The Truth Behind Twelve Twenty-Nine (12/29/2008)
Obaid Chowdhury
The cat is out of the bag. The truth of 12/29---that is the December 29 (2008) Elections in Bangladesh---is now open to the public.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reminded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh in a tele-talk on January 15 that the 'Madam Prime Minister' should be mindful of the way she came to power. It was an Indian arrangement, supported by then Bush administration of the US. The transcripts of conversation were leaked in the US and found place in a few media outlets in Bangladesh. Some skeptics did doubt the authenticity of the talks; however, to my knowledge no official challenge came from the US or from Bangladesh yet. Shafik Rehman of Jai Jai Din fame wrote a very interesting analogy to the reported conversation, which he termed as 'Hillaryleak', drawing a reference from the now famous Wikileak of cyber wizard Julian Assange. For ready reference to Rehman's explanation, please visit the following link:
It is difficult to ignore the reasoning put forward by Rehman.
Apparently, US Ambassador in Dhaka James Moriarty informed his Home Office that the on going investigations and trial process of the War Crimes in Bangladesh were not following the correct procedures; it was geared more to serve partisan interests. US State Department sent Ambassador Stephen Rapp to Bangladesh to ascertain and report on the issue. He confirmed the reports of Ambassador Moriarty and addressed a press conference in Dhaka on January 13, 2011 to say that Bangladesh needed to revise and reform the War Crime Law in keeping with international norms. The unpleasant findings of the two US ambassadors prompted Clinton to make the call to Hasina.
Two things came clear from the Hillaryleak:
1. Sheikh Hasina's administration was following Indian advice, if not agenda, on the much-touted trial of the War Criminals of 1971.
2. The December 29, 2008 election was a deep-rooted conspiracy by India, with the support of the US, to ensure Awami League's victory. And, then army chief, the mastermind behind the almost-military takeover on 1/11, and the 'great patriot' General Moeen U Ahmad---who has now found a safe sanctuary in the US---was the front man in the conspiracy.
During the Moeen-sponsored emergency, many people voiced concerns that a conspiracy involving local and international elements was afoot to frustrate the democratic process in Bangladesh with a view to favoring a particular party and a vested group. The result of December 29, 2008 was something the Bangladeshis had never seen since Sheikh Mujib's partisan election in 1973. In fact, the chief of the Election Commission did brag on presenting a 1973-like elections in 2008. Few missed the joke that Moeen's 'computer-driven military efficiency' and the Election Commission's 'excellence per se' produced a 95-102% voter turnout! Consequently, Awami League led Mohajote bagged a dictatorial majority in the parliament. And, indeed, the party has since been running the show in a virtual autocratic manner that, according to many, surpassed that of Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's own in 1972-75.
The result of the past two years' rule in the country confirms the fact that the conspiracy fear was not a mere cry of wolf. The country saw a BDR mutiny---most say a stage-managed one---resulting in the massacre and elimination of scores of brilliant senior army officers. Indian BSF has had a free hand in target shooting the Bangladeshis on a daily basis, not mentioning the 'Felani' brutality, which one cannot even complain. The arrests of many locals who tried to speak for Felani are a case in point. While Bangladesh is being cordoned from all sides by wire fencing, yet it has no crib in allowing Indian legal or illegal border trades. The current administration did not even blink for once to provide the country's ports for Indian use and roads for Indian traffic or transshipment. It swallowed one billion US Dollar bait from an Indian private bank on hard terms to facilitate Indian business and transshipment. Interestingly, all these facilities would be made by India with Indian materials, resources and experts but to be paid by the poor Bangladeshi taxpayers. Most of the 52 rivers of Bangladesh are drying out, because water is diverted upstream in India rendering the lower riparian areas virtually deserts with insurmountable economic, social, ecological and environmental consequences. Bangladesh has no voice to complain for all these, because its destiny does not seem to be in its own hands. The history of the country's liberation war has been re-written to give it a partisan stamp, thanks to an obliging judiciary. The RAW, the Indian intelligence agency, is openly operating in Bangladesh. It ensured that the military, police and other law enforcing agencies, bureaucracy, judiciary, education, business, and in fact all aspects of life, are filled with pro-Indian elements.
Is it not time Bangladeshis wake up and see what game the current administration of Bangladesh and its sponsors are playing? Question arises: who owns this country----Bagladeshis or Sheikh Hasina's oveseas sponsors? Can we call ourselves sovereign?
From the Hillaryleaks, one can assume that the Election of Twelve Twenty-Nine was a farce and conspiratorial. Therefore, the result of the elections, as well as the follow up government, was illegal. As such, Bangladesh has been under an illegal administration since January 2009.
To clarify the matter, as well as to challenge the above assertion, the administration should immediately constitute an independent commission to find facts and make available to the public a White Paper on the Election on December 29, 2008. Let the people know the truth of Twelve Twenty-Nine. The people of Bangladesh should not pay for the greed and follies of others, if there was a conspiracy. The country needs to be saved before it is too late!
This may please be read in conjunction to an earlier demand for a White Paper on 1/11. For ready reference, please see below:
Obaid Chowdhury
NY, USA
February 4, 2011
A White Paper on 1/11
General Moin U Ahmed, the former army chief, said in his memoirs that the main reason for his 'patriotic' action on 1/11 was the UN warning that if army helped in the scheduled elections of January 22, 2007, Bangladesh's participation in the UN Peacekeeping activities would be hampered. Renata Lok Dessallien, the UN Resident Representative in Bangladesh recently came out with the truth that there was no such communication from the UN. So who is telling the truth? The people of Bangladesh deserve to know it.
The two-year emergency rule of the Moin instigated Care Taker Government (CTG) though brought an immediate halt to the Awami League led savagery that killed scores of people and damaged properties worth millions it left a deep scar in the nation's nascent democratic process as well as development activities.
In an interview with the Weekly Thikana of New York last year, General Moin bragged—or perhaps lamented---that nobody could have stopped him if he wanted to be the President on 1/11. In fact, it sounded more like 'It was my mistake; I should have run the show as the President of the country rather than from behind the scene.'
Within the first few months of the CTG, jails were filled with arrested 'criminals', including the two former lady prime ministers. After about a year, these very criminals turned into saints overnight and walked out of the jails. These very 'Dhoa Tulsi Patas' of politicians were voted to the Sangsad again, some to rule while others to oppose. The people of Bangladesh definitely need an explanation of this Tamasha by the CTG at a huge cost to the exchequer of a poor country.
We saw the real or make-belief pictures of many such leaders dying at every moment due to physical abuse, torture, third degree method, poisoning and sedation applied by the law enforcing and intelligence agencies during custody. Yet, the perpetrators of such terrible and inhuman crime are not made to answer today for their actions. But the people want to know the facts, not the fiction.
People of Bangladesh would also like to know how over 90% people voted on December 29, 2008. Such thing does not happen even in the most developed countries and in the most educated and affluent societies of the world having the most advanced voting facilities. Conscientious people have since been wondering 'for whom the bell tolled' on that day! They shudder to think today if they will one day find an independent and sovereign country called Bangladesh being eclipsed!
A White Paper we need for 1/11, the two-year Emergency Rule of the CTG and the road to December 29, 2008.
Obaid Chowdhury
New York, USA
April 23, 2010
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