Dr. Yunus and PM Hasina
The hidden tension between Dr. Yunus and the PM is well known. Dr. Yunus usually does not make political speeches. Other than his infamous ‘Grade A’ to Dr. Yajuddin, or some speeches in the early days of the caretaker government, he hasn’t said much publicly on politics lately. That’s why this little news on the back page of Prothom Alo looked interesting. Olive branch from the old prof?
বঙ্গবন্ধু হত্যা মামলার রায়ে ড. ইউনূসের সন্তোষ প্রকাশ
বঙ্গবন্ধু হত্যা মামলায় সুপ্রিম কোর্টের রায়ে সন্তোষ প্রকাশ করেছেন শান্তিতে নোবেলজয়ী মুহাম্মদ ইউনূস। এক বার্তায় তিনি বলেন, ‘রায় শুনে আমি খুশি। যারা এ জঘন্য হত্যাকাণ্ড ঘটিয়েছে, অবশেষে তাদের শাস্তি হলো।’ গত শুক্রবার ওই বার্তায় মুহাম্মদ ইউনূস আরও বলেন, একটি জাতিকে এগিয়ে যেতে হলে অবশ্যই আইনের শাসন ও ন্যায়বিচারের প্রতি অবিচল থাকতে হবে এবং এ প্রক্রিয়া অব্যাহত রাখতে হবে।
Ask not how many times he has demanded punishment of the killers in the last 34 years.
Tags: Dr. Yunus
Our political establishment have failed miserably in using Dr. Yunus’ international clout. Dr. Yunus has personal access to leading figures in the international political and business arena, figures like Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and many in the US House and Senate are his personal friends. Many Middle eastern leaders respect him as a “muslim” noble laureate.
I can’t think of another person who can contribute more to Bangladesh’s cause then Dr. Yunus. He would have been an excellent president and in this role could have represented Bangladesh in many countries effectively and would have been courted by many foreign leaders.
Prime minister Hasina should bury the hatchet and show pragmatism and use Dr. Yunus as our representative in the world stage and also appoint him as a general adviser to the government.
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Raihan Reply:
December 9th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Here is Dr. Yunus’s vision. I have no problem with his ideas. I think they may prove good for the region. However, he is not in politics. If he was he would have never said this.
It is easy to criticise our politicians and we should criticise them. But, I wonder how these intellectuals would perform if they were to run government and politics.
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jyoti Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Raihan, these intellectuals did have a chance to run government and poltics in 2007-08. They performed miserably. I don’t know about you, but I would gladly choose Hasina/AL over them.
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Microcredit, like Multi Level Marketing (MLM), has improved the lot of a few, depriving the overwhelming majority.
Its no wonder that Dr. Yunus has expressed satisfaction at the verdict though none can recall him demanding punishment to the killers.
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a arzu – well said. BD politics is so divisive (creates division), that rivalry is more dominant than nationalism. Not so in India – where national figures are nationally & internationally promoted, by ALL parties, to promote India, underline promote.
Advani or Manmohan does not create rivalry with nobel winner Amartya Sen, cos Amartya is seen as a national symbol for bringing worldwide fame & fortune to India. Nor do Indian masses EXPECT Amartya Sen to make comments (or not make) about Gandhi family, good bad or ugly – and if he does , so what!
In BD that concept of Ambassadorizing a Nobel Winner by Hasina, Khaleda, President or Ministers is totally lacking. If possible they would prefer to send Yunus to Guantanamo or Afgahnistan, either for MAKING a comment about govt success, or NOT making a comment. This political rivalry against a national symbol in BD creates CYNICISM among the Public, instead of PROMOTING the national icon for international image of BD, our people prefer to poke the icon with trivia.
This total national ignorance of national self-image and publicity building, BD needs to learn from India, China or Thailand. BD will go nowhere by pulling its national (non-political) icons down to the ground.
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jeishei Reply:
November 25th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Amartya Sen does not teach/live/run an NGO with a great grassroots network in India. Nor has he ever tried to enter Indian politics. He understands that a Nobel comes from a select committee in Sweden, not the Indian masses votes. As much as we blame the political establishment for “not using Yunus’ international stature” (and honestly, what more could they have done?), let us reserve some blame for Yunus’ inept use of his post-Nobel prestige.
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what’s the back story?
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I have noticed leftist journalists of UV always try to find conspiracy or intension in Dr Yunus speech which is quite unfathomable to me. I think the leftist or rightist need to understand this universal truth that, BD is not all about AL, BNP and their supporters. There are still some good and talent people like Dr Yunus who can think above the dirty politics of AL, BNP and keep doing there good job for the country. That is why he was selected for the Noble Prize.
