Why are there army tanks on the streets ? Will these tanks be ever used against our own people ? Or is it just a ploy to instill fear among the political activists ?
We have a president who cannot deliver a speech, nor can he pronounce bengali properly. (though this is not a requirement for his job, but his demeanor when he was giving the speech lacked any kind intelligence one might posses).
The head of the military General Moin Ahmed is sitting with his legs crossed in the picture above. What kind of a posture does that signify?
–Instead of resigning the four advisors should have stayed and tried as much as possible to unveil the true face of the retarded president.
isnt the failure here ‘our social discipline’, not the army’s. if we were able to resolve our ideological and factional differences without all the amateur gundami and intelligence sapping confrontation this situation would not keep arising.
its the failure of the democratic agents , thats all.
sad how its all getting personal against the president, he isnt under qualified. i think ‘hegemonic’ linguistic qualifications fo public office are lame, discriminatory and regressive.
It is clear that he is agreeing one thing with the consensus of his caretaker advisors, only to be bullied / threatened / cajoled into doing something else by his BNP sponsors.
Is there anyone out there who can suggest one name who fits atlest 70% of the requirements Asif sugegsted? And, please dont bring Dr. Yunus in this debate as well!!
I agree with you that these requirements are indeed what we should look for in our leaders. I also feel that not all these characteristics prevailed among advisors/chiefs of the past caretaker govt. My point is that, we should try to keep our expectations within attainable limits. But if you are saying that Yes-Uddin is the worst of the lot? I do agree with you without any inhibition.
Unfortunately my speculation of Oct 6th/05 is now a reality. So here is my next forecast-
AL will resist election on the street leading to violence between AL, BNP & Jamaat. Army will then get involved in a more proactive role (not martial law). An interim 15-20 member national government will be formed with representation from both Army & civil society to run the country for 2-3 years. This interim government will do the necessary reforms leading to a fresh election around 2010. Yunus at the helm? lets wait a few more days..
When I left Dhaka a week ago, I told a colleague that when I see him again in mid Jan/07, Dhaka streets will have an added dimension - TANKS. Now I hope that the interim system happens before these tanks start shooting at each other…
Thieves mostly are ‘nishachor’ and they come to your home late at night to steal your precious possesions… For some reason, I find always-giving-speech-when-everyone’s-sleeping is something similar to ‘nishachoric’ behaviour to steal away our freedom.
i am bamboozled by your list of virtues asif. I have much lower more specific expectations. This is no corporate recruitment excercise. This chap didnt really want the job, but events compelled him to. The previous president didnt have enough statecraft to keep his job given his growing ambition.
Im sure he would prefer the quiet life. The primary fault of the current dip in spirits in bangladesh is the awami leagues nearsighted andti KM HAssan lunacy.
You tied up the character in contradictions.
You cant be truthful and abide by the constitution and respect everybodies opinion, because the state has grown dependant on a pack of lies and manufactured facts and institutions, the constitution is always going to irk the secular and particularly anal folks and the political parties in truth deserve no respect.
Its not a joined up list in the first place.
If we focus too much in the individual, we lose sight of the institutions and thought systems which are the problem.
The military doesnt matter, people agree that now the obhoroths can disrupt commerce and livelihoods, that the selfish lust for power and glory wont harm people so much. its a control mechanism, simple as that.
Why did Yes-uddin keeping looking at the left top corner of (looking from outside the TV) of the screen every time he raised his head from reading his speech?
Once he even shook his head - did you guys catch that?
Top left corner is where BTV keeps the extra TV monitor, tuned to Al Jazeera. I know this inside dope from 2 sources: one is longtime BTV employee (4th class gazzette), the other is Laltu Mia’s adda @ Khilgao.
FZ: to answer yr qery on sl no.1- it was stated that they hvae been called to help civil adminstration-unruly events plus Robbery at Gold shops,Chittogong port beig rendered unoperative etc– so far there hasnt been any activity to harrass the opposition and alliances.Dont forget there was security alert that an Inidan plane hijacked could be brought to Dhaka.
I dont think tanks or army action would be against us. But then think of the fights on the street whereby Bengalis killed Bengalis no matter to which party they belonged– and in return Politicians delivered 1 lac takas as compensation no sincere feelings about loss of lives–the family of the deceased would soon b forgotten.
Political parties over-react to all actions not in their favour so their opinions r now very hollow to the Citizens–dont worry –they know it all.
Asif,
Ref yr pts in sl no 8. I should think that points 6,8 & 9 should be his qualities.Charisma doesnt match with honesty n truthfulness- so that should be out.
