E-Bangladesh

Hossain Mohammad Ershad set a new standard in Bangladesh with his girlfriends, making even the international press with a full-page story about his wealth and his mistresses.

If you are wondering why we are dredging up this old muck, it is because a serving major general in the Bangladesh Army made a spectacle of himself a few weeks ago.

Major General Aminul Karim, the military secretary to the President of Bangladesh, was recently in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, attending a conference.

He was incredulous and a little upset when an expatriate Bangladeshi told him that he did not know who he was. But that was totally eclipsed by the fact that he was trying to pick up female delegates to the conference. He asked for the phone number of at least one women, and almost insisted that a woman from Mexico go out to dinner with him. When that didn’t work, he went after another women.

This was in full view of other attendees to the conference, who were pretty sure that the intention was not to discuss the socio-economic situation in Bangladesh.

This was an academic conference, with mostly university faculty from across the USA, Canada and Mexico attending. This behavior did not do any good to the image of Bangladesh that the ruling junta is so concerned to protect.

Mr. Karim recently earned his Ph.D. in 2007. His thesis supervisor was Professor Ataur Rahman of Dhaka University: a man nominated by the government as a “preferred” guest on TV and radio talk-shows. The external reviewer of the the thesis was Dr. Zillur Rahman Khan of University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Professors Rahman and Khan are considered the theoreticians behind the concept of a role of the Army in government, and are trusted advisers to the current government.

So this scholar-general, entrusted by the government to look after President Iajuddin (and keep him in line, of course), is steeped in the theory that is providing the framework of the current and future government of Bangladesh. Is it too much to ask that someone in such an important position not embarrass the country?

[J @ Shada Kalo, USA]

Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini, chairman of Islami Oikojote has proclaimed that by announcing the “National Women Development Policy, 2008″, the caretaker government has spoken against the Quoran, and are thus considered apostates. He has also asked President Iazuddin to disband the government, and asked Army chief of staff Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed to withdraw his support.

I believe there is a High court decision declaring all fatwas illegal. Even if there was not such case law against this idiocy, what happened to the zero tolerance showed by this government against students and university teachers? Instaed, we have the law adviser meekly declaring that the policy has been “misinterpreted.”

The worst part is, the policy actually does not have anything about changing existing laws of the land. The section that Mr. Amini is so vigorously protesting against? All it did was to declare that women will enjoy equal rights.

This policy was first developed by AL in 1997-98, finally published by BNP in 2004, and was even then crippled by Mr. Amini and his friends who were in the government with BNP.

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[J @ Shada Kalo, USA]

You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind - Gandhi

Tasneem Khalil:
Journalist
Blogger
Father of a bouncing baby boy
Husband
Torture victim

Journalist Tasneem Khalil endured brutal torture by DGFI, and that is the centerpiece of a report published by Human Rights Watch. [Warning: the report is not for the faint of heart]

Bangladesh Military has a publicly acknowledged intelligence operation, the Military Intelligence Directorate. DGFI is different from that branch, and they operate with impunity–with tentacles spread into every aspect of life in Bangladesh.

Tasneem’s alleged crime? He wrote an article about the death of Chalesh Ritchil after torture by the armed forces, and another article detailing how fundamentalist parties were being fed and nurtured by DGFI.

So this young man was dragged out of his apartment in handcuffs, not knowing if he will see his 6-month old son again.

When I was coming out of my house I hugged Shuchi and Tiyash and whispered, “If I don’t come back, then you must know that I love you. And tell Tiyash that his father died for a cause.”

We heard a Dhaka University professor, Dr. Anwar Hossain, tell a court that he was taken to a room that his DGFI interrogators called a “Black hole”–and the interrogator took the time to explain to Dr. Hossain that like its cosmic namesake, even light could not escape from the DGFI blackhole.

Tasneem is alive to tell us his story today because CNN, Human Rights Watch and foreign diplomats knew about his abduction, and got involved before it was too late. And Tasneem, instead of dumb heroics, did the right thing by doing what was asked so he could come out alive.

Tasneem and his family are fortunate. Tasneem’s wife was spared the pain of explaining to their son after he grew up why his father only existed on photos. When Tiyash learns to talk, he will not make his mother cry when he will ask “আব্বু কোথায়?” (where is dad?) Shuchi will probably shake her head and say “কাজে” (at work) instead of thinking about her husband who will never come home, brutally tortured and murdered by some thugs in uniform. Fortunately, a baby will grow up with the love of both parents instead of just the stories about a father he does not remember.

There are countless others who will not be so lucky.

Why? We have countless experts in the USA testifying that torture does not work. Tasneem’s own testimony holds that up: he told his tormentors what they wanted to hear to spare himself the pain and to get out alive.

If the DGFI was really doing its job, it would know what the real story was. After all, Tasneem’s stories were published by CNN–they were not exactly secret. Surely they can read? Tasneem’s story indicates there are human beings in the ranks of DGFI. So who are the others–who are the sadists?

Will the government do anything against them?

Highly unlikely. We know what will happen next. The wire services are carrying this story, and there will be some spoiled dinners in Bangladesh tonight. The powers-that-be that allowed Tasneem to leave the country will be questioned. A few careers will probably be trashed. And Tasneem’s so-called confessions will be brought out to “prove” that he was a spy working against Bangladesh’s interest.

But you know the truth. Speak up for human rights, speak up against torture, and speak up for democracy.

J @ Shada Kalo [http://shadakalo.blogspot.com] writes using a pseudonym and is best known for exposing government, military, corporate foul plays through whistle-blowing investigative reports.

[Read posts by J @ Shada Kalo]

[J @ Shada Kalo, USA.]

A truly impressive conference is going to be held in Dhaka on December 27-29, 2007. Impressive, because this will showcase, for the first time, the achievement and advice of expatriate Bangladeshis. The chief guest for the opening ceremony is Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, chief adviser to the caretaker government. The closing ceremony is even more impressive, and we quote:

Chief Guest:

Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed
Honorable Chief Adviser
Non-Party Caretaker Government
People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Special Guests:

Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Honorable Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chair of the Session)
General Moeen U Ahmed, Chief of Army Staff, Bangladesh Army

Thanks for sticking the “non-party” adjective in our eyes.

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