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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Re: [chottala.com] Asking to CTG & EC...Why do not talk CTG or EC with the common people or non political persons for making the plan to conduct the fair & neutral election??

Hello madam! Are you really fine?
May be our english is not impeccable. But your concern for statecraft and good
governance is heavily touching.
What a rigid you are!
Who is absolutely right? Today's hilarious hero
may be treated tomorrow as fallen villain. Politics and histoey are replete  with
such instancs. Flexibility of popular verdict is yet to be judged. How can we draw
a concluding line so hastily?
Your sermon for quality may not be always inspiring.
Wait, madam, wait and see.
Thanks, Hasan from Chittagong
dina khan <dina30_khan@yahoo.com> wrote:
It is not the wise duty to the present CTG & EC for doing any talking works or negotiation works until & unless they are rectified themselves & become quality educated persons with those political leaders who are responsible for creating the situation in the country to impose the rules of emergency.
Why do not talk CTG or EC with the common people or non political persons for making the plan to conduct the fair & neutral election??
Their main duty is to conduct fair & neutral election according to the fair lawful system rules of laws so that voters can cast their votes properly & fair politicians can be elected in the election.
It is also the main duty to the Present CTG before conducting fair election to proof that they are under the control of lawful system rules of law not under the control of any pressure group or on pressure persons.
It is the duty to the CTG
(a) For doing works of lawful trial against of all corrupted persons
(b) For doing works of lawful reformation works in all sections
(c) For providing works of nation wide all people job basis quality education to make them quality skilled in their respective working fields &
(d) For taking works of lawful action to establish lawful democracy in the country for establishing system of lawful honest administration.
Only quality educated efficient honest politicians can build quality nation.

 
 

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Re: [chottala.com] Bangladesh's Road to Rule by General Moyeen, the Potato Head!

thanks for tell the truth
 
ashhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

abid bahar <abidbahar@Yahoo.com> wrote:
Bangladesh's Road to Rule by General Moyeen, the Potato Head!
Is the care taker government with General Moyeen taking care of the country or taking care of the US interest and plan to militarize Bangladesh politics? Lately, people have been asking repeatedly, "is Moyeen's coup the story of a kingfisher while trying to catch fish was being killed by the hunter?" Is it that when Bangladeshis were trying to improve the democratic system through Hasina's Jalao-porao movement, US took advantage of it and hijacked the nation through a Pakistani style coup by General Moin/ Daily Star/ Prothom Alo, block? 
People now wonder who is actually in charge? We also have change in from friendly, pro-Bangladesh US ambasadors to the appointment of an infamous person.
 Two year is too long for a care taker government. We don't see any leadership by Fakeruddin. The army chief now constantly in the media and there is the army appointment in every branches of the government. In the name of fighting corruption, some leaders like Moudud Ahamed were arrested on flymsy charges of possessing alchohol. What is this? Is the care taker government, the government of a Taliban state?
What is the actual motive behind keeping our two political party heads, the former Prime Ministers in jail? What right the General has to discredit our democratic system? Why to discredit our democratic system?
Moyeen giving speech on TV. but he is only a government employee, should be busy in cleaning bush in Khagrachari, or doing parade within the confines of the cantonment. It is time for Hasina-Khalida to come to senses to jointly fight against the ''politico-military'' US led coup?
People wonder why the garment factories in Dhaka and Chittagong are burning? Who are the attackers? 
To save the nation, Bangladeshis have to be on guard, irrespective of party affiliation! We have a very hard earned independence!
Former British High Commissioner Anwar Chy says two years a long time for an interim admn. Moyeen has been promoted to a General by who, and why?.
The nation's development has been stunned! Business is dwindling! The CTG is borrowing money from Banks to pay the employees.
Is it time to rescue the nation from Bangladesh's road to rule by Moyeen, the US led Potato Head? 

