[Reader-list] Lalon & Terror: Re-configuring PoliticalMapDuringEmergency

[MRSG]

Dear Khemendra Kaul,
My only request to you that to know the plights of the Hindus of Bangladesh
and nature of Islam in Bangladesh, do not be misguided by the apologists of
Islamic barbarism who can cover the hard facts of Islamic fundamentalism by
their long academic discourses (and some blatant lies like observing Durga
Puja freely) to confuse the issue. The atrocities, tortures and ethnic
cleansing of the Hindus from Bangladesh have few parallels in the modern
history which is still going on everyday. It is also another greatest fraud
daily carried out by Indian and specifically of Bengali (West Bengal) press
that do not publish anything on it. I shall request you to go through the
websites of Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad or Bangladesh
Hindu Buddhists Christian Unity Councils, the publications of Shariar Kabir
(an amnesty international prisoner of conscience), the publications of Prof.
Abul Barkat (Head, Economics Dept, Dhaka University), Prof Muntasir Mamun
(Head, History Dept, Dhaka University) to know about the recent situations
in Bangladesh. Bangladesh which tries to hide its barbaric face under the
hizab of 'moderate islam' , has killed Humayun Azad, a major Bengali writer
and thinker, driven away a number of writers like Daud Haider to Taslima
Nasrin. Think of another country with such record. Just remember when you
read this, on that very day some hundreds of Hindus (also the Muslim
infiltrators) are crossing the border to flee Bangladesh. It happens
everyday. It is no intellectual acrobatics, no friendly fire of academic
discourses - it is simply worst ethnic cleansing in human history carried
out by Islamic Bangladesh. While saying so much against the Islamists of
Bangladesh, it needs to be mentioned that this could go on forever only
because of the hypocrisy and cowardice of the Bengali caste Hindu refugees
and leftists.
These comments are strictly for those who sincerely want to know about
Bangladesh and want to help the religious minorities there. This is not for
introducing a new agenda in the list to continue intellectual acrobatics. At
least I shall not join in that futile effort.
Thanks
M Ray

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kshmendra Kaul" <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
To: "Shuddhabrata Sengupta" <shuddha at sarai.net>
Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>; <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>;
"Shambhu Rahmat" <shambhu.rahmat at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 8:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Lalon & Terror: Re-configuring Political
MapDuringEmergency


> Dear Shuddha
>
> Thank you for the very informative comments on Bangladesh.
>
> Before raising some points, I must admit that, before joining this List,
> my knowledge about Bangladesh was restricted to one of a general sort. Not
> surprisingly so for the general sort of a person' that I am. So I must
> thank this List for adding to it and provoking further interest in
> Bangladesh - especially guys like Naeem Mohaiemen and Shambhu Rehmat.
>
> If not declaredly so in it's Constitution, the Islamic nature of
> Bangladesh is fairly well embedded in the Constitution. It is a 'default
> setting' which cannot be overridden in the present form of the
> Constitution.
>
> "Present Form" of the Constitution is important is it not? That is what
> governs the lives of the citizens and defines how a country, any country,
> is percieved by the rest of the world in terms of the idealised principles
> meant for governing the country.
>
> In the Indian Constitution for example the words "socialist" and "secular"
> got first added in the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment when India was
> governed by Indira Gandhi in 1976 under the"Emergency". Little different
> from it being a dictatorial regime. But the 'words' stayed on in the
> Constitution even with the restoration of Democratic norms. So, even if
> practice does not keep up with the idealised self-view (that any
> Constitution is), those 'words' are a part of what governs (or is meant to
> govern) the lives of Indians and how India will be percieved by the rest
> of the world in terms of the principles guiding it.
>
> Same is the case with the "Islamic" character of Bangladesh, since the
> 'added' provisions have not been rescinded even if the provisions were
> added by Military Dictatorship under "Proclamation Order No 1 of 1977"
> (PO1 1977) and 'Eighth Amendment Act of 1988' (EAA 1988).