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Its futile to compare Dr. Yunus with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina is a popularly elected democratic head of the state. The PM’s stature is much higher and her contribution in national development is far greater than that of Yunus or any other donor-backed character.
Dr. Yunus tried to launch a political party along with Akbar Ali Khan but failed miserably. Dr. Yunus relies mostly on donor money and promotion by the one-sided international media to turn him into a pseudo-leader. Lately, we are seeing backlash against privately-owned media trying to influence public opinion in Latin America.
Since we have democracy I will bet on Hasina for Bangladesh’s progress and prosperity. Yunus is a creation of the international vested interest group that were behind the wasted two years of a thoroughly incompetent Fakruddin government. Yunus is a dubious character. He not only highly praised a shameless person like Eazuddin but also has a staunchly anti-Awami League bias.
Has he ever spoken against the August 15, 1975 massacre of the Founder of Bangladesh or pressed his foreign mentors to deport the killer fugitives hiding in Western and other capitals? Instead he has never forgotten to wish Khaleda Zia happy birthdays on her fake AUGUST 15 birthday!
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ahmed Reply:
November 26th, 2009 at 3:17 am
Kholasha kore bolben ki, what good things your desh netri Hasina/khaleda did so far since 1991 apart from making money for themselves? Dr Yunus er moto lokera apnar amar moto shudhu politics niye thakte like korennaa ebong tader mulloban shomoy opochoy korenna. Politics niye thakleto uni Nobel prize ti kivabe orjon korten bolunto dekhi?
Ekjon manush AL or Mujib k support na korley ki kharap hoye jai, ei odvut theory kotha theke pelen? Boroy jante ichcha hochche…opek-khai thaklam apnar oti mulloban reply er jonno.
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Don’t forget that Yunus was the person who resolutely supported the illegitimate, unconstitutional and undemocratic government of Fakruddin. It is only through ‘unconstitutional’ gate people like Yunus can lay claim to power.
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A arzu Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 7:31 am
So Did an absolute majority of Bangladeshis in the early stages of post 1/11
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jeishei Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
An “absolute” majority? As in 75 million+1, at least, including babies, under-18s and grannies in Bhola who don’t give a damn?
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ahmed Reply:
November 29th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Yes, absolute majority. Except BNP and JI supporters….all AL supporters and aam jonota. Now you count the voteres, then you’ll get your answer.
Roushan Reply:
December 1st, 2009 at 11:32 am
In that case Bangladeshis would not have kicked the illegitimate power grabbers of of of 2007 out of power and elected AL to power so overwhelmingly. People have
rejected the most corrupt BNP and the pro-BNP Iajuddin blessed dictators
disguised as reformers.
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ahmed Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:06 am
Bujlam vai Apni pro AL supporter, shei-jonno apnake logic diye kichu bojhano jabena baa bujhano uchitna. Logic, Tojic na hoy nai bujhlen, but at least ektu thik kore pore reply korle valo hoto. Eikhane ‘early stage’ support er kotha bola hoyeche. Asha kori ekhon bujhte kono shomoshsha hochchena, hochche ki?
Rifat
There is nothing called unconstitutional and constitutional in Bangladesh anymore. We all are aware what development the illegitimate govt of Fakhruddin did in two years time for BD under the tremendous pressure and we now know what your legitimate govt is doing. We can see Bangladesh is heading to hell because of your constitutional govt’s illegitimate work.
Illegitimate-legitimate, unconstitutional and constitutional words are only fit in books in Bangladesh.
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The Awami League has performed much better than expected in less than a year than any other past governments. It also has strengthened its relations with both China and India and the West. This will have a far reaching positive impact on Bangladesh’s progress in future.
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kgazi Reply:
December 1st, 2009 at 12:42 pm
What has AL performed better than you expected ? Or maybe you didnt expect much anyway ?
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The Awami League the party that led Bangladesh to independence has won a landslide victory in the last elections held in December widey acclaimed by the international press. This was an immaculate election that wiped out over 10000000 (1 crore) fake voters enlisted by one of the most corrupt governments in history, i.e., the BNP led war criminal infested government of Khaleda Zia and her corrupt sons. Their assets stashed in foreign bank accounts have already been raided by international anti-terrorist organisations because of BNP-Jamaat’s direct links withforeign and homegrown Islamic terrorist organisations. I am sure there will be more scandalous revelations about the Zia family soon. Bangladesh was a free haven for Afghan Taliban fighters during Khaleda Zia’s rule in alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami whose many members will be tried for war crimes soon. The latest issue of the ECONOMIST has made scathing remarks about the corrupt practices of Khaleda Zia and her sons.
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The Awami League after its sweeping win in the elections has done a spectacular job in less than a year than any other previous elected governments. I do not want to mention the unelected governments including Zia and Ershad (they will hardly be recorded in history as anything positive for Bangladesh) as I despise them.
