EBangladesh » Bangladesh News

Mauled by Her Husband?

Asra Q. Nomani — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:44:31 +0000

The daughter of a retired Bangladeshi Army officer, Rumana Monzur, 33, was the image of a beautiful intellectual: wide eyes, angelic smile, and gentle disposition. While most of her aunts and uncles settled in the U.S. and Europe, landing in towns as far-flung as Bridgewater, N.J., she grew up in Bangladesh, marrying a childhood sweetheart in a “love marriage.” She became an assistant professor at Dhaka University in the country’s capital, and a year ago set out to earn a master’s degree in political science as a Fulbright scholar at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. This past May, missing her husband and 5-year-old daughter, she returned to Dhaka to write her dissertation. Little did she know her world would soon turn dark, quite literally.

A Muslim, she completed her asr, or late-afternoon prayer, on Sunday, June 5, and returned to the computer in her parents’ bedroom, her daughter drawing on the bed nearby. The door clicked, and in the next 10 harrowing minutes, Monzur’s husband, Syeed Hasan Sumon, brutally attacked her, she says. She had shown him photos on her Facebook page, and he flew into a rage, accusing her of an affair with an Iranian student in Canada.

Sumon, who is nearly blind from a degenerative disease, pulled his wife’s hair, throwing her to the bed and pinning her arms down with his legs, she says. Then, in an account that is bone-chilling, she says her husband pressed his fingers into her eyes, gouging them out. According to Monzur, he gnawed at her cheek, lips, and nose, biting off bits of flesh, blood spilling throughout the room as Monzur flailed. Her daughter, Anusheh, stood in a corner of the room, screaming, as two household servants struggled to open the locked door. A neighbor took her to the hospital, where her parents soon arrived. The diagnosis: blindness. “I lost my eyes,” says Monzur. “I don’t want anyone to suffer like I am suffering. It is horrible.”

In that part of the world, where shame so often defines the moral conscience of society and a family’s honor lies so often in the image of a woman’s chastity and fidelity, this could have been yet another tragic but untold story at the altar of sharam, or shame, as it’s said in Urdu. For seven days, the story was mostly just a family secret, reported to the police but nowhere else. As Monzur marked her 33^rdbirthday blinded in the hospital, her father, Monzur Hossain, focused on her medical treatment, and her husband was free.

It seemed, at first, that Monzur’s story would be a typical case of shame used as a strategy to silence a victim. But through social media, it has provided a window into a new phenomenon among Muslims and others around the world: addressing shame with shame. Nancy Snow, a professor of cross-cultural communications at California State University, Fullerton, calls it “shame jujitsu.”

That Sunday, June 12, Monzur’s former professor at Dhaka University, Amena Mohsin, 50, leaned over Monzur’s bed on the sixth floor of a local hospital and talked to her gently about the importance of telling her story to the media. “I am speaking to you as a woman, as a human being,” she said. “Rumana, please speak up.” Monzur and her father understood the importance of what Mohsin was urging, but, the professor recalled, her father was afraid his daughter’s character would be assassinated.

That night, Monzur’s older first cousin, Rashed Maqsood, 43, returned to town from a business trip. He was 10 when Monzur was born and remembered her as a newborn. Now a bank executive in Bangladesh, he wasn’t captive to tradition to keep silent. He urged Monzur’s father to go to the media, as did an uncle of Monzur’s living in the Netherlands. “Unless you go to the press, the police will not act quickly,” the cousin told the father. Monzur’s father was worried that “a lot of bad names” would be hurled at his daughter when the case became public, the cousin says. The husband would surely “do some nasty things” to defend himself. But the professor, uncle, and cousin prevailed.

Courtesy of the Rumana Monzur family

That day, a Facebook page went up, fueled by colleagues and students of Monzur’s at Dhaka University. The University of British Columbia, meanwhile, started collecting online donations for Monzur’s recovery.

The following day, local TV crews arrived at Monzur’s hospital and, bandaged, she gave a bedside interview, understandable only in Bangla, the language of Bangladesh, but eerie in any language. The first headlines began to circulate on Canadian and Bangladeshi websites. The next day, her story was on various broadcasts and YouTube. A drumbeat of outrage started, reaching folks across the globe.

Even wild animals living in the jungle are more humane than this.

