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Monday, January 12, 2009

[ALOCHONA] Dr. dipu Moni - picked by Hasina or Sonia, Monmohon, pranab

 
 
Visit the link, http://dipumoni.com/. see the photos and then you will be confused.
 
 who has really picked  Dr. Dipu moni as foreign minister? hasina or Sonia , Monmohon or Pranab?


 
মন্ত্রীসভায় বেয়াই রাজাকার। এ লজ্জা কার? হাসিনার,একে খোন্দকারের না সেক্টর কমান্ডার ফোরামের?


--- On Tue, 1/13/09, Musfique Prodhan <chena_kew@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Musfique Prodhan <chena_kew@yahoo.com>
Subject: [notun_bangladesh] New Home and Foreign Minister serving India;s cause?
To: "Amra Bangladesi" <amra-bangladesi@yahoogroups.com>, "Bangla Zindabad" <Bangladesh-Zindabad@yahoogroups.com>, "notun Bangladesh" <notun_bangladesh@yahoogroups.com>, "dahuk dahuk" <dahuk@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 1:24 AM

Dear Members
 
hopefully all are doing fine. Here is another debate, concerning the appointment of home and foreign ministers, which seems to serve India's cause, specialy the later. Please enjoy the video, and feel free to comment.
 
Part 1
 
Part2
 
 
 
With Thanks
 
Musfique.
 
 


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[ALOCHONA] WHY THE MOVEMENT FOR BANGLADESH SUCCEEDED

WHY THE MOVEMENT FOR BANGLADESH SUCCEEDED:A MILITARY APPRECIATION

MUMTAZ IQBAL has written analysis of East Pakistan in 1971 from the Bangladesh point of view. Whle DJ does not agree on many issues, they are important enough to be debated and lessons learnt for future

VICTORY HAS A THOUSAND FATHERS. DEFEAT IS AN ORPHAN
Basically there are three main interlocking reasons for this success. These are examined below from a military perspective.
 
PEOPLES PARTICIPATION
The most important reason is the determination of the peoples of Bangladesh to be free. This aspiration crystallised after Islamabad's military action of 26 March 1971.A crucial development was the formation of a Bangladesh government-in-exile. It had enough credibility to enjoy popular support within Bangladesh and reach understandings with the host authorities in Delhi.
 
The exile government adopted a pragmatically innovative strategy. This helped mobilise internal and external forces and resources to bring into existence a spirited resistance movement and expanding guerrilla warfare operations, especially after Indian gunners destroyed 50% of the BOPs by July 1971. This facilitated infiltration and exfiltration.
 
As in Occupied Europe in the Second World War (WWII), resistance and guerrilla warfare kept the people's hope alive, a priceless asset. But could these two factors alone have led to independence? Probably not, at least in the short-term, to judge by historical evidence.Guerrilla war is the instrument of the militarily weak against stronger conventional forces. England's Special Operations Executive (SOE) in WW II extensively implemented Churchill's order to set Europe ablaze through spying and sabotage.
 
This action sustained civilian morale in occupied Europe. But it merely pinpricked the Germans (see SOE 1940-1946 by MRD Foot; and The White Rabbit by Bruce Marshall).Guerrilla's hit-and-run tactics ensure their survival. These unsettle but seldom defeat regular forces as in the former Yugoslavia and USSR (see Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Mclean and Soviet Partisan Warfare by Otto Heilbronner).
 
Guerrillas invariably lose in pitched battles against regulars. Thus, the Wehrmacht (German army) mauled Tito's guerrillas and Soviet partisans in bandit suppression campaigns in 1942, and decimated Gen. Bor-Komarowski's Polish Underground Army in Warsaw in 1944 (while the Red Army 20 miles away didn't lift a finger to help the Poles).
 
The Viet Cong lost heavily in the Tet offensive of 1968 though this one factor probably more than any other irrevocably turned US public against the Vietnam war (see White House Years by Kissinger). Mao retreated from Kiangsi to Shensi in the epic 16 months Long March of about 5,000 kms when cornered by Chiang's fifth extermination campaign of autumn 1934 (see The Long March by Harrison Salisbury & The Selected Works of Mao Dze Dong). Our own Mukti Bahini (MB) got indifferent results when directly assaulting Pakistani fixed positions. Special forces operating as guerrillas at different scale levels in WW II produced mixed results with little effect on the conflict's final outcome. Stirling's SAS in the Western Desert in 1941-42 destroyed many German and Italian planes on shoestring resources (see Winged Dagger by Roy Farran) Force 136 in Malaysia achieved modest success (see Force 136 and The Jungle is Neutral by Spencer Chapman). Wingate's Chindits and Merrill's Marauders performances in Burma were incommensurate with the resources used (see The Marauders by C. Ogburn and Gideon's Trumpet).
 
Thus Gen. MAG Osmany's ops plan of September 1971 to send the EBR battalions in small commando groups inside Bangladesh would not have helped much. That's why the sector commanders were lukewarm to this proposal, especially as they wanted to conserve their forces-in-being (see Muldhara 71 by Muyeedul Hasan, a close associate of Tajuddin's).
 
Cuba excepted, guerrillas are most effective in support of regulars when victory is certain or probable. Thus, the operations of the French resistance (Maquis) and Tito's guerrillas were carefully calibrated and peaked to coincide with Operation Overlord (the Allied invasion of Normandy) in June 1944. The MB's effectiveness increased dramatically from October 1971 when the smell of victory was in the air (see Muldhara 71).
 
GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
Lack of geographical contiguity of Pakistan's two wings with the east having the majority of the population is the second reason. The former made national integration impractical, two economies inevitable and military logistics impossible. The latter gave legitimacy to Bengali aspirations.
 
Geographical contiguity and minority demands rarely spawn successful liberation movements irrespective of the breadth and depth of popular support and participation. This happens because the centre's staying power exceeds the insurgents.Fatigue eventually overwhelms the rebels. The long-running but unsuccessful insurgencies in Baluchistan, Chechnya, CHT, Kashmir, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sri Lanka and Tibet validate this point. (Note: A successful insurgency becomes national liberation; its participants freedom fighters (FF). A failed one is an insurrection; its members terrorists. One man's FF is another's terrorist. The classic examples are PLOs Yasser Arafat and Israel's Menachem Begin).
 
But whether this would have spilled over into a successful national liberation movement is an interesting question. The interplay of accommodation, reform, threats and use of force probably would have kept the pot boiling without engendering a fatal explosion beyond the point of no return.
 
SANCTUARY AND EXTERNAL SUPPORT
These two factors make up the third reason for our successful liberation.A sanctuary is vital for guerrillas' survival. It gives them time and space to organise political and military resources to defeat the opposition.
 