In comparison after the 2001 elections BNP unleashed unbridled terror on the opposition AL and especially targeted minorities. The failure of the August grenade attack on Hasina was the turning point when BNP’s actual intentions to convert Bangladesh into a fundamentalist terrorist state was registered in the minds of our foreign friends. Otherwise, Khaleda Zia like her dictator husband would have never rehabilitated and aided the assassins of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family in 1975 and allied with the dreaded war criminals JAMAAT-E-ISLAMI of Bangladesh.
The economy has not done as bad as the rest of the world.
Fiscal discipline is being tightly ensured.
The stock market is upbeat.
Foreign investors are slowly but surely coming to Dhaka.
Positive steps are being taken to address Dhaka’s traffic jams including building of elevated expressways and tubes and enforcement of strict traffic rules and regulations.
Foreign reserves stand at a record $10 billion based on trust of the people working abroad on nothing but a healthy and flourishing democracy at work at home.
The Hill Tracts are bouncing back to life.
The AL has not hit back with the venom and vengeance that she had to endure from BNP in 2001 onwards.
Foreign terrorists hiding in Bangladesh and local miscreants are being apprehended on a daily basis.
And many many more!!!
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That’s a nice work, Nazneen. Even if one refuses to agree that it is a remarkable list, it is definitely a reasonable one. The steps taken by AL so far, despite the usual internal resilience and the unsuspecting mischiefs (such as the BDR killing) which always is targeted for this party ( consider how many attacks and killings were targeted at BNP… does that say something?), is quite positive. People like kgazi are so venomously anti-AL, its a pity, they fail to see that there may be one party with some national vision in mind.
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kgazi Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 4:03 am
“People like kgazi are so venomously anti-AL, its a pity, they fail to see that there may be one party with some national vision in mind.”
———–
Akash, sorry I dont worship any political party (or person), neither BNP nor AL nor JI, so if my anti-corruption comments sound ‘venomous’, thats because I see the INJUSTICE in leadership, admin and nation-building. But blind-love for political party, or personal attack against me, will not reduce my ‘venom’ against injustice & corruption.
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1. Ahbab Aziz: To compare micro-credit to multi-level marketing seems a little over-stated, don’t you think?
2. Reaz A: Are you sure about the August 15 birthday greetings? I didn’t know this, and would appreciate a citation, if possible. In addition, what is your basis for the statement that Yunus has a staunch anti-AL bias?
3. All AL fans on this thread: Please note that if not for 1/11 and Fakhruddin et al, there would have been no December 2009 elections and we most likely would have had fraudulent elections on Jan 22, 2007 which would have set the BNP in illegitimate power from which they could not be removed.
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tacit Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 7:43 am
You can dangle that bogeyman as long as you like, but the gigantic scam that was 1/11 has fewer and fewer defenders left nowadays. I guess Daily Star is still harboring most of them.
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Zafar Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
oh really, tacit? so tell me, what do you think would have happened in the absence of 1/11?
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tacit Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
We probably disagree about what would have happened in the absence of 1/11. But even if I accept your hypothesis for the sake of argument, that BNP would have held another opposition-less election, and this time without the excuse of having to pass a constitutional amendment, then that would be twice they would have done so within one decade. Khaleda Zia’s image was much cleaner in 1996, and even then, a sham election proved to be her undoing. The consequences would have been much more severe this time around. The BNP leadership, including Khaleda Zia and Tareq Rahman, would have been thoroughly discredited, and BNP would have gone the way of Muslim League in the 1950s. Center-right politics in BD would have gotten a fresh start under some other leadership.
And all this could have been achieved through the political process and people power, instead of army intervention and meddling by civil society dilettantes and foreign diplomats. Our army wold not have had its image tarnished by allegations of torture and extortion. The BDR massacre would not have taken place or handled differently.
At some point, when talking about what may have been, it becomes sheer speculation. You may think everything I mentioned is speculation and would have never happened. However, I think those who implemented 1/11 did so out of a paternalistic attitude that goes against the very grain of our democratic fundamentals.
kgazi Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 6:07 am
tacit,
“the very grain of our democratic fundamentals” starts and ends in *election*, after that we have no democ fundamentals. In that respect, not much changed before 1/11 and after 1/11:
1) We have a parliament with one party inside, like a monarchy.
2) We have a system corrupt to the bones, that alone voids democ fundamentals
3) we have polit parties which follow no democ principles
What CTG -1/11 achieved was prevention of a catastrophic STREET FIGHT (riots) between AL & BNP followed by martial law in 1/11, and subsequent rogue governance, whether AL or BNP ‘won’ any 2007 elections.
