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Monday, September 10, 2012

[chottala.com] Re: Ershad's India connection



IDSA COMMENT: Ershad's Visit to India Whets His Political Ambition

Anand Kumar

Gen (Retd.) Hussain Muhammad Ershad, the leader of Jatiya Party and former Bangladeshi military dictator (he hates to be called so), visited India recently for a week in August at the invitation of Indian government. India appears to be worried about the political future of Bangladesh where elections are scheduled towards the end of the next year. The Jatiya party is the third largest political party in Bangladesh and part of the ruling coalition, which many in Bangladesh fear may not return to power in the next elections.

Ershad was given the honour of a state guest. During his stay in India he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee, National Security Advisor (NSA), Shiv Shankar Menon, and foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai before embarking on his religious visit to Ajmer.

As expected, in their discussions with Gen Ershad, Indian leaders reportedly sought his views on the evolving political scene in Bangladesh and the upcoming parliamentary elections which already seem to be mired in controversy because of the abolition of the caretaker government system in Bangladesh. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is threatening to boycott the elections unless the caretaker government system is restored. In the divided polity of Bangladesh where both Awami League and the BNP get nearly the same percentage of votes barring the swing votes, the role of other small players like the Jamaat-e-Islami or the Jatiya Party led by General Ershad becomes important.

As Jamaat is a long-time ally of the BNP, the role played by Ershad is going to be important. Even before 2008 elections he was wooed vigorously by the both Awami League and the BNP. Ershad kept both parties on the tenterhook before joining the Awami League led alliance which promised to make him president. He may have also joined this alliance because he had sensed the mood of people and possibly knew that the chances of Awami League coming to power were greater. However, the promise to make Ershad president of Bangladesh was forgotten with Awami League receiving a landslide victory in the elections. This virtually made Ershad's support redundant. In the 2008 elections the Awami League-led grand alliance had bagged 263 seats out 300, out of which Jatiya Party of Ershad secured 27 seats. The main rival BNP led four-party alliance received only 32 seats, with the remaining seats going to independent candidates. In this situation, Ershad could not claim what was promised to him yet chose to stay close to the League, because he was facing many corruption cases and needed its support to thwart those charges.

Ershad, of late, has been in the limelight for campaigning against Tipaimukh dam that Bangladesh fears India is building in the state of Manipur. He has been criticising India for not signing the Teesta water sharing agreement with Bangladesh. This agreement is of additional importance to Ershad because the irrigation system that Bangladesh plans to develop after getting assurance of Teesta water from India is going to benefit greater Rangpur area which is a stronghold of Ershad's Jatiya Party.

It was widely reported in the Indian media that during his stay in India Ershad discussed these along with the land border issue. Indian leaders assured Ershad that India was trying to get Paschim Banga Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on board before signing of the Teesta deal and they were hopeful that it would be coming soon. India also assured Ershad that it would not do anything to harm the interests of Bangladesh by building Tipaimukh dam. He was also informed that the progress on land border issue and exchange of enclaves have not been to the desired extent because the treaty needs to be ratified by the Indian parliament with a two-thirds majority, which the present government lacks. However, it was communicated to him that Manmohan Singh's government was trying to build consensus across the party line over this issue. Though the anti-India stance recently being taken by Ershad is of a smaller scale compared to that of the BNP, he considers it necessary to retain and boost his popularity in Bangladesh. Indeed, it is important to pay attention to his future political ambitions against the backdrop of the ongoing political tussle between the government and the opposition..

The recent visit to India has enhanced the expectations of Ershad. In the last election he was hoping for the post of president, a ceremonial position in Bangladeshi political set-up; now he has stated openly that he wants to be prime minister after the next elections. In Ershad's calculation both the BNP and the Awami League may not get the requisite number this time, while the number of seats won by his party might considerably increase and go beyond 60. In that scenario, Ershad hopes to stake claim for prime ministership. He plans to make his party contest the next elections alone, without being part of any alliance. The Jatiya party wants to put up candidates on its own and in large numbers. Ershad is perhaps looking at the next election as his last election, since age is not on his side (for he is now 82 years old); hence, he wants to make the best of it, and the political situation in the country seems to be favouring him. Though India now wants to engage all political players in Bangladesh, and with this objective it has invited Khaleda Zia to visit New Delhi sometime next month, the role of Ershad becomes important in the event of Awami League not returning to power and the elections leading to a hung house. India would perhaps not mind if Ershad cobbles up a coalition and leads the next government.

http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/ErshadsVisittoIndiaWhetsHisPoliticalAmbition_akumar_100912



On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 11:19 AM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
Indian Govt's Favour to Ershad


On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 12:19 PM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:



http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2012/08/25/160249

http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2012-08-25/news/283575


On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 12:22 PM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
Pro-India politricks of Ershad

http://www.banglanews24.com/detailsnews.php?nssl=5c0b22ae24d0082d80a0d52feb219798&nttl=22082012134014


On Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 8:29 AM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
Prof Mahbubullah on Ershad's India visit


http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2012/08/18/159808


On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 7:20 AM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:







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[chottala.com] RE: Rogue politics of Bangladesh ex Prime Minister



RE: Rogue politics of Bangladesh ex Prime Minister

Zoglul Husain
<zoglul@hotmail.co.uk>, wrote:

In the recent past the Blitz published reports by one Sunita Paul. I assumed the name to be a pseudonym. The Blitz was then serving Mossad, with Dr Benkin as their mentor. After they fell apart with Dr Benkin on financial disagreements, the Blitz has been writing against corruptions of BAL. Now they have published, in the current issue, 3 reports by one Preeta Memon, one of which you circulated today. I think Preeta Memon is a pseudonym, which has been used by RAW in this case.
 
Gomes and Shoaib have been writing against each other, each claiming the other to be dubious. However, we need to keep an eye on the intelligence linked reports. We need to analyse the objectives of these reports. It is said about the fog of war: "War is an area of uncertainty; three quarters of the things on which all action in War is based are lying in a fog of uncertainty to a greater or lesser extent. The first thing (needed) here is a fine, piercing mind, to feel out the truth with the measure of its judgment."

Rogue politics of Bangladesh ex Prime Minister

by Preeta Memon
http://www.weeklyblitz.net/2546/rogue-politics-of-bangladesh-ex-prime-minister


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RE: [chottala.com] Bangladesh will remain strongly in World map and it will cross India in all aspects very soon



Thank you Mr. Kabeerul Islam for your commonsensical and clean statement.

 

 

 

Thanks and Best regards

 

Mohsin  A. Aziz

Ship Planner (Control Tower) 

International Ports Services Co. Ltd

IPS - Dammam Container & RO/RO Terminal

P.O. Box 28088 – Dammam Port 31437- KSA

Tel:      +966 3 8076845                    

Fax:     +966 3 8076608

Mob:   +966 536 601 420       

Email : amohsin@ips.com.sa

www.ips.com.sa  

(A member of the Hutchison Port Holdings Group,

A Hutchison Whampoa Company)

www.hph.com


From: chottala@yahoogroups.com [mailto:chottala@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of kabeerul islam
Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2012 11:37
To: chottala@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [chottala.com] Bangladesh will remain strongly in World map and it will cross India in all aspects very soon

 

 

Dear Readers

Good day.

1.    Who is this  Kamnath- that we want to know first. What is his intention of writing this.  Most of his informations regardings camps inside BD are false -may be made by media or his own creation.  Most of the people of Bangladesh who are less than 40 or born after 1971 don't consider India as good neighbour. It is big a country but having small heart.

     - No good neighbour constructs hard boundaries/fenches around his friendly country.

     - A good neighbour does not construct barrages to divert water from international rivers without the consent of his neighbour.

 

2.    What we the young generations  of BD think, India got to change her mindset first. She only knows how to take from others -she doesn't know how to share the things in a peaceful manner.

 

3.     If I would have the power,I would have stopped  easy access of all the Indian TV channels in BD. It should be one to one clean exchange basis. We should only take which is good for us.

 

4.    We should not allow any billboard beside our roads showing actress/actors of other countries as Brand Ambassedor of the products-if required they will select good faces from our country.This must be stopped in  TV ad and other print and eletronic media as well.

 

5.   We have not heard any phencydil carrier is shot dead by BSF moreover most of the  phencydil industries are around BD boarder -inside India.They have intentionally made it to destroy our youth. Look this is our good neighbour!!

6.    Shame on garments business men of BD, they sell some of garments of India on the basis of few Indian TV serial's characters- shame on customers also!!

7.    We should avoid foreign garments and products, specially indian sharees,clothes,cosmatics  as much as we can.

 

       We are not against India or any one, but if our country/our people are any how affected  by others we are ready to destroy all these barriers-it may be barrages, damps,fences and other things(all  man-made features).

        As Mr Kamnath is very much  worried about BD's existance,so I can give him another proposal,let us  have a country named Bangladesh with all bengali speaking people of the world including their land.

 

Thanks.

MK Islam

 

 

 

 

From: Debasish Barua <gorba196138@yahoo.com>
To: "chottala@yahoogroups.com" <chottala@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 8, 2012 8:44 PM
Subject: Re: [chottala.com] Re: Existential threat to Bangladesh

 

 

Why not Pakistan then...is'nt that part of Pakistan neighboring India has similar situation as author hints of between West Bengal and East Bengal..is not not true PUNJAB is in Both Pakistan & India is,nt not true Jammu & Kashmir is still disputed between India & Pakistan...

