বিএনপির ও জামায়াতের একে ওপরকে কাদা ছোঁড়াছুড়ি করলে বেশী লাভমান হবে সরকার।

বিএনপির ও জামায়াতের একে ওপরকে কাদা ছোঁড়াছুড়ি করলে বেশী লাভমান হবে সরকার। কারন তারা চায় জোটের মাঝে অনৈক্য ও পারস্পরিক অনাস্থা সৃষ্টি করে তাদেরকে দুর্বল, হতাশ ও বিভ্রান্ত করা।

এদের সামনে মূল বাঁধা এখন বিশ দলীয় রাজনৈতিক প্রতিপক্ষ। এই জোটের মাঝে অনৈক্য ও পারস্পরিক অনাস্থা সৃষ্টি করে তাদেরকে দুর্বল, হতাশ ও বিভ্রান্ত করার জন্যেই যুদ্ধাপরাধের বিচারটি ব্যবহার করা হচ্ছে । এটাই এই বিচারের অঘোষিত উদ্দেশ্য। জনগণের দাবী তাদের কাছে মুখ্য বিষয় নয় এবং মেজরিটি গণতন্ত্রে ও তারা বিশ্বাসী নয়। তাদের একমাত্র লক্ষ্য হচ্ছে যত দিন পারা যায় ক্ষমতায় টীকে থাকা - এর জন্য দেশের স্বার্থ বিক্রি করে দিলে ও তাদের কোন যায় আসে না। বিদেশী প্রভুদের সঙ্গে বিভিন্ন গোপন চুক্তিতে আবদ্ধ হয়ে ২০২১ পর্যন্ত এই দেশ শাসনের ইজারা নিয়েছেন। এদের সামনে মূল বাঁধা এখন বিশ দলীয় জোট।

 

বাস্তবতা হচ্ছে, চরিত্রহীন মুনাফিক, লোভী বিদেশী রাষ্ট্র, যাদের উপর ভরসা করে বিএনপি অপেক্ষায় আছে, তারা কোন কার্যকরী প্রেশার এই সরকারকে দিবেনা। এই সরকার জানে যতদিন পর্যন্ত আইন প্রয়োগকারি বাহিনী এবং সেনাবাহিনী তাদের পক্ষে দালালী করবে এবং বিদেশী রাষ্ট্রের স্বার্থের সেবা করতে পারবে, বিরুধি দল যতই চিল্লাচিল্লি করুক না কেন, সরকারের দুম নাড়াতে পারবে না। তবে একটি বাধা হচ্ছে বিরুধি দলের ঐক্য, এই ঐক্য ভাঙতে পারলেই তাদের স্বপ্ন পাকাপুক্ত হয়ে যাবে।

কাজেই বিএনপি এবং জামায়াতের নেতৃত্ব ও কর্মীদেরকে যুদ্ধাপরাধের বিচার নিয়ে সরকারের পুরো পরিকল্পনা ও অপকৌশলটি উপলব্ধি করতে হবে । কোনরূপ আবেগ বা হতাশার বশবর্তি হয়ে নয় - বরং এই জোটের প্রধান দুটি দলকেই রাজনৈতিক প্রজ্ঞা, ধৈর্য ও পাল্টা কৌশল দিয়ে সরকারের অপকৌশলের সকল জাল ছিন্ন করতে হবে। জামায়াত ও বিএনপির রাজনৈতিক দর্শন এক ও অভিন্ন নয় । অমিল গুলি এক পাশে রেখে মিলগুলি কাজে লাগিয়ে বৃহত্তর ঐক্য রচনা করতে হবে। সবাই জানে যে, ১৯৯১ আওয়ামী লীগ ২ মন্ত্রী ও ৭ এমপি পদ জামায়াতকে দিতে চেয়েছিল। কিন্তু এখন কালো বিড়াল ও কামরুল-মায়াদের মুখে বিএনপির জামায়াতকে মন্ত্রী দেয়া বিষয় অভিযোগ শুনে মুখে হাসি পায়। বিএনপির যে নীরবতা জামায়াতকে কষ্ট দিয়েছে সেই নীরবতাই কেন কামরুলদেরকে তেলে বেগুনে জ্বালিয়ে দিয়েছে তাও হিসাব করে দেখতে হবে।

