> Date: Fri, 3 Jan 2014 08:00:58 +0600
> Subject: If Delhi plays Rome, Dhaka may have a Caesar
> From: bdmailer@gmail.com
> To:
>
> If Delhi plays Rome, Dhaka may have a Caesar
>
> M. Shahidul Islam
>
> Bangladesh sits on the brink. Someone will cross the Rubicon on
> January 5 by violating some inviolable norms and defying
> conventionally acceptable behaviour of statecraft. That will transport
> the ongoing political crisis to its next dreaded level. This election
> is the blackest and the bleakest one ever witnessed by any nation in
> recent memories.
>
> In the face of oppositions' tooth and nail efforts for years to make
> the government realize the real cost of a go-alone election, the
> government's level of stubbornness has only surpassed anything a
> responsible person would expect. "See no evil in me, talk no evil of
> me, just obey me," has been the mantra of the Sheikh Hasina regime
> from day one of its coming to power in 2009.
>
> SH/Is it worth?
> Self respect and respect for others are the cruxes of civilized human
> discourses. One must query what good an election does if the
> government had already won majority of the 300 electable seats
> uncontested. Moreover, most of the remaining seats are unlikely to be
> contested either on polling day; as voters will choose rather staying
> indoors to avoid getting caught in the mayhem that is likely to play
> about across the country.
> Foreign and domestic observers have also voiced in unison to stay away
> from monitoring such a sham election while the nation remains stunned,
> steroidal and awe-struck. Most people in Bangladesh think, for obvious
> reasons, that India is the puppeteer behind the Dhaka puppet that the
> Hasina administration has become.
>
> Even according to the influential Hindu newspaper of India, Delhi's
> blessing is what made Sheikh Hasina's administration so unresponsive
> to logic, rationality and the will of the people. The report cautioned
> about increased anti-Indian feelings pervading across Bangladesh.
>
> Is Delhi really behaving the Roman Empire's way to stir so much of
> anti-Indianism in Bangladesh? Or, is Delhi basically measuring Sheikh
> Hasina and her party's level of strength in an internal squabbling
> dominated by archaic issues capable only of fomenting further
> divisiveness within the Bangladesh society?
>
> History is not 3D
> Nobody knows for sure, for history often is not a 3D display. But few
> are unaware that the history of Bangladesh or India did not start in
> 1971 to offer any satisfactory answer to the issues being pushed to
> the forefront for political mudslinging and imposing a one-party-rule
> on the people of Bangladesh. As well, Pakistan remains a factor in
> Bangladesh politics because Bangladesh got sliced out of Pakistan in
> 1971, not from India.
> Having observed so far how badly the Hasina administration has lost
> grounds within and without in this unwinnable battle, the party that
> seems destined to govern India in the next five years has a message
> for the central government in Delhi, as well as for Delhi's embattled
> client in Dhaka in the persona of Sheikh Hasina. Expressing concern
> over what it said the "deteriorating" law and order situation in
> Bangladesh, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy asked the central government
> on December 31 to take a more pro-active role in ensuring free and
> fair elections in Bangladesh.
>
> "While India cannot interfere in the internal affairs of Bangladesh,
> nevertheless having been the country which facilitated the creation of
> Bangladesh and being directly connected with the fallout of any law
> and order in that country, Indian government is duty-bound to use its
> good offices, if necessary with the help of other countries, to see
> that the elections in Bangladesh are free and fair," Swamy said in a
> statement.
>
> Message for Hasina
> As Swamy also conveyed a direct message to the Bangladesh PM "to go
> the extra mile to ensure that not only elections are held but are seen
> to be held in a free and fair manner," many in the diplomatic
> community believe this must be a message of the Indian central
> government delivered through a credible BJP leader due to the distinct
> change of stance of the Manmohan administration contained in it.
>
> Why the change of stance all of a sudden, and at the last moment? Part
> of it is the ground reality and the hostile external ambiance.
> However, elaborating further on the likely impacts on India of the
> festering Bangladesh crisis, Swami himself said: "The public order
> situation in Bangladesh is deteriorating, causing concern in India of
> its ill effects in the already sensitive border areas of Assam and
> Bengal." This geopolitical concern is the real game changer, it seems.
>
> Sensible things come usually from sensible people. BJP leader Dr.