 

I think it has been many water under the bridge Bangladesh do not need necessarily need bad relation ship with its neighbor..but has been their since 1971 Dec that is almost 41 year...and will make it longer..

 

May not be surprised some the author do not mention who where LORD CURZONS adviser..they.are the same who wish to divide INDIA into further..it is the same force they are the one that divided the are the one wanting to put it back together, they are the one that again conspiring to break it down further( India as each state each country)..

 

All I can tell you is this..I would not give them ANY OF THAT PLEASURE...LORD CURZON & BRITISH had left many years ago..they even left HONG KONG..

 

It is the same force..in US & British National Assemblies...

 

The thing is it will be long time some one from TAMIL NADU/ OR ASSAM/OR URISSA will be prime minister or President of India..and same in many other states of India..it was an exception this time MAMATA BANERJEE tried SONGMA..they do have state assemblies..and Gov and etc..

 

What ever India wishes..my opinion may not matter...I just do not like those guys gleeing 

From: Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com>
To: Zoglul Husain <zoglul@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: Friday, September 7, 2012 8:08 PM
Subject: [chottala.com] Re: Existential threat to Bangladesh

 

 

Existential threat to Bangladesh

On 9/8/12, Zoglul Husain <mailto:zoglul%40hotmail.co.uk> wrote:

In The Hindu (one of the principal English dailies of India) M V Kamath wrote,

"Let it be said in simple and plain language : Bangladesh has no
business to exist. Its creation in 1947 was as historic a mistake as
Lord Curzon's partition of Bengal was in 1905. Curzon's plan to divide
Bengal was annulled because in the end Bengal's sense of unity
prevailed.Bangladesh, if it wants to survive, must return to India and
India in return must help it to do so. The answer to the problem of
illegal immigration of Bangladeshi's into India lies in one word :
Federation. No mather how loudly the current rulers of Bangladesh may
deny it, Bangladesh can never be self-sufficient. It has a cultural
identity of its own that it shares with West Bengal. It could never be
part of Pakistan and its creation should have been foreseen. So should
its ultimate unity with India, no matter what resistance Begum Zia may
offer or the Jamaat-e-Islami. What needs to be worked out is the
nature of Bangladeshi's reconciliation with India."

http://www.mail-archive.com/assam%40pikespeak.uccs.edu/msg03800.html
>
> Please click to read the Daily Sangram article (4 September 2012), which refers to the above:
>
http://www.dailysangram.com/news_details.php?news_id=95170
>

 

 



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[chottala.com] Assam's head talked about Hindu-Muslim riot



It has more:


http://www.real-timenews.com/details.php?id=51999&p=1&s=8

আসামে মুসলিমদের সংখ্যা হিন্দুদের ছাড়িয়ে যাচ্ছে





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[chottala.com] Help us to Help Others: Please Vote for Bangladesh Association, Houston at ChaseGiving



Hello Everybody,
 
This is our great pleasure to announce that Bangladesh Association, Houston -- one of the oldest and largest Bangladeshi Organizations in the US -- has been chosen among 196 organizations for Chase Bank's Community Giving Program. What it means is if we get enough votes on their Facebook campaign we would earn a decent share from their $5,000,000.00 community grants!

Funds earned through this program will be used for local community development (including but not limited to Community Clinic, Bangla School, Emergency Community Fund, building Bangladesh American Center and so) as well as disaster relief program, helping acid victims and various other charity activities in Bangladesh. Please go to www.bangladesh-association.com to check all our community activities in more than past three decades.
 
Two simple  ways to vote: Chase online and Facebook.

1. Facebook account login:
 
www.chase.com/ChaseGiving (In search Charities type in "BANGLADESH ASSOCTION")

If you have a Chase account and a Facebook account, you can vote twice.

You can earn a bonus vote! Just share a link form the chase Community app to your timeline in Facebook. If one of your friends links back to the Chase Community Giving app and cast a vote of their own, you have earned an extra vote. You can cast vote again for us.

Anyone can vote from anywhere in the world and there is absolutely no purchase necessary. Furthermore, it only takes 30 seconds to cast your vote online at your convenience before September 19, 2012.
 
Your only 30 second means a lot to us!

Thanks and best regards.
 
