Few days ago, a news report came out in a vernacular daily alleging corruption by the Prime Minister’s energy resources advisor, Mr Toufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and her son Mr Sajib Wajed Joy. Instead of typical ” reliable sources” based report, this one claimed to publish relevant government documents about the specific allegation. But, as the report was published in a newspaper that is not so widely read and has a decidedly anti-ruling party stand, it would have not gotten much traction and died down in a few days unnoticed. A point by point rebuttal from a specific department or a planted news in a friendly newspaper ridiculing and tarnishing the corruption report would have been very effective.
Instead, our ruling party, in a major political gaffe, has just given that report big time traction and publicity. Two ministers, including the senior most minister Motia Chowdhury, and ruling party’s spokesperson stirred a political meeting by launching verbal threats against the editor of the newspaper in question. What the new, ‘digital’, AL could have done smoothly, the old, ‘logi-boitha’, AL has done in a blunt way. Expectedly the leader of the opposition seized the moment and made a statement to elevate the issue to give the corruption allegation more national publicity.
tacitaerno discusses this report in In the Middle of Nowhere...
Interesting! Looks like the government AKA Awami League to launching attack on both style— digital and logi-boitha styles.
In logi boitha style, the journalist who reported the story was attacked today on his way to work.
And in digital style, the website of the newspaper reporting the story, Amardesh, http://www.amardeshonline.com, came apparently under cyber attack.
Who says Awami League is not doing a good job?
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 7:53 am
are you certain about this cyber attack?
If you go directly to any subpage, then it works. Here is today’s link:
http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/news/2009/12/19/3775
However, it seems the homepage has a continuous loop. I know they have just moved from a different domain. Can this be a technical fault at their end? I mean, at the end, this website never demonstrated a good technological usage, technically speaking.
[Reply]
tacit Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 8:25 am
It was unavailable between 2 pm and 9 pm, EST. My personal guess would be a denial of service attack.
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 8:34 am
I still can’t access the homepage directly with the amardeshonline.com URL, though access to specific pages are working.
I thought if it was a cyber attack, then access to other pages would be denied too. But I’m definitely looking forward to a cyber-attack story on AmaderDesh tomorrow (if they can figure out this glitch).
Syeed Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 8:10 pm
At the end, it seems that it was never a “cyber attack” from AL or another. Did Amadershomoy even noticed that there was a glitch and we were worried?
I guess we are being too harsh on our digital future
[Reply]
rumi Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 8:27 pm
How can we? Don’t you remember the youtube, esnip ban in Bangladesh to stop Bnagladeshis from listening to angry army officers comments made to the PM?
[Reply]
tacit Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Amar Desh, not Amader Shomoy.
[Reply]
people form “amardesh” and likes deserve no mercy . anyone who supports them in the name of democracy, journalism or otherwise needs to be eliminated.
end of story.
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 6:27 am
eliminated?
[Reply]
jeishei Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Sorry bhai. Bhuley gesilaam je shudhu BNP sorkarer amolei potro potrika’r shompadokder humki dawa hocchey undemocratic. Maaf korey diyen.
[Reply]
Banglababa, you have spoken like a true AL Stormtrooper! Heil Awami League! Heil Hasina! Bangladesh is Hasina’s “baba-r shompotti”. How dare anyone accuse her or her son! They can do anything they like! They are our masters! JOY HASINA! JOY JOY!!!
[Reply]
Joy Joy?
I don’t know whether Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury was at Texas on October 14. However, he was at Washington DC on October 11.
http://www.newsbangladc.com/2009/10/us-chamber-of-commerce-for-more-us.html
“The US Chamber of Commerce wants to see more US investments in Bangladesh taking advantage of ongoing investment friendly environment there. This was stated when the US Chamber hosted a luncheon discussion for visiting Adviser to Prime Minister of Bangladesh for Energy, Power and Mineral Resources Dr. Tawfiq Elahi Chowdhury BB.
…
Representatives from Chevron, ConocoPhillips, General Electric, Global Edison Corporation, World Bank officials, the US Chamber officials and the officials from Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, DC attended the discussion meeting.”
[Reply]
kgazi Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Hello Haliburton, chalao Cheney, Bongo Bush, Qaida’r Bagerhat, Osama bin Yesama, mission accomplished !!
[Reply]
AL could follow Mahmudur Rahman’s own path!
Remember how he used to file “manhani-mamla” to harass people? Jamat, BNP made it a very useful tool to keep media people busy. Numerous times Prothom Alo editor had to go to different districts to attend court hearings. Though at the end these cases are proven false, they at least keep the Editors on the run, literally দৌড়ের উপর.
The problem is, Hasina is now amending the law to save the media editors by excluding them from the requirement of court presence.
But now I think, this was a more “civilised way” than “humki-dhamki”.
