They Deserve Our Honor

Bejai, a village few kilometers away to the east from today’s Fulbari Upazila of Dinajpur district, was a major obstacle for Allied Forces to occupy the main town of Bogra. On 21^st November 1971, over 800 troops of the Allied Forces led by Sector 7 freedom fighters and Indian Army’s 20^th Mountain Division under command of Maj.Gen. Lachhman Singh Lehl made a surprise attack on Pakistan Army’s Bejai position and occupied the location. A Frontier Brigade of Pakistan Army was guarding Bejai, who initially started defense but later escaped leaving supplies, arms, ammunitions even the military jeep of the Brigade commander. Allied Forces started attack by a massive artillery strike that was made to shut the Pakistani bunker resistance over the position. Then over 500 Bangladeshi & Indian troops started ‘attack-run’ sprinting to the bunker line of Pakistani.

 

In this front-fight run to the bunkers, Indian commanders applied a trick. Usually freedom fighters were used to hail “Joy Bangla” while moving towards the target in the battlefield. On the other hand Indian troops were used to hail something like “Jay Bharat Mata Ki Jay” or phrases related to this. In Battle of Bejai, there were around 100 freedom fighters and rest of the troops was from Indian Army. An Indian officer called Maj. Anup, the trick was his brain child. The trick was, along with all freedom fighters, Indian troops will hail “Joy Bangla” too. This will give an idea to Pakistanis that a huge wave of freedom fighters are coming. He told to his brigade (the particular brigade which was executing the Bejai operation) Commander Col. Dutt about this weird sounding trick.

After the artillery fire, both freedom fighters and Indian troops started sprinting to the bunker-line hailing “Joy Bangla! Joy Bangla!”. Pakistani machine-gunners at those bunkers at first started pretended all of the incoming forces to be freedom fighters all in all, members of the families they have massacred, brothers of women they have raped and killed, representatives of people they have shot to death. Pakistani troops took no time to leave the battlefield. That battle of Bejai dramatically ended up in an incredibly short time and with a very little amount of casualties, 8 Indian troops were killed and some others were injured including that Maj. Anup, the mastermind of the great trick. After occupying Bejai, the Pakistani resistance over the Fulbari Upazila town & Bogra main town became absolutely isolated and vulnerable.

Indian Commanders in that Bangladesh Liberation War considered the influence of freedom fighters at every steps of their fight. No matter what was the political vision of India over that war, Indian military commanders realized very much well that this was Bangladeshi freedom fighters that Pakistani Army was tremendously scared of.

The mentality of then Indian Commanders came out through statements of Lt.Gen J.F.R. Jacob (Jacob-Farj-Rafael Jacob), who was the Chief of Staff of Indian Army’s Indian Eastern Command, said,

“The full credit goes to the freedom fighters and the East Bengal Regiments. They have done the real job and their acts of valor won the nation independence.”

About the surrender of Gen. Niazi, Gen. Jacob told,

“After the proposal of surrender, Niazi said, ‘Who said I would surrender? You have only come here to a ceasefire.’ So, this argument went on. Then Farman Ali chipped in and said, ‘You have put down joint command. There is no question of anything with Bangladesh Army.’ The document I gave him for surrender it was joint Indo-Bangladesh command, it was not Indian army.”

This is how Gen. Niazi reacted to the press days before the surrender.

Later, Gen. Niazi & others like Gen. Rao Farman Ali though came agreed that they are ready to surrender rather than a ceasefire; they were completely inflexible in the issue of surrendering to anybody other than the Indian Army. But Gen. Jacob was quite resolute on two basic points; Pakis have to surrender to the joint command of India & new born Bangladesh, that also not inside any clumsy office room, rather in front of public. Gen. Jacob describes,

“Giving Niazi 30 minutes to make up his mind, I walked out of the room. Going back, I put the paper on his table and asked him, ‘Do you accept this document?’ For three times he didn’t answer and I picked it up and said taken as accepted.” Especially the Racecourse part of the story was Gen. Jacob’s brainchild, to humiliate Pakis in front of the whole world.

 

These persons, Gen. Jacob, Gen. Sam Manekshaw, Gen. Lachhman Singh, these are the guys who once fought our fight for us. May be we can find some other type of view of Indian authority if we go deeper politically. But those are now irrelevant. The greater outcome of that engagement is our independence & victory. We haven’t thought what Mrs. Gandhi’s motive was behind this war, because we didn’t need. And now points like these are irrelevant because we had no choice then. So this is not right if somebody is found disappointed at recent visit of those Generals. I have seen somebody to get obsessed about Gen. Jacob’s recent appearance in the scene. Some are trying to develop some confused conspiracy theory out of it. Nobody understands that these people absolutely deserve to be part of each & every move we take about the great liberation war. Gen. Jacob once was asked that actually from when they had started the war. Gen. Jacob then chuckled, “Officially or unofficially?” He later replied that the military got involved from April along with all of its intelligence & logistic units, but the Indian authority started observing & making plans after the 25^th March crackdown.

There are some issues of a nation those must be kept conserved out of every sort of debate. The liberation war of Bangladesh is that type of issue for us. And, Gen. Jacob, Gen. Sam Manekshaw, Gen. Lachhman, Gen. Heera are inevitable part of the history of our independence. We cannot & cannot afford to have them aborted from our history of independence & victory. Invitation of these great people at least has been praiseworthy stuff at the great day of our great nation.

I will put the full stop to this post by letting you know about a flap which took place on last two three days of our victory. I found these events have been kept out of focus in every sort of analysis our people do about 1971.

If interested people go through the history, you can easily understand that Bangladesh was going to be another country under UN peacekeeping forces if Indian commanders had different plans on December 14, 15 & 16. They have been continuously urged (by USA, UN) to go for a ceasefire with well subdued Pakistan army, that could be tremendously advantageous for Pakistanis and the independence of Bangladesh could be thrown to a dilemma due to the debates of super powers. Soviet Union on December 14 notified Indian Authority to hurry the matter up and they are not going to hold their position against the entire Security Council for long. But the intractability of Indian Commanders left no room for Pakistanis to do a ceasefire rather agreeing to do whatever Indians asked. And in this post I have mentioned how Gen. Jacob had geniuses like Gen. Niazi & Gen. Rao Farman surrendering their trigger friendly revolvers. So we should understand that these people are inevitable parts of the history of our victory. Some of us, who are trying to cook some ‘conspiracy theory’ out of their recent visit, should understand that we cannot measure weight of everything in a single weight machine. If you try to measure weight of a cargo ship putting it on a departmental store weight machine, that machine is going to be crushed. We shouldn’t do any such thing that bruises the glory of our independence & victory.

The Unseen & Untold Part of a Story

I remember one thing, the High Court bench by Justice Nayeem and Justice Alam quashed a case against Awami League President Sheikh Hasina regarding Azam Jahangir’s accusations and at that night, Hasina’s lawyer Barrister Rafiqul Haque told that all charges against politicians those this government has put for some ‘different’ kind of purpose, all of them will be quashed like this. Two corruption charges against Begum Zia in 2001 & 2002, those were recalled after this regime appeared, also have been permanently closed by the Appellate Division yesterday. Here, Barrister Haque as Begum Zia’s lawyer has repeated what he said after Hasina’s case got quashed. Hundreds & thousands of charges those have been made lavishly against politicians specially BNP leaders & ex-ministers, what are the backgrounds of those accusations? BNP leader has been kept inside jail without any judiciary action and oneday he died. We at least haven’t forgot Qaiyum Khan yet.

Ex-minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood (Tuku), who has been freed under parole from a charge today, Rumi Ahmed has come forward with the background of that case.

