Much of the sentiment abundant in this piece – that Moeen is a
Musharraf – is also abundant in the talking shops of Bangladesh. It
is far from the truth but can be tolerated on the basis that political commentators will always look for new nthings to play with.
The title of this piece - Moeen as Bangladesh's Musharraf - however
is the most blatant statement of this sentiment and as such its time
such nonsense was challenged head on.
This piece employs the neat, but oh so transparent, political trick
of making something appear to be true simply by of virtue having said
it. It's very common in Bangladesh even amongst the lowest political
classes. Moeen is not a Musharraf just because that notion exists!
The piece smacks of innuendo, suggestion and supposition in every
paragraph. It provides no context and no explanation of the facts.
Nor does it even try to explain what lead to the rise of Musharaf or
Moeen. Tellingly, it does not even try to describe the realities on
the ground in either nation. Politicians, and their parties, are
portrayed as innocent victims of Generals who have some kind of
Hitler syndrome.
The writer probably always forgets about Bangladesh. Now, however, to
further his arguments against Musharaff he heads East looking for
further material. That's quite okay as Musharraf deserves criticism
but at least get the facts right about Bangladesh!
Moeen was in Delhi as part of military and diplomatic talks that are
important to both India and Bangladesh. As Chief of Staff of the
Armed Forces of Bangladesh he is quite entitled to meet the Prime
Minister of India. There is no reason for Moeen to stop anywhere. If
the Chief of Staff of the US Armed Forces met the Indian Prime
Minister I doubt the author would comment. Perhaps the Chief of Staff
of Indian Armed Forces is too small to meet the Prime Minister of
Bangladesh? I don't think so. Please return the courtesy.
It is sheer ignorance, mixed with a lot of arrogance, to suggest that
Moeen went to India to plead with Manmohan Singh for anything. The
author should save it for the right wing audiences in his own
country. Yes, Moeen may have asked for support in exiling the two
Begums, but he did it openly, honestly and with justification. Unlike
the author, Manmohan Singh is well briefed on the qualities of
Sharif, Zardari, Khaleda and Hasina – and what they have done and
what they will do.
The recent floods of Bangladesh are ample reason for Moeen not to
travel. Perhaps in India the Army Chief would travel while millions
of his flooded countrymen need the help of hos soldiers. I don't
think so. Please return the courtesy.
The fact that Moeen is not a President has been glibly trivialized by
the author. He is the power behind the throne simply because the law
and order situation of the nation has been totally compromised by our
precious leaders. Presumably in India the Army would not provide the
power behind the throne in the case of a National Emergency? I don't
think so. Please return the courtesy.
Enjoy this spectacle of a sentence : "Indications have been reported
of Moeen's possible plans to install himself eventually as the
president in the place of Fakruddin Ahmed, in charge of the current
caretaker regime. It is not known, however, whether something like
Pakistan's National Reconciliation Order, freeing the two leaders
from corruption cases, will precede such a move."
It is full of indications and unsubstantiated reports and
possibilities and plans and eventualities and unknowns.
The author surely would apply greater certainties and intellect in a
piece on India. As he easily can and definitely should. Please return
the courtesy when commenting on Bangladesh.
Excuse me – where and how has Moeen been `'….making a similar effort
to give himself political legitimacy in the Bangladesh general
election…''? Some evidence is required rather than oviously leading
leading statements.
Dr Yunus is supportive of the Caretaker Government though he remains
silent as a matter of strategy. A million of his countrymen implored
him to seek public office. I'm sure the author can rationalize the
election of movie stars to public office in India. Please return the
courtesy and believe that a million citizens could want the Nobel
Peace Prize winner to seek public office in a country as troubled as
Bangladesh.
Dr Yunus did not enter politics simply because of the Army or leave
politics simply because of the Army. This is not a notion held by
enemies or supporters of either the Caretaker Government or Dr Yunus!
Dr Yunus quit politics because he was lied to and betrayed by
establishment politicians. It was the ancient dirty political trick
of promising support and then deserting.
Look carefully and you will find the author has not even defined
Moeen's `brand of democracy'.
Unbelievably, the biggest, and perhaps only, anti corruption drive in
the history of Bangladesh is described as `delaying the democratic
process'. The author may wish for an immediate democratic process
that returns power to corrupt politicians who will remain
untouchable. He got his wish in Pakistan. Please God, he will not get
his wish for Bangladesh.
