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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

[chottala.com] Social Networking, Military Expeditions and America's Crusade



Social Networking, Military Expeditions and America's Holy Crusade


"Diplomacy: The conduct of the relations of one state with another by peaceful means; skill in the management of international relations … "

"Duplicity: deception; double dealing." (Collins Dictionary.)

"Crusade: Medieval military expeditions undertaken by the Christian powers … to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims."


Remember that "Crusade"? It is back, it seems – if it ever went away.

On 16th September 2001, George W. Bush announced: ". . . this Crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while."

Six months later that designated "dove" of the Bush Administration, General Colin Powell, gave an ultimatum to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf demanding he be on board to topple the Taliban and neutralize "al-Qaeda" in Afghanistan.

Powell, in testimony before a Commission investigating the 11th September attacks (24th March 2004) stated that: "We gave them twenty four (or) forty eight hours and then I called President Musharraf and said: 'We need your answer now. We need you as part of this campaign - this Crusade.' "

Now, Robert S. Ford, US Ambassador to Syria, has imaginatively resurrected the "Crusade" as diplomatic representative of a President who pledged, at Cairo University in June 2009: "I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world … American is not – and never will be – at war with Islam."(i)

In his article: "The Salvador Option for Syria" (ii) Michel Chossudovsky gives a crash course on the multiply diverse Ambassador Ford, to whom, it must be said, diplomacy would seem to be yet another far away land..

However, even the insightful Professor Chossudovsky was unlikely to have foreseen that after Ambassador Ford slunk out of Syria in October last year, having indulged in ten months of provocative, divisive, inflammatory and politically confrontational actions, he would set up a Facebook page (iii) its massive profile picture being the UNESCO World Heritage listed site of what T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") described as: "Perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world (which) forms a fitting commentary on any account of the Crusading buildings of Syria."

This dominant image on the Ambassador's "social networking" site is of the Krak de Chevaliers, a Crusaders' castle considered perhaps the finest example of such anywhere. The current fortress was completed in 1031 but captured in the First Crusade in 1099 by Raymond 1Vth of Toulouse.

Robert Ford's choice for visual statement of his vision for dominance of Syria could, surely, hardly be more symbolic and enlightening.

Via Facebook, the Ambassador accuses, incites and rambles to the Syrian people and the world.

On 20th June, with an arrogance that should be breathtaking - but little is that comes from the US any more - he lectured Syria's armed forces:

"For this posting, I want to address the members of the Syrian military and their role in this crisis. The role of any nation's military is to defend the country and to protect the people, not to harm them. The United States believes the Syrian military should have an invaluable, integral role to play in the new democratic Syria, if it decides to fulfill its true purpose and stand with the Syrian people now."

Ford queries the army wanting: " to help secure the role of the professional military in a democratic Syria by supporting the Syrian people and their transition …"

He talked of them being used in: "President Assad's campaign of torture and terror", of destruction, massacre, thus: "abhorrent (running) counter to international law and the ethics of military professionalism … Soldiers should know that, under international law, they have a responsibility to uphold basic human rights and that they do not escape responsibility for violations simply because they are subject to orders."

Quite. Has the Ambassador glanced toward the behaviour of US forces in neighbouring Iraq or in Afghanistan? The massacres, rapes of young and old, the use of children as human shields, often luring them with sweets,toys - now well documented - plus torture, disappearances and Stalinesque "re-education centres"?

It has never been adequately established what those scarily names "re-education" centres did or taught.

Prior to invading Iraq, prominent military leaders such as Lt. Gen. William Boykin also described the war in evangelical terms, casting the U.S. military as the "Army of God."

Indeed Mikey Weinstein, President of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has stated that a cadre of forty U.S. chaplains took part in a 2003 project to distribute 2.4 million Arabic-language Bibles in Iraq.

A 2003 newsletter for the group note that: "The goal is to establish a wedge for the kingdom of God in the Middle East, directly affecting the Islamic world."(iv)

A Lt. Colonel Gary Hensley expounded on the need to spread the Gospel:

"The special forces guys - they hunt men basically", he said. "We do the same things as Christians, we hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down. Get the Hound of Heaven after them, so we get them into the Kingdom. That's what we do, that's our business."

Back to the Ambassador who hit the "road to Damascus" on his personal Crusade and who clearly subscribes to the "activists say"school of "fact" gathering, since his claims come from barely a single named source on the ground, and from "informants" in Paris, London and Washington who have risen without trace.

