The interim government's get-tough-policy with academicians just fizzled out
A.H. Jaffor Ullah
I took time out from writings because it was too painful to watch the downward journey of my motherland with Fakhruddin, the crony of
The military was mightily upset when students and professors of
To teach the professors a lesson of a lifetime, the military had the police arrest a few professors. They humiliated the academicians by huddling them with common criminals, denied handing medicines, and did not even allow family members to meet the arrestees. The so-called "free" court of Bangladesh passed judgment in favor of the government. The professors from Rajshahi were convicted by the "independent" court. And now on the face of a growing resentment in the civil society the government backed down. Fakhruddin and his gang engineered a presidential clemency as a face saving technique. The government thought by awarding the clemency this illegal government's stature will be enhanced.
The proof that this government is run from behind by the military is so obvious. The government sent members of DGFI to meet the family. Why DGFI? Any of the civilians who are serving in this unconstitutional government could have gone to Rajshahi to meet the family members of the "convicted" professors. What was the deal DGFI had in their sleeve? Did they think that the relatives of the professors will cringe in fear by seeing a few muscle men in army fatigue? Time has surely changed. Wake up fellows! This is the age of the Internet. Those days of Ayub Khan, Gen. Zia and Gen. Ershad do not exist any more.
I request everyone to analyze the entire sequence of events with objectivity. This un-elected and extra-constitutional government who is now managing the country somehow is directionless. Do you care to know that the military boss (General Moeen) gets more attention in the press than the Chief Advisor or the president? The military four-star General who engineered his promotion pronto after grabbing the power is a shameless fellow. He pretends as if
The nation is drifting in the ocean of uncertainties. The economic growth was stunted since January 2007. On top of it, the monsoon-led flood and cyclone Sidr had plunged the nation into a state of hopelessness. The inflation of commodity prices had escalated so much so that ordinary people simply cannot afford many necessities of life. People cannot protest against the repressive government that has incarcerated more than 250,000 people. The newspapers in
The government's scorched-earth policy did not work with the academicians. The professors are valiant heroes of the nation. Their family members did not agree to the terms laid down by the DGFI bosses. Therefore, to end the stalemate Iajuddin, the master bungler of
The government in this case simply caved in by engendering a laughable presidential clemency. The government was too coward to execute the judgment handed down by the kangaroo court. It thought if the professors are put in jail to serve the sentence, there may be more demonstration allover the nation.
This repressive and unconstitutional military-driven government has not yet learned the proper lesson. Historians will not treat them lightly either. All the major players in
In the meantime,
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A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from
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