View from a different perspective

Posted by Rumi under Conspiracy, Corruption, Journalism, Judiciary

Lead news of different print media in Dhaka today was that of the ten years imprisonment of businessman Giausuddin Mamun. Like previous cases of conviction, todays news item also did not include the detail of the charges or judicial analysis of the judgement. The Daily Star reporting of today was typical such effort. Naturally it gave this news the top news treatment. Except stating that the judge “…delivered the verdict just in a minute saying the allegations brought against Mamun and his wife have been proved”, the reporting did not bother to even mention the accusitions that culminated in this sentence. And typical of Daily Star-Prothom ALo, another reporting, full of unsubstatiated rhetorics already published in DS several times, accompanied this report.

This is really a sorry state of affair and condemnable journalistic ethics. Newspapers are having a field day on their innovative news creation, the judges are not bothering to explain the justification of their sentence, after closed door proceedings, the accused are being thrown in a jail cell for 10, 20, 30 years. Everything is going on smoothly except for the fact that their is a total denial of the right of the accused to defend themselves or make their case in front of the nation.

I recently got hold of the following document that was presented to defend former state minister Mr. Iqbal Hasan Mahmood, who was arrested along with his wife, student son and teenage daughter. I am publishing it here for my readers. This document was specifically prepared for Mr. Mahmood. But certain facts mentioned here will shed light on several much talked about allegations against many politicians of previous government.

The Case of Iqbal Hassan Mahmood

View from a different perspective

The Difference

The media in the country is currently full of stories of corruption by politicians of every hue. The latter are being accused and found guilty of misuse of official position for personal gain, bribery, extortion, and misappropriation of public funds in development projects, abuse of relief materials, being a habitual bank defaulter and becoming immensely rich through illegal means during the last five years.

However, the case of Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, former Minister of State in charge of the Power Division of GOB is different in more than one ways. Thus:

He has not been accused of any corruption or corrupt practices undertaken while discharging his duties in the Power Division of the Ministry of Energy.

He has not been accused of using his official position to further his business interests.

He has not been accused of indulging in any irregularities while overseeing development activities in his constituency (Sirajganj).

He has not been accused in any extortion case.

He has not been accused to be a bank defaulter as a businessman.

No proceeding was ever instituted against him by the income tax department during his life as a businessman.

However, he has now been accused of avoiding income tax through concealment of some properties, which amounts to about 5% of the total wealth he has acquired through legitimate 100% export business over a period of nearly 30 years.

The following write up gives a background of the case, draws some true pictures, which contradicts some misleading media reports, elaborates on the charge sheet and court orders and mentions the defense arguments in favor of Mr. Mahmood.

Background

Iqbal Hassan Mahmood is widely recognized as a scion of a distinguished family of North Bengal being the elder son of late Abdullah Al-Mahmood-a former Minister of Industries of the Government of Pakistan. Mr. Al-Mahmood’s family is respected for having served the people of the locality in multiple sectors of social and economic developments since the days of British India. On his own Iqbal Hassan Mahmood has pioneered manufacture and export of ready-made garments since the late seventies of the last century. He has helped build several 100% export oriented garment industries and his “Apex Textile Group” employs nearly 3750 people and annually exports home textiles to US and Europe worth nearly $40 million (US). He is recipient of several awards for distinguished performance as an innovative exporter of Bangladesh.

In 2001 he was elected an MP from Sirajganj constituency in North Bengal and joined the Government as Minister of State in charge of Power Division of the Ministry of Energy. The Minister in charge of the Division was the Prime Minister herself. It was widely reported in the media that Mr. Mahmood was made ineffective as a Minister less than two years after his appointment and the Office of the Prime Minister took over all decision making initiatives of the Power Division. Later he was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture.

On February 4, 2007, men in plainclothes claiming to be Bangladesh’s “joint task force” took him into custody after midnight. Mr. Mahmood was arrested in his home in front of his wife and children, blindfolded, handcuffed and driven at around 2 AM to an interrogation center, where he was interrogated blindfolded and taken to the nearest Police Station the day after next and produced before a court which, in accordance with a newly introduced law, refused him bail. He was sent to jail under emergency provisions.

At the end of investigations by the “Task Force” Mahmood’s wife Rumana Mahmood, son Abed Hassan Mahmood and unmarried daughter Sarah Hasin Mahmood were put in prison and are being prosecuted in court as abettors to his alleged crime of “hiding illegally earned money for purposes of tax evasion”. Since bank accounts, saving instruments and shares were bought and kept in their names by Mahmood they are held as alleged abettors. It is alleged that he was engaged in “corruption” even though he never engaged in business with any Government agency. He bought and imported only from private sources and exported to private buyers abroad. His buyers include, IKEA, Red Cats Group, etc. Thus the question of getting undue favors from Government agencies or misusing official position as a minister to influence business decisions never occurred.

Misleading Media Reports and the Reality

Media plays a vital role in endeavoring to expose instances of corruption in the public domain. However it has also been observed that quite often stories are published which has not been thoroughly verified and essentially based on hearsays and wild conjectures. Unfortunately for Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, the print media has often been harsh and wildly off the mark in reporting cases of irregularities in the Power Sector during his tenure as a Minister of State in charge of that division in the Energy Ministry. For instance, it was often reported that there had been irregularities in the process of evaluating and awarding of power projects. Without verification of facts it was insinuated that he had indulged in corrupt practices. The language used would typically run like “ He is reported to have taken part in shady deals”, “It is said that he has stashed away millions of dollars in such and such power project deal”, “Agency reports (without any mention of the agency concerned) say that …………….” etc. But let us look at the ground realities based on verifiable indicators:

(a) Not a single large Power project came to fruition during the last BNP Government due to bureaucratic interference from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. Incidentally, the PM was herself the Minister in Charge of the Power Division and had withdrawn all decision making power from the Minister of State. A chronological run down of decision making in case of the 450 MW Sirajganj Power Project has been appended in Annex 1. It clearly shows that Mr. Mahmood was hardly able to influence the decision making process. Comments from the World Bank Vice President can be seen in Annex 2. This was true for most of the projects.

(b) After promulgation of Emergency on 1/11 the Government instituted a thorough enquiry by a high-powered expert’s committee headed by Prof. Dr. Abdul Matin Patwari (former VC BUET and IUT) with high-level representation from the army to look into the reported corruption in awarding Power project contracts during the previous regime. The expert’s committee cleared the five deals initiated by the past Government (Please see Annex 3).

(c) Mr. Mahmood has often been mentioned in newspapers in the case of “KHAMBA” which supplied concrete poles to Rural Electrification Board. There is a print-media-created perception in the public mind that this company through aegis of the Minister of State has misappropriated “more than thousand crores”. In actuality these procurement decisions were made at the REB level and the files did not come up to the State Minster’s level for decision and he had no stake in the company. These poles were procured under both GOB and foreign funding.

(d) More importantly, during first year of BNP rule the pole business was monopolized by the GEMCON group, which is headed by Col. (retd.) Shahed. KHAMBA and several other suppliers participated in this business for the first time in 2002-2003. The total concrete pole business during the BNP regime amounted to Tk. 879 Crores and the GEMCON group maintained its dominance by claiming Tk.511 crores of the business (58%). KHAMBA supplied to the tune of Tk.101 crores worth of poles (11.8%). (Please see details in the table given in Annex 4).

The Charge Sheet and Judgment against Iqbal Hassan Mahmood and his entire family

The charge sheet submitted by ACC officials (please see Annex 5) against the family stated that according to Mr.Mahmood’s wealth statement his family’s net worth amounted to Tk. 35.95 crores whereas according to the “task force” investigations their wealth amounted to Tk. 38.42 crores – a difference of 6.8%. The charge sheet also accused him of having acquired Tk. 4, 96, 11,916 through illegal means. However the Special Court No. 5 while delivering the judgment ordered confiscation of four items of properties worth Tk. 2.23 crores which amounts to 5.8% of the wealth possessed by the family (as per ACC’s findings).