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[chottala.com] Endeavour

 
Dhaka, Monday 12 May 2008 / 29 Baishakh 1415 / 6 Zamadiul Awal 1429  
 
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  Low-quality coal halts B'pukuria power plant | Guard against any move to hold stage managed poll | GDP rate set at 6.5pc for this fiscal: Aziz | No gas supply, no steel plants | SC lawyers to boycott Appellate Division for 2 hours  
 
Endeavour

Sir,
Our whole concept of crime and corruption seems to have changed, if you look at the behaviour of our past ruling class. If murderers, rapists, smugglers, black marketers, listed criminals and people widely accused of being in possession of ill-gotten money and property could walk about freely both in and outside the corridors of power, as they indeed did over the last three decades or so, did we not get the impression that what we generally condemn as crime and corruption were not precisely so in the eyes of those in power? There is no denying that there was an unprecedented surge in crime and corruption in Bangladesh over the last sixteen years, especially during the rule of the immediate past BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami alliance government. Our country topped the list of the most corrupt countries in the world for four years in a row. Will the present caretaker government bow down before the dark forces of crime and corruption, or will it go ahead with its pro-democracy and pro-people reform package? This is the lakh taka question. People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they cannot find them, make them.
 Please learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning and working.

Gopal Sengupta
Canada

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Re: [chottala.com] Judges & Generals

The Judges should be impartial of free mind thought persons. Their thought should be fair & neutral to follow the existing rules of law for doing any kind of trail. They should not be the tail of any political party or they should not be the supporters on the faith of any group Vision or party Ideology. The duty of Judges is to do trial according to the lawful system on investigating with proper witnessed of the Complaint submitted by any person. It is not the duty of the Judges to raise the question who is the person of the Complaint? It is also not the duty to raise the question when happens it? Person & time are not the main factor. The main factor is to find out what wrong is done & to punish the actual wrong doer getting proper witnesses or to release the person if he is proved innocent according the rules of law.

Are the Judges doing their duty lawfully with free mind neutral & fair thought?

Law Professional persons should not do any law miss explain business in the court their main duty is to look over whether the trial is doing on proper lawful system or not. 

 

 

WORDS & BITES

(random impressions of a reluctant blogger)

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Martin Luther King

 

March 7, 2008

Of Generals and Judges

A number of "rogue" benches in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court have become a constant source of embarrassment for the present Caretaker Government. In a number of high profile cases we have noted this cat and mouse game of control versus independence of the higher judiciary. We have witnessed how the 'High Court (serving the Law) giveth and Supreme Court (serving the Caretaker) taketh away.' This is how the highest court of the country consistently upheld the Caretaker Government's wishes in the end, in case after case.

 

A few more things happened over the last few days and it is necessary to keep a closer look at how the events unfold:

 

One

 

Last week, the Chief Adviser announced in one of his media appearances that a new law on Contempt of Court is underway which is aimed at preventing criticisms of judges' decisions including matters that are sub-judice. It is too early to comment but we can safely guess what this new law is going to be about. Rumour says, severe punishments are going to be introduced for criticising operations or decisions of the courts. As proposal, both long-term imprisonment and huge amount of fine, is on the table.

 

We do not know whether or not this law would succeed in effectively curbing criticisms of the government or its justice system. But it will definitely equip the government with one more draconian instrument to restrict free speech, open discussions and critical debates. With a law like this in the hands of our police or DGFI, who knows what evils would befall us. Also in future, such laws will come handy to threaten and silence, with full legal sanction, critics like Dr Payam Akhavan or William Sloan. This is heavy handedness at its legal crudest.

[Read the Editorial (6 March) and Barrister Amir-ul Islam' article (8 March) on this in Prothom Alo; also read this news article exemplifying how such rules of sub-judice and Contempt of Court were open to abuse by pro-Mosharraf administration in Pakistan less than a year ago].