The Syrian military was also, opined Robert Ford: "acting as a leading destabilizing force." That should win hearts and minds of a proud army, from a proud country, losing numerous friends and colleagues fighting a seemingly foreign fermented insurgency.

Ford should know a bit about destabilizing: "A few short weeks after his arrival" (surely coincidentally) "a wave of pro-democracy protests swept through the Middle East and public protests in Syria launched an uprising …

"Ford's robust diplomacy on the ground in Syria centered on a strong show of support for the Syrian opposition movement.

"Ford's physical presence in Hama, without official sanction from the Syrian government, functioned as a visible statement of support (for the opposition.) Ford continued to support the opposition by attending protestor funerals, speaking with Syrians on the ground and through social media, and educating Americans via satellite images and descriptions of the conflict on the Embassy's official website."(v)

Former CIA intelligence officer Michael Scheuer has alleged that prior to Ford's flight from Syria, he was traveling across the country inciting groups to overthrow the government.

On 15th June, the Facebook update displayed a map: "This map is an update of the one we originally posted on April 27 which shows the number of people displaced by the violence in Syria. The Assad regime is a destabilizing force both within Syria and throughout the region." Verifiable facts were noticeable by omission.

Of course no US propaganda campaign would be complete without a mass grave, so an aerial view of a patch of land which contextually means absolutely nothing, is obligingly declared one. (Don't mention Falluja, Najav, Kerbala, Basra, Baghdad, Mosul, Tel Afar …)

On 22nd June the entry cited Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accusing Syria of: "… not doing enough to stop slavery …" That one really does come from the: "Must do better" collection.

The following day was the gleeful announcement that: "The head of the Syrian Olympic Committee, General Mowaffak Joumaa, has been refused a visa to travel to London for the Olympic Games." (Given London's missile-loaded war ships, ground to air missiles on the roofs, the attack helicopters, the drones, the experimental "sonic weapon" and thousands of twitchy, armed to the teeth FBI agents, for the Olympics, he may anyway feel safer in Syria.)

The Ambassador without an Embassy is also worried about the Crusaders' castle. His entry on the subject reads:

"The Krak de Chevaliers/Qala'at al-Hosn was chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is a gem of Crusader … architecture. Are the Syrian authorities fulfilling their obligations to the Syrian people and to the international community when it comes to site preservation and protection?"

Apart from the fact that the "Syrian authorities" may have other things on their minds and the Castle has stood for approaching a thousand years, perhaps Robert Ford's concern for the regional heritage of the "international community" should also address America's destruction of Babylon, damage to Ur (ongoing under his watch whilst serving at the US Embassy in Baghdad 2004-2005) the sacking of Iraq's treasures in the National Museum, the looting of libraries, which has been compared to the historic tragedy of the destruction of the great Library of Alexandria up to sixteen centuries ago. (vi)

The Ambassador's outreach, however, is not getting an entirely glitch free ride, there are persistent dissenters. One, Brian Souter, leaves uncomfortably insightful one-liners, they disappear, but he doggedly returns. Another Anas Salih, left this:

"Hey Yankees, I'm an Iraqi and know all your Hollywood stories in Iraq, so you better not fall in the same mistake again. Al Qaeda in Syria killing hundreds of people each day in the name of their belief - there is no way that the Syrian regime is doing all this to stay in power.

"It is crystal clear now that this is not a revolution, it is insurgency and terrorism. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar (funding) every day millions of dollars to arm the opposition … no matter how hard those terrorists will try eventually you will see that Bashar (al Assad) has nothing to do with any killing or bombing.

"Hopefully not too late because each day another soul is being taken from its body. The lives we have lost in Iraq, kids ,women, men and animals all because of you, USA, so don't try to be a hero and show compassionate (sic) now … " (Removed in last twenty four hours, but copied directly and only spelling corrected.)

Ambassador Ford has written that there are "parallels" with Syria and the Balkans. The cynic might say the "parallel" is the alleged "hired hands." Historian David Halberstam ("War in a Time of Peace" pb 2003, p347) quotes deputy to Balkans "Tzar" Richard Holbrooke, Bob Frasure - regarding US training and arming of the Croats - who passed Holbrooke a scribbled note in a meeting, on the back of a place card: "Dick, we 'hired' these guys as our junkyard dogs because we were desperate … this is no time to get squeamish …"

On 7th May: "Robert S. Ford was presented with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library by Caroline Kennedy. He was honored for his bold and courageous diplomacy which has provided crucial support to Syrians …"

"Crusade: Medieval military expeditions undertaken by the Christian powers … to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims."

