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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

[ALOCHONA] Who Precisely Is Attacking The World?



Who Precisely Is Attacking The World?
 
Paul Craig Roberts

The stuck pigs are squealing. To shift the onus from the US State Department, Hillary Clinton paints Wikileaks' release of the "diplomatic cables" as an "attack on the international community."  To reveal truth is equivalent in the eyes of the US government to an attack on the world.

It is Wikileaks' fault that all those US diplomats wrote a quarter of a million undiplomatic messages about America's allies, a.k.a., puppet states. It is also Wikileaks' fault that a member of the US government could no longer stomach the cynical ways in which the US government manipulates foreign governments to serve, not their own people, but American interests, and delivered the incriminating evidence to Wikileaks.

The US government actually thinks that it was Wikileaks patriotic duty to return the evidence and to identify the leaker. After all, we mustn't let the rest of the world find out what we are up to. They might stop believing our lies.

The influential German magazine, Der Spiegel, writes: "It is nothing short of a political meltdown for US foreign policy."

This might be more a hope than a reality. The "Soviet threat" during the second half of the 20th century enabled US governments to create institutions that subordinated the interests of other countries to those of the US government. After decades of following US leadership, European "leaders" know no other way to act. Finding out that the boss badmouths and deceives them is unlikely to light a spirit of independence. At least not until America's economic collapse becomes more noticeable.

The question is: how much will the press tell us about the documents? Spiegel itself has said that the magazine is permitting the US government to censure, at least in part, what it prints about the leaked material. Most likely, this means the public will not learn the content of the 4,330 documents that "are so explosive that they are labelled 'NOFORN,'" meaning that foreigners, including presidents, prime ministers, and security services that share information with the CIA, are not permitted to read the documents. Possibly, also, the content of the 16,652 cables classified as "secret" will not be revealed to the public.

Most likely the press, considering their readers' interests, will focus on gossip and the unflattering remarks Americans made about their foreign counterparts. It will be good for laughs. Also, the US government will attempt to focus the media in ways that advance US policies.

Indeed, it has already begun. On November 29, National Public Radio emphasized that the cables showed that Iran was isolated even in the Muslim world, making it easier for the Israelis and Americans to attack. The leaked cables reveal that the president of Egypt, an American puppet, hates Iran, and the Saudi Arabian government has been long urging the US government to attack Iran. In other words, Iran is so dangerous to the world that even its co-religionists want Iran wiped off the face of the earth.

NPR presented several nonobjective "Iranian experts" who denigrated Iran and its leadership and declared that the US government, by resisting its Middle Eastern allies' calls for bombing Iran, was the moderate in the picture. The fact that President George W. Bush declared Iran to be a member of "the axis of evil" and threatened repeatedly to attack Iran, and that President Obama has continued the threats—Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has just reiterated that the US hasn't taken the attack option off the table—are not regarded by American "Iran experts" as indications of anything other than American moderation.

Somehow it did not come across the NPR newscast that it is not Iran but Israel that routinely slaughters civilians in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank, and that it is not Iran but the US and its NATO mercenaries who slaughter civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yeman, and Pakistan.

Iran has not invaded any of its neighbors, but the Americans are invading countries half way around the globe.

The "Iranian experts" treated the Saudi and Egyptian rulers' hatred of Iran as a vindication of the US and Israeli governments' demonization of Iran. Not a single "Iranian expert" was capable of pointing out that the tyrants who rule Egypt and Saudi Arabia fear Iran because the Iranian government represents the interests of Muslims, and the Saudi and Egyptian governments represent the interests of the Americans.

Think what it must feel like to be a tyrant suppressing the aspirations of your own people in order to serve the hegemony of a foreign country, while a nearby Muslim government strives to protect its people's independence from foreign hegemony.

Undoubtedly, the tyrants become very anxious. What if their oppressed subjects get ideas? Little wonder the Saudis and Egyptian rulers want the Americans to eliminate the independent-minded country that is a bad example for Egyptian and Saudi subjects.

As long as the dollar has enough value that it can be used to purchase foreign governments, information damaging to the US government is unlikely to have much affect. As Alain of Lille said a long time ago, "money is all."

——————

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is the father of Reaganomics and the former head of policy at the Department of Treasury. He is a columnist and was previously an editor for the Wall Street Journal. His latest book, "How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds," details why America is disintegrating.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/who-precisely-is-attacking-the-world.html



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[ALOCHONA] Rape in 1971: in the name of Pakistan



Rape in 1971: in the name of Pakistan
 
Afsan Chowdhury
 
December 1, 2010

The history of rape in 1971 has remained an extremely painful and a distant subject in our lives and the narratives have never been explored in all its dimensions. We mention rape when discussing about 1971 as part of the political component, an example of Pakistani barbarity, but we are socially or personally unable to accept rape victims into our own lives. It exists in our collective political construction talked about from the safety of anonymity, but as social individuals, we deny its presence due to the threats of stigma and anxiety generated by our cultural construction.

* * *

Sexual activity during war has several dimensions and rape is one of them, its most violent face. It's important to put some context to understand sexuality in war situations better. For example, during World War II, most armies provided sexual service for the soldiers either through supply of war prisoners as in Korea and China as 'comfort women' or large scale prostitution as in India. Sexual services were easier to access in the West — prostitution, wives of others, single women who were lonely as many men had gone to war, etc. were all outlets for the soldiers looking for sex. It was essentially consensual in nature. Sex is part of war as in normal life.

In 1971, Pakistani soldiers obviously needed women and in a few cases young boys — but their presence in Bangladesh was too brutal for normal sexual client servicing; in fact most sex workers had run away while the number of clients dramatically increased by many times as the number of soldiers were at least 100,000. So these soldiers turned to the civilian population to provide sexual satisfaction. Since very few Bengali women were willing to have sex with them, commercially or otherwise, unwillingness became a key part of this equation. So forced sex through coercion was very common which if not rape in a narrow sense physically but is otherwise so. It's not as well discussed as rape but probably occurred more than rape. As a soldier says on his way to a liberated Dhaka, "All these women had been rescued from the shelters and the bunkers. They were being led away. Where would they go now?"

* * *

This was brutal but essentially recreational sex. As Gen. Niazi of Pakistan said, "are the soldiers supposed to go to Lahore to find women?" So they found it in the local areas. No one knows how many women experienced forced sex but they were many.

Was Niazi's own Bengali sex partner a willing one or forced? Her husband, a wealthy professional was picked up and never seen again despite ransom payment. She provided regular sexual companionship to him. There were probably others. The lady in question escaped to Pakistan in December — what else could she do — and her last orders were to make sure Niazi had a properly cooked chicken dinner.

* * *

Rape in 1971 had a much darker side as it was also an ideological act of the Pakistan state. We don't know how many soldiers actually went to do this as part of faith but it certainly made them feel better to rape kafir women than Muslim women. Since Pakistan sold the war to the soldiers as a holy war this argument was obviously useful and of course all rape victims no matter what their religious identity were conveniently kafir in Pakistani eyes. That is all Bengalis were considered — kafir.

As the Pakistani major from Jhelum wrote on being told that his friend was sexually ravaging Bengali women. "We must tame the Bengali tigress and change the next generation." Change to better Muslims, Pakistanis?