Also achieved by CTG 1/11 is a much-more disciplined & restrained governance in 2009, with no street HARTALS, and no rampant ministerial arrogance and extortion. But democ fundamentals is still a long way to go.
tacit Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 9:39 am
So military intervention was needed to keep control over unruly political activists?
You know what’s funny? That’s the excuse Pakistani generals always use in their memoirs to justify the 1971 genocide.
kgazi Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 10:31 am
No. Not to keep control over unruly political activists, but to straighten-up unruly political leadership who practice extortion, crime, and fraudulent dynasty politics in the name of ‘democracy’.
To keep control over politicians who
a) sabotage the economy with lagatar hartals,
b) encourage their supporters to logiboitha riots
c) encourage their students to campus terrorism
d) embezzle national revenue with cars, homes & dollars
And totally opposite to Pak Generals, the CTG handed-over their OWN power thru unprecedented “digital elections” to the same (illegitimate) politicians.
Zafar Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
tacit, it’s easy to oppose 1/11 if you blithely assume the (laughably unlikely) scenario that you just laid out.
tacit Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
In that case, please enlighten us. Of course, what you will be outlining will also be a scenario, but I’m curious to know what you think would happen.
Zafar Reply:
December 12th, 2009 at 1:15 am
ok. BNP would have come to power on jan 22 and claimed constitutional legitimacy, cheered on by their lackeys in the media and elsewhere. the argument would have been that they had followed the constitution and that the elections could not be undone. they would have then moved swiftly to consolidate power and ensure that opposition was stamped out. with the security and law enforcement apparatus and judiciary firmly under its control, BNP could simply steam-roller over any opposition. that they would be playing for keeps to destroy AL as a political force cannot be doubted. recall what happened to AL during 2001-2006. recall what happened to BDB when it split from BNP. this was just a taste. BNP has been implicated in the assassinations of both sams kibria and ahsanullah master as well as the august 21grenade attack that killed 22. do you honestly believe this would have stopped had they returned to power? to believe that khaleda and tarique would have been discredited, that the AL would have the power to force the BNP to hold legitimate elections, and that the BNP would have gone the way of the muslim league and paved the way for a fresh start for centre-right politics in BD if not for those meddling army/civil society types is wishful thinking of the highest order.
jyoti Reply:
December 12th, 2009 at 4:01 am
BNP had media lackeys? Really?
I happen to agree with Tacit, but let’s assume that we are wishful thinkers of the highest order. Let’s assume you are right about Khaleda and Tarique steamrolling some form of brutal dictatorship that no one in modern history has been able to impose on Bengal. So 1/11 was necessary. Fine.
Assuming all this for argument’s sake, what exactly did the 1/11 regime need two years and minus-2 for? Your original statement was addressing AL supporters. Why wouldn’t the AL supporter criticise the 1/11 regime for delaying the election so that they could create an anti-AL King’s party? Why wouldn’t they criticise the regime for locking up Hasina and many other AL rank and file?
Zafar Reply:
December 12th, 2009 at 8:21 am
jyoti, yup media lackeys. amar desh, jai jai din, naya diganta, and others. to say nothing of their tv stations and control over btv and radio. as for the chattering classes, remember that bangladeshis love a winner.
as for AL supporters, all i am saying is that, for all its sins, the 1/11 regime did deliver them from an illegitimate BNP government and did administer a fair election that bought AL to power. sure, they can criticize the 2 yrs it took and sure they can be outraged by minus-2, and many other things. where did i say they couldn’t? all i am saying is they need to balance it out with the positive 1/11 did for them and realize that the ultimate result was better for them than had there been no 1/11. on balance, AL were net beneficiaries of 1/11. that is all.
tacit Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Zafar, I’m sure you know all about media lackies.
We can all see how Awami League is conducting the investigation of these cases. You put any individual in remand for ten or fifteen days continuously, they will say whatever you want. And any individual arrested in one of these cases is being implicated in the other cases as well. The result is a travestry of justice. By now, it is clear that the handling of these cases are being politicized to gain political benefit.
As far as I can remember, the trial of Ahsanullah Master’s murder was done during BNP time. In fact, I believe the convict was given bail by the High Court last week, before the Appellate Division stayed the order.
(As an aside, how long will it take Daily Star reporters to realize that the High Court is also part of the Supreme Court? Supreme Court does not stay the High Court orders, the Appellate Division does.)
As for the murder of SAMS Kibria, I believe the government has put seven cases on its list of cases to be reinvestigated as “sensational” cases, and the Kibria murder case was not one of them.
If you’re so sure BNP collectively is behind all these murders, why don’t you write a piece in the Daily Star laying out your evidence. Although, if your piece is anything like the one that Julfiqar Ali Manik wrote about Hawa Bhaban masterminding the Aug 21 attack, maybe it is undertsandable why you do not want to go that route and become a laughingstock.
