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?

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.

Where was Mr. Amini when the divorce law was amended so just uttering “talak” three times is not sufficient any more? A divorce now requires a notice to an elected official after the verbal declaration of intent and a 90-day waiting period, but mullahs are still trying to ruin the life of innocent women by lying and misinterpreting the law. Guess when it was changed? 1961.

Even inheritance law has not been untouched. Only a generation ago, if the father died before the grandfather, then children of the deceased had no claim to the grandfather’s property. I believe this law was originally based on a formula derived from Sharia law. That was changed as well, allowing grandchildren a lawful claim to property that was rightfully theirs. Changed when you might ask? In 1961, through the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance brought into being by Ayub Khan, the then president of Pakistan.

Amini and his ilk did not protest the changes then, and they have not protested the changes for the last 47 years. Why are these morons suddenly up in arms about a mere policy that declared women are equal, but was completely silent about the inheritance issue?

I have a suggestion for Mr. Amini and his friends. India (yes, secular India) still permits the “triple talak”, although in 2007 a judge ruled against it. Perhaps he would like to move to India, and leave Bangladesh for people who actually like living there?

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J @ Shada Kalo [http://www.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]

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.

The sessions are absolutely crawling with advisers, secretaries and ex-advisers:

And to round out the civilians, we also see Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury, Principle Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division on a panel on flood management, and Major General Aminul Karim, Military Secretary to the President, on a panel discussing national leadership.

Here is a curious entry for seminar 18 on second day:

Domestic Securities Imperatives & Investment Environment in Bangladesh

Presented by Mr. ATM Amin, Ph.D, Counter Terrorism Bureau, Bangladesh

Dr. Amin has another impressive designation: he is a brigadier general in the Bangladesh Army, and he is the director of the counter-terrorism bureau of DGFI. We find it interesting that his rank and employment was obfuscated.

Dr. Kamal Hossain [will deliver the vote of thanks], Fazle Hasan Abed [will deliver the welcome speech] and many other well-known “resident”-Bangladeshis round out some truly outstanding non-resident speakers. To be honest, some papers to be presented at this conference are good enough for me to want to pay to attend.

Which brings up a question — who is paying for all this? Booking Sheraton for three days of conferences costs big money. My experience is a bit dated, but in 1991 I was planning a trade show for my then employer, and the price-tag was about 3 lakh taka for three days rent for the ballroom. This conference will take over most of the hotel. How much will that cost, and what is the source of that money?

So our digging started with the website scholarsbangladesh.com, the force behind the NRB 2007 conference. The domain has been registered by Mahbub E Chowdury:

Chowdury, Mahbub E rchowdry@aol.com
660 Bassar Road
Pouzhaeepsie, New York 12603
United States
(718) 323-3766

There is no such place as Pouzhaeepsie, New York. ZIP code 12603 is for Poughkeepsie, NY. Fine — pronouncing that name is not easy so this is not a big deal. The phone number belongs to one Abbas Uddin in Jamaica, NY. But wait — there is no such road as Bassar road in Poughkeepsie either. There is a Vassar road, as one phone-call to the city-hall confirmed. The current resident at 660 Vassar is a Mr. Richmond. So Mr. Chowdury used false information in registering his domain. It seems completely unnecessary, but there it is.

NRBs in New York, where Mr. Chowdury used to live (and was known as Shamim Chowdury), are surprised that this virtual unknown is organizing such a big conference in Bangladesh, and some newspapers have also asked this question. For some reason, Amader Shomoy has also taken a swipe at Mr. and Mrs. Chowdury. We absolutely disagree, since past performance is not a reliable indicator of the future. If Mr. and Mrs. Chowdury are doing this on their own initiative, we wish them all the best. But the thrust of this story is the star-, or rather, government-studded guest-list. How did Mr. Chowdury get not one, two or three, but 9 advisers and so many secretaries to come to his shindig?

Why is Bangladesh’s ambassador to the United States, and consul generals at various consulates in the USA, taking an active role in promoting this conference? In the linked letter, we find that the minister of economic affairs at the embassy in DC is prepared to answer our questions on this. We can’t just accept this as the officials doing their job — Bangladesh’s diplomatic corps doesn’t have a very good reputation when it comes to helping Bangladeshis.

Then the next piece of the jigsaw puzzle fits. A friend of ShadaKalo, a prominent academic, was invited to the conference. This gentleman is a vocal critic of the army and the CTG’s treatment of politicians and the lack of democratic processes. As a result, he was reluctant to attend. When the organizers heard about his reluctance, he received personal assurances from an adviser in the CTG, that his safety while in Bangladesh will be assured. Our friend knows the adviser personally so it makes sense that the assurances would come from him, but the surprising part of this is how quickly the response came back. This indicates, at the very least, a direct connection between the organizers and the “Non-Party Caretaker Government.”

Buried in the Amader Shomoy story is another nugget: Mr. Chowdury has claimed in a TV talk show that the government is assisting it in fund-raising. In that case, can we say Mr. Chowdury is engaging in government-sanctioned chada-baji [extortion]? Amader Shomoy also went as far as to ask why then Coco’s mother Khaleda Zia could not help Coco raise money through chada-baji?

Hmm. New Yorkers are scratching their heads wondering how Mr. Chowdury managed to land so many big fishes. While we don’t yet have all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, we have enough to see an outline. Who is standing behind Mr. Chowdury is not yet clear, but we understand this is not a case of the tail wagging the dog — as a matter of fact, it is the exact opposite.

At the very least, this is government patronage of a private citizen’s efforts. Or it could be the launch of a new party platform for a political aspirant like General Moeen? Watch this space as we fill in the gaps in the next few weeks.

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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]