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Friday, June 4, 2010

[ALOCHONA] City girl: My year of 'madness' in Bangladesh



City girl: My year of 'madness' in Bangladesh
 
By Estelle Visagie for CNN
June 3, 2010

Estelle Visagie, 35, an IT consultant from South Africa, was faced with redundancy because of the global economic crisis. She left her comfortable life in London, where she had lived for 10 years, to volunteer for a year in a remote corner of one of the poorest countries in the world. Here she shares her experience.

London, England (CNN) -- If you had asked me at the beginning of last year to pinpoint Bangladesh on a map, I would have struggled. But in April I finished working for a year as a volunteer with international development organisation VSO based in a rural, indigenous community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

The area is close to the border with Myanmar and is mostly Buddhist, whereas 80 percent of Bangladeshis are Muslim. Before I went, I read whatever I could find about Bangladesh's indigenous communities. It didn't take long; there isn't much information on the subject.

I'd been seriously thinking about volunteering when the company I was working for in London started cutting back staff because of the global recession. I opted for voluntary redundancy, and my company had a partnership with VSO for staff to take a leave of absence volunteering. The link was enough for me to know VSO was a legitimate organization.

Being able to use my professional skills was an important factor. The real hard work in development is not in just building physical structures, but transferring practical skills and knowledge.

As one of the only three foreigners in Rangamati, I never went anywhere or did anything without everyone knowing about it. Trying to understand, much less control, the events of any given day was an exercise in futility A lot of my year was spent in state of bemused confusion, and lost in translation. But the days when I just gave in to the madness were always the best.

I occasionally traveled to the capital Dhaka, which gave me a break in some sense, but involved a bumpy, dangerous windy 10-hour ride on not entirely safe buses. Around three months after arriving, the initial elation and excitement wore off, and reality sunk in.

I wasn't making the difference I envisaged, was sweating my way through the insufferable summer and countless power cuts, couldn't figure out my place within the organization and couldn't figure out how I could help. I also witnessed some dirty tactics. The NGO sector is big business in Bangladesh and many people line their own pockets with the juicy foreign aid without caring about the poor.

Corruption is inherent in all levels of society, which is frustrating. I kept a blog and had thousands of hits from all over the world. People have told me it would make a good guide for people thinking about volunteering, especially in Bangladesh. I also took photos and posted them online.

Adjusting to the pace and culture of working life in Bangladesh took time, patience and quite often a sense of humor. Often large NGOs have to pay people to attend meeting otherwise no one turns up. The more senior you are, the greater 'honorarium' you're paid. Once arrived (invariably late) at a meeting, falling asleep is commonplace.

No one is nudged awake, and no one is embarrassed. Culturally there is no shame in this, something that amused me in every meeting I attended.Although I initially didn't feel like I was achieving anything in Rangamati, the fact that I showed up -- and stayed -- was a massive morale boost to the people I worked with.

Knowing that people in the world cared enough to help them gave them the confidence and motivation to really start addressing their own issues.I worked for an education-based organization and there was a school within the grounds. A 15-year-old student was found dead hanging from a tree about three months into my placement.

There are 1,000 students at the school and it seemed everyone went to view the body before the police arrived to deal with it. The cultural response to the suicide was so different from mine, which really shocked me. But the suicide itself did bring home to me just how universal some issues are, and how no community, no religion and no culture is perfect.

As a VSO volunteer you live a 'local life,' which means squat toilets, bucket showers and about $145 (£100) living allowance a month. Now that I am back, everything seems so predictable. For now I'm enjoying the predictability of everyday life here, but I expect I'll soon feel a bit bored by it.If I knew then what I know now, speaking honestly, I don't think I would have signed up for it.

The old me would never have thought she'd get through those challenges, the scratch-your-own-eyes-out-heat, and the hit-your-head-against-a-wall-frustrations. But that's why this journey has been so amazing.And I'm not exaggerating; I had a lot of tough times out there. I was a corporate girl who loved nice things. But this journey has changed me, has turned me into the type of person who can, and did, survive it.