সরকার চাইবে এই দুটি দলের মধ্যে ভুল বোঝাবুঝি সৃষ্টি করতে। কাজেই বিএনপি ও জামায়াতের উচিত হবে না সরকারের সেই ট্র্যাপে পা দেওয়া। এই মুহুর্তে বিশ দলের অনৈক্য জাতির জন্যে চরম সর্বনাশ ডেকে আনতে পারে।

বাইরের কোন শক্তি সহজে বিএনপি জামায়তকে ক্ষমতায় দেখতে চাইবে না। বিএনপি জামায়াতকে ক্ষমতায় আনতে পারে আল্লাহ তায়ালার উপর পূর্ণ আস্থা ও বিশ্বাস এর পরে এদেশের জনগণ। কারন পুতুল বা দালাল সরকার হিসাবে কাজ করতে বাইরের যে কোন শক্তির প্রথম চয়েজ হবে আওয়ামী লীগ, কখনই বিএনপি জামায়াত নহে । দেশের ভেতরে নিজেদের প্রকৃত সমর্থন বেইজকে উপেক্ষা করে অন্য কোন শক্তির উপর পুরোপুরি নির্ভর করলে বিএনপি জামায়াত মারাত্মক ভুল করবে। এটা সত্য যে বৈশ্বিক রাজনীতি থেকে নিজেদের বিচ্ছিন্ন রাখা সম্ভব হবে না। তবে তা কখনই নিজের শেকড়কে কেটে নয়। বিএনপিকে জামায়াতকে তাদের রাজনীতি নিয়ে অগ্রসর হতে হবে। অন্য কারো রাজনীতি নয়।

Halt Execution of War Crimes Accused

(This is the full statement of international Human Rights Watch)

New York) – The death sentence against Muhammed Kamaruzzman, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party convicted of war crimes during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence, should immediately be stayed. Kamaruzzman should be granted a right to appeal against the death sentence.

Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned at news that the government has ordered the authorities at Dhaka Central jail to make preparations for the execution of Kamaruzzamn. Kamaruzzaman was transferred to Dhaka Central Jail following the appeals verdict, a signal that his execution is imminent. Kamaruzzaman and his counsel have yet to receive the full text of the final verdict, which is necessary for him to be able to lodge a petition for review of the decision within thirty days, a standard procedure in all death penalty cases. Government officials have indicated that the execution is possible before the full verdict is issued which goes against standard policy in death penalty cases.

“Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an irreversible, degrading, and cruel punishment,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is particularly problematic when proceedings do not meet fair trial standards and where the right to appeal against a death sentence by an independent court is not allowed.”

A presidential pardon, technically possible, is highly unlikely in these politically charged cases.

Kamaruzzaman was originally arrested in July 2010 on the orders of the International Crimes Court (ICT), a specially constituted court set up to prosecute war crimes committed during the 1971 war. Kamaruzzaman was given no reason for his arrest, leading to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to classify his arrest as arbitrary and a violation of international law. Following a trial replete with procedural defects, Kamaruzzaman was sentenced to death in May 2013 after the ICT found him guilty of participation in and planning of the unlawful killings of civilians in the village of Sohagpur in collaboration with the Pakistani army. On November 3, the Supreme Court on appeal upheld the trial court’s conviction and sentence. Kamaruzzaman’s death sentence was the third in a war crimes case in less than a week.

Human Rights Watch noted that trials before the ICT, including that of Kamaruzzaman, have been replete with fair trial concerns. In Kamaruzzaman’s case, defense evidence, including witnesses and documents, were arbitrarily limited. Inconsistent prior and subsequent statements of critical witnesses were rejected by the court, denying the defense a chance to challenge the credibility of prosecution witnesses. An application by the defence to recuse two judges for prior bias was summarily rejected.

