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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Re: [chottala.com] A Quick Email Inverview with Dr. David King

I was surprised to hear from Dr. King that he was not even sure who invited  Gen. Moeen to Harvard. I am wondering whether other Security chiefs or Govenment officials would come and visit any place they wanted while restrictions are alredy in place for government officials to travel outside the country..Thanks to Gopal Sengupta and others for getting the actual truth out.


 
----- Original Message ----
From: "gopalsengupta@aol.com" <gopalsengupta@aol.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com; muktibijoy71@yahoo.com; vinnomot@yahoogroups.com; notun_bangladesh@yahoogroups.com; khabor@yahoogroups.com; chottala@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 1:12:03 AM
Subject: [chottala.com] A Quick Email Inverview with Dr. David King

A Quick Email Inverview with Dr. David King

Update: Mash also posted an email exchange with Dr. King.

[ Dr. David King is Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where Gen. Moeen attended a class, viewed a presentation from students and answered some questions on October 22, 2007. As there is some controversy about whether Harvard invited Gen. Moeen, or whether he invited himself, and about Dr. King's consulting for Gen. Moeen, we decided to go straight to the source. Following is the email exchange with Dr. King, whose responses are in yellow. Now we know Dr. King is not a consultant in any capacity with any Bangladeshi entity, and that he asked Gen. Moeen to visit his class. Other than that, the invitation from Harvard is still a mystery. -J ]

Thanks for asking. I'm happy to talk, and I'm sorry that my voice mailbox was full. I just emptied it.

Here are some quick answers -- to the extent I know what has gone on --

1. Are you working on electoral reform in Bangladesh as a consultant?

No. I teach a research seminar here on election reform, and when we heard that General Moeen was coming to Harvard, I asked someone here if it'd be possible to have him visit with my students. My students then used Bangladesh as a "case" for a couple of weeks and prepared a presentation for him. The class took place yesterday, at its normal time. General Moeen arrived along with a personal aide, and other than my students, those two were the only ones present. The first I ever heard about being a "consultant" was when I read it on a blog yesterday.

2. Have you been appointed a consultant by Gen. Moeen personally or by the Bangladesh Army?

No, not at all.

3. Have you been appointed a consultant by the government of Bangladesh?

No. And I have not been asked to be a consultant by any person or agency in any way associated with Bangladesh.

4. Are you affiliated with the Ash Institute (there is a Bangladeshi media outlet, BDNEWS24.com, claiming "Professor David King of the Ash Institute, who extended the invitation, told bdnews24.com that Moeen participated in the presentation with enthusiasm." )? I am trying to figure out if BDNEWS24 got the name of the Institute wrong.

Yes, I am affiliated with the Ash Institute, and I ran a conference in June on their behalf. I am associated with several "institutes" or "centers" at Harvard, including Ash, the Institute of Politics, the Center for Public Leadership, the Shorenstein Center, and the Center for American Political Studies. I also hold an appointment in the Government Department. Harvard has a patchwork quilt of institutes and centers. Sometimes they communicate with each other well, but most often they do not.

5. Did you speak to BDNEWS24.com or did they manufacture the quote? It won't be the first time for them.

Yes, they called yesterday afternoon, about an hour after the class ended. The quote seems accurate to me, but I don't recall exactly what I said. They got the spirit of it right, however.

6. Did you invite Gen. Moeen, or were you approached by someone and asked if he could visit?

I don't know who initially invited General Moeen, but I think it was someone up in the "Yard," the main part of Harvard's campus. I heard about the invitation through someone at Ash, because after General Moeen was invited, someone asked Gowher for help arranging the visit. I then invited -- through the Ash Institute -- General Moeen to visit my class, since he would be on campus already. Well, whatever was planned in the Yard fell through and the conference was cancelled. But when an important person is scheduled to come to Harvard, they don't get "uninvited" just because the broader conference fell through. I was nervous that General Moeen might not come, which would have spoiled the "case" we'd been working on in class. Of course, he did come -- and the discussion in our class was thorough and wide-ranging.

General Moeen delivered his prepared lecture today at lunch, before a gathering of Bangladeshi students and community leaders. He fielded challenging questions, but since I am not a Bangladesh scholar, perhaps you'll receive a better briefing from other folks who were in the room.

I hope this helps.


------------ --------- ------
David C. King
John F. Kennedy School of Government
http://www.ksg. harvard.edu/ dking



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[chottala.com] Abraham & Ahmed


Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed addressing a function at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city marking the United Nations Day on Wednesday. Eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain and UN Resident Coordinator Renata Dessallien were present.

Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said his interim government is working tirelessly for a government truly of the people, by the people and for the people.

"We no longer want to endure governments 'of the money, by the money and for the money',"
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[chottala.com] PHILADELPHIA Woman gets 8 months in hate note case

 

Woman gets 8 months in hate note case

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 26 minutes ago

PHILADELPHIA - A woman who sent her Arab-American boss a threatening note that warned "Remember 9/11" and "You and your kids will pay" was sentenced Wednesday to eight months in a federal halfway house.

Kia Reid, who described herself as Christian, donned gloves to craft the note from magazine clippings and then left it in Nina Timani's office, prosecutors said.

Timani said during a victim impact statement that she had spent months wondering who sent the anonymous note and fearing that her two young children would be harmed.

Timani said she was stunned when an FBI investigation led to the 35-year-old Reid, whom she had mentored and befriended during nine years together at a Philadelphia hotel.

"How could you — when you have written that you want to tie my kids to the fence — play with my daughter at a ... picnic?" Timani asked.

Reid said she sent the letter in anger, not in hatred, after she had been unable to get help with a workplace dispute at the airport Sheraton Suites Hotel.

"I thought all of the nonsense that was going on would stop," the mother of three teenage children explained Wednesday to U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter.

Reid did not detail the nature of the work dispute. The Philadelphia woman was arrested in October 2006 after an FBI informant recorded her discussing the note.

She later pleaded guilty to one count of sending a threatening hate note, a misdemeanor.

The judge probed Reid's cultural attitudes at length before announcing the sentence. Prosecutors had sought a one-year prison term.

Timani, a practicing Muslim born in Egypt, said she sought help from the FBI over the objections of her husband. "I defied convention because I had to know who was going to kill me and my kids," she said.

Timani said that her father, a California surgeon, could not fly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks because he was mistakenly listed on a no-fly list. Her brother took an American name to blend in after his Dallas home was egged and stoned, she said.

"I came forward for my kids," she said. "I have found my inner peace by helping spread tolerance to people of other faiths," she said.

Woman Gets 8 Months in Hate Note Case
The Associated Press - 1 hour ago
She later pleaded guilty to one count of sending a threatening hate note, a misdemeanor. The judge probed Reid's cultural attitudes at length before ...

SEE: Dept of Justice Press Release on Kia Reid Indictment (5/1/07)

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/News/Pr/2007/may/Reid.Press.Release.5.1.07.pdf

SEE: Dept of Justice information about Kia Reid case (5/1/07)
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/News/Pr/2007/may/Reid.Information.5.1.07.pdf

US Attorney Issues Indictment in Hate Crime Against Muslim Woman

May 01, 2007

http://www.mpac.org/article.php?id=499

 

 

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[chottala.com] More than 755,000 on US terrorist watch list

 

More than 755,000 on US terrorist watch list

Wed Oct 24, 7:17 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US terrorist watch list includes more than 755,000 names and continues to grow, the US Government Accountability Office said Wednesday.

The list exploded from fewer than 20 entries before the September 11, 2001 attacks to more than 150,000 just a few months later, after the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) was created in December 2003 to keep tabs on terrorist suspects, according to the GAO, the non-partisan investigative arm of Congress.

Including known pseudonyms of suspects, the list's 755,000 names as of May 2007 represents, in fact, around 300,000 people, according to TSC estimates.

Tasked with gathering data on individuals "known or appropriately suspected to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of or related to terrorism," the TSC gets its information from Federal Bureau of Investigation intelligence and passes it on chiefly to immigration authorities.

Since 2003, the list has been used around 53,000 times to single out individuals for possible arrest or to prevent them from entering the country, the GAO said.

More often, however, people whose names are included on the list for reasons of caution are merely questioned and released, and left to face the same annoyance each time they enter the country, GAO said.

Despite the precautionary zeal, there have been mistakes, it said, adding that many suspects have been stopped by immigration authorities on arrival at US airports when their entries in the TSC list should have prevented them from boarding their planes in the first place.

Describing the list as "quicksand" that traps innocent people for the sake of security, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has called on the US Congress to step in.

"How much safer are we when the government turns so many innocent people into suspects?," ACLU senior legislative counsel Timothy Sparapani said in a statement.

