Simply brilliant writing!
--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, Isha Khan <bdmailer@...> wrote:
>
> *A failed coup, political immaturity and all that talk*
>
> Afsan Chowdhury
>
> A military coup to take over the country is everyone's business and not
> just of the military's. In the last edition of this business, the state
> authorities came to the people to explain matters and invited media as the
> conduit of public information to distribute their words. Media has of
> course used this opportunity to report very extensively on the coup and the
> processes of conspiracies in military politics.
>
> Now the military has complained that media reporting were not responsible
> and consequently advised restraint. One finds a catch-22 like situation in
> this. First, the media is used to create a positive public opinion in
> favour of the government and also use it to drum up support against the
> coup plotters but when media pushes on to report on contingent issues there
> is unhappiness.
>
> Someone up there doesn't see this contradiction. Nor does that someone sees
> the fact that a coup is not a military matter or one relating to political
> parties and their quantity of patriotism, but of those to whom the country
> belongs to and who are most affected by it — the average people. They have
> a right to know what is going on and that too to the fullest extent of the
> issue.
>
> * * *
> The coup that failed—if it had been successful— would have been an
> unpopular and a dangerous one. As it is, military rule is hugely unpopular
> in Bangladesh and one wonders how the plotters had thought that this would
> be swallowed. Islamic types particularly of the uniformed variety are even
> more unpopular and it is difficult to see how they would get any popular
> backing.
>
> Finally, any coup particularly those working to establish Islamic rule is
> going to face stiff opposition from India who have a stake in the kind of
> government in Bangladesh and it would have been a matter of time before an
> intervention. This coup if successful would have been bad news for everyone
> concerned including the coup makers; so it was a fortunate escape. It is
> all the more reason why the issues should be aired publicly.
>
> * * *
> The chances of the mainstream army taking over are slim because it has few
> advantages to them. The experience of the 1/11 can't be ignored which shows
> that the two major political parties are capable of generating enough
> support to contest the military so there is most possibly an unwritten
> understanding about take-overs and not taking over.
>
> The military is the most organised political force in the country though
> they are paid staff of the state. They can exert enough force on the other
> two less organised political forces to make a difference to the complexion
> of Bangladesh's ruling government. It doesn't make any sense to take over
> when the same benefits can be had without the hassle of managing a chaotic
> people. So they would rather stay put and enhance their clout with the
> civilian political leadership.
>
> It is only the Islamists and the Leftists who would want to take over
> because they are the ones who are completely convinced of their cause and
> are not bothered about what people want.
>
> With the Left not in existence anymore, it is only the Islamists who pose a
> threat.
>
> * * *
>
> Bangladesh's problem is also in having an army that really has little to
> do. It has only one enemy and that is India and who really won't want to
> take over Bangladesh unless in an emergency like an Islamic coup. Otherwise
> Bangladesh is one of the worst invasion objectives anywhere. One also hopes
> that the strategic analysts are not as dim witted as one security chief who
> explained to me years ago how the military exists to protect Bangladesh
> from India.
>
> His argument ran this way: "When a beautiful woman is attacked by an
> aggressive male the woman can only shout to draw attention so that others
> may come forward and save her." One hopes that the thinking level in
> today's army is more sophisticated and realistic than this since holding
> off India militarily is quite beyond us. As long as anti-Indian anxieties
> dominate without a reality check, we shall have an army about to defend us
> theoretically.
>
> With the duties taken care of, the army has always focused on its role as
> the self-declared white knight of the state in line with the Pakistan model
> rather than its servant. Its interventions have all been negative but the
> army thinks it must have the final say. Such attitudes are possible because
> the civilian state structure is underdeveloped and shows little sign of
> growth. Both civilian and military politics are caught in a web of
> immaturity which has created much of the problems and since they are not
> about to disappear, things are not about to change.
>
> * * *
> No less disturbing is the fact of admission by the authorities that the
> Hijb ut Tahrir (HT) has gotten bigger and better over the days. They are
> more organised and have been able to avoid attempts to curb them quite
> easily showing how competence can triumph over shortage of resources. It is
> a bit embarrassing to hear that the HT has been able to develop a cadre
> base that is committed to its principles rather than to chandaabazi unlike
> the national political parties and their activists.
>
> If the JMB was full of `rural schmucks' who failed to ignite, the Hijbuts
> are well or highly educated young people who believe in their cause. It
> would be foolish to write them off as `fanatics' because these people are
> there because they believe it to be better than what national political
> parties have to offer. They are not the typical Jamaatis, the India
> hating-Pakistan-loving anachronistic product of ancient tribal politics of
> colonial India. They are independent of such baggage and are products of
> frustration and lack of principles in national politics.
>
> When the Government says that it has failed to crack down, it is really
> saying it doesn't know how. Inevitably, they are becoming part of the
> `third force' in a nation tired of the first two.
>
> * * *
> If there has been anything seriously scary about the whole matter, it has
> been the reaction of the political parties to the coup. The Awami League
> seemed to be more concerned about linking the BNP to the coup attempt than
> asking why a coup now and why it was put down so late and as some suggest
> due only to the help of Indian spooks.
>
> The PM of Bangladesh sounded as shrill as ever and one had expected that
> she would not turn the entire episode to another opposition bashing spree
> but she did. As if the coup was not a national issue but a partisan one.
>
> As for the leader of the opposition, she has made loose and careless
> remarks that are her trademark. She has no idea of her status and seems
> able to make any remark irrespective of consequences. The AL doesn't have
> to look for fodder to attack her because she seems to be able to provide
> them even before asking. They are not just our national leaders but our
> national embarrassments too.
>
> The media has explored the situation and not made any independent
> conclusions. Instead of advising the media on how to behave, it would be
> best if the military tried to train itself about how to communicate with
> the public and upgrade its press wing to a level so that it could work more
> effectively and the media took it more seriously. Of course, it would be
> improper for the military to ask its two great allies, the AL and the BNP
> to exercise some restraint while talking publicly.
>
> ——————————————-
> Afsan Chowdhury is a Consulting Editor of bdnews24.com.
>
> http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2012/01/31/a-failed-coup-political-immaturity-and-all-that-talk/
>
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