* * *

Dr. Geoffrey Davies, an Australian doctor who performed abortions in Bangladesh says that the team was aborting over hundred a day. He remains till date the foremost source of unbiased information on the situation being a foreigner and a certified medical doctor working under the UN banner. Dr. Bina D'Costa whose thesis is on raped women interviewed him. He says of his task, "I was trying to save of what have survived of the children born during the time that the West Pakistani army had Bengali women incarcerated in their commissariats. The West Pakistani officials didn't get why there was so much fuss about that. I interviewed a lot of them. They were in a prison in Comilla. And they were saying, 'What are they going on about? What were we supposed to have done? It was a war!" Dr. Davies also adds, "They had orders of a kind or instruction from Tikka Khan to the effect that a good Muslim will fight anybody except his father. So what they had to do was to impregnate as many Bengali women as they could. That was the theory behind it."

* * *

Rape is always a weapon of intimidation. This is common in every war and in today's Serbia, Congo, etc. this has been proved to be brutally true. In a war, the enemy is always attacked sexually to weaken them. In case of Bangladesh, it was an ethnic war and so most sexual incidents were forced and are statutory rape. A young woman who is forced to marry a Pakistani officer when a gun is pointed at her brother is not really conducting a consensual act.

* * *

Sexuality and war make companions of terrible consequences.

Salma was 16 and arrested from a field in Jessore when she ran out of bullets fighting the Pakistan army. She was taken to Jessore jail where she spent all her days till December experiencing every form of torture including rape. When she was released in mid-December, she ran out from the jail and began to run towards her father who had come to take her home. As they embraced, her father whispered in her ears, "If you have been raped, don't tell anyone."

But her village never forgave her and she ultimately had to leave her village out of constant social persecution. When she was being registered as a freedom fighter in the late '90s, the visiting politician invited her for sex. At an event, she was introduced as a rape victim despite her protests that she be presented as a freedom fighter.

Rape has both social and political dimensions and none are happy for women.

* * *

During 1971, when two women were raped in a village, they were so stigmatised by the local people that they both committed suicide. A young girl, noticeably beautiful, according to eye witness was raped by a Bengali political leader; she hanged herself. After the war, Dr. Davies mentions that the cases of suicide of raped women was what brought attention to the issue and made the international agencies to send him, a specialist in late pregnancy abortion.  War destroys women in many ways including after the war is over through social 'stigma and shame'.

* * *

State ideology, military necessity, religious impulses along with sexual need of soldiers in a land where women were not keen to sleep with them made rape inevitable by the Pakistan army. But few other armies would invoke duty towards God and the state in order to perform rape, but it happened in 1971. Subsequently, the social system of Bangladesh made life horrific for the victims.

Bangladeshis must never stop condemning themselves for the way they treated victims of forced sexuality and rape. They also must never forget that the 1971 war's most horrific victims were those women who were made to suffer in the name of Pakistan.

——————————————-
Afsan Chowdhury was part of the Muktijuddher Dolilpatra Project led by Hasan Hafizur Rahman from 1978 to 1986 which produced 15 volumes of documents on the history of 1971. For the BBC, he produced eight radio series and several chat shows on the issue on 1971. He has produced a video documentary on women and 1971 titled "Tahader Juddhyo". Afsan has edited and co-authored a four-volume history of 1971, "Bangladesh 1971".
He has worked in several parts of the world as a development and Human Rights specialist for the UN and other agencies. Afsan was the Oak Fellow on International Human Rights of the Colby College in the USA in 2008.

http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2010/12/01/rape-in-1971-in-the-name-of-pakistan/#more-1217



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[ALOCHONA] Honesty is the best policy



Honesty is the best policy

Courtesy New Age 2/12/10


It is with great relief that I welcome the strike called by Khaleda Zia. It is with equal relief that I welcome Sheikh Hasina saying that her opponent cried more for her house than for her slain husband. We have a stunning return to previous form by both ladies. The uneasy truce, born of personal convenience, is hopefully now over. The illusion of change, muddy at the best of times, is hopefully now done with. The veil of stability, so carefully painted, is hopefully now tossed aside. Let us see ourselves as we are and as we remain. Let us debate our true condition and no longer pretend, however tempting it maybe, to speak as if matters have improved in recent times. Above all let us recognize, for God's sake, that it is unfair to expect our leaders to change a lifetime of bad habits, poor judgments and delusions of grandeur. Let the next wave of carnage within our body politic run freely so we may measure our ailments more accurately. Honesty is, after all, the best policy.
   Ezajur Rahman
   Kuwait



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Re: [ALOCHONA] The Daily Star and the Hartal



The day Bengol was divided apperently in the name of religious ethnicity and East Pakistan was created India and Pakistan both spent their hard resources to keep a grasp on East Pakistan. Benagalis now under control of Mughol's cousin in West Bengol were the best bet for Delhi.
Bengalis, Bangla bhasa, bangla shangsckriti (culture and heritage or common history) all have been used to influence on East Pakistan. But think, them or our great bengalis never says or talk about united bengol that is Tripura, WB, Asam and BD can be one country based on their common culture and heritage. If bangali nationalism is so dominant as they profess could have been a next struggle after Bir Bangalees with the help of India defeated the Pakis. But Indian domination never could allow this, so remain the 'Bengali' cultural proteges and remnant of Indian policy supporters.
A big and strong group successfully emerged in the soicety as a protectors of Indian external policies. this group as a 'kathin Bangal' in their attaire but eat and drink for their mentor's interests.
Daily Star, Prothom Alo embedded themselves and successfully brought in with careful machination popular voices to defend not 'poor bangals' left by pakis but what Indians want us to grow up with. This group is very successful (and getting stronger) as was Al Qaeda to defeat Barbak Karmal under the full guidance of USA's foreign policy.
Nationalist Bangladeshis may rise but certainly for very short period and our progress will be obstructed by all means and that is what happened.
Please read the article and see the careful machination, if you really care.    
 
 
http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2010-11-30/news/112182

--- On Wed, 1/12/10, Faruque Alamgir <faruquealamgir@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Faruque Alamgir <faruquealamgir@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [ALOCHONA] The Daily Star and the Hartal
To: alochona@yahoogroups.com, "wideminds" <WideMinds@yahoogroups.com>, "dahuk" <dahuk@yahoogroups.com>, notun_bangladesh@yahoogroups.com, "Sonar Bangladesh" <sonarbangladesh@yahoogroups.com>, "Bangla Zindabad" <Bangladesh-Zindabad@yahoogroups.com>, "Amra Bangladesi" <amra-bangladesi@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, 1 December, 2010, 5:29 PM

 
CHAMCHAING FOR IT'S MENTORS ACROSS  THE BORDER N BETRAYING THE CAUSE OF THE PEOPLE OF BANGLA DESH SINCE IT'S(d.stor) ESTABLISHMENT N NOTHING ELSE.


On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 11:50 AM, ezajur <Ezajur@yahoo.com> wrote:
 
Today's Daily Star approach to the hartal is lamentable. The editorial should have taken a stronger line against BNP for using general strikes and a stronger line against AL for its inability to bridge the gap given its overwhelming position of power. Even on the front page of the internet edition the first mention of yesterday's strike is in an aricle placed 8th in prominence on the home page.

What on earth is the Daily Star doing?