The worst aspect of this piece however is the cunning attempt to
manipulate our political truths the same way that our corrupt
politicians do. Hence the author describes the anti corruption case
as glamorous and political criminals as political luminaries! Perhaps
he could find it within his professionalism to actually state which
convictions he disagrees with and which political luminaries he
thinks are not guilty of leading Bangladesh into the record books for
corruption? I suspect he has already moved onto to Burma and Thailand
to look for material against Musharraf and forgotten about Bangladesh.
The Caretaker Government's moves to reinstate Sheikh Mujib and Ziaur
Rahman are part of the process of national reconciliation. Even
opponents of the Caretaker Government do not pretend that this is a
bad thing! And we haven't seen any reports in Bangladesh describing
our traditional campus antics as a full blown rebellion – let
alone `crushed' as if by tank and machine gun! It is preposterous.
In truth this Caretaker Government has done more to ensure a free
election than any government before it. The voter rolls will be more
accurate than ever before. The voter identity system will make the
elections cleaner than ever before. The security provided by the Army
will make the elections less violent than ever before. The elections
are delayed only by the refusal of political parties to reform and
break with their past bad habits.
Perhaps the author would not be vehemently opposed to having a Sharif
or a Zardari or a Hasina or a Khaleda as Prime Minister of India. I
don't think so. Please return the courtesy.
And allow Bangladesh the dignity of finally standing up, however
undemocratically, to politicians who have hijacked the democratic
process within their own parties and within the country.
Ezajur Rahman
Kuwait
--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, Zchoudhury@... wrote:
>
> The author of this article alleges that Gen. Moeen was in Pakistan
during the
> war of liberation, and states that he is a repatriated army officer
from
> Pakistan. The truth is that he is the first Army Chief from a new
generation of
> Army officers who came out of the Bangladesh Military Academy. The
author
> should have done his research before he penned this article.
>
>
>
>
>
> Robin
Khundkar
>
<rkhundkar@earthlin
>
k.net> To
> Sent by: Robin
<rkhundkar@...>
>
alochona@yahoogroup cc
>
s.com
>
Subject
> [ALOCHONA] Truthout -
Moeen as
> 03/03/2008 05:17 PM Bangladesh's
Musharraf
>
>
> Please respond
to
>
alochona@yahoogroup
>
s.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Moeen as Bangladesh's Musharraf
> By J. Sri Raman
> t r u t h o u t | Perspective
> Sunday 02 March 2008
> http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030208C.shtml
>
>
> In our preoccupation with Pakistan and its embattled president,
many of us have
> almost forgotten another South Asian country and another general
encountering
> another pro-democracy movement. General Moeen U Ahmed, chief of the
Bangladesh
> armed forces, was in New Delhi for a week since February 24 to
remind India and
> the region of his role as the other Pervez Musharraf.
>
>
> Moeen was supposed to be here on a "military-to-military" mission,
and met
> Indian counterpart Deepak Kapoor and External Affairs Minister
Pranab Mukherjee,
> reportedly to discuss cooperation in defense. Moeen, however, did
not stop
> there.
>
>
> It has been made public on his behalf that that he pleaded with
Prime Minister
> Manmohan Singh's government to help make Bangladesh safe for
restored democracy
> by prevailing upon Bangladesh's two most prominent contenders for
civilian power
> not to return to electoral politics. The reported plea warrants the
presumption
> that the recent events in Pakistan prompted Moeen's India visit,
which was put
> off last year on the officially cited ground of floods in
Bangladesh.
>
>
> The Musharraf syndrome is manifestly obvious here. As Pakistan's
military ruler,
> its present president of uncertain powers had for years tried to
prevent the
> country's two most prominent aspirants for civilian power from
returning home
> and joining electoral politics. He was forced, however, to allow
the return of
> former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif - and even
of the
> elections. Musharraf continues to be engaged in a contained
confrontation with
> Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari - Bhutto's husband who is playing her
political role
> after her horrible end.
>
>
> Moeen, of course, is no president, but he is the power behind the
throne in
> Bangladesh. The army-backed government in Dhaka, too, tried to
exile former
> Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina Wajed and Begum Khaleda Zia, but
failed. Moeen and
> his men also tried to prevent the return of Hasina from a visit
abroad, and
> failed again under international pressure. The leaders of the Awami
League (AL)
> and the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), however, have been kept
away from all
> political activities through a slew of corruption cases and long
spells of
> under-trial detention.