>
> Between the 'intended' and the 'actualised' (by whichever means and at
> whatever stage) the latter provides the characteristics of the
> Constitution and the Laws derived from it. This is true of India or of
> Bangladesh or any other country. Jinnah's address to the first Constituent
> Assembly of Pakistan contains the finest of definitions of a "secular"
> country but that is not what Pakistan became.
>
> Yes, as you pointed out, there do not seem to be any Constitutional
> Disabilities specific for Non-Muslims. But there are many ambiguities
> which provide grey areas that can easily serve as fertile ground for such
> interpretative licence that will create disabling norms without
> contravening the Constitution.
>
> As an illustratively blunt example, let me point out the words " together
> with the principles derived from them" in the Article 8.1 that could
> extend to any domain the injunction of " absolute trust and faith in the
> Almighty Allah". (in the Fundamental Principles of State Policy). Shariah
> and Sunnah certainly can be seen as "principles derived from ....absolute
> trust and faith in the Almighty Allah". Or at the very least that "Statues
> are Haraam, even if they are of Baul singers (Lalon or no Lalon)"
>
> You have already given some examples of ambiguities and other (introduced
> by dictators) 'Islamic' provisions, which are included in the points
> mentioned below, where I have given additional examples of the "Islamic
> embedment":
>
> - Invocation for the Constitution : "BISMILLAH-AR-RAHIMAN-AR-RAHIM" (PO1
> 1977)
>
> - In the Preamble: "Pledging that the high ideals of absolute trust and
> faith in the Almighty Allah, ......."
>
> - Art 2A: "The state religion of the Republic is Islam, but other
> religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in the Republic." (EAA
> 1988)
>
> - (In Fundamental Principles) Art 8.1: "The principles of absolute trust
> and faith in the Almighty Allah, nationalism, democracy and socialism
> meaning economic and social justice, together with the principles derived
> from them as set out in this Part, shall constitute the fundamental
> principles of state policy." (PO1 1977) (KK-interpretative license)
>
> - (In Fundamental Principles) Art 8.1A: "Absolute trust and faith in the
> Almighty Allah shall be the basis of all actions" (PO1 1977)
>
> - Deletion of Art 12 dealing with "Secularism and Freedom of Religion"
> (PO1 1977)
>
> - Art 25.2: "The State shall endeavour to consolidate, preserve and
> strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic
> solidarity" (KK- Islamised Foreign Policy)
>
> To highlight the generousness of ambiguities and I daresay contradictions
> that have crept into the Constitution of Bangladesh, I must, while
> pointing out the "Islamic Embedment" provisions, also list the "Testifying
> to Secularism" provisions that have stayed on inspite of (PO1 1977) and
> (EAA 1988):
>
> Art 27: Equality before law - All citizens are equal before law and are
> entitled to equal protection of law
>
> Art 28: Discrimination on grounds of religion, etc.
> 1. The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of
> religion, race caste, sex or place of birth
> 3. No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or
> place of birth be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or
> condition with regard to access to any place of public entertainment or
> resort, or admission to any educational institution.
>
> Art 29.2: No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex
> or place of birth, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect
> of, any employment or office in the service of the Republic.
>
> Art 41: Freedom of religion
> 1. every citizen has the right to profess, practice or propagate any
> religion;
> 2. every religious community or denomination has the right to establish,
> maintain and manage its religious institutions
>
> Incidentally, the system for amending the Constitution is quite
> straightforward though it does require a two-thirds assent vote. The
> 'sacrosant' provisions such as the Preamble and Fundamental Rights need
> for amending the two-thirds assent vote followed by a majority support in
> a general referendum.
>
> It has been, if nothing else, a good opportunity for me to study the
> Constitution of Bangladesh.
