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Monday, January 31, 2011

[chottala.com] January 31st 1972 - Mirpur Liberation Day



 Mirpur The Last Frontier
January 31st 1972: Mirpur Liberation Day ..
 
 Related Videos:
'

Please watch this two episode of Mirpur The Last Frontier. Click on the link below.

Mirpur The Last Frontier Part-1

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g-JWMQD1BU&NR=1

 

Mirpur The Last Frontier Part-2

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcoXGiKNU7o

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
Monday, January 31, 2011
Point Counterpoint

When Mirpur stood liberated

Syed Badrul Ahsan

Let us get the facts straight. When Bangladesh stood liberated, as a whole, on December 16, 1971, there were yet small pockets where Pakistan's defeated soldiers were putting up last ditch resistance. That resistance would come to an end within days. But there was, unbelievably, one small portion of the country which non-Bengali collaborators of the Pakistan occupation army kept in their grip for a month and a half after liberation.

Mirpur, right here in the centre of the capital and peopled by Biharis who had emigrated to Pakistan at the time of the partition of India in 1947, was clearly in little mood to give in. There was the Indian army which clearly felt that any attempt to storm Mirpur would leave a lot of casualties, for the non-Bengalis were armed to the teeth.

And here is the reason why the Biharis were so adamant about keeping the state of Bangladesh at bay, despite the clear indication that with Pakistan itself gone they could not hold out for long. A number of leading figures among the community, having actively assisted the Pakistan military in the formation of such killing squads as Razakars, al-Badr and al-Shams, were now in possession of large cache of arms left in their hands by the Pakistanis.

There is Quazi Rosy to tell you all about it. And there is Syed Shahidul Haque, popularly known as Mama, to remind you of the gathering gloom which would descend on the Bengalis inhabiting Mirpur in the stirring times that were 1971. Even as a resurgent Bengali nation, led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, brought Pakistan to a grinding halt in March 1971, the non-Bengalis in Mirpur went on a spree of coercion and intimidation of the Bengali population in the locality.

Hartals were conspicuous by their non-observance. Every day that went by, even as the regime engaged in what would turn out to be a fictitious attempt at a settlement with the Awami League leadership, the Mirpur non-Bengalis picked fights on the flimsiest of pretexts with their Bengali neighbours. Mama reminds you of the notoriety typified by the likes of Akhtar Goonda. And what happened to Akhtar Goonda later? He was put on a list of distressed stranded Pakistanis after 1971 (in the Ziaur Rahman years) and sent off to Pakistan.

The tragedy for Bangladesh has been two-fold. In the first place, there has been a systematic distortion of history. In the second, there is the inexcusable historical amnesia we have suffered from. How many of us remember the incidents and events shaping themselves around Mirpur Bengali Medium High School in 1971? There are, even today, those living embodiments of Pakistani terror some of you might spot on your way home.

The graphic arts institute and the physical training institute in Lalmatia (and you see them opposite Mohammadpur police station) were the dark caves where hundreds of Bengalis were brutalised in medieval ferocity by the local collaborators of the occupation army.

There were the Bengali collaborators and then there were the Biharis from Mirpur. For them, the moment of glory came encapsulated between March 25, 1971 and January 30, 1972. It all began, in its blood-curdling form, when on March 27, 1971 (and this was the time when the army was massacring Bengali academics, students and other citizens all across Dhaka) the non-Bengalis stormed the home of the poet Meherunnissa in Mirpur. One by one they hacked her family to death before tearing her apart.

Into this killing field stepped the fledgling Bangladesh military in the last days of January 1972. On January 30, as the soldiers prepared to enter Mirpur and liberate it, film maker and writer Zahir Raihan linked up with them. He had earlier been informed by a voice over telephone that he would be able to find his sibling Shahidullah Kaiser, kidnapped by the al-Badr on the eve of liberation in December, in Mirpur. He dashed off, would not wait till the operation against the armed collaborators was over. He would lose his life as the Biharis opened fire on the soldiers.

