kartikpur, Gobindanagar, Sitarampur
and Mirzapur villages do not dare to come back to their own houses after Kalia municipality polls. Most of the people of Hindu community are still absconding from their own houses due to alleged threats on their lives. The community has described their nightmares to HRCBM representatives. They alleged and described
a rein of terror that is unleashed upon the community. Eyewitness described that
who ever wanted to rtuen to their homes has been subject to severe beating and
toll collections. The miscreants allegedly from ruling party are still continually looting and attacking people belonging to minority community. The victims alleged that a ruling party candidate who has lost the local municipality election has unleashed his thugs on minorities.
This investigation was conducted by HRCBM's newly formed Khulna chapter who has spent two days (from May 18 to May 19, 2004) carefully observing the affected
population, taking eyewitness counts and observing the place of occurrence.
The investigation was leaded by Advocate Manoranzan Das, President of HRCBM-Khulna, Mr. Sudangshu Mallick, General Secretary of HRCBM- Khulna, Mr.
Bidhan Dasgupta, organizing secretary of HRCBM-Khulna, a group of journalists
from country's leading newspapers and human rights workers of the district.


Picture (courtesy HRCBM-Khulna): The trail of destruction. A minority house stands in ruins depicting the nightmare the community has endured.


Description

The Kalia municipality polls under Kalia thana in Norail district was held on May 5, 2004. Almost 35% voters of the total voters of 12 villages under Kalia municipality are belonging to minority Hindu community. There were four candidates in the polls. Among them the 4 party alliances (ruling BNP and Jamat-E-Islam alliance) supported candidate was Nawabul Alam and the main opposition party Awami League candidate was Kabirul Huq Mukti. In the polls Awami League candidate has won the election. The defeat in the election has angered the ruling party unit of
Kalia who accused the minority people for the defeat and went on rampage on
the community attacking minorities and trashing and looting their houses on the
night of May 6th, 2004. The first attacked on the houses of minority Hindus at
Gavibda Nagar, Kartickpur, Shitarampur and Chhota Kalia. The ruling party cadres
assaulted and humiliated the minorities, looted and trashed their house and
earthly belongings, demanded toll and threatened them to leave the country. Due to constant threats and apparent failure of the local administration to immediately quail the attacks hundreds minority families left their houses and good number of them are still absconding.


Method of Attack

About 200 to 250 people mostly the ruling party cadres armed with lethal weapons
such as firearms, sword, iron rods and sticks went on rampage at minority localities on the night of May 6th, 2004. Victims alleged they have beaten up every member of minority families including women, children and men. Some witness said, anything that moved in the house of minorities could not escape the wrath of the attackers. Hundreds of people belonging to minority community were injured in
the attacks. The miscreants have looted the belongings of the destitute families and took away utensils of the families, ruined the paddies and basically destroyed
anything and everything in their path. With tearful eyes, minorities described their ordeals to HRCBM representatives hoping for relief and praying for justice. The attacked lasted for three days from May 6th to May 8th, 2004. Reluctant administration watched the rein of terror yet did not come to the rescue of the community. With dismay, beaten and disgraced community members took shelter to relatives in the nearby towns or in the fields or whatever hiding grounds they
find to safeguard them.

Picture (courtesy HRCBM-Khulna): Destitute women describing their ordeals and
praying for "justice". The justice which remain a buzz word for victims and more
of a commodity for criminals in Bangladesh.

The situation after the attack The disgraced and tormented minorities are completely heart broken after several attacks from May 6 to May 8, 2004. Many of them feels they are alienated and state has little regards for the community. Living absconding and feared with further attacks, many of the victims are reluctant to return to their homes (whatever left in ruins). They urged their safety to us as well to the local administration yet local administration has completely failed to provide safety and security to these hapless victims. Fearing attacks on their girls and possibly worst, minorities those who still crunched onto their homestead have sent out grown up girls of the family to the relatives in the town. Those who have business establishment in the locality kept their shatter closed. Empowered by ruling party leaders, miscreants are threatening minorities to leave the country and not to return to the community.

Losing belongings and dignity, the disgraced some of the minorities still crunched to their homestead hoping for compassionate posture from local administration that seems to be missing.