>
> Kshmendra
>
>
> --- On Thu, 10/30/08, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
>
> From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Lalon & Terror: Re-configuring Political Map
> During Emergency
> To: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com
> Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>, "Shambhu Rahmat"
> <shambhu.rahmat at gmail.com>
> Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 1:25 AM
>
>
> Bangladesh is not, strictly speaking, an 'Islamic' country. The official
> title of the state is - The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.
>
>
> The post 'liberation' November 1972 constitution of Bangladesh made no
> mention of religion except to say that the state would not discriminate on
> the grounds of religion. It explicitly asserted that 'secularism' was to
> be seen as a guiding instrument of state policy.
>
>
> Islamic references were introduced into the constitution of Bangladesh
> during two periods of military dictatorship, First, under the reign of
> General Zia ur Rahman, an amendment to the Constitution in 1977 removed
> the principle of secularism that had been enshrined in Part II:
> Fundamental State Policy, replacing it with "absolute trust and faith in
> Almighty Allah."
>
>
> Then, The Eighth Amendment of 1988, during the dictatorship of General
> Ershad, inserted Article 2A, affirming that "[t]he state religion of the
> Republic is Islam, but other religions may be practised in peace and
> harmony in the republic." This is somewhat of an ambiguous contradiction,
> because while it states that the state religion is Islam, it also
> simultaneously does shies away from asserting that Islam has any de-facto
> primacy.
>
>
> Neither of these two amendments, however, has had popular democratic
> sanction, and both have been viewed as a negation of the founding
> principles of the liberation struggle which gave rise to Bangladesh. I am
> not a partisan of the secular Bengali Nationalism that inspired many
> during the liberation struggle, but I do know that the thousands of East
> Bengali Muslims, Hindus and others who willingly participated in that
> struggle did not do so in the belief that they were going to create an
> 'Islamic' Bengal.
>
>
> It has been argued, not without reason, that they could have been
> introduced into the constitution, through the back door, as it were, only
> during periods of military dictatorship. The current situation in
> Bangladesh, where the Lalon statues can be removed, is also imaginable
> only within the context of a military dictatorship, dressed up as
> 'transitional' civilian power. Military dictators in Bangladesh have
> always had to give their particularly corrupt despotisms the gloss and
> shine of Islam.
>
>
> Despite both these amendments, Islamic law, the Sharia or the Sunnah are
> still not the primary sources of law in the legal system in Bangladesh,
> and no constitutional disabilities are attatched (unlike in Pakistan,
> Iran, Saudi Arabia or other Islamic states) to non Muslim citizens.
> Bangladesh continues to have a thriving 10% Hindu population, most of whom
> are wealthy, middle class and found in urban areas. Many of them have
> found and sought their own accommodations with corrupt military
> dictatorships. Durga Puja, for instance, continues to be observed with as
> much pomp and ostentation in Bangladesh as in neighbouring West Bengal. It
> is the Buddhist aboriginal minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and
> of course, Ahmediyas who have had to face real persecution in the name of
> Islam.
>
>
> Nothing in the constitution of Bangladesh prevents a non muslim from
> holding political office, including that of the head of the state or
> government. In practice, the legal position vis a vis Islam in Bangladesh
> is less special even in comparison to that of the Church of England in the
> United Kingdom, or the Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands.
>
>
> In practice, however, Bangladeshi politicians (of many varieties, and not
> only of the explicitly 'Islamist' parties) patronize Islamic
> fundamentalist goons exactly as their Indian counterparts patronize Hindu
> and Islamic fundamentalist goons in India.
>
>
>
> Nothing, to me makes the removal of the Lalon statue appear sensible. It
> would not have been the case had Bangladesh indeed been a full fledged
> Islamic state (which it is not) nor does it make sense in the context of
> the current token 'Islamic' window dressing that adorns the (some)
> Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh
>
>
> best
>
>
> Shuddha
>
>
>
> On 29-Oct-08, at 6:40 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote:
>
>
> Confining comments to the removal of the Baul Sculpture (whether it
> included or not the statue of Lalon Fakir)
>
> Two weeks back, in a private mail, I had conveyed the following thoughts:
>
> """""""" The rationale behind the demand for removal of the statues makes
> sense. The news report says that the statues are in the 'hajj camp' area
> of the Airport. That would sure be upsetting.