So would many of the brave men who had set out to free Bangladesh of the last vestiges of Pakistani occupation. One of the soldiers who survived the massacre swears he saw Zahir Raihan's corpse. And then the corpse, along with other corpses, simply vanished. No one knows where Raihan's remains and the remains of the others lie.

Mirpur stood liberated, eventually, on January 31, 1972. It came at a cost. Those who lived to tell the tale might tell you all about it again. Helal Morshed Khan, Ainuddin, Amir Hossain, Mokhlesur Rahman, Osman Haider Chowdhury are the names you remember. Read Julfikar Ali Manik's revealing Muktijuddher Shesh Ronangon Mirpur.

Postscript: The discovery of human bones, along with remnants of clothing, medicines and other items beneath Noori mosque in Mirpur Section 12 in 1999 triggered a new search for the remains of those who were murdered on January 30, 1972. We may never know who the owners of the bones were. But those bones speak for us, of us. They are us.

Syed Badrul Ahsan Is Editor, Current Affairs,
 
The Daily Star.
E-mail: Bahsantareq@yahoo.co.uk
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    [chottala.com] Celebration of Martyrs' Day & International Mother Langauage Day, 20 February 2011 at Bangladesh Embassy



    Dear All,
     

    Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington DC will celebrate the ''Martyrs' Day & International Mother Language Day'' in a big way (6 pm-7:30 pm) on Sunday, 20 February,2011 at the Embassy ( 3510 International Drive, NW , Washington DC. 20008 , USA ).                     

    Apart from  songs  &  colorful  dances of Bangladesh, artistes from about 12 countries  representing all major and minor languages  of the  world  will perform.  Resource Persons will   highlight on the significance of the Day.

     

     Guests will be served with traditional Bangladeshi cuisine. 

     

    All are cordially invited.   Entrance is Free.

     

    Sincerely,

     Muhammad Nazmul Hoque

    First Secretary   & HOC

    Embassy of the People's  Republic of Bangladesh
    3510 International Drive, NW 
    Washington DC. 20008, USA.
    Phone: 00-1-202-244-3830 (office) 
    Fax: 00-1-202-2442771,202-244-7830
    E-mail:muhanazm@yahoo.com

    Website: www.bdembassyusa.org



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    [chottala.com] Calendar of 2011 [1 Attachment]

    [Attachment(s) from Shahid included below]

    Dear All,
    Please receive the Calendar of 2011
     
    Thanks and best regards,
     
    Shahid
     
    Merim Co., Limited
    Plot # 4 - 6
    Sector 6/A
    EPZ,
    Chittagong-4223, Bangladesh
    Tel   :- + 88 031-740101-2 Ext:213
    Fax  :- + 88-031-740308
    Cell  :- + 88-01817-743411
    Email:- shahid@merimo.net

    Attachment(s) from Shahid

    1 of 1 File(s)


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    Sunday, January 30, 2011

    [chottala.com] BANGLADESH MELA 2011,Friends&Family



    http://www.khabor.com/news/2011/01/DN01252011000003.htm
    BANGLADESH MELA 2011


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    [chottala.com] Request for Page Sponsorship in Toitomboor February 2011 issue



    Dear ,

    Best wishes from Toitomboor for the New Year 2011.

    This is for your kind information that Toitomboor (meaning `full to the brim' in Bangla), the leading children and juvenile monthly magazine from Bangladesh, has started its 20th year of regular publication, which is an achievement in the context of children's periodical publication in Bangladesh. Over the years, although a children and juvenile monthly, bit by bit, it has become more of a family magazine and as a result, the number of readers have increased substantially.


    The February 2011 issue is going to be  with additional pages/colours to give special coverage on International Mother Language Day and World Cup Cricket . To promote your issues/brands/products/organization, you can take advantage of the wide coverage through Toitomboor, and hence you can think of a Page Sponsorship.


    Readership Coverage: Copies of each issue are sent to the leading schools, child related organizations, corporates and embassies besides the subscribers in home and abroad. Also, the coverage has been further widened electronically through facebook, Toitomboor Yahoogroup, Toitomboor blog, across the world. Besides, there will be an additional coverage as Toitomboor will have a stall (No. 116) at Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2011 which will be held from 1-28 February 2011 at Bangla Academy Premise at Dhaka.