Sanctuaries can be internal like Mao's Yenan or Castro's Sierra Madre mountains (see The Cuban Revolution by Tad Szulc). Or they can be external like Yunnan was for the Viet Minh, Nagas (who also rested and regrouped in East Pakistan in 1964) and Mizos; Laos and Cambodia for the Viet Cong; Tunisia for the FLN; and India for the LTTE and MB.
 
A sanctuary is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for success. The hemorrhaging insurgencies in India's Seven Sisters and Sri Lanka bear this out. The host country and others, preferably a superpower, must give sustained moral and substantial material support sufficient to tilt the balance in the insurgents favour.
 
PRCs establishment in 1948 gave a big fillip to Ho Chi Minh's Vietnamese. So did Soviet SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles) to Hanoi during the Second Indo-China War (the first was against the French (-see Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall).Our liberation struggle got boosted after India decided to support the MB initially with arms and training and later with its armed forces under the security umbrella provided by the Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty of August 1971.
 
This combination ensured the success of the Indo-Bangladesh forces under India's Eastern Command (Lt. Gen. JS Aurora).Aurora's forces enjoyed several advantages. These included: a favourable political and diplomatic environment; time for operational planning, wargaming and logistical build-up; absolute air and naval supremacy; excellent tactical intelligence; substantive and substantial support from guerrillas and local population; and a weary, demoralised and tactically unbalanced enemy with poor command and control and without a cause and the will to fight (see Surrender at Dacca by Lt. Gen JFR Jacob- (he was Aurora's chief of staff - and The Betrayal of East Pakistan by Lt. Gen. AAK Niazi).If Napoleon's dictum that the moral is to the material as three is to one is relevant, then Aurora's operating environment was a commander's dream.
 
Eastern Command astutely exploited these assets. With the help from MB and local civilians, it bypassed, infiltrated and set roadblocks to unhinge and destroy the Pakistanis. This was similar to Macarthur's island-hopping strategy in the SW Pacific in 1943-44 during WW II (see American Caesar by William Manchester).
 
The allied forces conducted no set piece battles. Instead they fought a series of heavy somewhat independent sector skirmishes involving battalion occasionally brigade level forces supported by artillery and air strikes, and occasionally tanks. Extensive mopping-up operations followed these skirmishes.
 
The Pakistanis surrender of Jessore (abandoned on 7 December, also Pearl Harbour Day), Mainamati and Sylhet without fighting shows their low morale and also their realism in not courting futile martyrdom. Where fixed positions as in Bhaduria, Hilli, Jamalpur and Kamalpur were assaulted, the defenders resisted stoutly.
 
Eastern Command did a good job. But to describe its operations as a lightning campaign (Blitzkrieg), as do Maj. Gen. DK Palit and Sukhwant Singh, is to exaggerate (see their The Lightning Campaign and Victory in Bangladesh. NB. A contrary exaggeration is the remark by another Indian general to Muldhara's Muyeedul Hasan that the exertions of Aurora's forces after 10 December was comparable to that of a hazardous and extended route march!).
 
Blitzkrieg's essence is speed. All arms combine to punch holes along a narrow front. These are exploited to become the floodgates for an expanding torrent (Liddell Hart).Thus tank spearheads of Rommel's 7th. Panzer Division (dubbed Ghost Division by the French) aggressively advanced from Ardennes across the Meuse to Amiens on the Channel coast in May 1940 to cover at times 50 kms a day, leaving its accompanying infantry well behind on occasions. The panzers sowed havoc and confusion in their passage (see Blitzkrieg by Len Deighton).
 
The Indian Army's equipment, training and outlook plus the Bangladesh terrain made such prolonged and swift movement impractical and unimaginable. Nevertheless, Aurora's three corps made good gains in the war's early days. This is evidenced by the capture of Jhenidah by II Corps (Lt. Gen. Later Gen. Raina), Palashbari by XXXIII Corps (Lt. Gen. ML Thapan) and the Meghna Bulge river ports of Ashuganj, Daudkandi and Chandpur by IV Corps (Lt. Gen. Sagat Singh) by 9 December.
 
Thereafter, movement slowed due to terrain difficulties and lagging logistics. thus IV Corps took four days despite negligible opposition to establish an effective bridgehead in Narsingdi because of insufficient amphibious and heli-capability to cross the Meghna.
 
2 Para of the crack 50 Ind. Para. Bde captured Tangail on 11 December afternoon. It took three days for advance elements of 101 Communications Zone (Maj. Gen. GC Nagra replacing the injured GS Gill on 4 December) to reach the almost defenceless outskirts of Dhaka 90 kms away because of transport constraints.
 
In retrospect, its clear that Indian ops plan would have been more effective had it allocated more resources including armour to the northern sector under 101 Comm Zone since the country around and north of Tangail is tankable and is the shortest route to Dhaka. The war conceivably could have ended a few days sooner than 16 December. Dhaka became the prime objective after the Seventh Fleet entered the Bay of Bengal. Thus Jacob's criticism of Army HQ's including FM Manekshaw's role in supervising the preparation of the ops plan where Dhaka incredibly was not the main objective is not without merit (Surrender at Dhaka, pp 65-67).
 
But these episodes and comments don't detract from the allied forces' success. Whether they could have done the job better and faster is of interest to staff colleges, especially Mirpur, Quetta and Wellington.An interesting statistic is that the fight of the Indian and Pakistani regulars occurred essentially between the so-called martial races. Niazi's troops were all Pms (Punjabi Mussalmans), Pathans and Baluchis. Sixty-one of Aurora's 71 infantry battalions that saw action were Garhwalis and Rajputs (11 bns each), Dogras/Jats/Punjabis and Sikhs (18 bns). Surrender at Dhaka, Appendix 9).
 
SUMMING UP
Our liberation struggle was the complex product among others of history and geography, calculated deceit and gross miscalculation by Yahya's junta and our appropriately valiant response.Iron cuts iron. Regular armies are needed to defeat other regulars. The MB's resistance inside and outside Bangladesh kept hope alive and physically and psychologically softened the enemy. The Bangladesh authorities successfully mobilised domestic irregulars, Indian and EBR regulars and Soviet support. A just cause and the good guys won.
 

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[ALOCHONA] It is not the youth,but the Rickshaw pullers (poor)Mr. Anisul haque

 
Mr. anisul haque,
 
 
 In your cry in the bush , you have said that vote of youth has given such a un predicted victory to AL. But sorry to notice that you have given example of  two rickshaw pullers.
 