Beyond this, your arguments go into the same old tired absurdities that have been refuted long ago. The people who ran the 1/11 government were all BNP functionaries; most had been appointed to their post by BNP. So you can’t just reinvent them as agents of change dropped out of the heavens to foil BNP’s dastardly plot.
“AL is net beneficiary of 1/11″ sounds suspicisouly like Ershad’s “AL could never have formed government without 1/11 intervention.” This reading of events takes the gloss off the 2008 elections, and actually, undermines the legitimacy of this government. If I understand correctly, you’re saying that Bangladesh’s largest political party needed an unconstitutional two-year hiatus from democracy to win an election only after the workers and leaders of their main opposition had been jailed, tortured, and harassed continuously for those two years.
zafar Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 9:04 am
my god, is this conversation still going on? what is it with you and your pathological need to get in the last word, tacit? i post a comment re AL and CTG and here i am two weeks later still fending off your dull-witted jibes. (by the way, good one about media lackeys. touche).
anyway. let me address your arguments, such as they are. there is, in fact, plenty of evidence linking bnp to both killings. you may wish to start at http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=8551 for the kibria case and at http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/december/justice.htm for the master case (as well as an account of other bnp misdeeds). but tacit, let me ask you: who do you think was behind the killings and why? unknown assailants? for mysterious and unfathomable reasons? please. and even aside from the killings there is no shortage of evidence for the bnp regime’s misdeeds. tasneem’s ‘prince of bogra piece’ is still the best account of the nature of the regime. you may wish to re-read it (i couldn’t find a link. eds: is it archived somewhere on dp?) you may oppose the CTG for many sound reasons, but please let’s not whitewash the bnp to make the point. as for the legitimacy of the CTG, you have it exactly backward (not for the first time). if the CTG was illegitimate, then so was the election it held. virulent anti-CTG rhetoric actually undermines the legitimacy of the AL government, not the other way round round (my original point). nor does any reasonable analysis (i know this is asking a lot of you) of my words infer that i suggest that AL needed two years of CTG to win an election. they would have won a fair election in 2007 in a landslide, but the CTG was the only way they were going to get one.
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jyoti Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 9:59 am
Huh, Zaf my man, couldn’t one simply say the same thing about you, here back after two weeks, having the same argument about 1/11 with Tacit, trying to have the last word….
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kgazi: The “natural” question “What has AL perfomed better than expected?” is neither reflective of neutrality nor conscientiousness. It already accuses before the crime. The question is also full of a certain rigtheousouness that comes from such declarations that one doesn’t support any party, etc. And one doesn’t become the sole arbiter and monopolizer of justice and anti-corruption activism by merely such declarations. I am not blind to AL either, but I am willing to be patient.
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Akash – if an enquiring question like “what has AL perfomed better than expected?” sounds like “venom” to you, because of the simple reason that you dont have the answer, then you must be blind to AL.
Regardless of my personal rightousness or lack thereof, shouldnt you at least be concerned if AL has REALLY achieved anything this year? or is AL beyond questioning like a religion that cannot be questioned?
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I don’t have a problem with the question worth its time but its your righteous predisposition that brings up a red flag. As to your pre-emptive question, why don’t you respond to Nazneen’s list.
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kgazi Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
You did have a problem with the question, when you saw red flags of ‘venom’ in it !!
And Nazneen’s list is well-complied, however, Bangladesh’s financial and economic sector has been insulated by *pre-existing* banking policies, remittance and current world garment markets – leading to the happy results. Very little of that list is AL’s contribution this year.
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tacit Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I don’t agree with everything in Nazneen’s list, but one achievement of this government that really needs to be highlighted is the betterment in Bangladesh’s image in the West. Bangladesh’s image in the official quarters in all Western capitals have seen a positive change. Getting the US Commission on International Religious Freedom to upgrade Bangladesh was also a very big step.
Looking ahead, I think all these gains will be squandered if the government does not clamp down on extrajudicial killings immediately. It’s one thing for Home Minister Sahara Khatun to claim to the domestic audience that there have been no such killings since the government took power. It’s another thing for Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and our diplomats to face such questions abroad, especially after she and the PM have categorically pledged to ensure such killings do not continue.
However, for now, this positive achievement must be acknowledged.
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kgazi Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Also an important factor needs to be added to Nazneen’s list
- for the first time in BD politics, this year there was NO Opposition HARTAL on the streets. This should have helped the govt to achieve lot more than previous regimes, under more stable conditions.
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jyoti Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
There wasn’t any hartal under emergency either.
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kgazi Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
this year was the first civilian regime with no oppsn Hartal,
CTG emergency wasnt purely civilian.
fugstar Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
well, as masters of anarchy, emotional capitalism and promising the world the league are unsurpassable, locally.
besides, the nationalists have gotten so fat, they are best indoors fanning themselves lest they break a sweat or transform into something better than they were.