[Reply]
tacit Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 8:29 am
I think all of us would prefer that Awami League handle this matter through as many “manhani” defamation cases they want, in all 64 districts, rather than see reporters physically assaulted.
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Agree.
[Reply]
tacit Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Accurate prediction, Syeed. Although the US $ 10,000 crore figure may not be accurate. I think someone, somewhere, got overexcited.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=21202
A US $10,000 crore defamation suit was filed on Sunday against the daily Amar Desh editor and three others for publishing ‘false report’ about prime minister’s Energy Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy.
The other accused in the case are acting editor of the daily Mahmudur Rahman, Publisher Md Hasmat Ali and the paper’s news editor, reports our Natore correspondent.
General Secretary of Natore district Awami League Hanif Ali Sheikh filed the case with the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) Court in the district.
After hearing the case, the CJM Sharifuddin Ahmed issued summons against the accused and asked them to appear before the court in person on February 23.
In the case statement, the complainant mentioned that the daily in its December 17 issue published a news titled ‘Allegation of taking $5 million bribe against Energy Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi and prime minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy”. The image of the present government, the ruling party and Joy has been tarnished by publishing the news, the statement added.
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
hahaha…. that’s what I was talking about! See, the strategic location of the case! There should now be some subsequent cases in Teknaf and Tetulia.
But seriously though, and I may be wrong here, after watching the media and blog coverage, I think AL has already shifted the focus/discussion from “what Joy might have done” to “what angry AL leaders are doing”!
Is AL doing this knowingly or unknowingly? All I can tell is that AL has already witnessed how their previous “logi-boitha” event was forgotten!
[Reply]
rumi Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Ei ki korlo local Awami League folks? They just pulled down jononetri Sheikh Hasina to the level of mamlabaaz Mahmudur rahman !
jeishei Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 12:21 am
tamasha shuru! breaking out the pop-corn…
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 4:37 am
@ Rumi bhai,
mamla to jononetri SH korenai, korche AL neta. Agerbar jemon deshonatri KZ mamla kore nai, korechilo BNP netara ba mahmoodur rahman. SH, KZ der level thiki ache.
apatoto deshonetri aar jononetri DC gallery-tey boshey pop-corn khacchen…. asen amra Rear Stall er seat khuji
Actually, it seems that AL doesn’t have good counter-strategy within Media. They’re moving much more in a traditional way and are making the issue bigger and bigger- which is what exactly BNP wanted. BNP now needs to showcase Joy as someone with corruption to divert the corruption allegation from Tareq Rahman. Interestingly, today I saw BNP has given back the party membership to Lutfuzzaman Babar. Is it to keep Babar happy and not to disclose names for August 21st attack?
[Reply]
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury clarifies that he left for Dhaka on 13th October. Thus, he could not have been in Texas on 14th October. I think that settles the crux of the problem.
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 5:51 am
Mahmudur Rahman’s reaction today is like “pani ghola korey deya”.
He spent most of his 1300 word comment on his famous “mamla” against the “shushils” and on “CTG” where as the actual case against Joy remained out of focus.
Meanwhile, the interview style reaction of Tawfiq-e-Elahi on amardesh showed that he is out of the interviewer’s league. We really need some Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein in BD.
[Reply]
tacit Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 6:25 am
Well, at this point, Mahmudur Rahman isn’t in trouble because he brought a false allegation; he’s in trouble because he printed a story at all. If you read the reaction given by AL spokesperson Syed Ashraful Islam today, he links the story to everything from the trial of war criminals to the failure of the past government in the energy sector, and, of course, the “minus Joy” formula.
Given that Dr. Chowdhury’s interviewer could not ask follow-up questions, I don’t think he could have done much better.
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 7:46 am
Syed Ashraful Islam really surprised me. If AL really believe that “bringing down Joy” was part of BNP’s plan to equalize Joy-Tarique, then “new minus-two” equalize them both more than anything else.
Or are they thinking “minus-two” did not actually equalize SH-KZ, so “new minus-two” won’t equalize Joy-Tarique? Not sure.
Interviewer asked a number of follow-up questions actually and they were in sequence.
প্রশ্ন : আমার দেশ পত্রিকায় প্রকাশিত রিপোর্টের কোন অংশটি মিথ্যা ও বানোয়াট বলে আপনার কাছে মনে হয়েছে?
তৌফিক এলাহী : আমি ১৪ অক্টোবর আমেরিকার টেক্সাসে জয়কে ঘুষের অর্থ লেনদেন করেছি বলে যে অভিযোগ করা হয়েছে, তা সঠিক নয়। আমি ১৩ অক্টোবর আমেরিকা ত্যাগ করেছি।
Very focused answer and the interviewer is defeated fair and square. The follow-up questions to this only highlighted the interviewer’s lack of homework.
tacit Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 8:09 am
That’s a fair point. I was thinking about the fact that in his subsequent answers, he does not categorically deny giving Joy a bribe (though that could just be his manner of speaking) and the fact that he blatantly lies by saying he only attended the BDI conference during his US visit.