This follows a disturbing precedent from other cases. In December 2013, Abdul Qader Mollah was hanged following hastily enacted retrospective legislation which is prohibited by international law. Another accused, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, was convicted in spite of credible allegations of the abduction by state forces of a key defence witness with the ICT refusing to order an independent investigation into the charge. Many of the trials have been marred by the evidence of intercepted communications between the prosecution and the judges which reveal prohibited contact. The ICT’s response on several occasions to those who raise objections about the trials has been to file contempt charges against them in an apparent attempt to silence criticism rather than answer substantively or indeed, to rectify any errors. Human Rights Watch, the journalist David Bergman, and members of The Economist have all been tried for contempt for publishing articles critical of the trials.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which interprets the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has said that “in cases of trials leading to the imposition of the death penalty, scrupulous respect of the guarantees of fair trial is particularly important” and that any death penalty imposed after an unfair trial would be a violation of the right to a fair trial.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its long-standing call on the government of Bangladesh to restore fundamental rights protection to the war crimes accused. Article 47A (1) of the constitution specifically strips war crimes accused of their right to certain fundamental rights, including the right to an expeditious trial by an independent and impartial court or tribunal, and the right to move the courts to enforce their fundamental rights. This pernicious amendment to the constitution allows the ICT overly broad discretion to deny these accused the rights and procedures accorded to other criminal accused.

“Human Rights Watch has long supported justice and accountability for the horrific crimes that occurred in 1971, but we have also stated repeatedly that these trials must meet international fair trial standards in order to properly deliver on those promises for the victims,” Adams said. “Delivering justice requires adhering to the highest standards, particularly when a life is at stake. The death penalty is irreversible and cruel, and Bangladesh needs to get rid of it once and for all.”

When the strong is the winner by the sword of oppression, people always resort to the language of the weapon, and the losers will scheme against the winner.

Today at the crack of dawn, when I phoned a friend of mine purely for personal reason, he immediately asked me in a fearful tone, if there was any bad news from Bangladesh. To that I replied that the lions were firmly locked in their den, roaring in anger, with little or no sign of coming out to attack their enemy. When I asked him why he had asked me such a question, he replied that when ever I phone him early in the morning, he assumes that something bad may have happened to Sheikh Hasina or somebody may have assassinated her. This maybe a wishful thinking, but the truth is, this is how a lot of people imagine her to end her life. It may not be surprising to find that same feeling may resound across the general masses of Bangladesh.

It is true that when stronger is the winner by the sword of oppression and injustice, the people always resort to the language of the sword, and the losers, the victim of oppression, will scheme against the tyrant winner. Out of the blue, we hear that an outlawed organization posted a video on Bangladesh current state of affairs. Though the context and the content of the video on Bangladesh current affairs maybe true, just to underscore the fact, I would agree that our country is increasingly becoming a jail for the opposition, and Satkhira is witnessed to government killings, abduction, and human rights violations, but the motive of the video, and even its authenticity needs careful analysis. In the past, we have seen that certain intelligence of certain nation shrewdly uses such tactics to further their objective or to manipulate such videos to divert attention of the public from legitimate demand to that of international terrorism and creating fear among secular audience of the world. Bangladesh opposition don’t need an Al Qaeda video to highlight the gravity of government oppression in the country, it is self evident from the one-sided election to the post illegal killings of opposition activists and leaders by Awami government sponsored thugs and law enforcement agency. This video maybe a ploy to imply a link with the opposition by some foreign agency, and use it to justify further killings by the government.

As for current state of BNP, it is my estimation that they are in worse position than Bangladesh Jamati Islam in terms of organizational strength. Their leaders are not forward thinking, and frankly they lack leadership qualities to guide the people to a mass uprising that many people are hoping for. The opposition are living in the past and hoping something may happen out of the blue, such thinking is delusion and far from the reality of the present. They should realize that civil and military administration is not the same as it was 10 years ago. Who would want to do the job and hand over the fruits to Begum Zia. Opposition long time hibernation from active agitation means consolidation for the government. Too much reliance on foreign powers is also a mistake. The western powers to my estimation cares less about democracy in other countries than their own, but cares more about their business interest and power to dictate policy making. To this date, if you look at some of the Middle Eastern country, you will find very little evidence of their support for democracy. In fact, in some places their support for popular will is not out of fancy or as a matter of principle, but it is out of necessity. If you carefully examine senate hearing on Bangladesh, you will find one sentence that stands out and that is securing foreign investment. USA multinational companies are waiting to tap in to Bangladesh business sector in a big way, which is why Dan Mozina talks a lot about old Silk Road, connectivity, and security. Bangladesh human resources, cheap labour, and geopolitical location attract western country. Democracy, popular will, and human rights are a secondary issue to them. In order to secure democracy and rule of law in Bangladesh, the opposition need to speak their mind, address their issue locally and listen less to foreign diplomat, and more heed should be given to the prescription of agitation.

