Fri 13 Jun 2008
Caught between a rock and a hard place (otherwise known as ‘mainkar chipa’)
Posted by Asif under Judiciary , PoliticsComment from SC
No matter how diehard military supporters are seeing prudence and greatness in this release, it is too little - too late. IF it is a strategic decision concerning national security, the stupid and cohorts should have thought about it before they acted. Arresting SH, KZ and interfering into DU are the greatest tactical mistakes that this junta has done, even if someone naively believe they had good intentions. Lot more could be achieved by doing institutional reforms riding people’s support rather than concentrating on removing two leaders.
With all the best wishes for SH’s health, I have to say, this release has come with two ominous shadows. Firstly, SH is released neither by the people’s movement nor by the laws of the land. No matter how much AL screams that no condition is attached, some shady business transaction has happened. Any under the table deal must have something evil in it that requires hiding from the public eye. IF AL assumes they can put the dagger in BNP’s heart by partnering with the junta, it will come back and get them. We people, need and demand a strong, healthy opposition.
Secondly, when SH was arrested, the ‘non-independent’ judicial magistrate has magically opened his shop to take the case at 7:30 am and sent her to jail. Now, suddenly all three-four judges in the ‘independent’ judiciary, within couple of hours, finds that SH’s physical presence is not needed anymore and she is not a flight risk (in fact the government is putting all the effort to fly her out!). It is the ultimate miscarriage of judicial process. Once a military ruler started sell-buy business of politicians making ‘politics difficult’, now this military ruler and sycophants started buying and selling of judges, shedding the last bit of trust from the court of law.
Is there any last chance to preserve some of the nascent goods and prevent heroic comeback of the corrupt politicians? Don’t get me wrong, I am 110% against any direct or indirect military rule, but don’t find a scintilla of sympathy for the corrupt and incompetent top tiers that were surrounding the two leaders right before the collapse.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I don’t completely buy the “corrupt and incompetent label,” but certainly, the last two years have a swan-song for a number of senior politicians in our country. Among others, Saifur Rahman, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, and Abdul Jalil will probably not play the same strategic role in the future that they did in the past.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Tacit, the three names you mention were exactly the ones ’surrounding the two leaders right before the collapse’.
SC, none of the politicians should have been arrested on these ‘corruption’ charges. Ridiculuously trumped up charges of extortions and bribery are rubbish, politically motivated, and won’t stick in a fair trial, and the generals know it. If the regime was serious about holding Tareq and his mates into account for the past misdeeds, it would have tried them for running an unaccountable, illegitimate, parrallel government from Hawa Bhaban. It did no such thing, and only the completely-out-of-touch naive folks cheered on the anti-corruption drive from the middle of last year.
The arrests were motivated by political calculation. And the release of Hasina is also a part of calculation. And so will it be if Khaleda-Tareq-Arafat are released tomorrow. And the politics being played here is one of palace conspiracy and deals. As things stand at the moment, cheering the release as ‘people’s victory’ is as naive as cheering the arrest as ‘anti-corruption drive’ was.
But there is nothing to be despondent about either. There is a lot of politics left before the end of the year. Both the netris could surrender and allow Moeen to assume presidency. Both could go overseas and launch an andolon. Khaleda could refuse to go and Hasina could launch an andolon and return with a million people waiting for her in Zia International Airport. Let’s wait and see what happens.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
On a logistical point, how did Hasina enter US - does’t the release on parole in the midst of ongoing criminal investigations/judicial procedure of primary order offences invalidate her visa?
June 13th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
tacit,
You dont “completely” buy the corrupt and incompetent label? then what PERCENT of that label does one have to buy to realize they were unfit for leadership?
How about 5 times most corrupt nation label? or one ex-minister being sent to jail everyday for 10/15 years? or $2.5 million in undeclared assets? How much corruption does a regime have to do, before we “buy completely” their crimes?
Jyoti says charges were all “rubbish”
If that was “democracy” then maybe we should ask for anarchy!
Were Hasina and Khaleda “completely” unaware of “the corrupt and incompetent top tiers that were surrounding the two leaders right before the collapse”? (as SC describes them). Or were they just too busy doing hartal and oborodh?
Weren’t SH & KZ the actual CHEER-LEADERS behind their crime and corruption, to promote the STREET FIGHTS between AL and BNP?
June 13th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
In close resemblance to coups in the past leading to a rule by the military government, 1/11 was essentially a veiled top-down action and not a transparent bottom-up movement. Anything that moves from top to bottom is basically undemocratic in nature whether these are ideas that flow from the shushil political pundits in the top to the naive rural countrymen in the bottom; or, from the army chain of command in the top to the unelected civil administration in the bottom.
The veil of 1/11 explains this nature of the emergency caretakers. The army did not take power directly like Ershad, but it ruled from behind wearing a musk of a civilian caretaker. In this process it used the ideas and the credibility of the Shusills who were formal advisors and informal allies of the junta.
1/11 exploited the longstanding crack in our society between the educated shushill-minded urbanites (including expatriates) and the vast majority of our non-shushillian uneducated country folks, by ramming down their throats lofty ideas of reform preferred by the donors that were long discarded by the vast majority of the people.
Whether these reforms have any merit is one question but whether a proper representative democratic process have not been followed to implement them is quite another. Dodging the political process in a representative democracy is a top-down abuse by an unelected army-backed and donor-planted caretaker government that is bound to fail as it has no scope for any people support. The spontaneous support of the people that elected politicians receive cannot be planted by the World Bank or the IMF. That is why the will of the people and the sovereignty of our republic need to be so often twisted by extra-constitutional forces of home and abroad.