Note

i. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-cairo-university-6-04-09  

ii. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31096  

iii. http://www.facebook.com/syria.usembassy  

iv. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/06/18/christian-soldiers.html  

v http://diplopundit.net/2012/05/07/jfk-profile-in-courage-award-honors-u-s-ambassador-to-syria-robert-s-ford/  

vi. http://www.bede.org.uk/library.htm  


http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31599


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Re: [chottala.com] Rohingya Problem



Dear Sir,

It is an excellent write up. I will manage time to read thoroughly. Very informative. I have the same views and opinion like you regarding recent violence in Myanmar.

Highly appreciated.

Regards,

Tipu

--- On Fri, 6/22/12, Abdul Mannan <abman1971@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Abdul Mannan <abman1971@gmail.com>
Subject: [chottala.com] Rohingya Problem
To: "Farzana Ahmed" <farzana.ahmed48@yahoo.com>, "Akhtar Ahmed" <kishoreahmed@hotmail.com>, "Alak Roy" <terra-roy@hotmail.com>, "Sayeed Alam" <sbl.dhk@gmail.com>, "Akmal Mustafa Tipu" <tipu_121biz@yahoo.com>, alapon@yahoogroups.com, "Asrar Chowdhury" <asrarul@gmail.com>, "Turab Ali" <turab.amreli@gmail.com>, "Ariful Anam" <ariful.anam@grameenphone.com>, "Mohammad Behroz Jalil" <mbjalil@gmail.com>, "nantoo banerjee" <nan2benrg@yahoo.co.in>, "Badrul Khan, Ph.D." <badrulkhan2003@yahoo.com>, "Dr.milton Bis" <dr.miltonbis@yahoo.com>, "Milan Kumar Bhattacharjee" <milan.kumar@ulab.edu.bd>, "Bidesh Kumar" <yogsutra@gmail.com>, biroy@uni-bremen.de, "Bharati Guha" <guhabharati@yahoo.co.in>, "norbert mendes" <benmendes@gmail.com>, "Mahfuzul Chowdhury" <mhc652442@gmail.com>, "TRAFINA CORPORATION" <trafinacorp@gmail.com>, chottala@yahoogroups.com, "Duncan Chowdhury" <duncanchowdhury@yahoo.com>, "Nasir Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury" <nasir9563@yahoo.com>, "qaiyum chowdhury" <qaiyum_cipl@hotmail.com>, "Sayed Chowdhury" <sayedchowdhury@hotmail.com>, "Tamim I" <tamimi@gmail.com>, "tahlil azim" <tahlilazim@yahoo.com>, "Shalim Uddin" <msuddin6813@gmail.com>, userajuddin@worldbank.org, "Shafi Ullah - Faculty" <SUllah@aiufl.edu>, "Urmi" <UrmiRahman@aol.com>, udaydas@aol.com, "diagnose" <Diagnose@yahoogroups.com>, "Iftekhar Hussain" <dalim@sbcglobal.net>, "DILIP DE" <drdilipde@gmail.com>, "Ajoy Dasgupta" <dasguptaajoy@hotmail.com>, "Dr. Golam Faruqui" <drfaruqui@yahoo.com>, "Dr Syed Akhter Hossain" <aktarhossain@daffodilvarsity.edu.bd>, dalim@sabcglobal.net, "errol gomes" <errol_alsiraj54@hotmail.com>, "Farhad Mansur" <farhad_mansur55@yahoo.com>, "Farhana Rashid" <rashid.farhana@gmail.com>, "Farid Uddin Ahamed" <fuahamed@soc.sau.ac.in>, "Farid Islam" <Faridul.Islam@uvu.edu>, "Flora Ghosh Andersen" <fghosh@webspeed.dk>, "Farzana Mannan" <farman1979@gmail.com>, gaulbertrandolph@hotmail.com, "Jahirul Haque" <jahir_na@yahoo.com>, "iqbal hasnu" <ihasnu@hotmail.com>, "Md Hashem" <hashemmd@gmail.com>, "Hasnain Sabih Nayak" <hasnain_toi@yahoo.com>, "Shamsul Hossain" <shossain_hrds@yahoo.com>, "M. Nazrul Islam" <nazrul@gmx.at>, "H M Wasiul Islam" <wasiulis@yahoo.co.uk>, "Miro Jangi" <mjangi@yahoo.com>, javed.hossain@ulab.edu.bd, joybanglanews@gmail.com, "Mohammed A Jahed" <jahedm@gmail.com>, "Subehuddin Khan" <subehkhan@yahoo.co.uk>, khabor@yahoogroups.com, "Nilu Kamaluddin" <nilu.kamaluddin@ibsen.uio.no>, "Alamgir Kabir" <kabir456@hotmail.com>, "Shahidul Alam" <kms_alam@ymail.com>, "Liton Chakraborty" <litonc@gmail.com>, "shahid mahmud" <shahid6609@yahoo.com>, "Prof. Nurun Nabi" <nabiicon@yahoo.co.uk>, "Nuran Nabi" <nurannabi@gmail.com>, "Nurun Nabi" <nabi@iconcollege.com>, "Quazi Rahman" <naveeddhaka@gmail.com>, ohruhin@yahoo.com, "MuhammadMahboob Ali" <pipulbd@gmail.com>, "Masood Quraishi" <masood_quraishi@hotmail.com>, "Kazi Quddusi" <khasru74@yahoo.com>, "Moshahidur Rahman" <rahman36@hotmail.com>, "Rahman,Shahed" <shrahman@pvamu.edu>, "Shafiqur Rahman" <rahman_shafiqur@yahoo.com>, "Riaheen Farzana" <rfarzana28@gmail.com>, "Prof. Lutfor Rahman" <lutfor@agni.com>, "mehdi RAJEB" <mehdirajeb@gmail.com>, "Maleka Ahmed" <singer.71@hotmail.com>, "Munim Barai" <munim_barai@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, June 22, 2012, 12:00 PM