Details of the four items of properties alleged to have been acquired illegally and subsequently ordered to be confiscated by the court along with the argument provided by the defense are given below:

One BMW jeep was bought under MP’s tax-free provisions. For the purchase of this car Apex Weaving and Finishing Mills Ltd provided funding out of a loan from IDLC. Defence witnesses from IDLC confirmed the loan to Apex. Apex presented the Board Resolution in which the decision to extend the loan to Mr. Mahmood (a sponsor Director/MD). Interestingly, exactly similar arrangement for funding was made for the purchase of a second BMW jeep for Mr. Harunur Rashid, Chairman of Apex. The BMW belonging to Mr. Mahmood, worth Tk. 47.76 lakh has been ordered to be confiscated.

Two plots of land in Basundhara housing project for which a part payment has been made. Only provisional allotment has been by the housing company and the defense stated that the money was deposited out of loan from Home Textiles (a private limited company partly owned by Mr. Mahmood). Witness from the housing company did submit that officials from Home Textile came to deposit booking money on behalf of Mr. Mahmood. Interestingly, exactly similar arrangement for funding was made purchase of similar Basundhara plots for Mr. Harunur Rashid, Chairman of Apex and part owner of Home Textiles. The part payment made to the tune of Tk 74 lakhs have been ordered to be confiscated.

A bank account in the Dhaka branch of State Bank of India in which the house rent received for Mr. Mahmood’s brother’s house in Dhaka used to be deposited was not mentioned in the wealth statement. The house rent received by Mr. Mahmood’s brother was reflected in the latter’s income tax returns. But the court was not convinced and ordered confiscation of Tk.2.38 lakh in the said bank account.

In the ACC findings it was reported that Tk. 1 crore was found in the name of Rumana Mahmood in One Entertainment books of account as “shares and/or dividend”. The defense disowned this amount and stated that he had no clue how and why this was deposited in the name his wife. Some of the prosecution witnesses stated that the sum was deposited in the form of cheque and pay order from persons unknown to Mr. Mahmood. It was also argued and evidence produced in some transactions in One Entertainment the signature of Rumana Mahmood was forged. However the court was not convinced and ordered confiscation of this Tk. 1 crore. Mr. Mahmood disowns this amount and has no desire to contest this confiscation order because he never claimed to own it. Rumana Mahmood did become a director of the company but only paid Tk. 1.25 lakh for purchase of shares.

Concluding Remarks

Iqbal Hassan Mahmood has not been accused of any corruption or corrupt practices undertaken while discharging his duties in the Power Division of the Ministry of Energy.

He has not been accused of using his official position to further his business interests.

He has not been accused of indulging in any irregularities while overseeing development activities in his constituency (Sirajganj).

He has not been accused of having taken part in any extortion case.

He has not been accused to be a bank defaulter as a businessman.

No proceeding was ever instituted against him by the income tax department during his life as businessman.

However, he has now been accused of avoiding income tax through concealment of some properties, which were acquired through loans taken from his own company. The loans are to be repaid over time through adjustment of dividends received from those companies.

* * * * *

রাজনৈতিক উদ্দেশ্যে পুনরুজ্জীবিত একটি মামলার পরিণতি

ঢাকা, মার্চ ২৭ (বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম)

সাবেক প্রধানমন্ত্রী খালেদা জিয়ার বিরুদ্ধে দুর্নীতির দুটি মামলা বাতিলের হাইকোর্টের রায়ের বিরুদ্ধে সরকারের আপিল আবেদন (লিভ টু আপিল) খারিজ করে দিয়েছে আপিল বিভাগ। ফলে মামলা দুটি বাতিলের হাইকোর্টের রায়ই বহাল থাকছে। একইসঙ্গে মামলার অভিযোগ থেকে চূড়ান্ত অব্যাহতি পেয়েছেন খালেদা জিয়া।

বৃহস্পতিবার প্রধান বিচারপতি মো. রুহুল আমিনের নেতৃত্বে আপিল বিভাগের ছয় বিচারপতির বেঞ্চ খালেদা জিয়ার বিরুদ্ধে সেনানিবাসের বাড়ি সজ্জিতকরণ ও পুলিশের এসআই নিয়োগসংক্রান্ত দুটি দুর্নীতির মামলা বাতিলের হাইকোর্টের রায়ের বিরুদ্ধে সরকারের আপিল ও আপিল দায়েরে দেরি করার ক্ষমার আবেদন খারিজ করে দেয়।

রায়ের পর সরকারের অতিরিক্ত অ্যাটর্নি জেনারেল সালাউদ্দিন আহমেদ সাংবাদিকদের বলেন, “খালেদা জিয়ার বিরুদ্ধে দুটি দুর্নীতির মামলা করা হয়েছিল। হাইকোর্ট মামলা দুটি বাতিল করে। এর বিরুদ্ধে সরকার লিভ আবেদন করেছিল। আপিল বিভাগ লিভ মঞ্জুর করেনি। ফলে এ মামলায় হাইকোর্টের রায় বহাল থাকছে। দুর্ভাগ্যজনক হলেও আপিল দায়েরে বিলম্ব মার্জনার কারণ ব্যাখ্যা করতে সরকার ব্যর্থ হয়েছে।”

বিএনপি চেয়ারপারসন খালেদা জিয়ার কৌঁসুলি ব্যারিস্টার রফিক উল হক সাংবাদিকদের বলেন,

“খালেদা জিয়ার বিরুদ্ধে কোনো অভিযোগ না পেয়ে পুরনো মামলা পুনরুজ্জীবনের চেষ্টা করছে সরকার। রাজনৈতিক উদ্দেশ্যপ্রণোদিত হয়ে সরকার এটা করছে। এসআই নিয়োগ দুর্নীতি মামলা বাতিল করে হাইকোর্টের দেওয়া রায়ের কপি সরকার পেয়েছে ২০০২ সালের ৩ জুলাই। এই রায়ের ১৯৬৯ দিন পর সরকার আপিলের আবেদন করেছে। অন্যদিকে বাড়ি সজ্জিতকরণ মামলা বাতিল করে হাইকোর্টের দেওয়ার রায়ের কপি সরকার পেয়েছে ২০০১ সালের ১৮ নভেম্বর। এই রায়ের ২১৭২ দিন পর আপিলের আবেদন করা হয়েছে।”

তিনি আরও বলেন,

“আপিল বিভাগের রায়ের ফলে খালেদা জিয়ার বিরুদ্ধে দুর্নীতির এ দুটি মামলা পুরোপুরি বাতিল হয়ে গেল। হাইকোর্টের রায় বহাল থাকল। সরকার বিলম্বে আপিল দায়েরের ব্যাখ্যা দিতে ব্যর্থ হয়েছে। এজন্য আদালত আবেদন খারিজ করে দিয়েছে। তবে সরকার এ রায়ের বিরুদ্ধে রিভিউ আবেদন করতে পারবে।”

১৯৯৬ সালে সাবেক প্রধানমন্ত্রী খালেদা জিয়ার বিরুদ্ধে পুলিশের এসআই নিয়োগ ও ১৯৯৭ সালে তার সেনানিবাসের বাড়ি সজ্জিতকরণে দুর্নীতির অভিযোগে তৎকালীন দুর্নীতি দমন ব্যুরো মামলা দুটি করে।

মামলা দুটিতে খালেদা জিয়ার বিরুদ্ধে অভিযোগপত্র দেওয়া হলে তিনি মামলা দুটি বাতিলের জন্য হাইকোর্টে আবেদন জানান। হাইকোর্ট ২০০১ সালে বাড়ি সজ্জিতকরণ ও ২০০২ সালে এসআই নিয়োগ দুর্নীতি মামলা বাতিল করে রায় দেয়।

এই রায়ের বিরুদ্ধে সাত বছর পর সরকার গত ৩ ডিসেম্বর আপিলের আবেদন করে। পাশাপশি আবেদন করতে দেরি হওয়ার মার্জনা চেয়েও আবেদন করা হয়। ১৬ জানুয়ারি আপিল বিভাগের চেম্বার বিচারপতি এম এ মতিন ২৭ মার্চ আপিল বিভাগের পূর্ণাঙ্গ বেঞ্চে আপিল আবেদন দুটির শুনানির তারিখ দেন।

বৃহস্পতিবার সকালে শুনানির শুরুতে আদালত সরকারের কাছে জানতে চায়, কী কারণে আপিল দায়ের করতে দেরি হয়েছে?