Politicians in Bangladesh are thought to be incompetent and dynastic managerial classes who can be substituted by non-state actors and NGOs. Those who advocate this model have recently learnt to their disappointment that this kind of unrepresentative, planted and dictated democracy promoted by the imperial humanitarian masters of the West in their witch-hunt for the cave-man Bin Laden isn’t quite possible in Bangladesh.
Having said that, Duduk has shown utter incompetence in processing law suits against arrested corrupt politicians who might now be let loose as their trials remain incomplete while public sentiment against the injustices of the caretaker mounts and the politics of victimization-by-the-army begins. This will open the doors to truly corrupt individuals like Mosaddek Ali Falus and Nazmul Hudas of BNP to politically escape their guilt by claiming solidarity with Tarek Rahman for serving sentences at the same time. The 200 or so MPs with serious corruption charges might also take advantage of discrediting the corruption drive of Duduk and that will be a real travesty for the country after paying the price of 1/11.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:57 am
KGazi, don’t quote me out of context. I said: ‘Ridiculuously trumped up charges of extortions and bribery are rubbish, politically motivated, and won’t stick in a fair trial’.
We’ve had this discussion about corruption earlier. The causes of corruption in Bangladesh are not as simple as you think, and neither are the solutions. Still, you’re entitled to your views, and I respect that. I’m simply not interested in debating this with you any more. You believe whatever you like. But don’t put words in my mouth.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:28 am
I’m not sure I understand the “one ex-minister being sent to jail everyday for 10/15 years” comment.
I would take your antagonism against the past regimes more seriously if you were not so wholehearted in support of this regime. Any faults displayed by the past three democratic governments: centralization of power in one person, lack of transparency, lack of accountability, and so on, have been taken to the maximum by this government.
If someone borrows one hundred takas from you, and defaults payment, and then you go into his house, threaten him with a gun, and take two hundred takas from him, you just can not return the extra one hundred takas to him later, and claim that all accounts have been settled. You have to return the two hundred takas first.
http://www.cabinet.gov.bd/view_present_portfolios.php?lang=en&gid=21&type=ministry_list
The above link contains the past BNP cabinet. Please tell me, with such draconian laws and suppliant judiciary, how many convictions have been won against the so-called “top tier,” the top ten ministers in the list in the past year and a half.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Dear Udayan,
The one lesson that has been pounded into all of us in the last year and a half, in the words of good ol’ Francois-Marie:
“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”
June 14th, 2008 at 7:04 am
KGazi, let’s assume everything you say about politicians/past regimes is correct.
That doesn’t justify or give a blank check to military to engage in mass arbitary arrests, detention without trial, torture, curtailing press freedom, corruption and nepotism of its own, usurping of judiciary and so forth.
You are taking a position that one institution/group of individuals as more of a right to be in a position to do these things than another. If you really wanted to improve things rather than support a different group of opportunists, we would hear from you protests about treatment of Tasneem Khalil, murder of Cholesh Ritchil, mockery of justice in cases pending now and so forth.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
# 5 Cholishnu Bidda Kalpadroom
Good analysis.
Farhad
June 14th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
#6 Jyoti- Saying “causes and solutions of corruption are not simple” is a wonderful LICENSE to give to “politicians” - who love such comments. Fact is - causes and solutions are EXTREMELY simple - and other nations have made huge advances against corruption recently. Nobody should sit back and ACCEPT corruption declaring “it is not simple”!
#7 tacit - this govt is a makeshift “emergency” backup govt - they are neither angels (I have said that many times) nor are they senators from USA. They eat the same daal-bhat as AL-BNP, but at least they have made SIGNIFICANT improvements in anti-corruption.
On your 100 taka example, if I was a thieving minister in a 3rd world nation, I would DESERVE the treatment you described. I have very little afsose for maltreatment of corruption.
#9 - Bitorkito - Tasneem, Cholesh type of incidents happened uncountable times in past regimes, but we cannot PAUSE in anti-corruption just because some of these incidents have not stopped abruptly.
I dont know what you mean by “curtailing press freedom” - ask any BD journalist if there has been any change since 1/11. They will tell you press freedom is no different.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
The way the situation is evolving now, it seems that Tareque, Koko and everyone would be released very soon. I can’t imagine what would happen if goons like Tareq Rahman, Joynal Hazari, Shamim Osman, Nazmul Huda, Mirza Abbas, Nizami all come out publicly and do their politics again. Where is the future of Bangladesh? Few days back, when Khaleda Zia was giving a speech in the court that she gave electricity, prosperity and a corruption-free environment to Bangladesh during her rule, I was thinking, how can we protect ourselves from these liars to lead the country. Don’t see any hope!
June 14th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
“Causes and solutions of corruption are not simple”….Do not rationalize supporting the fraudulent leaders and labeling them as childlike people. Regardless the cause of the corruption, if anyone involve in bribery and pilfering money, they should be prosecuted, otherwise no complex full proof solution will help to stamp out the corruption from BD. This kind of dialogue only abets the politicians/army/bureaucrats to start their corruption in full swing.
June 14th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
#11 KGazi - I know many Bangladeshi journalists both living inside and outside BD, across the range of the ideological spectrum, and almost all of them are vociferous in stating that they and their editors are under much more pressure than before 1/11. When you have a gun pointed at your head, how many people are going to openly going to speak out against what is going on? I don’t know how many journalists you have discussed this with.