> Subramanian Swamy is one of such sensible personalities in Indian
> politics. An acclaimed academician, politician, activist and
> economist, he has van-guarded as the President of the Janata Party,
> his party's merger with the BJP in August 2013.
> The outcome proved miraculous and the decision has had a transforming
> impact on Indian politics. In 2014, not only Congress is destined to
> be defeated by BJP, many wonder how bruising the defeat may look like.
>
> As a former member of the India's planning commission and a cabinet
> minister, Swamy knows what he's doing. His special skill in foreign
> policy analysis has endeared him to the UN and many of its organs
> where he has had consultative inputs in policy making. The last minute
> call he made to both Delhi and Dhaka may have global sentiments
> wrapped in it.
>
> Global reaction
> If the Hasina regime still thinks it is doing the right thing by
> holding an election without participation of the main opposition
> parties, it's time to know what others think about its decision, India
> notwithstanding.
> Internally, the main opposition parties think they have all the right
> to topple the government for the blatant disregard it had displayed so
> far on the will of the majority people by arbitrarily amending the
> Constitution to allow an election under its own questionable
> umpire-ship and, by resorting to mass arrest, kidnapping, killing and
> maiming of 1,000s of opposition leaders and activists.
>
> Externally, this election scam has been rejected as a farce by almost
> anyone concerned with, or involved even remotely, in its proceedings.
> An Al Jazeera commentator wrote: "Bangladeshi people have never, in
> the forty years since independence, elected the same party twice in a
> row. In the absence of any credible institutions that offer checks and
> balances to counter the corruption, the ballot might be the last and
> only instrument through which the people might be able to affect
> change. They're deprived of that choice this time."
>
> The Economist wrote in its latest issue: "A coup by installments" is
> how a European diplomat described efforts by Sheikh Hasina,
> Bangladesh's prime minister, to extend her rule. The main opposition
> is to boycott a parliamentary election on January 5th. So Sheikh
> Hasina's party, the Awami League, is assured of victory. Legitimacy is
> another matter."
>
> Crossing the Rubicon
> Legitimacy may be another matter, but it's the only factor used to
> ensuring that justice and fairness prevail in societies. A legendary
> 49 BC story must be re-told in this connection to remind readers what
> can happen in Bangladesh in coming weeks and months if this monster
> election is not stopped.
>
> First: If Delhi behaves like the Roman Emperor, Dhaka may have a
> Julius Caesar in the waiting, we're afraid. The Governors of Roman
> provinces were appointed promagistrates with imperium (right to
> command). A Governor would serve as the General of the Roman army
> within the territory of his provinces and the Roman law mandated only
> the elected magistrates (consuls and praetors) the imperium to
> exercise command within Italy, as the Delhi-blessed Sheikh Hasina's
> election scheme is designed to prove in Bangladesh, apparently.
>
> Second: The River Rubicon marked the boundary between the Roman
> province of Cisalpine Gaul to the north-east and the Italy proper,
> controlled directly by Rome and its socii allies, to the south. On the
> north-western side, the border was marked by river Arno. Bangladesh
> and India's geopolitics bear similarities to the Roman depiction of
> the time.
>
> Three: In 49 BC, precisely on January 10 according to some historians,
> Julius Caesar led a single legion, Legio XIII Gemina, south over the
> Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy to make his way to Rome. In doing
> so, he willfully broke the law on imperium and made armed conflict
> inevitable. If he failed, the cost would have been his life and those
> of his under-commands. Caesar succeeded in the venture because the
> people hated the Roman Emperor and the governors it appointed in the
> periphery. Our political ambiance is no different now.
>
> Four: Upon triumphantly entering Rome, Caesar uttered the famous
> phrase lea iacta est (the die has been cast) and the phrase "crossing
> the Rubicon" has survived to refer to date the risky or revolutionary
> ventures or actions which cross the point of no return. What would
> have happened on December 29 if the opposition leader Khaleda Zia were
> allowed to lead her scheduled March for Democracy is anybody's guess.
> This nation has marched past the BDR mutiny of 2009 through the May 5
> Hefajat upheavals to the scheduled, but by-passed, December 29 fall of
> the government under what could have been an inevitable mass uprising.
> A crisis deferred not denoting per se its extermination and, the
> similarities with the imperial Rome being quite stark in nature, our
> lips get tighter and spines chiller once we ponder about what await
> further for this nation.