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[ALOCHONA] Pakistani army chief considered plan to oust president



Pakistani army chief considered plan to oust president

Army chief considered pushing President Zardari from office to prevent opposition leader Nawaz Sharif taking power

Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, considered pushing President Asif Ali Zardari from office and forcing him into exile to resolve a political dispute, the US embassy cables reveal.

Kayani aired the idea during a frantic round of meetings with the US ambassador Anne Patterson in March 2009 as opposition leader Nawaz Sharif rallied thousands of supporters in a street movement that threatened to topple the government.

Kayani said that while he disliked Zardari, he distrusted Sharif even more, and appeared to be angling for a solution that would prevent the opposition leader from coming to power.

The cable illustrates the strong behind-the-scenes hand of Pakistan's military in civilian politics only six months after the last military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, resigned.

It also highlights the central role of western diplomats in Pakistani power games – as the Americans spoke with Kayani, British diplomats forged their own plan to broker a political deal between warring factions.

The crisis was sparked by Zardari's attempt to bar Sharif from running for parliament and his refusal to reinstate the deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry.

As a powerful protest movement of opposition supporters and lawyers grew in Sharif's stronghold of Lahore, western diplomats scrambled to defuse the situation with Kayani's help.

During his fourth meeting with Patterson in less than a week, the taciturn army chief "hinted that he might, however reluctantly, have to persuade President Zardari to resign if the situation sharply deteriorates".

He said Zardari could be replaced by Asfandyar Wali Khan, leader of the Pashtun nationalist Awami National party, but the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, would remain in place.

As such, this "would not be a formal coup", Patterson noted, but would leave in place a government led by Zardari's PPP party.

But Kayani made it clear he hoped the US could resolve the crisis through negotiation because he did not want Sharif in power. "Regardless of how much he disliked Zardari he distrusted Sharif even more," it said.

Kayani told Patterson that his top generals, known as the Corps Commanders, had expressed disquiet about Zardari because he was thought to be corrupt and had neglected Pakistan's "economic and security challenges", he said.

The military's spymaster, ISI chief General Shuja Pasha, made similar complaints about Zardari during a flight to America for a review of the strategic relationship between the two allies, the ambassador reported. "We have multiple sources demonstrating army complaints about Zardari," she said.

The preference for Gilani fuels long-standing speculation that the army leadership views the prime minister as a more palatable, or pliable, figure.

Patterson speculated that the army chief did not air his grievances directly with Zardari because he wanted to avoid any confrontation that might prompt Zardari to try to oust him – a "disastrous" possibility.

The British ambassador, Robert Brinkley, was working his own lines. He told the Americans he had received permission from London to "approach the various sides [and] discern their bottom lines". But the UK had not decided whether it would take on the role of mediator.

In the end Zardari was forced into a humiliating climbdown on 16 March when, under massive pressure, he dropped the ban on Sharif and reinstated Chaudhry. Reports at the time speculated that Kayani had played a central role in forcing Zardari to change course.

The drama prompted an American re-evaluation of the critical relationship between the president and army chief. Only a month earlier, the embassy reported that they had developed a "respectful if not entirely trusting working relationship".

"Kayani has gone out of his way to publicly defer to Zardari because he needs political support to wage successful military operations. After eight years of military rule under Musharraf, Zardari is re-shaping civilian-military relations in the shadow of Pakistan's history of repeated military coups."Sharif has much in common with the army leadership – his Punjabi roots, conservative politics and a history of supporting military rule. But he earned the army's wrath in 1999 with his bungled attempt to fire the then army chief Pervez Musharraf – a mistake that ultimately forced Sharif into exile.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/30/wikileaks-cables-pakistani-leadership-wrangle?intcmp=239



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[ALOCHONA] Barrister Rafiqul Huq on Attorney General



Barrister Rafiqul Huq on Attorney General
 
 
Sample Image
 
 


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[ALOCHONA] Force used against Bangladesh protesters



Force used against Bangladesh protesters

LONDON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Authorities in Bangladesh should investigate how security forces dealt with protesters during Tuesday's national strike, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

The organization said it was told by witnesses and local observers that more than 100 people were injured by security forces during the peaceful protests.

Reports from Dhaka and other Bangladesh cities suggest that members of the Rapid Action Battalion and other police personnel attacked demonstrators with batons in more than a dozen instances, Amnesty International said.

"The Bangladeshi government should immediately investigate these attacks by security forces on peaceful demonstrators and ensure that any people hurt receive justice an appropriate compensation," said Abbas Faiz, the organization's Bangladesh researcher.

Tuesday's national strike was organized by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party to protest what it called "misrule" by the government in evicting the party's chairperson from her home.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/12/01/Force-used-against-Bangladesh-protesters/UPI-63071291210228/



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[ALOCHONA] Bangladesh from Mujib to Ershad: An Interpretive Study



Bangladesh from Mujib to Ershad: An Interpretive Study
 
by Lawrence Ziring
 
 
In the first twenty years following independence, Bangladesh experienced almost constant trauma. Hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of Bengalis perished in the creation of Bangladesh. Thousands more died as a consequence of the violent political struggle in the years after independence. Bangladesh's ethos is also its legacy. The country has yet to find a formula, an acceptable political system that can provide it with the tranquility it so desperately needs to effectively confront its enormous human dilemma. Bangladesh is a country challenged by contradictions; nevertheless, it is a national entry with a particular and historic heritage. Cultural fusion had succeeded in Bangladesh prior to the formation of the state. The Bengalis were a community prior to their demand for self-determination. No over-arching ideology was necessary to bind them to one another. National yearnings were a direct result of cultural intimacies. But despite this apparent harmony of interests, the search for a political system has been full of pitfalls. The story of this search is the story of Bangladesh's political leaders and their roles in administering to a new nation. The first twenty years of Bangladesh were dominated by political personalities, who although seeking to articulate the sentiments of their people, failed to establish the rapport needed to achieve their goals.
 
Excerpts:

"Mujib believed he was Bangladesh, more so that he was good for the country and that it could not manage without him. Those who reinforced Mujib's impression of himself and his role did so because it benefited them politically or materially, not because they truly believed in his leadership." (p. 93)

"Mujib's bitter struggle with the army high command is illustrated by the decision to construct the Jatiyo Rakhi Bahini or National Security Force.…The Rakhi Bahini had quickly developed a reputation for intimidation and wanton aggression against the Bengali nation. Opinion was strong that that the para-military organization was no different from Hitler's Brown Shirts or the Gestapo. To informed observers as well as to a large segment of the population, Mujib and the Rakhi Bahini, not the Bangladesh army, posed the more significant threat to the country. The Bangladesh army, therefore, began to think of itself as the nation's salvation, the 'true' friend of Bengal." (pp 97 – 98)

"Unrestrained by law or law enforcement, defiant of the formal military establishment, gangs of toughs, many identified with the Rakhi Bahini even if they were without any official affiliation, roamed the countryside, looting the poor villagers and committing bodily harm on those resisting their demands. In the name of protecting society, the Rakhi Bahini, Bangabandhu's own, was viewed employing methods no different from the other anarchic groups." (p 98)

"In point of fact, Mujib exerted little if any control as the Rakshi Bahini assumed a life of its own and took upon itself the responsibility of eliminating Mujib's adversaries." (p 98)

"By 1974, several thousand local politicians had paid with their lives for their defiance or support of Mujibur Rahman. [Footnote: The environment of violence contributed to the events that ultimately took Mujib's life.] (p 99)."