 

Link to my weekly column published today in the Daily Sun. It is on Rohingya issue.

Thanks and warm wishes.

M

http://www.daily-sun.com/details_Let-sanity-prevail-in-Myanmar_183_2_5_1_0.html

--
_________________________________
Abdul Mannan
Educator-Researcher-Writer-Analyst
Dhaka
Bangladesh




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[chottala.com] Rakhine: Violent test for Myanmar reform



Violent test for Myanmar reform

By Brian McCartan

Sectarian strife gripping Rakhine State offers a distinct test for Myanmar's quasi-civilian government. President Thein Sein's efforts to calm the situation have won some praise, but there are calls to do more. The real test will be whether his government can ensure long-term stability while continuing a reform drive that is removing controls that served to suppress past communal tensions.

Hundreds of Muslims are reported to be fleeing Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh, which has has reinforced its land border, and with coast guards watching the River Naf, used by fleeing Rohingyas using small boats desperate to seek safety, CNN and other media reported. Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Wednesday said her country was not willing to give shelter to Rohingya refugees, CNN reported.

Before the recent killings and arson attacks, tensions had been building between the Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine communities. The inciting incident for the violence was the rape and murder of Ma Thida Htwe, a 27-year-old Buddhist Rakhine woman on May 28 in Taunggote township.

Soon afterwards, three Muslim men were arrested for the crime, even as pamphlets began circulating in the region blaming Muslims for the incident. On June 3, 10 Muslim pilgrims were taken off a Yangon-bound bus and beaten to death by a several hundred-strong mob of Rakhine Buddhists. The mob claimed they were looking for the woman's killers.

In the aftermath, violence in the Muslim-majority western portion of the state spiraled, with mobs of Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine clashing in villages and towns. State media appealed early for calm while the government investigated. In a turn, civil society organizations appealed to the government to step in, show responsibility, and bring stability to the region.

As violence spread to other townships and the state capital at Sittwe, a dusk-to-dawn curfew was declared in four Rakhine State townships and additional police and troops were called in to contain the violence. Media reports indicate security forces had to resort at times to firing in the air to disperse rioters. However, violence continued, with fearful villagers and townspeople arming themselves with knives, swords and sharpened bamboo poles to protect their homes.