>
> Holiday,Friday, January 03, 2014
> http://www.weeklyholiday.net/Homepage/Pages/UserHome.aspx
> Subject: If Delhi plays Rome, Dhaka may have a Caesar
> From: bdmailer@gmail.com
> To:
>
> If Delhi plays Rome, Dhaka may have a Caesar
>
> M. Shahidul Islam
>
> Bangladesh sits on the brink. Someone will cross the Rubicon on
> January 5 by violating some inviolable norms and defying
> conventionally acceptable behaviour of statecraft. That will transport
> the ongoing political crisis to its next dreaded level. This election
> is the blackest and the bleakest one ever witnessed by any nation in
> recent memories.
>
> In the face of oppositions' tooth and nail efforts for years to make
> the government realize the real cost of a go-alone election, the
> government's level of stubbornness has only surpassed anything a
> responsible person would expect. "See no evil in me, talk no evil of
> me, just obey me," has been the mantra of the Sheikh Hasina regime
> from day one of its coming to power in 2009.
>
> SH/Is it worth?
> Self respect and respect for others are the cruxes of civilized human
> discourses. One must query what good an election does if the
> government had already won majority of the 300 electable seats
> uncontested. Moreover, most of the remaining seats are unlikely to be
> contested either on polling day; as voters will choose rather staying
> indoors to avoid getting caught in the mayhem that is likely to play
> about across the country.
> Foreign and domestic observers have also voiced in unison to stay away
> from monitoring such a sham election while the nation remains stunned,
> steroidal and awe-struck. Most people in Bangladesh think, for obvious
> reasons, that India is the puppeteer behind the Dhaka puppet that the
> Hasina administration has become.
>
> Even according to the influential Hindu newspaper of India, Delhi's
> blessing is what made Sheikh Hasina's administration so unresponsive
> to logic, rationality and the will of the people. The report cautioned
> about increased anti-Indian feelings pervading across Bangladesh.
>
> Is Delhi really behaving the Roman Empire's way to stir so much of
> anti-Indianism in Bangladesh? Or, is Delhi basically measuring Sheikh
> Hasina and her party's level of strength in an internal squabbling
> dominated by archaic issues capable only of fomenting further
> divisiveness within the Bangladesh society?
>
> History is not 3D
> Nobody knows for sure, for history often is not a 3D display. But few
> are unaware that the history of Bangladesh or India did not start in
> 1971 to offer any satisfactory answer to the issues being pushed to
> the forefront for political mudslinging and imposing a one-party-rule
> on the people of Bangladesh. As well, Pakistan remains a factor in
> Bangladesh politics because Bangladesh got sliced out of Pakistan in
> 1971, not from India.
> Having observed so far how badly the Hasina administration has lost
> grounds within and without in this unwinnable battle, the party that
> seems destined to govern India in the next five years has a message
> for the central government in Delhi, as well as for Delhi's embattled
> client in Dhaka in the persona of Sheikh Hasina. Expressing concern
> over what it said the "deteriorating" law and order situation in
> Bangladesh, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy asked the central government
> on December 31 to take a more pro-active role in ensuring free and
> fair elections in Bangladesh.
>
> "While India cannot interfere in the internal affairs of Bangladesh,
> nevertheless having been the country which facilitated the creation of
> Bangladesh and being directly connected with the fallout of any law
> and order in that country, Indian government is duty-bound to use its
> good offices, if necessary with the help of other countries, to see
> that the elections in Bangladesh are free and fair," Swamy said in a
> statement.
>
> Message for Hasina
> As Swamy also conveyed a direct message to the Bangladesh PM "to go
> the extra mile to ensure that not only elections are held but are seen
> to be held in a free and fair manner," many in the diplomatic
> community believe this must be a message of the Indian central
> government delivered through a credible BJP leader due to the distinct
> change of stance of the Manmohan administration contained in it.
>
> Why the change of stance all of a sudden, and at the last moment? Part
> of it is the ground reality and the hostile external ambiance.
> However, elaborating further on the likely impacts on India of the
> festering Bangladesh crisis, Swami himself said: "The public order
> situation in Bangladesh is deteriorating, causing concern in India of
> its ill effects in the already sensitive border areas of Assam and
> Bengal." This geopolitical concern is the real game changer, it seems.
>
> Sensible things come usually from sensible people. BJP leader Dr.
> Subramanian Swamy is one of such sensible personalities in Indian
> politics. An acclaimed academician, politician, activist and
> economist, he has van-guarded as the President of the Janata Party,
> his party's merger with the BJP in August 2013.