For anyone wanting to shake things up, experience different cultures, and hopefully help a few people along the way, I unreservedly recommend it.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/06/03/estelle.visagie.voluntourist/



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[ALOCHONA] Kyrgyzstan’s ‘Roza Revolution’: Russia and the Future of Kyrgyzstan



Kyrgyzstan's 'Roza Revolution': Russia and the Future of Kyrgyzstan
 
Washington, Moscow, Beijing and the Geopolitics of Central Asia. Part III


http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19335


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[ALOCHONA] Tiananmen leader’s ‘diary’ revealed



Tiananmen leader's 'diary' revealed

 
A diary which publishers claim is that of the man many blame for the Tiananmen massacre is to be published in Hong Kong.It gives details on events immediately before and after the killing of workers and students in Beijing in June 1989.
Publishers say the author is Li Peng, the man who announced martial law in Beijing shortly before troops moved in.In the diary Li declared that he was willing to die to stop the pro-democracy protests.The news of the diary comes on the 21st anniversary of the massacre.
   
The book, entitled Li Peng's June 4 Diary, will be published by New Century Press at the end of this month.The man behind the project is Bao Pu, the son of Bao Tong, a senior advisor to the head of the Chinese Communist Party at the time of the Tiananmen protests.
   
'It provides amazing details of how decisions were made and how the order was carried out, and how the leaders reached internal consensus,' said Bao Pu, talking about the diary.'These are the kind of things that are not in official records.'
   
The manuscript was handed to Mr Bao by an intermediary - he does not want to say who or how it was given to him.
He admits that there are questions about the diary's authenticity, which the publishers say they have worked hard to resolve.
  
If the diary is authentic, it could be his attempt to justify the actions he and his colleagues took 21 years ago.
There is already a published account of the discussions among China's leaders during the time of the 1989 protests.
 


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[ALOCHONA] Fwd: [dhakamails] AND THEN THEY CAME FOR ME …………..



------ Forwarded message ----------
From: sohailtaj2008 <SohailTaj2008@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 5, 2010 10:29 AM
Subject: [dhakamails] AND THEN THEY CAME FOR ME …………..
To: dhakamails@yahoogroups.com

 

Martin Niemoller's poem adapted to present day Bangladesh -

 

THEY CAME FIRST for the

Army officers,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't in the army

THEN THEY CAME for the

Newspaper editors,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a journalist 

THEN THEY CAME for the

Nationalists and religious leaders

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a party member or religious

THEN THEY CAME for the

Writers and intellectuals,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a writer or an intellectual

THEN THEY CAME FOR ME

And  by that time no one was left to speak up

 

_.___
Recent Activity:
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[ALOCHONA] AND THEN THEY CAME FOR ME …………..



Martin Niemoller's poem adapted to present day Bangladesh -

 

 

THEY CAME FIRST for the

Army officers,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't in the army

 

 

THEN THEY CAME for the

Newspaper editors,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a journalist

 

 

THEN THEY CAME for the

Nationalists and religious leaders

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a party member or religious

 

 

THEN THEY CAME for the

Writers and intellectuals,

And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a writer or an intellectual

 

 

THEN THEY CAME FOR ME

And  by that time no one was left to speak up

 



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[ALOCHONA] Indian BSF kills another Bangladeshi : 26 border killings in four months



Indian BSF kills another Bangladeshi : 26 border killings in four months

 

 
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) killed one more Bangladeshi along Benapole border on Friday as the killing spree on Bangladesh border continues unabated despite India's repeated pledges to stop such killings.According to UNB report, a Bangladeshi cattle trader was beaten to death by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along Gatipara border here early Friday.The deceased was identified as Samir, 25, son of Nara of Gatipara village.

BDR and villagers said BSF members of Kaliani camp after a good chase caught Samir while he was returning home from India along with cattle.Then the Indian border guards beat him to death and dumped his body to frontier Isamoti River.