Photo


Turkish Press
Terror watch list swells to more than 755000 names
USA Today - Oct 23, 2007
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The government's terrorist watch list has swelled to more than 755000 names, according to a new government report that ...
860000 Name Long Terror Watch List Scrutinizes Americans Most Wired News
Report: US terror 'watch list' may be getting too long CNN
More than 755000 on US terrorist watch list France24
all 16 news articles »

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Re: [chottala.com] A Quick Email Inverview with Dr. David King

With due respect to all the members I like to say we, (including me) are so mean that we tried to find whether Gen. Moin U Ahmed came USA without any invitation or not. If Gen. Moin wants Invitation he can get 1000 Invitation from USA. All those will be for the Army chief of a country. No matter it is a small country or big.You can read newspaper and see how they are closing all your leaders backdoors all over the country.
 
If I do not respect my Government I do not respect me. Gen. Moin is our country representative and we should respectful to him as a Bangladeshi.If you feel you are American only that's another story. Sorry for hurting you.
 
A Bangladeshi.




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[chottala.com] Update: Joy's interview with BBC



Update: Joy's interview with BBC

 
To listen Click on the above link
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[chottala.com] Bloggers, the media and the army chief [Original Blog by Rezwan]

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Bloggers, the media and the army chief

[Original Blog by Rezwan at http://rezwanul.blogspot.com/ ]

The political arena of Bangladesh heated up after the Eid holidays. Bloggers cum citizen journalists had a role to play in this.

J Rahman at Mukti has some backgrounds :

Earlier this year, Bangladesh experienced an extra-constitutional change in government. The Economist called it a coup that dares not speak its name. Initially, this de facto coup brought respite from a months-old stalemate between the country's rival political parties. But soon, the technocratic regime (Caretaker government) that was installed by the army started arresting top politicians on corruption charges.

In many ways it becomes evident who is running the show here. The army chief has been the center of media attention providing all kinds of political statement on behalf of the Caretaker Government. In recent days he has declared that he don't want to become president of the country which attracted much publicity and got cheered from the public. His prominent exposure in the local print media raises eyebrows. Rumi of In The Middle of Nowhere says :

Please see below the screenshots of the main page ( Cover page) of most of the major Bangladeshi newspapers published today… all of them had a common theme… Almost all newspapers gave banner heading treatment with a central front page picture of General Moeen U Ahmed. No, he did not save this planet from immediate annihilation by a meteor. He is visiting USA and spoke in a reception hosted by a hitherto unknown Bangali diaspora organization.

And you still want me to believe that Bangladesh is not under a de facto martial law?

An anonymous commenter first raised the question on the 16th of October. Mash followed up with an investigative report in E-Bangladesh regarding irregularities in General Moeen U Ahmed's personal housing loan from Trust Bank, a commercial bank owned and operated by the Bangladesh Army. He had quoted evidence from an auditor certified prospectus hosted in public domain of the Security Exchange Commission of Bangladesh that Mr. Ahmed crossed his capacity as a director on the board in obtaining a large amount of loan. He also cited the regulation that more than one member of a family cannot be director of a bank but His brother was appointed as the MD of the Bank during his tenure.

Mukti adds:

These violations of the banking regulations were completely avoided by the mainstream media in Bangladesh. While the bloggers were discussing this, what did the daily newspapers in Dhaka report? They reported on the General's visit to Britain and America.
……
After it broke in the internet, the General was asked about the issue by reporters from ATN Bangla, a TV channel. Then major newspapers reported the General's explanations. Here is how the Daily Star chose to report it. Out-of-context? You be the judge.

Adding more to the controversy General Moeen U Ahmed denied the charges and said he had only taken Taka 3.5 million (The audit report says 9.9 million). He also claimed that he is a victim of "internet propaganda." His brother, the MD was also quick to respond [bn] to the issues without mentioning the audited prospectus.

Shada Kalo Blog reacts :

I would have accepted the explanation that the prospectus contained a typo. But if the MD is not claiming that the prospectus was incorrect, then surely the information was correct.

Tacit points to the significance of this :

This story will not die down any time soon, given that this is the same man who has sent countless people to jail, held them without bail, and tortured them, all in the name of ridding our country of nepotism and corruption. Hopefully, this information will give pause to everyone who would like to take him at his word and believe that he has Bangladesh's best interests at heart.

And Mukti aptly puts it:

"(These are) questions that should be raised by people far more qualified than the bloggers who have been raising them this week.