Picture (courtesy HRCBM-Khulna): A group of destitute people describing their
agony and dismay to HRCBM-Khulna hoping for help and justice.

Those victims who have came back to their homestead passing their their days in
utter fear. The destitute begged helped to HRCBM and appealed through us to all
concerned for the help. The miscreants demanded ransom to many of them to live
in the locality. As usual taking the twist of the law, through its loophole, they are
filing cases against minorities accusing the victims as the attackers asserting that
victims has attacked the miscreants. This is nothing new, the same tactics are
used by criminals in various parts of the country. HRCBM's representatives were
charged in a similar case at Nowabganj where hundreds of minorities were subject
to similar crime.

Victims

Almost 25 houses of minorities at Chotta Kalia were damaged by the attacks. Some
of the affected family members with whom HRCBM talked in that village are Krishna Pada Acharjee, Thakur Chand Adhikaree, Bimal Majumdar, Parimal Bishwas, Ashwini Bishwas, Laxmikanta and Akhil. According to eyewitness, a
group of miscreants came in motorcycles and threatened the minority community
of the village prior to the attack on May 7, 2004 and then about sixty miscreants went on rampage in the village, destroying and looting the belongings of
the minorities. The families those who are affected belongs to the following
individuals: Ratan Biswas, Ranazit Biswas, Sanxit Biswas, Shantiram Biswas, Nirod
Biswas, Shman Biswas, Jiten biswas, Shantiram Biswas, Monimohon Roy, Ananda Sardar, Shaman Sardar, Haripada Biswas, Bali Biswas and Kankan Biswas. Apart
from those families there were numerous others who were subject to torture as
well.

Picture (courtesy HRCBM-Khulna): The sure sign of the rampage. A disgraced
minority family tries to put back the looted homestead in order. Their agony and
dismay is surely vissible in the picture.

Nishikanta Biswas of Mirzapur village was beaten and his house was looted. The
houses and shops of Fela sheel and Montu Roy were trashed. Khoka Biswas and his
wife was beaten by hammer. About 20 to 25 houses including Dhiren master and
Mukul Biswas were attacked and were looted at the same village.

The statements from victims Dr. Atul chandra Biswas, son of late Deen Nath Biswas told HRCBM that the miscreants not only attacked his house but also filed case against him at the Kalia police station. Krishona Acharjee asserted that the family members escaped from the house as they were anxious of being victime to attack but the miscrient attack his house. Thakur chand Adhakari, son of Foka Adhakari of Chhoto kalia village said the miscreants beat him and his wife and looted paddy from his house. Bimol Majumdar of the village said the miscreants looted 3 of his cows. A good number of people alleged such kind of inhumane activities on the people of minority community of the area.


Picture (courtesy HRCBM-Khulna): Family of Dr. Atual Chandra Biswas describing their ordeal.

Please note that during these attacks some people of Muslin community those who
are the supporters of Awami League (opposition party) were also attacked after
the polls. Sarowar Sheikh, Mandar, Siddiqur Rahaman and Sheike Abdullah were
attacked and their houses were trashed and looted as well.

Statements of the administration

Mr. Farhad uddin, the District Commissioner of Narail disrict told HRCBM that
the situation is now peaceful. "The people who absconded from their houses have
come back. I went to Kalia and assured the local people about their safety. The
attack was related to municipality election" he added. The superintendent of police of Narail district told HRCBM that the mobilization of police has been increased". Village defense committee has already being formed. Required steps will be taken to keep law and order situation under control." he added. According to SP office sources, some of the miscreants namely Akram, Lalon, Hira, Babu, Zia, Harun, Akram Hossaion and Lablu were arrested till May 19, 2004.

HRCBM's Observation

Although district administration has assured us that they will try to protect the community, yet there was no sign of police activity in the villages during our visit. Since the attackers belonging to ruling party, police and local administration seems to have much reluctant to take drastic action. In addition to the much in action of the police, officers are taking cases from the miscreants as if victims have attacked the miscreants. As usual, miscreants with unholy alliance of police are using the domestic law inappropriately by further terrorizing the community.