-Reshad, Houston, TX


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RE: [chottala.com] Rogue politics of Bangladesh ex Prime Minister



There will be more paid Raw agents confuse the Bangladeshi.....from Abul to Gaffar.....from Maal to kuranjit.....from menon to Shahriar...all.
A lot of money is paid......everybody will have a share.....from Padma Shetu, from Share marcke

 

To:
From: bdmailer@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:06:15 +0600
Subject: [chottala.com] Rogue politics of Bangladesh ex Prime Minister

 
Rogue politics of Bangladesh ex Prime Minister

by Preeta Memon

Khaleda Zia, the widow of Bangladesh's former military ruler Ziaur Rahman though seen as the next Prime Minister of the country, with her party winning in the general election of 2014, Indian intelligence sources have identified a number of her recent efforts, which not only are extremely unfavourable to the national interest of Bangladesh, but in most cases, are even devastating for the nation. In past seven months, she travelled to Saudi Arabia twice under the disguise of performing Umrah pilgrimage at Mecca, had been particularly aimed at convincing Saudis in expelling approximately two million Bangladeshi workers from that country, with various allegations. Indian intelligence sources claim that the recent decision of the Saudi authorities in sending back half-million Bangladeshi workers is a partial respond to the plea of Khaleda Zia, who enjoys special affection in Saudi Royal family.
Khaleda-Tarique meeting:
During last month's Saudi tour, the former Prime Minister of Bangladeshi and leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) met her self-exiled eldest son Tarique Rahman in Jeddah, who travelled from London to meet the mother. During the meeting, Khaleda Zia signalled nominating Tarique in the next general election in one of the parliamentary constituencies in Bangladesh and assured him returning to the country, once Bangladesh Nationalist Party is able winning the election.
Tarique Rahman runs businesses in United Arab Emirates and London through third parties and has been living luxurious life in London with his wife and children. He holds secret bank account with Singapore based OCBC Bank as well as banks in United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom through some of his aides. Indian intelligence agencies indicate Tarique Rahman of having significant amount of money in all of the secret bank accounts.
Koko's fabulous wealth in Malaysia:
Youngest son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Arafat Rahman Koko, who also is on self-exile in Malaysia to avert legal consequences is running multiple business ventures in Kuala Lumpur and other cities in Malaysia and has been living luxurious life with his wife and children. Koko's name came as the top culprit behind several bribe scams, including WorldTel and Naiko, wherefrom he received huge sum of money as bribe in exchange of special favor from his mother's government. Arafat Rahman Koko became extremely infamous in Bangladesh similarly as his elder brother Tarique Rahman, who had been engaged in ruthless corruption and looting of public wealth during the 2001-2006 rule of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Saudi offer for Khaleda Zia:
During the recent past meeting of Bangladeshi former Prime Minister, the Saudi authorities reportedly suggested her to stay in Riyadh for couple of years for treatment of her knees, while the Saudis also told Khaleda Zia that her sons would also be allowed to stay in Saudi Arabia, if she would agree to go for a short pause in her political career. She also was told that the ruling party in Bangladesh were determined in convicting her along with her sons in a number of corruption charges, including the Zia Charitable Trust scam. Khaleda Zia refused the Saudi offer stating her party would be in power "soon", which would be "much before the scheduled election", and the ruling party "won't have sufficient time to push the trials towards conviction".
Rogue policy of Khaleda Zia:
According to Indian intelligence agencies, Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman played vital role behind the August 21 grenade attack at the rally of Bangladesh Awami League with the nefarious goal of assassinating Sheikh Hasina. The grenade attack conspiracy took place at the residence of a junior minister of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led government, which was attended by Tarique Rahman and some other top officials of the country. The junior minister was assigned main role in implementing the blue-print, as Tarique Rahman strongly believed assassinating Sheikh Hasina would create uninterrupted opportunity for Bangladesh Nationalist Party in continuing in office for indefinite period.
ULFA connection of Khaleda Zia:
Khaleda Zia's anti-Indian policy had prompted her in adopting policies in extending logistic and otherwise supports to various separatist groups from India, including United Liberation Front of Assom. ULFA leaders had been accorded safe shelter within Bangladeshi soil, while anti-Indian Islamic terrorist groups were also provided supports from the Khaleda Zia government.
During the rule of Ziaur Rahman, due to his anti-Indian stand, Indian high commissioner in Bangladesh, Muchkund Dubey was stopped and humiliated in a street in Dhaka by the intelligence agencies at the directives of Zia. In the public meetings, Ziaur Rahman had been spreading venom of hatred against India.
Next Mission of Khaleda Zia:
Following couple of visits to Saudi Arabia and subsequent partial success in convincing the Saudi authorities in expelling Bangladeshi workers, which would put tremendous pressure on the ruling Bangladesh Awami League – she now is preparing for Beijing and Washington tours with some agendas of using American and Chinese influences in putting extended pressure on the government in Dhaka. Her political aides have also sought help from Grameen Bank founder Dr. Yunus is setting few important meetings for Khaleda Zia with US politicians and policymakers. Similarly, pro-Chinese block within Bangladesh Nationalist Part are actively pursuing Chinese diplomatic contacts in Dhaka in finalizing meetings for Khaleda Zia with key-figures in Beijing. Indian intelligence agency sources feel that the Bangladesh ex Prime Minister may go for these trips during October-December 2012. Khaleda Zia's aides are also contacting mainstream media in United States with the hope of getting her substantial media coverage. Khaleda Zia is expected to be interviewed by a number of US newspapers and television channels during her forthcoming trip.
http://www.weeklyblitz.net/2546/rogue-politics-of-bangladesh-ex-prime-minister