>
> Bangladesh is an Islamic country so perhaps in any case, wherever it might
> be, a 'public' statue can tend to be viewed as something forbidden lest it
> leads to deification. Pardon my ignorance, are there such 'public statues'
> in Bangladesh? I presume, if none others, there would be many of
> Bangbandhu and Nazrul
>
> I got introduced to Baul Music very late in my life. It is exquisitely
> soul-touching.
>
> Maybe the Bauls, because of the roots, inspiration and content of their
> music are especially a 'sore point' cultural inheritance for the Islamists
> """""""""
>
> That generally seems to be along the lines of the views reported of
> Maulana Noor Hossain Noorani, Amir of Khatm-e-Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh
> and Imam of Fayedabad mosque.
>
> There have been wishful 'thought explorations' on this List and elsewhere
> in the public domain about "Union" between India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
> That would neccessarily require some degree of seamless congruity in Laws
> spread across the three countries; not only Commercial Laws but Laws
> applicable to all aspects of the lives of the citizens.
>
> Such a "Union" would also require one another important and critical
> change (in my opinion). Either India would have to declare itself a
> "Hindu" country or Bangladesh and Pakistan declare themselves as
> "Secular".
>
> Kshmendra
>
>
>
>
>
> --- On Wed, 10/29/08, Shambhu Rahmat <shambhu.rahmat at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Shambhu Rahmat <shambhu.rahmat at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Reader-list] Lalon & Terror: Re-configuring Political Map During
> Emergency
> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 1:14 AM
>
>
> http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2008/10/28/lalon-terror/
>
>
> From Rahnuma Ahmed's analysis of Lalon Statue controversy & larger
> "great game".
>
>
> 1. 'No decision is taken without the army chief's consent,
> that's
> why we informed him,' said Maulana Noor Hossain Noorani. According to
> reports, highup intelligence agency officials (DGFI, NSI) had mediated
> contacts between the ruling party and the KN. He had met the DGFI
> chief in Dhaka cantonment thrice, Noorani had thus boasted to Satkhira
> reporters in 2005
> 2. Twenty-two months later…with their respective parties in
> shambles, thousands of party workers in prison, constitutional rights
> suspended due to the state of emergency, economy in tatters, police
> crack-downs on protests of garments workers, jute mill workers,
> women's organisations and activists, on human chains against
> increasing prices of essentials, the only two forces to have remained
> unscathed are the Jamaat-e-Islami, and Muslim clerics, Islamic parties
> and madrasa students
> 3. The US government's role in not only contributing to the
> situation, but in constituting the conditions that have given rise to
> extremes, of being the extreme, is disregarded by many Bangladesh
> scholars
> 4. Pakistan, America's strong military ally, is now "on the
> edge"
> of ruin. Pakistani political analysts repeatedly warn Bangladeshis
> that they see similar political patterns at work here: minusing
> political leaders, militarisation, milbus, National Security Council
> etc etc. Are we being set on America's flight path to greater power by
> this unconstitutional, unrepresentative government, one which is more
> accountable to western forces, than to us?
>
>
> Lalon and Terror: Re-configuring the Nation's Political Map during
> Emergency
> by rahnuma ahmed (New Age, Oct 29, 2008)
>
>
> Baul sculpture, and the nation's most powerful man
>
>
> 'No decision is taken without the army chief's consent, that's why
> we
> informed him,' said Maulana Noor Hossain Noorani, amir of Khatme
> Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh and imam of Fayedabad mosque, at a press
> conference. `He didn't like the idea of setting up an idol either,
> right in front of the airport, so close to the Haji camp. It was
> removed at his initiative' (Prothom Alo, 17 October).