Being tipped-off by locals, police later recovered the body and brought it to Bongaon thana. With this, BSF killed 26 Bangladeshi nationals in over four months and 106 in last 13 months. The number of Bangladeshis killed by BSF during the nine years period from January 1, 2000 to May 10, 2010 stands at 831. BSF also injured 860 and abducted 903 Bangladeshis in the same period.

The killings of unarmed Bangladeshis by the BSF on the border are continuing in clear violation of the spirit of good neighborliness as well as international law and despite repeated pledges by the Indian authorities to stop it. In every meeting between BSF and BDR and also between the higher level officials of the two countries, the Indian side assures that killing of Bangladeshis by its forces on the border would come to an end immediately. But this pledge is seldom implemented.

http://www.thebangladeshtoday.com/leading%20news.htm



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Re: Fwd: [ALOCHONA] First YouTube then Facebook and what's next?

--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, truely-yours@... wrote:
>
> This is the next.....
>
>
> Amar Desh shut
> Declaration cancelled over 'publisher row'; acting editor Mahmudur arrested
>
> Mahmudur Rahman Staff Correspondent
>
> The government yesterday cancelled the declaration of the Bangla daily Amar Desh citing that it has no authorised publisher.
> Acting editor of the daily Mahmudur Rahman was arrested at its office in the wee hours today.
> Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Mohibul Haque told The Daily Star, "Declaration of the newspaper has been cancelled as it has no publisher."
> The DC has cancelled the declaration according to article-5 and -7 of part-III of the Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and Registration) Act, 1973.
> The DC said the previous publisher Md Hasmat Ali, in writing, notified the DC office in March that he is no longer willing to be the publisher of the newspaper. However, as of yesterday, Amar Desh was published with Md Hasmat Ali's name as the publisher of the newspaper in the printer's line.
> After cancellation of the declaration, over 200 policemen went to the Amar Desh office at Karwan Bazar. The journalists of the newspaper staged a sit-in at the entry points of the office to prevent policemen from entering.
> The police also went to the press of Amar Desh at Tejgaon to stop publication of its today's issue but journalists of the daily said they were able to print its first edition.
> Meanwhile, hearing rumours that police are going to arrest Mahmudur Rahman, around 100 BNP and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leaders including Nazrul Islam Khan, Abdus Salam, Khairul Kabir Khokan and Sultan Salauddin Tuku gathered at the Amar Desh office to stop the arrest. They chanted anti-government slogans and tried to get to the 1oth-floor Amar Desh office. Police, however, stopped their attempt.
> Arrested Mahmudur Rahman was brought down from the building around 4:00am today and the BNP and Chhatra Dal leaders chanted anti-government slogans as he was put into an unmarked police vehicle.
> On Hasmat Ali not willing to be the Amar Desh publisher anymore, the Dhaka DC said, "The previous publisher submitted his application with an affidavit." The DC office, in March, informed Hasmat Ali through a letter that the office has accepted his affidavit. The DC, however, could not say the exact date the affidavit was submitted and accepted.
> Meanwhile, Mahmudur Rahman, the acting editor of Amar Desh, in a letter to the DC office in March said he wanted to be the publisher of the newspaper.
> After getting the application, the DC office asked the Dhaka Special Branch (DSB) of police to give a report on Mahmudur Rahman whether he is eligible to be the publisher of the newspaper, said Mohibul.
> "We have received a negative report from the Special Branch today [yesterday], the DC said.