জবাবে অতিরিক্ত অ্যাটর্নি জেনারেল সালাউদ্দিন আহমেদ বলেন, সাবেক প্রধানমন্ত্রী ক্ষমতায় থাকার সময় মামলা দুটি বাতিল করা হয়েছিল। সে সময়ে সরকারের কোনো আইন কর্মকর্তা বা দুর্নীতি দমন ব্যুরোর পক্ষে আপিল করা সম্ভব ছিল না। খালেদা জিয়া প্রধানমন্ত্রী থাকায় তার আদেশ মানার ক্ষেত্রে বাধ্যবাধতকা ছিল।

আদালত বলে, এত দেরিতে হাইকোর্টের রায়ের বিরুদ্ধে আপিলের কারণের সুষ্পষ্ট ব্যাখ্যা আবেদনে দেওয়া হয়নি।

খালেদা জিয়ার কৌঁসুলি ব্যারিস্টার রফিক উল হক বলেন, নিয়ম অনুযায়ী হাইকোর্টের রায়ের ত্রিশ দিনের মধ্যে আপিল করতে হয়। কিন্তু সাত বছর পর এ আবেদন করা হয়েছে।

বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম/এটি/এসএনডি/এমএইচবি/১৯০০ ঘ.

India Mania : Built on Mud – Part II

This post is a translation of “Bharot-Piriti : Balir Badh (ভারত-পিরিতি : বালির বাধ)“ by Rezwan Siddiqui published in Daily Naya Diganta; Translated by xanthis. This is the second part of the write-up and the whole write-up will be published here in three parts. Thank you.

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India Mania : Built on Mud

Part II

The manpower effort in Malaysia is also having the same fate as that of Middle East. Malaysia once ensured to recruit 0.2 million Bangladeshi workers and Bangladesh is now about to lose that opportunity. We have India in this case too. Allegations have been talked of, about the possible Indian aid to grow stronger unrest among Bangladeshi workers, but Bangladesh Embassy has been found completely apathetic on this issue. This whole matter has been covered by several newspapers but the authority of Bangladesh has remained uninterested mysteriously.

The foreign policy of the present government sounds like all their interests are totally concentrated into India. “Indo-Bangladesh relation should be improved”, “Two Bengals should come nearer in all respects”, “and trains will run through Indian steel cage”, these are the issues those are getting highest emphasis. Some upstart counsels of this government who are in no way concerned about the interest of Bangladesh but however have been given top priority by this authority, have been misleading the foreign policy of Bangladesh since this 1/11 regime has appeared. This has resulted with a completely India-dependent diplomacy and now Bangladesh is having troubles in all respects.

The new phase of the Indo-Bangladesh relationship started after the India tour of Gen. Moeen U Ahmed. He has been given the highest attention which is usually spent behind heads of the state or the government. After a grand red-carpet welcome, Gen. Moeen has been attended by the Chief of Staff of Indian Army, the minister of foreign affairs, the minister of interior and the minister of defense. There were plans of meeting with the Prime Minister & The President. They have classified Gen. Moeen as a person friendly to them. The issues those got importance are, Indo-Bangladesh railway, joint military collaboration, India’s domestic secessionists, allowing India to use Chittagong port, transit, air corridor for Indian airliners etc. Indian electronic & print media have reported these quite straight forwardly and Bangladeshi media has followed them up. There was fury, there was confusion, and there was tension about our national security. But the ultimate result of Gen. Moeen’s tour de India whether it has been a success or not, is unknown yet.

Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Army Gen. Moeen U Ahmed made cordial request to the Foreign Minister of India for the export of .5 million tons of rice to India to be unscathed. But our rice import from India is facing new problems each day since the day it’s been started. India is restlessly exploiting the rice crisis of Bangladesh at full phase.

Let’s go deeper to the drama that India is playing with rice export to Bangladesh.

Two floods in few months and the cyclone Sidr put the food management of Bangladesh into great trouble. The food crisis was nothing new but the devastating Sidr made the situation worse. As a requirement of the circumstance, the government of Bangladesh decided to go for an import of .5 million tons of rice from India. After Sidr, Pranab Mukherjee came to Bangladesh to show his tear-dropping sympathy for Sidr affected population. While wiping his tears out, he gave the word to smoothen the rice import and deliver them as early as possible. At his false words, the authority of Bangladesh ultimately closed their hunt for other eligible rice sources. The rice price in Indian market then was around $350 per ton. The price is still almost same there. More importantly private importers of Bangladesh opened LCs for the import before Mukherjee came here. But, the rice import got dramatically barred under condition immediately after Mukherjee returned to India. The condition was, Bangladesh will have to pay $420 per ton for receiving further supplies. Negotiations up to this unlawful bar started. But Bangladeshi negotiators had no option due to tremendous scarcity of rice here. So they let the deal go with $420. Still Bangladeshi authority did not look for alternate affluent sources such as Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand. Still they thought the relationship with India is greater here. Extra $70 for each ton, which shows up as a big loss in greater sum, did not appeared more vital to the present government than the relationship with India.

To be Continued

Operation Searchlight : The Background of 25th March Genocide

The night of massacre, 25^th March 1971, was a complete military operation by Pakistan Army, officially named Operation Searchlight. The idea of this operation came to some of senior Generals after massive demonstration of East Pakistanis on 21^st February 1971. This is one of very few military operations in post World War II history which ultimately had been planned against civilians, just to kill a smart percentage of them and to scare survivors. The concept of Operation Searchlight was inspired by the My Lai massacre that U.S. Army did in Vietnam.

The plan was drawn up in March 1971 by Maj.Gen. Khadim Hussain Raza and Maj.Gen. Rao Farman Ali, as a result of a meeting between Pakistani army staff on the 22nd of February. Senior Pakistani officers in East Pakistan who were unwilling to support any military attack on civilians, Lt.Gen. Shahabzada Yakub Khan, GOC East Pakistan, and the governor Vice Adm. Ahsan, were relieved of their duties. As a replacement of these two officials, Lt.Gen. Tikka Khan was made both the Governor and GOC of East Pakistan.

On March 17, Gen. Khadim Hussain Raza was given the go ahead to plan for the crackdown via telephone by Gen. Hamid, COS Pakistan Army. On the morning of March 18, Gen. Raza and Maj.Gen. Rao Farman Ali put the details to paper at the GOC’s office at Dhaka cantonment. The plan was written on a light blue office pad with a lead pencil by Gen. Farman containing sixteen paragraphs spread over five pages.

Gen. Farman wrote out the operational premises and conditions for success, while Gen. Khadim dealt with the distribution of forces and particular tasks of the individual brigades and other units. Planners took this to consideration that the Bengali officers and other military or para-military units will revolt at the onset of operations. To minimize that risk, it was suggested that all Bengali armed units like Police, Riffles (EPR) should be disarmed and the political leadership arrested during their meeting with the President, Gen. Yahya Khan. No operational reserves were earmarked. Though the draft asked to disarm Police, EPR units, thousands of unarmed Police men & EPR troops were massacred inside Dhaka’s Police lines at Rajarbag & EPR Headquarters at Pilkhana.