    Details of Page Sponsorship:

    Page Location: Full Page, other than Back Cover, Inner Front Cover and Inner Back Cover

    Size:  (8 inch x 10.5 inch)

    Colour: Multicolour

    Design: To be provided by the Sponsor in soft form, BDT 5,000/USD 75/BPS 50/Euro 60 has to be paid if the page design is developed by Toitomboor team.

    Deadline for Confirmation: 7 February 2011.

    Mode of Confirmation: A letter of confirmation in organization' s letterhead accompanied with the payment through crossed cheque or bank transfer in favour of `Toitomboor Media Private Limited"; and the Page design

    Sponsorship Tariff: BDT 10,000/USD 150/BPS 100/Euro 120 (Taxes and Bank Charges not included)

    Ethical Concern: The images or the words or the message in the page cannot contain any negative and/or confusing comment/notion about any organization/ event/incident/ movement or anything that is of human being's interest; and cannot contain anything that any way discriminates anything based on gender/race/ disability/ age/nationality/ culture/religion /language or any other similar matter.

    Links to some sample pages:
    http://www.facebook.com/photo. php?pid=3765414& l=52c2b44da9& id=706446738
    http://www.facebook.com/photo. php?pid=3765415& l=df524df69f& id=706446738
    http://www.facebook.com/photo. php?pid=3765436& l=320b175e3e& id=706446738

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5230883&l=2af9ebb220&id=706446738

    Link to Toitomboor January 2010 Issue FB Version:
    http://www.facebook .com/album. php?aid=145786&id=706446738&l=07a038279d

    Link to Toitomboor February 2010 Issue FB Version:
    http://www.facebook .com/album. php?aid=156275&id=706446738&l=6bfb289677

    Link to Toitomboor March 2010 Issue FB Version:
    http://www.facebook .com/album. php?aid=164073&id=706446738&l=4b774432a0

     

    Link to Toitomboor November 2010 Issue FB Version:
    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6091889&l=600d75dcbd&id=706446738


    We look forward to a quick feedback from you.

    Thanking you in anticipation.

    Sincerely yours,
    Hasnain Sabih Nayak (Mr.)
    International Relations & Culture Editor
    TOITOMBOOR
    (Children and Juvenile Monthly Magazine)
    Square Park, G2, 2nd Floor, 76 Shantinagar, Dhaka 1217, BANGLADESH
    Ph: 880-2-9333854 Fax: 880-2-8319320
    Yahoogroup: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toitomboor
    Bookshop at Cellbazaar: http://cellbazaar.com/01711786454
    Toitomboor Blog: http://toitomboor2010.blogspot.com/
    E-mail: hasnain_toi@yahoo.com



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    [chottala.com] Friends&Family Boishaki Mela 2011‏‏





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    [chottala.com] Eid Mela/BABA Band Show - Saturday, 9/3/11



    Date: Saturday, 3rd September, Time: 6:00PM-11:30PM

     

    Venue: TBD

     

    Eid Mela will have:

     

    Ø Face Paintings for the kids

    Ø Custom Balloons for the kids

    Ø Clown Show for the kids

    Ø Kid's Talent Show

    Ø Mehendi for all

    Ø Games for all

    Ø Comedies/parodies

    Ø Dance & Choreography

    Ø Live Band Concert: several bands will rock 1 stage

    Ø Food by renown vendor

    Ø Shopping Stalls

     

     

    Contacts:

    Ø Progga: 703-629-3150

    Ø Suhas: 410-320-4961

    Ø Miro Jangi: 571-205-1811

     

    Please keep an eye on

    BABAMUSIC.NET



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    Saturday, January 29, 2011

    [chottala.com] The Management Team of Nupur Academy's upcoming event 'BASHORI'



    Dear fellow community members,

     

    As a director of Nupur Academy of Fine Arts(NAFA), I am very proud to introduce you to the Management Team of NAFA's upcoming cultural event 'BASHORI'(বাঁশরী), featuring a folk dance drama "Isamotir Bankey" ( ইছামতির বাঁকে )" will be held on Saturday, July 23, 2011.