> When asked, on what grounds the DSB gave a negative report, the DC said they mentioned several reasons including that there are 31 cases filed against Mahmudur Rahman.
> "We had been waiting for the report of the Dhaka Special Branch since Mahmudur Rahman filed an application as an aspirant publisher of Amar Desh. But when we received the negative report from the Special Branch today [yesterday]. We cancelled the declaration of the paper as it has no publisher," said the DC.
> Mahmudur Rahman is the former energy adviser of the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance government and is known as a close ally of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
> Around 7:00pm last night, Hasmat Ali, elder brother of Mosaddak Ali Falu who is an adviser to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, filed a case with Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station against Mahmudur Rahman for using his name as the publisher of the newspaper.
> In the case statement, Hasmat Ali said he sold all the shares of Amar Desh Publications Ltd to Mahmudur Rahman last year and the shares were handed over to Mahmudur Rahman.
> He said he resigned from the post of publishers on October 11 last year and the resignation form was submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka district.
> He said Mahmudur Rahman continued publishing his name as Amar Desh's publisher.
> He said during this time at least 30 cases were filed against the daily and he was implicated as the accused in all the cases. He said this tarnished his social image and incurred financial loss.
> The Daily Star twice called Hasmat on his mobile phone, which a woman picked up. She said Hasmat left home leaving his phone at home. She then hung up.
> Tejgaon Industrial Police Station Officer-in-Charge Omar Faruq told The Daily Star that the case was filed under sections-419, -420 and -500 of CrPC in connection with cheating Hasmat Ali and violating section-7 of Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and Registration) Act, 1973.
> Article-5 of the act is regarding publication of newspapers. It says, "No newspaper shall be printed or published except in conformity with the provisions of this part and unless there subsists an authenticated declaration in respect thereof."
> MAHMUDUR'S PRESS CONFERENCE
> Acting editor of the daily Amar Desh Mahmudur Rahman yesterday afternoon held a press conference at the newspaper office where he claimed that members of National Security Intelligence (NSI) kidnapped the publisher of the newspaper Hasmat Ali from his house.
> The former energy adviser to BNP-Jamaat government termed the incident a government conspiracy to shutdown the newspaper that focuses on corruption of the ministers as well as human rights violation of the government.
> He said NSI kidnapped its publisher around 9:00am yesterday and released him at 2:00pm after taking his signatures in two papers, addressed to the deputy commissioner of Dhaka and officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station.
> "The paper addressing to the DC reads I, Md Hasmat Ali, is no longer the publisher of the Amar Desh newspaper. The newspaper is being published using my name. I am requesting to take legal action against the move," Mahmudur Rahman quoted Hasmat as saying.
> He claimed that the Dhaka DC was not giving the nod to his application to become the publisher of the newspaper.
> "The DC informed me that he can't give permission following an objection by higher authority of the government," Mahmudur said.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Emanur Rahman <emanur@...>
> To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Mon, May 31, 2010 4:26 pm
> Subject: Re: [ALOCHONA] First YouTube then Facebook and what's next?
>
>
>
>
> I don't understand why everyone is so surprised by these actions. Bangladesh wants donkeys as leaders and duly elects them. Why complain when you don't like the sound of their braying?
>
> We are committed to worshipping donkeys, wives of donkeys, daughters of donkeys....we've even had an ass as leader.
>