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[chottala.com] Fighting for Bangladesh Labor, and Ending Up in Pauper’s Grave

Fighting for Bangladesh Labor, and Ending Up in Pauper's Grave

ASHULIA, Bangladesh — His tiny office was lost among the hulking
garment factories that churn out cargo pants or polo shirts for brands
like Gap or Tommy Hilfiger, yet workers managed to find Aminul Islam.
They came with problems. Unpaid wages. Abusive bosses. Mr. Islam, a
labor organizer, fought for their rights.

ecurity forces found Mr. Islam, too. His phone was tapped, the police
regularly harassed him, and domestic intelligence agents once abducted
and beat him, his co-workers and family say. More than once, he was
told his advocacy for workers was hurting a country where garment
exports drive the domestic economy.

And then no one could find Mr. Islam.

He disappeared April 4. Days later, his family discovered that he had
been tortured and killed. His murder bore a grim familiarity in a
country with a brutal legacy of politically motivated killings, and it
raised a troubling question: Was he killed for trying to organize
workers?

Five months later, Mr. Islam's killing remains under investigation.
There have been no arrests in the case, and the police say they have
made little progress.

On the day he disappeared, Mr. Islam was trying to resolve a labor
impasse at factories that stitch shirts for Tommy Hilfiger, American
Eagle and other global brands. Then an acquaintance arrived
unexpectedly, accompanied by a woman in a veil. The man, now suspected
of having ties to security agencies, had an urgent request, that Mr.
Islam officiate at his wedding.

Mr. Islam rode off in a rickshaw to help him and was never seen again.

It is unclear if Mr. Islam was killed because of his work, and it is
possible that he was killed for an altogether different motive. But
his labor advocacy had collided with powerful interests in Bangladesh,
now the second leading exporter of apparel in the world, after China.
Cheap, nonunion labor is essential to the export formula in
Bangladesh, where the minimum wage for garment workers is $37 a month.
Unions are almost nonexistent in apparel factories.

Ordinarily, a murder in Bangladesh attracts little outside attention,
but Mr. Islam's death has inspired a fledgling global campaign, with
protests lodged by international labor groups and by European and
American diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton. This outside pressure is partly because so many global brands
now use Bangladeshi factories. But Mr. Islam also worked for local
labor groups affiliated with the A.F.L.-C.I.O., a connection to the
American labor movement that has infused his death with geopolitical
overtones.

For years, mutual suspicion has defined the relationship between the
labor federation and the Bangladeshi establishment. Citing labor
abuses, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. is currently petitioning Washington to
overturn trade preferences for Bangladesh, infuriating Bangladeshi
leaders and casting suspicions on the domestic labor groups nurtured
by the federation, including those where Mr. Islam worked.

"It was viewed as, 'Why are you trying to destroy our economy?' " said
Alonzo Suson, who runs an A.F.L.-C.I.O. training center in Dhaka known
as the Solidarity Center. "The federations that supported the
A.F.L.-C.I.O. are viewed as not being loyal, as being traitors."

Mr. Islam's work often made him a target. In 2010, after angry wage
protests shook the country, the authorities charged Mr. Islam and two
of his bosses with "antistate" activities. Harassment by police and
intelligence agents became so intense that Mr. Islam's bosses sought a
truce: a secret meeting was held between Mr. Islam and the director of
the main domestic spying agency, the National Security Intelligence
Agency, or N.S.I.

A senior government official, interviewed about the case, denied any
involvement by the spying agency in Mr. Islam's death. But Mr. Islam's
colleagues worry that the lack of progress on the case reflects a lack
of commitment by the authorities on labor rights.

"Who is so powerful?" asked Kalpona Akter, who had been Mr. Islam's
boss and friend, "that they killed Aminul — yet is still untouchable?"

A Voice for Workers

Aminul Islam was a small man, barely 5 feet 4 inches tall,
serious-minded and bearing the beard that signifies a devout Muslim.
In February, he spent 40 days on a religious program canvassing
villages and encouraging people to be better Muslims. In a Muslim
nation, his piety brought him respect and lent him stature as a labor
organizer.

He had started as a worker at the Shasha Denim garment factory in the
teeming industrial zones ringing parts of Dhaka, the capital. The area
is chockablock with factories. Trucks ramble down dirt roads or
cracked highways, with traffic sometimes backing up for hours. At
shift changes, hundreds of thousands of workers pour in and out of the
nondescript concrete buildings that produce many of the clothes sold
in American stores.

At Shasha Denim, Mr. Islam's co-workers elected him to a committee in
2005 to raise grievances with management. Within a year, the company
had fired him. Undeterred, he took his case to court and won, only to
see the factory owner invoke a legal provision allowing him to pay Mr.
Islam a salary of about $30 a month without reinstating him in his
job.