You dismiss the instances of torture, but it is part of the same package as corruption. And there are plenty of allegation against the current regime regarding corruption and nepotism.
Are you at least prepared to condemn the torture against people like Tasneem, Tareq Rahman, Cholesh etc?
June 15th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
>>almost all of them are vociferous in stating that they and their editors are under much more pressure than before 1/11.
I agree. Putting pressure on the journalists is a wrong decision and doesn’t bring any good for the govt. But I also emphasize that few newspapers are totally biased newspapers and are criticizing the govt. because their owners are in the jail for corruption. I also don’t want to mix up Tareq Rahman case with Cholesh and Tasneem case as the later were innocent and didn’t do any harm to others. Although I condemn torture on all of them. Therefore when we discuss these delicate issues, I’d urge we give picture of both the sides and let people take an informed decision. My 2 cents.
June 15th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Udayan #14,
1) I condemn ALL VIOLENCE - crime, torture, terrorism or assassination, whether pre 1/11 - or post 1/11.
But current incidents of violence are not as PERVASIVE, widespread and frequent as they used to be pre 1/11. There is also built-in culture of harrasment and torture in BD. Therefore it is pointless to use Cholesh, Tarek and Tasneem incidents to put a HALT on drive against anti-corruption.
However condemnable are (cultural) incidents of violence, the greater nationwide DRIVE against anti-corruption must not be disturbed. And successful anti-corruption will REDUCE such incidents in future.
2) Press freedom:
BD has history & worldwide reputation of press harrasment by political groups. AL-BNP stick treated journalists with violence pre 1/11 - and journalists may be asking for safety against such treatment. But it will be misplaced to say “the army gun is reducing press freedom” more than pre 1/11.
Award-winning BD journalist was at my USA home this week - he said there is NO change in press freedom now than pre 1/11.
Lets ask Mr Zafar Sobhan about HIS opinion on whether “press freedom” is worse now than pre 1/11 (due to the army gun)?
———-
Press freedom is certainly better today than this:
http://www.cpj.org/attacks00/asia00/Bangladesh.html
http://middle-east-analysis.blogspot.com/2008/05/non-freedom-of-press-in-bangladesh.html
June 16th, 2008 at 2:47 am
KGazi, the drive against anti-corruption, as you put it, is one of the biggest lies ever inflicted on the people of Bangladesh.
What has this drive demonstrated? That civilians can be arrested by soldiers? That you can take men and women out of their homes at night, torture them, keep them in jail, confiscate their property, and convict them using laws made and amended at will if you have state power behind you? Is that something people in Bangladesh did not know already?
Or is it the sight of so many ex-MPs and ministers in jail? Is it the sight of the two ex-Prime Ministers in jail? People who crow about these things would do well to read the history of how Ayub Khan in Pakistan or Augustas Pinochet in Chile went about cementing their reigns as military dictators. You see, the blueprint for coups never change; they are just tweaked a bit to suit the times, but the same blueprints are used over and over again.
You have every right to be frustrated with the level of corruption in Bangladesh. But please understand that there is nothing particularly demonic or sub-human about the three hundred people currently locked up in jail in charges of corruption. If you give a future government the same sweeping and broad powers given to the current government, the same convictions and the same arrests concerning the memebers of this current administration can be replicated. And meanwhile, corruption is increasing, not decreasing, in today’s Bangladesh, because corruption can only exist with unchecked power and lack of accountability, and I really can not think of any government in Independent Bangladesh that has tried exercised such untrammelled power as this government.
June 16th, 2008 at 3:07 am
#16 “There is also built-in culture of harrasment and torture in BD. ”
So it’s acceptable?
What if someone said there is “built-in culture of corruption in BD”? - as many have.
June 16th, 2008 at 4:40 am
#18 Udayan,
No its not acceptable, I already said in the first line I condemn it, but its not as widespread as it used to be - it has decreased in frequency.
And in reality, it will never disappear to ZERO PERCENT - no country has ZERO torture and zero corruption. But the widespread EXTENT and abuse of corruption (and torture) which in Bangladesh HAS BEEN culturally extremely high - it MUST be brought down to levels of civilization.
Current anti-corruption drive has reduced it - and the drive must never end.
June 16th, 2008 at 4:48 am
#17 tacit,
How else would you fix the unparalleld corruption and failed democracy in 1/11?
Lets hear your “solution”.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:46 am
KGazi, Mridul Chowdhury writes about a better anti-corruption strategy here:
http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2008/may/corruption.htm
Causes of corruption are not simple, and neither are the solutions.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Tacit, Jyoti bhai and the rest
A few observations.
I’ve recently returned from a short visit to Pakistan, where starting from bureaucrats, to journalists, bus-drivers and shop-keepers, everbody marvelled at Bangladesh and our democracy.
They said they were jealous of how elected our own leaders, corrupt or not, and then voted them out of power. The envied us for having leaders who didnt stem from a feudal system. Till quite recently, they envied the lack of military presence in our governance. In fact, they said they want to emulate our democratic system of governance and that their leaders have a lot to learn from our Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia.
And here, we have Mr. K Gazi and others like him, who would rather have us duplicate Pakistan’s failed modelled of “corruption-free” military regimes.
A professor from Lahore Collegae had earlier made a comment on our Dudok. He had said, ‘ Your government finds the most corrupt people and puts them behind bars. Out military picks them up and makes them ministers’. Let us now look at the ‘priyo patros’ of the current regime. Are these guys the creme of the crop? the pak, most corruption free ppl in the world?
