Saleem Samad

Monsoon black clouds cause panic among Hill people

2017-06-20T22:45:00.002-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

With fresh landslides in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Chittagong and Moulvibazar, fear runs through residents of fresh landslides as monsoon rain lashes the hills.

Heavy monsoon rain may cause flooding across northeastern India and Bangladesh, triggering mudslides early this week, international weathermen predicts.

"An additional 75-150 mm rainfall with locally higher amounts threatens to further inundate parts of eastern Bangladesh and northeastern India," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said. The additional downpours will continue the high threat for mudslides and flash flooding across the region.

Fresh landslides cause rise of death tolls and destruction of road infrastructure, power lines and human settlements. The death toll in the hills has risen to 161.Most of the victims are from poor and indigenous communities living close to the hills. They were buried under tons of earth and mud while they were asleep at night. The landslides devoured and blocked all roads to picturesque tourist town Rangamati.

The disaster occurred just weeks after Cyclone Mora lashed Bangladesh's southeastern coast, killing at least seven and wrecking tens of thousands of homes.Following the deadly mudslides from earlier this week, more lives and property will be at risk as heavy monsoon rain threatens to further inundate Bangladesh through this week, predict weathermen.

The hills in Chittagong region consist of sandy soil which is mixture of sand and soil, and is weak in nature, not of stone.

Roots of trees and grass growing on these hills hold the surface apparently tight but due to continuous hill cutting, felling of trees and building houses, the hills have turned naked, rifts are being created on top and their slopes.

As a result heavy rain makes the surface loose, soil melts, sand gets removed, and rifts widen which cause inevitable landslide claiming loss of lives of human beings and animals, destruction of wealth, disruption of communication, power failure and so on.

Government is the owner of hills, canals, rivers, and forest, etc. There are seven hills in Chittagong under the ownership of six government departments.

But occupying these hills illegally some vicious circles are earning huge amount of money from there. Owners of these hills are sometimes helpless to the illegal occupiers.

In 2007, after deaths of 127 persons, a committee formed under the Chairmanship of Divisional Commissioner of Chittagong submitted a report, identifying 28 reasons for landslide in hills and suggested 66 recommendations but all those are in cold storage for the last 10 years.

First published in The Asian Age, July 20, 2017

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA), is an award winning investigating journalist and is Special Correspondent, The Asian Age, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Repair of roads to Rangamati would take weeks

2017-06-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Rangamati is cut off from rest of the Bangladesh. The unprecedented landslides in Rangamati which damaged the vital road infrastructures to and from the picturesque hill town.

Two roads which connect Rangamati have been devoured in the landslides during torrential rains in advent of monsoon.

Already, Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Minister, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs (MoCHTA) Bir Bahadhur, State Minister, Secretary of MoCHTA, Bikram Kishore Tripura, Additional Secretary Kamal Talukder, Joint Secretary, MoCHTA, Sudatta Chakma, are in Rangamati to assess the situation.

The Ministers and senior officials in Rangamati held coordination meetings with officials of the district administration officials and Bangladesh Army and that the crucial road communication “will take a long time to repair”, wrote Bikram Kishore Tripura in Facebook on Saturday.

A crucial meeting of Relief and Rehabilitation Coordination was held on Friday at Deputy Commissioner, Rangamati's Conference Room. The meeting was attended by Tarun Ghosh, Vice Chairman, Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB), Brig Gen Faruk, Region Commander, Rangamati, Ushaton Talukdar MP, Chakma Circle Chief Barrister Debashish Roy, Riaz Ahmad, Director General, Disaster Management, Rangamati Police Chief Syed Tariqul.

The Secretary also wrote that at “the moment Rangamati is [only] accessible through waterways from Kaptai.”

The death tolls of the massive landslides have killed more than 100 people and nearly 40 are still missing. Rescue operation is going round the clock to find any survivors.

Meanwhile, Rangamati District Administration has banned procession and rallies in the Hill district for a month.

Some has also posted in Bikram Kishore Tripura’s Facebook that the nature has taken its revenge for man-made deforestation, hill-cutting to build houses and agriculture farms.

Former Conservator of Forest, Mihir Kiran, writes: “Very sad and heart breaking. Demographic balance is must for the soil condition of the region. Otherwise we have to face the same unbearable fate every year.”

Tripura in a response said: Ideal but difficult to implement. You (Mihir Kiran) were one of the longest serving CCF of FD. You had the experience of failure in plantation in CHT, of course it was our collective failure, not at all personal. Nature has given us a grim signal. We must act without further delay. Time is running out fast.

However, Kirti Nishan Chakma writes in Facebook that “We can and must dissect the causes that has led to this tragedy. But this can wait a little later.”

“Urgent help is needed at the moment. There is a real risk of crisis of the essentials (rice, dal, salt, medicines, etc.) as that the two roads that connects Rangamati to the rest of the country are now completely cut off and repairing them is likely to take a long time given the hilly terrain,” opines writes Kirti Nishan Chakma, General Secretary at Moanoghar a home for distressed children in the Hills.

“A real scarcity of the essentials, maybe it is panic buying or hoarding by the people that is exhausting the available stocks, maybe it the typical dishonest traders who are trying to make quick bucks on the back of this catastrophe. Whatever are reasons, immediate interventions by the government is needed,” writes General Secretary at Moanoghar.

Already the price of the essentials is rising. It is not only Rangamati town, the entire or most of the Rangamati district could be affected.

However, the MoCHTA Secretary affirms that the government will do the needful for the relief, rehabilitation of the distressed people and repairs and reconstruction of the infrastructures. We have to have some patience.

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA), is an award winning investigating journalist and is Special Correspondent, The Asian Age, Dhaka, Bangladesh

India may slow, Bangladesh is hopeful BBIN-MVA

2017-04-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

After the recent official visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Bhutan, Bangladesh is hopeful of pursuing the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement (BBIN-MVA) inked at SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in June 2015.

India is likely to go slow on the implementation of the BBIN-MVA, keeping in mind the sentiments of close partner Bhutan where a section of the political establishment is opposing the initiative allegedly at the behest of the local transport lobby.

Bhutan Prime Minister Lyonpo Damcho Dorji at a press conference on the official visit of Sheikh Hasina told journalists that the two governments held a bilateral meeting on issues of trade, culture, agriculture and BBIN-MVA.

The Bhutanese prime minister said, "The BBIN-MVA is very important for connectivity in the region, which is one of the non-tariff barriers for trade.

"For Bhutan, a landlocked country, we know the value of connectivity. Therefore, we have been supportive of the BBIN agreement."

However, Lyonpo candidly said, the public and the parliamentarians had some serious concerns because the implementation of the BBIN motor-vehicle agreement could result in seeing a huge influx of vehicles including passenger cars.

But quickly, Lyonpo said, there are certain provisions in the agreement and protocols, which will protect the interests of the respective countries. The Bhutanese government is clearly not in favor of

trucking companies from India and Bangladesh enter Bhutan, an official of Bangladesh foreign office and privy to the BIBN-MVA issue said. The Bhutanese government has informed Bangladesh that it would need more time to convince local transporters about the benefits of BBIN-MVA.

It was advised by the Bhutanese parliamentarians, that the vehicles should be parked at the Indo-Bhutan border, in the Indian territory and unload the exportable goods.

What is feared by Indian and Bangladesh companies that the trucks would return empty, which would double the cost of trucking of goods, that will directly have impact on exports to Bhutan, said the official who preferred anonymity.

Meanwhile, Delhi has continued to negotiate with Thimphu for full implementation of the project and urged it for an additional protocol to it to suit Bhutan's requirements, are also not ruled out. In early May, Bhutan's Parliament would commence and is likely to withdraw a Bill on May 8 it had introduced in the country's Parliament last year to ratify the BBIN-MVA for Regulation of Passenger and Cargo Vehicular Traffic.

Under pressure from truckers, the Upper House of Bhutan's Parliament had refused to ratify the pact, even though the lower house approved it and tried to convince seniors of the significance of this sub-regional connectivity initiative.

Several members of the Upper House, National Council, argued that the project would hurt the unique culture, tradition, environment, religion and economy of Bhutan. The National Council finally rejected the Bill in November, raising as many as 15 objections.

Neither Dhaka nor Delhi wish to expedite Thimphu to ratify the regional pact, keeping in mind that the Himalayan state will go for election in 2018.

Bangladesh, Nepal and India have already ratified BBIN-MVA and New Delhi and Dhaka have even went ahead to conduct a dry run of cargo transportation under it.

First published in The Asian Age, April 28, 2017

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA), is an award winning investigating journalist and is Special Correspondent, The Asian Age, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Indian Supreme Court asks BSF to stop cattle smuggling

2017-04-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Finally, the Indian Supreme Court did not trash the committee's report, responsible for submitting recommendations to check cattle-smuggling to Bangladesh, instead it advised stringent measures by the Indian paramilitary Indian Border Security Force (BSF) to prevent cross-border trade.

The Indian apex court besides the border force, advised the local administrations in the districts bordering Bangladesh to be involved in preventing cattle-smuggling. The Sup-reme Court on Tuesday, directed the Indian central government to finalize the rules to ensure the authorities adopt adequate means to stop cattle-smuggling.

Earlier, a bench of Indian Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chand-rachud said the Center (New Delhi) has already prepared draft rules to prevent cattle from being smuggled to Nepal and same rules, when finalized, should be applicable to Bangladesh as well.

The cattle-smuggling issue was brought to the notice of the Indian Supreme Court by Akhil Bharat Krishi Gosewa Sangh, a fundamentalist Hindu group. A similar plea was filed by animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi, seeking directions to the Center and states like Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, which share the border with Nepal.

The Center on Monday, placed before the apex court recommendation of a committee headed by a senior official of the Home Ministry constituted for chalking out a mechanism to stop cattle smuggling across the India-Bangladesh border.

Emphasizing on the prohibition of smuggling of animals, the Centre said that active support and cooperation should be sought from the public.

The Center on Monday told the apex court that a unique identification number (UID) for animals has been suggested by an expert panel to evolve a mechanism to stop trafficking of cattle across the Indo-Bangla border.

"We have already done for Nepal. The same rules will apply for Bangladesh also. Para-armed forces (BSF) along with district administration will be involved to ensure that there are no smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh," the bench said.

The apex court decided to deliberate on the crucial issue of cattle-smuggling into Bangladesh after the summer vacation in July.

Until then, the counsel for the central government to specify the status of rules which were to be formulated in pursuance of its direction to protect cattle-smuggling to Nepal and posted the matter for further hearing after summer vacation.

