Threat of direct intervention comes closer? It is no more a threat perception. Now it seems to have become a real threat - India desires to go for direct intervention to strengthen "the Hasina government, which has a pro-India tilt". The desire, as expressed by Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukharjee, has not provoked any response from Bangladesh foreign ministry. Could it be that the foreign office mandarins at Segunbagicha have conceded to the Indian intention? The March 16 issue of Indian news magazine Outlook quoted Pranab Mukharjee disclosing at a close-door meeting of Congress leaders at New Delhi's Mavalankar Hall as saying: "I had to go out of my way to issue a stern warning to those trying to the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh that if they continue with their attempts, India would not sit idle". Does it portend a direct intervention in the internal affairs of Bangladesh? Is it a reminder of Sikkim annexation? No doubt, as a big neighbour, India has some genuine reasons to be concerned about the happenings in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan or Nepal. But the experience of the peoples of neighbouring countries from the point of view of their stability, security and sovereignty has often been dangerous and destructive. Indian media Immediately after the BDR mutiny on February 24, some Indian media opted for provocation by linking certain political groups with Pakistani intelligence service. After the arrest of prime suspect Towhid, a Deputy Assistant Director of BDR, the Indian media was the first to give him identity as a "Shibir worker" and later as a "Jamaat worker" in spite of the fact that he joined BDR after completion of school final examination when Chhatra Shibir was not born in the country and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh was not launched. Meanwhile, some Indian intellectuals and intelligence officials are engaged in a sustained campaign against Bangladesh. One of them, Hiranmay Karlekar, who branded Bangladesh as the next Afghanistan, made specific allegations against senior army officials by name. In an article in The Tribune ( March 3, 2008) he analysed Bangladesh Army Chief General Moeen's visit to India to make a comment that Bangladesh Army "has a chequered history of vicious internal conflicts". According to Karlekar, "General Moeen is not known to be hostile to India. However, Maj-Gen Syed Fatemi Ahmed Rumi, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 66th Division, who visited India with him, was known as a loyalist of Khaleda Zia, whose second tenure as Prime Minister" He further added: "Lt.-Gen. Jahangir Alam Khan Chowdhury, an India-hater known chiefly for his vicious verbal attacks on this country [India] made while he, then a Maj-General, was the Director-General of the Bangladesh Rifles." Karlekar also picked up rumours to identify Jamaat loyalists in the DGFI and the Army. He mentioned categorically that Brig-Gen A.T.M. Amin and Brig-Gen Chowdhury Fazlul Bari were close to the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JeIB). He also pointed his finger at Lt Gen Mohammad Aminul Karim who was appointed Military Secretary to President Dr Iajuddin Ahmed. Sustained campaign Sustained campaign against Bangladesh may be traced in another article published in The Tribune on August 5, 2006. The writer of the article Selig S. Harrison, a former South Asia bureau chief of The Washington Post, identified "Jamaat inroads in the government security machinery at all levels, starting with Home Secretary Muhammad Omar Farooq, widely regarded as close to the Jamaat, have opened the way for suicide bombings, political assassinations, harassment of the Hindu minority, and an unchecked influx of funds from Islamic charities in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf to Jamaat-oriented madrassas (religious schools) that in some cases are fronts for terrorist activity." The Tribune in its article, "Bangladesh-new hub for terrorism", continued further to describe the future prospects in Bangladesh thus: "...especially alarming is that the Jamaat and its allies appear to be penetrating the higher ranks of the armed forces". Harrison like Hironmoy Karleker attributed Jamaat sympathies to Maj. Gen. Mohammed Aminul Karim, the then military secretary to President Iajuddin Ahmed, and to Brig. Gen. A.T.M. Amin, director of the Armed Forces Intelligence anti-terrorism bureau. Harrison' s article was published in The Washington Post on August 12, 2006 with a different headline "A New Hub for Terrorism? In Bangladesh, an Islamic Movement With Al-Qaeda Ties Is on the Rise" One can try to get the missing links now that Brigadier General Amin and Brigadier General Bari both have been removed from DGFI. This not to be confused with another Brigadier General Bari who was killed in BDR mutiny. The forced retirement of two generals - Maj Gen. Syed Fatemi Ahmed Rumi and Lt Gen Aminul Karim - also may also be linked to Indian desires as ventilated. |
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