The handwritten plan was read out to Gen. Hamid and Lt.Gen. Tikka Khan on the 20th of March at the flag staff house. Gen. Hamid objected to the immediate disarming of regular army Bengali units but approved the disarming of EPR, armed police and other para-military formations. In the initial draft of the massacre plan, Pakistan’s genius Generals like Gen. Farman suggested that Awami League leaders could be arrested amid the ongoing dialogue with Gen. Yahya, but another genius Yahya Khan refused it, proved he is at least wiser than Gen. Farman . After frequent verification & scrutiny, the amended plan was approved and the operational plan was distributed to various area commanders on the 24th and the 25 March daytime, when a group of Pakistani Generals, accompanied by Gen. Hamid, Gen. Mittha, the QMG, and Col. Saadullah, PSO, visited the major garrisons via helicopter and personally briefed the various garrison commanders or senior West Pakistani officers on the operation. Gen. Mittha was the chief of the Special Services Group (SSG Commandos). SSG was given the vital role of the most dramatic chapter of total plan, the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Maj.Gen. Qamar Ali Mirza, and Brig.Gen. Harrison later arrived from West Pakistan to assist Gen. Mittha for arranging the logistical details, mainly because the non cooperation program by Awami League was causing immense impact including hampering food supplies to the military. Secrecy was maintained at extreme strictness, only a few junior commissioned officers learned about the plan beforehand on a need to know basis. Some Bengali officers had become suspicious of the all West Pakistani officer briefings. Later it showed that some of Bengali officers initiated revolts as a confused advance from their suspicions.

The Operation started on the night of 25 March, 1971 in Dhaka, and other garrisons were to be alerted via phone about their zero hour to start their operations. Gen. Farman Ali commanded the forces in Dhaka, while the rest of the province was commanded by Gen. Khadim himself. Lt.Gen. Tikka Khan and his staff were present in the 31st field command center, to supervise and support the command staff of the 14th division inside Dhaka Cantonment. To the time of leaving Dhaka for Karachi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto accompanied Gen. Tikka Khan inside the cantonment. While observing the massacre under name of ‘Operation Searchlight’, Zulfikar Ali at a moment showed interest to be taken with a military unit see what is happening in the city and asked for Gen. Tikka’s consent. Gen. Tikka refused him showing no reason.

India Mania : Built on Mud – Part I

This post is a translation of “Bharot-Piriti : Balir Badh (ভারত-পিরিতি : বালির বাধ)“ by Rezwan Siddiqui published in Daily Naya Diganta; Translated by xanthis. This is the first part of the write-up and the whole write-up will be published here in three parts. Thank you.

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India Mania : Built on Mud

Part I

The present unelected government that has utterly no accountability, has led Bangladesh to such circumstances where now we have no ally in the international diplomatic arena. A nation always needs an ally, who can come forward & help to overcome troubles. Considering the post-Sidr situation, almost half of the total foreign aid merely came from Saudi Arabia. But, an all time benevolent role of Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh has been well responded by the present government, they have taken a spectacular decision by declining the offer of Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia to buy Rupali Bank. The dilemma for Bangladesh government has been explicated from the side of the Prince that he couldn’t put much attention on the deal due to the ill health of his wife. The government of Bangladesh, which has already no accountability to their own people, has found Prince’s explication not acceptable. Their stance was like, “no word, no deal”.

Saudi Arabia always has been a better ally for Bangladesh. Present reproaching economy of Bangladesh required an investment effort of one like Saudi Prince very badly. The success of this investment could bring some more opportunities for Bangladesh to be a good ground for some more Middle East investments. No reasonable explanation of this kind of irresponsibility of this regime is found. There was absolutely no need to show the stringency by declining Saudi Prince’s offer. Retrospect shows us that none of this regime’s deeds have been too friendly to overall Muslim Ummah. There are reasons to disagree many of this regime’s moves. Most of Saudi Arabia’s overseas workers are Bangladeshi. Over 2.2 million Bangladeshi contribute in Saudi Arabia to give a smarter look to the foreign remittance of Bangladesh. But extremely vulnerable foreign policy of present authority of Bangladesh and conspiracy efforts of one of our neighbors, have led the Bangladeshis in Saudi labor market to great danger. It’s expected that over .5 million Bangladeshis will have to come back to Bangladesh from Saudi Arabia this year losing their jobs. And India is getting prepared to fill that vacancy of .5 million Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia.

This process has been initiated months ago and Bangladeshi authority has been well notified by the domestic media of this misdeed that India is trying to exploit. But the present regime has found those reports to be worthy to be thrown to trash bin. Embassy officials of India have been found to be active in the field while Bangladeshi officials liked the air conditioned room of the embassy more comfortable than reaching Bangladeshi workers. Not only that, our Advisors have put attempts to cover up the whole flap by saying, “…we got to shift ourselves to labor markets elsewhere … the market in Europe is good…” rubbishes like this. And this imprudence of present authority of Bangladesh has ultimately resulted with the possibilities of crack in the diplomatic relations between Bangladesh & Saudi Arabia. We don’t have to just wait for the future to come, some signs already have shown up. In OIC Summit in Senegal, the effort of Bangladeshi authority for a Chief Adviser’s meet to Saudi Prince has been dramatically rejected by Saudi authority. Not only that, the Saudi authority has not felt important to spare some time for a stop-by meeting, a rejection there too. Now we should dig out that why & who led Bangladesh to be through this circumstances. This doesn’t require extreme foresight that the relation with entire Middle East bloc will get hampered by this.

A Demand

Dhaka, March 18 (bdnews24.com)

Some 700 journalists and columnists including both incumbent and former editors of a number of national dailies issued a joint statement Tuesday demanding release of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia by March 26.

They also demanded that other political prisoners be freed before Independence Day.

The signatories included:

Ataus Samad
Advisory Editor of Amar Desh

Hasanuzzaman Khan
Former Managing Director of Babgladesh Sangbad Shangstha (BSS)

Shafik Rehman
Editor of Jai Jai Din

Sadeque Khan
Former Chairman of Press Institute of Bangladesh

Amanullah
Former Managing Director and Chief Editor of Babgladesh Sangbad Shangstha (BSS)

Reazuddin Ahmed
Editor of News Today

Gias Kamal Chowdhury
Editor of Khabar Patra

Amanullah Kabir
Editor of Amar Desh

Akhtar Ul Alam
Former Advisory Editor of The Daily Ittefaq

Alamgir Mohiuddin
Editor of Naya Diganto

Abul Asad
Editor of Daily Sangram

Borhan Ahmed
Executive Editor of Janakantha

Mofakkharul Anam
Former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Babgladesh Sangbad Shangstha (BSS)

Golam Tahabur
Former AFP Dhaka Bureau chief

Mozammel Haque
BFUJ president

Ruhul Amin Gazi
Secretary General of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ)

Shawkat Mahmud
President of National Press Club

Abdul Baten
Chief Editor of Dinkal

Mostafa Kamal Majumdar
Editor of The New Nation.

Demanding release of Khaleda before Independence Day, the statement said: “We are urging the caretaker government to release Khaleda Zia immediately.”

Noting that there were myriad questions about the cases filed against Khaleda, the statement said: “Khaleda Zia has been granted bail by the High Court. She should be released immediately on humanitarian and rational grounds by the caretaker government to uphold political stability and justice.”

The statement signatories simultaneously demanded the release of all political prisoners.