I asked the editor of a major Bangla daily earlier this month about press freedom in today's Bangladesh. He said a lot of things without answering the question. LK Advani said about the Indian media during their Emergency — the media was asked to bend, they chose to crawl. Ours seem to have taken supplication to a new low.

Even if the General is telling the truth, this incidence should make it obvious that unless things change, he is likely to end up not different from the other military rulers that came before him."

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[chottala.com] Midnight Knock Continues : Proshika chief, son detained, released

Proshika chief, son detained, released
 
 
Thu, Oct 25th, 2007 3:13 am BdST

 

Abu Noman Sajib
bdnews24.com Correspondent

Dhaka, Oct 25 ( bdnews24.com) – Joint forces detained and then released Proshika chief Kazi Faruque Ahmed and his son early Thursday morning after raiding his home.

They also raided the homes of former state minister Jahanara Begum and former Awami League lawmaker Rahmatullah Wednesday night.

The forces released Kazi Faruque and the son Kazi Rubayet Ahmed, who heads the NGO's IT wing, at around 2:50am after taking them to Proshika office at around 2am.

They searched the office of the NGO in Mirpur-2 for about half an hour.

The forces first swooped on the home of Jahanara, also former prime minister Khaleda Zia's adviser and now LDP secretary general.

The forces first swooped on the home of Jahanara, also former prime minister Khaleda Zia's adviser and now LDP secretary general.

As the raid was on, Jahanara said to bdnews24.com by telephone, "Members of joint forces are in my home. They are questioning me."

The raid began at around 10pm.

The forces also launched a raid on the AL leader Rahmatullah's house on road 11/A in Gulshan 2. He was not at home at the time.

The law-enforcers left after questioning Rahmatullah's daughter Ani and her husband Hayat, security guard of the house Jalaluddin told bdnews24.com correspondent Abu Noman Sajib.

He also said 10-12 were army men and two plainclothesmen. The one hour raid started at 10:45pm, Jalaluddin added.
 
Also Read:
The Daily Star: Internet Edition

The raid on Proshika Chairman Kazi Faruque's residence in Section-12 at Pallabi started at about 10:00pm and was continuing as of 1:00am. ...
www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=8872 - 4 hours ago - Similar pages

ACC makes public list of 35

The list also includes the name of former chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) Taimur Alam Khandaker, Proshika Chairman Kazi Faruque ...
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freedomhouse.org: View a Page

Several officials and workers of Proshika, including its chief, Kazi Faruque Ahmed, were imprisoned on charges of corruption. Kazi Faruque Ahmed was later ...
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On May 22, police arrested Kazi Faruque Ahmed, the president of the NGO Proshika, ostensibly for cheating and corruption (see Section 4). ...
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The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Amnesty International (AI) that Dr Qazi Faruque Ahmed and David William Biswas, ...
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Qazi Faruque Ahmed, President, Proshika; Nayeem ul Islam Khan .... William Crawley expressed gratitude to Proshika - to the President Dr Qazi Faruque Ahmed ...
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[chottala.com] Mistrial in Dallas “Flagship” Terrorism Financing Trial

Mistrial in Dallas "Flagship" Terrorism Financing Trial

Another Zionist Hate promoted and American Fear driven trials of "suspected" Islamic terrorists bites the dust. WAKE-UP America - see who your real enemies are!

A mistrial was declared in Dallas yesterday in the Government's "flagship" terrorism financing prosecution of a Muslim charity. With 197 counts to choose from and after two months of trial and 19 days of deliberation, there were no convictions on any of the counts for the five alleged leaders of the organization.

The case, involving the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and five of its backers, is the government's largest and most complex legal effort to shut down what it contends is American financing for terrorist organizations in the Middle East.

President Bush froze the groups' assets in 2001. He claimed they were a pipeline to Hamas. The indictment, however, didn't charge the group with financing terror efforts.

Instead, the prosecution said, the foundation supported terrorism by sending more than $12 million to charitable groups, known as zakat committees, which build hospitals and feed the poor.

Prosecutors said the committees were controlled by Hamas and contributed to terrorism by helping Hamas spread its ideology and recruit supporters. The government relied on Israeli intelligence agents, using pseudonyms, to testify in support of this theory.

The jury was having none of it.

In the verdict, the jury said it failed to reach a decision on any of the charges against the charity and two of its main organizers, but acquitted three defendants on almost all counts.