June 16th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Fariha, it wasn’t long ago that people asked what Pakistan needs to do to become more like Bangladesh. I wrote about it here:
http://jrahman.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/west-bangladesh-and-east-peccavistan/#more-72
Our democracy had problem - concentration of power, lack of check and balance, the winner take all nature. We’ve written about it repeatedly here. Asif Saleh and Jalal Alamgir wrote about possible ways to improve checks and balances without creating a Pakistan style monster here:
http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2008/may/check.htm
I wrote about stronger local government here:
http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2008/05/25/on-devolution/
There is no lack of ideas that can inject checks and balances and dilution of power into our democracy. These ideas, however, won’t give the generals political power. And the so called anti-corruption drive - arrest and torture of politicians - and its suspension through the release of selected people are aimed at ensuring that the generals get political power.
I have nothing to say to the people who refuse to acknowledge this reality. But rest of us would do well to remember what has happened to Pakistan can very well happen to us.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Fariha, thank you for the affirmation. I always marvelled when people gravely speak about the dangers of Bangladesh becoming a failed state. I mean, when compared to Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and huge swaths of India, Bangladesh seems to be the only functioning entity in the South Asian ‘hood.
Re # 20, I would first and foremost remember that you can not instil a culture of obeying laws by breaking them yourself. If the ACC wants to investigate the entire cabinet, all the members of the last parliament, about the hundred and twenty people who have been secretaries in the last five years, that’s absolutely fine, but don’t arrest them before they have been convicted, don’t confiscate their property before they have been convicted, and don’t conduct the trials under the Emergency Law. Do you realize by conducting these trials under the Emergency Powers Rules, an impression is created that these sort of anti-corruption efforts are only sustainable during the emergency?
I would also devote much more energy to stopping corruption that is currently happening, rather than prosecuting past instances of corruption. Every government in Bangladesh has filed corruption cases against the immediate past government, this one has just pursued them vigorously because it was a matter of life and death for them. When a government stops being past-looking and proactively starts policing its own members, now that would be progress.
I would also trust in more transparency. The disclosure of assets for election candidates is a huge step forward for us. I would post all tax filings of all MPs in a website, so that people could have easy access to them.
The agency that can do the most to stop corruption is not the ACC or the army, but the police, perenially the most ignored institute in the Bangladeshi government. They have it in them to stop the rise of local godfathers and prevent abuse of power very, very, effectively, and they can do so without having to blindfold and torture people.
Lastly, I would trust in the vote of our people. We do tend to vote out a lot of our corrupt people in successive elections. I think around 36 past ministers and state ministers lost from BNP in the 1996 election, including people like Salam Taluqdar and Majidul Huq, if they had not, Khaleda Zia would again have been PM. Something similar also happened in 2001, and would have also happened in 2007. Given the chance, we are very much capable of doing what is good for us.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Jyoti bhai,
I’ve read all these articles. But clearly, the people who really need to haven’t.
Since I’ve come back, these KGazi type comments are riling like never before. Close to us sits a nation which is a testament of how badly these military run regimes with their power-hungry generals (despite being better-spoken and more well-versed than ours) can fail the people worse than the corrupt politicians. They seat their gaping at us, hoping to follow our model of elections, of transitional govts to ensure free and fair elections, and here we are, dying to become more and more like them.
It was amazing how they how applaud the courage we demonstrated in ‘71 and express pride mingled with envy in our achievements and over here our so-called progressive and enlightened ‘powers that be’ are trying harder to accept the Pakistan model after it’s failure. We’re now shunning the values we reveled in in 1971. We now feeling ashamed of our political leaders and our political parties.
I’m sorry if I’m ranting. But the irony of the whole issue is too much for me to digest. Jyoti bhai they still ask us how they can be more like us and here we have the Pk educated MUA whos trying to make us more like them.
June 16th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
“But the irony of the whole issue is too much for me to digest. Jyoti bhai they still ask us how they can be more like us and here we have the Pk educated MUA whos trying to make us more like them.”
Let’s hope that the key word remains “trying.”
June 16th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Fariha,
My “riling comments” may not be so soothing - but here is the sad truth.
I read those articles too, they are basic ABC of creating foundation of accountability, law and order for any govt. These articles should have been written when Hasina and Khaleda were in chair, and they should have been READ by Hasina and Khaleda.
But the BIG question is – were these articles written before 1/11 ? did our wonderful pre 1/11 govt ever read them? Did they utilize them, did they do anything about them?
Did they even KNOW that Police, judiciary, anti-corruption and rule of law are the BREAD and BUTTER of democracy?
Next time the Pakistanis tell you how wonderful our pre 1/11 “democracy” was in Bangladesh – tell them “all that glitters is not gold”. Behind the façade of elections was a system of governance that was rotten to the core. Elections alone does not make a democracy – you need the CORE of governance surrounded by anti-corruption, accountability and rule of law, in order for “democracy” or ANY governance to function.
Tell them that the PAKISTANI FORMULA of “democracy” was equally corrupt to the core which is why the generals had to return again and again. In the Pakistan formula of corrupt democracy, the real thieves were the political leaders – who fooled people with the carrot of “elections” and had no concern for GOVERNANCE. Had they been true to themselves in achieving ‘good governance’ then the army would have never bothered – because people would reject army. Same goes for Bangladesh.
While our Forum writers are now recommending how the temporary CTG/army should create a system of law and order and accountability - they are forgetting that these “generals” are only a CORRECTION of the failed democracy - which in Bangladesh will be given another attempt in Dec 08.