 Actually these poor rickshaw pullers have  voted  due to the destructiion of  Economy  by the CTG  and   taking price of esentials beyond their purchase power.
 
 Many youth  whom i thought would vote for AL as a reader of pro-Al prothom-alo, didn't do so.   So it is a missreading that AL has got maximum of new voters.
 
 How come  our youth be so much supporter of  Degree buyer Sheikh hasina?
 
 
If people had taken into acount the evil acts of our politicians , then biswa behaya ershad and queen of corruption hasina could not win. Nanok and Miraza Azam(listed among the first 50 corrupt) who killed nine people by setting fire in a bus as revealed by Falzul karim selim during his grilling by DGFI would not win with such a big marzin. habibur rahman molla who was in jail for false wealth statement  could not win the election.
 
In my assessment , the single major decisive factor was price of essentials .
 
During the last rule AL, price was low mainly  due to international  market  and then success of  Motia.
 
During BNP rule , prices went up due to 2-3 fold increase of fule in the international market due to iraq war. However, due to good bussiness and other positive indicator of economy, prices did not go beyond people's purchase power.
 
For this reason,even prothom-alo and dailty star could not publish one single report in five years that sales of essentials had deceased or consumption had decreased during bnp rule.
 
 
But due to the destructive activites of care taker govet, the income of poor people has decreased  very much and  10% people have gone below the poverty line .In contrary, during BNP rule every year 2 % people came out of  poverty line. 
 
Due to failure of  CTG and  international market , prices of essential has increased too much.  So it went beyond  people purchase power and there were frequent report in the newpspapers(alo-star) that  sales in the market and consumption had decreased.
 
So price of essentials was the single major decisive factor  in voting to these poor people . it is also revealed in your example of Rickshaw pullers.
 
Due to low prices  during last tenure of AL and present  promises (which now they are denying ) of rice at tk 10, free fertilizer , people trusted more AL than BNP for price of essentials.80-90%  of poor voters(even though many were BNP supporters) have voted in favor of AL in addition to the reserve vote of AL.
 
 In addition to this , favor of CTG for AL and false propaganda in the last 1-2 days by the administration and AL( such as false ballot paper by Mahmudur rahman, arresting BNP activists bringing false charge of buying votes , (Who will beleive that only BNP tried to buy vote, AL didn't )  ), AL got some more votes in addition to their reserve votes.
 
 Hence such a unpredictable  and unimaginated (even by AL ) election result.
 Now it seems that  terrorism again will be major factor for AL, it will be hard for AL to control its activist from terrorism.
 
AL is lucky that international market  remains in its favor during its tenure (1996-2001) and now.
 
 Wish AL be really changed and  bangladesh make progress.


মন্ত্রীসভায় বেয়াই রাজাকার। এ লজ্জা কার? হাসিনার,একে খোন্দকারের না সেক্টর কমান্ডার ফোরামের?

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[ALOCHONA] Elections 2008- A transparent process or machination of the Evil Axis

Elections 2008- A transparent process or machination of the Evil Axis

Dr. K. M.. A. Malik, UK

The recent general elections held on 29 December, 2008, have resulted in massive electoral victory for Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) (230 parliamentary seats out of total 300) and a disastrous defeat for Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) (29 seats). The main BAL partner Bangladesh Jatio Party (BJP, Ershad) performed reasonably well (27 seats) but the main BNP partner Bangladesh Jamat-e-Islami (BJI) appeared to have been nearly electorally annihilated (only 2 seats).

As expected, the outcome of the results have been hailed with great enthusiasm by BAL but received with disbelief and dismay by BNP.. Both parties, however, were satisfied that a reasonably peaceful election could be held after two years of unelected and unrepresentative government backed by the army and foreign powers. The will of the people to return to democracy (at least to the electoral exercise) prevailed over all suspicion and rumors of a lurking military rule.

The results of the election have been explained by different people and groups in different ways, which may be classified into two broad categories.

One group (majority view) feels very strongly that the elections were held properly (free, fair and transparent with participation of all parties) without the EC/CTG/civil administration interfering in the process and without any rigging. BAL won the elections rightly and BNP-Jamat alliance was defeated for their misdeeds.

Another opinion (minority view) is that the elections were stage-managed by a long standing conspiracy against BNP. An unholy alliance of external players (US, India, UK, EU, UN, etc) initially tried to breakup both BNP and BAL and send their respective leaders into exile. Failing in this so-called ‘minus two formula, they subsequently decided to destroy BNP totally and bring India-friendly BAL into power with at least two-thirds majority (for constitutional amendments required to legalise the activities of the controversial Fakhrudding regime). Interested readers may refer to an article by Mr. Zoglul Hossain The Evil Axis stage-managed a landslide victory for BAL (http://www.newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=239355).

To be honest, my assessment on the day before the election was that BNP would get about 100 seats and BAL around 120, the remainder being distributed to smaller parties and independent candidates. I came to this conclusion on the basis of contacts with a large number of people in Dhaka and also after watching huge gatherings in Khaleda Zia's campaign meetings during the few days before the elections. The mythological phoenix seemed to have risen from the ashes. But my assessment was shown to be wrong by the official results. On the electoral battleground, BNP-Jamat suffered a strategic defeat and BAL got more than what it deserved or even wished for. Did anything go wrong anywhere? Casting of 87% of the votes across the country and about 95% in several constituencies seem improbable and unbelievable. One has to consider the fact in the 1991, 1996 and 2001 general elections (participated by all parties) the percentages of votes cast were 55.5, 75.0 and 75.6 respectively. Was there any ‘election engineering of some kind that we are not aware of? Only God and those officers in charge of handling ballot boxes before counting could tell.

Different commentators have tried to analyse the results from different angles. In my view, a combination of externally imposed conditions, excellent tactical moves of BAL and total failure of BNP to counter these moves led to an overwhelming victory of BAL and massive defeat for BNP. With 32.5% of votes in its favour, and that in the most tiring circumstances, BNP is still a formidable political force and no one should underestimate it just on the basis of small number of parliamentary seats. Two-party culture has developed in Bangladesh, and there is a possibility that BNP will return to power in future. But to be successful, the leaders and well wishes of BNP must take lessons from the past mistakes and reorganize the party with new promises.

There are many reasons for the BNP defeat and BAL victory. All of these cannot be thoroughly discussed in one small essay, but we can mention few points as follows.

1. BNP was weak from the very beginning of the electoral game. The foreigners were scheming against this party at least from 2003 and trying to bring BAL into power not because BNP-Jamat were their enemy but because BAL would serve their interests better.