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This is true that, AL is a bit better than BNP but this party will trun to BNP No 1 if you don’t raise any question about their dhandabazi?
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To kgazi on the last entry: I am totally puzzled by your position. On the one one hand, you are not for Paki generals, and on the other hand, you make a sweeping, snide remarks on “illegitimate” politicians having gained power through the digital election. What do you want? Who do you seek ? You keep harping on corrupt politicians, not forgetting to make a swipe on logi-boitha , and how 1/11 was a boon. Well, 1/11 was a kind of a boon, and was simply double edged. Like the old Paki policy, it had to put up the image of cleansing and moral upperhand, and that was fine, but it had a dubious plan that did not work out (Moyeeen and his Potato Plan). And I suppose you are totally in the fog how the military apparatus extorted money out of many businessmen and politicians it had arrested and tortured. I thought you were the upholder of human rights and ethical uprightness. I see that you become rather weak kneed when it comes to the military.
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kgazi Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Our govt, the group who runs the nation which we call our home, have established a system where there is NO checks and balance. They control all the national revenue, billions of dollars, while millions of people starve in the streets. And they dont control it very well, do they?, They win Top prizes for most corrupt nation in the world.
What I want should be what we all people ought to want – that there should be checks and balance on HOW, WHEN, WHY, WHERE and WHO make decisions on natiional development, with the limited resources we have, not just for today, but for people’s future.
As the People of the nation, *WE* need to gather together what WE want from the folks who call themselves the Government. It seems we as a collective people are confused what the role of govt is to be, we have conflicting (or very little) expectations from our govt. They are NOT our rulers contrary to popular belief – they are our servants.
PEOPLE in BD have failed to demand a working system from BD politicians, because they have been brainwashed that THIS IS DEMOCRACY, dont argue, dont talk – when it is absolutely not. In the absence of such checks & balance, I see that the military has tried to bring some order in this anarchic, lawless, greedy bunch of politicians. The army until today, is the ONLY checks and balance to oversee politicians, the way BD (and Pak) governance currently operates.
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Akash Reply:
December 12th, 2009 at 4:12 am
That explains it very well, all your gushy, hyperbolic lines about “we” the people boils down to army checking and balancing or democratic behavior. Well, the army has been checking and balancing the nation since its glorious inroad into national polity in the mid 1970s, and if you consider Pakistan, since the mid 1950s. This is a very hackneyed and unsophisticated argument: bring the soldiers on to save the nation! You seem to have an amnesia that we as a nation has been ruled half of our lives by the check and balance army. Look what has happened to Pakistan. All the checks go to the chequered generals, and the people are left with some meager and pathetic balance, Gladly, that has not happened in Bangladesh because the politicians, despite the corrupt cohorts, and a vigilant people, have checked the over-ambitious and generally deceptive generals. And BTW, you have not responded to the torture and extortion regimen of the 1/11 operators.
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kgazi Reply:
December 12th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
There you go, you see? You dont have a single comment on the incompetence of our political system, nor do our politicians have a desire to improve it. We have no comment on what the politicians have actually done themselves to improve the governance of the nation, there is no urgency to fix it, cos people dont challenge them.
All we do is blame the army for ALL the crime, graft, inefficiency, torture, and lack of ‘democracy’ since 1971. The politicians do this blaming, and you agree with them. Just yesterday Hasina made a big speech “the army is to blame for the poverty in our nation”, perfect brain-wash.
But in reality, what has Hasina herself done in entire 2009 to improve BD governance? Has she done anything to improve party democracy, anti-corruption, checks&balance, law&order, parliamentary system, student terrorism etc? Big Answer is NO.
But did Hasina, and WE the people the blame the army for Hasina’s failure? Yes, constantly.
tacit Reply:
December 12th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
KGazi, I think that’s what most of us want for Bangladesh, in some form or other. But we’ll get there in small, incremental steps. Today, it was announced that from next budget there will be block allocations for UZ chairmen. That is really important, because in BD, authority follows money.
It’s fine to get impatient now and then. But don’t lose confidence in the whole system.
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Akash Reply:
December 13th, 2009 at 1:06 am
kgazi: You are a sweeping generalist, its useless to comment on such broad
swipes that we have an incompetent political system (and then you have no
problem in bringing in the army for check and balance… do you see your own
contradiction?), that Hasina has done nothing in the entire 2009. There is no
answer to such vehemence and the long laundry list of “incompetence”. No
one says that the army is the root of all evils. But unlike you, we say that
the army is no “dhoa tulsi pata” if the politicians – which is basically all of
WE – are to be seen as all corrupt. Your problem is you are pretending to be
an ethical centrist, but you have no patience with the present government, you
can’t wait to see the AL government really falter and do all of the above
things that you list. You have already filed the charges, you are just waiting
for the crimes to happen. That doesn’t seem you mean well for the nation
despite your rhetoric for the nation.
kgazi Reply:
December 13th, 2009 at 2:02 am
Akash – since you dislike any comment on the AL govt, you should know their performance, right?