As the situation grew more unstable, thousands fled to internal refugee camps in Maungdaw and Sittwe. The United Nations has temporarily relocated non-essential staff from the region, and state media reports indicate that air travel and shipping to the region have been suspended.

At least 21 people have been killed, as many seriously injured and more than 1,600 houses burned in the violence, according to government media outlets. Both Rakhine and Rohingya activists claim many more have been murdered, but reports are almost impossible to verify given the highly charged nature of the violence.

Beyond beefing up the region's security presence, Thein Sein has taken other steps to deal with the violence that some feel have bolstered and others feel have undermined his reform credentials. A committee was formed on June 7 under Deputy Home Affairs Minister Kyaw Zan Myint to look into the deaths of the 10 Muslims and report back to the president by June 30.

On June 10, Thein Sein made a nationally televised speech announcing a state of emergency in Rakhine State, the first time such a rights-curbing measure has been invoked since his elected government took power last year. Significantly, the move allows for the military to take over the administrative functions in the state.

In his speech, Thein Sein called on the people, political parties, religious leaders and the media to assist the government with restoring peace and stability to the region. He went on to warn of the negative effects violence based on hatred and revenge could have on the stability and development of the country as a whole.

Military control
The state of emergency has been greeted with some trepidation given the country's very recent move away from military rule. Human rights and civil society groups worry that, under the military's leadership, security forces may resort to the heavy-handed tactics they have used in the past to break up protests and round up opposition figures, including firing into crowds and arbitrary arrests.

At the same time, if the military can manage to quell the violence without undue force and return administration to the state government in a timely manner, it could demonstrate the military's commitment to backing Thein Sein's reform efforts.

The situation has placed popular opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a difficult position. The Muslim issue, particularly the Rohingya, is a divisive issue in Myanmar, where anti-Muslim sentiment often runs high.

Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has often deliberately attempted to avoid involvement in Muslim-related issues. However, as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights and democracy advocate, Suu Kyi has been forced to wade into the issue.

In a statement on June 6 calling for calm and understanding, Suu Kyi alluded to the difficulty in discussing the Muslim issue by saying, "Maybe some people wouldn't like me saying this but I have to say what I must say regardless of whether they like it or not. When you are the majority in society, then you are the strong party. If you are strong, then you must be generous and sympathetic. I would like to see all people in Burma [Myanmar] get along with each other regardless of their religion and ethnicity."

Suu Kyi left this week on her first trip to Europe in 24 years, arriving in Geneva on Wednesday on the fist leg of her tour, during which she will formally accept the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to her in 1991.

Myanmar's has been home to Muslims for centuries, most originally hailing from South Asia. Under British colonial rule, the population increased as Indians were brought in to work in the bureaucracy and military while others arrived seeking business opportunities. Many others worked as indentured laborers.

Many of these Indians were Muslims and to many people in Myanmar the two terms have become almost synonymous when talking about the country's Indian-descended population. Today, most Muslims in the country can point to several generations of ancestors resident in Myanmar, speak Myanmarese , and have adopted many of the country's customs, yet they have not been accepted by the majority of the population.

Many Myanmarese maintain social and commercial ties with Muslims, popular attitudes based on negative racial and religious stereotypes abound. These stereotypes and a general belief that Muslims are illegal economic migrants were actively reinforced by the military regime that took power in 1962.

During a pogrom against people of both Indian and Chinese descent in 1962, thousands were forced to flee the country. This history has created an environment where negative ethnic-based sentiments often easily rise to the surface, as seen in Rakhine State over the past week. The Muslim population has become a convenient scapegoat for problems in the country and over the years a useful way for the government to let off pressure caused by its own economic and political mismanagement.

Over 200,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in 1978 and over 250,000 again fled in 1991-92. Although many returned under a program organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, some 30,000 still reside in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh.

In 1997, violence against the Muslim community was perceived by some Myanmar watchers as a move to draw public attention away from a major military offensive in Karen State at the other side of the country and growing criticism over accusations that military leaders had pillaged several Buddhist temples in search of sacred rubies.

The current violence has been accompanied by an alarming amount of anti-Muslim vitriol in Internet forums and public protests. Signs at recent Buddhist protests at Yangon's famed Shwedagon pagoda have labeled Rohingya as "terrorists".

Many comments left on media sites such The Voice journal and the Eleven Media Group have used the racial slur "Kala" to refer to Muslims and made calls for their expulsion and extermination. The government mouthpiece, New Light of Myanmar, was forced
to retract the use of Kala in a June 5 article that appealed for calm.