The panel, had said, "The committee recommends that Chief Secretaries (in New Delhi) of respective states to regularly monitor the performance of various departments of the state governments, including RTO, state police and animal husbandry department and ensure prevention of cattle smuggling/illegal/transportation of cattle by way of periodic reports.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, posted the case concerning smuggling of cattle across the India-Bangladesh border for further hearing after summer vacation.

First published in The Asian Age, April 27, 2017

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA), is an award winning investigating journalist and is Special Correspondent, The Asian Age, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Myanmar bid to shut-down camps worsens fate of Rohingyas

2017-04-24T01:49:00.002-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

After Thaung Tun, Myanmar's National Security Adviser, recently announced that the Myan-mar government would shut down three camps has raised eye brows of international community, including United Nations.

In fact, one camp shelters ethnic Rakhine community and another accommodate Rohingya Muslims. The fate of thousands of internally displaced people (IDP) in Myanmar's Rakhine state remains uncertain. Thaung Tun unveiled no exit plan, except shutting down of three camps. He said nothing about measures to relocate the refugees or about aid or facilities to be provided.

Despite international forum's concern, the Myanmar authorities are determined to shut down the IDP camps. Nothing has been spelled about what happens to them next. With immediate outrage over the issue of pushing the Rakhine IDP into uncertainty, it said the Myanmar will once again invite another crisis.

The IDP sought shelter five years ago amid violent conflict between Budd-hists and Muslims. Many fled the country, retreating to the Bangladeshi frontier and slipped through porous borders by human trafficking agents. Myanmar's defacto administrative head Aung Suu Kyi had last year chosen Kofi Annan, a fellow Nobel laureate and former chief of United Nations, to head a Rakhine Commission seeking solutions to the crisis in Rakhine state.

The commission was mandated to examine ways to develop the state, strengthen civic institutions, provide humanitarian assistance, seek reconciliation and prevent further conflict. But the mission was flawed from the start, restrained by a law that doesn't recognize the Muslim Rohingya as citizens.

Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist society and nationalist intolerance of other religions is rife. Annan's commission recommended that the government formulate a comprehensive plan to close the displacement camps as part of any attempt to curb festering communal tensions.

Annan agreed, while Thaung Tun insisted the authorities were doing their best to push forward a process of citizenship verification.

It was agreed to relocate more than 120,000 IDP in the present camps had "shown little progress" in Rakhine state since 2012. The commission identified 335 households within the IDP camps, a mix of Rakhine and Muslim people who it said ought to be allowed to return to their homes or be relocated elsewhere as an initial expression of 'goodwill'.

The international criticism of Myanmar over its official mistreatment of Rakhine's million-plus Rohingya, despite their families having lived in Myanmar for generations, are denied citizenship and face severe restrictions in movement and access to education and healthcare.

The persecution in Rakhine state, ever since the military--reacting to militant Rohingya attacks on police border posts last October - launched a bloody crackdown in north Rakhine that reportedly claimed hundreds of lives.

UN investigators concluded that security forces might have carried out "crimes against humanity" as well as ethnic cleansing. Nobel laureate Suu Kyi rejected the accusations, calling "ethnic cleansing" "too strong an expression".

First appeared in The Asian Age, April 24, 2017

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA), is an award winning investigating journalist and is Special Correspondent, The Asian Age, Dhaka, Bangladesh

India and Bangladesh Revitalize their Relationship, Yet Problems Remain

2017-04-19T03:31:00.000-07:00

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina share a laughter at a joint press conference in New Delhi on April 8, 2017. (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)

ARAFAT KABIR

At a time when China has made a considerable headway in South Asia, the bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and India gets a timely boost during the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s four-day state visit to India last week. In the presence of the prime ministers, the two countries signed as many as 22 deals that included a separate agreement on civil nuclear and defense cooperation, both a first between the two South Asian neighbors. India also agreed to offer Bangladesh a $4.5 billion line of credit on top of another $3 billion that was previously sanctioned by New Delhi.

But despite that progress, Bangladesh and India had yet to finalize the long-awaited water share treaty over a common river, Teesta, further deepening Dhaka’s frustration.

Initially scheduled in December last year, but canceled twice, Hasina’s visit created a buzz in both Bangladeshi and Indian media. Bangladeshi newspapers speculated on a possible timeframe on the Teesta water sharing treaty, while Indian media focused their attention on the soon-to-be-signed defense pact. Days before Hasina’s trip to Delhi, however, it became clear that the Teesta deal was unlikely. This, in turn, stoked hype for the Indo-Bangla defense pact.

Under the defense agreement, India will offer $500 million to help Bangladesh acquire military hardware from India. However, it is not clear what types of arms India will provide. Apart from this, two other agreements were signed aiming to boost cooperation between the two nation’s defense colleges.

Significance of a Bangladesh-India defense treaty

India wanted to sign a long-term, comprehensive defense pact with Bangladesh. Delhi was already worried about the growing multidimensional cooperation between Bangladesh and China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Bangladesh in last October took the bilateral relationship to a new height. The next month Bangladesh’s navy received the delivery of two China-made diesel-electric submarines. Around the same time, Delhi scaled up its effort to seal a defense deal with Bangladesh. The underlying principle is not hard to guess: to counter the growing Chinese influence in Bangladesh.

A series of high-profile visits by Indian officials during the past few months in the run-up to Hasina's visit demonstrated India’s eagerness for a military pact. But Dhaka was hesitant to sign one in the fear that such a move might alienate China, the largest provider of Bangladesh’s military equipment.

A comprehensive military pact is, therefore, more important to India than it is to Bangladesh. For India, it serves two purposes. One, India wants to give the signal to Beijing that it regards South Asia as its zone of influence. Two, a defense deal would give a boost to Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” campaign that aims to transform India into a leading arms exporter. After all, India needs buyers of its indigenously-produced arms.

It turned out Bangladesh played out the scene quite tactfully. Since Bangladesh stopped short of signing a defense pact, it won’t alarm the Chinese. But for India, it is still an important beginning that has the potential to end in a formal treaty, given the bittersweet history between the two countries.

Hasina: a trusted friend to Delhi

The appropriate metaphor for India-Bangladesh relations could be a married couple that became estranged but started patching things up again. The mending of relations began when Sheikh Hasina’s government came to power in 2008. Her administration took a zero-tolerance policy against domestic extremism and those sympathetic to anti-Indian activities. Long considered a political pawn, Dhaka handed over separatist leader Anup Chetia to Delhi without much fuss. Dhaka also provided India with land and water transit facility, an outstanding request from India, to transport Indian goods over the Bangladeshi territory to India’s restive northeast region. In short, Sheikh Hasina appeared a trusted friend to Delhi.

The friendship was tested in 2014 when no major country except India backed up Hasina’s clinging to power through a highly-controversial election boycotted by the major opposition parties. The political violence before and after the election was one of the worst in Bangladesh’s history and Hasina’s government came under international criticism. But the then-Manmohan Singh’s government in Delhi stood firmly by Hasina’s claim that the election under the oversight of a political party instead of a non-partisan interim administration was crucial for Bangladesh’s democratic transition.

Bangladesh’s next election is slated for 2019. As of now, it is not certain whether 2014 will be repeated again or not. But it is certain that Hasina needs India’s political support. Therefore, she wants to maintain the rapport with Narendra Modi’s government. The good thing for Hasina is that she has been able to cut a strong image in Delhi across political parties. If it is any indication, Modi made an exception and went to the airport to receive Hasina.

An imbalanced quid pro quo?

Although the bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and India is much better than any other time, problems linger. The Teesta water share treaty is definitely a setback for future progress. Since 2008, Hasina has met with her Indian counterparts four times. Each time Teesta was postponed due to opposition from a provincial government in India. Therefore, the Hasina administration faces criticism at home that her government is giving India more than what it gets.

The growing trade deficit is also a great concern for Bangladesh. Despite Dhaka’s repeated requests, Delhi has been tardy in relaxing tariffs and non-tariff barriers and opening up the market of Indian provinces bordering Bangladesh. Another thorny issue is shooting at the border by Indian guards. The Bangladesh-India border is one of the world’s most hostile. Authorities say almost 600 people were killed by Indian border police in the past ten years. Unofficial estimates suggest it to be twice the official figure. India promised to take care of this issue, but a meaningful solution is still elusive.

As the larger neighbor, India may want to gain more from Bangladesh. Due to the same reason, Bangladesh may very well expect India to be more generous. How a balance can be achieved will give shape to the future course of the bilateral relationship. Therefore, the sooner India addresses the unresolved issues in a meaningful manner, the better for it. Perhaps, India can take a leaf from China’s playbook in this regard.

First published in Forbes magazine, April 18, 2017

Arafat Kabir, is a Forbes contributor, a Master’s candidate of political science at the Illinois State University. Email: arafat_kabir@ymail.com or Tweet @ArafatKabirUpol

Bangladesh to invest $1Mi for construction of hydro-power in Bhutan to import 1,000MW electricity

2017-04-17T21:16:00.001-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Bangladesh will finalize the negotiation to import 1000 Megawatt (MW) hydro-power from Bhutan, during the official visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to reach Thimphu this morning by Druk Air VVIP flight for a three-day state visit to Bhutan from April 18. Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay will receive her at the airport. Hasina will be presented a ceremonial Khadhar (scarf).

Later, Hasina will be given a guard of honor and she will also inspect the guard. From the airport, a ceremonial motorcade will take her to her place of residence, where she will be received by the chairman of Royal Privy Council of Bhutan.

While in Bhutan, the prime minister will sign six agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs), most importantly an investment and import of electricity from a planned hydro-electricity project in land-locked country.

Both sides will sign deals on removal of double taxation, agriculture, cultural affairs, use of Bangladesh's inland water by Bhutan, standards of products and land given to Bangladesh for establishing a permanent embassy.

Diplomats said that Sheikh Hasina's visit would unveil a "regional power trade" a trilateral cooperation among Bhutan, Bangladesh and India.

She will also hold bilateral meetings with the country's top leaders on the sidelines. Hasina will hold meetings with Bhutan's King Jigme Wangchuck and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay to discuss bilateral and regional issues. During her fourth visit to Bhutan, Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the three-day International Conference on Autism and Neuro-Developmental Disorders on April 19.

Saima Wazed Hossain Putul, member of World Health Organization (WHO) expert advisory panel on mental health and chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on Autism, has taken initiatives to hold the conference in Thimphu.

The conference is being jointly hosted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh and Ministry of Health of Bhutan with the technical support of Shuchona Foundation, Ability Bhutan Society and WHO South-East Asia Regional Office.A draft memorandum of understanding on the trilateral collaboration is being circulated among the three friendly countries.

Bangladesh's foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told journalists said, Bangladesh will invest in the 1,125MW Dorjilung hydro-power project in Lhuentse.

The proposed hydro-electricity dam will be located about seven kilometers downstream of Autsho at a place called Rewan, said a top official with Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR).

