| A Tale of Two Ambassadors in Bangladesh |  |
| Written by Fazlul M Aziz |
| Thursday, 23 February 2012 20:00 |
You may have a hard time believing that the next couple of sentences you are about to read are the opening sentences of a book written by a very senior British diplomat Christopher Meyer, who was the British ambassador to the US at the time of 9/11 and the Iraq War of 2003. 'We want you to get up the arse of the White House and stay there.' So spoke the Prime Minister's chief of staff Jonathan Powell, in the splendour of one of Downing Street's reception rooms."(DC Confidential by Christopher Meyer, 2005). Ambassador Meyer went on and added, "It was all quite hard to believe. As I sat opposite this young tousle-headed chief of staff, who had once been my subordinate, I had one of those can-it-really-be-me? moments."The British High Commissioner Anwar ChowdhuryThis was how the court of Tony Blair functioned: the Tony Blair who boasted and strutted that the 'rules of the game have changed', implying he could do whatever he liked. This same Blair appointed Anwar Chowdhury as the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh in 2004. Anwar Chowdhury must also have had his moment of can-it-really-be-me? But more significantly, with the benefit of hindsight, Bangladeshis can safely conclude that Chowdhury's mission-brief from Blair was couched in more offensive anal metaphor than those given to Christopher Meyer.Chowdhury was not a career diplomat, and yet he was sent to Bangladesh as the High Commissioner. Never in the history of Britain did the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ever appoint a naturalised citizen as an ambassador to the country of his/her birth. The British Raj while they were ruling the sub-continent always made it a point not to assign higher level civil servant in their home districts. Therefore, sending Anwar to Dhaka was an unprecedented and unheard of assignment and hence when Blair decided to send Anwar to Dhaka it was not an accidental or random decision. Tony Blair obviously was motivated by some diabolical and sinister design. Why did Tony unleash Anwar Cowdhury on to the political scene of Bangladesh through the diplomatic trapdoor? This is the Tony who concocted the 'Dodgy Iraq Dossier' to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The sinister design of Tony Blair only became clear to Bangladeshis after the proverbial s**t hit the fan and Anwar could report back to Tony, "I came, I saw and I crapped!" Immediately upon landing in Dhaka Chowdhury climbed up the arse of Bangladeshi political arena and began to claim it as his paternal property, inherited from his long lost father Robert Clive. Chowdhury began meddling in the national politics of Bangladesh, abetted by Bangladesh's comprador political class and through his antics proved that he was a true Blairite and gave a hoot to the rules of diplomacy. The British High Commissioner in Dhaka was no longer a diplomat but Blair's Viceroy in Dhaka. Many of the imbecile Dhaka journalists, who had no sense of the role and function of diplomats, went gaga and followed him wherever he went, like a swarm of flies. He became the darling of much of the local press, but little did the journalists understand why Blair sent Anwar to Dhaka. Chowdhury has managed to infect Bangladesh with a very deadly strain of Political-HIV virus and AIDS, a political disease that will haunt Bangladesh for years to come. In the eyes of patriotic Bangladeshis during the four years Anwar spent in Dhaka he behaved more like a Janwar (a Bengali word pun play on animal) than as a respectable British diplomat. Anwar was an absolute disgrace and he was instrumental in delivering Bangladesh to India on a platter on behalf of his masters. Because of Anwar, Britain will also be blamed for the de facto enslavement of Bangladesh, and its 'rendition' into a satellite state, of India. Anwar played the lead role in messing up the political arena of Bangladesh and rendered and ripened it for a takeover by the army under Gen Moin U Ahmed. Anwar working in league with the Ambassadors of America and other European countries and India, destabilised the political environment in Bangladesh by vociferously backing the demands of the opposition and thus interfering in the internal politics of Bangladesh. Once the political environment was thoroughly destabilised, the United Nations Resident Representative stepped in delivered the coup de grace, and the Army High Command was told that unless they overthrow the incumbent government and takeover powers, the UN will stop employing Bangladesh Army personnel as UN peace keepers. During the previous few years Bangladesh