The Government intends to retry the case. Perhaps it should first listen to some of the jurors:

Juror William Neal, 33, who said his father worked in military intelligence, said that the government's case had "so many gaps" that he regarded the prosecution as "a waste of time."

What went wrong with the Government's case?

David D. Cole, a professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University, said the jury's verdict called into question the government's tactics in freezing the assets of charities using secret evidence that the charities cannot see, much less rebut. When, at trial, prosecutors "have to put their evidence on the table, they can't convict anyone of anything," he said. "It suggests the government is really pushing beyond where the law justifies them going."

If there was a scintilla of evidence those contributions helped finance a suicide bombing or other terrorist activity, the Government would have provided it. It didn't because it didn't exist. Instead, they prosecuted organizations based on their beliefs and associations.

Secret evidence has become a hallmark of the Bush Administration. Foreign nationals are whisked off on Ghost Air to other parts of the world where they are held in secret and subjected to interrogation practices so severe, like waterboarding, that even Attorney General Nominee Mike Mukasey tumbled over his words as he struggled for legal platitudes to distinguish it as an acceptable technique that did not amount to torture.

I'll admit I'm not the one to sing the Justice Department's praises, even on a good day. (You've all got Jane, Christy, Marcy and Looseheadprop to do that far better than I can.) But at least the Justice Department used to stand up for civil rights and the constitutional principles on which this country was founded. Now, it's just another shill for the fear-mongerers. Be afraid of the big, bad terror financiers who collect charitable contributions to send to the poor and needy in their homelands.

As for Mukasey, he undoubtedly realizes he's now jumped to the dark side where the Government conducts both enemy combatant hearings and trials before military tribunal commissions using evidence that has been withheld from the detainees and their lawyers. Where federal defendants in terror trials are prohibited from learning whether the evidence used to prosecute them was obtained by warrantless NSA surveillance.

Once Mukasey refused to say that waterboarding is torture, he lost his way home. I can just picture him leaving the confirmation hearing. He's got a piece of the waterboard stuck on the sole of his shoe, like you know what, and no matter how many times he tries to scrape it off, it's still there. The piece won't leave Muckasey. It's there to remind him that he's one of them now. He's solid with the Administration's refusal to promise to discontinue waterboarding. Mukasey has no more robes to hide behind as he did in New York as a federal judge. He's in too deep now. Once he's confirmed, Mukasey will be front and center at DOJ public hearings and meetings, justifying the Bush party line and policies so many Americans find abhorrent.

Outside the courtroom, things will be no easier for Mukasey. He'll be meeting with a frustrated Congress through the wall of secrecy the Bush Administration erected when it refused to turn subpoenaed documents over to Congress. Documents that relate to the U.S. Attorney firings, the missing RNC e-mails and voter suppression. Mukasey is stepping into the Lion's den and by all appearances, seems to accept his fate. I have an uneasy feeling that my future posts about Mukasey will be accompanied by a graphic showing him tethered to a ball and chain.

So if you're thinking that cooler heads will prevail at the Department of Justice once Mukasey is installed and the Holy Land case may be laid to bed where it belongs, don't get your hopes up. It's looking to me like we have another case of "Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss" on our hands.

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[chottala.com] David C. King

 David C. King 

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL RESUME

David King is Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he teaches about the U.S. Congress, Election Reform, and Youth Political Engagement.  Professor King joined the Harvard faculty in 1992.

David King is the faculty director of Harvard's program for Newly Elected Members of the U.S. Congress, which is run through the Institute of Politics.  He has overseen similar programs for the State Duma of the Russian Federation, and he has advised on legislative design issues in South Korea, Nicaragua, Chile, and Bolivia.  Professor King oversees Harvard's surveys of young peoples' interests in community service and politics, and he is on the executive committee of the Center for American Political Studies.

In the wake of the 2000 presidential elections, Professor King directed the Task Force on Election Administration for the National Commission on Election Reform, chaired by former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.  That effort culminated in landmark voting rights legislation signed by President Bush in late 2002.  Professor King also worked with the City of Boston to assess the Election Department's operations after the November 2006 elections. 

David King is co-author of The Generation of Trust: Public Confidence in the U.S. Military Since Vietnam , (2003), author of Turf Wars: How Congressional Committees Claim Jurisdiction (1997), and co-editor of Why People Don't Trust Government (1997).  Turf Wars won the 1998 Richard F. Fenno prize from the American Political Science Association for the "best book about legislatures."  His articles have appeared in leading Political Science journals as well as in the popular press.  His current research is on political polarization in the U.S. Congress.  