He also said India has agreed to Bangladesh's proposal to invest in the project and provide transit for transmission of electricity from Bhutan. Government of Bangladesh recently approved USD 1Billion for the project.The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an enterprise of the World Bank Group, has already assured the government of financing regional power trade involving Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan.

A trilateral cooperation among Bhutan, Bangladesh and India that will enable Bangladesh to invest in the Bhutanese power sector to re-import the electricity could soon be a reality, said Mahmood Ali.

The foreign minister told journalists that the money will be equity investment in the project, and Bangladesh will get a proportionate share of the production from the project.

In fact, power in both Bangladesh and India will keep increasing its demand, which will contribute a big economic opportunity for Bhutan.

Currently, Bangladesh imports around 500 MW of electricity from India. Import of another amount of 100MW electricity from India's Tripura state may start in March.

Early this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced that it would provide further electricity to Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi

Implementation of this project will not only uplift the relation between Bhutan and Bangladesh but also the trilateral relation. "We are poised to take a big leap in the trilateral cooperation," the foreign minister said.

In addition to Bangladesh's share of production from the project, the foreign minister said his country is keen on importing either from the same project or other projects. That will be subject to negotiation among the three countries.

In 2014, member states of SAARC signed a framework agreement for energy cooperation with the declared objective of creating a regional energy market and enhancement of cross-border electricity trade.Meanwhile, the Power Division under the MPEMR has examining the MoU with Bhutan.

Earlier, Bhutanese Economic Minister Lyonpo Norbu Wangchuk had visited high-voltage direct current (HVDC) back-to-back station of the state-owned Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd (PGCB) at Bheramara in Kushtia last October to see the electricity-import infrastructure in Bangladesh.

First published in The Asian Age, April 18, 2017

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA), is an award winning investigating journalist and is Special Correspondent, The Asian Age, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina fourth visit to Bhutan

2017-04-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be on a three-day state visit to Himalayan Kingdon Bhutan from April 18.

On the invitation of His Majesty The King, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wang-chuck, the Bangladesh prime minister will tour the country.

While in Bhutan, the prime minister will sign several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and also attend the ground breaking ceremony of the Bangladesh embassy in Hejo, Thimphu. Bangla-desh gave land to build the Bhutanese embassy building in Baridhara diplomatic zone in 2014.

She will also hold bilateral meetings with the country's top leaders on the sidelines. Hasina will hold meetings with Bhutan's King, Jigme Wangchuck and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay to discuss bilateral and regional issues. The prime minister's visit will have a focus on cooperation in transit, transshipment and hydro-power, official sources said.

Bhutan's Foreign Minister Damcho Dorji told local press that Bhutan and Bangladesh traditionally have enjoyed close and friendly relations that started since independence. Bangladesh prime minister's visit to Bhutan indicates the importance of the close relations between the countries, movers of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

During her fourth visit to Bhutan, Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the three-day International Conference on Autism and Neuro Developmental Disorders on April 19.

Saima Wazed Hossain Putul, member of WHO's expert advisory panel on mental health and chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on Autism, has taken initiatives to hold the conference in Thimphu.

The conference is being jointly hosted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh and Ministry of Health of Bhutan with the technical support of Shuchona Foundation, Ability Bhutan Society and World Health Organization South-East Asia Regional Office.

Government leaders, policymakers, experts and activists from around the globe will discuss strategic viewpoints to spread awareness about autism at the conference.

Bhutan was the first country to recognize Bangladesh's independence in 1971 followed by India in December. Bangladesh established diplomatic relations with Bhutan in 1973 and established its resident embassy in the country.

His Majesty The Fourth King in 1974 came to Bangladesh on his maiden visit, and since then the leaders from both the countries visited each other's capital several times.

Hasina visited Bhutan in 2009, 2010, and then in 2015 on a private visit. His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen visited Bangladesh in 2013, followed by Lyonchoen Tshering Tobgay's visit in 2014. The President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid visited the country last year.

Bangladesh and Bhutan cooperate in areas of agriculture, human resource development, cultural exchanges, and also air services besides the annual consultation meetings at the foreign secretary level.Even at the regional level, the two countries held talks on water resources management and recently trilateral cooperation in hydropower, official source said.

At the multilateral forum, the two countries have been supporting each other at every international venue Bhutan has lend favorable support to Bangladesh at every election to many international organizations.

Hasina is scheduled to fly to Bhutan on a small Druk Air plane instead of flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines as the latter does not have a certified pilot who can handle Bhutan's sole Paro International Airport, one of the most challenging airports in the world.

Situated at 7,920ft from the sea level on the bank of the Paro River is surrounded by steep peaks as high as 18,000ft, the airport is considered as one of the most challenging airports in the world for landing and takeoff.The prime minister will come back home on April 21.

Published in The Asian Age, April 17, 2017

Saleem Samad, is an Asoka Fellow (USA), an award winning invetigative journalist and works as Special Correspondent with The Asian Age

Parliamentarians at IPU Assembly moot to unite against terrorism

2017-04-03T19:53:00.001-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Parliamentarians at the 136th Inter-Parliamentarian Union (IPU) are poised to adopt a resolution to deal with terrorism and militancy. Terrorism is a global phenomenon and is a threat to all countries. The delegates of IPU are discussing to forge unity globally to combat terrorism, Secretary General Martin Chungong told the media on Monday.

He said the Dhaka Assembly is expected to adopt three resolutions. The first is the role of parliament in preventing outside interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states and the second, promoting cooperation on SDGs with focus on women, and third emergency item resolution.

Parliamentarians are debating on two pressing issues. The first is non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nation states. The second is inclusive financing of women in development. "Process is in progress in at the conference venue in Dhaka for global parliamentary community," said Chungong at the mega IPU conference in Dhaka.

The five-day IPU Assembly in progress from Saturday with the participation of over 1300 delegates from 131 member states of the century-old organization. The dignity of human rights, sovereignty and women's empowerment were agreed in the conference.

He said women in parliament are very less, IPU is advocating political empowerment of women. Regarding terrorism, Chungong said that terror networks active in various countries are not localized. There is need for global parliamentary community prevents to fight terrorism, he remarked.

Regarding the general debate on Redressing Inequality: Delivering on dignity and well-being for All, Chungong said IPU will highlight an action-oriented proposal that parliaments are making here when the 136th assembly concludes, it will have a number of things that parliamentarians can follow up theses concretely and device a program to gain measurable achievements over reducing inequality.

"What I'm proposing in the strategy is a series of actions that will help the global parliamentary community prevent those things that lead to terrorism and militancy," IPU Secretary said.

Chungong said, "Violent extremism was born out of frustration, out of inequality in society, out of injustice, violation of human rights and lack of opportunity - so, those are the things we're addressing in the strategy to combat terrorism and militancy."

He said he will brief the executive committee today (Tuesday) on the strategy that the IPU devised to enable the parliamentary community worldwide to combat terrorism. "We shouldn't allow terrorism to occur before you do something about it."

"How parliaments can take practical actions at national and international levels to alleviate inequality and restore the dignity of human being in all aspects of social, political and economic arena," Chungong said. The emergency item resolution will focus on famine affecting the population of Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Northern Kenya. This proposal was jointly placed by Belgium, the United Kingdom and Kenya.

Besides, the documents of outcomes of the general debate on 'redressing inequalities, delivering on dignity and wellbeing of all' will be adopted at the IPU Assembly on Wednesday, the last day of 136th IPU assembly.

First published in The Asian Age, April 4, 2017

Saleem Samad, Ashoka Fellow (USA), an award winning investigative journalist and Special Correspondent, The Asian Age

Why Pakistan skipped IPU Assembly

2017-04-03T03:58:00.000-07:00

Saleem Samad

It was predicted that Pakistan would stay away from participating at the ongoing 136th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in capital Dhaka. Pakistan, on Friday last announced to boycott of the mega parliamentarian assembly, alleging a "malicious propaganda" by Bangladesh, and unfriendly attitude.

The last minute pull-out of 10-member delegation led by Pakistan national assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq was due to participate in the IPU assembly in Dhaka. Further to slay the slain, Pakistan took the issue of Bangladesh observing "Genocide Day" on March 25 to memorialize genocide of three million people and sexual abuse of 400,000 women during the Liberation War in 1971.

Sadiq's statement was not a surprise Bangladesh government. He said the Pakistan national assembly members noted with disappointment the actions and "negative public statements" coming out of Bangladesh despite Pakistan's "restraint and overtures" to the country.

The bilateral relation between the two countries has been in roller-coaster since the independence of Bangladesh and surrender of Pakistan armed forces in eastern front in December 1971.

The boycott of the IPU conference is another sign of strain in Bangladesh-Pakistan ties. The relationship further plummeted when Pakistan has officially protested the sentencing and hanging of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders for war crimes committed during the bloody war in 1971.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government strongly reacted to Pakistan's reactions in regard of the judicial verdicts, which her administration stated tantamount to meddling in internal affairs of Bangladesh and also asked Islamabad to apologize for atrocities committed by marauding Pakistan army during the Liberation War.

However, diplomatic relations between two countries enjoyed best of ties during the two military regimes of General Ziaur Rahman (1975-1981) and General HM Ershad (1982-1990). The bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan had risen and shined during the regimes of Begum Khaleda Zia (1991-1996 and 2001-2005), when dreaded Pakistan spy agency ISI was given legitimacy for covert operation against India.

ISI operatives in a bid to destabilize the north-eastern states, had provided weapons, training and helped money laundering of funds to run the separatist groups, who were engaged in violent actions against the Indian authority. The Pakistan spy agency was also active in raising militant groups from among the Rohingya Muslims to wage war against Myanmar for a separate state.

Since Sheikh Hasina came to power in 2009, her government was able to neutralize the ISI operations in Bangladesh and all the separatist leaders of Indian north-east were deported to India. Once the Pakistan's covert operations were blocked and regular seizure counterfeit Indian currency smuggled into India, Pakistan began tirade against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh also with other South Asian countries including India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan pulled out of the 19th SAARC Summit to be hosted by Pakistan in November 2016, citing incitement in terrorism in the region.

This episode further angered Islamabad and blamed Dhaka taking cue from New Delhi and adopts an anti-Pakistan posture, writes an editorial in a Pakistan newspaper published on April 1.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, quoted in an influential newspaper "Aaj News" expressed grief that "all such dedicated efforts, unfortunately, fell in vain and Pakistan was time and again targeted and maligned…. It was, therefore, decided, with a heavy heart, not to undertake a visit to Bangladesh at this time."