>
>
> The `it' in question was a piece of sculpture, of five Baul mystics
> and singers. Titled Unknown Bird in a Cage, it was being created in
> front of Zia International Airport, Dhaka. Madrasa students and masjid
> imams of adjoining areas were mobilised, Bimanbondor Golchottor Murti
> Protirodh Committee (Committee to Resist Idols at Airport Roundabout)
> was formed. A 24 hour ultimatum was given. The art work, nearly
> seventy percent complete, was removed by employees of the Roads and
> Highways Department, and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
>
>
> Artists, intellectuals, cultural activists, writers, teachers,
> students, and many others have since continuously protested the
> removal of the sculpture, both in Dhaka, and other cities and towns of
> Bangladesh. They have demanded its restoration, have re-named the
> roundabout Lalon Chottor, and accused the military-backed caretaker
> government of capitulating, yet again, to the demands of Islamic
> extremists, and forces opposing the 1971 war of liberation.
>
>
> Soon after its removal, Fazlul Haq Amini, Chairman of a faction of
> Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) and amir of Islami Ain Bastabayan Committee
> (IABC) said at a press conference, if an Islamic government comes to
> power, all statues built by Sheikh Hasina's government (1996-2001)
> will be demolished, since statues are `dangerously anti-Islamic'.
> Eternal flames, Shikha Chironton (Liberation War Museum), and Shikha
> Anirban (Dhaka Cantonment) will be extinguished. Paying respect to
> fire is the same as worshipping fire.' What about statues built during
> Khaleda Zia-led four party alliance government (of which he had been a
> part). 'Where, which ones?' Rajshahi University campus was the prompt
> reply. `Why didn't you raise these questions when you were in power?'
> 'We did, personally, but they didn't listen. We were used as stepping
> stones.' Amini also demanded that the National Women Development
> Policy 2008, shelved this year after protests by a section of Muslim
> clerics and some Islamic parties, should be scrapped (Prothom Alo, 18
> October).
>
>
> Noorani and his followers demand, a haj minar should be built instead,
> and the road should be re-named Haj road. 'Men from the administration
> and the intelligence agencies,' he said at the press conference, `wore
> off their shoes, they kept coming to us.' (Prothom Alo, 17 October).
> Now where had I read of close contacts between Khatme Nabuwat and the
> intelligence agencies?
>
>
> I remembered. A Human Rights Watch report, Bangladesh: Breach of Faith
> (2005) had stated that KN had close links to the ruling BNP through
> the Jamaat-e-Islami and the IOJ, its coalition partners. I remembered
> other things too. It was the same Noor Hossain Noorani who had said,
> Tareq Zia, Senior Secretary General of the BNP, was their "Amir and
> same-aged friend," and had threatened police officials saying Tareq
> would directly intervene if Khatme Nabuwat's anti-Ahmadiya campaign
> was obstructed. According to reports, highup intelligence agency
> officials (DGFI, NSI) had mediated contacts between the ruling party
> and the KN. He had met the DGFI chief in Dhaka cantonment thrice,
> Noorani had thus boasted to Satkhira reporters in 2005, a statement
> never publicly refuted by the intelligence agency (Tasneem Khalil, The
> Prince of Bogra, Forum, April 2007, issue withdrawn, article available
> on the internet).
>
>
> What links does the present military-backed caretaker government, and
> more so, its intelligence agencies, have with these extremist groups?
> I cannot help but wonder. Is there more to what's happening than meets
> the eye?
>
>
> Other questions pop into my head. The Baul sculpture was not
> advertised, as public art should be. No open competition, no
> shortlisting, no selection panel. On the contrary, the contract seems
> to have been awarded as a personal dispensation. The only condition
> seems to have been that the sculptor must get-hold-of-a-sponsor. High
> regard for public art, for Baul tradition, listed by the UNESCO as a
> world cultural heritage, and for procedural matters. Particularly by a
> government whose raison d'etre is establishing the rule of law, and
> rooting out corruption.