The current strife is the most violent since anti-Muslim riots in 2001. Starting in the central town of Taungoo, the riots soon spread to other towns including central Prome, Bago and Pakokku, as well as Kyaukpyu in Rakhine State. Many saw the hand of the military behind that surge in violence. There were widespread reports of military intelligence officers wearing monk's robes and the distribution of inflammatory pamphlets with claims of supposed Muslim atrocities against Buddhists.

The riots were considered to be an effort to divert public attention from widespread discontentment over the plummeting value of the currency, spiraling inflation, food shortages and the lack of progress in talks with Suu Kyi. In this case, as in most previous incidents of anti-Muslim violence, the Muslim community was largely powerless to fight back.

Although the present violence appears to be a local affair ignited by months of simmering tensions, rumors have spread of military personnel disguised as either Rohingyas or Rakhine participating in violent activities such as the burning of homes, presumably to sustain the violence and play up the need for military-led emergency powers.

Persecuted minority
Officially Muslims make up only 4% of Myanmar's population, although they represent an estimated 25% of the population in Rakhine State. Of that percentage, an estimated 800,000 are Rohingya.

The Rohingya have been particularly hard hit by the military regime's anti-Muslim policies. Their citizenship was revoked in 1982, denying them access to even basic public benefits. Additional restrictions were placed on their ability to own land, travel and even marry.

These restrictions have left the Rohingya community without adequate access to education and health facilities and caused frequent food shortages in their areas. The overall effect has been a climate of fear and frustration. In recent years, thousands have fled over land to Bangladesh or by boat to Thailand and Malaysia in search of work.

The problems in Rakhine State come at a time that Thein Sein's government is dealing with public protests over electricity shortages in several cities as well as strikes at factories outside Yangon and among silver miners. In sharp contrast to the previous military regime, the government has so far shown a tolerance for the protests. The violence in Rakhine State, however, presents a somewhat different challenge, both because of its escalation and the ethnic nature of the conflict.

Thein Sein has made reconciliation between the government and the country's many ethnic minorities a national priority. Ethnic-based violence, however, has been a fact of life in Myanmar since World War II. Most of the tensions have been between the largely Burman majority and different ethnic groups, but as the events in Rakhine State have shown there are also tensions between ethnic minorities.

Rarely, however, have those tensions erupted into sectarian violence. The exception is the period during and immediately after World War II, when sectarian violence between Burmans and ethnic Karen in the Irrawaddy Delta region resulted in massacres of villagers by both sides perpetrated by ad hoc village militias.

Much of Myanmar's ethnic-based violence has taken on the form of self-determination struggles by ethnic insurgent political organizations and their "regular" armies pitted against a government that from their point of view served only Burman interests. While racial stereotypes persist and attacks on ethnic villagers by the Myanmar Army sometimes take on ethnic overtones, ethnic cleansing was never a government or insurgent policy, despite propaganda by all sides. Incidents of communal violence committed by civilians of one ethnicity against another have been rare, with the exception of the pogroms against Indians and Chinese in 1962 and against Muslims since.

Thein Sein's reform drive has had the unintended consequence of removing many of the social and political controls that previously suppressed ethnic tensions. In most cases, those tensions are not of the same level of those between the Rakhine and Rohingya, and the chance of sectarian violence is relatively low. Still, tensions stoked by uneven economic, social and political development could inflame these feelings as the government relaxes controls, encourages economic development and cuts deals with ethnic political organizations.

It was a fear of ethnic strife and disintegration of the union that in part motivated the 1962 coup that brought the military to power. Military officers have long been taught that without the military the country would break apart and the new bout of sectarian violence will have only reinforced these ideas. Should sectarian conflicts spread, it could provide the excuse hardliners within the military need to reassert control and oust Thein Sein's quasi-civilian administration.

The Rohingya issue will be difficult to resolve unless the government is willing to rescind a decades-old policy of treating the minority group as illegal migrants mostly from Bangladesh. Without acceptance of their status as citizens of Myanmar, it will be difficult to create any effective dialogue. The government has yet to show any initiative in finding a solution to the tens of thousands of Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

This places Thein Sein in a reform bind. While there are legitimate reasons to crackdown on both the Rohingya and Rakhine, the suppression will need to be carried out in ways that does not result in the arbitrary arrests and killings that soldiers and police were notorious for under military rule.