As so for Bangladeshi Jamati Islam, they need to look back at the reason why the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood failed to subsist in power, in spite of winning with a majority mandate. And the opposite could be said about the Islamic revolution of Iran, in spite of huge effort with money intelligence, and sanction by the USA, Iranian Islamic revolution remains in its place increasingly becoming stronger day by day. Dan Mozina often says that violence has no place in democracy; I want him to explain what he means by that. How many democratically elected governments did his country helped to remove by violence let alone undemocratic government. Bangladesh does not have a democracy, and for this reason violence is sometimes needed to restore democratic rights.

 

 

 

 

 

ATM Shamsuzzaman compares Bangladesh Jamat with Nipah Viruses

How far off from reality can a man be, when all around him, he clearly observes that truth is clear as the light of the sun. Wrong perception is the result of ignorance or hatred. I can not believe he (ATM Shamsuzzaman ) is ignorant of Bangladeshi Jamati Islam and what they adhere to and believe in, that only leaves his hatred for Islam as the only reason that has led him to make such an wild and untrue comment about Bangladesh Jamati Islam activists.

Mr Shamuszzaman should reflect on his own life before commenting on others. We have recently witnessed how one of his own sons killed the other in an argument, and we know the context of that argument that lead to one of his son’s tragic death. When a person has no practice of Islam in their life, they are never satisfied, and they fight over trivial things because they consider the world as the only place of abode.

When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of writing anything about Bangladesh. Recent one sided election, and later its justification by Awami leaders have put me off so much that I believe heavenly brim stone from the sky can only be a fitting response for their mockery and crime. Their lies and action have become so blatant that its not even worthy of mentioning them. They utter words that smell more than dead rats. If they have a free hand for long, they will fill Bangladeshi society with vice and with their secular satanic form of culture and ideology. Their only obstacle to achieving Kamal Atartuk Turkification of Bangladesh is the impediment put up by Jamati Islam. Why them, why not other Islamic party’s? Well, that is because the other Islamic party’s don’t have the organizational structure, or popular appeal to the youths for an Islamic government. Mr Shamsuzzaman compared Jamat with Nipah virus, and he called on the government to eliminate them, as if they are insects eating away fruits of their toil. I agree Jamat has the ability to eat away fruits of their satanic toil. They are constantly involved in cleansing Bangladeshi society from ungodly, unethical, immoral vices and promoting virtues and Islamic values. This is the only reason why they hate Jamat so much. They should know that Islam came to this world to be victorious over all other ways of life. This is a promise of Allah, and Allah’s promise can not be frustrated.

What compelled me to write was ATM Shamuszzaman accusation that Jamat activists are shoe stealers from Mosques. Apparently he made this remark today in a meeting arranged by Bongho Bondhu Sanskriti Alliance, of which he is the senior president. Out of all the accusation about Jamat, who would believe that Jamat activists are shoe stealers? His remarks reminded me something that happened to me personally a few years back, and since than I changed my shoe laces to bright colours. Thrice from a local mosque in the UK my shoe disappeared. I first thought that some thieves my have found a new business, but later on in front of my eyes I caught an Old uncle putting my shoe on his foot and walking away. Of course he wasn’t going to disappear and I caught him red handed. I asked him to check very carefully if it was his shoe that he had put on, so he looked and rather confusingly said that it was his shoe. I took him back to the shoe rack and asked him to indicate to me where he had put his shoe. Apparently there was another shoe which looked similar to mine, so I enquired, could it have been that he mistakenly taken my shoe believing it to be his own? He then examined it carefully and realized his mistake and felt very much embarrassed. Of course, old uncle didn’t come to the mosque to steal shoes, but out of many thousands of shoes, there are many similarities in size, colour, make, brand, and age, so people are bound to make mistake and especially old people, as their eyes and feelings are not as sharp as ours.