>
>
> Simplifying the present: from `1971′ to the `Talibanisation' of
> Bangladesh
>
>
> British historian Eric Hobsbawm terms what he calls the 'short
> twentieth century', The Age of Extremes (1994). I can't help but
> think, things seem to be getting more extreme in the twenty-first
> century.
>
>
> In his most recent book, On Empire. America, War and Global Supremacy
> (2008), Hobsbawm traces the rise of American hegemony, the steadily
> increasing world disorder in the context of rapidly growing
> inequalities created by rampant free-market globalisation, the
> American government's use of the threat of terrorism as an excuse for
> unilateral deployment of its global power, the launching of wars of
> aggression when it sees fit, and its absolute disregard of formerly
> accepted international conventions.
>
>
> The US government's role in not only contributing to the situation,
> but in constituting the conditions that have given rise to extremes,
> of being the extreme, is disregarded by many Bangladesh scholars,
> whether at home or abroad. Most of these writings are atrociously
> naive, exhibiting a theoretical incapacity to deal with questions of
> global inequalities in power. Authors repeatedly portray American
> power ― in whichever manifestation, whether economic or cultural,
> military or ideological ― as being benign. Two images of Bangladesh
> are juxtaposed against each other, a secular Bangladesh of the early
> 1970s, the fruit of Bangladesh's liberation struggle of 1971, and a
> Talibanised Bangladesh of recent years. `National particularities' and
> 'the dynamics of domestic policies' are emphasised (undoubtedly
> important), but inevitably at the cost of leaving the policies of US
> empire-building efforts un-examined.
>
>
> One instance is Maneeza Hossain, Senior Fellow at the Hudson
> Institute, who, in her 60 page study of the growth of Islamism in
> Bangladesh politics, tucks in a hurried mention of US' supply of
> weaponry to Afghan jihadists, and moves on to call on the US to shake
> off its `indifference' to Bangladesh, to use its 'good offices' to
> help democratic forces within Bangladesh prevail (The Broken Pendulum.
> Bangladesh's Swing to Radicalism, 2007).
>
>
> Ali Riaz, who teaches at Illinois State University, author of God
> Willing. The Politics of Islamism in Bangladesh (2004) provides
> another instance. International reasons for the rise of militancy are
> the Afghan war, internationalisation of resistance to Soviet
> occupation, policies of so-called charitable organisations of the
> Middle East and Persian Gulf, and (last, it would also seem, the
> least) `American foreign policy'. A token mention showing utter
> disregard towards 1,273,378 Iraqi deaths, caused by the invasion and
> occupation. 1971 was genocidal, but so is the Iraq invasion. On a much
> larger scale. Unconcerned, he goes on, policy circles in the US are
> `apprehensive' about militancy in Bangladesh. Even now. The solution?
> He advocates open debates, particularly between the intelligence
> agencies and the political parties (Prothom Alo, 3 February 2008).
>
>
> And then one comes across Farooq Sobhan who claims that president Bush
> has 'taken pains' to convince Muslims that the war against terror is
> not a war against Islam or a clash of civilizations (no, it's a crime
> against humanity). Rather petulantly, he asks, why has Bangladesh, a
> Muslim majority country, not figured prominently on the US 'list of
> countries to be wooed and cultivated.' Further, he writes, "High on
> the US agenda has been the issue of Bangladesh sending troops to
> Iraq." Sending 'troops', like crates of banana, or tea? Surely,
> there
> are substantive issues ― of death and destruction of Iraqis and Iraq,
> of war crimes ― involved.