"The momentum of violence had shifted from non-governmental to quasi-governmental contingents. Mujib, therefore, could not avoid the responsibility for the climate of fear and terror that gripped the country. Many of those allegedly killed by the Rakhi Bahini were rural leaders who had defeated Awami League candidates in the local polls that followed the parliamentary election (p 99)."

"Famine, always a threat, spread through the countryside in the summer of 1974, and no one, in or outside the government, seemed capable or willing to effectively grapple with the situation. Mujib was forced to acknowledge the starvation deaths of almost 30,000 people, and that was known to be a very low estimate (p 99)." [According to the Britannica, the figure was around 50,000, and there was food in the country, but the food was exported to India: see 'famine', Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition.]

"Thus, rather than starve in their remote villages, tens of thousands of peasants trekked to the towns and cities in search of relief….The task of keeping the famine-stricken outside the city limits was given to the Rakhi Bahini which showed little sympathy for their plight. The popular reaction to this callous display, this apparent breaking of a sacred promise, was predictable. Mujib was held accountable and he finally could not talk himself out of a hopeless situation. Empty words and gestures were exposed and the 'Friend of Bengal' witnessed the fading of his beleaguered popularity (p 100)."

"By the end of 1974, four thousand Awami Leaguers were reported murdered, including five members of parliament. There was reason to believe that many of the Awami League deaths had been cased by the Rakhi Bahini, which sensing a declining government apparatus and the loss of Mujib's prestige, sought to advance as well as protect itself….Mujib's fear had reached panic levels and he understood that this crisis would not pass. In a fateful move, he tried to back away from his reliance on the Rakhi Bahini, publicly attacked their violent excesses, and called upon the regular army to contain and control the smugglers and criminal elements in and outside the government (p 100)."

"Mujib found himself entangled in a web of his own making. His first order exposed the Bangladesh army to the magnitude of the national problem. His second order proved to be more fateful. On 28 December 1974, Mujib proclaimed a 'State of Emergency' in the country. These acts implied a form of martial law imposed by civilians rather than the military. Mujib had swept aside the constitution. Eventually the parliament was itself dissolved and the Awami League was transformed into a non-entity. Mujib had already laid plans for his new functional organization that he said better reflected his goals and hopes for the nation. BAKSAL was the inevitable outcome of these manoeuvres, but it was to be short-lived. Mujib sealed his own fate when he abandoned the three-year-old constitution and publicly condemned it as a legacy of colonial rule….But Mujib's coup did not have army support (p 101)."

"In January 1975, Mujib had himself sworn in as the country's president….Mujib, not the Bangladesh army, had removed the constraints on the arbitrary uses of power (p 102)."

"Having reached a moment when the only instruments of government lay in the utilization of violence, the question that emerged centred on where the violence would be directed. Mujib must have believed he could punish his enemies, i.e., anyone who challenged his supremacy. Indeed, Bhutto shared that thought two years later. But Mujib, as Bhutto was to learn, had the violence visited upon himself (p 102)."

"Mujib presided over a court corrupted by power. It acted as though it could shelter itself from the realities of Bangladesh. But the license that might have been ignored in some other societies, could not be ignored in a country overrun by self-styled enforcers, gouged by profiteers, and raped by government officials. With literally hundreds and thousands dying from hunger, with millions more threatened, high living in Bangladesh could only be equated with debauchery and hedonism, with irresponsibility and indifference. To anyone with a grudge or a sense of national purpose, the conclusion was the same. Deliberate efforts had to be made to reverse course, and the only option for such a reversal lay with a new team, and the only team capable of making the manouevre was the Bangladesh army (p 103)."

"BAKSAL was not only a coercive assembly, it was predicated on the elimination of other organizations. BAKSAL was Mujib's way of expressing his One-Party State. Thus in a more significant way, BAKSAL was meant to serve the purpose of the Bangabandhu's personal dictatorship, not the cause of national development and unity. BAKSAL was proof positive that Mujib intended to convert the country into a personal fiefdom for himself and his family members, and his many detractors did not need convincing that their once respected leader, not they, was the real threat to the nation's 'democratic' future (p 105)."
 
 
Larry Ziring received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1962. His present research interests center on the changing character of international relations and organization. He has most recently published on the geopolitical dimensions of international relations in the post Cold War era. Other publications include Pakistan in the Twentieth Century (1997), The International Relations Dictionary (1995), Bangladesh from Mujib to Ershad (1992), and The Middle East: A Political Dictionary (1992). His teaching interests included American Foreign Policy, International Relations, The United Nations, and International Law.
 


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Fwd: [ALOCHONA] Yunus siphoned Tk 7bln : Norwegian TV report





---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: qrahman@netscape.net
 

Earlier we had a discussion on micro credit industry in Bangladesh in this forum.Despite micro credit having huge potential to uplift poor people, it is time to regulate this industry. Like other ( For profit) money lending organizations, [ If the allegation is true] Grameen became too greedy and have "Management and ethical issues" within organization. There will be no difference between them and loan sharing banks of BD.

At the same time, this also raised an interesting question. Albeit the heading says "
Yunus siphoned Tk 7bln
" actually there was an allegation of "Illegal" transfer of money within "Grameen" family. "Siphoning" money is a different thing. Does this "investigation" has anything to do with dispute Dr. Yunus has with Telenor? back then Dr. Yunus wanted to bring lawsuit against Telnor. To retaliate Telenor brought up this issue { Via journalists} right before Noble prize giving ceremony at Oslo.

While I was reading the last part of the "Report", I realized that, the world has caught up to the fact that, we Bangladeshis are very "Effective people" [ Source:
Habit 2:  Begin with the End in Mind].Our journalists/police/policy makers starts working on a story having a very clear picture of how it is going to end. So framing any story from any angle in Bangladesh is not very difficult. When we praise "Grameen" we just don't report about the poor who don't know how to deal with "Credit" game and when we have to knock Dr. Yunus to the wall, we just cherry pick sad stories from "grameen" family!! :-[

A parallel situation came out about founder of Wikileaks
Julian Assange.

After Julian started his "Crusade" against state department of the USA, all of a sudden interpol issued a 'Red notice" against this person about an obscure old case. [ The 39-year-old WikiLeaks founder denies the charges, saying he had consensual founder denies the charges, saying he had consensual ]

Guess west was impressed to  learn how "Effective" Bangladeshi technique was. So they are learning this new technology from us. I am pretty sure, if Julian did not "Leak" all those documents ( huge number of  people on earth had access to it!!), it would have been all "Kosher" with the state department. Julian also wanted to "Expose" many multinational corporations ( By making some private communication public) to the world and this would have been awkward!!

Going back to Dr.Yunus, we have to wait and see if this "Norwegian discovery" was part of a smear campaign to "Soften up" Yunus to settle GP share holder dispute or authentic reporting. Specially the misleading headline of "Siphoning" rings a bell.

Either way, Dr. Yunus should take a hard look at his organization and management practices within. Hope he will make necessary reforms within to make it a long lasting organization to benefit  poor people of Bangladesh. I hope to see a "Dynamic and reformed" Grameen organization after this "Crisis".

Shalom.