[Guest]

Thoughts for Bangladeshi Islamists and their Followers

By Bishnu Dey

Lately, I am seeing the trend that a great number of Bangladeshis are becoming rabidly anti-Hindu and anti-Indian. Given that there is little interaction between these two nations either good or bad, what is the factor that is driving the Bangladeshi Muslims to be so hateful? I know large numbers of Bangladeshis
come to Kolkata for medical treatment, and also for general tourism purposes and most of them return home with pleasant memories. Kolkata is a liberal city,
and people are not discriminated against on the basis of religion. In fact, West Bengal has a stellar record - at least in the past 30 or so years, Muslims have not been attacked or abused in any manner. Given that West Bengal also has the second largest Muslim population among all the States in India and most of them will concede that they live in harmony with their Hindu neighbors. Kolkata is also the city with the largest concentration of ethnically cleansed Hindus from Bangladesh .

Isn’t it thought provoking that all the 30 or so millions of displaced Hindus from Bangladesh/East Pakistan now live in West Bengal and they harbor no hatred or ill will against the Muslims even when many of their co-religionists across the border destroyed their lives, drove them out of their homes and raped their daughters and wives? On the other hand, the relatively large segment of Bangladeshi Muslim
population which largely benefited from the spoils left over from the Hindu Khetao (elimination) movement, are so viciously anti Hindu and anti Indian. This is even more remarkable given that India sacrificed a lot in assisting Bangladesh acquire its independence. I conclude from this that a large segment of the Bangladeshi population is falling prey to the Islamists and their propaganda. Now, there is a difference in being a Muslim and an Islamist. It would not be presumptuous to make this distinction that while there might be a billion plus Muslims in the world, yet the Islamist accolade is only deserved by the most “learned” among them, who have been able to miraculously develop a 7th century Arabian Bedouin mindset living in the 21st century world.

This is why when Islamist bigots unload their filth in forums and spew their venom, it is difficult to remain silent and not protest. Recently there was a piece written by an Islamist who identified himself as an atheist, had the audacity to call the Hindus cowards because they left their land of birth and migrated to India, to save the modesty of their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters from the attacks of the Islamist goons. Also we need to ponder what makes the 150 Million Bangladeshis to remain mum and just casually ignore the horrible crimes day after day, month after month and year after year. Isn’t there an element of hypocrisy when large segments of the same Bangladeshi population clamor to be known for their “tolerance” and their “secularism”? Who will give an answer to this?

These same Bangladeshis are not only vocal against the USA and the western democracies, but are actively participating in every conceivable manner to systematically misinform the average people into believing that the people in the west are lacking in family values, to the extent that entire societies are perverted. This propaganda is so intense now that a large segment of the Bangladeshi Muslims have accepted that as a truth and have fallen in line with the overall direction set by the Islamists spearheaded by the Jamati Islamists and segments of the BNP.

Whether one likes or not, the USA is the only super power today. It achieved that status by not chanting the vicious hate-filled Jihadi suras, but through hard work and perseverance of the people. If one does not know, let it be told that this country is what it is because the ordinary Americans are not only hard-working, but they are honest and they follow the rule of law. These are the attributes lacking in most non-western countries, and countries like Bangladesh which ranks above all others in corruption. One the one hand, they pretend to be pious Mosque going people, while at the same time indulging in the worst form of deception and corrupt practices. Unfortunately, this culture is equally pervasive in all the Muslim countries and among Muslims all over the world in general.

I need to make a statement here before I go any further and exempt my personal friends who were born into Muslim families, but have been able to dissociate themselves from the inherently violent teachings of the Koran against people of other faiths and denominations. I also believe that there are many honest and hard working Muslim believers who live by the rule of law, i.e. the law of the civility and follow the policy of live and let live; but increasingly more and more Muslims are falling into the Islamist trap and becoming victims of their hatred and rage. I would sincerely like to believe that most Muslims are not infected with this virus of hatred, but some lingering doubt tells me that there is some inherently mysterious elements that is built within the Islamic mindset that makes many believe that somehow they are Allah’s chosen children, and only they deserve to enjoy all the gifts of this earth, the rest of us are all “hallable”.