About point 5- yes priority consideration should be given to clauses of constitution but for the greater interest of the Citizen he could be flexible and then as President he can always additional orders which the next Government can pass in the parliament to legalize the act.
Now in context of the present situation in the Country the President definitely didnt follow your point no:6 — but then remember that the onus of good governance lies with the Politicians and not the President.
“Im sure he would prefer the quiet life. The primary fault of the current dip in spirits in bangladesh is the awami leagues nearsighted andti KM HAssan lunacy.
You tied up the character in contradictions.
You cant be truthful and abide by the constitution and respect everybodies opinion, because the state has grown dependant on a pack of lies and manufactured facts and institutions, the constitution is always going to irk the secular and particularly anal folks and the political parties in truth deserve no respect.”
Please don’t connect anyone with any party, just use your common sense. We as Bangladeshi are very good at bad critisim, never want to show respect what has been accomplished. I as well as most of you know that it is tough to find really honest and strong man in Bangladesh to run the country. You may get honest man and he/she may lack of strong leadership. You also may get strong leadership but lack of his/her honesty. So the bottom line is that our hope should be concurrance with reality. We will be doomed if our expectation is too high. Instead of critize this 78 yrs old man too much, look at yourself and what you would do if you are in his shoe. You never can satisfy both BNP and AWL in any situation, so you need to take middle position. No body will get 100% of their points to fullfill. We never learnt to take half glass of water, and consider other should take half to survive.
I was two times in Bangladesh recently and I saw people are affraid of their livelihood beacuse of lack of law and order. I hope that I could explain what I am trying to say.
Sufibaba,
I am confident that yr comments made in sl no 11 is based on some experiences and some observations here and perhaphs some discussions with the political parties. But just to debate with you I would like to ask-Do you think that AL and Alliances are in a position to do what you predict? In this competition era they would be soon discredited– as it is their performance record, with the exceptions in some fields, is very poor and their seniors(and this also true for BNP n Alliances) are on their last leg of survival and would they risk loosing the oppurtunity to be in power again?
Please do educate us more as we want to learn.
Since you mentioned that our president has good qualities, you should name some even if you have lower standards as you claim. We should respect the chair of presidency only if people holding it can honor it. Repect the institution, but if people fail to honor it, we need to call a spade a spade. I am sure you admired the folks who went to Anti-war rallies in USA calling Bush a Killer? Why would it be different in our country? If our President is caught lying and deceiving people, then he has lost respect of the people and he is what it is — a liar and cheat.
Regarding your statement about him being forced to take on the role of the Chief adviser, it reminded me of how Ershad was “requested” by Sattar to take on power in 1982. Please. Don’t insult our intelligence like that.
Eagerly anticipating with bater breath your list of good qualities in our great leader mr. Iajuddin Ahmed. Please furnish a few that you have learnt to admire in great deal over the last few days.
Ershad was young enough to be on a power trip of great violence..+ he was from an army background.
iajuddin is too old to want for that + he has an academic background, and not in a discipline that has much to do with bloody revolution.
I wouldnt dream of insulting your intelligence, we just need 2006 perspective on this, not ahistoric muddle. This situation is new, the more we dignify it with that recognition the better sense can be made from it.
Asif, we will have to disagree about the constitution interpretation-CG-whathappened train of events ok. Im happy to throw my hands up and say that i dont know the game thats being played, i suspect noone mortal has full information.
I see where you are coming from, but feel inclined to defend him, since nobody ever seems to and those that ‘try’ to tend to get shouted down.
I know that their is much that I dont know about how the chap spends his days and nights, simply because the facts are unevenly reported. unknowable unknowns.
Theres been no reporting on quirky non election related actions by him. but i’ll go with the picture of him being a rather ‘controlled puppet’ before hand, but a less controlled one now. Before the incumbents had greater powers of coercion on him as he was just a figure head, now i *think* he has more autonomy.
I liked the humoured compliance with hasina’s ‘take down khaleda’s picture from public offices’ command. He replaced them with his own image. didnt anyone else find that amusing?
I also have respect for him as a student of bangladeshes salinity problems. He is a primary producer type rather than from a righteously indignant sushil samaj origin. Like i said before, we bangladeshis would make great but indisciplined shias, for all the ritual character and institutional destruction we indulge ourselves with.
I think he has been quite restrained, given the violence inflicted, the bloodshed and the chaos and mir jafargiri unleashed in and outside bangladesh. He could have come down like a ton of bricks much harder and much earlier.
He has been dialogical without being tyranised (at last) by the advisors. I’m suprised Sultana Kamal lasted so long, she was always talking quite stropily, exceeding her brief. she was like the Awami walking advisor. NGOistan indeed,impatient, western target orientated, light footed, sharp and snappy.