My experience with my old uncle gave me a clue to come up with the idea of wearing bright colour shoe laces, so that old uncle can easily distinguish between their black colour shoe laces and my red colour shoe laces, although size and other attributes could be the same. Since I changed my shoe laces, I had not had any other incident of shoe disappearances from the mosque, so perhaps ATM Shamsuzzaman, instead of blaming Jamat activists, should change his shoe laces, because his thief could be an old uncle like him. As for Jamat activists, well, they are not shoe stealers, but they are stealers of heart, they convert peoples heart from darkness to light, and maybe many of his friends have already been converted in to the family of Jamat. He may have probably seen that their way of life suddenly changed, but they are not declaring that they are Jamatis; that explains why he wants the government to filter from their new admin like that of date molasses. This is wishful thinking, the great Satan, as Ayatollah khomeni use to say about USA couldn’t change the Muslim world with their bombs and bullet, how can Awami fascists change Bangladesh to their dream world of ungodly nation.

 

 

Last 5 years of Bangladesh opposition sacrifice can not be allowed to go in vain

The bottom line is, this government will last for 5 years unless the opposition can fill the streets with angry people. Those who think they can achieve something without sacrifice; they do not know anything about crude politics of Bangladesh. It seems Begum Zia, and at large the opposition have washed their hands relying on some foreign diplomats, as if the plate will be given to them without sacrifice. No government with firm grip on Army and administration will fall without people’s participation in mass magnitude and in violent uprising. USA and others may apply some pressure to restore democracy, but they will not jeopardise their long term interest in Bangladesh for the opposition unless the opposition can put up a strong fight. At the moment BNP lacks this ability, or is unable to motivate the people with good leadership, and Jamat don’t have the mass support base as BNP. As for the Army, I have many times in the past have said that the Army has been compromised from no 1 to 10 with the Pilkhana massacre. Nothing will happen from the Army unless some fragments are stupid enough to do the daring like Col. Faruk Rashid. That only leaves the ordinary people to do a revolution like that of Egypt, and in my opinion the opposition don’t have that kind of charismatic leadership at this moment to motivate people. Government talk about Jamat alliance with BNP is only an issue to divert attention from the real issue of restoring all party democracy, having an inclusive election that envisage a free, fair and credible election under a neutral government.

I don’t know the true position of the friends group on Bangladesh next government, or how quickly they envisage an election, or whether their public stand is different from their private position with the Awami Government. Dan Mozina is shrewd and USA is shrewd. If anyone believes every word they say then they are naïve or lack ability to understand regional or international politics. Just to clarify my analysis, let me point out where my doubt about their true intention lies. When Mozina met with Begum Zia, he firmly underscored the need to stop violence, because American investment in BD is being affected. What he really was trying to convey to Begum Zia was that blockade was having an effect on American businesses interest. I have no idea what Begum zia had said in return to him, but if Dan Mozina was serious, instead of reminding Begum Zia to stop political activities, he should have met with Hasina, and strongly should have told her to stop indiscriminate killings, arrest of their leaders and activists, and allow the opposition to open all of their political offices and let all the banned newspapers and TV station to be re-opened, and immediately announce a new election, but no such strong wording came from Dan Mozina. I suspect all of these diplomats went to Begum Zia only to pacify her and hold her back from agitation.