Can you please tell us ANY SOLID ACTION this govt of 2009 has taken so far, to improve party democracy, anti-corruption, checks&balance, law&order, parliamentary system, student terrorism, public vandalism, industrial riots, anything? Lets see how many you can list.
1/11 of course reformed AL in many ways. Jalil lost it miserably. RATS relegated to second division. Sheikh Selim, Sheikh Helal, Hasnat Abdullah, Nasim all in the dressing room as reserve players. May be AL’s upbeat performance has got lot to do with after effects of 1/11.
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kgazi: I didn’t say I dislike any comments against AL, what is peculiar about your position is going after AL no matter what which is displayed by your extensive laundry list for this party while you remain mum about others, especially the 1//11 actors. I have no desire to prove or disprove to you about ANY solid action as I am not an AL apologist, and I am not concerned whether you come to the conclusion that your presumptions are right. You can go and review situations on your own (through various national and international parameters that measure such situations… and have you already forgotten Nazneen’s response here?) and this time with a REAL neutral position, which I can imagine might be already impossible for you. But in brief, despite your catastrophic vision, many key things are off on solid grounds.
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kgazi Reply:
December 13th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Thats exactly the response I predicted from you. Because the current AL govt accomplished absolutely nothing to improve governance in 2009, you could not give an answer on their performance. In fact, it will be difficult to find ANY action our civilian govts have taken to improve ‘democratic’ governance for 20 yrs since 1989.
Not only do they trumpet ‘democracy’ and hold all the powers of legislative, executive, judiciary, defence and economic depts of the nation – they themselves are responsible for the failure of ‘democracy’ in BD. Before blaming the army for all evils, its time our civilian govts did some work themselves to improve Bangladesh.
Here is the PM blaming army:
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/12/09/news0308.htm
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Akash Reply:
December 13th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I have no business to answer your wild generalizations, and your simplified grasp of government and governance, and your amnesia with history (whoa! what happened between 1975 and 1989?). But for your answers, for what AL did and did not, I did suggest that you look up Nazneen’s response which is up here in this chain and who has more patience than I in responding to a laundry list as yours. I don’t see why I should repeat that for your preconceived pleasure, that would be a waste of my time. But let me say that when it comes to constitutionality, social and economic justice, women’s rights, secular beliefs, accountability, I would go neither to the army, which you hold so dear, nor to that party which ran the country aground. I hope you know which one I am talking about, the one which all of a sudden, like you, is talking about human rights.
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Mohammad Reply:
December 13th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
@ Akash,
You are right we do not go to Army for Constitutional rule ( I think that’s what you meant when you said constitutionality ) and whole lot of other things. BNP too doesn’t make the grade. But I still don’t see how AL passes with flying colors ! We started with a Parliamentary form of govt, all conquiring AL dumped it for all powerful Presidential form of govt savagely bruising the constitution. One party rule almost introduced a ” Bath ” party. SPA 1974 dented our freedom guaranteed by the constitution. And still in force and in use. Only few like Bashudhara and Beximco chiefs gets to enjoy unlimited and unrestricted social and economic justice ! Motia Chowdhury swears not to enact laws contradicting Sharia ! And I don’t know what evidence you got to prove accoutability of our political parties !! If we have to believe what Ms. Sahara is saying, of course NO extra judicial deaths has occured since AL assumed power. And I must agree that AL has ensured Human Rights.
It’s no doubt C
kgazi Reply:
December 13th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
You can frame Nazneen’s list and hang it on the wall forever, but as I said earlier
a) AL has no direct contribution in that list 2009, all that was *pre-existing*
b) there is NO AL achievement in governance-improvement in that list.
We will review AL’s 2010 performance end of next year.
Season’s Greetings
kgazi: For your benefit, lest you missed this, I am citing this link that will give fodder to your mission:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=117578
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Reading the mails above it would appear that rights violation never happened before 1975 ! Everything started going wrong after military intervention in 1975! As if BAKSAL never existed ! As if BAKSAL has’nt affected us at all !!
It’s sad indeed !!!!
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kgazi Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 12:01 am
The civilian regimes of AL & BNP have been in power during the immediate past 20 years. SO all failures & achievements in BUILDING democracy have been in their control for 20 years, and that is how they are to be judged. Our politicians love to blame the army, Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ershad, Moeen etc for all their failures in leadership.