> So much for the "dizital paablic"!
>
> What I was personally disappointed by was that our world renowned computer scientist did not reveal to the BRTA how to shut Facebook down properly.
>
> Oh well, Joy Bangla....
>
> Emanur Rahman | m. +447734567561 | e. emanur@...
> From: Isha Khan <bdmailer@...>
> Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 15:51:24 +0600
> Subject: [ALOCHONA] First YouTube then Facebook and what's next?
>
>
> First YouTube then Facebook and what's next?
>
> by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
>
> May 30, 20
>
> Bangladesh's present ruling party banned YouTube in 2009 for publishing the contents of the conversation tape of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with some of the army officers inside Dhaka Cantonment right after the tragic massacre inside the headquarters of Bangladesh Riffles, where a large number of army officers were brutally murdered, while members of their families were humiliated and even tortured.
>
> Hearing the news of availability of such conversation tape on YouTube, Bangladesh government immediately blocked this site for indefinite period. Later the ban was though withdrawn; the conversation tape is very much available on YouTube. The only difference is, by banning YouTube in 2009, actually Bangladeshi government gave an extensive publicity to the contents, for which it was blocked in Bangladesh, and later the tape content drew attention of millions of people around the world.
>
> This time, Bangladesh's same government has banned extremely popular social networking site Facebook for indefinite period. There are two versions from official sources, justifying this ban.
>
> One claims, it was blocked as someone posted obscene cartoon of the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and leader of the opposition Begum Khaleda Zia. Another source claims that, the site is blocked because of high pressure from the Islamist groups in Bangladesh, which asked the government to immediately and indefinitely ban Facebook for publishing cartoons of the Prophet of Islam. Three Islamist political parties â€" Islami Oikya Jote [IOJ], Islami Andolan and Khelafat Andolan â€" on Friday [May 28, 2010] demanded an immediate ban on Facebook for a recent campaign by some users inviting people to draw images of the prophet. Earlier Pakistani government also banned Facebook at the demand of Islamist and militant religious extremist groups in that country.
>
> Commenting on blocking Facebook, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission sources said: "Some users of Facebook posted anti-Islamic content about Prophet Mohammed [SM], which the government took seriously. Some users even have posted sub-links to pornographic materials, which are not tolerable as well. For these reasons, Facebook has been blocked indefinitely. Access to Facebook may resume only when operators will find proper ways of blocking such anti-social and anti-religious contents."
>
> Giving reactions to blocking of Facebook, a number of Islamist groups in Bangladesh has welcomed the steps and demanding continuation of this ban for indefinite period. While Islamist groups are raising voice against Facebook, on investigation it was found that even some of the notorious Islamist groups as well as suspected Islamist terror outfits are also maintaining their pages on Facebook. Islamic Democratic Party [former Harkat-Ul-Jihad] is having its page on Facebook.
>
> I am not sure, if the government will gain anything by blocking Facebook, but surely it will bring bad reputation for the country as a whole for such violation of rights of expression. Freedom of expression and freedom of press is greatly undermined in Bangladesh during past few months. The latest attempt of the government in banning Facebook will just become another evidence of such situation. Those who advocated such idea, are in reality screwing the image of the present government in Bangladesh.
>
> http://www.weeklyblitz.net/763/first-youtube-then-facebook-and-whats-next
>