But, did our Forum writers ever write before 1/11 how to achieve anti-corruption, accountability and rule of law?? so that Hasina and Khaleda could do something about it? Sad answer is no.
Instead of blaming the “generals” for forcing a CORRECTION to our governance, we should be blaming our wonderful “pre 1/11” govts for never implementing those concepts necessary for a modern nation pursuing democracy.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:51 am
#27
“Next time the Pakistanis tell you how wonderful our pre 1/11 “democracy” was in Bangladesh – tell them “all that glitters is not gold”.”
Something Jyoti bhai wrote on Rumi bhai’s blog made perfect sense. Read about it here.
http://rumiahmed.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/waiting-for-khaledas-hasina-moment/#comment-7211
Till the boot-lickers took over in 1/11, what set our democracy apart from Pakistan’s was that we always had a choice. We still have a choice, provided we get to vote in December. That is what my Pakistani friends had marvelled at. They’ve had their first free and fair election and we’ve already been through three.
Our model of democracy, may have been flawed. But then so is the US model of democracy. Our model of democracy still gave us the choice to choose our leaders. We’ve always created our own leaders. Our leaders weren’t just born. That is Tarique Rahman was never our leader, like Benazir was in Pakistan.
Rumi bhai writes here
http://rumiahmed.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/waiting-for-khaledas-hasina-moment/#comment-7213
“Democracy gets strong by learning from its mistakes. You can not compare a 20 year old democracy with that of 1000 year old British or US democracy. Look back at India’s history. How was India’s democracy 37 years after independence? Democracy needs time, sacrifice and patience for perfection.”
We don’t need generals to correct our systems. We can do it ourselves. Doesn’t matter when the Forum writers wrote the articles. What matters is that they did, and we need ourselves and the leaders we chose to make these corrections.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:30 am
K Gazi bhai, the archives (bottom right of this page) are there to see whether we said anything about the injustice committed by previous governments. But how to solve this problem is where we differ. By the way, you mentioned you were going to write a couple of articles yourself about the ‘donation’ that army took for its golf club from the banks and also another one surrounding illegal settlement in Chittagong Hill Tracks. Whatever happened to those? Too busy repeating the same mantra in blogs, eh?
June 17th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
We don’t need generals to correct our systems. We can do it ourselves.
Had the general not intervened and corrected the system, we would have had a civil war and thousands could have died and we would have turned into a mini Congo or sierra lion.
The apologist of the old regime, out of their anger for the military seems to overlook, how Both AL and BNP looted and plundered the country led By Hasina and Khaleda.
I also, don’t understand, while we all know, while these two are the undisputed leaders of their parties and they have the right sack or pull anyone, we would not hold them responsible for the atrocities of falu,makbul,hazari,pintus.
Shame on people who still supports them.
The generals are no saints. However, these group of generals have shown bit more maturity and sensibility than, Ershad or Musharraf.
People are too keen to diss, the achievements of this government, but, you don’t have to look anywhere, look at Chittagong port, you will signs what good military has done.
Only because, talk shows and columns are inundated with sympathizers of the old system, analysts seem to assume Khaleda Hasina enjoys grass root support. But, the truth is they don’t. The silent majority finds them distasteful. There was recent survey by Brac university that reflected this, where people said, they have highest trust level on military and lowest trust level on politicians (read, Hasina Khaleda).
I am not anyway saying, generals are angels. Most of them are also corrupt. But, the truth is amongst all the government institution’s military has the least amount of corruption. That view is also echoed by transparency international.
The fact is, this government is honestly trying to hold a good election and are willing to see an end to political violence and unabated corruption and looting of the land. Dudok is working hard.
And, the silent majority of people who has not given any dash khot to AL or BNP have broad support for what they are doing.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Asif,
Mainstream theories which I believe are misconceptions, such as:
“pre 1/11 democracy was great. what corruption? It will all fix by itself, USA took 200 years why not us. This is all Pakistan army formula. Return Hasina and Khaleda to power, there is nobody else!”
have not been successful concepts, and we need to review them differently,’out of the box’, in order to bring any drastic change and success.
But you are right - I need to focus more on my own pending items. Sorry for my repeat mantra
and Thanks to all for the very healthy debates.
Best Wishes to DP family
June 17th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Some people who always keep telling the same old story i.e. democracy needs time, time and time for the perfection and to some extent they are ready to wait another 200 or 1000 years without democracy but they can not wait for only 2 years to give an attempt to fix it!!! 2 years are very short period compared to 1000 or 200 years. If the Junta back CTG failed to fix the democracy within the 2 years, KI EMON MOHA VAROT OSHUDHDHO HOYE JABE VAIJAAN AND Pakistani BONERA amar, ektu bekhkha diben ki? Does anyone believe here that BD is capable to become a economically solvent, democratic and corruption free country in 2 years time? It is better to be rationalized rather than just following our old crook political leader’s style.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:02 am
Re # 30, “Had the general not intervened and corrected the system, we would have had a civil war and thousands could have died and we would have turned into a mini Congo or sierra lion[sic].”
Really? A civil war? Thousands of people did not die in BD in 1975, 1990, or 1996. Except maybe in some over-fertile imaginations, they would not have died in 2006 either.
If the military is really so popular, and Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia are so “distasteful,” why bother with the Emergency Laws still? Let us lift them and give elections tomorrow.