Instead, his government will have to arrive at a solution that simultaneously calms the tensions between the two ethnic minority groups, appeases a domestic population largely unsympathetic to the plight of Muslims, reinforces its claims to reconciliation, and maintains its reformist credentials with the international community.

The violence has shown that national reconciliation with ethnic minorities needs to go beyond simply addressing economic development issues. In ceasefire negotiations with ethnic insurgent groups and in discussions with ethnic political parties and civil society groups, Thein Sein's government needs to address underlying social and political issues or risk future and potentially more widespread sectarian strife.

Brian McCartan is a freelance journalist. He may be reached atbpmccartan1@gmail.com.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NF15Ae02.html

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RE: [chottala.com] SAKA ---- THE HEINOUS KILLER !!!!!!



I am confused? Is 1971 before 1996 or after?
If before, why Hasina did not try them in 1996, why Hasina took their support in 1996....or Pronob Mukharjee, the godfather of Hasina did not allow it that time?
Farid

 

To: chottala@yahoogroups.com
From: sonia_jahan@rocketmail.com
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2012 01:45:10 -0700
Subject: Re: [chottala.com] SAKA ---- THE HEINOUS KILLER !!!!!!

 
Mr. Ali,
Fail to understand why u people are overenthusiastic to attach online paper clipping.
It is a routine affair.
Prosecution ongoing. Deposition of witness being taken before learned court. All the witnesses
so far appeared have testified that they have heard from someone of such incident. Law will
decide whether such depositions suffice to stand as evidence of any specific crime against an accused.

Let us see. Nothing to be impatient.
Hope for unveiling the truth.
Thanks.



From: Muhammad Ali <manik195709@yahoo.com>
To:
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 1:58 AM
Subject: [chottala.com] SAKA ---- THE HEINOUS KILLER !!!!!!

 
বাবাকে তিনটি গুলি করেন সাকা চৌধুরী'
Wed, Jun 20th, 2012 8:34 pm BdST
 
ঢাকা, জুন ২০ (বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম)- ১৯৭১ সালের ১৩ এপ্রিল পাকিস্তানি সেনাবাহিনীর সহযোগিতা নিয়ে সালাউদ্দিন কাদের চৌধুরী নূতন চন্দ্র সিংহকে হত্যা করেন বলে যুদ্ধাপরাধ ট্রাইব্যুনালে বলেছেন নিহতের ছেলে।

প্রফুল্ল রঞ্জন সিংহ বুধবার আন্তর্জাতিক অপরাধ ট্রাইব্যুনাল-১ এ সাক্ষ্যে বলেন, বাবাকে নৃশংসভাবে হত্যার কথা আত্মীয়-স্বজন ও প্রতিবেশীরা তাকে জানিয়েছিলেন।

১৯৭১ সালে মুক্তিযুদ্ধ শুরু হলে নূতন চন্দ্র নিজে দেশে থেকে গেলেও সন্তানদের ভারতে পাঠিয়ে দিয়েছিলেন।

বিএনপি নেতা সালাউদ্দিন কাদের চৌধুরীর বিরুদ্ধে পঞ্চম সাক্ষী হিসেবে ট্রাইব্যুনালে সাক্ষ্য দেন সত্তরোর্ধ্ব প্রফুল্ল।

তিনি বলেন, একাত্তরের ১৩ এপ্রিল সকাল ৯টা থেকে সাড়ে ৯টার মধ্যে সালাউদ্দিন কাদের চৌধুরী পাকিস্তানি সৈন্যদের সঙ্গে নিয়ে কুণ্ডেশ্বরীতে তাদের বাসভবনে ঢুকে তার বাবাকে হত্যা করেন।

"তারা আমার বাবাকে মন্দির থেকে টেনে-হিঁচড়ে বের করে, তিনি তখন ব্যথায় কাতরাচ্ছিলেন। সালাউদ্দিন কাদের চৌধুরী তাকে তিনটি গুলি করেন।"

ব্রজহরি নামের নূতন চন্দ্রের এক শুভান্যুধায়ীর কাছ থেকে হত্যাকাণ্ডের বর্ণনা শোনার কথা ট্রাইব্যুনালকে জানান প্রফুল্ল।