The other characteristic widely seen in among the Muslims is the insatiable desire for land. I do not understand why it is that Muslims when in any considerable concentration always demand that the entire domain become theirs. It is first through coercion that they try to drive away the people who don’t belong to the Muslim clan, failing that, they engage in what we know as holy jihad, as prescribed in their holy book.

A glance into history will give us numerous examples in support of my observation. First, Mr. Mohammed and his clansmen overran the Jewish settlements surrounding Mecca and Medina , then after that the brutal invasie gene pool continued to affect the rest of the mankind through often brutal and barbaric blood thirsty lust. They never spared anything that crossed their paths, and history is replete with untold chapters of Islamic barbarism, which spread from as far as Spain in the west, to the Philippines in the east.

The success of the Muslim conquerors was mainly attributable to the ability of their warriors to unleash violence of the dimensions unknown to most human beings in those times. Only Chengis Khan could match the violence level displayed by the Muslims, and not surprisingly was able to create an empire extending from Mongolia to Eurasia . Islam induced violence as a psychological tool was a novelty in the era, and no other society was prepared to handle this scourge, because violence sanctioned by religion was an unknown factor to the rest of the humanity. It is only after the invention of the gun that the psychological superiority of using sword as a tool to spread Allah’s message, came to a stop. As more societies learned the use of explosives and gunnery, they became adept in self defense, and slowly violence was met with opposing violence, abruptly halting the progress of Islamic invaders. Since then, all or most of the land captured by Islamist forces have either been reclaimed by the original owners as in Spain , in other parts of Europe, and India .

The current Jihad unleashed by the Muslims is an effort to revert to their glory days. Unfortunately, the Muslims of today are not brave as their predecessors, nor are they smart. The centuries of inbreeding and indoctrination by the illiterate Mullahs made most of the Muslims ignorant and unprepared for meeting the challenges of modern society. The Muslims who have been able to break out from the shroud of Islamic darkness are the ones who have some of the necessary ingredients to survive the challenges of this era.

Unfortunately, very large segments of the Muslim society continue to believe that the great Allah will intervene and give them back their glory days when they will be the rulers of the world. This inherent desire in the hearts and souls of most Muslims appear to be caused by the illness that is spread by the virus named “Islam”. Afflicted by this dreaded disease, the average Muslim heavy with the high dose of “Umma-ism” can see nothing else but atrocity upon them all over the world. Not for once do the Muslims or their leaders introspect on what is the cause of the lack of progress and development of Islamic societies all over the world.

Barring a few Arab states with oil wealth, Turkey and Malaysia to some extent, no other Muslim country has little to boast of with respect to quality of life aspects. It might be pointed out that even a country like Iran which has vast oil resources can hardly claim to have a respectable society, given the fact that Islamic indoctrinated Mullahs run the country and has admirably transformed a thriving nation under the Shah regime into a middle age Mullatantra.

It is rather ironic that these same die hard Islamic adherents are the ones who do everything to first find shelter in the western countries, and waste no time in importing the misery back upon them by re-embracing the very elements that gave them nothing but pain and suffering of Islam induced tyranny. Given the social environment of human rights, tolerance and secularism, this new brand of pests soon enough infiltrate into the host’s systems and create conditions uncomfortable for most of them. Being civilized and tolerant, they (the host population) accept most of the demands first as minor irritants, only through such circumstances as was exemplified by the destruction of the WTC on 9/11, and recently in Madrid . People of no other religious or social denomination display hatred of this dimension against their hosts, which I am afraid, originate from the only source of Muslim spiritualism, their holy “kitab”.

The Arab-Israel conflict is an extension of the desire for Islamic hegemony by the Muslims. Despite strenuous objections by the Arabs, the land of Israel was returned to the rightful claimants, the Jews. It is an irreversible reality and unfortunately, the Arabs are unwilling to accept this reality. Yes, as a result some Palestinians had to give up the rights to the land that they considered to be theirs.
Demographic realignment of this nature has other precedents and the formation of Pakistan is a prime example. Hundreds of millions of Hindus were displaced from their land, and they started their new lives with nothing but hope and desire to start over. All of them bear nostalgic memories of their land of birth, but few begrudge their ill fate. They accepted the reality and moved along with their lives. The same is not true of the paltry Palestinians. Most of them clung to their die hard faith and even more vengeful dream of evicting the Jews from Israel and reoccupying their homeland. One can argue that given the vast expanses of the Arab world most of the Palestinians could have easily been integrated in any Arab land of their choice, especially when the land to population ratio is comparably large. Neither the Palestinians nor their fellow Arabs embraced one another, despite their common ethnicity, religion and their “Umma” centric faith in the brotherhood of Muslims.

