The army will not stage a coup, the political crisis should be resolved by political means.
— Gen Anupong Paochinda, the commander-in- chief of the Royal Thai Army
Capitalist Development Chocked in Bangladesh
Abid Bahar
After the independence in 1971, despite several ups and downs in Bangladesh, the country has been making baby steps in both democratic development and economic prosperity.This became evident to me when lately,I was listening to a friend Sheikh Ali( not the real name) just returned from Bangladesh. He was talking about his uncle who was once a TV program director in Northern Bengal, lived in rented apartments all his life but in his retirement began house building business and now he owns 5 beautiful buildings and keeps 3 cars. The uncle explained to his nephew, that he borrowed money from his friends and built his first building and then sold the condo apartments and made money, paid the debt and reinvested in new projects. His uncle is under investigation by the military backed Caretaker Government. I asked him why, my friend said his uncle's enemies suspect that he earned the money illegally. I said to my friend, in the capitalist system, if
you have the right investment, you become rich as if like the popular saying, over night a finger turns into a banana tree. That is how even in the West, within the first generation, many Bangladeshis are now already millionaires. I said, this is capitalism. In Bangladesh, Bangladeshi business leaders are learning the capitalist tricks. Having said this, I must also say that business in a capitalist system is not free of corruption. That is why there is the department of anti-corruption to catch violators. But in a country like Bangladesh it seems, the danger is when the military Generals find no other ways to take over power, they use the jingle of anti-corruption and say they are purifying the nation. But Moin U's military intervention through pro-Indian Motiur of Prothom Alo's invitation in politics seems to help only "de-intellectualization" and the chooking of the capitalist development in Bangladesh. Why, it seems the Moin U who
first bluffed Khalida to pretend as a BNP supporter become the chief of the nation and then bluffed the nation to go to India to receive the illegal Indian horses, is bluffing the people of the nation.
It is true, "it takes time for democracy to take roots in any country. Democracy was not allowed to take root in Pakistan by the over ambitious generals. It is not soldiers job to run a country. They are not trained for the job and they do not have the frame of mind of administering a country.. It is best for the military to stay in the barraks where they belong and do their job and let politicians do their job. Military is not the guardian of the nation, they are paid to protect the country from foreign aggression... We have a saying in Bengali that means " Beasts are beautiful in the forest and child in mothers lap"
Surprisingly, in Bangladesh, the military and its foreign backed unelected government arrested about 30 thousand people and all most all the top to bottom civilian leaders of the country. Some of them died or were paralysed before verdicts were reached. Some were released and others despite extreme sicknes violating the basic human rights were detained in jail. Some of the civilian leaders were arrested on even charges of the possession of alchohol. The price of essential commodities went up and the unelected government appears to be controlled by foreign governments. Noe every indication shows that the CG is not fighting corruption; it is politically motivated and chocking the nation to deprive its path to capitalist development.
In Bangladesh, Moin U who himself was known as his corrupt brother's keeper, in his present judge, jury and the everything process, his team would first torture the alledged leader or businessman then would send them to court with evidence. It is reported that even after one is released by the court, then the person is sent back to the cantonment and tortured again to find out how he made his money.
Well, the Army's logic is when he began business he had no money, howcome now he made lots of money. But the point is, it is capitalism stupid! In Bangladesh to some fools, to some old style Stalinist free-thinkers like Moti, Mahfuz or Gaffur Chowdhury, or to the corrupt brother's keeper like General Moin U, it is to purifying the nation to its road to pro-Indian secular, pro-liberation, pro-prothom alo- Daily Star politics. In this endeavour, the CG "suspended many fundamental rights, including freedom of press, freedom of association, and the right to bail." Human rights groups "report criticized harshly giving priorities against serious abuses, including custodial deaths, arbitrary arrest and detention, and harassment of journalists by the security forces although there was a significant drop of extra-judicial killings." The CG is Pakistanizing Bangladesh by destroying the democratic institutions. But the junta should be taught the lesson of
how democracy and capitalism works. Capitalism is about how a finger can turn into a banana tree. That is how the owner of the Daily Star and Prothom ALo became rich from nothing. It is clear that, the anti-capitalist and anti-business move by the military to capture power stunned business is simply chocking the nation. Moin U is simply obeying the Caretaker government's foreign backers who have been telling all along that Bangladesh is the world's #1 corrupt country that even surpassed the crook Chad business people, Pakistan and even Afghanistan, or Zimbawbe etc. In Bangladesh case however, it is not necessarily because Bangladeshis are corrupt but because Bangladeshi's pro-Indian Susil Samajis cry wolf more than the others that is recorded by the foreign press.
The problem with anti- Bangladesh forces is that Bangladeshis are becoming smarter to know how capitalism works and know how to make lots of money from slow but steady growth of capital. Amnesty International calls the army-backed government as the judge, jury and execttioner, and anti-corruption drive is simply to discredit civilian leadership, the foreign backer's motive however is simply to stop continuty, growth and change in Bangladesh. By chocking business, harassing business leaders, discuraging diversity and ultimately cuting it short, the military government's Pakistan style denial of the growth and development of Capitalism in Bangladesh is chocking the nation to its road to a failed state.
Foreign powers like America always preferred to deal with the army. India and America's choice therefore was Moin U. Gen Anupong Paochinda, the commander-in- chief of the Royal Thai Army recently said, "The army will not stage a coup, the political crisis should be resolved by political means." Moin U is not helping the nation. Moin U is helping not development but helping the foreign interest of arresting capitalist development in Bangladesh. Question remains, in the continued pro-Indian drive by Moin U's military, are the Bangladeshis going to miss the boat: Bngladeshi's dream of a developed nation in the Ganges Delta? The independent -minded freedom fighter Major Jalil once said, "Orokkhito Sadhinotai Poradhinota."
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