Next Internet!!!

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

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[ALOCHONA] Bangladesh: Junior partner in the US 'war on terror', by Brian Palmer

Bangladesh: junior partner in
the US 'war on terror'?
by Brian Palmer


I SPENT part of January and most of February in Dhaka developing a powerful addiction to the ubiquitous cha, strong tea with a dollop of condensed milk. The rest of the time I was plodding from appointment to appointment with Bangladeshi analysts and a handful of Americans to discuss US-Bangladesh relations, perpetually astounded (and usually enraged) by the glacial and messy flow of vehicles and people.
I had previously visited Bangladesh in 2002 and 2008, and had made friends in Dhaka's community of photographers and journalists. One of them suggested I look into the increasingly heavy foot traffic of US officials, principally military folk, from Washington to Dhaka. A consistent critic of US foreign policy, particularly our habit of military intervention in far-flung places, she suspected that Washington was grooming the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to be a full-fledged, albeit junior, partner in the global war on terror – or whatever President Barack Obama calls his extension of Bush-Cheney hard-power initiatives.
After trolling the Internet and ringing up US-based South Asia analysts and officers at the State Department and US Pacific Command, I had the distinct impression that Bangladesh was indeed getting more attention from the US military than the usual port calls and disaster relief consultations.
Bangladesh and the US have had reasonably strong ties for years, but the relationship had been a low priority for us – until September 11th, after which Washington asked for, and Dhaka granted, use of its airspace, ports, and refuelling facilities for military operations in Afghanistan.
In the years following 9/11, the Bush administration voiced concern that Bangladesh might become a base for wandering militants, even al Qaeda, because of its proximity to Pakistan as well as its porous borders with India, abysmal governance, and corrupt – and scandalously under-funded – law enforcement agencies. The government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia denied that the threat was as serious as Washington made it out to be, an understandable response from a leader who courted – and later allied with – extremist parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami (Bangladesh). That said, many in both capitals worried that the robust trade in illegal weapons around the south-eastern port of Cox's Bazar, still a problem, might fuel home-grown militancy.
The Bush administration expanded ties with two previous regimes – the first one elected, the other installed by the military – and the Obama administration has recently given strong backing to the current elected and secular government of Sheikh Hasina.
Admiral Timothy J Keating, commander of US Pacific Command dropped by in November 2007 to discuss disaster relief assistance after cyclone Sidr devastated the country's southern coast. In October 2008, the Oregon National Guard formed a partnership with the Bangladeshi military to boost airport and maritime port security as part of a global US State Department-National Guard Bureau initiative. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence James Clad visited the following month 'to discuss a range of bilateral and multilateral security issues as well as future opportunities for cooperation between US and Bangladesh armed forces,' according to an embassy press release. Several other US officials passed through that year, but the visits really started picking up in 2009. In February, a three-star general from US Special Operations Command and a one-star from PACOM visited Dhaka. Nine months later, the commanding general of US Army–Pacific, the commander
of the Seventh Fleet, PACOM's director of strategic planning, and the commanding general of US Special Operations Command–Pacific stopped by, presumably to do more than just say hi.
Just this past March, the Navy's Fleet Survey Team charted the Karnaphuli river in Chittagong, Bangladesh's major port. China is nudging its way in Chittagong as well – in 2008 it helped Dhaka set up a missile launch pad near the port city.
More tip-of-the-spear-type activities have been added to the existing US-Bangladesh training agenda of peacekeeping, civic actions, and humanitarian relief. The first 'Tiger Shark', part of the classified Joint Combined Exchange Training programme, was conducted last November. US Navy special operators trained with sailors from the Bangladeshi Navy Special Warfare and Diving Salvage, which, according to US Ambassador James F Moriarty, 'is well on its way to becoming Bangladesh's premier maritime counterterrorism unit.' Tiger Shark 2 kicked off in April 2010. Two more Tiger Sharks are scheduled for later in the year.
And if you follow the money, a pattern emerges. In fiscal year 2009, the US provided a meagre $590,000 to Bangladesh in military financing. State asked for $2.5 million for 2010. In 2009, the US gave Dhaka $3 million in non-proliferation, anti-terrorism, and de-mining funding. The 2010 estimate is $4.2 million. Total US funding provided to Bangladesh in 2009, which includes the above plus money for everything else – child survival, good governance, economic support, etc – was just shy of $117 million. The 2010 estimate is $168.5 million. These amounts are small, but they add up in a country with a per capita income of $621.
There was a near-consensus across the political spectrum among Bangladeshi analysts I spoke with about the country's pressing, and in many cases dire, strategic concerns: poor and corrupt governance and a sclerotic political system; deep, widespread poverty; poor market access for its main export, garments; rising sea levels caused by global warming; access to water from rivers that flow through India, and which Delhi has plans to dam; and India, India, India, the regional colossus. Most believe that the US can and should play a role in helping Bangladesh address these problems – provided they do so in democratic and transparent ways that take into account local needs and sensibilities.