First published in The Asian Age, April 3, 2017

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA), is an award winning journalist and Special Correspondent, The Asian Age

Bangladesh hide and seek on presence of Islamic State militants

2017-03-13T20:33:00.004-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Bangladesh is embarrassed. So are the top officials of Interpol, security experts, academicians, police chiefs from the region attending the three-day long conference organized by Bangladesh Police and the Interpol in the capital.

Bangladesh Police top brass AKM Shahidul Hoque has denied the presence of Jihadist of Islamic State (IS or ISIS) in the country. "There is no presence of the Islamist terrorist outfit here," the inspector general of police maintained at impromptu press briefing on Monday morning.

"These are baseless propaganda. What we call militants are actually 'homegrown' who might have been embodied with IS philosophy and ideology. But they don't have any link with the IS," said Hoque. His reaction came in the wake of Prof Rohan Gunaratna, an international security expert, who affirmed on the presence of IS jihadist in Bangladesh and that the outfit carried out the Gulshan café attack on July 1.

What further embarrassed the government was the joint forces operation to disengage and neutralize the militants, release the hostages and regain control of the café, when his paper, "Deradicalization of Mili-tant: An Approach for Disengagement and Reintegration into Society," Gunaratna said police should have immediately responded to the café attack and should not have lingered on for the commandos to join the operation. The conference seeks to build regional cooperation in curbing violent extremism and transnational crime.

Government was enraged not only with his observation on presence of IS in Bangladesh, the military brass took the scholar's comments on delayed commando operation to regain the seized café, as an exception and interference into internal affairs.

In a typical IS strategy, Gunaratna explained that the IS second phase was propaganda and the third phase was showdown. "The group that mounted the Holey Artisan attack is not the JMB. In fact, it is the IS," opined the expert.

But unfortunately, the Bangladeshi political leadership did not accept that the group that is operating is the IS, Gunaratna remarked.

Administration top officials, including Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and the inspector general of police have repeatedly said that there is no presence of ISIS in Bangladesh. Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina described any such claims as local and foreign conspiracies.

There could be various reasons why the government is determined to justify non-existence of jihadist or Islamic militants who are linked to Al Qaeda or Islamic State. Head of Singapore based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research Rohan Gunaratna, has claimed that terrorist network Islamic State has physical presence in Bangladesh.

Police chief Shahidul Hoque described Gunaratna as an academician, a professor of a university. In a virulent attack, Hoque observed that "he does not deal with any security issue. He has done his academic research on his own. But he does not have experience of the real issue of Bangladesh."

"What Mr Rohan said is his own statement. We don't endorse his statement," the IGP concluded. Born in Sri Lanka, Gunaratna interviewed terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia and other conflict zones, according to his brief biography presented at the conference.

The United States 9/11 Commission formed after the attack of Twin-Tower in New York invited Gunaratna to testify on the structure of al-Qaeda.

Gunaratna, who teaches security studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, is also a trainer for national security agencies, law enforcement authorities and military counter-terrorism units, said his bio distributed at the conference.

This article is published in The Asian Age, March 14, 2017

Saleem Samad, is an Ashoka Fellow (USA), an award winning investigative journalist and writes on current affairs

Bangladesh embassy’s street in Paris renamed after slain blogger Avijit Roy

2015-11-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

Saleem Samad

In protest of countries where journalists have been the victims of unpunished crimes and to mark International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on Monday (2 November), media rights defender Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has renamed a street in Paris, France after slain American-Bangladesh blogger Avijit Roy.

In a comment in Facebook last evening Avijit Roy’s wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya also a survivor of brutal attack thanked RSF for this honor and stated that the honor goes to all the writers/bloggers/publishers/journalists hacked, tortured or killed for expressing their free thoughts.

RSF has renamed 12 Parisian streets after journalists who have been murdered, tortured or disappeared in recent times. The renamed streets are those with embassies of countries where journalists have been the victims of unpunished crimes, a statement issued on by Benjamin Ismaïl, Head of Asia Desk, RSF.

The embassy addresses have been changed to draw attention to the failure of these countries to take action and to remind them of their obligation to do whatever is needed to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice.

RSF is using these 12 emblematic cases to highlight the fact that crimes of violence against journalists usually go unpunished because official investigations are inadequate or non-existent and because governments are apathetic. More than 90 percent of crimes against journalist are never solved.

Five new names were added to the list in 2015. They include Tunisian journalists Sofiane Chourabi and Nadhir Ktari, who went missing in Libya in September 2014, and Radio France Internationale journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, who were murdered in Kidal, in northern Mali, on 2 November 2013.

Six weeks after their murder, the UN General Assembly created International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists and decided that it should me marked on the anniversary of their deaths.

“The cases of impunity that we are presenting are terrible symbols of passivity or deliberate inaction on the part of certain governments,” RSF’s secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“This International Day is an occasion for paying homage to the victims and for reminding governments of their obligation to protect journalists and to combat impunity. Those who target journalists will one day be held to account for their actions.”

In order to combat impunity, Reporters Without Borders is calling for the appointment of a special adviser to the UN secretary-general on the safety of journalists.

Saleem Samad is an Ashoka Fellow (USA), an award winning investigative journalist, a micro-blogger and correspondent of a Paris based international media rights defender Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Tweet @saleemsamad email: saleemsamad@hotmail.com

2015-02-17T01:27:00.000-08:00

SALEEM SAMAD

All set for Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Bangladesh, which usher hopes of taking the India-Bangladesh relations at new height, when her party is sailing through troubled waters.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata is arriving on an official visit to Dhaka during the observance of Ekushey February and opening of the International Mother Language Institute building at Kakrail on Basha Dibash (February 21).

Banerjee’s visit has acquired major significance especially against the backdrop of her resistance to sign the treaties back in 2011, when then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh had to back off at the last minute due to her position.

Though her government has softened its stand against the LBA, not much progress has been made in the water sharing agreement, which has become a major point of conflict between the two neighbouring countries.

The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader would be welcomed with open arms, but the Foreign Office was uncomfortable after media reports of arrival of controversial legislator Ahmed Hassan Imran.

A top Foreign Office official confirmed that the government has received the final and full list of entourage of Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Dhaka on February 19. The list does not have Imran’s name.

Diplomats in Bangladesh have been saying that it would not be right if Imran visited their country. The government have expressed reservations about Imran coming to Bangladesh, says the official.

Imran is a TMC lawmaker who was appointed to the Rajya Sabha. His appointment last year had created uproar as it came just after Indian security agencies dossier had flagged him for being sympathetic of the dreaded Jamaat-e-Islami and also blamed to destabilise the Awami League government.

During her visit to the Bangladesh capital, Mamata is expected to meet President Mohammad Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discuss key treaties like the Teesta water sharing agreement and the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between the two neighbouring countries.

During his lasts visit to Kolkata Bangladesh Finance Minister A.M. Abdul Muhith had hoped that Banerjee would visit the country soon.

However, Dhaka and New Delhi are both anxious for a positive response during her visit, during which both the countries hope to solve the difference in the two treaties that have soured their relationship in the recent past.

Meanwhile, Mamata seem in trouble and she remarked on Monday that her party is strong and united, amidst reports of TMC general secretary Mukul Roy forming a new political outfit.

Later Mukul Roy was left in the cold by Banerjee in an organisational shake-up that took place.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party lawmaker has dared her to punish him for writing to the central government directly about corruption in his constituency.

The legislator has been in the spotlight for alleging that "extortionists in the Trinamool are not allowing good people to work."

On the other hand, Mamata’s Bangladesh visit has caught the ire of controversial writer Taslima Nasreen, who has alleged that she was shielding Muslim radicals in her state.

Saleem Samad, is an Ashoka Fellow for journalism and an award winning investigative reporter. He has worked as news reporter for Time magazine and presently is news correspondent for The Daily Observer, Paris based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and regular contributor for prestigious international magazine India Today.

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Women’s micro-credit caught in culture of violence, repression

2014-12-22T06:48:00.000-08:00

SALEEM SAMAD

The silent revolution of women’s empowerment through micro-finance is caught in the culture of violence and repression in a patriarchal society.

Despite 90 per cent of the total 30 million loan borrowers are rural women, they have experienced social conflicts, which hinders them from decision-making process within the family and society, said Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, Chairman, Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), at a seminar. The seminar was organised jointly by National Caucus for Women’s Economic Empowerment in the capital Dhaka.

He said that there are incidents that women have delayed in repayment of their regular instalments due to social conflicts, but supervision and monitoring have stopped them short of becoming a defaulter, he said.

The microfinance which was experimented in Bangladesh have mesmerised the world, the responsibility also lies with Bangladesh amend the problems of micro-finance which immensely empowered women and the society globally.

He insisted that the NGOs and private organisations should increase the limit of credit to women borrowers from Taka few thousand to Tk three to Tk five lakh. PKSF has provided loans from Tk five to Tk 10 lakh and have yielded positive result on employment generation, he said.

Dr Ahmad urged all to shun the word ‘micro’ as it seriously shrinks the mindset of the NGO engaged in microfinance to approve small loans, especially to women.

He however, agrees with others that microfinance has definitely helped rural people to cross the threshold of poverty line and graduate to lower and middle-class society. Crossing the thick line of poverty is obviously slow, but according to international study of 2007-2008, empowerment of underprivileged has enabled 10 per cent of the landless, hard crore poor and vulnerable population to shed poverty and blessed by quality of life, he remarked.

Hosne Ara Khan, Member Secretary of the caucus, in her keynote paper said the women do not have control over the loan, not to speak of income from the microfinance. Bereft of cash, it cast shadows over her power, dignity and prestige, a vision which was brief.

A woman endures double burden compared to their male partners. Women have no way to refuse responsibility of household chores, take care of the family and work for the project for which she took modest loan, she said.

If a woman in a family compromise with her responsibilities, the society takes a toll on her. She is subjected to repression, cruelty, and suffer mental and physical torture, Hosne Ara remarked.

Nevertheless, a visible women population who are beneficiaries of microfinance were elected to local government position against male contestants, many of them have been included as members of the social organisations committees, which provide hopes that women are able to establish their rights by availing offers of the community services agencies, she said.

Hosne Ara also chief of USHA claimed that the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) has accepted seven recommendations out of 22, which she claims would be beneficial in ensuring harmony, coordination and supervision of the microfinance agencies.

Shaheen Anam, chief of Manusher Jonno Foundation, said that studies show women’s ‘unaccounted income’ was three times higher from the women workers in regular jobs.

She lamented that 10 per cent of the women beneficiaries of microfinance have control over their income and have a say in the family and society.

Dr Sadika Halim, chair of the caucus said her network and PKSF are jointly engaged in developing microfinance policy and home rules for loan recipient.

She said male-headed households or male counterpart who is responsible for repression on women is not eligible for microfinance. So are those males who have wedded a child bride, or a polygamist, or have received dowry through coercion are barred from loans, the former Right to Information Commissioner said.