2. The foreign players were clearly against BNP returning to power, so they encouraged factionalism and discord within BNP and carried out a vicious media propaganda against this party and its main ally Jamat. They had not so hidden hands in getting General Moin and army involved in the 1/11 changeover. The members of the CTG, EC and few Generals (serving or retired) were seen to be working against BNP, since their fates were invariably linked with the BAL victory.

3. Khaleda Zia's BNP ruled the country for at least 10 years but failed in several fronts to match the BAL. The first term 1991-96 was reasonable, but the second term 2001-06 was miserable to say the least. There were many good initiatives in the economic, education and social sectors, but these were not properly publicized in the media.

4. The party was divided between different factions, no body knew exactly how any decision was made or implemented. Allegations of alternative centres of state power riddled with financial irregularities were there, but no serious investigations or significant action was taken.. Khaleda Zia was unable to foresee the lurking danger of discontent and disunity within BNP. Sheikh Mujib despite many shortcomings at least saw the 'chatar dal' around him (although he could not or did not do anything about it), but Khaleda Zia did not know how a new 'chatar dal' was bringing disrepute to her party and government.

5. From the very beginning of the restoration of multi-party system by Ziaur Rahman in 1977, BAL gave special attention to organise different fronts within media, intelligentia, cultural activists, NGOs, academic, research and different professional fronts. During the last two years, the pro-BAL Sector Commanders Forum waged a relentless campaign for ‘trial of the war criminals’ and banning Jamat (main BNP ally). All these bodies have received attention, advice, respect, recognition (even funds from different sources), and naturally they worked tirelessly for BAL's victory. In contrast, BNP did not bother to encourage such fronts, which play crucial roles in forming public opinion and in deciding who wins and who loses.

6. BNP was also negligent on media front, both on national and international levels. In Dhaka, apart from two Bangla dailies (Amar Desh and Naya Diganta), all other Bangla dailies (Prothom Alo, Jugantor, Janokontho, Inqilab, Ajker Kakoj, Bhorer Kagos) are unashamedly pro-BAL. Ittefaq and Manob Jamin follow more or less a middle road. Within the English language media, the largest circulating Daily Star is openly pro-BAL and pro-Indian. The Editor of Bangladesh Observer, contested as a BAL candidate in the recent election. Only the New Age and New Nation try to present news and analysis in reasonably balanced ways. Similarly, most of TV media including ATN and Channel I are pro-BAL. A few TV channels are owned by BNP people, but they are no match for the pro-BAL counterparts.

7. In foreign countries also, BAL enjoys near total support within the media community. Most reporters and editors of Bangla weeklies published from London have pro-BAL sympathies. About 90% of the articles and features published in these media are authored by pro-BAL writers. The handling of media front by BAL is very successful and this has brought electoral rewards for them. BNP does not know how to befriend media people, and it would be foolish to criticise BAL for its media success. BNP has only itself to blame for not cultivating and developing good media relations.

8. In the age of internet revolution, news and propaganda material reach all corners of the globe in a matter of seconds.. And most of the powerful news media outlets that form public opinion nationally and internationally are based in the western world and controlled by pro-imperialist, pro-Zionist owners or sympathizers. Unfortunately, in Bangladesh, like many other third world countries, people tend to accept as the only truth what international media outlets dish out on hourly basis. Most people are unable to distinguish between news and propaganda. It is true that all reporters, editors, columnists and commentators working for all these outlets are not hostile to Bangladesh, but most of their reports are presented in a way that belittle Bangladesh's achievements and highlight only the negative aspects.

Since 2003, we have seen many such reports and comments that were fabricated to portray Bangladesh as a ˜failed state. Many of these reports were filed from New Delhi or Kolkata by people who had scant knowledge of Bangladesh society but pretended to be experts. These stories damaged Bangladesh's image as a country and BNP's image as a party, both nationally and internationally. BAL's image was promoted and enhanced as the only secular force capable of saving Bangladesh from the Taliban monsters patronized by Khaleda Zia's BNP!

9. It is a fact that no Indian newspaper or TV channel ever says anything positive about Bangladesh. On the contrary, most media people in India follow the ultra-Hindu BJP line to portray Bangladesh as a ‘Pakistan-type fundamentalist country’ and ‘source of trouble’ for India. The Indian ruling establishment has never been comfortable with a non-BAL government in Dhaka. They assume (rightly or wrongly) that BAL is the most dependable Indian ally in Bangladesh because this party would never criticize or oppose any Indian policy whether regional or international. During the last BNP-regime (2001-2006) the BAL propagandists and their Indian patrons and some Zionist elements did everything possible to portray BNP-Jamat government as sponsors of ‘Islamic extremism and terrorism’. These efforts isolated BNP-led political forces and helped BAL politics. The Indian media and many leading figures have blamed Bangladesh for the decades old tribal insurgencies in India’s north east region. They have also made the absurd accusation that hundreds of training camps for Indian insurgents are run in Bangladesh by Pakistani ISI with active connivance of Bangladeshi DGFI. Bangladesh has always wanted concrete evidence for such claims, but the Indian side has hardly bothered to respond.

10. Another ploy has been to spread the falsehood that BNP is patronised and funded by extremist Islamic countries including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to carry out anti-India activities. Any policy in opposition with perceived Indian interests is labeled as ‘anti-Indian’, which is in total disregard to Bangladesh’s own independent policy making right as a sovereign nation. Indian media propagates the idea that Bangladesh can prosper only if it follows the dictates from New Delhi and it must not have any significant relation with any country perceived to be India’s rivals or ‘enemies’ such as Pakistan and China. The name of China is not always explicitly mentioned, but Pakistan bating is a favourite hobby of not only the ultra-Hindu BJP and other extremist outfits but also of most of the so-called secular ‘Indian patriots’. The unfortunate thing is that any attempt by BNP to pursue a policy thought be in conflict with Indian economic, military and strategic interests has been branded as ‘pro-Pakistan’ and encouraged by ISI.