Many of the western diplomat’s hypocrisy really piss me off. Publicly Dan Mozina may be saying one thing, but privately they don’t really like any political party which adheres to Islamic politics. For Awamileague, Jamat is a tactical vote issue, they know very well that in a fair election, Jamat voters hold key to many constituencies, so naturally they would want Jamat to be as far away as possible from BNP. Jamat and BNP have no ideological unison other than patriotism and the need to remove this unjust government. And this issue is a burning issue for overwhelming majority of the people of Bangladesh. I don’t agree that our fate is at the hand of foreigners, in fact the future fate of India and USA’s strategic policy in this region is in our hand, but our leaders and people have given up on this belief, and wilfully have surrendered their potential to the foreigners including to India. If Jamat alliance with BNP is a problem for Hasina accepting a fair election, then this would have been a peanut issue to resolve. It is not simply black and white. What Awami wants from Begum Zia is not only a separate ways, but an agreement with BNP to completely severe ties with jamat, and agree to accepting a government crackdown on them, banning it as a political party, not allowing their activists and leaders to rehabilitate under new party or merge with any other party. The issue now should not have been about Jamat alliance with BNP, rather the issue should have been about Awami tyranny, their dictatorship, illegitimate election, the formation of one party government, and human rights abuses by the government.

I don’t understand what Jamat had to do with one party election or any future election. Right stands distinguish from wrong. If BNP thinks it can secure an early election from Hasina by severing ties with Jamat, then by all means it has right to choose what it sees best for them, but I don’t believe Awamileague will accept an early election if the streets of Bangladesh becomes quite. But from my perspective I see BNP faltering and in severe weakness, both intellectually and politically. If they want to regain momentum they need to quickly plan their strategy and put this to the people of Bangladesh, otherwise without a vision, firmness and a destination, no one will follow them and the entire issue of an early free, fair, and credible election will be buried in the cold.

It is clear now that Awamileague has no mandate. The government has become illegitimate by none confidence of the people casting only 10 percent of vote. Since this government lost confidence of the people, anything this government does or orders becomes illegal. Therefore, ministers, MP’s of this illegal government can be treated as criminals, and as such, people could make citizen arrest of those ministers and MP’s and hand them to the people’s court for sentencing. A house of a person is his property, and when someone forcefully occupies it, it becomes a duty for its residence to remove him by all means, similarly I believe, a country is the property of the people, and when someone occupies its treasury and parliament forcefully, it becomes a duty on the people of the country to remove them by whatever means. It will fall under the law of trespass. Awamileague MP’s are now trespassing on our property and they should be removed by all means. Some foreign countries want to see Bangladesh as a subservient nation, but people of Bangladesh want to see a country free from tyranny and in peace with one another, but as long as Sheikh Hasina’s doctrine of one party rule lives, we can have no peace

 

Who killed democracy in Bangladesh? Who were responsible for its death? Two countries – India and USA

In 2005, western diplomats in Bangladesh formed the Tuesday group. In 2007, they formed the coffee group, and in 20013 they formed the friends group, but by 2014 India and China left the group for their own reasons. The purpose of those groups was to bring their favourite party in to power. Each had its own agenda, but in the process they gave little preference to the only people that mattered and that are the people of Bangladesh. Many would say why blame the foreigners, while you allow them to interfere. It’s true that partly our leaders and the cream of our society are responsible for this, but in a country like Bangladesh, ordinary people, even if they are aware of the plot, they don’t have the means or voice to make any difference. I can give two simple example of controlling or manipulating people’s opinion by the big powers with their money and influence. One is the Media and the other is the Army and administration. If you can control majority of them, you can control the whole country. If the Army had not been supported by the Tuesday group, army lead caretaker government would not have happened, and if manipulation of the election and a huge distorted media campaign had not been supported by the coffee group that included India and USA, Sheikh Hasina would have come to power, but with only a simple majority, and that would have been enough to prevent the 15^th amendment and the whole sale politicization of the administration. The killing of the Philkhana Army officers would have been avoided, because then Sheikh Hasina would not have thought of fulfilling her fathers dream for BAKSAL ( One party Rule ) 