He has listened to lots of people and outrageous requests over the past days and weeks, its enough to drive a sane man mad.
The Army has not been deployed to jack up the opposition, its to create a behavioural ceiling above which if any bodmarsh goes they will be closely watched and slapped down. dont be scaredy cats just yet.
I have a skewed vision of what happened in dhaka, i view a lot of opposition (whoever they are) practices, rhetoric and attitudes as fundamentally barbaric, and in need of correction.
maybe we could do a death count and a financial damage estimate of the past months.
Hasina Wajed
Khaleda Zia
Iazudin Ahmed.
I guess i admire him because he is at the bottom of the imaginary list.
If you would like a literature review on virtue i can make one if you like.
Realistic virtues.
-He knows the limits of his power.
-He didnt get into public life on the back of his spouse of father.
-He hasnt contributed foul ideology to the politics.
-He hasnt murdered anyone.
-he has procured some new suits.
- He is giving it a go, in a circumstange where he doenst have too many allies.
-He stood up to the lecturn when km hassan abdicated.
-He can make firm decisions.
-There is a limit to how much emotional blackmail he will take (allowing the advisors to resign rather than doing another ‘rapprochement manouver’ with the opposition).
The address to the nation by the president and chief adviser, Iajuddin Ahmed, late on Sunday might as well have been read out by the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia. One really had to overburden one�s auditory nerves to make out the slightest bit of difference between what Iajuddin was saying and what Khaleda and her secretary general, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, repeat ad nauseum almost every day. And even then not much other than glaring discrepancies in diction came to notice.
This paper has pointed out, on numerous occasions, that Iajuddin has done much more in the last few weeks to prove widespread allegations of him being merely a puppet of the immediate-past BNP regime than to disprove them. But Sunday�s speech was a sure masterstroke in his attempts � intended or otherwise � to squarely slap the face of a nation that might actually have expected him to deliver non-partisan rule as stipulated by the constitution.
In this his third speech since assuming the additional responsibility of chief adviser to the caretaker government in late-October, Iajuddin had no qualms in directly and unambiguously placing the blame for the continuation of the political impasse on the Awami League-led alliance.
Whether Iajuddin has the liberty to pronounce such an opinion in public, given that he is the head of state and is expected to play a unifying role in these trying times rather than a divisive one, may be up for debate. But the tone, tenor and content of the speech suggested that it was not his own or his interim government�s opinions he was putting in words but rather the BNP�s.
For starters, despite having himself announced a �package deal� to solve the stalemate formulated by his council of advisers in a previous address to the nation, this time around Iajuddin�s speech made the proposals sound like they came from the AL-led alliance rather than the caretaker government. That, of course, is the BNP�s contention, as claimed every day by Khaleda and Bhuiyan.
Iajuddin, having coined the phrase himself, is now out to disown the �package� as an Awami League concoction, as per the BNP�s party line. Of course, that is no wonder given that he himself has emerged as the greatest obstacle to the �package�, to the extent of now spreading mistruths about the process.
He claimed in Sunday�s speech that it was the AL-led alliance that refused to accept an offer he had made to them regarding sending a particular election commissioner on leave. On Monday, after four among his council of advisers had handed in their resignations following the address to the nation, Iajuddin reportedly admitted that no such offer was made as he faced the wrath of the remaining advisers who stated categorically that it was Iajuddin who had stalled on a decision to send the commissioner on leave despite the advisers promising such an action to the AL-led alliance.
The mistruths spread by Iajuddin did not stop at just derailing his advisers� efforts. He claimed in Sunday�s speech, in an attempt to explain his sudden and disputed (by his advisers) decision to call in the army, that the action was both necessary and legally tenable to maintain law and order across the country.
What Iajuddin chose not to mention to the unsuspecting listeners was that the sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure that he quoted in his speech � 129, 130 and 131 � only allow the armed forces to be called in to disperse unlawful assemblies that cannot be otherwise dispersed.
The government had not, until the military�s deployment on Sunday, declared any gathering to be unlawful, not even the nationwide blockade programmes that had paralysed the nation in the preceding weeks. On Sunday the government did declare certain assemblies to be unlawful, including rallies and processions near the Bangabhaban, but no such gatherings have yet taken place for them not to have been �otherwise dispersed� first.
In fact, if there had been a time and reason to deploy the army, it was immediately before the caretaker government took over, or perhaps even when the nationwide blockades were wreaking havoc on the economy. But now that the �opportunity� has passed, Iajuddin resorting to fibs and falsehoods is clearly not a decision taken in good faith.