 

Two

 

Recently a number of High Court Judges were invited for Tea at Bangabhaban, which we hear ( According to newspaper reports), was outside the standard protocol. Since this government came to power, a number of such tea parties were hosted inviting all sorts of luminaries in Bangladesh's political circles (I will add the specific news-links here as soon as I can fish them out). These parties are gaining reputation as meetings for special advise (read: expert advice from fellow conspirators), appointments in important posts (read: the carrot approach), removal from important posts (read: the sword or khorog approach), pep talks (read: dadu moni'r golpo bola approach) , reprimands and rank pulling (read: the stick approach). The judges in question, however, en masse rejected the invitation (see Daily Inquilab, 5 March 2008). In the grapevines, there are whispers that the Caretaker Government is consulting two very senior lawyers in the country to explore possibilities of initiating Supreme Judicial Council proceedings (ie, procedure required to remove High Court judges) against these 'rogue' judges. What purpose such action(s) could possibly serve? Quite a few in fact, for example: purging the higher judiciary of the last of the independent judges whose guts have become too threatening for the government to tolerate; stripping this institution of the last vestiges of its independence and integrity; reminding who is in control; showing others the fate of the non-conformists; making the point that law does not matter, only power does.

 

We already know what happened with the Supreme Court judges in Pakistan. The story unfolding in Bangladesh feels like a déjà vu. Here are some links on Pakistan's not too remote past. Let us read them carefully, learn from them and turn our watchful eyes on our own Supreme Court:

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1. <!--[endif]-->Read Prof Ali Khan's (Washburn University School of Law) piece on removal of Pakistani Chief Justice and on General Mosharraf's role in it. The piece also reports how Mr Pirzada's (a legendary legal figure in Pakistan) intellect was behind it all as Mosharraf's advisor.

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2. <!--[endif]-->Read Prof Ali Khan's second piece on lawyers'-judges' mutiny in Pakistan against the military establishment.

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3. <!--[endif]-->Read Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry's open statement in self-defence rebutting the libels circulated by Mosharraf and his regime.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->

4. <!--[endif]-->Read two articles (here and here) by Dr Ayesha Siddiqa showing how Bangladesh is not that different from Pakistan and arguing why Bangladesh should learn from Pakistan's mistakes.



Let's keep an eye.

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March 3, 2008

Hospitality, Dhaka Style: Akhavan, Sloan and Another

 

"The injustices in the world are so overwhelming, so enraging, that it is unacceptable, indeed immoral, not to fight for justice with every bit of one's strength."

 

Today I have decided to write about the person who made the above statement. His name is Payam Akhavan, the renowned human rights lawyer representing Sheikh Hasina (former Prime Minister of Bangladesh). Last month, he was in Bangladesh on a five-day visit which attracted considerable media attention and controversy. His visit was followed by frantic PR campaigns orchestrated by the Caretaker Government and its civil society allies. Google the internet and you will find it replete with points, protests and spins involving this highly publicised visit. Incidentally, I am familiar with some of Dr Akhavan's seminal works in the field of Genocide Prosecution and Prevention. I also had the opportunity to meet him in person. Today I would like to share some of my impressions about him and his work (including his involvement in Sheikh Hasina's trial) which I hope would shed some helpful light on the controversies.

 

Because of the length of the post, I have divided it as follows:

 

(1) Profile of a human rights lawyer: the first meeting

(2) Three embarrassing facts;

(3) Rebuttal of the spins

(4) Some concluding observations

 

(1) Profile of a Human Rights Lawyer: the First Meeting

 

Dr Akhavan's track record as an internationally renowned human rights lawyer is now more than well established. Anyone with genuine interest in 'war crime trials' should be familiar with his works. It was sometime in the middle of last year when I bumped into one of Dr Akhavan's human rights colleagues in a social event who informed me about his possible visit to Bangladesh. The whole thing slowly slipped my mind, until late January this year when I saw him on TV making his very first press appearance in Dhaka. It caught my attention when he made that famous "irony not lost" comment before the journalists, referring to (ab)use of Parliament compound as makeshift prisons for two former Prime Ministers of the country, both democratically elected. Almost coincidentally, a friend drew my attention to a speaker event by Payam Akhavan in Trinity College (Oxford University) co-sponsored by three other Oxford based entities, which I resolved not to miss. The talk was scheduled immediately after his return from Dhaka, on a Saturday evening (2 February 2008).

