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Friday, May 1, 2009

[chottala.com] US praises religious 'freedoms' in Bangladesh - BBC



 

US praises Bangladesh 'freedoms'

Eunuchs in Bangladesh
The report said that minority rights in Bangladesh are better respected

The Bangladeshi government has welcomed moves by a US congressional panel to remove it from a list of countries deemed to violate religious freedoms.

The decision is a vindication of the new government's determination to protect minorities, a spokesman in the prime minister's office said.

The panel ruled that Bangladesh's elections in December were "relatively free of violence".

However, Pakistan is described by the panel as "of particular concern".

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom report said that Afghanistan also needed to be "closely watched" and Sri Lanka was a cause for concern.

'Killings'

It said that the winning party in the Bangladesh elections, the Awami League, was "more favourably disposed towards minority rights protection".

"The 2008 elections allowed for minorities to exercise their voting rights and proceeded without the anti-minority violence that followed the last national elections of 2001," the report said.

"At that time the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government failed to investigate or prosecute acts of severe violence, including killings, rapes, land seizures, arson and extortion against religious minorities - especially Hindus."

On Pakistan, the report said that there had been "a largely unchecked growth in the power and reach of religiously-motivated extremist groups whose members are engaged in violence in Pakistan and abroad".

It said that sectarian violence had continued in Pakistan - particularly against Shia Muslims, Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus.

"The government's response continues to be insufficient and in some cases, is outright complicit."

On Afghanistan the report said that "the failure of the new constitution to protect individuals from within the majority Muslim community to dissent from the prevailing Islamic orthodoxy continues to result in serious abuses".

On Sri Lanka the report said that religious minorities had been attacked in their places of worship. It said that a proposed legislation on religious conversions would violate international law.

 
 

 

 

 


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[chottala.com] Must See Video: Thank Lawmaker for Muslim Prayer at Statehouse



Hi,

This week, history was made as an imam opened the Florida House of Representatives with a Muslim prayer. Imam Qasim Ahmed was invited by Rep. James "Jim" Waldman (Democrat- 95) to the State Capitol to open the House session.

This historic event took place on the same day that Rep. Adam Hasner (Republican-87) shamefully sponsored a hate summit featuring Geert Wilders in South Florida. It's refreshing to know that Hasner's intolerant un-American views are NOT welcomed by his colleagues.

When an elected official reaches out to a part of society that is often under disinfranchised, it is absolutely crucial that the community respond with thanks and support.

WATCH THE VIDEO and send a thank you note to Rep. Waldman. Click here: http://unitedvoices.com/lnk/prayer.html

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[chottala.com] The curious case of 'Sunita Paul' - Dai;y Star



Thursday, April 30, 2009

The curious case of 'Sunita Paul'

Will the real "Sunita Paul" please stand up? Photo: American Chronicle

I stand greatly impressed: "Sunita Paul" of Kochin (India), born deaf and dumb, has apparently taken up the mighty pen to express herself. She has purportedly obtained her masters in political science and journalism, worked in various research institutions and authored countless articles at home and abroad.

The outstanding array of newspapers and periodicals that have published her articles include the Herald Tribune, New Yorker, Washington Times, Outlook, Frontline, and Telegraph. She has also established herself as a tireless Bangladesh analyst, writing one article after another on our beloved country.

"Sunita Paul" has clearly built a reputation for herself that deserves an international award. However, there is only one problem: she is a fake.

There is no evidence of any educational institution awarding her degrees or research institution employing her. There is no mention of "Sunita Paul" on the web-site of any research institutions, think-tank or university (very surprising given her claim of having "worked with a number of research institutions"). No journalist in India has ever heard of her name or met her (surely it wouldn't be hard to forget her so easily).

Her publication history is yet another lie because there are no articles by her name in the archives of the prestigious newspapers and magazines she names, beyond the unknown but pompously titled website American Chronicle (a website with freelance contributors). The only places where "Sunita Paul" is mentioned include open source online websites or electronic groups. Not only that, there is no city by the name of "Kochin" in India. The bottom line is "Sunita Paul" does not exist.

It is often common for writers to use pseudonyms. However, "Sunita Paul" should not be magnanimously mistaken as a harmless pseudonym for another writer. Writers who use pseudonyms do not go to such lengths to create a fake persona and identity.

"Sunita Paul" has even uploaded a photograph to her online profile to prove her so-called existence. This is outright deception, fraud, and dishonesty for ulterior motives. It is therefore important at this juncture to distinguish between harmless pseudonyms and deceptive masks like "Sunita Paul."

The fraud of "Sunita Paul" is made evident by her own photographs online. She has, astonishingly, uploaded two photographs with stark differences. It is hard to find any resemblance between the two photos, which is not surprising because these are photographs of two different people. "Sunita Paul" has apparently resorted to using anonymous photographs to prove her non-existence as existence. The photographs leave no doubt as to her fake profile.