To learn about labor rights, Mr. Islam had attended workshops at the
Solidarity Center in Dhaka. Affiliated with the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the
nonprofit Solidarity Center has 23 field offices on four continents.
Bangladesh already had established labor federations, many of which
are aligned with political parties and draw members from public sector
industries. But the Solidarity Center has kept a distance from these
unions, wary of their political affiliations and skeptical of their
influence in the garment sector.

Instead, the Solidarity Center focused on a handful of newer labor
federations and nonprofit groups led by younger labor leaders. By
2006, two of these groups had hired Mr. Islam as an organizer in
Ashulia, one of the big industrial zones outside Dhaka.

"He was vocal, and he was fearless," said Ms. Akter, head of the
Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, a nonprofit labor group.
"Whenever workers came to him, he took them as his own case, as if it
was his own pain."

By 2010, business analysts were praising Bangladesh as a manufacturing
power, and global brands rushed to take advantage of the country's
rock-bottom labor costs. Workers, though, were seething. The monthly
minimum wage for a garment worker was then about $21, not including
overtime and bonuses. Inflation was soaring and protests began to
spill out of factories in the industrial ring outside Dhaka.

Mr. Islam tried to act as a mediator, his co-workers say, imploring
workers not to vandalize. He had already recruited a growing number of
workers to join the labor groups affiliated with the A.F.L.-C.I.O., a
trend noticed by intelligence officials. That April, Babul Akhter,
head of one of the labor groups, said an N.S.I. agent warned him "to
refrain from" discussing labor rights with workers or the agency would
take "strong action" against them.

"Why are you guys, and Aminul, talking to them?" Mr. Akhter recalled
the agent asking him. "He asked me, 'Do you have the right to do this
work?' "

As the 2010 protests continued, the authorities revoked the
registration for the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, the
nonprofit labor group that employed Mr. Islam. His bosses, Kalpona
Akter and Babul Akhter, were arrested and accused of inciting worker
riots, charges they denied and interpreted as a heavy-handed effort to
shut down their organizing. Mr. Islam faced similar charges.

But the most brazen intimidation came that June, when Mr. Islam was
abducted and tortured by a group of thugs, led by an N.S.I. agent, his
family and colleagues say. He told co-workers that he had been taken
north of Dhaka and beaten badly. He said the agent pressured him to
sign a document incriminating his colleagues, even threatening to kill
him and his family, before Mr. Islam managed to escape.

"During the torture, they told him, 'You are trying to become a leader
of the workers,' " recalled another organizer, Laboni Akter, who
worked closely with Mr. Islam. "They told him, 'We follow you. We
listen on your phone.' "

A Secret Truce

Workers won a partial victory after the 2010 riots, as Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina raised the monthly minimum wage to about $37. Many labor
activists believed the next step should have been to lift restrictions
on workers' organizing. Street protests would be less likely, they
argued, if workers thought a fair, impartial process existed to
resolve disputes.

Bangladeshi officials instead have focused on oversight. A special
government committee, called the Crisis Management Cell, now monitors
the garment sector. An entirely new law enforcement agency was
created, the Industrial Police, empowered to collect intelligence and
pre-empt labor unrest in industrial areas.

After his ordeal, Mr. Islam lowered his profile. Kalpona Akter said
N.S.I. agents were calling so regularly that she moved Mr. Islam to a
quieter industrial area to put some distance between him and the angry
protests still happening in Ashulia. At one point, she asked him if he
wanted to quit.

"He said, 'No, I want to work. It is my passion,' " she recalled.

Finally, in late 2010, an intermediary arranged a secret meeting that
included Mr. Islam and the director of the National Security
Intelligence Agency. The meeting — confirmed by three people with
knowledge of the meeting — was an attempt to clear the air so that Mr.
Islam could continue to work in safety. The director gave Mr. Islam
his cellphone number and told him to call if he had a problem.

But last March, more than a dozen officers took Mr. Islam away, his
family and co-workers say. For several hours, officers with the
Industrial Police questioned him about unfounded rumors that he was
planning to organize 10,000 workers to participate in an opposition
political rally on March 12. Not true, Mr. Islam had responded. The
officers allowed him to leave but required him to return to the
station on the day of the rally.

At roughly the same time, a protest in Ashulia paralyzed the Shanta
Denim factory, which made clothes for Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, American
Eagle and a range of other American brands. The dispute had a fluky
spark: An angry confrontation had broken out after managers had
refused to allow workers an afternoon off to watch the Bangladesh
national cricket team play for the Asia Cup championship. But soon it
swelled into a standoff over wages, sexual harassment of female
workers and other concerns.

Workers sought out Mr. Islam, who began exchanging regular phone calls
with a high-ranking government security official to try to broker a
deal. On the early evening of April 4, Mr. Islam had negotiated a
breakthrough. The next morning, workers would return to the factory.