Recent publications and presentations include:

Contact Information:  John F. Kennedy School of Government / 79 John F. Kennedy Street /  Cambridge, MA 02138.  617-495-1665 (voice)  617-496-5960 (fax)  David_King@Harvard.edu  Faculty Assistant: Karen Armstrong.

Photo Credit: Martha Stewart, marthapix.com

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[chottala.com] A Quick Email Inverview with Dr. David King

A Quick Email Inverview with Dr. David King

Update: Mash also posted an email exchange with Dr. King.

[ Dr. David King is Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where Gen. Moeen attended a class, viewed a presentation from students and answered some questions on October 22, 2007. As there is some controversy about whether Harvard invited Gen. Moeen, or whether he invited himself, and about Dr. King's consulting for Gen. Moeen, we decided to go straight to the source. Following is the email exchange with Dr. King, whose responses are in yellow. Now we know Dr. King is not a consultant in any capacity with any Bangladeshi entity, and that he asked Gen. Moeen to visit his class. Other than that, the invitation from Harvard is still a mystery. -J ]

Thanks for asking. I'm happy to talk, and I'm sorry that my voice mailbox was full. I just emptied it.

Here are some quick answers -- to the extent I know what has gone on --

1. Are you working on electoral reform in Bangladesh as a consultant?

No. I teach a research seminar here on election reform, and when we heard that General Moeen was coming to Harvard, I asked someone here if it'd be possible to have him visit with my students. My students then used Bangladesh as a "case" for a couple of weeks and prepared a presentation for him. The class took place yesterday, at its normal time. General Moeen arrived along with a personal aide, and other than my students, those two were the only ones present. The first I ever heard about being a "consultant" was when I read it on a blog yesterday.

2. Have you been appointed a consultant by Gen. Moeen personally or by the Bangladesh Army?

No, not at all.

3. Have you been appointed a consultant by the government of Bangladesh?

No. And I have not been asked to be a consultant by any person or agency in any way associated with Bangladesh.

4. Are you affiliated with the Ash Institute (there is a Bangladeshi media outlet, BDNEWS24.com, claiming "Professor David King of the Ash Institute, who extended the invitation, told bdnews24.com that Moeen participated in the presentation with enthusiasm.")? I am trying to figure out if BDNEWS24 got the name of the Institute wrong.

Yes, I am affiliated with the Ash Institute, and I ran a conference in June on their behalf. I am associated with several "institutes" or "centers" at Harvard, including Ash, the Institute of Politics, the Center for Public Leadership, the Shorenstein Center, and the Center for American Political Studies. I also hold an appointment in the Government Department. Harvard has a patchwork quilt of institutes and centers. Sometimes they communicate with each other well, but most often they do not.

5. Did you speak to BDNEWS24.com or did they manufacture the quote? It won't be the first time for them.

Yes, they called yesterday afternoon, about an hour after the class ended. The quote seems accurate to me, but I don't recall exactly what I said. They got the spirit of it right, however.

6. Did you invite Gen. Moeen, or were you approached by someone and asked if he could visit?

I don't know who initially invited General Moeen, but I think it was someone up in the "Yard," the main part of Harvard's campus. I heard about the invitation through someone at Ash, because after General Moeen was invited, someone asked Gowher for help arranging the visit. I then invited -- through the Ash Institute -- General Moeen to visit my class, since he would be on campus already. Well, whatever was planned in the Yard fell through and the conference was cancelled. But when an important person is scheduled to come to Harvard, they don't get "uninvited" just because the broader conference fell through. I was nervous that General Moeen might not come, which would have spoiled the "case" we'd been working on in class. Of course, he did come -- and the discussion in our class was thorough and wide-ranging.

General Moeen delivered his prepared lecture today at lunch, before a gathering of Bangladeshi students and community leaders. He fielded challenging questions, but since I am not a Bangladesh scholar, perhaps you'll receive a better briefing from other folks who were in the room.

I hope this helps.


---------------------------
David C. King
John F. Kennedy School of Government
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/dking

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[chottala.com] Helping Emon with his higher studies - Do we have any Chottala Member(s) residing in Dhaka?

Hi All:
 
Salaam/Aadab. From our Chottala forum, i would like to help Emon for his educational expenses.
Is there anyone in Dhaka i can contact with regarding this matter. Pls see the below links for details.
 
 
Thanks.
Helal
647 828-3796 (Cell)

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