Sow a thought, reap an action
Sow a action, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a character
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
                          -- - Seneca
 



-----Original Message-----
From: Isha Khan <
bdmailer@gmail.com>
Sent: Wed, Dec 1, 2010 6:40 am
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Yunus siphoned Tk 7bln : Norwegian TV report

Yunus siphoned Tk 7bln: TV report

bdnews24.com Europe Correspondent, and Biswadip Das

Dhaka, Dec 1 (
bdnews24.com)—Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus siphoned off
nearly Tk 7 billion (100 million dollars) in aid from Grameen Bank to
his own company back in 1996, the Norwegian TV says in startling
revelation.

An investigative foreign TV documentary "Fanget i Mikrogjeld" or
"Caught in Micro debt" aired on Tuesday on the National Norwegian
Television, NRK shows 'the banker to the poor' transferred the money,
meant for poor, to Grameen Kalyan, which was in no way involved with
micro-credit operations.

The film, premiered on Tuesday, quotes Professor Jonathan Morduch from
New York University saying that Grameen Bank, which also won the Nobel
Peace prize alongside Yunus, received $ 175 million dollars in
subsidies to give tiny loans to mini entrepreneurs.

The numerous secret documents, which have never been published before
and some of which are available on the
bdnews24.com website, reveal
Yunus breached the agreement on housing loans. And when the Norway
Embassy, Norwegian aid agency Norad and the Economic Relations
Division in Bangladesh pressured him to return the money to Grameen
Bank, he gave back less than some Tk 2 billion ($ 30 million).

He then desperately did not want the story out and wrote a personal
letter on April 1, 1998 to the then CEO of Norad requesting help. "If
the people, within and outside government, who are not supportive of
Grameen, get hold of this letter we'll face real problems in
Bangladesh," he pleaded.

"And Norad, the Norwegian Embassy and the Bangladeshi authorities kept
their mouths shut," the documentary says. The money was from foreign
grants from countries such as Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands and
Germany, and the transaction took place at the end of 1996.

In the mid- and late-1990's, foreign aid and grants filled the bank
account of Grameen Bank, according to the programme directed by Tom
Heinemann, a Danish award-winning journalist, who spoke to
bdnews24.com that has obtained some documents.

Heinemann, the director, told
bdnews24.com after the premiere that he
attempted to look critically into micro finance and came to know the
things.
"I have tried to talk to Mr Yunus for six months. But he didn't want
to talk to me," he said over telephone early on Wednesday.

In one of the many documents dated Jan 8, 1998, Yunus explained why he
did the transaction. 'With gradual higher interest rate charged, (...)
more and more money will have to be paid out as taxes in future," he
wrote to the Norwegian Embassy in Bangladesh.

WHY AGREEMENT?

The Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka at a meeting with the bank at its
office on Dec 3, 1997 came to know about the agreement between Grameen
Bank and Grameen Kalyan, signed on May 7, 1997 and became effective on
Dec 31, 1996 for transfer of funds of Tk 3.914 billion.

In a letter to Yunus on Dec 15, 1997 the embassy said: "In line with
the agreement, Grameen Bank transferred all funds accumulated up to
Dec 31, 1996 received from donors for revolving funds, to Grameen
Kalyan, which at the same date transferred the same amount to Grameen
Bank as a loan.

Tk 1.927 billion of the amount was related to the revolving fund for
housing loans.

The letter undersigned by ambassador Hans Fredrik Lehne said: "The
agreement concerning these transactions has not made provisions for
any interest rates to be charged for this part of the loan, nor any
terms of repayment."

According to the agreement signed between the governments of Norway
and Bangladesh on Nov 30, 1994 to support Grameen Bank's Phase IV
project.

Annex 1, clause 4 of the agreement said: "The amount of the Grant used
for housing loans will be used as a revolving fund."

The Norwegian Embassy was concerned about the agreement between the
two organisations for not informing it, saying "the agreement was
contrary to the quoted clause of the agreement between the
governments."

It also observed that the accounts of Grameen Bank as of Dec 31, 1996
did not reflect any revolving fund for housing loan in operation under
the bank.

The embassy, which accepted the ownership of Grameen Bank, pointed
that "the ownership of Grameen Kalyan is of another nature, and Norway
has not entered into an agreement with Bangladesh to provide funds to
Grameen Kalyan for onlending to Grameen Bank."

"The agreement has further left uncertainty about future repayment of
the loan to Grameen Kalyan, since it is not regulated by the
agreement.

"The agreement is also silent about Grameen Bank's use of the loan
from Grameen Kalyan."

The embassy in that consequence considered the agreement between
Grameen Bank and Grameen Kalyan "as a change which affects two
agreements between the two governments to support Grameen Bank."

It also asked for a written explanation from Yunus "why Grameen Bank
entered into the agreement with Grameen Kalyan, and of the
consequences for the owners of Grameen Bank and the beneficiaries of
the housing loans."

PAY BACK

The film crew also travelled several times to Bangladesh and visited
some of the most significant villages in the history of Grameen Bank.

Says Heinemann: "In Jobra, we meet the daughter of the famous original
loan taker, Sufiya Begun. In "Hillary Village", where the former first
lady of the USA, Hillary Clinton declared her support for both
Mohammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, the crew meets poor people who have
gained nothing but more debt due to micro credit."

"Almost all of the loan takers interviewed told the same story. Each
one had multiple loans in various micro credit banks and organisations
and had had a hard time trying to pay back their loans. Some had sold
their house, others had their tin-sheets pulled off their houses to
cover the weekly payments."

The film also interviews a number of leading social scientists and
researchers who, for years, have questioned the "big success" of
microcredit. "In fact, renowned social scientists, such as David
Roodman, Jonathan Morduch, Thomas Dichter and Milford Bateman, agree
on one thing: After 35 years of Microcredit there is no evidence that
Microcredit lifts millions out of poverty."

The Norwegian version of the film will soon be followed by an
international version which will also contain interviews from the
Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where numerous reports of suicides
amongst loan takers have spread around the world and have questioned
the benefits from microcredit.

Yunus, the darling of the western media credited with pioneering the
global microlending revolution, in his defence, says nine women on the
board of Grameen represent borrowers. But his detractors say he does
things his own way.

Critics put the stunning loan recovery rate of nearly 98 percent down
to, as villagers complain, the harassment from the debt collectors.
Some argue that people can quickly sink into a cycle of debt, with
many lenders charging exorbitant rates of interest.

Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of PKSF, a body that monitors
microfinance, describes microcredit as a "death trap" for the poor.

In December 2006, a few days before receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in
Oslo, he publicly attacked Norwegian telecoms giants Telenor, the
majority owner of grameenphone.

He accused it of 'breaching the contract and depriving Grameen Bank of
grameenphone's management control. He said he believed Telenor was
sucking profits from the poor of Bangladesh.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=180277&cid=2















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[ALOCHONA] Fwd: Asian Security Environment: India's options





---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Zoglul Husain zoglul@hotmail.co.uk


This is of course RAW's view by the former chief of RAW. It is full of self-glorification for India, sycophancy of the US and vilification of other countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, China, Central Asia, North Korea, etc. RAW thinks others are gullible on their vicious propaganda!!
 
India internally is full of intractable problems: its widespread severe poverty, its brutal repressions, massacres and genocides, its fundamentalism and caste ridden society, its regional conflicts etc. may cause a probable implosion. Its external policies are hegemonic in the neighbourhood and, in general, absolutely criminal. Without US backing, its foreign policy would come to nothing.
 