By then, Mr. Islam had disappeared.

Evidence From a Grave

Two days later, a photograph appeared in Amar Desh, a newspaper
circulated in Mr. Islam's home village. It was the face of an
unidentified dead man whose body had been discovered by the police in
Tangail, about 40 miles from Dhaka. Someone in the village grabbed the
newspaper and rushed to Mr. Islam's family home.

When the family reached Tangail, the police had buried the body in a
pauper's grave. The corpse was exhumed and showed evidence of torture.
In police photographs of the body, Mr. Islam's knees are smashed and
his toes broken. Someone had cut or drilled a hole beneath his right
knee. A medical official concluded that he bled to death.

"This kind of torture was definitely by a professional goon squad,"
Ms. Akter said.

Torture and extrajudicial killings have existed in Bangladesh since
its founding in 1971. In a scathing 2009 report, the International
Crisis Group wrote that Bangladesh's police "have a well-deserved
reputation for brutality, corruption and incompetence." Too often, the
report noted, security forces served at the behest of powerful
interests.

"Wealthy businessmen in particular have a history of buying police
support to increase profit margins," the report stated, citing a human
rights lawyer who complained of "numerous examples of garment factory
owners bribing police officials to force workers protesting late wages
to work."

In 2007 and 2008, when a military-backed caretaker government ruled
Bangladesh, at least 297 people died in extrajudicial killings,
according to Odhikar, a Bangladeshi human rights group. When she took
office as prime minister in 2009, Ms. Hasina promised to restore
democratic practices and put an end to vigilante-style killings.

But nearly four years later, progress has been halting. In January,
Human Rights Watch noted that security forces "remain above the law"
and described the rise of a new problem — "enforced disappearances" —
in which a growing number of people have disappeared after being
abducted.

Mr. Islam's co-workers believe his case fits the same pattern, even as
the authorities deny any involvement by security agencies. In July,
Ms. Hasina seemed frustrated by the outside attention on the case,
saying that suspicions about security forces were unfounded and that
Mr. Islam's image as a labor leader was misleading, since he actually
worked for a nonprofit group. "Why don't you inform the embassies of
the Western countries that Aminul was not a workers' leader?" she
said, according to The Independent, a Dhaka publication.

One of the biggest mysteries in the case involves Mustafiz Rahman, the
man who sought Mr. Islam's help in arranging his wedding on the night
that Mr. Islam disappeared. Mr. Islam's co-workers say Mr. Rahman had
ties to security forces, while an investigative account in the New
Age, a Bangladeshi publication, said Mr. Rahman had helped the police
arrest a different labor organizer and had been seen in the presence
of intelligence agents.

He has not been seen or located since the day Mr. Islam disappeared.

Leaders of the biggest Bangladeshi labor federations have condemned
Mr. Islam's killing but also complained that the Solidarity Center and
its unions initially shunned them and looked overseas for help.

"They didn't do anything on the ground," said Roy Ramesh Chandra, head
of the country's biggest labor federation, a government ally. "They
have only asked for solidarity support from the outside. They only
send e-mails that tarnish the image of the country, industry, even the
trade union movement. That is not acceptable to us."

This concern about national image is a major reason some of Mr.
Islam's supporters believe the government may have considered him a
threat. He had documented his 2010 abduction and torture on a labor
Web site. This year, he helped arrange interviews for an ABC News
report about unsafe conditions at a factory where 29 workers died in a
fire while sewing clothes for Tommy Hilfiger.

Mr. Islam lived in Hijolhati, a small, leafy village about an hour's
drive from the Ashulia factory district. His widow, Hosni Ara Begum
Fahima, still lives in their simple concrete home. Mr. Islam has been
reburied there, in the small dirt backyard.

Ms. Fahima, 32, is jobless and worried about her children's future.
She is still tormented by memories of nighttime telephone calls from
police and intelligence agents. She does not know who killed her
husband, but on the night he disappeared, she awoke from a nightmare:
in her sleep, she had seen her husband crying, surrounded by security
forces.

"Aminul used to work for the rights of factory workers," she said. "I
think that is why someone killed him."

Julfikar Ali Manik contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on September 10, 2012, on
page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Fighting for
Bangladesh Labor, And Ending Up in Pauper's Grave.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/world/asia/killing-of-bangladesh-labor-leader-spotlights-grievances-of-workers.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www


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[chottala.com] Rogue politics of Bangladesh ex Prime Minister



Rogue politics of Bangladesh ex Prime Minister

by Preeta Memon

Khaleda Zia, the widow of Bangladesh's former military ruler Ziaur Rahman though seen as the next Prime Minister of the country, with her party winning in the general election of 2014, Indian intelligence sources have identified a number of her recent efforts, which not only are extremely unfavourable to the national interest of Bangladesh, but in most cases, are even devastating for the nation. In past seven months, she travelled to Saudi Arabia twice under the disguise of performing Umrah pilgrimage at Mecca, had been particularly aimed at convincing Saudis in expelling approximately two million Bangladeshi workers from that country, with various allegations. Indian intelligence sources claim that the recent decision of the Saudi authorities in sending back half-million Bangladeshi workers is a partial respond to the plea of Khaleda Zia, who enjoys special affection in Saudi Royal family.