>
>
> Re-configuring Politics during Emergency
>
>
> Creating a level playing field so that free and fair national
> elections could be held, that's what the military-backed caretaker
> government had promised. Twenty-two months later, after failed
> attempts at minusing Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, with their
> respective parties in shambles, thousands of party workers in prison,
> constitutional rights suspended due to the state of emergency, economy
> in tatters, police crack-downs on protests of garments workers, jute
> mill workers, women's organisations and activists, on human chains
> against increasing prices of essentials, the only two forces to have
> remained unscathed are the Jamaat-e-Islami, and Muslim clerics,
> Islamic parties and madrasa students, those who protested against the
> Women Development Policy, agitated for the removal of Baul sculptures,
> recently caused havoc in the DU Vice Chancellor's office protesting
> against newly-enforced admission requirements. Are these accidental,
> or deliberate governmental moves? I cannot help but wonder.
>
>
> Several western diplomats ― members of the infamous Tuesday Club,
> particularly ambassadors from United States, Britain, Canada,
> Australia, and the EU representative ― and also the UN Resident
> Coordinator actively intervened in Bangladesh politics prior to 11
> January 2007, in events that led to the emergence of the present
> military-backed caretaker goverment. Renata Dessalien did so to
> unheard degrees, leading to recent demands that the UN Resident
> Coordinator be withdrawn.
>
>
> In a week or so, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon arrives in
> Dhaka, to see for himself electoral preparations, and extend support
> for the government. A visit that has nothing to do with politics, we
> are told. In the eyes of many observers, Ban is one of the most
> pro-American secretaries general in it's 62-year history. He has
> opposed calls for a swift US withdrawal from Iraq, and is committed to
> a beefed-up UN presence in Baghdad. The UN staff committee has
> protested Ban's decision saying it would `make the institution
> complicit in an intractable US-made crisis' (Washington Post, 24
> September 2007).
>
>
> In the name of bringing 'beauty' to politics in Bangladesh, the
> lineaments of political reconfiguration undertaken by this
> military-backed caretaker government are becoming ominously clear:
> mainstream political parties in shambles, Jamaat-e-Islami intact
> (`democratic party,' Richard Boucher, US Assistant Secretary of State,
> 2006), Muslim clerics and Islamic forces re-emerging as a political
> force under state patronage, and the exercise of rampant power by
> western diplomats.
>
>
> A beast in the guise of beauty? Time will tell.
>
>
> On the Flight Path of American Power
>
>
> I borrow the title from British-Pakistani historian Tariq Ali's coming
> event: `Pakistan/Afghanistan: on the Flight Path of American Power,'
> to be held at Toronto, November 14.
>
>
> Seven years after the US led invasion, Pakistan, America's strong
> military ally, is now "on the edge" of ruin. Pakistani political
> analysts repeatedly warn Bangladeshis that they see similar political
> patterns at work here: minusing political leaders, militarisation,
> milbus, National Security Council etc etc. I do not think that an
> Obama win will make any difference to the American flight path for
> unilateral power. As atute political commentators point out, Obama and
> McCain differ on domestic policies, not substantively on US foreign
> policy. A couple of days ago, president Bush signed the highest
> defense budget since World War II.
>
>
> Maybe there should be an open public debate in Bangladesh, as Ali Riaz
> proposes, but with a different agenda: are we being set on America's
> flight path to greater power by this unconstitutional,
> unrepresentative government, one which is more accountable to western
> forces, than to us?
>
>
> Drifting in cage and out again
>
>
> Hark unknown bird does fly
>
>
> Shackles of my heart
>
>
> If my arms could entwine
>
>
> With them I would thee bind
>
>
> ― Fakir Lalon Shah, "Khachar bhitor ochin pakhi,"
>
>
> translation by Shahidul Alam.
> _________________________________________
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>
>
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
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>
>
> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> The Sarai Programme at CSDS
> Raqs Media Collective
> shuddha at sarai.net
> www.sarai.net
> www.raqsmediacollective.net
>
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
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