What bodes even worse for the nation is the growing suspicion that Iajuddin�s misdemeanours, on an escalating trend in their scale and regularity since his assumption of executive power, are not expressions of naivete and incompetence, but the execution of dubious designs yet to unfold in the public eye.
And, given that the strings are clearly being pulled from behind by the BNP, whose designs these may be is not a difficult mystery to solve.
After Iajuddin squarely disowned the efforts of his own council of advisers on Sunday, and after he embellished his speech with mistruths that may be difficult for the advisers to associate with, it is not only understandable but commendable that some of the advisers showed the self-respect and integrity to hand in their resignations � a gesture that eludes numerous ministers of elected governments who privately slate their leaders.
But at a time when the president and chief adviser�s intentions have all but proven to be mala fide and the council of advisers has creditably taken on the mantle of leadership and statesmanship, it is all the more important that the advisers pull together to deliver the nation from this crisis. Especially as the constitutional clock for the 90-day government is ticking away.
Otherwise, Iajuddin�s dubious designs loom.
Many of my youthful moments were spent in the cantonment, waiting for my father to finish work, or visiting my uncle. Idle moments were spent admiring the kuchkawaj of soldiers. Every time they passed a senior officer, they gave a smart salute…..Despite my long association with the army, and benefiting from the privileges of that institution, I feel fear and cold dread as I watch news reports of khaki in the streets once again.
‘Pronouncing Bengali properly should be a requirement. I wonder why he did not correct his problem all these years’.
While I agree bringing army into politics is always wrong and will; lead to tears (since President is a BNP puppet)….I don’t see what the presidents language has to do with his job.
While politicians may speak the shaddu Bangla, most people speak their own ancholik basha. This shoud be reflected in politics as in other national forum.
Reading his comments, Fugstar appears to be a certain party’s official representative here! Sorry to be presumptous, but he seems to think it’s perfectly ok to be so about people he knows absolutely nothing about! And he does so with even less research than I have done to come to my conclusion!
“I’m suprised Sultana Kamal lasted so long, she was always talking quite stropily, exceeding her brief. she was like the Awami walking advisor. NGOistan indeed,impatient, western target orientated, light footed, sharp and snappy.”
What exactly does Westren goal-oriented mean? I’ve harldy ever come across a more hopelessly patriotic or a more Bangali person (in every way) than Sultana Kamal. So she’s against crossfire killings and army invasions as a humanist. That’s Western goal oriented, is it? total Awami-Leaguer! Yes, surely that’s why her organisation spoke out against Joynal Hajari, etc? Get your facts right first!
What is light-footed? If you mean a light-weight, well that’s just ridiculous! I’ve seen very few people with as much strength of character as her! Or course, her resignation now is a prime example of that! Do you perhaps mean someone sitting on the fence or not taking a bold enough step? Well those can’t be true either because then you contradict yourself.
Unfortunately, “beloved” Iajuddin isn’t as clean, straight, etc as we all wished he would be. Iajuddin continuously lied to the advisers. (And yes, I do have news from the horse’s mouth, and No the horse is NOT Sultana Kamal) He’d say one thing and as soon as the advisers would leave would do something else! Didn’t even have the courage to stand up for his views when the advisers were around. Even the adviser closest to him would urge him to take certain actions but of course, everything would have to be approved by We-All-Know-Who. Iajuddin even threated some of the advisers with BNP action (similar to what happened in one of the advisers meetings with the BNP big shots). turn a blind eye to all this by all means, just don’t go accusing others just cos you feel they support a party that you’re dead against!
What is your problem with Shushil Shamaj? They’re merely trying to help!
Also, what is with this unwarranted attack on Shias? Sounds totally uncalled for.
December 11th, 2006 at 12:30 am
Why are there army tanks on the streets ? Will these tanks be ever used against our own people ? Or is it just a ploy to instill fear among the political activists ?
December 11th, 2006 at 1:16 am
Advisers C M Shafi Sami, Akber Ali, Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashud and Sultana Kamal resigned…
December 11th, 2006 at 1:51 am
We have a president who cannot deliver a speech, nor can he pronounce bengali properly. (though this is not a requirement for his job, but his demeanor when he was giving the speech lacked any kind intelligence one might posses).
The head of the military General Moin Ahmed is sitting with his legs crossed in the picture above. What kind of a posture does that signify?
–Instead of resigning the four advisors should have stayed and tried as much as possible to unveil the true face of the retarded president.
December 11th, 2006 at 5:28 am
I agree with Nafis. Pronouncing Bengali properly should be a requirement. I wonder why he did not correct his problem all these years.