Urging the government to lift the state of emergency, they said, “We call upon the government to rescind all irrational, unnecessary and questionable laws under the emergency powers rules prior to lifting the state of emergency.”

bdnews24.com/al/wz/rm/1848 hours

What went wrong with Bangladesh cricket?

What went wrong with Bangladesh cricket?

Husain Imam

The Warid Cricket Series 2008 between South Africa and Bangladesh of 2 Test matches and 3 ODIs has just concluded. The performance of the Bangladesh team has been dismal to say the least. They have been, to the utter disappointment of Bangladeshi fans at home and abroad, comprehensively defeated in both versions of the game. To be blunt, they have been literarily whitewashed.Nobody expected Bangladesh, the youngest Test playing nation in the world, to win a Test match against a strong team like South Africa which is at the moment possibly second to only Australia in ICC ranking. What every body expected was that Bangladesh, given their reasonably extended exposure in world cricket, excellent performance in the last world cup, and having the advantage of playing in home ground, would be able to at least play out 4 days of a 5-day Test match and clinch a victory in at least one of the 3 ODIs. That did not happen. In neither of the Test matches could they barely step into the fourth day before surrendering defeat to the visitors. The scenario of the ODIs was no better. In all the three ODIs, they suffered comprehensive defeat, the first one by 9 wickets, the second one by 7 wickets, and the third one as well by 7 wickets scoring only 178, 173, and 143 runs respectively. Lest we forget, on all the three occasions, the home team won the toss, and, as expected, decided to bat first.

True, Bangladesh is a young team. Its oldest player is only 26 years old. But one must not forget that they have by this time played more than one hundred ODIs. If we talk about world exposure, I think they have had enough to be able to put up a good fight with any team. If they could clinch a place in the super eight by defeating India and then win a comprehensive victory against South Africa in the second round of the last world cup competition, is it unfair for the local fans to expect them and that also in their own home ground to put up a much better performance than what they have displayed? Certainly not.

True, there have been a number of controversial decisions from the umpires, that too from the local umpires, most of which unfortunately went against the Bangladesh team. Probably the Bangladeshi umpires were more eager in proving themselves neutral than anything else. For minnows like Bangladesh, such decisions do matter. But that cannot be an excuse for not performing up to their talent and capability.

Let us see what went wrong with the Bangladeshi tigers. They say Bangladesh is a team full of vibrant and talented boys. I do not disagree with them. Frankly speaking, I am a great fan and admirer of the Bangladesh team simply because they are young, talented, and courageous. Look at the boys the team is now comprised of. They are all between 20 and 26 years of age. It has players like Ashraful, Aftab, Shariar, Sakib, Tamim, Mortaza, Sadat, Razzak, Nazimuddin, Junaid and so many others that the team can genuinely boast of. Each of them is young, talented, and courageous. They can flare up any moment. They have shots in their bats. They have the essence in their bowling. They have agility in their fielding.

But that is not enough. Patience, technique, intelligence, sense of responsibility, and commitment are all as important as talent and courage in any good cricketer. Our boys seem to be miserably lacking in most of these areas. Patience and sense of responsibility are the words that seem to be totally missing from their dictionary.

Take the case of skipper Ashraful. He is certainly the most talented batsman in the team. He has the technique. He has all the shots in his bat. He has in the past proved more than once that on a particular day he could be as scintillating a batsman as any other world class batsman in the modern game.

Yet, look at his performance, more importantly his approach, in the just concluded series against South Africa. His total score in the two Test matches was 62.and in the three ODIs only 17. Take the case of second ODI. Opener Tamim who played a splendid innings of 82 in the first ODI got out cheaply in the very first over of the second ODI, going for a cut shot too close to his body. Then came Ashraful, the skipper and the best batsman of the team. In the very fourth ball of the second over, before even feeling the pitch or pace of the wicket he went for a hook to be caught out for duck by the only fielder placed in that area. The fact that even a superb fifth wicket partnership of 115 between Rakibul Hasan and Shakib al Hasan could not take his team to the 200 mark (173 all out) tells the rest of the story.

Take the case of third ODI. Opener Tamim got out putting only 8 runs on the board on a controversial caught behind decision. Camera replay showed that the ball had actually touched his pad, not his bat. Nazimuddin, the young debutant of the series came in as number three batsman and showed some good batting but that was to be short lived. Scoring 20 runs in 30 balls he probably thought it was enough. Coming down the wicket he went for a wild miscued shot that was enough to show him the way back to the pavilion. Then came Ashraful, and he followed suit. In the very third or fourth ball he went for a similar hook shot which got him out in the second ODI. Luckily, this time he survived — but not for long. With only 9 runs on the board, he went for a lofty on drive to find himself caught at mid on. That was enough to put the seal on the game.

Take the case of Shariar Nafees, another talented batsman of the Bangladesh team, playing the third ODI as an opener. In the very first over of his turn he went for a big shot of a ball way outside the off stump which could have been even called wide. Luckily the ball did not find the edge of his bat and he survived at least on that occasion.

Now, how do you explain these happenings and whom do you blame for such terrible performance of the Bangladesh team except the players themselves? They have batted not only poorly but also in a highly insensible and irresponsible manner. It is high time they get their mindset right.

I have a feeling that our batsmen want to score from every ball and that also in boundaries. That is not possible even for a superstar. They ought to learn which ball to play for runs, which ball to defend and which ball to let go. More importantly, they must learn how to pace an innings and play the whole quota. These are the basics which I am sure their coach has told them time and again. It is now up to them to take them to heart and practice rigorously.

Finally I have a few words of advice for Ashraful. He should, if need be, step down from captaincy, fully concentrate on his batting, He has to first learn how to consistently bat 10 to 15 overs without taking any risk whatsoever, never mind what runs he scores in these overs. He must know that he has shots, talent, and technique. What he lacks is temperament and application. He must set his mindset right sooner rather than later. The cricket fans want to see the future of Bangladesh cricket through him. If he can lead his team by example, surely the others will follow.

*****

This write-up also has been published here in The Daily Star.

Bashir Mia | বশির মিয়া

একজন রিক্সাচালক। ধরা যাক তার নাম বশির মিয়া। দুপুর প্রায় আড়াইটা। রমনা থানার সামনের যে রাস্তাটা বিখ্যাত ফখরুদ্দিন বাবুর্চির আস্তানার দিকে গিয়েছে, বশির মিয়াকে দেখা গেল উদাসমনে রিক্সাটা নিয়ে সেদিকে এগিয়ে যাচ্ছেন। তাকে থামানো হল। গন্তব্যস্থলের নাম জানাবার পর বশির মিয়া তার একদর ১৫ টাকা জানিয়ে দিলেন। বশির মিয়ার ব্যাপারে বাদবাকি ব্যাপারগুলো তার মুখ থেকে শোনা গেল রিক্সায় চড়তে চড়তে।