"ব্রজহরি সেখানে ছিলেন এবং বাড়ি ছাড়ার জন্য বাবাকে তিনি বোঝাচ্ছিলেন। সালাউদ্দিন কাদের চৌধুরী ও পাকিস্তানি সৈন্যরা বাড়িতে ঢুকলে লুকিয়ে পড়েন ব্রজহরি। তিনি এমন এক জায়গায় লুকিয়ে ছিলেন, যেখান থেকে সব দেখতে পেয়েছিলেন।"

এর আগে গত ৪ জুন আরেক সাক্ষী ট্রাইব্যুনালে জানান, তিনি সালাউদ্দিন কাদেরকে পাকিস্তানি সৈন্যদের নিয়ে কুণ্ডেশ্বীতে ঢুকতে দেখেন এবং এরপরই গুলির শব্দ পান।

১৯৭০ সালের নির্বাচনে বঙ্গবন্ধু শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান নেতৃত্বাধীন আওয়ামী লীগকে সমর্থন করে নূতন চন্দ্র সিংহ সালাউদ্দিন কাদের চৌধুরীর বাবা ফজলুল কাদের চৌধুরীর রোষানলে পড়েন বলে দাবি করেন প্রফুল্ল।

পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদের স্পিকার ও মুসলিম লীগ নেতা ফজলুল কাদেরকে স্বাধীনতার পর বন্দি করা হয়েছিল। কারাগারে থাকা অবস্থায়ই মৃত্যু হয় তার।

চট্টগ্রামের রাউজানে কুণ্ডেশ্বরী ঔষধালয় ও কুণ্ডেশ্বরী বালিকা বিদ্যালয়ের প্রতিষ্ঠাতা নূতন সিংকে হত্যাসহ একাত্তরে মানবতাবিরোধী ২৩টি অপরাধের ঘটনায় সালাউদ্দিন কাদেরের বিচার চলছে।

প্রফুল্ল চন্দ্র সিং জানান, ১৯৭০ এর নির্বাচনে মুসলিম লীগের ভরাডুবির পর থেকে ফজলুল কাদের চৌধুরী তার বাবাকে হুমকি দিয়ে আসছিলেন।

"আমরা ছিলাম সংখ্যালঘু অধ্যুষিত এলাকায়। প্রতি নির্বাচনের আগে ফজলুল কাদের চৌধুরী ওই এলাকায় আসতেন এবং বলতেন 'তোমরা ভোট দেবে, ঠিক...তাই তোমরা ভোট কেন্দ্রে যেয়ো না। তাহলেই আমি বুঝব, তোমরা আমাকে ভোট দিয়েছ।"

"কেউ তার নির্দেশ অমান্য করলে আমাদের ওপর নির্যাতন করা হতো," বলেন তিনি।

১৯৭০ সালের নির্বাচনের আগে বঙ্গবন্ধু শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান রাউজানে গিয়ে নূতন চন্দ্র সিংহের বাড়িতে গিয়েছিলেন। এতেও ফজলুল কাদের চৌধুরী ক্ষুব্ধ হন বলে জানান প্রফুল্ল।

মুসলিম লীগের প্রার্থী ফজলুল কাদের চৌধুরী সত্তরের ওই নির্বাচনের আগের রাতে তিনবার তাদের এলাকায় যান বলে জানান তিনি।

প্রফুল্ল ট্রাইব্যুনালে বলেন, ফজলুল কাদের তার বাবাকে চট্টগ্রামের আঞ্চলিক উচ্চারণে বলেছিলেন, "তুমি কি পাগল হয়ে গেছ?"

গত বছরের ১৪ নভেম্বর সালাউদ্দিন কাদের চৌধুরীর বিরুদ্ধে যুদ্ধাপরাধের আনুষ্ঠানিক অভিযোগ উত্থাপন করে প্রসিকিউশন। এর তিনদিন পর অভিযোগ আমলে নেয় ট্রাইব্যুনাল। ২০১০ সালের ২০ ডিসেম্বর একাত্তরে যুদ্ধাপরাধের মামলায় সালাউদ্দিন কাদের চৌধুরীকে গ্রেপ্তার দেখানো হয়। এর পাঁচ দিন আগে অন্য একটি মামলায় গ্রেপ্তার হন তিনি।

বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম/এনআইএইচ/এএইচ/এমআই/২০২৫ ঘ.

 





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