December 11th, 2006 at 5:51 am
isnt the failure here ‘our social discipline’, not the army’s. if we were able to resolve our ideological and factional differences without all the amateur gundami and intelligence sapping confrontation this situation would not keep arising.
its the failure of the democratic agents , thats all.
sad how its all getting personal against the president, he isnt under qualified. i think ‘hegemonic’ linguistic qualifications fo public office are lame, discriminatory and regressive.
December 11th, 2006 at 6:48 am
With all the substantial critique that can be made of Iaj, why are people obsessing over his Bangla pronounciation?
December 11th, 2006 at 6:59 am
Iajuddin has lost the plot.
It is clear that he is agreeing one thing with the consensus of his caretaker advisors, only to be bullied / threatened / cajoled into doing something else by his BNP sponsors.
December 11th, 2006 at 7:08 am
Fugstar,
Here are the qualities of the president as I see it, let me know if you disagree.
1. Fair
2. Decisive
3. Truthful
4. Honest
5. Abiides by constitution
6. Democratic and respectful to everyone’s opinion
7. Charismatic
8. Articulate
9. Passionate
10. Strong communicator.
The fact that all his speeches are delivered at 11.30 at night unannounced when most people are asleep is part of that influecing strategy as well.
December 11th, 2006 at 8:57 am
Is there anyone out there who can suggest one name who fits atlest 70% of the requirements Asif sugegsted? And, please dont bring Dr. Yunus in this debate as well!!
Cheers
December 11th, 2006 at 9:02 am
Sufibaba,
before I answer that, let me ask you what percentage of this list is applicable to this president.
To find an answer to the questions you asked, you just have to look at the past caretaker advisors and chief advisers.
December 11th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Hi Asif
I agree with you that these requirements are indeed what we should look for in our leaders. I also feel that not all these characteristics prevailed among advisors/chiefs of the past caretaker govt. My point is that, we should try to keep our expectations within attainable limits. But if you are saying that Yes-Uddin is the worst of the lot? I do agree with you without any inhibition.
Unfortunately my speculation of Oct 6th/05 is now a reality. So here is my next forecast-
AL will resist election on the street leading to violence between AL, BNP & Jamaat. Army will then get involved in a more proactive role (not martial law). An interim 15-20 member national government will be formed with representation from both Army & civil society to run the country for 2-3 years. This interim government will do the necessary reforms leading to a fresh election around 2010. Yunus at the helm? lets wait a few more days..
When I left Dhaka a week ago, I told a colleague that when I see him again in mid Jan/07, Dhaka streets will have an added dimension - TANKS. Now I hope that the interim system happens before these tanks start shooting at each other…
Cheers
December 11th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Thieves mostly are ‘nishachor’ and they come to your home late at night to steal your precious possesions… For some reason, I find always-giving-speech-when-everyone’s-sleeping is something similar to ‘nishachoric’ behaviour to steal away our freedom.
December 11th, 2006 at 9:45 am
CORRECTION:
Sorry the date should read October 6th, 2006. NOT 2005
cheers
December 11th, 2006 at 11:15 am
i am bamboozled by your list of virtues asif. I have much lower more specific expectations. This is no corporate recruitment excercise. This chap didnt really want the job, but events compelled him to. The previous president didnt have enough statecraft to keep his job given his growing ambition.
Im sure he would prefer the quiet life. The primary fault of the current dip in spirits in bangladesh is the awami leagues nearsighted andti KM HAssan lunacy.
You tied up the character in contradictions.
You cant be truthful and abide by the constitution and respect everybodies opinion, because the state has grown dependant on a pack of lies and manufactured facts and institutions, the constitution is always going to irk the secular and particularly anal folks and the political parties in truth deserve no respect.
Its not a joined up list in the first place.
If we focus too much in the individual, we lose sight of the institutions and thought systems which are the problem.
The military doesnt matter, people agree that now the obhoroths can disrupt commerce and livelihoods, that the selfish lust for power and glory wont harm people so much. its a control mechanism, simple as that.
December 11th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Why did Yes-uddin keeping looking at the left top corner of (looking from outside the TV) of the screen every time he raised his head from reading his speech?
Once he even shook his head - did you guys catch that?
December 11th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Top left corner is where BTV keeps the extra TV monitor, tuned to Al Jazeera. I know this inside dope from 2 sources: one is longtime BTV employee (4th class gazzette), the other is Laltu Mia’s adda @ Khilgao.
December 11th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
FZ: to answer yr qery on sl no.1- it was stated that they hvae been called to help civil adminstration-unruly events plus Robbery at Gold shops,Chittogong port beig rendered unoperative etc– so far there hasnt been any activity to harrass the opposition and alliances.Dont forget there was security alert that an Inidan plane hijacked could be brought to Dhaka.