     

    The Bashori Management Team includes the following members, who are extremely dedicated to make the event a success:

     

    Biplab Datta, Ebne Rahman Masood, Monjour Rahim,  Apparna Datta, Kawshiq Chowdhury Shuvo, Wasiul Islam Gorky, Amirul Islam Romi, Shibly Siraj, Kabir Ahmed, Ruma Bhowmik and Shuman Rahman.

     

    I am very thankful to this Bashori Management Team for their effort and time. I feel blessed to work as one of the organizers' with this talented team.

     

    I would also like to thank all of the students and parents of Nupur Academy for their continuous support to present the colorful cultural event 'BASHORI'.
     
    Thank You !
    Apparna Datta
     


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    [chottala.com] An appeal for help from you all to build Bangladesh as a very strong country.

    You want us all to help build BD?
    Would it not be nice to create thousands of new jobs in BD?
    Find me a Toilet Bowl/WC Manufacturer and I would create 22,000 good paying jobs instead of getting my patented Invention manufactured in China ...!
    S U Turkman

    --- In chottala@yahoogroups.com, Mohammad Sobhan <sobhanma_asme@...> wrote:
    >
    > Dear all
    >
    > Please find a letter on the article written by Dr. A.K. Azad. We need to
    > think of solution for problems. How can we think we can help Bangladesh in many
    > respects. We can make constructive criticism to improve. please contribute
    > positively.
    >
    > Thanks.
    >
    > Mohammed
    >
    >
    >
    > Dear Dr. Kamal Azad
    >
    > Thank you very much for your article at Amadershomoy January 27th,
    > 2011. What difference do you find in politics in Bangladesh and outside
    > Bangladesh. Will you please explain me the difference ? How many political
    > party are there in your country of residence ? Do they have any wing such as
    > Awami league or BNP North America, or Saudi Arabia or Canada ? Or Australia ?
    > We have nothing to do constructive for our country regardless of political
    > party or people wheather in Bangladesh or outside Bangladesh. We do not have
    > any positive thinking to help the people of Bangladesh or Bangladesh in
    > general. I would like to mention about the former US president John F. Kennedy
    > at his inaugural speech. He asked the countrymen to think what they can do for
    > America before asking what can they expect from the U S Government. Our
    > patriotic mentality could be of use to Bangladesh.
    >
    > Under the above explanation I would like to draw your kind attention on the
    > technological advancement of Bangladesh. Our hon'able P.M. Shaikh Hasinia has
    > tried to do something good which may be bad in the eye of former P. M. Khaleda
    > and who wants to scrap them all. What a shame to a political leader who was
    > also Prime Minister ( thrice ? ) one of the poorest country in the Globle.
    > What the people of Bangladesh can expect from such politician. As per a lot of
    > news paper articles from home and abroad her two sons are very bad and
    > involved in many crime. More over they have drained out our hard earned foreign
    > currency from Bangladesh. Do the people of Bangladesh want to forgive her two
    > sons ?
    >
    >
    > We see no accountability almost every where. We need some supervisors to
    > supervise the supervisors.
    >
    > Please explain what is the solution do you think we the public can expect for
    > these two lady. What we the people can do as peace loving people of Bangladesh.
    >
    > Thanks.
    > Mohammed Sobhan
    >
    >
    > E-mail: sobhanma_asme@...
    >
    >
    >
    > ________________________________
    >


    ------------------------------------

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    Thursday, January 27, 2011

    [chottala.com] Re: An appeal for help from you all to build Bangladesh as a very strong country. [1 Attachment]

    [Attachment(s) from Mohammad Sobhan included below]

    Dear all

           Please find a letter on the article written by Dr. A.K. Azad. We need to think of solution for problems. How can we think we can help Bangladesh in many respects. We can make constructive criticism to improve. please contribute positively.