It may be pointed here that not one single Arab land barring Jordan showed any sympathy towards their Palestinian brothers, and for all practical purpose shunned them. Even in Jordan , King Hussain ordered the slaughter of thousands of Palestinians, I believe in 1968. The story is same following the return of the emir of Kuwait after the victory by the US lead coalition force in 1991, when thousands of Palestinians were killed, and all of them driven away from the land. It is ironic that the Palestinians were probably the most secular among the Arabs, and were also the most educated and successful people. They throve in banking, trade and in technological fields where fewer Arab Muslims succeeded. It is only up to speculation as to why the neo rich Arab states in the 70’s accepted tens of millions of non-Muslim immigrants from all the countries of Asia , yet was reluctant to accept their own Palestinian brethrens. Is there some secret regarding the Palestinians that we are unaware of, or were the Palestinians victims of their secularism and their own successes?

Getting back to the thought, it was Egypt , Jordan and Syria which attacked Israel in 1967. Despite early successes, the Arabs eventually had to bite the dust and lose their face following their humiliating defeat. Defeat came with a price, the loss of valuable real estate, which is so endearing to each Muslim soul. It becomes much more painful when the Kuffir Jews are the victors and the faithful believers the vanquished! The great Allah, who once saved the believers by sending a flock of stone-throwing ravens, this time around sided with the hated Jews. Ironic how such a small population of 3 or so million Jews could destroy the Allah invigorated Islamic Jihadis 15 times more numerous than them! The “wise” Anwar Sadat quickly understood his predecessor, Nasser’s folly and offered the olive leave to Menachim Begin’s and regain the lost land of Sinai Peninsula . Syria and its dictator Assad pleaded, begged, threatened to regain control over Golan Heights , but never succeeded. Gaza strip is Palestine territory, but is under Israeli control. My free-thinking soul says that Israel ought to return the captured land to the Palestinians. At the same time it is understandable why the Israelis are apprehensive of the violence prone Islamic population which surrounds them from all sides. Die hard Islamists should accept the fact that they cannot regain the lost land by acts of violence, and the only way they can succeed in getting some of their land and respectability back is through dialogue.

Israel today is a mighty military power, and the Arabs are a rag-tag bunch of losers. The money they earned from oil wealth they squandered through massive
corruption of their leaders and politicians, who plundered as much as they could and invested most of it in real estate ventures in western countries apart from secret Swiss bank accounts. Arabian states are dysfunctional and in most cases failed states. Their leaders intoxicated the masses with massive dose of Islamic opium, constantly bickering with one another over petty issues. In the vast landscape of Arab world, Saddam Hussain, Hafiz Assad, King Hussain, Moamar Gaddafi, King Abdallah, Hosni Mobarak, Yasser Arafat are the leaders! Given this galaxy of such “stalwarts” that lead the Arab masses, is it surprising that the results of their collective (mis)rule culminate in the evolution of dysfunctional societies, whose only salvation is jihad?

<b>The million dollar question is why so many Bangladeshis still care for the Arabs and their culture, especially in lieu of the culture they are a part of, which as a Bengali I think is light years ahead of what the 7th. Century Bedouins have to offer? What is it that makes them look up to the Arabs, and turn away from the teachings and the contributions of shining Bengali stalwarts like Ishar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chatterjee, Raja Ram Mohon Roy, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Vivekananda, Paramahangsha Dev, Rishi Arobindo, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray, Jagadish Bose, Meghnad Saha, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindra Nath Thakur et. al. just to name a few</b>?

http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/BishnuDey40526.htm

[Guest]

Commies and Cong will welcome Bangladeshi in India as votebank.
They are spreading allover India .