11. It is generally known that Bangladesh is a haven for foreign spies and agents. All major intelligence agencies of the world including those from Pakistan, USA, India, China, UK and Australia have stations in Dhaka. Even Israel has a pro-Zionist ‘media centre’ in Dhaka which operates very openly and with complete impunity, although Bangladesh does not have any diplomatic relations with Israel. One may recall that Khaleda Zia's last government arrested (in 2003) a so-called ˜Islamic Zionist who had been working for years with pro-Zionist elements in Israel and US, but her government was forced to release him after direct intervention from the US. During the last elections, it was quite visible that pro-Zionist elements in the USA allied themselves with BAL and carried out massive lobbying with powerful quarters in America. Even Sheikh Hasina's son, Sajib Wajed Joy, joined in media campaign to denigrate Bangladesh Army accusing it of sheltering ‘Islamic militants’. Many members of American congress and Senate, who do not know much about the ground realities in Bangladesh society and politics, passed resolutions very critical of the BNP-led government (2001-06) and influenced the US government policy towards Bangladesh. And with India's joining in the US-Israel strategic alliance, cooperation and intelligence sharing among CIA, MOSSAD and R&AW have taken a new dimension to bring all the Muslim countries under their domination. Bangladesh being a Muslim majority country is a natural target for this unholy alliance's war on terror. BNP is their legitimate target since, despite many faults, it is still the focal point for any resistance to Indian subjugation. In contrast, BAL is the most favored political friend since it follows a pro-India line.

12. Many analysts believe that Indian R&AW is the most active foreign intelligence agency carrying out various covert and overt operations in Bangladesh, especially in the economic, political and cultural fronts. While ISI is often accused as the instigator of all ‘Islamic terrorism in Bangladesh, very little of RAW's anti-Bangladesh activities over the years are discussed in the Indian and pro-BAL Bangladesh media. Even during the Mujib government (1972-75), which took the decision to normalize relations with Pakistan and China and join the OIC without ‘permission’ from New Delhi, R&AW was very active to support anti-BAL militant groups like JSD. This agency was also widely believed to provide support to the violent overthrow of President Ziaur Rahaman and installation of the military regime led General Ershad.

13. During 2001-2006, R&AW did everything to undermine Khaleda Zia's government and advance BAL's cause. During the closing days of that government in 2006, R&AW agents led a ruthless campaign of violence and arson to destroy the emergent garment industries in Bangladesh and to precipitate economic ruin and social crises. Many people also suspect that the violent ‘logi-boitha’ incident (28th October 2006) in Dhaka that provided the last formal excuse for installing the army-backed Fakhruddin government was stage-managed by R&AW agents. It was probably the first stage of long plan by foreigners to bring Bangladesh under total US-Indian hegemony, by causing political destabilisation, bringing economic ruin and destroying all forces of resistance to such agenda. One of the biggest failures of BNP government was to expose and effectively counter these nasty designs by foreign agents on Bangladesh soil and abroad. This contributed to a large extent to BNP’s own decline in public esteem, loss of popularity and subsequent electoral disaster.

14. RAW helped the BAL election strategy not only by subtle propaganda and also playing very nakedly a fear card on Sheikh Hasina's life. On December 20 and 21, 2008, the entire Bangladesh print media was awash with a ‘news’ item which claimed that a cell of 6 Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (HUJI), a terrorist organization, was plotting to kill Sheikh Hasina. The report was filed from New Delhi by a CNN-IBN reporter Sumon K Chakrabarti (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/6member-team-out-to-kill-exbangaldesh-pm-hasina/81008-2.html.) It reads, in part,

Indian intelligence agencies have warned the country that a six-member suicide squad of the banned Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HUJI) has been trained to assassinate Hasina, leader of Awami League, one of the main political parties of the country.

Sources in the Indian intelligence agencies and inside Bangladesh have told CNN-IBN that the HUJI team was trained for the last two months by an officer of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence who operates under the name Ehetesham.

The special training camp was held at Kaligunj in Satkhira and the six men were personally briefed by HUJI chief Imtiaz Quddus at the end of the training.

Sources say that the assassination plot has been planned by renegade officers of Bangladesh's all-powerful military intelligence, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI).

Some of these officers were recently transferred away from the DGFI by Bangladesh army chief General Moeenuddin Ahmed, who has been trying to hold a peaceful election.”

Bangladesh home ministry officials vehemently denied the existence of such plots by HUJI or any other terrorist groups against Sheikh Hasina. There was no way to confirm Mr. Chakrabarti's claims, but the purpose of such report at a very crucial time was clearly to sow fear among the Bangladeshi people and generate sympathy on Sheikh Hasina's behalf. If R&AW was sure about the plot and knew about the so-called ISI run training camps of the terrorists about to be committing a horrible crime against Sheikh Hasina, if their agents and sources were certain about the identity of the ˜renegade DGFI officers, then their best option would have been to pass on the information to the Bangladesh authorities. This they did not do. Rather, they attempted to tilt public opinion in favour of BAL and even engaged in raw propaganda against DGFI. The alleged ‘renegades’ of DGFI are probably those officers who resist R&AW dictates on Bangladesh security issues. Needless to say, Mr. Chakrabart was most probably a R&AW agent working under the cover of a ˜journalist.

14. Apart from foreign machinations, BNP's fall was accelerated by its own failure to live up to its electoral commitments prior to 2001 elections. People were frustrated by unbridled corruption within political and bureaucratic classes, mismanagement, threat of Bangla-Bhai type ‘Islamic terrorism, lack of respect for law and justice, etc. Some of those closely related to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's family and her all powerful Office were allegedly involved in exercise of illegal power on all branches of government machineries and in amassing huge amount of illicit wealth. Whether these allegations were true or false, or if Khaleda Zia's family or BNP alone were guilty of such ˜crimes, nobody wanted to check the facts. But the damage was done. BAL and its propaganda machine were successful in portraying BNP as the only villain while constantly repeating the false claim that BAL and Sheikh Hasina's family were totally clean.

15. On charges of corruption, the all powerful Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), headed by a beneficiary of 1/11 changeover, was clearly biased against BNP. Only a few days prior to the elections, the ACC highlighted an alleged financial scam involving Khaleda Zia's son ˜Koko Rahman in a nation wide media blitz, but did not utter one word about the huge financial empire Sheikh Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana and son Sajib Wajed Joy, amassed during the BAL rule (2006-2001) as commissions and kickbacks. For both sides of the story, the reader may refer to a special report Bangladesh: The fortunate corrupts that appeared in the Weekly Blitz on December 20, 2008 and also in the website: http://www.newsfrombangladesh.net/index.php?hidDate=2008-12-20).

People of Bangladesh seem to have a short memory. They were hoodwinked into forgetting the culture of corruption, terrorism and nepotism that existed during the BAL rule (1996-2001). Under the spell of a ˜pirhana-type media blitz launched at home and abroad, BNP and Khaleda Zia's electoral prospects were finished, whilst BAL and Sheikh Hasina remained unscathed and consequently they reaped the benefits of a sweeping election victory.

------------------------------------
(Dr. K M A. Malik is an academic and columnist. He is based in Cardiff (UK) and may be reached by e-mail: kmamalik@aol.com)

http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=240672

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[mukto-mona] A poem on Gaza

Dear Editors,

Please publish my poem on the recent killing in Gaza. I contemn this killing
and I urge the world leaders to do whatever it needs to stop this.

