Bangladesh: Failing To See The Woods For The Trees
By Fazal M. Kamal
20 February, 2014
Countercurrents.org
A loud and shrill brouhaha has been generated by the administration in Bangladesh about a purported missive that has been issued by the al-Qaida leadership regarding events in that country. It’s still being investigated who in fact was the author of that message even though government leaders have already begun their obsessive-compulsive finger pointing.
But before delving further into that matter, a necessary digression. Al-Qaida, its brand and its franchises have over the past decade and some years inflicted more disservice, caused more gratuitous deaths of Muslims (in the thousands, in fact, and counting) and, in short, have done precious little that can by any reasonable methodology be described as good for those following the Islamic faith.
In reality it has provided all kinds of political deviants and power-hungry self-servers---from corrupt despots to avaricious tyrants, and even to half-educated, semi-literate and absurdly ignorant bigots---the tools to justify their myriad actions that lead directly to political depredations and human rights degradations as they bolster their repressive and regressive machinery under the multipurpose ruse of eliminating Islamic extremism.
To return to the earlier point relating to the supposed al-Qaida statement: The Sheikh Hasina administration, in the heat of chasing a second term in office at any cost, started to encourage activities among her party people, to say nothing about the mercenaries who clung to the government’s coattails, which evidently were meant to divide the nation and pit one section against the rest.
Fearing that the persons in power were not realizing the dangers in such a myopic policy, conscientious persons began expressing the apprehension that this stance could invite thoughtless and reckless actions from extreme elements which, needless to elaborate, would not serve the people of Bangladesh well. But as is well-known by now, government leaders didn’t have the minutest interest in listening to reason. Nothing could be dearer to them than their perpetuation in power.
In the process, and as time elapsed, Bangladesh was driven deeper into the quagmire of lawlessness, atrocities, unsolved murders, unexplained disappearances, shameless avarice and all the mayhem that partners with such anarchic circumstances. And though the ruling coterie succeeded in getting less than a quarter of the electorate to the voting stations in national elections earlier this year, it proclaimed its triumph and continued to occupy the seats of power because it was supposed to be business as usual.
In its January report the leading human rights organization in Bangladesh, Odhikar, states, “There are allegations of extrajudicial killings of activists and leaders of the Opposition during countrywide operations carried out by the joint forces after the parliamentary elections of January 5, 2014. According to information gathered by Odhikar, a total of 11 persons were extra-judicially killed from 5 to 31 January 2014 by [the] joint forces. Among them, three were activists of [the] BNP, seven were activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and one was an alleged criminal.”
The report added that of the 39 people who underwent extra-judicial elimination in January “11 were alleged leaders and activists of the BNP and its associate organizations, 15 were leaders and activists of Jamaat-Shibir, one was an activist of Jatiyo Gonotantrik Party [a political party], one was from the Purbo Bangla Communist Party (ML), 10 were alleged criminals, and one person’s profession could not be determined.”
Juxtaposed against this kind of backdrop, it maybe concluded, if relentless reckless rhetoric, cavalier handling of inexplicable deaths, persistent prevarication and other similar attributes are going to be parts of business as usual for any administration then, certainly, the present government has steered itself into an excellent position. Whether that serves the interests of the citizens is altogether a whole other story.
Meanwhile, comic relief of sorts was provided by some leading members of the ruling party as they reprimanded a number of foreign envoys for their activities. Apparently at least, these members suffered selective amnesia since over many years these same leaders have been “liaising” with the same foreign envoys on matters that related to internal political theater. Bluntly stated, they sought the diplomats’ intervention in the country’s domestic agenda.
Not merely that. If truth be told---and unfortunately in this instance it’s embarrassing to do so---many of them find themselves levitating at the issuance of visas by some of these diplomatic outposts for themselves or their family and friends. Worse still---and still more embarrassingly---many of these same personages unabashedly pine to be asked to events held at the foreign missions in the country!
Is this blabbering then duplicitous? Deception? Hypocrisy? It’s none of these; it’s merely sincere efforts to demonstrate their devotion and loyalty to the leader who, it maybe surmised under the circumstances, probably has a wry knowing smile while listening to the unadulterated twaddle. But, one would guess, that (and all the other shenanigans the followers perform as they attempt to outdo one another) is only a tiny piece of the price one has to pay when you become an unquestioned leader.
Reverting to the suspected message from the al-Qaida leadership, without a doubt its authenticity first needs to be verified, following which appropriate measures must be taken primarily because this is precisely the type of intervention that on no pretext---and also for reasons that have been enumerated in earlier paragraphs---can be tolerated simply because its involvement hasn’t brought about any salubrious consequences anywhere at any time.
Nevertheless, spurious or not, this incident makes it even more imperative for the administration and the ruling party to urgently work toward a resolution of the existing political crisis which they themselves have created. This suggestion has consistently been put forward by all quarters---not surprisingly, with one conspicuous exception---which consider the country’s development and the region’s stability to be of crucial importance. Using this, as with other issues, as a political whip will be ill-advised and self-defeating.
If ultimately politics and the power that comes with it are expected to serve the people of the country then, as has been repeatedly exhorted by all human rights organizations from around the world, the unbridled utilization of the repressive machinery of the state has to come to an end. The result of this policy has so far only added to the death toll. But as humankind’s story has shown since the beginning of time, force alone has never succeeded in preserving anyone’s power for long.
Continued miscalculation on this score will not only be ugsome but futile as well.
And that is a verifiable fact.
The writer has been a media professional, in print and online newspapers as editor and commentator, and in public affairs, for over forty years.
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