[G.Subramaniam]

The only way to prevent BD illegals is to raise hindu fertility and prevent a demographic vacuum

[Guest]

G.Subramaniam,
Convert them to Hinduism is better option.

[Guest]

<b>Illegal Migration into Assam by Bangladeshi</b> <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<b>The neighbour in my house</b>- By Lt. Gen. Vinay Shankar (Retd)

For obvious reasons, the flavour of the coming month is going to be prescriptions. The new government is in place and most of us would like to offer unsolicited advice on what it should be doing aware that those in the decision-making loop perhaps know more of the subject than we do. The problem is that frequently the impulse to offer advice is irresistible.

On the security and foreign policy fronts, the emphasis seems to be on neighbours. Especially China and Pakistan. The problem in both these instances is the time at which the transfer of responsibility is taking place. The dialogue process initiated a while ago has already traversed some distance from a given standpoint and the responsibilities are being inherited midstream. The difficulties that thus arise, stem from the existence of differing perspectives. If there was total congruence of positions the negotiations could proceed without the pace of discussions having to slow down or having to change course. But the statements being made reflect, albeit not directly, that course corrections may be necessary. The postponement (wholly avoidable whichever way one looks at it, should have been scheduled for a later date) of the discussions on nuclear confidence building measures (CBMs) with Pakistan is a pointer in this direction.

Trashing what has transpired would be unwise and reflect a lack of maturity. The genius would lie in maintaining the momentum and direction of the peace process with Pakistan and the border negotiations with China and yet manipulating positional changes — if there are any — with such subtlety that they go unnoticed. The importance of conveying continuity of national policies — foreign and defence — does not need reiteration.

It was on the question of neighbours that an interesting comment was made recently by a senior bureaucrat, someone whose responsibilities include analysing and assessing the contours of our relationship with our neighbours. The point he made was that while the country’s focus has been on the threat from Pakistan and maybe China, the more serious threat to India today was from Bangladesh. If we think about it, there is considerable merit in his observation. The danger need not always be from powerful militaries with their tanks, guns, missiles, fighter aircraft or bombers. There are other evidently innocuous yet equally potent means through which a country’s security can be imperilled. Bangladesh is a classic example of how and from where such threats can manifest themselves. Whether unintended or by design, the menace is a reality and only a viewer with blinkers will not see the deeper and more complex threat that Bangladesh poses.

Estimates suggest that approximately 20 million Bangladeshis have clandestinely entered India over a period of time. Individually these people may be poor and harmless but collectively (even if they might be dispersed in pockets across the length and breadth of the country, Intelligence Bureau estimates approximately 10 lakhs in Delhi alone) they can have a serious destabilising influence. Migratory people uniformly pose this problem in the host country across the world. Till the numbers are below certain thresholds, humanitarian sensitivities prevail over issues of job losses and the changing demographic base. But once the numbers cross levels that can endanger the as it is fragile, social, religious and political balance as it has been happening in our context, the alarm signals ought to go up. Some warning bells have been sounded from time to time, but true to our national reputation of being a soft state, the Central and affected state governments’ (Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram) response has been that of either denial or limited to simply acknowledging awareness of the problem. That we have not yet been provoked into specific action even if it is limited to containment, suggests that the gravity of the issue has not yet fully registered.

In our dealings with Bangladesh it appears that we quite often forget that while the country may be new but its inhabitants have not changed, inhabitants who had traditionally viewed India as enemy country. Secondly, it could be that from Bangladesh’s perspective our assistance in their liberation was not because of a sense of compassion for its people but because we wanted to dismember Pakistan. Hence, interaction with that country on the basis of the belief that we have done it a good turn, is inevitably going to rebound. Thirdly, it would be sensible to recognise Bangladesh’s apprehension (legitimate in her perception) that its big Hindu neighbour’s next ambition could well be to undo the partition of 1947.