Army was increasingly transformed from a national defence force into a mercenary army at the service of the Secretary General of the United Nations. Faced with the dual choice of losing the U N peace-keeping role on the one hand and loyalty to the elected government on the other, the Army High Command decided to betray their oath and loyalty to the people and obey the carrot-suppliers. The military junta ruled Bangladesh for the next two years and at the end of their two-year rule delivered a two-third majority victory to India's favourite Awami League Party, by rigging the election results in a massive way. In January 2009, Awami League led by Hasina was installed as the party in power. Within a month, in February 2009, Awami League delivered a terrible and mortal blow on the Junta and the Army by killing fifty seven army officers through what is now known as the Peelkhana Massacre. To the students of history it was not a surprise. Traitors are often betrayed by the very people who lure them into treachery in the first place. Mir Zafar conspired with Robert Clive and for his betrayal of Serajudowla was crowned the Nawab of Bengal by Clive. But within two years Clive kicked Mir Zafar off the throne and appointed Mir Kasem as the New Nawab. Jaar jonnyo korlam choori sheyo boley chor! (Even the guy for whom I committed the crime treats me like a criminal!) Having achieved two-third majority in the Parliament and the effective castration of the Army and BDR, Awami League was now free to imitate Blair and declare that "the rules of the game has changed forever" and the Baksalisation (the process of establishing one party system) of Bangladesh will now proceed in full swing. The constitution was re-written to satisfy India and all the measures that India wanted since 1971, were implemented with breakneck speed. All popular opposition was suppressed with extreme brutality by unleashing the highly mobilised-party-political-steamrollers. The Peelkhana Massacre decimated and devastated the Army and the BDR was thoroughly re-organised and re-oriented with technical help provided by India. During the Peelkhana Massacre, the Bangladesh Army and the RAB (Rapid Armed Battalion) Forces were prevented from intervening in Peelkhana to save the lives of the officers, by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself. The obvious question to ask is why did the Army that did not hesitate to overthrow a legitimate government two years ago, obey Hasina so obediently and did not intervene to save its own flesh and blood? The only reason the Army or RAB did not intervene was because Hasina could threaten the Bangladeshi Army High Command with the threat of 'inviting' the Indian Army to enforce her will. As soon as the contrived BDR Mutiny in Peelkhana became known, the Indians announced that the Indian Army was ready to intervene inside Bangladesh if Hasina needed them. In fact many of the events taking place inside Peelkhana were announced in Indian Media before they were known to Bangladeshi media. That alone says a lot about who was behind the Massacre and why they prevented the Bangladesh Army from stepping in to stop the bloodshed. Akelmand ke leeye ishaaraa kaafee hai.(For those with a keen sense a hint is sufficient.) Having betrayed the trust of the nation by successfully imposing a fraudulent election result on the nation, the Army High Command lost the essential moral courage necessary to stand up to injustices and became so demoralised that they were no longer able to defend even their own flesh and blood. That the Army High Command under the leadership of Gen Moin U Ahmed raped democracy in broad daylight and delivered a two-third victory to Awami League is an open secret. Armed with this knowledge AL knew that no matter how contemptuously they deal with the Army the people of Bangladesh will not be outraged. Within two months of AL's coming to power RAW decided to act and the Peelkhana Massacre was executed. It was executed deliberately in a very gruesome manner, in order to send a message to all potential opponents of the regime. After the shameful role of the army in the 2008 Election, the people of Bangladesh were completely disillusioned with the Army High Command in particular, and the officer corps in general. The prospect of the people rallying en masse in support of the army could be effectively ruled out. Comforted with this knowledge, RAW and Awami League decided to castrate both the Army and the BDR through one masterfully planned massacre. The lawyers and judges of Bangladesh also failed in the most miserable fashion and did not even protest, when Anwar publicly interfered in a law suit that was being heard by the High