The poem is in Bengali.

http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=616


Hassanal Abdullah

------------------------------------

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Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration:
Call For Articles:

http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68

http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585

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VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

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[ALOCHONA] Govt may give India, China port transit

Govt may give India, China port transit
 
 
 
 

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[ALOCHONA] Great Mistakes

Sheikh Mujib was a Great revolutionary leader..
 
And his mistakes were Great too!
 
After all..
He was only a human.
 
Mufassil Islam
Human Rights Advocate




To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: maqsudo@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:58:03 +0000
Subject: RE: [ALOCHONA] Awami League's Rajakar Minister


re: J A chowdhry
----------------

R u the new moron in the block? What is " we are AL and Bakshal">>>

Bakshal is one of the darkest chapter in Bdesh, why u want to bring it back?

Don't you think, you should double check your mails, before you send it for publication?

Why our idealism will be " Bangabandhu"...what is that idealism???? Is there any document
on your rubbish idea?

Sk. Mujib is just a lucky man...that ordinary, kind Bdeshis have re-accepted him as the father of nation, after all his historic corruption, inefficeincy,nepotism,rigidity, anti-democratic policies, mal-administration,
and many many other blunders.

Khoda hafez.

dr. maqsud omar







To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: Chwdhury@hotmail.com
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:40:13 +0000
Subject: RE: [ALOCHONA] Awami League's Rajakar Minister

Mufassil
You introduce ur-self as a human right advocate.I am in dought actually what u are.I thing if you
introduce us as a Jamaat Sibir activist,it will be appropiate for u.Think about it.
 
Do not forget, we are namly Awami League.Our idealism and goal is Bangabondhu and his BKSAL.
 
Jai Bangla
 
 


 


To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: mufassili@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:35:36 +0000
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Awami League's Rajakar Minister

Dear Readers,
 
If you had to click this letter as you were shocked at its caption, then my question is 'Why'? Why is it so surprising to even imagine that Awami League would allow a Rajakar to be amongst its chosen league of Ministers? An offshoot of Islami Oikko Jote is already with them. How many of the voters who voted for our new Education Minister knew that this man was a hard-bone Communist and a Chhatro Union activist during his earlier political life? During Hitler's time - Fascism was taught to the children and during Stalin's time - Russian Fascism was taught to the youth. Awami League is often blinded by Bengali Fascism and this Fascist idea leads to the issue of people of non-Bengali origin and their rights to be Bangladeshis even when they are not Bengalis. My good friend Dr. Ohiduzzaman Chand of Dhaka University had recently done a PhD on the issue and I am sure that he has a better response.
 
Nevertheless, as I had predicted in my earlier letter, Awami League has grounded footing of West Bengal style communism in Bangladesh with Mr. Menon and Mr. Inu and now with this Communist Education Minister (in the new camouflage of Awami League) - who I am sure will change the texts massively. If we feel butterflies in our tummies about a Fanatic Religious man as our Education Minister - then what about a Fanatic Communist? I am sure not many know about this man's political convictions and history. Did u know this reader?
 
Mufassil Islam
Human Rights Advocate




To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: mufassili@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 12:39:51 +0000
Subject: RE: [ALOCHONA] Bangladesh stunned by Awami victory


U simply have to prove me wrong with references. PLEASEprove me wrong and I will be happy to retract my comments.
 
In support of my references to Jalil:
 
He is stooping all the time and he has had been power blind always. Amassed enrmous wealth and formed a bank when he was a pauper only a few years ago. He was apparently grilled by Armed Forces and yet won his seat. He was side-lined by Hasina rightly. When he was asked about MPs procurement of vehciles at tax redemption by a TV journalist in UK - he lost his temper. Hmm...I wonder what sort of illness he has that kept on taking him to hospital all the time during his captive life with the Armed Forces. Hmm..I bet u know!
 
Munni Shaha? U simply need to make an equation of all the TV interviews she has recorded thus far which I have done. You need to watch her coverage of Avishek's wedding and her reactions to that. Well - pls DO get back to me with YOUR references. AWAMI League is an Indian enunch ( I am no BNP or Jamaat lover of present time) and YOU will soon find out. I don't know whether u have had first hand experience of their rule. Why prices come down and crime rate goes up? U need to do a research on cross border smuggling and the relevant criminal records pertaining from that. Well I have done that which many of the so called intellects willingly avoid to expose.
 
Mufassil Islam
Human Rights Advocate




To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: kareem871@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 06:15:31 +0000
Subject: RE: [ALOCHONA] Bangladesh stunned by Awami victory


What a shallow analysis of BNP's election debacle.
 
Keep it up and BNP will cease to exist - Inshallah.
 
NB: As an aside, as one who claims to be a human rights advocate your reference to Munni Saha was irreverent and absolutely unnecessary.
Likewise, if you expect to be taken seriously, you must stick to your analysis professionally without making crude remarks like Jalil being a drunkard.





To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: mufassili@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2009 13:05:21 +0000
Subject: RE: [ALOCHONA] Bangladesh stunned by Awami victory

Dear Readers,
 
The equation is very simple. The factors that played into Awami League's victory:
 
1. Awami League and BNP are originally almost at par with their number of supporters. Awami league's regular supporters did vote for Awami League as usual and they had no reason to love BNP - so Awami League grabbed the regular devoted votes;
 
2. The Swing Voters wanted to teach BNP a lesson for their corruption and had no other alternative than Mohajot as voting for BNP would have justified Tarek's corrupt practice - so they voted for alternative - ie., Awami League - having no other alternative;
 
3. The BNP supporters or activists were divided as to pro-change and anti-change groups, the defelctors like Bodrudouza and Oli gave reasons to the exploiters and anti-BNP lobbies reason to ponder upon BNP's coordination and disciplined approach;
 
4. BNP stalwarts or the pivotal leaders were kept behind the bars until the last few days on very simple cases which were easily bailable when Awami League had almost all their pivotal figures out of jail all the time (well even drunkard Jalil was out of jail);
 
5. Awami League had always supported the caretaker Govt and had promised to legalise their unconstitutional (although I think constitution itself has become a laugh) works if voted to power;
 
6. Hasina had a few anti-Jamaati Islamic groups in her pocket which got the votes of anti-Jamaati pro-Islamic ppl on their side and Hasian promised not to enact any anti-Islamic laws;
 