Therefore, what does Bangladesh do to counter the threat from India? The first answer is to join Pakistan in working aggressively towards keeping India destabilised. The ISI had since the Fifties laid the base for support to insurgents in the Northeast. Now the DGFI is building up on that base with the cooperation and help of the ISI to expand the reach, extent and level of support. Consequently, virtually all insurgent groups in that region have sanctuaries in Bangladesh. Simultaneously, the government has chosen to remain unmindful of the terrorist organisations and networks that have made Bangladesh their hub. A careful scrutiny of recent intelligence reports would reveal that in the last two to three years Bangladesh appears to be emerging as the new epicentre of global terrorism. Besides its home-grown terrorist outfits, the Al Qaeda and its affiliates are lodged there. So are most of the Pakistani militant and terrorists groups as also the spawns of the Taliban. The cocktail there, potentially, is extremely lethal. The discovery of nuclear fissile material being smuggled into that country corroborates this assessment; clearly, some terribly sinister developments are in the offing from within that country. A recent report brought out by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service highlights the extent of terrorist activities taking place in Bangladesh. It is indeed quite revealing.

Like Pakistan, Bangladesh also chose to bolster its image of "self" by emphasising religion. It declared itself an Islamic state and sought to foster friendly relations with all other Islamic nations. Stress on Islam led to heightened intolerance pervading its society. Consequently, we witness the persistent persecution of minorities. The population of Hindus, also Buddhists, has as a result reduced to a small fraction of what it was (from 70 lakhs to now about 10 lakhs) when Bangladesh gained its independence. Even Christians are routinely subjected to ostracism through employment denial and other discriminatory practices.

Levels of poverty and illiteracy in Bangladesh are high. The poor and the uneducated are gullible to religious fanaticism. Unfortunately, successive governments in Bangladesh have done little to curtail the activities of the fundamentalists. On our part we have been patient and tolerant of the Bangladesh government’s position in the belief that politically it would be inexpedient for any government to act differently. But the situation progressively worsens with Bangladesh showing scant respect for our concerns. Our pleas for action against the ULFA, the Naga and other insurgent groups taking refuge in Bangladesh continue to be ignored. Similarly, when we draw attention to the terrorist groups operating from within that country the response is that of complete denial. We may recall the frustrating experience of our director general, Border Security Force when he visited Dhaka recently.

After 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and because of the discriminatory facets of the war against terror, there is increasing ferment in the Islamic world. At the global level the situation is potentially explosive. We would be horribly myopic if we ignored the possibility of India also being a target country. If we juxtapose this danger to our inherently unstable social order the seriousness of the threat to us becomes clearly identifiable.

We therefore can no longer afford drift. Bangladeshis need "Lebensraum" and simultaneously its leadership is only too happy to aid and assist our political system as it stoops to exploit religion and caste to serve its purpose. The ongoing demographic invasion from Bangladesh must stop. Given the terrain, the length of the international border (in excess of 4,000 kms) and the distribution of population astride it, the problem is not confined to mere policing. It has a complex human dimension to it. But that should not deter us from taking action. There would inevitably be pressures when we begin to move, but once having charted a pragmatic and fair course of action we must remain firm.

It is time we relegated all other bilateral issues with Bangladesh to second place. The first objective should be to reduce the porosity of the border, conscious that it would be impracticable to completely dam the flow. But it can definitely be reduced to a prostate trickle. If India is to shine all over, this is one important step that must be taken.

Lt. Gen. Vinay Shankar can be contacted at rekhavinayshankar@hotmail.com

[G.Subramaniam]

Muslims breed faster than can be converted
It would help if high caste BJP voting businessmen and housewives stop hiring BD illegals

[G.Subramaniam]

So the only way to stop this is to prevent a demographic vacuum by raising hindu fertility to 5

<b>A DANGEROUS request from Bangaldesh to friendly UPA </b>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<b>Bangladesh for stopping border fencing </b>

29 May 2004: The Indian foreign office has been alerted to a strange and dangerous request which could emanate from the Bangladesh foreign minister, Mohammed Morshed Khan, who his beginning his visit to India tomorrow, which is to cease fencing the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Over a third of the 4,894-kilometre India-Bangladesh border has been fenced, including some of the most “sensitive stretches”, and the remaining work will take till 2007.