> The outcome proved miraculous and the decision has had a transforming
> impact on Indian politics. In 2014, not only Congress is destined to
> be defeated by BJP, many wonder how bruising the defeat may look like.
>
> As a former member of the India's planning commission and a cabinet
> minister, Swamy knows what he's doing. His special skill in foreign
> policy analysis has endeared him to the UN and many of its organs
> where he has had consultative inputs in policy making. The last minute
> call he made to both Delhi and Dhaka may have global sentiments
> wrapped in it.
>
> Global reaction
> If the Hasina regime still thinks it is doing the right thing by
> holding an election without participation of the main opposition
> parties, it's time to know what others think about its decision, India
> notwithstanding.
> Internally, the main opposition parties think they have all the right
> to topple the government for the blatant disregard it had displayed so
> far on the will of the majority people by arbitrarily amending the
> Constitution to allow an election under its own questionable
> umpire-ship and, by resorting to mass arrest, kidnapping, killing and
> maiming of 1,000s of opposition leaders and activists.
>
> Externally, this election scam has been rejected as a farce by almost
> anyone concerned with, or involved even remotely, in its proceedings.
> An Al Jazeera commentator wrote: "Bangladeshi people have never, in
> the forty years since independence, elected the same party twice in a
> row. In the absence of any credible institutions that offer checks and
> balances to counter the corruption, the ballot might be the last and
> only instrument through which the people might be able to affect
> change. They're deprived of that choice this time."
>
> The Economist wrote in its latest issue: "A coup by installments" is
> how a European diplomat described efforts by Sheikh Hasina,
> Bangladesh's prime minister, to extend her rule. The main opposition
> is to boycott a parliamentary election on January 5th. So Sheikh
> Hasina's party, the Awami League, is assured of victory. Legitimacy is
> another matter."
>
> Crossing the Rubicon
> Legitimacy may be another matter, but it's the only factor used to
> ensuring that justice and fairness prevail in societies. A legendary
> 49 BC story must be re-told in this connection to remind readers what
> can happen in Bangladesh in coming weeks and months if this monster
> election is not stopped.
>
> First: If Delhi behaves like the Roman Emperor, Dhaka may have a
> Julius Caesar in the waiting, we're afraid. The Governors of Roman
> provinces were appointed promagistrates with imperium (right to
> command). A Governor would serve as the General of the Roman army
> within the territory of his provinces and the Roman law mandated only
> the elected magistrates (consuls and praetors) the imperium to
> exercise command within Italy, as the Delhi-blessed Sheikh Hasina's
> election scheme is designed to prove in Bangladesh, apparently.
>
> Second: The River Rubicon marked the boundary between the Roman
> province of Cisalpine Gaul to the north-east and the Italy proper,
> controlled directly by Rome and its socii allies, to the south. On the
> north-western side, the border was marked by river Arno. Bangladesh
> and India's geopolitics bear similarities to the Roman depiction of
> the time.
>
> Three: In 49 BC, precisely on January 10 according to some historians,
> Julius Caesar led a single legion, Legio XIII Gemina, south over the
> Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy to make his way to Rome. In doing
> so, he willfully broke the law on imperium and made armed conflict
> inevitable. If he failed, the cost would have been his life and those
> of his under-commands. Caesar succeeded in the venture because the
> people hated the Roman Emperor and the governors it appointed in the
> periphery. Our political ambiance is no different now.
>
> Four: Upon triumphantly entering Rome, Caesar uttered the famous
> phrase lea iacta est (the die has been cast) and the phrase "crossing
> the Rubicon" has survived to refer to date the risky or revolutionary
> ventures or actions which cross the point of no return. What would
> have happened on December 29 if the opposition leader Khaleda Zia were
> allowed to lead her scheduled March for Democracy is anybody's guess.
> This nation has marched past the BDR mutiny of 2009 through the May 5
> Hefajat upheavals to the scheduled, but by-passed, December 29 fall of
> the government under what could have been an inevitable mass uprising.
> A crisis deferred not denoting per se its extermination and, the
> similarities with the imperial Rome being quite stark in nature, our
> lips get tighter and spines chiller once we ponder about what await
> further for this nation.
>
> Holiday,Friday, January 03, 2014
> http://www.weeklyholiday.net/Homepage/Pages/UserHome.aspx
__._,_.___