There was, however, tremendous disagreement over the threat of Islamic militancy and terrorism. 'Bangladesh is unfortunately the battleground in a proxy war between India and Pakistan,' says Ali Riaz, a South Asia analyst at Illinois State University. In August 2005, 500 simultaneous small bombs were detonated in 63 of the country's 64 districts. Three people – and some estimates say as many as 30 – were killed and many more injured. Members of the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, an Islamist extremist organisation banned by the government in 2006, were convicted of the bombing and hanged.
Prior to 2005, there had been no suicide bombings in Bangladesh. In November and December of that year, there were multiple suicide bombings in Gazipur, Chittagong, and Netrakona, executed by Islamist militants. More than four years later, violent extremist groups – both far right and far left – are still active.
'Islamic militancy is not the number one problem. Maybe fifth or sixth,' a journalist who covers the terrorism beat for a major Bangladeshi newspaper told me.
'It is a problem created by the United States,' I was told by prominent left intellectual and NGO head Farhad Mazhar. He recalls the Bush administration's friendship with the coalition government of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which fought with the West Pakistanis in the genocidal 1971 war of independence that grew out of the electoral victory of a popular politician in what was then East Pakistan and is now Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his Awami League, the current ruling party, won all but two seats in Pakistan's National Assembly, tilting the national balance of power away from the formerly dominant West. Military dictator General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, whose power base was West Pakistan, predominantly Punjabi, prevented the assembly from meeting and arrested Sheikh Mujib, as he was – and is – known. East Pakistanis, largely Bengali, hit the streets in protest. So Yahya sent
in the Pakistani army to slaughter them. They killed between one and three million people. Millions of refugees from East Pakistan streamed across the border into India. (Remember the Concert for Bangladesh?)
Publicly, Washington condemned Yahya's moves. Secretly, the Nixon administration backed the general and provided fighter jets via Jordan, 18,000 rounds of ammunition, and other lethal hardware.
India also provided safe haven for the East Pakistani resistance movement and backed it with troops and materiel, beginning a paternalistic relationship in which Bangladesh now chafes.
Most of the analysts I spoke to see Pakistan's influence over Bangladesh as nominal, though all are concerned about Pakistan's instability.
Mazhar and others believe the US has subcontracted out its entire South Asia policy to India. 'Essentially, what Bangladeshis are afraid of is that India is using the USA to turn Bangladesh into its backfield' in its fight against leftist militants on India's north-eastern border.
For their part, US officials say American policy is balanced between military and counterterrorism initiatives and governance, aid, and trade programs. The US is 'overwhelmingly focused on a positive agenda,' a senior Western diplomat told me, 'not looking for a terrorist behind every tree,' citing robust trade, cooperation on disaster response, aquaculture, and capacity building, among others.
Many Bangladeshi analysts, and not just lefties, disagree. The American strategic posture, says retired Brigadier General Shahedul Anam Khan of the Bangladeshi army, 'is predicated mainly on fighting terrorism, and terrorism has become the be-all of American foreign policy. So whatever issue one talks about, the issue of terrorism creeps in automatically.' That said, Anam, now defence and strategic affairs editor for the country's largest English-language newspaper, The Daily Star, advocates Bangladeshi-US cooperation in counterterrorism efforts. Most on the left, however, feel that Washington's preoccupation with counterterrorism will militarise the bilateral agenda and strengthen the Bangladeshi military at the expense of civil institutions.
Whether left or right, all of the Bangladeshi analysts I spoke with say there is a role for the US to play in some areas. Those closer to the right see cooperation, along with a healthy and equitable relationship with India, as Bangladesh's best hope for prosperity and security.
'I've been a strong advocate for the need for Bangladesh to work closely with India, to work closely with the United States, with a whole range of partners, in terms of capacity building, in terms of training, in terms of generally gearing ourselves up to dealing with this [terrorism] threat,' says Farooq Sobhan, head of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute and an ex-diplomat with a muscular résumé – former foreign secretary, high commissioner of Bangladesh to India, and ambassador to China.
Those on left, however, are dubious about the US's ability to cooperate rather than dominate as they believe it has by supporting a series of corrupt governments and a fat and happy elite. 'By nature, Bangladeshi people are soft, very amenable, reasonable too,' Nurul Kabir, editor of a left-of-centre English-language newspaper, told me. 'But when it comes to national dignity, some people of the upper class will compromise. The rest of the people, not.'
Brian Palmer is a fellow at the Centre on Law and Security, an independent journalist, and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY.


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