7. Ershad commands a few BNP votes as well owing to his military past;
 
8. New generation of voters did not have the experience of seeing Awami League's rule as adults rather they saw the corrupt rule of Tarek which made them anti-BNP and they read Awami League made ppl drink 'Vaater Fan' in drains from adults like us and they were too young to understand that Awami League always failed to control crime;
 
9. Awami League is better in price control when BNP is not good at that and owing to present price hike - ppl could not afford to take chances with any more price hike as that would have meant playing with starvation;
 
10. women voters were successfully convinced that BNP meant oppression on women;
 
11. The media which is ruled by Foortibaaj and Aamodi pro-Bollywood dedicated Amitabh loving reporters like Munni Shaha (who always talks for Hindu greats) ruled non-political channel news rooms like that of ATN and the so called cultural ppl are dying to have a amorous relationship with Indian medias to extend their workfield where Pakistan is a total failure;
 
12. Bangladesh is surrounded by Maoists and communists and Islam has been pocketed by idiots like JMBs and without true Islamic wise leaders - communism in the camouflage of secularism has taken root in newspapers;
 
13. Awami League banked on the issue of bringing the Jamaat leaders to war-tribunals when BNP owing to failure of its leaders (only Salauddin Qader recently accused Awami League of letting thousands of Pakistani soldiers leave the country without war compensations) could not successfully defend the issue with a counter challenge;
 
14. Hasina lobbied abroad (with kaaney betha issue) to win international support for Awami League when BNP concentrated on domestic support only.
 
Hence, I and many like me are not shocked or surprised at all at Awami League's win and I am sure the readers do recall I DID forecast this scenario even in this ALOCHONA online many months ago.
 
I NOW forecast that Awami League will become a good ruler as they may not act like BNP idiots but they will soon find out that Bangladeshi ppl are pro-Islamic when they will start enacting anti-Islamic India loving enactments and this will give rise to a wise and revolutionary Islamic power in Bangladesh with BNP at the helm.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Mufassil Islam
Human Rights Advocate


To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: mkra12@aol.com
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 09:20:44 -0500
Subject: Re: [ALOCHONA] Bangladesh stunned by Awami victory


The extraordinary support for AWL is definitely a mandate for change in the affairs of the country.
That change is not some quantitative change here & there  but fundamental change in the system of governance in the country. After all, they have the two third majority.
Can Sheikh Hasina & Awami League deliver that change?Can she liberate the country's folk from the yokes of colonial bureaucratic system of governance?
After everything settles down and the elected government begins functioning. The country will go back to the age old colonial system of governance,despite the overwhelming participation of the nation in the election.
From the Secreteriate to the Mahakuma offices, it's the non elected, non answerable bureaucrats who will be the supreme rulers of the day to day affairs of the country. The Minister is not the executive head of the Ministry but the Secretery. Ministers orders cannot be issued as Government orders unless approved by the Secretary. The scenario at the districts, Upozilla's, Cities & Mahakuma's are more bleak. There is zero representation of the public in the governance of those levels.
The notorious system that was devised by the colonial rulers to keep us under subjugation by our own people continues to this day, despite two independences.
   Hope her Government will  hand over the total administration of the Upozillas to the elected chairman & council members.She will face a lot of resistance from the bureaucracy by way of government rules & regulations but she has the backing of the vast majority as well as the two third majority to do and undo anything in the greater interest of the nation. All administrative powers which are excercised by the bureaucrats at those levels should be vested in the elected chairman & council of representatives.This will empower the Upozilla people to be their own rulers.They will truly be independent.
   Until & unless we establish Democracy,self rule at the grassroot levels Democracy will not have its foundation.Opinions of the majority  of citizens, their hopes & aspirations,likings ,dislikings will not be expressed in the affairs of the country, nor their support be of any strength to the elected government.
The handful of elected ministers at the center will be cut off from the people by way of the clandestine bureaucracy. Its imperative that we have elected local government.at the varios administrative levels;bureaucrats at these levels should be answerable to the elected local body.
The vast majority of Bangladeshi's has shown the keen judgement of right & wrong by routing out the parties of anti liberation past & fundamentalist in nature.They also opted for the less corrupt of the two parties.
Is it too much to ask that these good majority will be allowed to be their own rulers?
 
Mizad












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[ALOCHONA] AL Govt to set 10-year export target

I think that this is crazy,  you set target for 10 years, so you can get honeymoon for 5 years with looting.  I never heard any Govt in the world put the target for 10 years to improve trade deficit.  You won't be here after 5 years who knows, so people will not be able to blame AL for their failure, since Trade Target was 10 years.  This is a schrewed move.
 
I think people in Bangladesh are much more smarter than him,  he may try to look for short cut and enjoy the honeymoon for 5 years.
 
I have said many times and I will say again,  there are many hungry MPs in Bangladesh for the last 7 years. If I am a real patriot Bangladeshi, I will be watching their every move, since they might be looking some other ways to deny the future failure.
 
I am doubt since I am hearing the Tk10/kg rice and free fertilizer are not their menifesto.  I will accept them as successful even rice is TK15 which is 50% more than what they have promised.
 
Lets ask AL Govt Tk15/kg rice in Bangladesh by next year.  Some people are thinking that I am bashing AL,  but actually I am well wisher of AL and I want them to be successful in the next 5 years.  I am seting some people target for AL Adminstration.
 
Think this way, if AL is successful, general people will benefit, if they screwed up, general people will pay the price and become more poorer.
 
Regards,
M. M. Chowdhury (Mithu), Virginia, USA
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Govt to set 10-year export target: Faruque Khan
Mon, Jan 12th, 2009 8:39 pm BdST
Dhaka, Jan 12(bdnews24.com) – Commerce minister Faruque Khan on Monday said the government will set a ten-year target to reduce trade deficit and boost exports instead of the traditional yearly readjustment.

"We will review the progress every year but go for a 10-year goal," the minister told reporters after receiving delegations from Sri Lanka and India at his ministry.
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[ALOCHONA] Fatima Bhutto remembers her Aunt

Pilgrimage to nowhere

Fatima Bhutto

08 January 2009

New Statesman

http://www.newstatesman.com/asia/2009/01/benazir-bhutto-pakistan-legacy#reader-comments

 

A year on from Benazir Bhutto's assassination, Fatima Bhutto visits the family mausoleum and reflects on the poisonous legacy of her late aunt, a woman "without principles"

 

 "A Disney version of the Taj Mahal": devotees of Benazir arrive at the remodelled Bhutto family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bux, Sind Province

 

The old Bhutto mazaar, or graveyard, is in a small town called Garhi Khuda Bux. It is not fair to call it a town; it's a hamlet really, nestled between swaths of fertile agricultural land and small town centres that cater to travelling traders and produce distributors. When I was younger, I used to know we were close to the mazaar as we drove by the old paan wallah. He was a geriatric who sold betel-leaf paans, conical beedi cigarettes and a pack or two of Gold Leaf extra-strong smokes from the table he sat on. The mazaar itself was hundreds of years old and is where the Bhuttos have been buried since they settled in Sind. Wooden pillars, carved with lattice designs, marked the absence of the four walls that would have enclosed the open-air burial site. It was a sombre resting place: four corners of Sind lay open around you, and the dusty smell of the air in Garhi Khuda Bux's desert climate surrounded mourners who came to mark death anniversaries and birthdays.