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA) is an awarding winning reporter and writes on conflicts, ethnicity and media rights

BCIM to finalise silk route plan in Kolkata

2014-12-18T21:36:00.001-08:00

BCIM to finalise silk route plan in Kolkata

Gen Zia betrayed Col Taher?

2014-11-09T06:07:00.002-08:00

JSD was not ready for Nov 7 Sepoy Mutiny

SALEEM SAMAD

The Biplobi Sainik Sangstha (Revolutionary Sepoy’s Organisation) was never heard of in early 1970s. The clandestine organisation’s hard-core members were mostly Junior and Non-Commissioned Officers of Bangladesh Army. The recruits of the secret group were loyal to dismissed Maj Mohammad Abdul Jalil, Commander of Sector 9 of Mukti Bahini.

The secret group began its journey on January 1, 1973 at the staff quarters of Havildar Bari of Armoured Corps. The members were drawn from serving Junior and Non-Commissioned Officers. On the founding day of the ‘Bangladesh Revolutionary and Suicide Commando Force’ they took solemn oath by touching the Holy Qur’an.

The underground Biplobi Sainik Sangstha’s members held secret meetings at Ahsanullah Hall of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). The political wisdom, mission and visions of the revolution were tutored by Sirajul Alam Khan, political theorist and founder of the Jatiya Samjtantrik Dal (JSD) and Dr Akhlaqur Rahman, an economist.

Days after Maj Jalil was imprisoned on March 17, 1974, he send secret message to the underground organisation’s leader Corporal Altaf Hossain to contact Col Abu Taher (Bir Uttam) and seek directives from the former commander of Sector 11.

Corporal Hossain was the key person to organise the soldiers in various cantonments and motivate them to join the revolution.

On June 20, 1974, a secret meeting presided by Col Taher was organised at Sergeant Abu Yusuf Khan’s residence at Elephant Road. The retired Sector Commander told the dedicated group that his friend Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman, who was Deputy Chief of Army Staff has expressed solidarity with the group and will support their revolution.

The statement has raised the morale of the junior officers. Since then the activities of the Revolutionary Commando Force were held openly.

On the other side, most soldiers of Sector 11 and loyal to Taher joined ‘Biplobi Sainik Sangstha’ also many soldiers in Comilla Cantonment where he (Taher) once served as Commanding Officer also joined the group. He advocated for ‘People’s Army’ and through ‘class struggle’ drew political support of the soldiers.

Soon the Revolutionary Commando Force and other smaller groups among the soldiers merged into Biplobi Sainik Sangstha, after the crisis created following the assassination of the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a military putsch.

Taher knew his limitation and was not a protagonist of the revolution. He decided to use Zia’s image among the soldiers to expedite the revolution. In a bid to garner more support of the soldiers he included in the Sainik Sangstha a 12-point demands for the realisation of 18 months of unpaid wages of repatriated soldiers from Pakistan. This was debated by former Mukti Bahini soldiers and was not discussed at the high command of the JSD.

Taher also formed strategic alliance with the pro-Peking (now Beijing) left groups and parties who participated in the Liberation War to form liberated areas in rural regions, so that the radical groups can create pressure on the capital Dhaka.

JSD radical political philosophy was similar to the Sainik Sangstha revolution to overthrow the autocratic regime to establish a pro-people, farmers, soldiers, workers and students national government.

On November 6, JSD party forum held an emergency standing committee meeting at a residence in Kalabagan. The meeting was attended by Sirajul Alam Khan, Aklaqur Rahman, Monirul Islam, Hasanul Haque Inu and Khair Ejaz Masud and others, writes Mohiuddin Ahmed in his recent book “Jashoder Utthan Poton: Osthir Somoyer Rajniti, Protoma Prokashon.

The agenda for discussion was to organise an indefinite shut down (hartal). A show down of strength was planned at Paltan Maidan on November 9. JSD leaders expected that thousands of industrial workers from Adamjee, Tejgaon and Tongi would participate and block the capital Dhaka for days, until the government collapse and form a national government with all parties, minus the BAKSAL leadership. Unfortunately the plan was abandoned, due to abrupt Sepoy Mutiny.

While the meeting was in progress, Taher walked in and sat to listen to the discussion. Surprisingly the Sepoy Mutiny was not in the agenda. Possibly the key leaders had no knowledge that a mutiny was brewing.

After a while, a young military officer in civilian dress barged into the meeting room, without causing any alarm among the key leaders sitting there. He whispered in the ears of Taher and handed over to him two small pieces of papers.

Once the officer departed, Taher drew the attention of the meeting and read out one message which came from Gen Zia. Which reads: “I am interned, I can’t take the lead. My men are there. If you take the lead, my men will join you.”

Those present at the meeting have never met Zia and does not know him. The first reaction came from Akhlaqur Rahman, who refused to accept Gen Zia as their leader. All the leaders had one question, whether Zia should be trusted? Taher promptly responded and confidently said, “If you trust me, then you can also trust Zia. He will be under my feet.”

He also informed the meeting that he has instructed the Sainik Sangstha to begin the revolution. Immediately all the members in the room were baffled by the announcement. The meeting tried to influence Taher to withdraw the call for mutiny. He said it was impossible to reach the decision as the communication is a one-way traffic.

The second message was from the command centre of the soldiers planning the mutiny at midnight following November 6. It reads: “Khaled Mussaraf men are moving fast. The iron is too hot. It is time to hit.”

Taher took the floor and said like what happened in the Bolshevik Revolution – Tonight or never. Sirajul Alam Khan did not say yes or no to the plan. The leaders continued to pursue Taher and frustrated the meeting abruptly ended without any plan, Mohiuddin writes.

F Rahman Hall at Dhaka University was converted into a clandestine command centre for the November 7 Sepoy Mutiny led by Col Abu Taher, commander of Gono Bahni (People’s Army).

A nervous mutineer Subedar Mehboob rang the shot an hour early than determined at 1 O’clock. The single shot at midnight from a rifle, triggered the revolution of soldiers. Thousands of soldiers joined the mutiny broke the military armoury to loot weapons and boarded trucks and jeeps and took control of strategic points.

A contingent rushed to Gen Zia’s residence to free him from house-arrest in Dhaka Cantonment hours after Maj Khaled Musharraf's coup d'etat on November 3. Taher drove in a military jeep with few JSD leaders and met Zia. “You have saved the nation,” he admired Taher amidst cheering soldiers.

Zia asked Taher of the whereabouts of Sirajul Alam Khan. It was presumed that Zia wanted to meet the top leaders of JSD, which never happened.

Since the meeting held on the eve of November 7, Sirajul Alam Khan, Akhlaqur Rahman and many senior leaders opted to maintain low profile. Possibly they believed that the mutiny would fail, and it failed.

Mohiuddin in his book writes that despite request by Taher, Zia refused to go to the radio station on an excuse that his statement could be recorded and broadcast. At the radio station Shamsuddin Ahmed, a young Turk of the Gana Bahini read out a statement which announced the Sepoy Mutiny. Unfortunately, the announcer did not mention the name of Taher or other JSD leaders or even his name.

On November 23, 1975, Zia also ordered the arrest of JSD leaders. A large police contingent surrounded the house of Col Taher's brother Sergeant Abu Yusuf Khan and took him to the police control room.

When Col Taher heard about his brother’s arrest, he rang Gen Zia but was told that he was not available. Instead Maj Gen HM Ershad, the Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator, spoke with him. Ershad said it was a police matter and they knew nothing about it, writes Talukder Maniruzzaman in “Bangladesh in 1976: Struggle for Survival as an Independent State,” published in Asian Survey in February 1977.

The following day Taher was arrested 16 days after freeing Ziaur Rahman and was taken to Dhaka Central Jail. He was accused of 'instigating indiscipline' in the army and attempting to expand the original mutiny of November 7, 1975 towards a goal of "socialist revolution" and to kill some of the army officers.

Abu Taher's Last Testament: Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution by Lawrence Lifschultz published in Economic and Political Weekly, India in August 1977: “It became very clear to me that a new conspiracy had taken control of those we had brought to power on November 7 in 1975.”

“On November 24, 1975, I was surrounded by a large contingent of police. The police officer asked me to accompany him for discussion with Zia. I said I was surprised and I asked him why there was need of a police guard for me to go to Zia. Anyway they put me in a jeep and drove me straight to this jail. This is how I was put inside this jail by those traitors who I saved and brought to power.”

“In our history, there is only one example of such treachery. It was the treachery of Mir Zafar who betrayed the people of Bangladesh and the subcontinent and led us into slavery for a period of 200 years. Fortunately for us it is not 1757. It is 1976 and we have revolutionary soldiers and a revolutionary people who will destroy the conspiracy of traitors like Ziaur Rahman,” the statement concluded.

The Supreme Court has recently described the execution of Taher through an order of a military tribunal in 1976 as ‘outright murder’. It says the hanging of Taher was ‘illegal’ and a case of ‘cold blooded assassination’.

Saleem Samnad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA) is an award winning investigative reporter based in Bangladesh. Email <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>

New broadcasting policy neither “restrictive” nor “protective”

2014-08-09T23:55:00.003-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), an umbrella of countrywide journalist’s union on Saturday observed that the new policy was neither “restrictive” nor “protective”, but did not hesitate to express their discontentment over the new broadcasting policy announced last week.

The media professional leaders urged the government to institute an independent broadcasting commission at the soonest.

Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, president of BFUJ told a crowded press conference at Jatiya Press Club yesterday demanded of the government to announce a deadline for establishment of broadcasting commission and which will develop a proactive broadcasting policy with the stakeholders.

The BFUJ president flanked by Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, secretary general, Khairuzzaman Kamal, treasurer and others described that the broadcasting policy which was gazetted last Wednesday was an outcome of the demand of the BFUJ.

He told a journalist that the policy will bring discipline within the vibrant electronic media. Bulbul understands that further discussion will reduce the crucial issues missing in the policy.

Bulbul, CEO of Boishaki Television remarked that the government is taking a dangerous path and unacceptable which is likely to be deemed as interference of independence of editorial policy of individual television channels.

BFUJ is critical of a section of the policy which says that all TV channels will have to develop Charter of Duties and Editorial Policy individually. The president warned that such advise will jeopardise the harmony in the electronic media, instead he urged that the such activity should be made by the commission.

BFUJ concern is with formation of enquiry committees. The leaders said the policy does not state the criteria of the members of the committee. The policy also does not state in how many days the probe body would be formed. Also no deadline has been mentioned for the probe committee to submit their report.

Regarding the blanket ban on broadcast of news/views critical of officers of the armed forces and law enforcing agencies, BFUJ said it is contradiction to the Right to Information Act. The information act allows media to report/publish issues of officers indulged in crime against humanity and corruption.