As for the people who talk about our democracy being fixed by the generals, I have a better chance of curing a cancer-patient by giving them my “dua-pora pani” than these generals have of fixing our democracy. Democracy can not be fixed from the outside, if it could be, George W. Bush’s name would not be synonymous with failure right now.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:15 am
tacit
read prothom alo today. there was a subeditorial where, ex British High commissioners comment was quoted, We have gold fish memory. Post 33 just reminds me of that.
Also it is wrong to say this government is military government. There was an overwhelming popular support behind this government specially from civil society while it was formed although most of these people ran putting their tail inside their legs when the global inflation took its toll in Bangladesh and we saw an unprecedented increase in price. But general people still see, this government as a good government when for the first time after history of Bangladesh has some leaders who are not busy plundering the land.
And, they have made it perfectly clear that They don’t want to stay beyond December this year. And, hardly any of their deeds contradicts with this view. So, what’s this impatience is all about. Yes, there exists many power hungry generals, but, there is a lot of safe guard against their greed.
I find it hard to understand, why this apathy against this government clearly when you can see this government has taken lots of goods steps to eradicate corruption. And, if this corruption drive fails, that would only because, people like you are trying hard to stop this movement against corruption. In last 35 years, not a single politician were convicted for corruption but this government has the audacity to put, sakas, falus ,mokbuls and osmans in the prison who never thought they would never be prosecuted.
I don’t understand why are you not happy for that.
I understand, your loathing towards militarization but should your hatred be so strong that, you can’t accept any good deed by this organization which may help us see a country where state level corruption will be abated which will give some chance of development for the poor people ?
June 18th, 2008 at 5:29 am
If the military is really so popular, and Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia are so “distasteful,” why bother with the Emergency Laws still? Let us lift them and give elections tomorrow.
emergency or no emergency has no bearing on normal peoples daily lives.
emergency is only giving some legal cover to government to prosecute the looters, who with the great help of our legal system will get out of jail and rule us after December 2008.
thanks you all. says people of Bangladesh.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Re # 34 “In last 35 years, not a single politician were convicted for corruption but this government has the audacity to put, sakas, falus ,mokbuls and osmans in the prison who never thought they would never be prosecuted.”
You capture the biggest failure of this government right there, in a single sentence. Yes, they have been put in prison, but that by itself is no accomplishment, is it? Politicians currently not in power are put in prison in Bangladesh all the time.
However, how have they been prosecuted? Where are the charges of corruption against the four people you named? (Hazi Moqbul has not been arrested, by the way) Where are the cases detailing how money was extorted or people were murdered?
There is a reason why the symbol of justice is a pair of scales. When someone appears at a court of law, they appear as innocents, and every fact against them must be proven. No matter who the person is or the allegations surrounding him are, you keep someone locked in a jail for one year without any convictions against him/her, the term for that is being a political prisoner.
The thing is, at the end of 2006, people were ready for an actual anti-corruption drive. But that chance has now been squandered.
June 18th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
#34
Not a single politician has been successfully convicted of corruption yet. they have been accused and disparaged.
and please…if you’ve read the most current post on UV, you will realize how successful your favorite govt has been in combating corruption.
Let’s not argue over the merits of a military regime and it’s noble anti-corruption drive. Today is a very sad day for all Bangladeshis. Regardless of which party or regime we support, the TIB report reflects on all of them and their successive failure in tackling corruption over the years. It also shows how none of them are above indulging in this folly.
June 19th, 2008 at 1:51 am
#37 - On the contrary, today is a day of rejoice for all Bangladeshis!
TIB Report says:
[Bribery declined slightly ... in the sectors that were under the spotlight of the government’s anti-corruption drives. (during first 6 months of 2007)]
It says:
“During the first six months of the present government, the rate of bribery increased from 12.5 per cent to 44.5 per cent in education, from 32 per cent to 36.9 per cent in public health and from 33.3 per cent to 35.7 per cent in non-government organisations. [**these are sectors where govt had no spotlight on**]
[HOWEVER] Bribery declined slightly from 31.9 per cent to 28.8 per cent in the judiciary, from 41 per cent to 38.7 per cent in the power sector, from 55.4 per cent to 22.7 per cent in banking and from 44.9 per cent to 34.9 per cent in tax administration — ** the sectors that were under the spotlight of the government’s anti-corruption drives.** ”
CONCLUSION: Military or civilian - govt needs to KEEP A SPOTLIGHT on anti-corruption, and the current drive has been SUCCESSFUL right from the first 6 months of 2007.
June 19th, 2008 at 5:23 am
# 38
How about what you read what Jyoti bhai has written here
http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2008/06/18/the-last-nail-in-the-credibility-coffin/
As I said, putting politicians behind bars is all the anti-corruption drive has succeeded in doing
If their drive had really succeeded, the law enforcement agencies, directly run by this govt, should have seen drastic fall in petty corruption. And what do you mean by they ‘had no spotlight’ on corruption in the education sector? I thought they were trying to banish corruption from all sections, including the Forests!
Absolute power corrupts. Military or civilians.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Re # 34 “In last 35 years, not a single politician were convicted for corruption but this government has the audacity to put, sakas, falus ,mokbuls and osmans in the prison who never thought they would never be prosecuted.”
You capture the biggest failure of this government right there, in a single sentence. Yes, they have been put in prison, but that by itself is no accomplishment, is it? Politicians currently not in power are put in prison in Bangladesh all the time.
How you view this matter depends on, which of the political dynasty you sympathize for.