The killing of the army officers was important for Sheikh Hasina for two reasons: Those officers were BNP minded and had affinity with former president Zia. They were a patriotic batch. They would not allow one party rule in Bangladesh. Second reason was to replace them with Awmi minded BAKSALI officers so that any opposition of a one party rule from the Army would be checked. Simple calculation that USA may not have thought. The USA’s only priority was economical, TICFA and their long time aspiration of a military base in Bay of Bengal. Sheikh Hasina appeased Dan Mozina, the USA ambassador in Bangladesh with a last minute TICFA deal in December 2013. Any fool would have understood why she had done this. After the deal, Dan Mozina went silent and did nothing affective to bear pressure on Sheikh Hasina to engage with the opposition. Dan Mozina’s tacit approval helped Sheikh Hasina to kill aspiration of the people that mattered. Democracy is dead, and USA and India are responsible for encouraging Sheikh Hasina to kill our peoples and freedom fighters aspiration and hope of a multi party democratic country.

Awami electronic and print media’s constant propaganda, a huge amount of money to buy loyalty, and government political persecution of the opposition together with direct intelligence support from India played an important part to consolidate Sheikh Hasina’s power in opposition to popular demand for a free, fair and credible election under a caretaker government. Most of the opposition leaders, apart from Jamati Islam, the government were able to either buy or manipulate their silence on the excuse of doing trial for war crimes. Many opposition leaders at the 11^th hour are realizing what they are loosing and how Sheikh Hasina tricked them for the last five years, but it is too late to save democracy. Freedom fighters Mr, Oli Ahmed and Kader Siddique, A.S.M Rab have appealed to the people to boycott what remains of the one sided election, but we know even if a single person don’t cast their vote, Sheikh Hasina has already won the election with 153 uncontested seats. And their media is such that they would make no turnout to a mass turnout and if Sheikh Hasina could make the western diplomats happy with some economic incentive, they may say nothing about the validity of the election or who knows, what their position will be.

This leaves only the intellectual and a few smaller parties to give their decisions. Well, to get their approval, sheikh Hasina only needs to give them a few ministries or buy them with money from the public fund. Now, what about the opinion of the people? They are the real owner of the country, who have been fighting and suffering for the last five years for democracy.  They are the overwhelming majority, the real patriotic people of the country. For them, Sheikh Hasina made it clear that she will use her ruthless law enforcement agency and secret police to kill, arrest, torture, and silence them. So are there any solutions to the reality we will be facing after 5^th of January? Certainly there are many options for the people and the leaders of the opposition. We only need to think how the killers of democracy think, what are the interests of the friends group, and what are the interest of India and China?  We need to think outside the box, both in the global context, and in local context. I believe a country of 160 Million people can not be silenced. It is not a country in the Middle East with vast wealth and little people. Our country is small with too many people to control by suppression, and wealth is not enough to make everybody happy. Each party will have its individual policy and priorities, but common to all is the restoration of democracy which can only guarantee our national interest, as well as western economic interest and regional stability.

An immediate change to democracy could appear by 3 interventions: A change of heart from the Army for the greater interest of country, forcing Sheikh Hasina to comply with the demand of the people. Second possible change to democracy could appear if Western country, especially the USA and the European Union, if they become serious and impose meaningful sanctions on country’s garments industry which could force the business community to revolt and thereby Sheikh Hasina may find difficult to resist them, as they are very powerful. And last, but not least, if the ordinary people of Bangladesh, from all walks of life revolts against the government, forgetting any party differences and truly joining the fight for democracy in defiance of government repression, crippling government ability to run the country, and implementing an effective blockade on the country’s economic lifeline. The third option would mean immediate intervention from the western powers fearing lose of business for their big company’s and the risk of instability in the region. If the government becomes more rigid on repression then there are other unconventional options which can not be discussed here, but surely people are aware of this and its methods.  India and USA needs to be responsible leaders and preach what they believe are to be the definition of democracy, and not say the half truth. They need to think of long term benefit of democracy and not short term goal. Sheikh Hasina is not a normal woman; she is mentally disturbed by her father’s assassination of 1975. Her political decision not to have an inclusive all party election is not based on interest of the people but merely revenge for her family. Today, in the name of democracy, Sheikh Hasina is committing unforgivable crime against the people of Bangladesh. This election is not done for upholding democracy; it is Sheikh Hasina’s revenge on the people of Bangladesh for 1975 killing of her father.