I dont think tanks or army action would be against us. But then think of the fights on the street whereby Bengalis killed Bengalis no matter to which party they belonged– and in return Politicians delivered 1 lac takas as compensation no sincere feelings about loss of lives–the family of the deceased would soon b forgotten.
Political parties over-react to all actions not in their favour so their opinions r now very hollow to the Citizens–dont worry –they know it all.
December 11th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Asif,
Ref yr pts in sl no 8. I should think that points 6,8 & 9 should be his qualities.Charisma doesnt match with honesty n truthfulness- so that should be out.
About point 5- yes priority consideration should be given to clauses of constitution but for the greater interest of the Citizen he could be flexible and then as President he can always additional orders which the next Government can pass in the parliament to legalize the act.
Now in context of the present situation in the Country the President definitely didnt follow your point no:6 — but then remember that the onus of good governance lies with the Politicians and not the President.
December 11th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
I am agree with mr. Fugstar:
“Im sure he would prefer the quiet life. The primary fault of the current dip in spirits in bangladesh is the awami leagues nearsighted andti KM HAssan lunacy.
You tied up the character in contradictions.
You cant be truthful and abide by the constitution and respect everybodies opinion, because the state has grown dependant on a pack of lies and manufactured facts and institutions, the constitution is always going to irk the secular and particularly anal folks and the political parties in truth deserve no respect.”
Please don’t connect anyone with any party, just use your common sense. We as Bangladeshi are very good at bad critisim, never want to show respect what has been accomplished. I as well as most of you know that it is tough to find really honest and strong man in Bangladesh to run the country. You may get honest man and he/she may lack of strong leadership. You also may get strong leadership but lack of his/her honesty. So the bottom line is that our hope should be concurrance with reality. We will be doomed if our expectation is too high. Instead of critize this 78 yrs old man too much, look at yourself and what you would do if you are in his shoe. You never can satisfy both BNP and AWL in any situation, so you need to take middle position. No body will get 100% of their points to fullfill. We never learnt to take half glass of water, and consider other should take half to survive.
I was two times in Bangladesh recently and I saw people are affraid of their livelihood beacuse of lack of law and order. I hope that I could explain what I am trying to say.
Best wishes,
M. M. Chowdhury
http://www.amreteckpharma.com
December 11th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Sufibaba,
I am confident that yr comments made in sl no 11 is based on some experiences and some observations here and perhaphs some discussions with the political parties. But just to debate with you I would like to ask-Do you think that AL and Alliances are in a position to do what you predict? In this competition era they would be soon discredited– as it is their performance record, with the exceptions in some fields, is very poor and their seniors(and this also true for BNP n Alliances) are on their last leg of survival and would they risk loosing the oppurtunity to be in power again?
Please do educate us more as we want to learn.
December 11th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Fugstar,
Since you mentioned that our president has good qualities, you should name some even if you have lower standards as you claim. We should respect the chair of presidency only if people holding it can honor it. Repect the institution, but if people fail to honor it, we need to call a spade a spade. I am sure you admired the folks who went to Anti-war rallies in USA calling Bush a Killer? Why would it be different in our country? If our President is caught lying and deceiving people, then he has lost respect of the people and he is what it is — a liar and cheat.
Regarding your statement about him being forced to take on the role of the Chief adviser, it reminded me of how Ershad was “requested” by Sattar to take on power in 1982. Please. Don’t insult our intelligence like that.
Eagerly anticipating with bater breath your list of good qualities in our great leader mr. Iajuddin Ahmed. Please furnish a few that you have learnt to admire in great deal over the last few days.
December 11th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Ershad was young enough to be on a power trip of great violence..+ he was from an army background.
iajuddin is too old to want for that + he has an academic background, and not in a discipline that has much to do with bloody revolution.
I wouldnt dream of insulting your intelligence, we just need 2006 perspective on this, not ahistoric muddle. This situation is new, the more we dignify it with that recognition the better sense can be made from it.
Asif, we will have to disagree about the constitution interpretation-CG-whathappened train of events ok. Im happy to throw my hands up and say that i dont know the game thats being played, i suspect noone mortal has full information.
I see where you are coming from, but feel inclined to defend him, since nobody ever seems to and those that ‘try’ to tend to get shouted down.
I know that their is much that I dont know about how the chap spends his days and nights, simply because the facts are unevenly reported. unknowable unknowns.
Theres been no reporting on quirky non election related actions by him. but i’ll go with the picture of him being a rather ‘controlled puppet’ before hand, but a less controlled one now. Before the incumbents had greater powers of coercion on him as he was just a figure head, now i *think* he has more autonomy.