ফুটপাথের একটি দোকানের সাথে তার সারাদিনের একটা চুক্তি আছে। সেখান থেকে দুপুরের আর রাতের খাবার খান এবং বিনিময় বশির মিয়াকে খরচ করতে হয় ৬০ টাকা। বশির মিয়া দুপুরে খেয়ে রিক্সা নিয়ে নিয়ে বেরুবার পর প্রথম খেপ (আরোহী) এর সাথে কথাগুলো বলছিলেন। তার রিক্সার জমা হিসেবে মালিককে আধবেলার জন্য দিতে হয় ৪৫ টাকা। আর সকালের নাস্তাবাবদ গড়ে ১৫ টাকা খরচ আছে। এই গেল বশির মিয়ার সারাদিনের বাঁধা খরচের হিসাব, যে খরচগুলো তার না করলেই নয়। তারপর পান বিড়ি সিগারেটের খরচ বাবদ তাকে আরও কিছু খরচ করতে হয়, যেগুলো বশির মিয়া সম্প্রতি কমিয়ে আনার মহৎ পরিকল্পনা গ্রহণ করেছেন। বশির মিয়ার ভাষ্য অনুযায়ি খেপ-এর মন্দা থাকলেও দিনে তার দুশো টাকার কাছাকাছি ইনকাম থাকে। ভাগ্য খারাপ না থাকলে প্রতিদিন দুশো টাকা স্কোর করা বশির মিয়ার জন্য খুব একটা কষ্টকর হয়না। আর যাবতিয় খরচাদি সারার পর বশির মিয়ার কাছে একশো টাকার মত থেকে যায়। এটুকু বলা পর্যন্ত বশির মিয়ার স্বরে ঔদাসীন্য লক্ষ্য করা না গেলেও, বাজারে যাবার প্রসংগ উঠতেই বিষন্ন হয়ে ওঠেন বশির মিয়া। বশির মিয়া কিছুটা সময় নেন। সচ্ছলদর্শন আরোহীকে নিজের অবস্থাটা কিভাবে বোঝানো যায়, বশির মিয়া হয়তো কিছুক্ষণ সেকথা ভাবলেন। তার শ্রেণীর, তার মত আয়ের মানুষদের এই সময়ে কিভাবে চলবার কথা, হয়তো সেটা বোঝাতে কথা সাজাচ্ছিলেন বশির মিয়া। বশির মিয়ার নিজের মুখের কথাই তুলে ধরা যাক,

“বাজারে বড় অসহায় হই দাড়াই থাকতি হয় বাবা। চাইল কিনলে ডাইল কিনবার পারিনা। ডাইল কিনলে তরিতরকারি কিনবার পারিনা। বস্‌সর দুয়্যাক আগে চাইল কিনে তরিতরকারির দিকে হাত বাড়াইতে পারতাম। অহন বাবা তরিতরকারি কিনতি গেলে আর হোশ থাকে না। বাড়ির সবার চাইল কিনিয়েই তো ট্যাকা শ্যাষ হই যায়।“

কিছুটা সময় নিরব কাটলো। চেইন ঘোরার ধাতব শব্দ ছাড়া রিক্সা থেকে কিছুক্ষন আর কোন শব্দ হলনা। এই পর্যায়ে বশির মিয়াকে প্রশ্নকর্তা সাহস করে মাছ-মাংসের কথা জিজ্ঞেস করে ফেলল। কিন্তু তারপর বক্তব্যহীন বশির মিয়ার মুখে ফুটে ওঠা অভিব্যাক্তি দেখে প্রশ্ন কর্তা বুঝতে পারল এই প্রসংগে কথা থামাবার সময় এসেছে। প্রশ্নকর্তা বুঝল নিরুপায় হলে মানুষের মুখ বোধ হয় এরকম করুণ হয়। বশির মিয়া নিজে থেকেই বলে ওঠেন, “মাছ মাংসের দিকে চাওনের সুযোগ এই সরকার কি রাখসে বাবা?” বশির মিয়ার দূর্ভাগ্য যে তার আরোহী এই সরকারের সাথে কোভাবে জড়িত কেউ ছিলেন না। থাকলেও বশির মিয়ার প্রশ্নের উত্তর দেওয়া তার পক্ষে সম্ভব হতনা।

গন্তব্যস্থল আসলো। আরোহী রিক্সা থেকে নেমে বশির মিয়ার ছোট্ট দাবি ১৫টি টাকা দিয়ে বশির মিয়াকে বিড়ি টানার অভ্যাস ছাড়বার একটা উপদেশ দিল। বশির মিয়া জবাবে বললেন, “আল্লাহ্‌ ভরসা”।

এর আগে Nowadays নামের একটি পোস্টে আমি কুমিল্লার এক রিক্সাওয়ালার কথা বলেছিলাম। তখন সেই পোস্টের কমেন্ট ডিসকাশন-এ একজন রিডার লিখেছিলেন,

You cannot meet the demand of rickshaw pullers anyways. When you will come to feed them with Tk.42 rice for two times a day, they will repent that now they cannot eat beef/chicken. Check it out, how much now you pay for traveling rickshaw, isn’t it much much higher than 2/3 years before? Nowadays

Actually, middle class is facing the real trouble. Their income has not increased respectively whereas the cost to feed the family has risen to 30-50%, that’s being almost incredible to afford day by day. Government is planning to rise the power price. If that happens, CNG, Bus and overall public transportation will be expensive. I am not going to be precise on food prices because it will turn harsher & indecent if I start talking about how helpless I have to be when I roam inside the kacha-bazar. This government has urged many middle class families to abandon plans of saving. Living is being impossible, and saving is too far away.

মা বেগম তৈয়বা মজুমদারের ইন্তেকাল করার পর বেগম খালেদা জিয়া ক্যান্টনমেন্টের মইনুল রোডের বাসায় আসার পর বা আসার পথে কোন এক সুযোগে সাংবাদিক বা দলের কেউ বেগম জিয়কে প্রশ্ন করেন, “ম্যাডাম আপনি কেমন আছেন?”। বেগম জিয়া উত্তরে বলেছিলেন, “দেশের খবর আমি পাই। দেশের মানুষ ৩০ টাকা কেজি চাল খেয়ে যেমন থাকার কথা, আমিও তেমনই আছি।“

এই পোস্টটির শেষ কিভাবে করে যায় তা নিয়ে বেশ চিন্তাভাবনা করতে হয়েছে। অবশেষে একটি খবর জানা গেল, যেটা দিয়ে এই পোস্টটি শেষ করব। প্রধান উপদেষ্টা দ্রব্যমূল্যের ঊর্দ্ধগতি প্রসঙ্গে প্রচন্ড উদ্বেগ জানিয়েছেন এবং বাণিজ্য উপদেষ্টা কে জরুরি তলব করেছেন। বাণিজ্য উপদেষ্টার কাছে দ্রব্যমূল্য নিয়ন্ত্রনের কোন আলাদিনের চেরাগ আছে, তা আমার জানা নেই।

Our Chief Election Commissioner

একটি গণতান্ত্রিক দেশে সরকারের যেকয়টি অংশ সরাসরি ভাবে গণতন্ত্র রক্ষার কাজে নিয়জিত থাকে, তার মাঝে প্রধান হচ্ছে নির্বাচন কমিশন। দেশে একটি সুস্থ রাজনৈতিক পরিস্থিতি বজায় রাখতে এবং সাধারণ মানুষের প্রধান দাবি দ্রব্যমূল্য নিয়ন্ত্রনে ব্যর্থ বর্তমান সরকার বারবার তাদের নির্বাচন করার সদিচ্ছাকে আকড়ে ধরতে চেয়েছে। প্রধান উপদেষ্টা, অন্যান্য উপদেষ্টাসহ সেনাপ্রধান বিভিন্ন অনুষ্ঠানে বক্তব্য রাখতে গিয়ে ডিসেম্বারে সাধারণ নির্বাচন করার উপর জোর দিয়েছেন। ব্যপারটা অনেকটা এরকম ছিল, যেন এই সরকারের কর্তাব্যাক্তিরা জনগণকে বোঝাতে চেয়েছেন, দ্রব্যমূল্য নিয়ন্ত্রনে তো আমরা ব্যর্থই হলাম, তো আপনারা উত্তেজিত হবেননা, আমরা নির্বাচন করতে ইনশাল্লাহ ব্যার্থ হবনা। এই পয়েন্টে যে ভদ্রলোক বিশেষ ভাবে জোরালো ছিলেন, তিনি হলেন স্বয়ং প্রধান নির্বাচন কমিশনার এ টি এম শামসুল হুদা। গত ফেব্রুয়ারি মাসের মাঝামাঝিতে ভদ্রলোক তো রীতিমত অভিমানই করে বসলেন। ইউরোপিয়ান ইউনিয়নের একটি প্রতিনিধি দল ওনার সাথে দেখা করে নির্বাচনের ব্যপারে আশাবাদ ব্যাক্ত করার পর তিনি অভিমান করে বললেন,