I fear, after the mockery election, Sheikh Hasina will kill more people, disappear, and handicap many of her opponents. The constitution clearly states participation of people in the election, but we can see 80% people democratic rights can not be exercised by this one party election. International community, apart from her only partner in crime, India, has called the election to be postponed for a multi party all inclusive free fair and credible election, but she has shown contempt to all, even the UN secretary general call has been frustrated. If people and international community do not act now, Bangladesh will fall in to darkness; killings, abductions, and torture of her opponent will continue. Corruption will become more rampant, and greatest danger for the country would be an inevitable civil war. People will resort to arm conflict, if things get worse; no amount of precaution or repression from the government can stop people taking up arms. Meanwhile the opposition need to revise their strategy, find new allies and new way to regain the momentum. None violence against Awami brutality will have no effect on the government. Hasina is an ‘unprincipled’ type of woman and only option to remove her may will be from a violent uprising. After 24^th of January, Awami government will have no legitimacy due to none participation of the people in the election. Constitutionally, the government will be illegitimate; therefore, if the army for the greatest interest of the country takes over to restore democracy, future government can not try them for breach, and their action may save the country from further turmoil. Otherwise, the people have to prepare for a long violent campaign against Sheikh Hasina’s dictatorship. Even people from her own party who believes in democracy and fairness should join in this fight to free our country from one party rule, and realize the dream of our freedom fighters.

 

 

 

 

 

If Iran can rub the nose of Shah in the mud, we can do the same with Sheikh Hasina

I can see many of you are hoping for a miracle to happen in Bangladesh. But miracle does not happen always, and Allah does not help those who sit idle and do nothing to help them. I know people are sicken and in extreme pain at what are happening in Bangladesh. People are frustrated by Sheikh Hasina’s government endless crimes, disrespect for democracy or human rights; their constant hypocrisy, continuous effort to demonise and crash Islamic values and movement in the society. Many are hoping for an Army takeover, or thinking that some outsider will come and set things right for us. I say to them, do not indulge in wishful thinking, but rather rely on the power of our people.

Today MP Golam Maula Roni gave a hint of that power in his face book status; though I believe his message to Hasina will fall in deaf ears. MP Roni compared Hasina’s regime to the last Shah of Iran, and he compared India and its intelligence wing RAW to that of USA and CIA. Shah had a belief that his people loved him, and what he was doing to westernize, and de-Islamise was approved by the people. And he had a false belief that his western friend will save him in case his regime begins to falter. So with that confidence he became arrogant and indifferent to understanding public mood. He began to patronize secularism, western way of life as Hasina is promoting India and Indian culture. His henchmen would insult people with beard and turban in the public transport, mockingly they would say that Alims (Islamic Scholars), and prostitutes are not welcome, it is a very similar situation to what the Shabagis are doing now. But then came the mass revolt of the people and in one day, the great Shah and Shah of Iran became a thing of the past. He fled to his western friends, but all of them disowned him, and finally like a beggar, he took refuge in Egypt where he died of Cancer.

We can emulate Iranian experience in Bangladesh. The situation is not far different from that of Iran. The repressive army of Sheikh Hasina is doing the same thing as the Shah’s Savak (Secret Police) did to the Iranians. There was restriction on freedom of press, Islamic political literature was banned and only way Khomeni could communicate with his followers was through letters. He would write short letters to the people and they would get printed distributed by hand to the mass, and this way revolutionary message reached to the people. We need to do the same, which is to inform people of this government evil and what tragedy waits for our nation, our religion, culture, and democracy. Our hope and effort must rest with the student and youths, because it is the student and youths who are able to do the daring. Old wise men can give advice, but it is the youths who can occupy the streets, confront the tyrant face on. They have vision, and hope, and their vision is full of promises, full of creative ideas and thought to make Bangladesh a prosperous, just nation without any prejudice to race, colour, religion or creed. Shabagis are misguided youths; their message only increases hatred, divisions, and religious conflict among our nation. They have narrow vision; they aim to clean Bangladesh of Islamic politics and values. They live in the world of material devoid of spirituality; they are far from the truth, and they will never succeed.