I liked the humoured compliance with hasina’s ‘take down khaleda’s picture from public offices’ command. He replaced them with his own image. didnt anyone else find that amusing?
I also have respect for him as a student of bangladeshes salinity problems. He is a primary producer type rather than from a righteously indignant sushil samaj origin. Like i said before, we bangladeshis would make great but indisciplined shias, for all the ritual character and institutional destruction we indulge ourselves with.
I think he has been quite restrained, given the violence inflicted, the bloodshed and the chaos and mir jafargiri unleashed in and outside bangladesh. He could have come down like a ton of bricks much harder and much earlier.
He has been dialogical without being tyranised (at last) by the advisors. I’m suprised Sultana Kamal lasted so long, she was always talking quite stropily, exceeding her brief. she was like the Awami walking advisor. NGOistan indeed,impatient, western target orientated, light footed, sharp and snappy.
He has listened to lots of people and outrageous requests over the past days and weeks, its enough to drive a sane man mad.
The Army has not been deployed to jack up the opposition, its to create a behavioural ceiling above which if any bodmarsh goes they will be closely watched and slapped down. dont be scaredy cats just yet.
I have a skewed vision of what happened in dhaka, i view a lot of opposition (whoever they are) practices, rhetoric and attitudes as fundamentally barbaric, and in need of correction.
maybe we could do a death count and a financial damage estimate of the past months.
Hasina Wajed
Khaleda Zia
Iazudin Ahmed.
I guess i admire him because he is at the bottom of the imaginary list.
If you would like a literature review on virtue i can make one if you like.
Realistic virtues.
-He knows the limits of his power.
-He didnt get into public life on the back of his spouse of father.
-He hasnt contributed foul ideology to the politics.
-He hasnt murdered anyone.
-he has procured some new suits.
- He is giving it a go, in a circumstange where he doenst have too many allies.
-He stood up to the lecturn when km hassan abdicated.
-He can make firm decisions.
-There is a limit to how much emotional blackmail he will take (allowing the advisors to resign rather than doing another ‘rapprochement manouver’ with the opposition).
December 11th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Another slam dunk commentary from New Age’s Almer Khan:
Iajuddin executing dubious designs
Zayd Almer Khan
The address to the nation by the president and chief adviser, Iajuddin Ahmed, late on Sunday might as well have been read out by the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia. One really had to overburden one�s auditory nerves to make out the slightest bit of difference between what Iajuddin was saying and what Khaleda and her secretary general, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, repeat ad nauseum almost every day. And even then not much other than glaring discrepancies in diction came to notice.
This paper has pointed out, on numerous occasions, that Iajuddin has done much more in the last few weeks to prove widespread allegations of him being merely a puppet of the immediate-past BNP regime than to disprove them. But Sunday�s speech was a sure masterstroke in his attempts � intended or otherwise � to squarely slap the face of a nation that might actually have expected him to deliver non-partisan rule as stipulated by the constitution.
In this his third speech since assuming the additional responsibility of chief adviser to the caretaker government in late-October, Iajuddin had no qualms in directly and unambiguously placing the blame for the continuation of the political impasse on the Awami League-led alliance.
Whether Iajuddin has the liberty to pronounce such an opinion in public, given that he is the head of state and is expected to play a unifying role in these trying times rather than a divisive one, may be up for debate. But the tone, tenor and content of the speech suggested that it was not his own or his interim government�s opinions he was putting in words but rather the BNP�s.
For starters, despite having himself announced a �package deal� to solve the stalemate formulated by his council of advisers in a previous address to the nation, this time around Iajuddin�s speech made the proposals sound like they came from the AL-led alliance rather than the caretaker government. That, of course, is the BNP�s contention, as claimed every day by Khaleda and Bhuiyan.
Iajuddin, having coined the phrase himself, is now out to disown the �package� as an Awami League concoction, as per the BNP�s party line. Of course, that is no wonder given that he himself has emerged as the greatest obstacle to the �package�, to the extent of now spreading mistruths about the process.
He claimed in Sunday�s speech that it was the AL-led alliance that refused to accept an offer he had made to them regarding sending a particular election commissioner on leave. On Monday, after four among his council of advisers had handed in their resignations following the address to the nation, Iajuddin reportedly admitted that no such offer was made as he faced the wrath of the remaining advisers who stated categorically that it was Iajuddin who had stalled on a decision to send the commissioner on leave despite the advisers promising such an action to the AL-led alliance.
The mistruths spread by Iajuddin did not stop at just derailing his advisers� efforts. He claimed in Sunday�s speech, in an attempt to explain his sudden and disputed (by his advisers) decision to call in the army, that the action was both necessary and legally tenable to maintain law and order across the country.