 

The venue in Trinity College was packed with graduate students, undergrads, research fellows, Professors, and members of various Oxford based action groups. I saw a few Bangladeshi faces in their midst. To my surprise, Dr Akhavan looked much younger than I expected (considering his achievements)—a feeling I later found was also shared by the moderator of the event. He spoke for an hour - on Rwanda, Uganda, Darfur, Sarajevo, Auschwitz, Nuremberg, Yugoslavia, Bosnia; on Huntingdon and so called clash of civilisations. He spoke on how early signs of genocide are easily detectable and how well thought out interventions could prevent potential tragedies. He spoke on strategies of genocide trials and the role civil societies could play across the world. He spoke of the prevailing double standards, the roles of multilateral institutions and their overpaid bureaucrats. Then he spoke about Bangladesh, 1971 liberation war, genocide and its denials, and petty definitional debates in the academia. Still fresh in his memory, he informed the audience about Bangladesh's tradition of student movement, on how the ever-defiant young ones always stood up to mighty state machinery - ignoring torture, detention and persecution.

 

When he finished, the ovation from the audience was sincere and animated. Great speakers are not uncommon in this university but some of the academics I talked to afterwards admitted that it is not every day they have speakers with such pedantic depth, oratory skills and wide experience in human rights lawyering. Quoting one of them: "he seemed like one of those (now near-extinct) human rights lawyers possessing the right mix of passion and strategic cunning." My cursory impression: "a good combination of head and heart."

 

Moving on, I introduced myself to Payam and found him to be quite excited about his recent visit in Dhaka. He recounted his experience with great awe and respect — particularly the indomitable courage of Bangladeshi people – referring to ongoing student-teacher movement in Dhaka University and the lawyers' roles in the lower courts. I was particularly impressed to note that he somehow managed to capture the very essence of our people that makes them so special, sensing the very qualities (eg, emotion, courage, the unpredictable resoluteness, the simplicity, the decency) that come to our people so naturally. In my experience, few foreigners get that right, and that too from such a brief visit. The following quote probably explains why and how:

 

"As an Iranian Baha'i living in Canada, my fate was that of the perpetual minority, the subject of constant discrimination. While these were painful experiences in childhood, they awakened a passion for understanding and justice, for which I am very grateful. While ease and comfort or success and social status can often lead to complacence, suffering and struggle can push us to excel." (quoted from one of his interviews)

 

Or the following:

 

"I learned that human rights is about our inherent dignity, our shared humanity, and that fighting for the dignity of others is as much about recognizing our own dignity. We cannot be fully human until we see other people's struggles as our own."

 

In all, it was an inspiring encounter.





(2) Three Embarrassing Facts

 

Since that meeting, I came across some disturbing information which I would like to share with the readers:

 

ONE

 

Although Dr Akhavan received overwhelming support from lawyers and human rights activists generally, there were attempts from parts of Bangladesh civil society trying to convince Dr Akhavan that his client "Sheikh Hasina was indeed very corrupt." Perhaps they meant to suggest that her case is not appropriate for human rights intervention. The manner in which they used their standing (as prominent civil society leaders) – to mislead a fellow human rights defender – is very unsettling. I knew standards have fallen among sections of Bangladesh civil society over the last year but I never figured the extent of its decay until now. It is not the issue whether Sheikh Hasina was corrupt or not. The questions that need to be asked are: Does she have the right to fair trial? Does she have the right to due process? Does she deserve equal protection of law? Does she have the right to legal representation of her choice? The answer is 'yes to all'. As a citizen of Bangladesh, these are her fundamental rights. The persons who tried to convince Dr Akhavan otherwise, should have known better. [Read here ]


TWO

 

This never came before the media. During Dr Akhavan's stay in Dhaka, security officials (euphemism for DGFI) paid him visits pressuring him to quit representing Sheikh Hasina. They threatened him with "dire consequences" if he fails to comply with their "instructions." This is reprehensible; whoever advised the government to do that did a great disservice to the country. To be honest, I found it incredible that there are DGFI officers stupid enough to actually threaten and intimidate a high profile human rights advocate such as Dr Akhavan. Knowing what our security forces are capable of (eg, Cholesh Richil, Tasneem Khalil, Anwar Hossain) - I have no reason to doubt this information's authenticity. I am glad that Dr Akhavan is not the kind of person to be deterred by such threats. I remember him reflecting:

 

"in our line of work, having enemies like this (eg, government) is reassuring as it constantly reminds us whether or not we are in the right track; for me, it meant that I must be doing something right !" (referring to a situation in Uganda)

 

William Sloan, the other renowned Human Rights Lawyer in Sheikh Hasina's legal team, also received similar treatment in the hands of DGFI. As UNB reports:

 

"the government didn't allow international human rights lawyer William Sloan to hold press conference in Dhaka on February 22 as he came to Bangladesh on tourist visa . . . As a tourist, it was only logical for him to see different paintings according to the country's existing law. 'But, without doing that, Sloan, also president of the American Association of Jurists, the Canadian chapter, attended dinner with lawyers, gave interviews to private media and also sat in meetings with politicians as well as university teachers though he was asked not to engage in such activities,' it said. The government clarification said, being a foreign tourist, no one could deliver e speech about a country's political and sub-judice matters."

 

What the above press report does not mention is that Sloan was detained in his hotel room at Sonargaon Pan Pacific with armed guards outside, preventing him from attending the scheduled press conference. The above government statement exemplifies application of law at its craziest which deserves a thorough rebuttal. I may do that in future if I feel necessary. Or maybe, I should not even bother to dignify such utter nonsense with a response since the matter is apparently more about power (and its abuse) than text of law and its due application.

 

THREE

 

The Caretaker Government issued instructions to all its embassies abroad to prevent Dr Akhavan getting Bangladeshi visa in the first place. Incredible, is it not? However, he somehow managed to obtain a 'tourist visa' through a contact. The decision of the government was ill-conceived to begin with. It is also very embarrassing for all of us. (NOTE: The same story repeated when William Sloan, also had to settle for a tourist visa).

 

 

(3) Rebuttal of the Spins

 

A considerable amount of half-truths, lies and spins have been circulated by the representatives of this Caretaker Government. Most of them do not deserve notice, let alone rebuttal. But, for the sake of record, perhaps rebuttal of some is essential. So I would use one newspaper's (Prothom Alo) spins as an example.

 

Prothm-Alo writes: "(Payam's) depiction of Sheikh Hasina's case as 'baseless' – is essentially racist. It is a reflection of Payam's blatant white supremacist attitude (nogno shetangwo ashfalon) towards third world societies." (translated from Bengali)

 

First of all, I am particularly disappointed with Prothom Alo's editorial desk for running such a sub-standard piece, both in terms of language and content. Supposedly, some nameless "Special Correspondent" penned the piece but I am really astonished to note the use of language which is poor in standard and taste. I have many reservations about the roles of Prothom Alo and its editor and none of them ever involved poor writing. This led me to assume that perhaps the piece was written elsewhere and Prothom Alo was 'asked' to run it. I invite the readers to compare the Prothom Alo piece with the regular fodder published in Amader Shomoy or Dainik Sangram. If you do, I am sure you would also agree with me that the Prothom Alo piece echoes the writing style of those newspapers. It reads as something written from DGFI's desk, by some half-educated official with a massive inferiority complex. I am sorry to use these strong words but if you listen to the interrogators in the torture/confession CDs (released as a result of "accidental" leaks) of Awami League leaders Sheikh Selim or Abdul Jalil, I believe you would also realise the elements of truth in my suggestion. [Read here and here]

Secondly, accusing Dr Akhavan as 'white supremacist' is probably the most ridiculous comment I have heard recently. To begin with, Dr Akhavan is an Iranian Baha'i whose family migrated to
Canada as dissidents. No stretch of imagination allows describing him as a 'white Westerner.' Also, anyone with elementary knowledge of recent world events knows that some of the Western countries were responsible (read Noam Chomsky's interview here, particularly the part on Shah) for the sufferings and persecutions of Payam's people in Iran. Therefore, I would consider Dr Akhavan the most unlikely person to play trumpet for the Western governments. No need to take my word; read here and here for details. This however, brings us to an interesting point. If we really have to point fingers at people who are doing the Western governments' biddings, perhaps we do not need to look further. Given that the current military backed Caretaker Government had special blessings from powerful Western Governments from day one, I would think that its supporters (eg, in the civil society) should be the first to be labelled as the 'yes men' and their Western instructors as the 'arrogant Supremacists.' Many times in the past, their arrogant prejudices have influenced resolutions along the following line:

 

that 'democracy' is something exclusive to their own (superior) citizens, and not for (inferior) citizens of the third world; because, 'they' are not good / fit enough for its 'Western brand.' (see Jyoti and Rumi's comments here)

 

Post 1-11 Bangladesh would be a good example of the above analogy. We observed, how these Western instructors ended up sponsoring missions to launch 'new brand' of democracy – customised for third world societies such as ours – with Four Star Generals as political philosophers, and with civil society representatives joining ranks of the army of mindless zombies. If this is not "Western arrogance," what is? If this is not servility to the West, what is? In this light, I would advise Prothom-Alo/DGFI to be very careful before accusing others. [Note: this is not the view I fully subscribe to but it can be shown as an example how Prothom-Alo/DGFI's own ill-conceived accusations can be thrown back at them].
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Thirdly, is it not significant that no such piece was ever published in any of the English dailies? Was the government trying to regain its 'face' by using spins while at the same time did not want the English speaking world to find out about its treatment of Dr Akhavan? I leave the readers to make up their own minds on this.


A couple of other objectionable points were also there in the Prothom-Alo piece but I would stop here. For the record, they are problematic on so many levels that perhaps we should leave them for a different post.





(4) Some concluding observations

 

a.

Dr Akhavan commented: "it is a military coup masquerading as an anti-corruption campaign," referring to the so-called initiatives of the Caretaker government. After thirteen months of them in power, can you really pretend to believe it is otherwise?

 

b.

My message to the part of the civil society that is strengthening the hands of the military controlled administration would be: it is still not too late; not everything is lost. "There is a way to be good again". Be 'good,' and people of Bangladesh may forgive you one day. Remember the mess Pakistani civil society created by lending support to Musharraf's regime eight years ago. Bangladesh's case is more similar to Pakistan than you may think (read here and here).

 

c.

The saddest bit is that at a time like this two foreign lawyers are more vocal compared to many of our own home-grown veteran human rights defenders. And we did not treat them well in Bangladesh. Sigh!

 

Sorry, Payam! Sorry, William!

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February 26, 2008

Caretaker Worried 1: Cyber Criminals in the Midst

The Chief Advisor of Bangladesh's current Caretaker Government is worried as "cyber crime, drug addiction, terrorism and other serious crimes cast negative impact on a large section of juvenile and youths and often ruin their life". He expressed these concerns to a spellbound audience in Dhaka this evening. Let's not comment on the other issues, but "cyber crime"? Perhaps he was kidding. One of my friends just pointed out that in a country with such slow internet connection (thanks to our successive governments!), they must be some really special criminals! Mr Chief Advisor, please get real or at least consider firing your script writer.

Or, perhaps you were not kidding after all. Perhaps, you were referring to all those human rights activists, bloggers, syndicate columnists scattered around the world using the internet to expose your two-faced government. In fact, we can see your point and we can understand why you would think them as criminals. And surely I cannot blame you for being worried about the corrupting influence these ruthless mindless cyber criminals are having on our young jubo shomaj in
Bangladesh
.

Now it kind of makes sense to me why last week your Telecommunications Regulator went through such trouble to make a huge show of the bidding event in Hotel Radisson. Now we can see why you wanted everyone to watch your government
issuing licenses to the 'international gateway' operators, indicating that "other gateways" (read "control", "surveillance", "monitor"; see here and here) are also under way. You have televised the event all over the world to ensure that the cyber criminals do not miss your threat (hardly subtle and not empty anymore) even when they are sipping coffee in their living rooms thousand miles away. Nice touch! Hotel Radisson, huh? I bet the food was excellent.