Why on earth should we bring any history prior to 1990? Why not blame Tipu Sultan 1785, or Robert Clive 1875, for AL BNP failures? Why only blame 1975?
The Chinese have become a superpower in 20 years, they dont go around blaming the Kung Fu dynasty or Ch Mao, or Ho Chi Minh for their leadership. They dont say “oh, communism destroyed or governance in 1975, so we failed in 2009″!!! They use the opportunity of the CURRENT TIMES, and progress for the future. Thats the same the world over. But only our Royal politicians have the habit of blaming *history* for their current failures. And the sad news is our people believe them.
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To Mohammad: Now we are talking. You make some good points with which there can be a discussion even if we disagree over certain things. But with sweeping generalizations, one can only respond with more generalizations. No, AL doesn’t pass with flying colors but I will put my stakes in a party like that, among the power coterie choices that we have, for the reasons I have mentioned before. The BAKSAL formation is something I do not condone but one has to see that in a historical light, but that’s another story. In any case, I see 1972-74 as “mythic years” and there can be no unanimity about what went on. Did Mujib behave like an autocrat or did he manage to salvage a country from ruin? Did Mujib breach human rights while composing a constitution? I see 1975-1990 as “foundation years.” The autocrat is killed, military dictatorship is on, and golden days are proomised. What trasnspired was full manipulation, if not planned destruction, of everything we held as a nation. Politics is corrupted because it must be made difficult. Financial corruption is joined by moral corruption. A planned divisiveness is introduced and that is the foundation of our current woes. AL today is not the same as BAKSAL, so I don’t how much it is relevant to bring up the mythic years. We should talk about now though. While I can still rely on AL to perform, both constitutionally and through action, about human rights more than any other entities, and I mean human rights ALSO of tribals, minorities, women, but the big blemish now, which I do not support at all, are the encounter deaths. And AL will have answer for that.
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Mohammad Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
@ Akash,
” The BAKSAL formation is something I do not condone but one has to see that in a historical light, but that’s another story. ” – You are right by saying – ” one has to see that in a historical light” but it’s not another story, it’s our story , it’s our history. We need to look back to history to find the root cause. The culture of butchering constitution hasn’t started with army, it was started by a democratically elected parliament. Enacting repressive laws too started with a political govt with SPA 1974.
” Did Mujib breach human rights while composing a constitution?” – almost every country of the world has written or other forms of constitution, but many of them doesn’t have constitutional rule. Rule of Law is basic for constitutional rule. But then again there are bad laws too, like SPA 1974. It may be rule of law but may not be a rule of justice. If SPA 1974 doesn’t breach Human Rights , what does ?
I didn’t really understand what you meant by – ” I see 1972-74 as “mythic years”. Was famine of 1974 a myth ? Was Rakkhi Bahini a myth ?
” AL today is not the same as BAKSAL, so I don’t how much it is relevant to bring up the mythic years. ” – The first part is true. Present day AL was reborn on the death bed of BAKSAL , who suffered an abrupt and violent death. The relevance is Political Violence. The most common reason for BAKSAL’s birth given was to combat political violence. You can count more deaths in those ” mythic years ” due political violence than any other era. These acts of violence’s were not waged by Islamists or Jihadists. Our failure to contain violence was purely political. If credit for creating Bangladesh goes to Sheikh Mujib, failure to contain post independence violence is also his. If Sheikh Mujib is AL , it was AL’s failure too. All we want is to see AL learned something from their past mistakes and applies it too.
” The autocrat is killed, military dictatorship is on, and golden days are promised. What transpired was full manipulation, if not planned destruction, of everything we held as a nation.” – Why did we have to wait 15 years to unseat military dictatorship ? What prevented us from waging a war against military dictatorship ? Why did we let everything get destroyed ? What have we done with our experiences of 69 and 71 ?? If you can answer why MAAL Muhit spearheaded Military Dictator’s cabinet , and on the same breath sitting as right hand man to SH , you probably know it all. Tofael a hero of 69 failed like a coward in 1975 ! He is not alone ! Lots of ” Din Bodoler” Flag bearers walked the same route. Of course we can not expect Tajuddin’s greatness in every body !! Even Sheikh Mujib misread Tajuddin , and that’s probably one of the root causes of all our troubles ! I leave it to history to judge.
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To kgazi: No need to hang anything or anybody prematurely. The thing is we are a little bit more patient with how things unfold considering the reality on the grounds, and if needed, also critical but in a rational way. Season’s Greeting to you too.
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kgazi Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Cool, dont hang anything on the wall yet.
But meanwhile lets not blame our failure to establish ‘democracy’ on the army. I will be patient, and give our politicians 200 years, as long as they dont blame the sun, moon & sky for their disgraceful failure.
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