Bulbul, who is also a member of the drafting committee of the policy categorically said that the policy does not restricts nor says to control the most popular prime time talk shows.

He alleged that certain quarters to reap political mileage is misinterpreting that talks-shows would be controlled and TV channels would be punished for broadcast.

He regretted that the policy does not mention the hundreds of journalists, production team and technical staffs who give effort to keep the broadcast lively.

BFUJ expected that the policy provide transparency on issuance of licenses to broadcast media, but the policy does have any reflection on the multi-million taka investment in the electronic media industry, Bulbul lamented.

However, the journalist’s body expects that the relevant authority will address the concerns of BFUJ on their reservations regarding the weakness of the policy.

Saleem Samad is an Ashoka Fellow (USA) and a journalist with the Daily Observer.

Begum on the Backfoot: Controversial parliamentary election plunges Bangladesh into fresh political uncertainty

2014-01-15T09:47:00.002-08:00

SALEEM SAMAD

There was something amiss about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina celebrating the Awami League's landslide victory-it took 232 of 300 seats-in the January 5 elections to Parliament. For starters, it was a one-sided contest; the opposition alliance of 18 parties led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the polls. In Dhaka a day after the results, Hasina was both jubilant and defiant. She dismissed critics who questioned the legitimacy of the polls held amid boycott and bloodshed-24 people were killed on polling day. The next day, she asked her main political rival Begum Khaleda Zia to "shut up and negotiate" an end to the country's political paralysis.

Hasina will find it harder to deal with international opinion. The US said the elections lacked credibility and called for fresh polls. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticised the Awami League and BNP and urged them to resume meaningful dialogue. Britain and Canada expressed dismay that candidates were elected unopposed on more than half of the 300 seats. The estimated 40 per cent voter turnout was the lowest in the country's ten elections. Even Hasina's longtime regional supporter, India, issued a guarded statement, terming the polls a "constitutional requirement" and an "internal process of Bangladesh".

Imtiaz Ahmed, a political scientist at the University of Dhaka, believes fresh polls are critical to satisfy the international donors. "Resource-starved Bangladesh needs annual aid of nearly $3 billion for poverty reduction and development projects," he says.

The loss of international credibility is just one of the worries for Hasina. The crisis caused by the political impasse is expected to intensify after her government's five-year term expires on January 24. Violence that has been unleashed by BNP since the elections were called in November threatens to engulf the entire economy. Sporadic incidents of violence continue. A blockade has crippled highway and railway transport, work and education. Economic activity has ground to a halt and Bangladesh's main export earner, the garment sector which employs nearly six million people, has been severely affected. Factories are running under capacity as 75 days of strikes have disrupted raw material supplies and delivery of finished goods.

Inflation rose by about 0.2 percentage point to touch 7.35 per cent in December last year as a direct result of the violence. "I am eagerly waiting for the deadlock to end. If it doesn't happen, I will be forced to cut costs for my survival," says Nasiruddin Biswas, chairman of Nasir Group of Industries, one of Bangladesh's largest industrial conglomerates valued at $256 million.

Hasina's government has blamed the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), which has long been an ally of Khaleda Zia's BNP, for the terror campaign and militancy in Bangladesh. In 2010, her government began trials of jei leaders who were accused of participating in a genocide that left more than a million Bangladeshis dead during the 1971 war of liberation. On December 13, senior jei leader Abdul Quader Molla was hanged after being sentenced by a war crimes court. In August, the Supreme Court declared jei illegal and banned it from contesting elections.

Political analysts believe Hasina is unlikely to call fresh polls before the war crime trials are completed next year. Election boycotts have been an important tool in Bangladesh's Battle of the Begums. Khaleda Zia boycotted the 1988 general elections held under the autocratic rule of General Husain Muhammad Ershad. Sheikh Hasina boycotted the 1996 elections when Khaleda Zia was prime minister. Khaleda announced a boycott of the 2014 elections in November after the Hasina government rejected her proposal for a neutral caretaker government to supervise the polls. Since then, more than 120 people have been killed and over 900 buses torched. A disturbing trend has been attacks by suspected jei extremists on the minority Hindu community, which makes up about 10 per cent of the country's 180 million population. Attacks, and looting, have been reported from Satkhira, Dinajpur and Jessore districts, forcing thousands of Hindus to flee their homes for temporary shelters.

At her January 6 press conference, Hasina left the door open for dialogue. And Khaleda Zia agreed. "There is no solution other than talks," she told BBC. But Khaleda insists that the dialogue should be held before the government's current term ends. She has also laid other preconditions, including that she be freed from unofficial house arrest. It is now Hasina's move to make. The world is watching.

First published in India Today magazine, January 10, 2014

Saleem Samad is an Ashoka Fellow (USA) for trendsetting journalism, he contributes for India Today, The Week, Outlook magazines in India and Karachi, Pakistan based Southasia magazine. You can follow her on Twitter - @saleemsamad

Bangladesh: Politics of fury

2014-01-07T02:44:00.000-08:00

Elections may not put an end to the political upheaval in Dhaka

SALEEM SAMAD

On January 5,

Bangladesh

will hold elections to 300 seats in Jatiyo Sangshad, its parliament. But, unlike in the past, there is no excitement in the air. With the opposition staying away from the polls, as many as 153 candidates have been elected unopposed. The ruling Awami League is sure to bag majority, as 127 of the candidates belong to the party. Fear of political violence is likely to deter voters from casting their ballots.

Badiul Alam Majumder, secretary of Sujon, an NGO that advocates good governance, calls the election a farce. In December, the opposition, which consists of 18 parties led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), decided to boycott the polls, after its demands for a non-party caretaker government to supervise “a free, fair and credible election” were rejected by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The opposition and Hasina had been at loggerheads over the election for several months. The rift deepened on December 13, when Abdul Quader Mollah, leader of BNP's ally Jamaat-e-Islami, was executed for atrocities committed during the country's liberation struggle in 1971. Claiming that Hasina was bent on eliminating opponents, the JeI unleashed a violent campaign against the government.

The JeI's opponents say its fundamentalist ideology has no place in a secular country like Bangladesh. The country's supreme court, too, echoed the view on August 1, when it ruled that the JeI's registration as a political party was illegal. Following the verdict, the election commission banned the party from contesting the January 5 polls. Party leaders, however, have vowed to carry on their campaign, saying Mollah's trial was politically motivated.

But experts say the JeI is a spent force. According to Prof. Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah of Dhaka University, the party's struggle is meaningless, as it cannot hope to hold any public office in the near future. He also said that, unlike what Hasina had been saying, the election would be “exclusive, not inclusive”. “The silent majority will lose confidence in the polls and refrain from participating,” said Kalimullah.

Fears of violence, he insisted, were misplaced. “I do not see any reason for violence. Not on poll day, because of the deployment of military troops and para-military forces,” he said.

But, even if the government manages to avoid bloodshed during the polls, the future seems rather grim. The JeI has said if Hasina plans to push ahead with her repressive tactics, the consequences would be dreadful. Also, experts point out that attempts by the government to neutralise the JeI could result in the party becoming more radicalised.

Though the JeI remains belligerent, the BNP has been reportedly participating in secret parleys with the Awami League to put an end to the political clashes that have plagued Dhaka in recent times. Apparently, the eagerness of the BNP to solve the impasse could be one reason it deliberately ignored the ban on the JeI.

The efforts to broker a deal, however, are yet to succeed. The violence in Dhaka has left people's lives and public utilities in ruins. Nearly 500 people have been killed and thousands injured in clashes since March last year. Nearly 900 vehicles, mostly public transport buses, have been torched. State-run medical facilities are overrun by the injured, most of whom are from low-income groups who dared to venture out of their homes in search of work. With education and tourism on the verge of collapse, and intermittent blockades affecting the business climate, experts point out that the next casualty could well be the ailing economy.

First appeared in The Week magazine, January 3, 2014

Saleem Samad is an Ashoka Fellow (USA) and Bangladesh based award winning journalist

Noose tightens on Bangladesh opposition

2013-12-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

After the execution of a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader, the religious party faces an uncertain future.

SALEEM SAMAD

Hours after

Bangladesh

executed Abdul Quader Molla, a top opposition leader, for his role in the 1971 civil war that culminated into

Bangladesh

's independence from

Pakistan

activists from his party, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), staged riots. Violence has continued in the country following the December 12 hanging, leading to dozens of deaths.

More than 100 JeI activists have been detained in a nation-wide crackdown.

Molla's execution has lead to heated debates about the role of political Islam in the country and the future for religious opposition parties.

"Bangladesh will be the first country to bury 'political Islam' which wrecked the traditional secular fabric of the society since independence in 1971," explains professor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, who teaches Public Affairs in the Dhaka University.

'Surge and Decline'

JeI had opposed the break-up of

Pakistan

and fought alongside

Pakistan

's military against pro-Independence forces. It was banned from politics upon the formation of

Bangladesh

But a military coup in 1975 lifted the ban on JeI. During the 1980s, the religious party joined a multi-party coalition and later supported the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). In October 2001, it emerged as the country's third largest party, securing 17 seats in the 300-member parliament. Both the JeI and BNP led by Begum Khaleda Zia replaced the Awami League (AL), which had been in power since 1996.

In 2008, AL led by Sheikh Hasina came back to power even as JeI's popularity waned when it won a mere 5 seats in national elections. And in 2010 AL began war crimes trials for events surrounding the independence struggle under

Bangladesh

's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

Molla became the first person convicted by the tribunal. He was initially sentenced to life in prison in February. Calling a life sentence as too lenient, thousands across Bangladeshdemanded he be hanged. And in September, the Supreme Court overturned life in prison and replaced it with a death sentence.

With his hanging, some observers believe JeI's power also has been executed.

While war veterans from 1971 and thousands of pro-independence youths rejoiced after the hanging, the JeI's acting head Moqbul Ahmed warned "people would [want] revenge" on the party's website, which triggered a massive crackdown against JeI activists.

Ahmed has called on the international community to raise its voice against the "repression on the opposition".

"Since coming to power the government (of Awami League) has practiced unbridled corruption, nepotism and even torture upon members of the opposition. They are now making a last-ditch attempt to stay in power indefinitely by amending the constitution and destroying the state apparatus. They have abolished the caretaker system of government and have enacted a new system to hold elections under their own party government," the Jamaat chief said, something which its political partner BNP also backs.

Both the parties have in recent months launched blockades; often resulting in violence and killings, to press for their demands but the ruling AL so far seems unwilling to budge.

JeI says crackdown on its members and the hanging of its leader was "politically motivated".

But others feel the executions were fair, as Jamaat's paramilitary Al Badr had committed "heinous war abuses" for which they need to be punished.