What Iajuddin chose not to mention to the unsuspecting listeners was that the sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure that he quoted in his speech � 129, 130 and 131 � only allow the armed forces to be called in to disperse unlawful assemblies that cannot be otherwise dispersed.
The government had not, until the military�s deployment on Sunday, declared any gathering to be unlawful, not even the nationwide blockade programmes that had paralysed the nation in the preceding weeks. On Sunday the government did declare certain assemblies to be unlawful, including rallies and processions near the Bangabhaban, but no such gatherings have yet taken place for them not to have been �otherwise dispersed� first.
In fact, if there had been a time and reason to deploy the army, it was immediately before the caretaker government took over, or perhaps even when the nationwide blockades were wreaking havoc on the economy. But now that the �opportunity� has passed, Iajuddin resorting to fibs and falsehoods is clearly not a decision taken in good faith.
What bodes even worse for the nation is the growing suspicion that Iajuddin�s misdemeanours, on an escalating trend in their scale and regularity since his assumption of executive power, are not expressions of naivete and incompetence, but the execution of dubious designs yet to unfold in the public eye.
And, given that the strings are clearly being pulled from behind by the BNP, whose designs these may be is not a difficult mystery to solve.
After Iajuddin squarely disowned the efforts of his own council of advisers on Sunday, and after he embellished his speech with mistruths that may be difficult for the advisers to associate with, it is not only understandable but commendable that some of the advisers showed the self-respect and integrity to hand in their resignations � a gesture that eludes numerous ministers of elected governments who privately slate their leaders.
But at a time when the president and chief adviser�s intentions have all but proven to be mala fide and the council of advisers has creditably taken on the mantle of leadership and statesmanship, it is all the more important that the advisers pull together to deliver the nation from this crisis. Especially as the constitutional clock for the 90-day government is ticking away.
Otherwise, Iajuddin�s dubious designs loom.
December 11th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
Many of my youthful moments were spent in the cantonment, waiting for my father to finish work, or visiting my uncle. Idle moments were spent admiring the kuchkawaj of soldiers. Every time they passed a senior officer, they gave a smart salute…..Despite my long association with the army, and benefiting from the privileges of that institution, I feel fear and cold dread as I watch news reports of khaki in the streets once again.
Full article @ DAILY STAR website
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/12/12/d612121501117.htm
December 11th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
‘Pronouncing Bengali properly should be a requirement. I wonder why he did not correct his problem all these years’.
While I agree bringing army into politics is always wrong and will; lead to tears (since President is a BNP puppet)….I don’t see what the presidents language has to do with his job.
While politicians may speak the shaddu Bangla, most people speak their own ancholik basha. This shoud be reflected in politics as in other national forum.
December 11th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
Not that it changes anything, but those look like APCs and not tanks.
December 12th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
Reading his comments, Fugstar appears to be a certain party’s official representative here! Sorry to be presumptous, but he seems to think it’s perfectly ok to be so about people he knows absolutely nothing about! And he does so with even less research than I have done to come to my conclusion!
What exactly does Westren goal-oriented mean? I’ve harldy ever come across a more hopelessly patriotic or a more Bangali person (in every way) than Sultana Kamal. So she’s against crossfire killings and army invasions as a humanist. That’s Western goal oriented, is it? total Awami-Leaguer! Yes, surely that’s why her organisation spoke out against Joynal Hajari, etc? Get your facts right first!
What is light-footed? If you mean a light-weight, well that’s just ridiculous! I’ve seen very few people with as much strength of character as her! Or course, her resignation now is a prime example of that! Do you perhaps mean someone sitting on the fence or not taking a bold enough step? Well those can’t be true either because then you contradict yourself.
Unfortunately, “beloved” Iajuddin isn’t as clean, straight, etc as we all wished he would be. Iajuddin continuously lied to the advisers. (And yes, I do have news from the horse’s mouth, and No the horse is NOT Sultana Kamal) He’d say one thing and as soon as the advisers would leave would do something else! Didn’t even have the courage to stand up for his views when the advisers were around. Even the adviser closest to him would urge him to take certain actions but of course, everything would have to be approved by We-All-Know-Who. Iajuddin even threated some of the advisers with BNP action (similar to what happened in one of the advisers meetings with the BNP big shots). turn a blind eye to all this by all means, just don’t go accusing others just cos you feel they support a party that you’re dead against!
What is your problem with Shushil Shamaj? They’re merely trying to help!
Also, what is with this unwarranted attack on Shias? Sounds totally uncalled for.
December 13th, 2006 at 12:43 am
“unwarranted attack on Shias”? Where was this in fugstar’s post? I missed it.