Foreign-office officials expect Morshed Khan to argue with the Indian side, considering the Congress-led alliance government to be more “friendly” than the previous NDA regime, that fencing will create chaos in Bangladesh because it will hurt border “trade”, which is a euphemism for mainly cattle smuggling.

Bangladesh has become the second-largest meat exporter after Pakistan in South Asia, and most of the cattle it slaughters to sell to the lucrative Middle-East markets is smuggled from India.

The foreign office asked for inputs for a response to Morshed’s expected request, and the intelligence agencies have painted back a grim picture of border arms- and drug-smuggling, training and movement of jihadis, and a flood of illegal migrants.

As many as fifty-five major cases of arms- and drug-smuggling have been reported on the Indo-Bangladesh border in 2003-2004, not including Bangladesh’s biggest haul of weapons in Chittagong Port recently meant for the ULFA.

Besides, terrorist-training camps on the Bangladesh side of the border have risen to 195, training being imparted both to jihadis and to North-East terror outfits like the ULFA, National Liberation Front of Tripura, and so on, in addition to a flourishing racket in faking Indian currencies, masterminded by Pakistanis operating out of Dhaka.

Illegal migration from the Bangladeshi side has also stepped up, with reports of Bangladeshi junior-school teachers taking up assignments in Assam because of the locals’ resistance to be posted to far-flung or flood-prone areas, and Bangladeshi junior teachers presently in the state number 12,000.

Bangladesh’s objections to fencing were disregarded by the NDA government, which also went ahead with border floodlighting, but Bangladesh expects the present government to be more sympathetic, and so far, the Union home ministry has not committed its position to Morshed’s perceived request.

[Guest]

<b>40 Bangladeshis held near Kolkata </b>
Saugar Sengupta/ Barasat

The Bengal police on Monday came in the way of a group of Bangladeshi nationals - seeking a passage to India - and foiled yet another attempt at crossing the border and melting in the Indian crowd. In one of the biggest raids in recent times, the North 24 Parganas police on Monday arrested a bus load of Bangladeshi infiltrators from Madhyamgram, 20 miles off Kolkata.

The intruders, all from Nanpur village of Jessore in Bangladesh, had bribed their way into India and had entered the country crossing the Bongaon border, North 24 Parganas police said. A league of about 40 intruders were arrested near Madhyamgram, while they were travelling in a local bus.

<b>They had boarded the bus from Machlandpur near Bongaon and "were going to Howrah station to catch a Mumbai-bound train," the police added</b>.

"Abject poverty has brought us to this country... We have no land in Bangladesh and have often to go hungry. Our neighbours, many of whom are in Mumbai, asked us to migrate to that city where life is much smoother," said Tudul Islam, one of the Bangladeshis arrested in the raid.

The intruders, who had paid Rs 1,000 each for a safe passage to Kolkata, cursed the agents who had "promised to take us to Howrah station but deserted us at Bongaon border," said a friend of Tudul.

<b>"Earlier they used to charge Rs 500. But they asked us to pay 500 more as the BSF had become more vigilant these days," </b>Asma Khatun, who also hails from Nanpur village and has borrowed heavily from moneylenders to earn a better future in India's commercial capital.

According to a rough estimate, over 20,000 people cross over to this country only via North 24 Parganas, said a senior district official on conditions of anonymity adding, "it often becomes difficult for us to track them down for want of lead from the BSF."

In fact, feel the locals, the constant competition between the BSF and the police has led to a lack of coordination between the two forces resulting in infiltration in such a large number.

Meanwhile, following reports of terrorists sneaking into Kolkata, the cops have alerted the residents of the city to remain vigilant and inform the police about new faces seeking tenancy.

<b>"We have reports only about some terrorists. We do not even know whether they are Northeast militants or Islamists or the Naxalites.</b> They are in a desperate need of shelter to give shape to their evil designs and could even come in the garb of executives of multinational companies. So we have asked the residents to inform us if new faces appear seeking tenancy," said the DC headquarters.

[Guest]

<b>Let's not talk ISI: Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Buddhadev</b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<b>BANGLADESH MISPERCEIVES NEW INDIAN GOVERNMENT’S FOREIGN POLICY THRUST</b>: An Analysis
by Dr. Subhash Kapila