Knowing that soon your security agencies will have the technical capability to
monitor the internet traffic, I am sure your so-called 'cyber criminals' at home and abroad are now shaking in their boots, in fear. If I see any of them, I promise I will relay your message, in case they have missed. I will advise them to be very afraid, and to be good boys/girls from now on. In fact I will tell them to be "boy scouts", as you have so wisely prescribed. Finally, I must admit that I am somewhat relieved that from now on, there will not be any need to send some patriotic servicemen (read 'army jowans') in the dead of the night in Sitakundu or Cox's Bazar to axe the fiber optic lines from the submarine cable. Good for you.

POSTSCRIPT (for everyone else):
For advice on snoop-repellant internet use, check this
article and Google for more.

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February 24, 2008

On Mash on Tasneem

Thank you Mash for another excellent blog.

I liked your point on government losing its legitimacy to govern. But again, this government never had any (ie, legitimacy) to begin with, no matter how hard some of our Constitution-gurus tried to convince us otherwise. I am one of those who were sceptical from the beginning. I never believed, even for a fleeting second, that anything good could come out of this so called Mili-Biz-Mullah sponsored Caretaker rule.

Last week, Imran Khan
wrote somewhere: "when democracy is flawed, the solution is more democracy, not Military rule." I am pained to see that many of our democracy and human rights stalwarts in
Bangladesh civil society have forgotten this simple truth. It is difficult enough putting up with Moeens-Fakhruddins appearing on national television with their arrogant sermons on how should democracy be in Bangladesh. At least we can try to see that in perspective, expecting nothing better from them. But it becomes really unbearable when we have to endure watching people like Prof Muzaffar Ahmed or Prof Anisuzzaman cheerleading for the Caretaker Government with Armed Forces prompting from the wings. The other day, one of my friends used the term "shona-pondit" [coined by Humayun Azad] to describe these fallen teachers. (I miss Humayun Azad--his incisive mind, and his unforgiving tongue--at a time like this).

Thank God that we had Tasneems, Choleshs and Anwar Hossains. They represent the best in our people that cannot be silenced or broken or purchased. Where would we be today without them?

I hope (and I know) this whole ordeal would only make Tasneem stronger and give him the necessary resolve to carry on his work. Being an atheist, I do not have any God to pray to. If I had, then I probably would have made an exception for Tasneem and everyone like him.

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January 11, 2008

2007: The Year That Was

Please forgive my imperfect prose. Some events are so big in one's life that only poetic constructions can do justice to them. In our life, the year 2007 was full of those. . .

When "1-11" became a part of our political vocabulary, the rest of 2007 became a year of rhetoric. It became the year of euphemisms, lost hopes, missed opportunities. It became the year of big talks, big lies, big deceptions. It was the year when lines became blurred: between civil and uncivil society, between progressive and reactionaries, between pro and anti liberation forces. It was the year, when we saw our democracy stalwarts flirting with neo-colonial masters, Generals and fundamentalists.

2007 was the year of many surprises; it was also the year when we forgot how to be surprised. In many ways, it was the year of the veteran Lawyer, of the Editor, of the Economist, of the Bureaucrat and of course, of the General (who became one without fighting a single war). It was the year when masses became invisible, forgotten. It was the year when many switched sides going to the "other" side, many came forward carrying darkness as flags of honour around their necks; and others took the centre stage serenading the darkness that is slowly creeping into our lives.

In some other ways, it was also the year of the indigenous leader, who did not trade his life with the rights of his people; of the teachers who once again have shown the world that conscience is not a commodity; of the tortured journalist who reminded us of the best that still remains in our people, giving meaning to words like professionalism, courage and integrity; of the cartoonist thrown in prison for the sin of sharing a joke; of the students who reminded us of what we all were once--courageous, brave, and honest--without a care in the world.

I was eagerly counting moments; I don't any more. 2007 changed that. A new countdown has begun . . .

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This blog is exactly what it says it is - random, aimless, and even pointless at times (if you insist). These are nevertheless impressions of mine - of time and life surrounding us.

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