The critical question is why would someone (or most likely a group of people) go to such lengths to create a false persona to propagate their views? Why are they hiding behind a deceptive mask if they are so confident about the veracity of their reports? Why are they not willing to expose themselves in the public eye if they hold the courage of their convictions?

The "Sunita Paul" mask allows vested groups to spread malicious rumours and fabricated lies without any accountability. The ill-motive of the conspirators is evident from the extent of lies used to create the fictional character "Sunita Paul."

The next question is: who is "Sunita Paul"? There is no reason to believe the "Sunita Paul" mask is a harmless and playful exercise. It is obvious that the "Sunita Paul" fraud is part of a well-planned, organised, and systematic campaign to misinform the people and international community.

This is evident from the identical and synchronised misinformation coming from disparate but like-minded camp of newspapers and magazines in the country, including conservative newspapers openly supporting radical groups in Bangladesh. What is the missing link between "Sunita Paul" and them?

Moreover, it is regrettable that leader of the opposition quoted questions in parliament that appeared to be lifted directly from one of Paul's malicious articles. One would expect a leader of the opposition (who is also a former prime minister) to exercise greater discretion, maturity, and prudence to not spread unfounded rumours circulated by a fictional character.

It may be mentioned here that "Sunita Paul" has already been exposed as a plagiarist by bloggers. She has quoted verbatim from other blogs on more than one occasion. A supposedly trained journalist and researcher should know better. It is not surprising that "Sunita Paul" has shameless plagiarised, because it is already clear to us that her very existence is a fraud.

Who are the courageous individuals hiding behind the mask of "Sunita Paul" and what are their motives? What is their agenda? Let us look at their list of targets. Their targets have included Mahfuz Anam, Matiur Rahman, Tania Amir, and Shahriar Kabir. They have written against The Daily Star and Prothom Alo. They have also written against Prof. Yunus and Grameen Bank.

It is clear from the above list of victims what are "Sunita Paul"'s motives and agenda. Since late December, she has written 25 articles, including 12 on the BDR tragedy. There is no doubt that "Sunita Paul" is trying to misinform people about the BDR tragedy as part of a larger conspiracy against our country.

We should be weary of "Sunita Paul" as she is part of the nexus that is trying to divide the country. We urge the conspirators behind the "Sunita Paul" mask to stop the fraud. "Sunita Paul" does not exist.

To prove this, Shuchinta Foundation is happy to welcome and host "Sunita Paul" to visit Bangladesh and meet us. I am sure she will not be taking up the offer because she does not exist in actuality.

Given the fraud that "Sunita Paul" is, I would like to also urge policymakers, readers and the international community to disregard her articles and write-ups based on ill-motivated rumour and hearsay.

"Sunita Paul" represents a strong anti-Bangladesh agenda that must not succeed. Let us remain vigilant against such fictional journalists and their misinformation that may hamper the proper trial of the BDR tragedy.

The writer is CEO of Analytika, Lecturer of Independent University Bangladesh, and Convener of Shuchinta Bangladesh.

Comments

  • DR
    Thursday, April 30, 2009 09:17 AM GMT+06:00 (1 days ago)

    I am sure the blog is run by a bunch of individuals, who know Bangladeshi politics very well. It is probably easy to shoot from Kochin or some where else than from a Dhaka IP address. The phenomenon is not Bangladesh specific. These people are pain but they are putting many governments' feet on fire!

  • D1
    Thursday, April 30, 2009 05:37 PM GMT+06:00 (1 days ago)

    Dear Author,

    thanks for your great unmask of a true fraud!!

  • Harun Hyder
    Thursday, April 30, 2009 08:55 PM GMT+06:00 (22 hours ago)

    Akash, nobody lost job at Amader shomoy. Please do not spread lies. Naeemul Islam apologized because that article needed some editing. It was published before that. But the content of the article has no problem. The issues here is the fraud called Sunita Paul. Why don't you guys prove that she really exists? That's all we want.

  • Fahmida S. Dehlvi
    Thursday, April 30, 2009 09:03 PM GMT+06:00 (22 hours ago)

    I have read one of Sunita Paul's articles about the BDR Tragedy.

    It was distracting, misleading and deceptive about the fact.

    Arafat, thank you a lot for unsealing their acts.

    You did a great job!

Comment  by Dr. Habib Siddiqui
 
Here is an interesting piece on Sunita Paul from Suchinta's convenor:
 

Have not we suspected all along that she is really fake? I personally did not know of the existence of her second 'white' picture. Like criminals she is leaving her trails of crime everywhere.

Habib Siddiqui
 



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