Court in Dhaka. Mahmudur Rahman of BNP filed a law suit against Debapriyo Bhattacharya of CPD in the High Court. The case was already filed and the case was completely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Bangladesh. Anybody interfering in such a case should automatically become liable to be charged with contempt of court. But Anwar interfered in this sensitive case and twisted Mahmudur Rahman's arms and compelled him to withdraw the High Court case and thus released Debapryio from the hook and carry on with his mischief's, protected by his Godfather Rehman Sobhan. For this act alone, the Attorney General of Bangladesh should have declared Anwar a persona non grata and asked Britain to withdraw him from Bangladesh. Such an action promptly taken could have prevented Anwar from hitting the fan with his s**t and spreading his s**t all over Bangladesh. The US Ambassador Dan MozenaExit Anwar Chowdhury, enter Dan Mozena. "This is my goal, this is my dream," Dan Mozena said at his maiden press conference at the American Club in December 2011. He declared that "This is a model country for others," and that his country wants to build a strategic partnership with Bangladesh. So in his maiden press conference Mozena has clearly declared that he has a goal and a dream. It is undoubtedly the goal and dream of America, but should it also be the goal and dream of the people of Bangladesh? The world knows that since the end of WW2 America has attacked and bombed more than thirty small and helpless countries across the world. All those 'attacks' were carried out to fulfil the goals and dreams of America and her ambassadors. We must ask, "What does Mozena has in store for Bangladesh?A Whitewash for the Men in Black? In January 2011, Ambassador Dan Mozena addressed the Men in Black (RAB) at the conclusion of a five-week training programme for 19 RAB Cadets. In theory, the training was to improve the 'Human Rights' abuses that this paramilitary force has been grossly violating since its creation in 2004. It was a force created to mete out rough justice to common criminals who were getting out of control and the citizens were not feeling safe. The force basically acted as a death-squad and got rid of criminals by shooting them without going through the due legal processes. RAB operated as the policeman-prosecutor-jury-and-judge-with-a-gun. All those shot dead were reported as killed in cross-fires, a term that everybody knows means that the targeted individuals were shot in cold blood and RAB was operating just like the notorious South American Death Squads almost all of them trained by American security experts in the notorious School of Americas in Georgia. Under the ruling Awami League regime RAB has been turned into a party-political-killing-machine and in addition to shooting criminals RAB is now killing key members of opposition political parties. RAB is the key instrument being used by Awami League to turn Bangladesh into a ruthless police state. Awami League has become extremely unpopular, especially after making a series of constitutional changes, granting Transit Facilities to India and the Peelkhana Massacre. The only way left open for Awami League to stay in power is by establishing a de facto one party system: A Neo-Baksal party with some hired pseudo-opposition parties to placate the Western Powers and hoodwink the crowds at home. Such a political regime can only be established by employing a ruthless police state method, like those used by many American backed regimes in Latin America and Middle East and the Soviet era regimes in Eastern Europe. Dan Mozena backed by the State Department with Hilary Clinton at the helm has decided to give RAB a window dressing and change its image. We may call it a white wash ordered by the White House for the Black Men of Bangladesh. It is quite odd that the country which is the home of the Patriot Act and the National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) wants to humanize the Black Men of Bangladesh and improve their Human Rights records! The Patriot Act was passed by the US Congressmen without even reading it, let alone any debates. The time allowed for processing the bill, was simply not enough for any Congressman even to speed-read the stuff they passed into law. The NDAA signed into Law by Obama on 31 December 2011, authorities American authorities to detain anybody, anywhere in the world, for any length of time, including US citizens, without any charge!!! How can the Ambassador of a country that violates the civic rights of its own citizens and kills innocent men women and children in other countries with drones, dare to suggest that he wants to improve Human Rights