“বিদেশিদের তো নির্বাচন নিয়ে কোন অনিশ্চয়তা প্রকাশ করতে দেখা গেলনা, তারা তো নির্বাচনের ব্যপারে বেশ আশাবাদি। তো দেশে মানুষ নির্বাচন হবে কি হবে না সে বিষয়ে এত সন্দেহ করছেন কেন, তা তো বুঝতে পারছি না।“

প্রকৃতপক্ষে, প্রধান নির্বাচন কমিশনার সাহেবের এই বুঝতে না পারার কারনেই আমার এই লেখার আবির্ভাব। প্রধান নির্বাচন কমিশনার নামটি বেশ লম্বা। আর যেহেতু আমি ওনাকে সাহেব ছাড়া আর অন্যকিছু ডাকতে আগ্রহি নই, তাই আমি এই পুরো নামটার একটা সংক্ষেপ রূপ দিলাম। প্রধান নির্বাচন কমিশনার সাহেবের বদলে আমরা বরং ওনাকে প্রনিক সাহেব নামেই ডাকি।

আগামি ডিসেম্বার মাসে নির্বাচন হবে, এই ইস্যুতে ক্যাম্পেইনিং-এর সবচেয়ে জোরালো বক্তব্য রেখেছেন ও রাখছেন প্রনিক সাহেব। মূলত ভোটার লিস্টের কাজ কদ্দূর কি এগিয়েছে, তা কদ্দূর উৎসাহব্যঞ্জক, নাকি প্রচন্ড হতাশাব্যাঞ্জক সে ব্যাপারে আমি খুব ওয়াকিবহাল নই। তাই অ্যামেরিকার তাগাদায় (নির্দেশে) বায়োমেট্রিক লিস্ট, যাকে ভোটার লিস্টএর নামে চালানো হয়ে আসছে, সেই লিস্ট তৈরির কাজ শেষ না হওয়ার কারনে নির্বাচন হবেনা এই ব্যাপারে আমি খুব নিশ্চিত করে কিছু বলতে পারছিনা। সেদিন দৈনিক নয়াদিগন্তের জনাব ফরহাদ মাজহারের একটি উপসম্পাদকীয় পড়ে জানা গেল, ভোটার লিস্ট তৈরির কাজ বর্তমানে যে গতিতে চলছে, তাতে ডিসেম্বারে একটি সুষ্ঠু নির্বাচন অনুষ্ঠান স্বপ্ন হিসেবে দেখা যেতে পারে, তবে বাস্তবে তা হওয়ার সম্ভাবনা কম, হলেও তা কোনভাবেই সুষ্ঠু হিসেবে গণ্য করা যাবে না। আমি আশা করি দৈনিক নয়াদিগন্তের উপসম্পাদক আকাশ বাতাস থেকে তথ্য নিয়ে এই লেখাটি লিখেননি। এবং এই তথ্যটি যদি ঠিক হয়ে থাকে, তবে প্রনিক সাহেবের বক্তব্য গুলোকে খুব বাস্তবসম্মত হিসেবে ভাবা যাচ্ছে না। সবচেয়ে বড়কথা, তিনি নিজে বিভিন্ন রাজনৈতিক বক্তব্য দিয়ে যেভাবে বিতর্ক সৃস্টি করছেন, তাতে তিনি যে নিরপেক্ষ নন, সেটা বোঝার জন্য খুব বিচক্ষন হওয়ার প্রয়োজন পড়েনা। বিএনপির সংবিধান ঠিক আছে কি নেই, সেটা যাচাই করার মাপকাঠি তিনি কোথায় পেলেন আমি জানিনা, তবে এতটুকু বলা যেতে পারে, “বিএনপির তো সংবিধানই ঠিক নেই”, এরকম অবিবেচনাপ্রসূত স্ট্রেইট ফরওয়ার্ড কথা আমি বিএনপির আর্ক রাইভাল আওয়ামি লীগের কোন নেতাকেও কখনও বলতে শুনিনি। পিস টিভিতে ড. জাকির নায়েককে বলতে শুনলাম, যাবতিয় বাজে কথার উৎপত্তি হল পাপ ঢাকার প্রয়াস থেকে। প্রনিক সাহেব মেজর হাফিজকে ‘গঠনমূলক’ আলোচনার দাওয়াতের কার্ড পাঠিয়ে যে অপকর্মটা করেছেন, সেটাকে ক্ল্যারিফাই মোটকথা হালাল করার প্রয়াসবশতই এই জাতিয় বক্তব্য গুলো আসছে, সেতা মোটামুটি নিশ্চিত। শুধু তাই নয়, প্রনিক সাহেব এর ফলোআপ হিসেবে বলেছেন,

“জনাব মান্নান ভূঁইয়ার বহিস্কারাদেশটা অবৈধ ছিল, এটা শুধু আমিই মনে করি না, কমিশনের সবাই মনে করেন। এসব বিবেচনা করেই হাফিজুদ্দিন আহমেদকে চিঠি পাঠানো হয়েছে। আরে বিএনপির তো সংবিধানই ঠিক নাই। যাইহোক, এসব রাজনীতির কথা, এখানে এগুলো বলে লাভ নাই। কেচো খুড়তে সাপ বেরিয়ে আসবে।“

একটি সম্পূর্ণ নিরপেক্ষ সংস্থার প্রধানের পদে থেকে প্রনিক সাহেব কিভাবে এরকম বক্তব্য দিতে পারেন এবং দিয়ে টিকে থাকেন, সেটা এক মস্তবড় আশ্চর্য ব্যপার। এই প্রনিক সাহেবের নিয়ন্ত্রনে একটি সুষ্ঠু নির্বাচন কিভাবে সম্ভব? দেশের মানুষকে যে প্রতিনিয়ত আশা দেখিয়ে নেয়া হচ্ছে, সেই আশা পূরণের নমুনা কি এই? রাশেদ খান মেননের মতে নির্বাচন কমিশনার সাখাওয়াত হূসেনের বক্তব্য শুনের মনে হয়েছে জামায়াত ইসলামের একজন মুখপাত্র কথা বলছেন। আর গয়েশ্বর রায়ের মতে, এরকম বিতর্কিত বক্তব্য দেয়ার পর প্রনিক সাহেবের নিজে থেকেই পদত্যাগ করা উচিত। আমি আমার এই লেখাটা শুরু করেছিলাম এই বলে, একটি গণতান্ত্রিক দেশে সরকারের যেকয়টি অংশ সরাসরি ভাবে গণতন্ত্র রক্ষার কাজে নিয়জিত থাকে, তার মাঝে প্রধান হচ্ছে নির্বাচন কমিশন। আর সেই কমিশনের প্রধান যদি প্রকাশ্যে একটি রাজনৈতিক দলের বিপক্ষে অবস্থান নেন, তবে দেশের মানুষকে বিশ্বাস হারালে তাদের কি দোষ দেয়া যায়?

২০০৮ সালের ডিসেম্বার মাসে একটি সুষ্ঠু নির্বাচন অনুষ্ঠান সম্ভব নয়, এটা ভেবে নেয়ার যথেষ্ট কারণ রয়েছে।

 

ফলোআপ

অবসরপ্রাপ্ত ব্রিগেডিয়ার জেনারেল আ স ম হান্নান শাহ এবং গয়েশ্বর রায় পৃথক পৃথক ভাবে প্রধান নির্বাচন কমিশনার ড এ টি এম শামসুল হুদার পদত্যাগ দাবি দাবি করেছেন।