 

It's all gone now.

 

It was torn down by the last member of the family to be buried there, Benazir Bhutto, and rebuilt as a mausoleum. In a country where politics has always orbited around personalities, she was determined that hers would be the largest and the grandest. Benazir rebuilt the old family mazaar in the manner of an Aladdin-style castle. The structure has a domed roof, four minaret-like points facing in different directions, a grand driveway so that no one need bother to walk, and elaborate staircases which lead nowhere. It's revolting. It looks like the Disney version of the Taj Mahal.

 

A visiting journalist once asked me what was going to be built on a second storey of the grandiose mausoleum, the one the staircases presumably were erected for. "A gift store, probably," I answered. I was joking. But there is one now - actually, there are plenty, they're just not on the second floor.

 

Outside the mausoleum there are juice sellers, men with portable pakora and popcorn machines, stalls selling pictures of all the dead Bhuttos and more stalls selling posters and tapes of the dead Bhuttos' speeches. It's macabre, but this is the shrine that Benazir built for herself; this is the afterbirth of her death.

 

Now her posters, in the manner of those at Sufi shrines, hang inside the mausoleum, over the graves even. There is no space for the sacred, there is no space for grief, only space for advertising and political grandstanding of "Look whom I'm related to"-type posters, "Vote for my children, they're next!" warnings, and so on.

 

One year after Benazir's assassination, this is what her legacy has come down to. And it is fitting that in her death, like in her life, there is no talk of principles or ideology, only of personality and genealogy.

 

There is, however, a small matter to contend with: the larger legacy, so to speak. Two months after her violent death, the party she headed as chairperson for life (an actual title) - the Pakistan Peoples Party - came to power on a sympathy vote. The people voted for a ghost and they ended up with her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and her cronies in power. Pakistan is, to date, the only nuclear-armed country in the world led by two former criminals. And as the new PPP's first year in power comes to a close, coinciding with the death of its chairperson, I feel compelled, as a Pakistani, to recap what all this means and to ask, "What legacy have we been left with?"

 

Legacies are insulting in the face of mass suicides, carried out by members of the poorer classes because they simply can no longer afford to live

 

Clearly, it is a legacy with no sense of irony. In the United States the Pakistani diplomatic mission to Texas is hard at work raising funds for a Charlie Wilson Chair of Pakistan Studies at the University of Texas, Austin. Out of all the people in the universe who should have a chair in Pakistani studies named after them, the American congressman who funded the mujahedin (now Taliban) through Pakistan's secret service, the Inter-Services Intelligence, is the stupidest person to choose. Remember how well Wilson's efforts turned out? Well, right here in Pakistan we have daily reminders. In the last week of December, a branch of the Peshawar Model School was attacked. The school, which offers private education to 12,000 of the poorest children in Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, was targeted by the Pakistani Taliban – thanks, Charlie Wilson – because it teaches girls and boys together. Two buses were burned to a crisp and ten others were quite seriously torched. A parcel of dynamite that exploded in the principal's office maimed several staff and groundskeepers.

 

US drones continue to breach Pakistani sovereignty, with the blessing of President Zardari, who proclaimed to those being anonymously killed that "the air strikes will go on". Somebody told him that was a bad PR move, so he quickly rescinded the proclamation.

 

The front page of a leading English-language daily last month carried a statement by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, chief of army staff, in large, bold letters, "Kayani pledges matching response to India strike in no time". The story directly opposite read, in a considerably smaller font, "US missiles kill seven in South Waziristan". This referred to civilians killed on 22 December, but, in fact, the unmanned drones have been killing since the autumn.

 

While it remains acceptable for Americans to come and kill our citizens, Pakistan's government has issued bombastic and seemingly harsh statements to counter the threat of a possible Indian air strike following the fallout of the Mumbai massacres. It's nice to be distracted from an actual daily death toll, after all.

 

There's more, lots more legacy to contend with. At a mid-December Asia Society panel in New York, grave charges were placed against Pakistan. Salman Rushdie, no fan of Pakistan (and why would he be, when the country's parliament pledged its continued desire to prolong his fatwa and allowed several members publicly to offer to kill him after he was knighted in 2007), summed up the way people are now looking at Pakistan: "The headquarters of al-Qaeda, the headquarters of the Taliban, the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Toiba, the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad is in the world centre of terrorism - Pakistan." For emphasis, he added, "All the roads of world terrorism lead to Pakistan."

 

For those Rushdie bashers who would be quick to fatwa him for that statement, it is worth remembering that he is as Pakistani as he is Indian, his family having moved to Karachi and lived and died there.

 

But it is not just Rushdie who lacks faith in this new Pakistan. A poll conducted in the country in October by the International Republican Institute showed that 88 per cent of Pakistanis think their country is heading in the wrong direction. Fifty-nine per cent said they felt their economic situation would worsen in the coming year and the PPP received a rating so unfavourable that the pollsters compared it to former President Pervez Musharraf's figures last January. Why should Pakistanis have any confidence in their government? Recently it was made known that the puppet prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, had spent 50 million rupees on five foreign trips over the previous four months. That's something close to £450,000 - for one man (and his very large entourage, apparently). I smell corruption. You'd have no sense of smell if you didn't.

 

Legacies aren't enough in Pakistan. They never were, but now we have ample proof why. Personalities and dynasties are meaningless in a country where, every day, gastrointestinal disease kills children because they have no access to potable water. Legacies are insulting in the face of mass suicides, carried out by members of Pakistan's poorer classes because they simply can no longer afford to live.

 

Mohammad Azam Khan worked for a private cable channel. He killed himself in early December, having not received a salary for five months. His colleagues held protest rallies around the country, but no one - especially not the media - wants us to remember his name or why he felt he had no choice but to take his own life.

 

Pakistanis have bigger problems to contend with, bigger causes to grieve for than Benazir Bhutto. And yet, a year on from her death, we are still at the mercy of our ghosts.

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[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
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