However, without going into any longer discussion on the issue at this point, can I draw your attention to how India is being bled by their own robber class? The following is an Asia Times article, published on 1 December 2010: 
 
Asia Time Online - Daily News
India bled by robber class
By Ranjit Devraj


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LL01Df01.html
 

Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2010 11:09:07 +0600
Subject: Asian Security Environment: India's options
From: bdmailer@gmail.com



Asian Security Environment: India's options
 
By Anand K Verma, former Chief of RAW
 
Asian security environment is in a state of deep turmoil. The single event which has occasioned it, is the giant rise of China during the past couple of decades, reaching higher and higher levels of economic and military strength. All neighbors of China, as also some others, are engaged in working out strategies to cope with China should it turn into a rogue state sometime in future.
Even the US is looking for new equations of power as the centre of political and economic balance shifts towards Asia, led by China whose long-term vision of itself remains unfathomable. Setting aside its suspicions of many decades and making an exception to its consistently held non-proliferation policies, the US offered to India a civilian nuclear agreement which will boost its economic and military strength. The rapprochement has been followed by another agreement for joint defense framework that will be in place for ten years envisaging a closer military relationship and arms sale to India. China has not been very happy over these developments as it already sees itself as being the reason for them.
The US has thus become an active participant in the power play in Asia with a new vantage hold on Asian security.
China has been singled out by US as its most likely bête noire of the future because of its galloping economic growth. Economists assess that the Chinese economy will outgrow US economy by the third decade of this century, giving it almost an equal status. But the Indian economy is also expected to grow almost uniformly during the same period, equaling the size of US economy and growing beyond by 2050s.
Thus, while China becomes the largest economy in the world in the next 20 years and the most powerful nation in Asia, it will also have to share the high table with India, and Japan which before the spurt in Chinese growth, was the biggest economy in Asia. These three powers Japan, India and China, will have jointly or singly the greatest sway over Asian security in the coming years. History has already decided that they cannot love each other.
And since rising to such eminence requires assurances of availability of markets and resources, the relationship among the three is likely to be marked by mutual rivalry, jealousies and recriminations. This accounts for the turmoil which is already visible in Asian security. If careful and visionary steps on future strategy are not taken now by all the nations of Asia, dark times will lie ahead. By opting for India, also a fellow democracy and hence sharing common values, the US wants to preempt those dark times.
The US has thus become an active participant in the power play in Asia with a new vantage hold on Asian security. With its new alignments with India, it will try to balance off any attempt by China to dominate over Asia. Furthermore, its own impact on Asia and its security will stay unabated as it plays the role of mentor in the region.
China is no longer a Marxist country even though it is a one party ruled authoritarian communist state. It turned capitalist a long while ago...
The Japanese have also lately, been displaying a special interest in India, compelled by similar reservations on China. Since 2004, India has become the largest recipient of its overseas aid. In addition they are also mulling over how the constitutional embargoes, placed by the victorious US on a defeated Japan at the end of World War II, restricting their defense forces by size and role, can be amended.
Japan is spending not more than 1 per cent of its GDP on its defense whereas the figure for US is 4 per cent. Some clever maneuvering is taking place in this respect and the size and lethality of the Japanese Coast Guard, not identified as a self-defense force, is being furiously expanded. The Japanese, like China and India, is also entering space in a big way. All the three countries have set somewhat identical targets for space and research programs for lunar orbit and manned flights to moon, because the common belief is that space can become the platform for future wars if they cannot be avoided.
Another source of future aggression can be the economic tool of currency reserves. China is no longer a Marxist country even though it is a one party ruled authoritarian communist state. It turned capitalist a long while ago, of course with Chinese characteristics and opened itself to foreign investments, trade and globalization with its instant connectivity. The boom in economy which came in their wake has enabled it to accumulate reserves of which nearly $ 1.4 trillion is invested in US treasury bonds. Japan, the number one economy in Asia until overtaken by China, holds reserves of just less than $ 1 trillion.
Such enormous wealth, in the context of cash imbalances in other Asian countries, gives them opportunities for purchasing or heavily investing in state assets of the weaker Asian nations and thereby acquiring undue hold over such countries. It can effectively turn out to be a new form of colonialism. This calls for the establishment of appropriate review committees in such countries to exclude what can prove to be politically mandated sinister investments. Lesser nations have, thus, to remain on guard to preserve their economic integrity and safety.
The Chinese military budget hides much more than what it reveals and can be conservatively placed between US $50 billion to US $80 billion.
In fact the nations of South East Asia, neighbours of China and Japan, have already been vigilant for quite sometime. Five of these, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Singapore in 1967 created ASEAN, Association of South East Asian Nations, gradually enlarging it between 1984 and 1995 to include Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. These nations primarily got together to expand intra regional trade and to move towards a single market and customs union.
The secondary objective was to create a forum for joint assessments for any predatory assault from more powerful nations of the North and across the Pacific. While the ASEAN has not been able to accomplish much so far by way of integration and common policies, it has given its members a sense of being a close knit group with some common concerns the most important of which remains not getting over shadowed by more powerful and not necessarily benign neighbours like China, Japan and the US.
In 1993 these nations took another step with national security as a special focus to set ARF, ASEAN Regional Forum, with a considerably expanded membership. ARF includes several distant countries like US, Canada, Australia, Russia and European Union, besides all major Asian countries like India, China, Japan and North Korea. The logic for creating such an omnibus forum was to have all likely adversaries on one platform so that all aggressive design towards the region could be controlled and stalled. ARF has not so far deliberated upon any major security issue but the hope is that in time to come, when regional rivalries are likely to be exacerbated,. ARF could play the role of a mini General Assembly of the UN, India, by being a member of ARF, is now enabled to have its say on any troubling issue, arising in South East Asia.
Experience of many years show, Pakistan is unable to deliver on Kashmir and terrorism. Kashmir is its objective and terror its tool.
Their rivalries were again on display when another forum called East Asia Summit was being set up. To the chagrin of China, India was invited to participate in it by Japan, Indonesia and Singapore, with tacit support from the US. By the time the East Asia Summit was inaugurated in 2005, Australia and New Zealand had also become its members. The Chinese ability to dominate over the institution was thus greatly diminished. The EAS is a futuristic organization, to play a role when in future security related issues in the region would become highly complex. Again, through its membership, India will be enabled to present its view forcefully on any or all issues including security.
The region's cautious attitude towards China flows from the historical legacy when the Chinese communist party was blatantly supporting insurgencies and smaller communist parties in the neighbourhood. Chinese war with Vietnam in 1979 and propping up of the murderous government of Pol Pot in Cambodia had added to their misgivings. The Chinese attack on India in 1962 and subsequent withdrawal had already added another dimension to the mystery of Chinese decision-making process. Since then and particularly after the Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989, China adopted a low profile and has been focused on economic development, avoiding distractions which could spoil its concentration. Chinese rapid economic development from the 1990s has revived those anxieties again since China has a number of territorial disputes with its neighbours which have remained unresolved.
Certain projects undertaken by China in the neighbourhood strengthens the suspicion that it wants India hemmed in from all sides, so that it remains a regional power only in South Asia and does not reach the status of an Asian or global power.