Fortunately, me and the mass people of the country don’t belong to any of those and we are happy to see they are behind bars, who had gone on rampant looting of the country through unwavering support from blind supporters (like you) and enjoyed virtually unprosecutable stays because both AL and BNP made sure they both safeguard each other in spite of all their fighting in the street and destruction of the country. They shared tenders; they shared looted government land and shared wines after dinner.
So, your heart might shake in the fear of militarization, when you see, sakas, falus, makbuls and osmans behind bar, we feel, ain hoi nai but bichar hoise.
Post 39 . As I said, putting politicians behind bars is all the anti-corruption drive has succeeded in doing
For which you have be willing to see. You cant see if you are not willing to see. I sited an obvious example of Chittagong port which has reduced lead time of 10 days in each export order curbed taka 2000 crore of corruption. And this is not isolated. There is a fear in amongst the corrupt that they will be prosecuted, which they thought they enjoy impunity due to their muscle and money power.
And, to quote Desh netri Hasina, Bangladeshe ar kokhono corruption hobena.
Heading five years of shorkari lutpuat Ki shundor ekta kotha bollen, apa, and you guys are still thinking, anti corruption drive has no fruit?????
June 19th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Re # 40 “Fortunately, me and the mass people of the country don’t belong to any of those and we are happy to see they are behind bars, who had gone on rampant looting of the country through unwavering support from blind supporters (like you) and enjoyed virtually unprosecutable stays because both AL and BNP made sure they both safeguard each other in spite of all their fighting in the street and destruction of the country. They shared tenders; they shared looted government land and shared wines after dinner.”
This is a very honest comment: anything that takes the annoying AL and BNP off the streets is good. No matter the lack of ain, no matter that if while locking up the latest batch of twenty thousand Bangladeshis arrested right off the streets, on top of the three hundred thousand plus arrested earlier, forces the government to actually release convicted criminals to make space in the prisons. But the bichar is celebrated, big prison sentences, confiscating property, the whole nine yeards.
Stepping back for a moment, you know, most countries with two party-systems invariably have people who hate the two parties involved. People who eloquently and forcefully express the desire that the two said parties, whether the Democrats and Republicans, or the Tories and Labor, or, PML and PPP, or, to a much lesser extent, Congress and BJP, just all go and jump in the nearest ocean, and save their country a bunch of trouble. Express the desire, and yet keep voting for one of those two parties, year after year, election after election.
Perhaps they should take a cue from us. I mean, the power to retrospectively apply emergency laws to any action committed, ever? The power to simulatenously lock up, punish, and torture politicians, AND blame them for their all that happens? Now that’s something.
P.S. Really? They shared wine after dinner?
June 20th, 2008 at 6:18 am
tacit,
what bothers me is your acceptance that, AL and BNP will loot, cheer hundred rape in university campus, which will be cheered by their leaders saying”alpo boyoshi chelera ektu adhtu kore”, create thousands of bridges and culverts to grab a share of the tender and offer some dhal bhat to local leaders through contracts, 60 million people will live half hungry, there will no healthcare infrastructure where poor people are destined to die if there is any serious illness, 70% of people will remain illiterate and the two parties who are directly responsible for that, you are trying to hide their greed and loot by saying, two party system, us, uk, history, correction, 200 years and bla bla bla.
Ask it to the guy, who has her daughter died in her arms whom she couldn’t afford a twenty thousand taka operation. Ask it to the man, who just because of lack of opportunity tied himself in aircraft wheel to free his family from poverty. You will have an altogether different viewpoint about your priyo deshnetri and jononetri.
And, only because of the dash khot you guys have given to the old regime they still walking their head high showing V-sign. Shame.
I don’t like giving examples of japan korea. look at vietnam. they had their peace i think, some times around in 96. And, within 20 years, look where they are. intel, ge all are setting up plan their. But, even after a golden opportunity from 1991 what these two netri has done do this country.
have you ever been seen the face of a hungry child who starved the night before. Did you ever kill your father cause he became a burden to you as you couldn’t afford his health cost. I am sure you know them, only difference is you don’t care. You only care for the allegiance you have given to them, that you will bear forever until you will become victim like the people I mentioned. But, you will never be. Like me you come from an affluent family and you have the luxury to come with various logic for their unabated corruption stating things like two party system or not having enough long history of democracy. But, they don’t.
Shame to you people again.
Shame you still find loopholes to support them.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
#42
I think it’s insulting to everyone when someone claims to be more patriotic then others! I think it’s safe to assume that everyone here and in other places cares about Bangladesh and her people. That’s why they spend their time arguing about what’s good for the country or not. The difference of opinions is the way the “good” for the country can be or should be achieved. And in a democracy, this difference of opinion is a healthy thing for the good of the country.
I don’t disagree with you that we need to decrease the % of corruption in Bangladesh. But I would have to agree with tacit that just putting these people behind bars is not going to end corruption. This will just give rise to a new set of corrupt people. If and only if, we can put a system together that will discourage corruption, only then we can expect the corruption to go away in Bangladesh. The first step of putting that system together is to follow the law and provide justice to these corrupt politicians. Otherwise, you’ll make them stronger in eyes of the public. So to quote your own words, “ain hoi nai but bichar hoise” approach is not going to achieve a corruption free Bangladesh.