This is what Mr Chowdhury says,
প্রশ্ন : ওই সময়ে আপনি আমেরিকা কি কারণে গিয়েছিলেন?
তৌফিক এলাহী : প্রবাসী বাংলাদেশীদের একটি আমন্ত্রণে আমি আমেরিকা গিয়েছিলাম। প্রবাসীদের অনুষ্ঠানে অংশগ্রহণ ছাড়া আমি আর কিছুই করিনি।
But Bangladesh Embassy, Washington DC newsletter of October 2009 suggests that Mr Toufiq Elahi Chowdhury came down to Washington, DC after BDI conference, met energy department and chamber officials including officials from Chevron.
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Why he had to say “আমি আর কিছুই করিনি”? He could just keep that open.
: ঠাকুর ঘরে কে?
: আমি কলা খাই না!
[Reply]
kgazi Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Amar Desh news did not come out of thin air, there must be smoke where there is fire. Jaha rote taha bote. We hear lots of ‘rumors’ of mega-million transactions with Joy, and this news now makes those rumors stronger.
Trouble with BD politicians (living in BD) is that they are MASTERS of corruption, they know the logistics of big money handling, swiss bank transfers & distribution, thru decades of mal-experience. Joy Mama living in USA has to be very watchful that even if he tries to appear corruption-free, he will be embroiled and corrupted into international fraud, because of BD politician’s graft expertise & greed.
[Reply]
BNP should be grateful to Syed Ashraful Islam. Because of his “new minus two” formula, Delwar Hosain is protesting AL’s effort to “একই পাল্লায় আনা” Joy and Tarique.
What a shift from “bringing Joy down to Tarique”, to “bringing Tarique and Joy একই পাল্লায়”!
Well done Ashraf
Meanwhile, Mahmudur Rahman’s wish for fair play has been granted. After all, “mamla” was HIS preferred playground all along…
That’s why learned peopel say, watch what you wish for, coz you just might get it
[Reply]
tacit Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:52 am
Unless I am drastically wrong, I think he can just go to a HC bench and get bail for all the cases. As long as he does not face a contempt of court charge, he should be fine.
[Reply]
tacit Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 11:10 am
“Syed Ashraf said Khaleda Zia, the main patron of killings, terrorism and corruption, for a long time continuing a fruitless effort to place Tareq Zia – the accused top corrupt and mastermind of all misdeeds -parallel to Sajib Wajed Joy, who has been in service as an eminent computer scientist in the USA.”
http://www.albd.org/autoalbd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=817&Itemid=1
I urge everyone to read the whole report.
[Reply]
Syeed Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Interesting! When I read the Amardesh’s report on the same (?) event, one gets a totally different news about what has been said.
http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2009/12/21/10459
সংবাদ সম্মেলনে সৈয়দ আশরাফ : জয় ও তারেককে মাইনাস করার জন্যই এ অভিযোগ
স্টাফ রিপোর্টার
রাজনীতিতে নতুন করে মাইনাস টু ফর্মুলা বাস্তবায়ন শুরু হয়েছে। এবার মাইনাস করা হচ্ছে বিএনপির সিনিয়র সহসভাপতি তারেক রহমান ও প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনার ছেলে সজীব ওয়াজেদ জয়কে।…
If Syed Ashraf’s main focus was “minus two” as Amardesh claims, then AL’s reporting of the even is an indication that AL did not like Syed Ashraf’s stance.
If his main focus was KZ-TR’s corruption, as AL report claims, then Amardesh’s reporting is a very cleaver attempt to equalize Tarique-Joy.
[Reply]
tacit Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
And what about the Daily Star headline?
BNP out to implement ‘Minus Joy’ formula
Says AL general secretary
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=118652
Syeed Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
hmm… DS seems to be reporting more or less what AL-site has reported.
I wonder from where did Amardesh got the news from!
Whenever any public work worth 376 crore taka is given to any specific company without going through any tender process, there has to be something fishy going on.
Every one should know thyat Joy has a consulting firm named Wazed consulting.
[Reply]
What AL or Mr. Chowdhury hasn’t answered is the last part of the AD report which raises the questions whether Compressor Staion at Muchai is at all required or not and that the contract has been awarded without a tender.
PM may be in breach of procedures if she approved awarding a contract which has not followed government procurement policy.
[Reply]
This, on the other hand, is a very objective report from Amardesh:
Since this letter with very specific information has already been made public, Petrobangla needs to bring out GTC’s response to this letter (assuming that Gas Transmission Co did reply to that email).
[Reply]
After an age I am coming to UV.
Rumi Bhai,
Please take care of these bangla fonts. These are quite hazy
[Reply]
http://xanthis.wordpress.com/files/2009/12/dtec-talks-to-amar-desh.pdf
[Reply]