    Thanks.

    Mohammed



    Dear Dr. Kamal Azad

              Thank you very much for your article at Amadershomoy January 27th, 2011. What difference do you find in politics in Bangladesh and outside Bangladesh. Will you please explain me the difference ?  How many political party are there in your country of residence ? Do they have any wing such as Awami league or BNP North America, or Saudi Arabia or Canada ? Or Australia ? We have nothing to do constructive for our country regardless of political party or people wheather in Bangladesh or outside Bangladesh. We do not have any positive thinking to help the people of Bangladesh or Bangladesh in general. I would like to mention about the former US president John F. Kennedy at his inaugural speech. He asked the countrymen to think what they can do for America before asking what can they expect from the U S Government. Our patriotic mentality could be of use to Bangladesh.

    Under the above explanation I would like to draw your kind attention on the technological advancement of Bangladesh. Our hon'able P.M. Shaikh Hasinia has tried to do something good which may be bad in the eye of former P. M.  Khaleda and who wants to scrap them all. What a shame to a political leader who was also Prime Minister  ( thrice ? ) one of the poorest country in the Globle. What the people of Bangladesh can expect from such politician. As per a lot of news paper articles from home and abroad  her two sons are very bad and involved in many crime. More over they have drained out our hard earned foreign currency from Bangladesh. Do the people of Bangladesh want to forgive her two sons ?

    We see no accountability almost every where. We need some supervisors to supervise the supervisors.

    Please explain what is the solution do you think we the public can expect for these two lady. What we the people can do as peace loving people of Bangladesh.

    Thanks.
     
     Mohammed  Sobhan

    E-mail: sobhanma_asme@yahoo.com




    Attachment(s) from Mohammad Sobhan

    1 of 1 File(s)


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    Tuesday, January 25, 2011

    [chottala.com] Killing thy Neighbour: India, and its Border Security Force



     
    India, and its Border Security Force
    By Rahnuma Ahmed
     

    Felani's clothes got entangled in the barbed wire when she was crossing the Anantapur border in Kurigram. It was 6 in the morning, Friday, 7th January 2011. Felani was 15, she worked in Delhi and was returning home with her father after ten years. To get married. She screamed. The BSF shot her dead. They took away her body.

    The fence is made of steel and concrete. Packed with razor wire, double-walled and 8-foot high, it is being built by the government of India on its border with Bangladesh. When completed, it promises to be larger than the United States-Mexico fence, Israel's apartheid wall with Palestine, and the Berlin wall put together.  It has been dubbed the Great Wall of India.

    The fence is being constructed, with floodlighting in parts, to secure India's borders against interests hostile to the country. To put in place systems that are able to "interdict" these hostile elements. They will include a suitable mix and class of various types of hi-tech electronic surveillance equipment such as night vision devices, handheld thermal imagers, battle field surveillance radars, direction finders, unattended ground sensors, high powered telescopes to act as a "force multiplier" for "effective" border management. According to its rulers, this is "vitally important for national security."

    Seventy percent of fencing along the Bangladesh border has been completed. In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on November 10, 2010, the Indian state minister for home affairs said, fencing will be completed by March 2012. One estimate puts the project's cost at ₤600 million.

    The colonial boundary division between East Pakistan/Bangladesh and India, notes Willem van Schendel, had little to do with modern concepts of spatial rationality. It was anything but a straight line, snaking "through the countryside in a wacky zigzag pattern" showing no respect for history, cutting through innumerable geographical entities, for example, the ancient capital of Gaur. It was reflective of someone with an "excessively baroque mind" (The Bengal Borderland: Beyond state and nation in South Asia, 2005).