Now let’s think about it for a moment. Why do we say that Falu (for example) was corrupt? That’s because he gathered his wealth without following the law! That’s what the govt. calls it: “Ain bohirbhuto sompod”. That means, Falu did not follow the law and we call him “corrupt”. By this very definition of corruption, the current rulers are also corrupt if they do not follow the laws of the land! It’s that simple! That’s why the current CTG (military) is trying their best to strike a deal with those so called politicians that you hate so that they (CTG) don’t get prosecuted when they leave the power (if they do it!).
What surprises me the most is the lack of willingness on the part of the urban educated (!) elites to follow the law that they set out to defend on the first place! I think this would be great resource for researchers in the future generations.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
42 Hassan,
If you see the title of the post “Caught between rock and a hard place”, this was to illustrate exactly that point that we have few choices. On one hand, we have some of the failed political leaders from the past with no new ideas and on the other hand we have the mohicans fighting their own battle for supremecy which is also very much self serving.
As Jyoti said before, even after this election, we have a Bangladesh to fight for — whoever comes to power. But we, perhaps, have a better chance with democracy where we still had a choice.
We need to start talking about post election agenda of the parties. We will need to talk about new vision in our media. We will need to talk about the forgotten crores of our country. We need to hold the political parties accountable as well — not every 5 years but on an ongoing basis.
Lots to do and for that I firmly believe that the citizen’s awareness and their mobilization on an issue oriented and non partisan platform is very important.
Can we keep this outrage alive? or the likelihood is we will simply forget and expect things to fix itself. Or better yet, feel good about ourselves blaming the two netries. The two netries may have failed to give us vision based leadership but if past two years are any guide, our problem is not centered around these two leaders.
Poltical parties are basically a common platform of various factions and interest groups. In South Asia, people need one over arching figure to keep all of these factions together. With all their faults, that is the credit of Khaleda and Hasina that they have been able to keep afloat two very strong democratic forces together and vibrant. This is exactly why our country will never turn into a Somalia or Sudan. This is exactly why the minus two campaign was drafted.
I am off to a tangent. But the truth is that we need to build on a few good things that have been talked about and built on over the last couple of years. Unless there are strong institutes and a strong judiciary, nothing will matter. Our problems are many and we need to priortize in tackling them. Before the election this year, that’s the kind of talk we would want from our leaders on their vision into solving these issues of the country. Don’t blame the parties only if they do not talk about it. Look at our media and see how they are so disinterested in these issues and likes to focus on cheap gossips and news.
Rest assured, the country will never go back to pre 1-11 mindset.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Re # 42, I would take your outrage seriously if you were not so busy defending this current military government, which has to be the most urban-centric and out-of-touch government in Bangladeh’s history. Advisors repeatedly say about high prices and people starving “There is nothing the Government can do” and you are blaming BNP and AL?
Yes, I have seen the things you mention, and more. No one in Bangladesh has given a dash khot to anyone else; although there seems to be a plethora of people who would gladly give one to any general right now, if they would accept it.
BNP and AL have made possible greater amounts of poverty alleviation and economic development than any other government in our history. You talk about Vietnam, why don’t you tell me the difference between a one-party Communist dictatorship and a dashkhot?
Comparing Bangladesh with other countries is a cheap gimmic to discount Bangladesh’s unique ethnic and social complexities. It may make for good sound bytes, but it does not achieve anything concrete.
If you believe that our country is best served by our current military government, then you are certainly entitled to do so, but please do not come as a supported of the military government and their chief advisor who has spent less than seven years of his life in independent Bangladesh, and then accuse others of giving up dashkhots and not being connected to the people of Bangladesh. To do so is hypocrisy of the highest order.
June 21st, 2008 at 1:52 am
“Rest assured, the country will never go back to pre 1-11 mindset.” This realization, even of the ‘human rights activists’ like Asif, is, I think, the greatest contribution of the current govt. This govt., for the first time in the annals of independent Bangladesh, has been able to jolt the mass-perception that a few people are above law for ever.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:45 am
NP and AL have made possible greater amounts of poverty alleviation and economic development than any other government in our history.
Shame once again. That is dashkhot to me.
You talk about Vietnam, why don’t you tell me the difference between a one-party Communist dictatorship and a dashkhot?
You must compare just to realize what we could have done, if we just had two leaders who could tolerate each other in the expense of dimilishing the hopes of a nation.
I would take your outrage seriously if you were not so busy defending this current military government, which has to be the most urban-centric and out-of-touch government in Bangladeh’s history. Advisors repeatedly say about high prices and people starving “There is nothing the Government can do” and you are blaming BNP and AL?
No.The differance is me and millions like me are ready to give this military led government a chance to cleanse the things. If we see they are trying stay beyond December, we are ready to give them the joke. But, until then they get the benefit of doubt and we see they are trying honestly.
But, why I am disturbed by people like you is that, you are hell bent to foil the chance that we have got and foil the movement against corruption because of your dash khot to AL or BNP. I tell you what, during the price hike this government showed enough sensitivity to launch the largest program on feeding poor through launching stores and other steps. Those have their inherent weaknesses but still, we don’t see this government has not tried. But, you guys are ready to take the opportunity of price hike(which has been a global fenomenon) and use this destabilize the corruption drive by establishing that this is a failed government and you using it as ruse to establish the credibility of the Hackneed politicians who are rotten to the crore.
You are using it as excuse to create populous support through columns, internent, talk shows that, our leaders are the best, the old system was change, reform is not required and let them out of jail and going back to your post “BNP AND AL HAVE MADE POSSIBLE GREATER AMOUNTS OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THAN ANY OTHER GOVERNMENT IN OUR HISTORY”
That again is a shame.
Great post asif and sensible. Nothing to disagree.