Khaleda-Tarique meeting:

During last month's Saudi tour, the former Prime Minister of Bangladeshi and leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) met her self-exiled eldest son Tarique Rahman in Jeddah, who travelled from London to meet the mother. During the meeting, Khaleda Zia signalled nominating Tarique in the next general election in one of the parliamentary constituencies in Bangladesh and assured him returning to the country, once Bangladesh Nationalist Party is able winning the election.

Tarique Rahman runs businesses in United Arab Emirates and London through third parties and has been living luxurious life in London with his wife and children. He holds secret bank account with Singapore based OCBC Bank as well as banks in United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom through some of his aides. Indian intelligence agencies indicate Tarique Rahman of having significant amount of money in all of the secret bank accounts.

Koko's fabulous wealth in Malaysia:

Youngest son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Arafat Rahman Koko, who also is on self-exile in Malaysia to avert legal consequences is running multiple business ventures in Kuala Lumpur and other cities in Malaysia and has been living luxurious life with his wife and children. Koko's name came as the top culprit behind several bribe scams, including WorldTel and Naiko, wherefrom he received huge sum of money as bribe in exchange of special favor from his mother's government. Arafat Rahman Koko became extremely infamous in Bangladesh similarly as his elder brother Tarique Rahman, who had been engaged in ruthless corruption and looting of public wealth during the 2001-2006 rule of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Saudi offer for Khaleda Zia:

During the recent past meeting of Bangladeshi former Prime Minister, the Saudi authorities reportedly suggested her to stay in Riyadh for couple of years for treatment of her knees, while the Saudis also told Khaleda Zia that her sons would also be allowed to stay in Saudi Arabia, if she would agree to go for a short pause in her political career. She also was told that the ruling party in Bangladesh were determined in convicting her along with her sons in a number of corruption charges, including the Zia Charitable Trust scam. Khaleda Zia refused the Saudi offer stating her party would be in power "soon", which would be "much before the scheduled election", and the ruling party "won't have sufficient time to push the trials towards conviction".

Rogue policy of Khaleda Zia:

According to Indian intelligence agencies, Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman played vital role behind the August 21 grenade attack at the rally of Bangladesh Awami League with the nefarious goal of assassinating Sheikh Hasina. The grenade attack conspiracy took place at the residence of a junior minister of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led government, which was attended by Tarique Rahman and some other top officials of the country. The junior minister was assigned main role in implementing the blue-print, as Tarique Rahman strongly believed assassinating Sheikh Hasina would create uninterrupted opportunity for Bangladesh Nationalist Party in continuing in office for indefinite period.

ULFA connection of Khaleda Zia:

Khaleda Zia's anti-Indian policy had prompted her in adopting policies in extending logistic and otherwise supports to various separatist groups from India, including United Liberation Front of Assom. ULFA leaders had been accorded safe shelter within Bangladeshi soil, while anti-Indian Islamic terrorist groups were also provided supports from the Khaleda Zia government.

During the rule of Ziaur Rahman, due to his anti-Indian stand, Indian high commissioner in Bangladesh, Muchkund Dubey was stopped and humiliated in a street in Dhaka by the intelligence agencies at the directives of Zia. In the public meetings, Ziaur Rahman had been spreading venom of hatred against India.

Next Mission of Khaleda Zia:

Following couple of visits to Saudi Arabia and subsequent partial success in convincing the Saudi authorities in expelling Bangladeshi workers, which would put tremendous pressure on the ruling Bangladesh Awami League – she now is preparing for Beijing and Washington tours with some agendas of using American and Chinese influences in putting extended pressure on the government in Dhaka. Her political aides have also sought help from Grameen Bank founder Dr. Yunus is setting few important meetings for Khaleda Zia with US politicians and policymakers. Similarly, pro-Chinese block within Bangladesh Nationalist Part are actively pursuing Chinese diplomatic contacts in Dhaka in finalizing meetings for Khaleda Zia with key-figures in Beijing. Indian intelligence agency sources feel that the Bangladesh ex Prime Minister may go for these trips during October-December 2012. Khaleda Zia's aides are also contacting mainstream media in United States with the hope of getting her substantial media coverage. Khaleda Zia is expected to be interviewed by a number of US newspapers and television channels during her forthcoming trip.

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/2546/rogue-politics-of-bangladesh-ex-prime-minister



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