According to M A Hasan, of the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, an independent body investigating the 1971 massacres: "Al Badr had been engaged in forced abduction and execution of Bangla-speaking pro-independence nationalists and secularists to brutally muzzle the voices for freedom."

The war historian's documents claim that "local henchmen" allied with Pakistani soldiers were involved in "killing at least 3 million and sexual abusing 400,000 women during the nine months civil war."

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and UN rights experts have continued their criticism of the war crimes tribunals and the laws under which they operate.

However, Bangladeshi authorities have always argued that they met national standards and that justice is needed for war crimes committed during the bloody war of independence from

Pakistan

'Partner's silence'

The BNP, Jel's erstwhile political ally, has been conspicuously silent since Molla's execution.

It is currently pre-occupied in talks with the ruling AL over how to break the political deadlock.

"It seems BNP is more desperate for a political solution than stalemate and may have deliberately overlooked JeI's concerns," Ahmed explains.

The BNP has been holding series of blockades of the country's transport system since December in protest of holding what it says is "farcical" election in January.

A court has already declared the registration of the JeI as "illegal" to contest national polls.

" [The] BNP's strategic election partner has become a dead horse and a political burden for the opposition," says Nzmul Ahsan Kalimullah, a professor of public administration at theUniversity of Dhaka. "It is time for BNP to shred JeI, which will bring an end to political Islam which has haunted the nation apparently for 30 years."

'Uncertain future'

JeI may not be a dead horse but even some party insiders believe it is facing a worst crisis in its 40-year-long political history in

Bangladesh

"It would be a Herculean task to survive against the ruling party which has an overwhelming majority in the government," says explains Salauddin Babar, executive editor of the pro-JeI newspaper, Dainik Naya Diganta, and a senior JeI member. "It will be an uphill battle to survive the current political crisis JeI faces."

Babar believes that the crackdown weakend the party's chain of command and Jel could crack under the pressure.

"The political future of the party has been challenged after a sustained crackdown on the leadership. Jamaat's future is uncertain," he says.

First published in Al Jazeera news portal, December 21, 2013

Saleem Samad is an award winning Bangladesh based investigative journalist and an Ashoka Fellow. He is recipient of Hellman-Hammett Grants award by New Yorkbased Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2005.

The haunted Hindus of Santhia

2013-11-11T04:16:00.000-08:00

Saleem Samad in Santhia, Pabna

As she loiters past damaged houses in Sahaparha village, 5-year old ‘Orgho’ fumes over her smashed water mug, plastic chair and, most loudly, about the damaged television in her house.

She blames the Nov 2 mayhem on Kali Puja day on 'dustu chelera’ (naughty boys).

Her mother is cautious, as she recollects how she hid in a smelly toilet for three hours to escape an armed mob of fanatic Muslims.

A part of her house was smashed to smithereens.

The State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku had gathered at Karamjat madrasa ground to thwart Opposition protests, barely 10 kilometres from Bongram bazaar at Santhia.

That was just before the Muslim mob, fuming over a reported Facebook posting denigrating Prophet Muhammad, went on an orgy of violence in Santhia.

Sahaparha was one of the worst affected because the Facebook posting was blamed on Rajib Saha, a resident of the village.

The conspirators deliberately chose Saturday, a weekly haat-bazaar day.

On the day hundreds of photocopies of an alleged Facebook posting were distributed, indicating that Rajib Saha had insulted the Prophet.

The distribution left Muslims of all parties inflamed.

What followed was hours of violence in which atleast 40 Hindu homes were ravaged.

The young women are yet to return to villages, as fear grips the Hindus in the area.

They are worried because those suspected of perpetrating the mayhem have not been arrested.

Worse, the Hindus now suspect that many who made up the violent mob enjoy protection of senior Awami League politicians including local MP and State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku.

This is what has shocked them most -- how could those attacking them enjoy Awami League protection!

Tuku has also been blamed for letting the police on Awami League dissidents close to senior leader Prof Abu Sayeed, one time close confidante of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

But what about the alleged Facebook posting!

Like many similar so-called Facebook postings that inflamed Muslims and led to anti-minority violence elsewhere in the country like Ramu, this one allegedly by Rajib Saha also appeared a complete fake.

Journalists in Pabna argued that the photocopy of the Facebook ostensibly posted by Rajib was 'photoshopped' from a fake account “Innocent Rajib”.

Much like the alleged Facebook posting at Ramu in Cox's Bazar in September last year, in which hundreds of Buddhist homes were vandalised and scores of pagodas desecrated.

The miscreants in both Ramu and Santhia seem to have lost no time to loot valuables and cash in the second wave of violence following the initial fury.

Superintendent of Police (SP) of Pabna Mirajuddin Ahmed promised that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

But he was quick to add that the attackers had not been identified. Except for those who spoke to Rajib's father Babul Saha in the morning.

Have the conspirators been arrested? ‘No,’ said Babul Saha who filed the case with police.

Ataikula Police Station OC Rezaul Karim claims they have arrested several of the suspects. Three cases have been lodged including one by police for obstruction to perform duty.

Police officials told visiting civil society groups, rights activists and journalists that those named by Babul Saha have been arrested.

But Saha said he had only heard of the arrests and was not able to confirm them.

Deputy Commissioner of Pabna Ashraf Uddin explained it was a 'police matter' and progressing “very well”.

But he said the civil administration had nothing much to do, except for initiating a confidence-building process after the violence.

The victims of Bonogram, Sahaparha and Goshparha have rejected the district administration’s offer of relief of 30 sacks of rice (each weighing 28 kg).

Rajib's uncle Kartick Saha says they need protection, not rice which they can afford to buy.

Like the Buddhists in Ramu, the Hindus in Santhia want the government to compensate them for the damaged temples to facilitate reconstruction.

A RAB platoon and two platoons of armed police have been deployed in Santhia. Police presence, says the SP, will deter a repeat of Nov 2.

He added a permanent police camp will be established there.

Local journalists say minister Tuku received news of violence in 10 minutes. But he did not do enough to protect the Hindus.

A small police contingent arrived within 30 minutes after desperate phone calls from Babul Saha.

But the larger force of police and RAB came only after three hours of intense violence, the elders complain.

Most Hindu elders do not remember when they had faced violence like they did on Nov 2.

Some recollect violence during 1971 by marauding

Pakistan

army and their local collaborators.

As most Hindus here had fled to India for safety, they did not have any direct experience of violence -- not until Nov 2.

Like other planned attacks on religious minorities elsewhere in Bangladesh, the perpetrators targeted the house of worship to break the morale of the minorities.

It is a pattern that has often been repeated -- at Taindong (Khagrhachharhi), Ramu and Ukhia (Cox’s Bazar), Sathkira, Begumganj, Gaibanda, Lalmonirhat and other places.

But the biggest worry -- leaders of all political parties belonging to the majority community, despite their political differences, seem to take the same line of connivance or indifference when minorities are attacked.

First published in BDNEWS24.COM, 11 Nov 2013

Saleem Samad, ian Ashoka Fellow is an award winning investigative reporter, is a freelance contributor to bdnews24.com

Monday formula: Who drafted Khaleda Zia press statement?

2013-10-24T23:41:00.001-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

When all the talkshows in TV channels were busy arguing the most talked about proposal by opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia, whether it was a Bible for the solution of ominous political crisis, some discreetly asking who have drafted the statement read out at the Monday press conference, dubbed “Monday formula”.

The sense of political crisis felt by mango people (aam janata) cannot be denied. What is going to happen(?) is a repeated question asked by people at tea-stalls, public transports and seeking opinion of sob janta office colleagues and friends.

A question remains unknown – who has actually drafted the Monday formula for the chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)? Why some people are asking this question, because Khaleda and her senior party leader’s statements in the past couple of weeks has not been reflected in the written statement at press conference.

A day earlier, Khaleda roared not to participate in election under Hasina and would continue her struggle for caretaker government, also declared to be lone-crusader even if she is alone to achieve the goal.

If you browse newspapers headlines what the party leaders have said, it could be found that their words and plans has not been echoed in the statement for the media.

Then who has drafted the half-hearted statement, remains a mystery even to many party leaders. BNP insiders do not claim to bemused to hear the Monday formula to the nation. The formula was not mooted at the party meeting, nor has the statement been endorsed at the helms of affairs of the party leadership. Not to mention of the sharing the Monday formula with the 18-party alliance led by BNP.

None of the leaders interviewed formally and informally by curious news reporter of both print and broadcast media, the party leaders could give a clue what is going to be said at the press conference. Despite hiccups the central leaders have less room to digest nor argue the erroneous issues crept into the Monday formula.

BNP leaders have doubts that it was drafted by former principal secretary also present adviser to party Chairperson. Why do they doubt that a bureaucrat has its hand in preparing the draft? Because the Monday formula has gross lapses and the independent Daily Star attributes the lack of political foresightness to poor home work regarding proposed formation of a polls-time administration by selecting 10 advisers from the 1996 and 2001 caretaker governments.

The popular English newspaper Daily Star concludes that given the country’s ongoing political impasse, many political analysts believe it will be almost impossible for the two political archrivals to reach an agreement over the polls-time government.

Some doubts that the beleaguered son of Khaleda Zia exiled in England has penned the outline of the draft from his ‘bilatee hawa bhaban’.

Why the finger has been pointed towards him? A simple logic is that the recent speeches and statements by Tarique Rahman have been embedded in the Monday formula. His rationalisation to ease relationship with neighbours, denouncing terrorism, good governance and apologetic approach to sensitive issues shadowed into the statement. His political foresight has been overtly reflected in the election pledges in the Monday formula.

On the other hand, the political scientists interprets that the meeting between the United States officials and Tarique was an “ice-breaking” event. This meeting took place in the wake of the U.S. diplomatic cable leaked by the Wikileaks in September 2011 that America considered Tarique as a “symbol of violence”.

Tarique’s “flagrant disregard” for the rule of law had provided potent ground for terrorists to gain a foothold in

Bangladesh

while also exacerbating poverty and weakening democratic institutions, mentioned the cable.

Despite the image of Tarique, her mother Khaleda Zia has left no stone to use good offices of European Union, United States, Britain, India, Japan and Canada to exert diplomatic pressure on Sheikh Hasina’s government not to harass Tarique on his return to the country. Yet no green signal has been switched from glowing red light.

Most political observers and civil society argues that based on past performances of Khaleda Zia, who was thrice prime minister and twice leader of the opposition, they do not trust her. Notwithstanding the political impasse there is a need for post-mortem of her political pledges stated in the Monday formula.