    The fence divides and separates. Villages. Agricultural lands. Markets. Families. Communities. It cuts across mangrove-swamps in the southwest, forests and mountains in the northeast (Delwar Hussain, March 2, 2009). It divides villages. Everyday village-life must now submit to a tangle of bureaucracy as Indian Muslim law clerk, Maznu Rahman Mandal and his wife Ahmeda Khatun, a Bangladeshi, discovered after Ahmeda's father died. To attend the latter's funeral in the same village, Bhira, they would now have to get passports from Delhi, visas from Kolkata (Bidisha Bannerjee, December 20, 2010). It split up Fazlur Rehman's family too, the fence snaked into their Panidhar village homestead, his younger brother who lived right next door, is now in another country (Time, February 5, 2009). Other border residents have had their homes split in two, the kitchen in one country, the bedroom in another.

    To access one's field, or markets, residents must now line up at long queues at the BSF border outposts, surrender their identity cards. They must submit to BSF's regimen, which often means disregarding what the crop needs. As Mithoo Sheikh of Murshidabad says, "The BSF does not understand cultivation problems." By the time we get to the field it is noon. Sometimes we get water only at night. But we have to stop working at 4pm, because they will not let us remain in the field. If we disobey, they beat us, they file false charges. ("Trigger Happy." Excessive Use of Force by Indian Troops at the Bangladesh Border, Human Rights Watch, December 2010).

    Felani was killed by the BSF at Kurigram border.

    This lack of `understanding' percolates to the topmost levels of both border forces. During an official visit to Bangladesh and talks between the BSF and the BDR (Bangladesh Rifles, recently renamed Border Guard Bangladesh) in September 2010, Raman Srivastava, director general of the BSF, in response to allegations that BSF troopers were killing innocent and unarmed Bangladeshi civilians said: "The deaths have occurred in Indian territory and mostly during night, so how can they be innocent?" Ideas reciprocated by the BDR chief Maj. Gen. Mainul Islam in March 2010, who, while explaining that there was a history of "people and cattle trafficking during darkness" said, "We should not be worried about such incidents [killings]…. We have discussed the matter and will ensure that no innocent people will be killed."

    Abdur Rakib was catching fish in Dohalkhari lake, inside Bangladeshi territory. It was March 13, 2009. A witness saw a BSF soldier standing at the border, talking loudly. "It seemed that he wanted the boy to give him some free fish." Heated argument, verbal abuse. "The BSF pointed a gun at the boy. The boy ran and the soldier started to shoot." Two were injured. Rakib was shot in the chest. He died instantly. He was 13.

    Smuggling, cattle rustling and human trafficking has increased in the border areas as poor farmers and landless people faced by population increases, poor irrigation, flooding, and continuous river erosion struggle to make ends meet. While both BSF and BGB accuse each other of corruption, the reality, says the recent Human Rights Watch report, is that some officials, border guards, and politicians on both sides are almost certainly involved in smuggling. It quotes a senior BSF official, "There are a lot of people involved, including our chaps. That is why only these farmers, with one or two cows are caught, not groups that ferry large consignments of cattle or drugs."

    A culture of impunity prevails, says Kirity Roy, head of Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (Masum), a Kolkata-based human rights organisation. We have repeatedly approached the courts, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Minorities Commission, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. But none of the cases raised have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. In some cases, family members appeared before the BSF court of inquiry but we, as the de facto complainant, were never summoned to appear or depose before any inquiry conducted by BSF. No verdicts have been made public.

    An Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier looks at the body of a suspected intruder shot dead at the site of an alleged encounter on the India-Pakistan border at Mahwa, Atari some 50 kilometers (27 miles) west of Amritsar, India, Wednesday, March 4, 2009. The BSF claimed to have killed a Pakistani intruder, arrested another and seized heroin worth several million rupees in the international market after an exchange of fire early Wednesday. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

    Neither has BSF provided any details to Bangladeshi authorities of any BSF personnel having been prosecuted for human rights violation. Impunity is legally sanctioned as the BSF is exempt from criminal prosecution unless specific approval is granted by the Indian government. A new bill to prohibit torture is being considered by the Indian parliament, it includes legal impunity.

    On April 22, 2009, when Rabindranath Mandal and his wife were returning to Bangladesh after having illegally gone to India for Rabindranath's treatment, a BSF patrol team from Ghojadanga camp detained them. She was raped. Rabindranath tried to save her, they killed him. The following morning, the BSF jawans left her and her husband's dead body at the Zero Line at Lakkhidari.