China is squatting over 18,000 sq km of Indian land in Aksai Chin in Ladakh and claims ownership of the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh, an area of 84,000 sq kms. It is showing no signs of resolving these land disputes, leaving one wondering whether it wants the disputed status quo to remain just that way. The aim seems to be keeping India destabilized in these regions. The Arunachal Pradesh issue was recently raked up by China with many shrill and hostile comments emanating from state controlled media in China. China's long and consistent support to Pakistan, including aiding of the latter's nuclear weapon development against India, violating all norms of non-proliferation, is an abiding indicator that China does not wish India well at all.
Certain projects undertaken by China in the neighbourhood strengthens the suspicion that it wants India hemmed in from all sides, so that it remains a regional power only in South Asia and does not reach the status of an Asian or global power.
Among these projects are port development at Gwadar in Pakistan which could also be a resting place for ships of Chinese Blue Water Navy, Karakoram highway connecting Pakistan with Western China, surveillance outposts on Myanmar Islands, a road from Yunan to Bay of Bengal through Myanmar, beefing up of ports of Myanmar and Sri Lanka etc. The emphasis on port development suggests an intention to use them during forays of Chinese navy into the Indian Ocean. These projects when ready will also help China to expand its trade and investments further to the West. They are, thus a double purpose activity, which should alert India and require it to go by a worst-case scenario for its security and prepare accordingly for the challenges they represent.
At this point it must be stated, the sense of threat is not unidirectional: as their economy strengthens China also is becoming conscious that India can prove to be a menace. Their biggest worry arises from the presence of Dalai Lama and over 100,000 Tibetans in India. Although India has long ago accepted Tibet to be an autonomous region of China, the undiminished strength of Tibetan nationalism and the magnetism of Buddhist monasteries in Tibet for mobilization of Tibetan sentiments against Han settlers and authorities there, create a deep suspicion in the Chinese mind that India will not hesitate to exploit any worsening of Chinese situation in Tibet.
While China remains a potent danger to India on its eastern and northern flanks, many dangers abound in South Asia itself.
Selection of a new Dalai Lama when the present one dies could create such a scenario if the Chinese seek to enforce their choice on the Tibetan people. The entire Tibetan diaspora including those in India could be expected to explode against the Chinese with repercussions inside Tibet. In such an event China's relationship with India will plummet and the borders would become active. It is probably because of such anticipation that the Chinese are delaying settlement of the border disputes with India.
The security scenario in East Asia remains troubled over the territorial disputes of China with its other neighbours. In East China Sea, China and Japan have laid rival claims over some islands and rights to explore gas and oil in the region. Neither side is giving in, lest it is interpreted as weakness. The disputed Senkaku islands, presently in Japanese hands, lie in this patch of waters. Taiwan also claims Senkaku.
In South China Sea, five countries, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines dispute ownership over Spratly and Paracel islands. A code of conduct signed by the five has taken away the sting but resolution of the problem of conflicting claims remains a distant dream. While India has no direct concerns over these disputes, deterioration in the situation could result in the blocking of Malacca Straits through which India's bulk of trade with eastern countries passes. Such disputes and the tension of catching up with the US have made China determined to upgrade its military capacity as fast as it can.
The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) has not made any progress because states like Pakistan and Bangladesh have unwarranted fears arising out of asymmetry of power between them and India.
The Chinese military budget hides much more than what it reveals and can be conservatively placed between US $50 billion to US $80 billion. Its military spending is rising in double digits every year. India's military budget is less than half in comparison. Two consequences flow for India from this. One, India stands out as a much weaker nation militarily before China. Second, the People's Liberation Army of China will always try to influence Chinese party leadership to remain jingoistic towards India. That is why Chinese official media often displays a tough and uncompromising attitude towards India.
While China remains a potent danger to India on its eastern and northern flanks, many dangers abound in South Asia itself. An anarchic security environment prevails in it, driven by the flow of history and individual state systems which have developed. The nature of relationship among states of the region is influenced by internal ideologies and power equations. Foreign policy remains a hostage to internal environments and the urge for regional cooperation recedes to the background. Efforts at power balancing with India sends regional co-operation to the bottom of the list of priorities.
The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) has not made any progress because states like Pakistan and Bangladesh have unwarranted fears arising out of asymmetry of power between them and India. Absence of common democratic norms and desire for collective security also creates hurdles. Many of the states in the region have so far failed to develop an orderly state of governance and enlightened polity. Until all states of the region adopt a minimum set of guidelines for governance such as democracy, secularism and welfare for the people, co-operation in the region will remain elusive and problems of security will keep on surfacing.
Since these states emerged as independent entities after the departure of the British colonial power, an environment of conflict, major or minor, prevails in the region. The most serious of this conflictual situation is between India and Pakistan, dating from partition itself. Militant ethnic identity and extremist religious ideology account for some others. Authoritarianism and mis-governance have also spawned a whole lot of them. These conflicts have led to security deficits and political disasters and most of the region has failed to grow to its potential unlike the nations of South East Asia and Far East. What is worse is that they harbour deep suspicions about India's motivations.
Islamic terrorism, it should be understood clearly, is a joint project of Pakistani establishment and extremist organizations in Pakistan like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohd, Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islam etc.
The security situation on the Indian borders, therefore, remains perpetually problematic. Except for Maldives and Bhutan that have no issues with India, the remaining four, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka feel unease about India and are capable of taking steps, potentially harmful to the security of India.
Most of the states on India's borders including Afghanistan can be designated failed or failing states. The most dangerous region in the area is Pak-Afghanistan, characterized as ground zero by leaders and security experts of the world. An insurgency, powered by confusing strands of nationalism, misguided religious fanaticism, abiding hatred for the West in general and US in particular, historical mis-governance and repression and absence of credible civil society institutions, rages there. Pakistan was the prime mover of this phenomenon and now is turning out to be its prime victim. Its duplicitous policy of clandestinely supporting Taliban in Afghanistan and battling Pakistan Taliban in its North West is splitting its polity and armed forces and causing militant religious extremism, to spread into its hinterland such as Southern Punjab.
Pakistan is imbibing more and more of the virus from Al Qaida whose leaders are still holed in safe havens in Pakistan. As Pakistan totters on account of its internal contradictions it represents a flash point for India and truly speaking for the world itself. The irrational and unthinking leadership of Pakistan has often displayed keenness in the past to go nuclear against India. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that they could share their nuclear technology with Al Qaida and other extremist entities. Pakistan, in the past, has proved to be the worst proliferator of nuclear technology and material. Since leadership there does not bind itself to any ethical or moral code, history can repeat itself.
It is a moot question whether India knows how to deal with Pakistan. It has relied in the past on the dialogue process but though romanticized, it has always proved to be essentially without substance. Experience of many years show, Pakistan is unable to deliver on Kashmir and terrorism. Kashmir is its objective and terror its tool. There is plenty of evidence now that Pakistan also seeks to subvert the Indian Muslims by appealing to their Islamic instincts. Such propaganda does work as several cells have been discovered in the US, Europe and elsewhere where young natural born Muslim citizens respond to their religiously activated instincts and turned disloyal to the countries of their birth and upbringing.
North Korea has hugely damaged Indian interests in the past by supplying long range nuclear capable missiles and missile technology to Pakistan against receipt of nuclear weapon technology in return.
The threat from Pakistan is not just a territorial threat: it is also an ideological threat and is, therefore, to be combated at that plane. It should also be noted that Islamization is growing in the North East region of India, thanks to the collaboration of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi intelligence services. This development offers an easy tool for exploitation by evil-minded powers in the region.