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA) is an independent journalist and writes for international press. Email <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>

Khaleda Zia appeased every stakeholders, minus war crimes trial

2013-10-22T10:44:00.003-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia’s political formula was to enable to conduct the forthcoming parliament election for a democratic transition to a new elected government. The election expected in January next would decide who will govern the nation for the next five years (2014-2019). However, in a peculiar see-saw game of politics, the two rival political parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Awami League, which practices dynasty politic shared power since 1991.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s televised nation address last Friday outlines a political plan to hold general election with the participation of main opposition BNP. In response to Hasina, Khaleda’s press conference on Monday reveals a non-partisan interim administration to oversee the next elections. The proposal is accompanied by political pledge for the upcoming election came amidst looming political crisis; as predicted by scores of political analysts that the nation was heading towards uncertainty.

The alternative political resolution spelled out by Khaleda has opened broad spectrum for political debate. Her statement beamed live into million homes by private satellite television channels and breaking news in deshi online news portal gave opportunity for all to review, and ponder her political dictum. For some took a step backward to be confused.

Since evening the private TV channels galore with live talkshows debated on Khaleda Zia’s election formula, the formation of so-called caretaker government application.

In brief the constitutional experts and legal professionals argue that Khaleda’s proposal will not help resolve the ongoing political stalemate.

Her suggestion to usher advisors of the 1996 and 2001 caretaker governments was not welcomed either. Both Awami League and BNP had earlier rejected the election results, blaming vote fraud, which made the caretaker government controversial.

The constitution does have room for unelected person to head a government. Only 10 percent of unelected persons can be accepted as technocrat members.

Was there nothing new in her political statement of Khaleda Zia? Of course there were two things which came as surprises to civil society, political analysts and for those intellectuals who debated in late night live TV talk shows.

Khaleda, thrice elected prime minister since 1991 has deliberately appeased the Indians, United States, European Union, the United Nations and the Muslim countries.

She did not hesitate to offer olive branches to religious minorities, specially the Hindus and was apologetic to the Bangladeshi military. Well Khaleda never said sorry to the nation since she took charge of beleaguered BNP in 1979. For the first time she sought apology for any wrongdoings during her tenure.

What causes fears about her election pledge, she also stated during the Monday press conference was a missing agenda. A vital issue is deliberately missing from her political pledge. The future of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)! She did not mention a word of the future of the ongoing trials of war crimes suspects. The fate of several war criminals waiting to walk into gallows.

Traditionally, as matter of political philosophy of the party BNP is anti-Indian and of course pro-Islamic, founded by her husband a liberation war hero General Ziaur Rahman, Bir Uttam. The General quickly scraped the trial of the ongoing war crimes trial and let go hundreds of suspected war criminals and also the convicted war criminals, who categorically belonged to Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Chattra Shibir, Muslim League and several other pro-Islamist political outfits. Zia handpicked several political leaders who literally opposed the independence of Bangladesh and elevated them to BNP leadership and even conferred them with ministerial positions. This gave opportunity of Islamist and radical Muslims to raise their heads from obscurity and show their fangs of hatred against India, the Hindus, Awami League and of course the liberation war veterans (muktijuddha).

Coming out of politics of hate, Khaleda in her press statement envisage reaching neighbours, despite trouble remains, which she believes will establish peace, stability, security and regional cooperation. BNP during their tenure in the government and also in opposition had been hostile with neighbouring

India

. Indian militant leaders lived comfortable life in posh residential areas of Dhaka. They ran businesses, established high schools, trucking and bus services and used

Bangladesh

passports to travel. Incidentally all the most-wanted militant leaders, except one were handed over to Indian authorities.

During her last unofficial visit to Delhi in 2012, Khaleda promised to help stop cross-border terrorism, refrain from opposing transit facilities with India, etc., etc. Why did good sense prevail upon Khaleda? She fervently urged Indian power-players to exert their good offices to influence Hasina to help bring back home her beloved son Tareque Rahman, the heir of BNP leadership.

The proposals by two arch political rivals Hasina and Khaleda in less than a week, the nation heaved a sigh of relief. Now the nation is unlikely to slide into political void, but uncertainty still remains. What will happen next?

Saleem Samad is an Ashoka Fellow for journalism, is an award winning investigative journalist. He is media practitioner and micro-blogger. He studied media and communication in Bangladesh and United States. He has co-authored several books.

Bangladesh opposition newspaper editor arrested for cyber crime

2013-04-11T05:51:00.001-07:00

SALEEM SAMAD

Plainclothes detectives arrested Mahmudur Rahman, acting editor of pro-opposition daily Amar Desh on April 11 on charges of cyber crime dubbed as “Skypegate”.

Soon after he was taken out from his editorial office in Kawran Bazar this morning, in the capital Dhaka, he was driven with escorted by scores of riot police.

In the same afternoon, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court agreed to give police 13 days remand in three cases against the editor. Police requested 24 days remand for interrogation.

The arrest was made following a case filed over Mahmudur's alleged involvement in publishing the transcript of Skype conversation in December 2012 on a High Court directive. Charges has been brought against him under sections 57 and 58 of Cyber Crime and ICT Act -2006 and sections 124, 124(a), 120(b) and 511 of the Penal Code, Deputy Commissioner of Police Masudur Rahman said.

In December 14, a case was filed against Rahman and Amar Desh publisher Hasmat Ali with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka for publishing the controversial Skype conversation between former International Crimes Tribunal chairman Justice Muhammad Nizamul Huq and expatriate Bangladeshi legal expert Ahmed Ziauddin.

Soon questions have been raised about the legality of hacking into Justice Huq's Skype conversation.

He was arrested after four months of the Skype scandal on the basis of evidence obtained after investigation. That is why his arrest took some time, explained office Mahmudur Rahman.

Amar Desh journalists complained that police took away footages from the close circuit cameras as well computers, CDs and files of the Acting Editor without a search warrant.

Rahman was acting editor of Amar Desh since 2008. Earlier he was energy advisor to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia during the 2001-06 tenure.

Earlier Rahman was imprisoned on June 2, 2010 for six months over charges of contempt of court.

Secular groups alleged that Rahman is responsible for inciting religious sentiments against bloggers and online activists leading Shahbag Square movement demanding trial of war crimes by Islamists in 1971.

Amar Desh was held responsible by the bloggers for publishing scandalous page-one stories for depicted the bloggers as atheist and questionable loose moral characters. The Shahbag Square demanded arrest of Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman and boycott newsstand sale of Amar Desh newspaper.

Pro-opposition Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and Dhaka Union of Journalists have condemned the arrest of the Mahmudur Rahman. The employees, journalists of Amar Desh organized a sit-down protest in front of National Press Club this morning.

Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) criticised the arrest of Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and said it was a clear intimidation in freedom of expression.

A statement issued on behalf of BNP leader Khaleda Zia says, “Mahmudur Rahman, the brave fighter of free thoughts and expression, has secretly been arrested. The government has insulted the memory of 1971 martyrs in the manner of this arrest because those fighters had fought for freedom of expression.”

Saleem Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA) is an independent journalist based in Bangladesh. He is correspondent for Paris based Reporters Without Border (RSF), an international media watchdog

Media harassed, women reporters attacked by Mullahs

2013-04-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

TV Reporter Nadira Sharmin, convalescing after being wounded by Mullahs

SALEEM SAMAD

Pro-Sharia Islamist group Hifazat-e-Islam activists attacked media persons during their rally in downtown Dhaka, injuring eight journalists including a woman reporter.

Women reporters and TV crew were denied entry to Hifazat's rally in Dhaka. The Hifazat-e Islam not only barred women from entering its rally, but also harassed physically and mentally several female journalists covering the rally event.

Private channel Ekushey Television’s (ETV) reporter Nadia Sharmin was attacked who were demanding cancelling the women’s policy and banning public mixing of men and women. Sharmin was attacked around 3pm when she went to cover the rally.

“Some Hifazat activists came to me and told me that admission of women to the rally is not allowed.

They said, ‘You resort to falsehood. You’re the agents of Ganajagaran Mancha’ (youths protest against Islamist at Shahbag Square). At one point of the conversation they assaulted me. I took shelter in a car nearby and then they even tried to vandalise the car,” she said.

“I asked why I can’t go just because I am not wearing headscarf (hijab)? It’s my personal business whether I wear scarf or not. Who’re you to talk about this? Then they got locked in argument with me. At one stage I started for my office again ignoring their obstruction.”

The activists interrupted Financial Express Reporter Arafat Ara, near press club while she was going to office.

On Friday, Mohona TV Chief Reporter Sumi Khan faced obstruction from the Hifazat activists in Chittagong, the second largest city in the south.

Dainik Ittefaq’s photographer Sujon Mondol was attacked. Both Mondol and Sharmin were admitted at a state medical college hospital.

The journalists were dubbed as ‘dalals’ (stooge) and ‘nastiks’ (atheists) during the assault by the Hifazat activists.

Foyzul Alam Siddique was severely beaten up by the Hifazat activists. A freelance photographer Nazrul Islam was also critically injured in the assault.

Two more journalists of SA Television (SATV) were assaulted near the venue and their camera were vandalised. Reporter Mohsin Kabir and TV crew Khurshed Alam from SATV were assaulted and Khurshed’s camera was taken away while interviewing some leaders of Hefajat-e Islam.

The Islamist activists also assaulted and injured ATN News crew Sohel Rana with sticks in front in downtown. Police officials rushed him to a police hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile in Savar, at the outskirts of the capital, TV crew Abul Halim of Baishakhi Television and Nazmul Huda of ETV. They were alleged harassed by anti-Islamist demanding trial of war crimes activists of Jahangirnagar University. They said the activists snatched away their cameras when they were shooting footage of the Hefajat’s long march being obstructed.

On Friday, the aggrieved Hefajat men physically assaulted four journalists of private television channel Ekatteur television (Channel 71) in the afternoon, while they were covering the rally.

The four newsmen are: Mohim Mizan, Mainuddin Dulal, Babul Paal and Rajib Barua. Khurshed was admitted to hospital with serious wounds, while Mohsin was released after treatment.

On Sunday (7 April) scores of women reporters held a banner in front of the National Press Club in the city centre protesting the Mullahs attack, assault and humiliation. The journalist’s leaders threatened the Islamist that if the security and respect for the women reporters are compromised, they may call for boycott of news and broadcast.

Hours later to the surprise of many Hefajat-e Islam regrets attack on journalists during its rally at downtown Motijheel rally. Noor Hossain Kashemi, leader of Hefajat made the statement at a press briefing held at in the capital a day after the grand rally.

“On behalf of our leaders we express regret to the journalists who were injured by our men mistakenly,” Kashemi said. The Hefajat leaders also directed its activists not to inflict any harm to any journalists including females, he added.

Saleem Samad is an Ashoka Fellow (USA), correspondent of Reporters Without Borders (RSF)