>
>
> Indications have been reported of Moeen's possible plans to install
himself
> eventually as the president in the place of Fakruddin Ahmed, in
charge of the
> current caretaker regime. It is not known, however, whether
something like
> Pakistan's National Reconciliation Order, freeing the two leaders
from
> corruption cases, will precede such a move. But there is another
respect,
> certainly, in which Moeen is trying to do a Musharraf.
>
>
> Musharraf may not really have profited by splitting Sharif's
Pakistan Muslim
> League (PML) and forming a party named after the Quaid-e-Azam (the
title of
> Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.) The PML-Q has ended up a
distant third,
> after Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the PML-Nawaz, in
the recent
> general election. The example, however, has not deterred Moeen from
making a
> similar effort to give himself political legitimacy in the
Bangladesh general
> election that the caretaker regime has promised to hold before the
year end.
>
>
> Last year, the army-backed government in Dhaka tried its utmost to
push
> Nobel-winning economist Mohmmad Yunus into politics and help him
form a party to
> end both main parties. The attempt proved abortive, with Yunus
seeing through
> the cynical game. Efforts followed to break the both the AL and the
BNP. Not
> much success has attended these efforts, and the parties as a whole
have
> remained loyal to the harassed leaders with halos of their own.
>
>
> Moeen and his men, however, have not given up. According to
informed observers,
> he would like to be sure of a two-thirds majority in a new
parliament to ratify
> the 37 ordinances, through which he has ruled the country for the
last 13
> months. Will two split-away parties give Moeen what a single one
could not
> provide Musharraf? Few observers will answer that in the
affirmative.
>
>
> Moeen would appear to have no illusions about what a real democracy
can do for
> him. Even as far back as last April, he caused more than a few
political ripples
> by declaring at a public meeting that Bangladesh would not return
to "an
> elective democracy." Days ago, he elaborated on the same theme.
Asserting that
> the country had tried "Westminster-type parliamentary democracy for
the last 15
> years," but could not make it work, he called for "a form of
democracy that is
> suitable for us."
>
>
> The particular form of democracy he has in mind may suit neither
the major
> political parties nor the people used to polls. Nothing, however,
would suit the
> army more, or the religious parties and forces, particularly the
> Jamaat-e-Islami, which, as a member of Begum Zia's coalition regime,
> distinguished itself by its divisive role in the Bangladesh
society. The poor
> electoral showing of the clerical parties in Pakistan has not made
their
> Bangladeshi counterparts ardent partisans of ballot politics either.
>
>
> Moeen and the army-propped regime were able to delay the democratic
process for
> quite some time with an anti-corruption campaign that brought some
of the
> political luminaries of the past to law. The glamor of the
campaign, however,
> has worn thin, with its perceived excesses hitting the country's
economy and
> with graft in the army and in select political circles appearing to
have been
> placed outside its purview. the anti-corruption crusade has lost
its attraction
> all the more following the recent steep spiral in the prices of
rice, pulses and
> other essential commodities.
>
>
> All this has not been lost on Moeen and his mandarins in the
caretaker regime.
> They crushed a rebellion of campus origin months ago, but they know
that popular
> discontent can find a dangerous expression again. They have made
certain moves
> to win over the political opposition. This include official
initiatives to
> rehabilitate martyred Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, liberator of
Bangladesh and father
> of Hasina, as the "Father of the Nation," and Ziaur Rahman, former
president and
> husband of Begam Khaleda Zia as a "patriot," besides a promise to
try the "war
> criminals of 1971." By most accounts, however, the moves cannot
succeed in
> stalling the pro-democracy movement.
>
>
> It is interesting to recall, in this context, that Moeen himself
was in Pakistan
> during the Bangladesh Liberation War and joined and returned to the
country's
> armed forces as a "repatriated officer." The past record itself may
not go
> against his current political ambitions. As in Musharraf's case,
however, a
> massive democratic upsurge can do so.
>
>
> A freelance journalist and a peace activist in India, J. Sri Raman
is the author
> of "Flashpoint" (Common Courage Press, USA). He is a regular
contributor to
> Truthout.
>
[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
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