of Bangladeshis? Charity begins at home. You want to dream? Go dream in America and find yourself a worthy goal. Ambassador Dan Mozena, please go home and leave us alone. Chhalar basta-ta ferot dey, tor aam chai naa! (Give me back my empty bag, I don't need your mangoes!) Anwar the British Ambassador has dug a deep grave for burying the sovereignty of Bangladesh and Mozena's dream is to nail down a tight lid over the coffin with the help of pious RAB Colonel Sohail and his death squads. The burial service will be carried out by Man Mohan and Mamata in a secular and befitting manner, with the full blessing of NATO and UN. Colonel Sohail will no doubt be duly rewarded for his service just as Mir Zafar was! It seems that Dan Mozena and his State Department bosses are showing interest in bringing the political parties together and play a match-making role. No one should suffer from any illusion as to where the sympathies of the State Department lie. Their sympathies lies with those they 'installed' through a rigged election as the gadi-nasheen (enthroned) party. If they now want to mediate, it means that they can now read Bengali, and they have read the 'writings on the walls' and are desperate to save the gadi-nasheen party. The leaders of Bangladesh should read and reflect on how US ambassadors and envoys betrayed even leaders who were on CIA payrolls: Manuel Noriega of Panama and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. It is no secret that Saddam was lured into invading Kuwait by US Ambassador April Gillespie in 1990. All third world politicians who deal with America should make it a point to watch the Academy Award winning 1992 documentary, 'The Panama Deception' and listen to the lecture by John Perkins author of the New York Times best seller, 'Confessions of An Economic Hit Man', delivered in Marlborough College in April 2008. (The Panama Deception: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22YnJxDFUQE) ,(John Perkins: The Secret History of The American Empire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fVAifnnlg0&feature=related) The Made in Hindustan 1972 Constitution is Not Fit for PurposeThe question for patriots is: What is to be done? Until the Bangladeshi Patriots are able to connect with and mobilise the masses getting out of India's hegemonic grip will be very difficult. The cry of the hour is Patriots of Bangladesh unite and overthrow India's hegemony and resist all imperialist machinations.Ever since the creation Bangladesh in 1971, the country has been continuously plagued with political mass movements and military coups on the one hand and the threat of one-party system from Awami League on the other. All political activities in Bangladesh takes place with the Sword Of Damocles hanging over its head and a Trisul (Trident) inside its belly. The Sword of Damocles is the threat of invasion by Indian Army from across the border and the Trisul is the RAW agents spread all over Bangladesh in every Mahalla and Bazaar. The pathogenic cause of this life-threatening disease is the 1972 Constitution which is a made-in-India constitution and a clone of the Indian Constitution. The 1972 Constitution was not even debated by the MP's and nor do we know who actually drafted it. The founding fathers of a country who draft the national constitution are known and revered figures. For example we know that the American Constitution was drafted by men like Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and others. Ambedkar was one of the stalwart who drafted the Indian constitution. A K Brohi played a key figure in drafting the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan, and it took nine years to finalise. But the 1972 Constitution was imposed on us overnight and we do not even know who drafted it. Just as the constitutions of Iraq and Afghanistan were imposed by the Western occupation forces, the 1972 Bangladesh Constitution of Bangladesh is a 'Made-in-India' constitution drafted, by the Indians, a constitution of the Indians, but it is a constitution for the Bangladeshis. This is the Aryan Brahmin's Democratic Model for the Jabans of Bangladesh. The 1972 Constitution is the pathogen that is responsible for all the political illness of Bangladesh. Unless and until we have a Made in Bangladesh Constitution, our political illness will not be cured and we will continue to suffer under the yoke of Indian hegemony. Once we have a Made in Bangladesh Constitution, the Tripartite Anglo-American-Indian ambassadors will no longer be able to act as de facto Viceroys, Pro-Consuls or Lieutenant Governors. Cambridge, England, February 19' 2012 |
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