There are many scholars and security experts who think that Islamic religious extremism has now got converted into an ideological movement which cannot be controlled by military means. Even in moderate Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Maldives, its onward march has become a cause for concern. If it is a valid and true assessment, the US and NATO efforts in the Pak Afghan region can be expected ultimately to end in fiasco. This should be a cause for anxiety to India as it is investing heavily in Afghanistan in the hope that a stable and democratic order will emerge there.
Islamic terrorism, it should be understood clearly, is a joint project of Pakistani establishment and extremist organizations in Pakistan like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohd, Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islam etc. for training, financing and operating jihadis all across the world against US, Jews and India, wherever Muslim interests have come under pressure and to establish Muslim Caliphates worldwide. Lashkar trained Mujahids have fought in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Chechen, Dagestan, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Only recently a rift has arisen between the Pakistani Establishments and Pakistan terrorist organisations over the former's military actions against Taliban in the North West region due to US pressure. In the eyes of the leaders of the Lashkar, the current leaders of Pakistan have turned un-Islamic and need to be punished. The latter are, therefore, fearful and will not call off terrorist operations in Kashmir and other parts of India.
As for other troubled countries of South Asia, Nepal has not stabilized after the demolition of the monarchy and bourgeoising of its Maoists. The Maoists seem bent on seizing all controls in Nepal and are systematically moving towards this objective. Sri Lanka continues to grapple with ethnic and identity conflicts even after the defeat of Tamil Tigers and death of their supremo, Prabhakaran. The Sinhala leadership will have to demonstrate a great deal of pragmatism and statesmanship to find a new and acceptable equilibrium for all the communities living there. Bangladesh presents a pitiable case with a bursting population growth, abject poverty and growing extremism in its polity and is unable to trust India.
Chinese needs for energy and other raw resources are expected to nearly double. China is therefore investing heavily for creating s blue water fleet, with aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines...
It is evident that SAARC has failed and needs to be replaced by another body which will promote democratic values, interdependence and conflict resolution. India should take a lead in the matter and invite only such South Asian states to participate who will not let their political hang ups to come in the way of expansion of regional trade, investments, water management, intraregional connectivity and counter terrorism.
The need for counter terrorism has brought the four central Asian states of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan into a regional institution with China and Russia, called the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, in 2001. Besides dealing with Islamic terrorism this forum can lead to useful arrangements for accessing gas and petroleum products in Caspian Sea area. Institutions like SCO, ASEAN, and SAARC etc are all created on the model of European Union which dilutes the sovereignty of its members over some major political and social areas and reduces drastically the sharpness of balance of power politics. However the Asian regional institutions are far from accomplishing such results because of their members own sense of insecurity and fears of loss of identity but there seems to be no better way of ensuring their security. India's decision to be a part of such bodies is a visionary decision. India's voice is valued by the smaller nations of the East and that will add leverage to its opinions in South Asia also.
Because Britannia ruled over the waves the British were able to create an empire over which the sun never set. In the near future a deep contestation is likely to arise over who rules over the Indian Ocean. The Chinese want to control the sea lanes as more than four fifths of the crude oil requirements of China pass through the Ocean. The bulk of raw materials like iron ore, coal and bauxite, essential for Chinese growth, likewise pass through the same routes. In the next twenty years, Chinese needs for energy and other raw resources are expected to nearly double.
India is also engaged with Iran for a gas line to India through Pakistan. The talks are somewhat stalled on the issue of price of gas but the real stumbling block is whether trust can be placed on Pakistan's assurances about the safety and continuity of the supplies through its territory.
China is therefore investing heavily for creating s blue water fleet, with aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and paraphernalia capable of projecting force in the Indian Ocean apart from the Pacific. India senses a threat from such developments, since four fifths of its own energy requirements like oil from Persian Gulf, liquefied gas from Qatar and Indonesia, come over sea routes. The smaller nations in the region are alarmed by the growth of sea power of India and China and are beefing up their own navies. Hopefully, the rivalries in the Indian Ocean will be contained through prudent diplomacy and non-belligerent engagements.
Only three other trouble spots affecting Asian security remain to be considered and they are Palestine, North Korea and Iran. No one can predict what shape a solution of the Palestinian question will take since each side remains adamant on its terms, the Palestinian Arabs on sharing of ownership of Jerusalem and vacation of some Jewish settlements from earlier Arab owned land and Israeli refusal to concede on the two points. India has to tread very carefully while dealing with them since it upholds the humanitarian and just demands of the Arabs and at the same time has a very close security relationship with the Israelis through which flows highly sophisticated equipment, essential for its safety and defence. No foreseeable change in this policy is likely to occur.
North Korea has hugely damaged Indian interests in the past by supplying long range nuclear capable missiles and missile technology to Pakistan against receipt of nuclear weapon technology in return. But no new damage is expected. North Korea is an exceptionally frail economic entity and all its neighbours are worried over its ongoing nuclear weapon programme and its intentions. North Korea like Fidel Castro in Cuba is run only by one man Kim Jong-il, dictator of the country. He is believed to be not in good health. His sudden collapse can open up several possibilities; a civil war, a gradual unification process German style with South Korea, attempt at annexation by China or a proxy war involving US, India is just likely to remain a distant watcher, going along with solutions that UN may offer.
India's stakes in the region are also enormous but the horrifying factor of Pakistan cannot be overlooked.
Iran's is a perplexing case for India's security and foreign policy. Although a signatory in 1985 of the Nonproliferation treaty, NPT, the world believes it has violated its commitments and is secretly engaged in a nuclear weapon development exercise. Essentially Iran is a fundamentalist Islamic country with links to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine, both accepting terror as a tool of policy. It is feared that the two could be a beneficiary of a successful Iranian nuclear weapon programme. If that happens it will be the thin end of the wedge and nuclear munitions could travel to other terrorist groups in other parts of the world. India, therefore, takes a bold and negative view on this programme.
At the same time India depends a great deal on energy imports from Iran and hence must keep Iran pacified. US worries over the Iranian nuclear developments are similar. The Obama administration has probably already commenced track II discussions with Iran to evolve a satisfactory solution. India is also engaged with Iran for a gas line to India through Pakistan. The talks are somewhat stalled on the issue of price of gas but the real stumbling block is whether trust can be placed on Pakistan's assurances about the safety and continuity of the supplies through its territory.
Accepting the assurance cannot but be a huge gamble. This whole region, Central Asian Republics, Iran, Iraq the Gulf, US, China and Russia today are heavily involved in the geopolitics of oil, gas and pipelines and none of these countries will easily accept being upstaged by others. India's stakes in the region are also enormous but the horrifying factor of Pakistan cannot be overlooked. A policy, indemnified by major countries, though still risky, may be the best option for India.
This survey of Asian security reveals that security problems lie scattered along the length and breadth of Asia. At the same time it is to be noted that such problems do not come in the way of increasing globalization of economic relations, trade, investments, inter- dependence and connectivity. Mutual economic benefits may help in keeping a lid over political disputes, at least over the foreseeable future. Economic prospects perhaps hold the key to integrate security related political complexities of Asia as demonstrated by countries of Europe who are now the members of the European Union.
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/IDR-Updates/Asian-Security-Environment-Indias-options.html



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