    The reason for building the fence, said an Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, is the same as the United States' Mexico fence. As Israel's fence on the West Bank. To prevent illegal migration and terrorist infiltration.

    But Rizwana Shamshad points out that the hysteria generated by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the 1980s and 1990s—Bangladeshi Muslim `infiltration' by the millions constitutes a serious strain on the national economy, it poses a threat to India's stability and security, it represents a challenge to Indian sovereignty, demographic changes will soon lead to Bangladeshi citizens demanding a separate state from India—did not withstand investigation. A study carried out by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in 1995 revealed that the BJP-Shiv Sena allegations were not only an exaggeration, but a complete fabrication. Fears and insecurities had been deliberately whipped up to consolidate Hindutva ideology; migrants, it seemed, were more preoccupied with struggling to make a living. While the BJP-Shiv Sena had alleged that there were 300,000 illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Mumbai, they were able to detect and deport only 10,000 Bangladeshi migrants, when in power (1998-2004).

    The numbers vary with each media or official report, writes Rizwana. A BJP National Executive meeting declared over 15 million (April 1992). Nearly 10 million, said former Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta (May 6, 1997). The group of cabinet ministers (home, defence, external affairs, finance) set up by prime minister Vajpayee post-Kargil, reported 15 million (2000). The definitions, she adds, are prejudiced: Muslim migrants are described as `infiltrators.' Hindu migrants as `refugees.' Neither is there any mention of the Indian economy having benefited from cheap labour.

    The HRW report notes, few killed by the BSF have ever been shown to have been involved in terrorism. In the cases investigated, alleged criminals were armed with nothing but sickles, sticks and knives, implements commonly carried by villagers. Nor do the dead bodies bear out BSF's justification that they had fired in self-defense. Shots in the back indicate that the victims had been shot running away. Shots at close range signal they were probably killed in custody.

    BSF kills Indian nationals too. In Indian territory. Basirun Bibi and her 6 month old grandson Ashique, May 2010. Atiur Rahman, March 2010. Shahjahan Gazi, November 2009. Noor Hossain, September 2009. Shyamsundar Mondal, August 2009. Sushanta Mondal, July 2009. Abdus Samad, May 2009. The imposition of informal curfews on both sides of the border at night, reportedly to prevent the accidental shooting of villagers, has not lessened the number of innocent people killed.

    Beatings, torture, rape, killings. What could be the reason for such compulsively violent behaviour? According to the HRW report, it could have been caused by previous deployment in the Indo-Pakistan border in Kashmir, by "difficult and tense periods of duty."

    However, checkpoints, curfews, hi-tech electronic surveillance equipment, harassment, intimidation, beatings, torture and sniper fire remind me of Gaza. Not surprising, given that once finished, the fence will "all but encircle Bangladesh" (Time, February 5, 2009).

    The 1947 colonial border division was reflective of someone with an "excessively baroque mind." Its brutal enforcement through fencing, through the deployment of trigger happy BSF soldiers, speak of a Nazi-state mentality.

    Not too far-fetched given Israel and India's "limitless relationship" (Military Ties Unlimited. India and Israel, New Age, January 18, 2010). This includes Israeli training of Indian commandos in urban warfare and counter-insurgency operations (in Kashmir), and proposals for offering the Border Security Forces specialised training.
    Given Israel's behaviour, which Auschwitz survivor, Hajo Meyer, likens to the Nazis. "
    I can write up an endless list of similarities between Nazi Germany and Israel."

    Israel's inability to learn to live with its neighbours is increasingly turning it into a "pariah state" (British MP). Its "paranoia" has been noted by Israelis themselves (Gideon Levy). That a similar future awaits India, is increasingly clear.

    Published in New Age, Monday December 10, 2011

    This entry was posted on Monday, January 10th, 2011 at 8:22 pm and is filed under Bangladesh, Global Issues, Rahnuma Ahmed, South Asia, human rights, politics, security, terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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