Two days later, Bangladeshi police arrested Monzur’s husband, presenting him to the media handcuffed in jeans and a striped T shirt outside the police detectives’ headquarters. According to a Bangladesh online news story, headlined “Hassan Alleges Betrayal By Rumana,” the husband launched the type of smear campaign Monzur’s father had feared: “She had an affair with an Iranian male during her stay in Canada for her studies since August last year,” he told the press. He had deleted the Iranian man’s name from her Facebook friends, he said. “Finding the Iranian guy’s name deleted, she attacked me, and we had a scuffle,” he said. “I lost my glasses and since I don’t see well, she might have been hurt in the fight.” Hassan remains in police custody. His attorney couldn’t be reached for comment.

But, in the way that this story was handled differently than many, this wasn’t just another headline about an attempted “honor killing” by a disgraced Muslim man. This time, the local and diaspora Bangladeshi community challenged the justification of violence. When a reporter asked Monzur at a second press conference about the allegations of an affair, Bangladeshi colleagues of Monzur, including her former professor, Mohsin, shouted, “Shame! Shame!” to quiet the spurious claims. “We have to change the very concept of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’ in our societies,” says Mohsin. “We have to shame the perpetrators.”

“Shame against shame is one of the most important tools,” says Sushanta Das Gupta, 33, the editor of eBangladesh.com. “It is the time to raise the voice with the help of social media.” Indeed, on one of the many Facebook pages supporting Monzur, a Bangladeshi man wrote only, “Shame! Shame! Shame!” against her husband.

The day after the husband’s allegations, a young male Bangladeshi blogger, Asif Saleh, asked, “Whose face are we saving?”

“It took a monster to bite the nose off his wife to wake us up to the reality that we have a very serious problem in our society. But in all likelihood this culture of silence and maniye chola will continue—sometimes for the children, sometimes for the society,” he wrote, invoking a concept of societal shame that maniye chola describes in Bengali.

In Dhaka, Monzur’s cousin was talking to her friends in Vancouver. There was something they could do, he advised: collect affidavits of testimony, attesting to Monzur’s fidelity. A few days later, Sarah Meli, a student at the University of British Columbia and a friend of Monzur’s, emailed a 22-page scan to the cousin with testimonials of how Monzur stood in the cold rain to talk long-distance to her daughter and how she regularly had dinner with two girlfriends. A Muslim Ph.D. student from India wrote that she was like “an elder sister.” He called it “deplorable” that she was first allegedly “brutally tortured by her husband” and then “accused of infidelity to add to her agony.”

The next day, two Bangladeshi men at the University of British Columbia sent an “Open Letter From Bangladeshi Families of Vancouver and University of British Columbia About Rumana Monzur” to the eBangladesh editor:

“We are deeply shocked and mourning the brutal attack on our sister Rumana Monzur. We are writing this letter out of grave concern observing the attempts made to establish a baseless extramarital story by Rumana’s husband.”

Another first cousin of Monzur’s, Emaan Mahmood, 29, a New York University M.B.A. graduate who was childhood pen pals with Monzur, said, “It’s phenomenal that the Bangladeshi community has made this a global cause.” Mahmood took to Twitter to send updates worldwide.

On June 22, Aparna Roy, a blogger and ethnographer in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, penned a blog, “Bangladesh—Rumana Monzur—A Grim Reminder of Domestic Violence,” linking to Bangla-language blogs that had hit the Internet over the last week. On Choturmatrik, a Bangla blog, Taef Ahmad had written: “Even wild animals living in the jungle are more humane than this.”

When the “code of silence” is broken around abuse, says Roy, “It no longer remains a personal shame that needs denial or silence. Moreover, with others getting involved, the abusers themselves then have to deal with shame and public censure, which, one hopes, will act as a deterrent at least for some.” Across the world, other activists are harnessing the power of social media to try to counter the culture of shame and silence associated with all sorts of crimes.

A month after the attack, in her hospital room in Dhaka, Monzur’s voice trembled as she related details from her marriage. She says he started beating her a few days after they were married in 2001, with a respite for a few years when he was “good,” causing her to overlook his alleged abuse. “I was blind,” she says. Upon her return from Canada, she showed her husband photos from her life in Canada, doing yoga and ice skating with friends. He flew into a rage, family members say, and beat her that night. Her father supported her leaving her husband. Her in-laws urged her to stay with him, until they returned from the U.S., family members say. The night of the attack, she said, “he pulled my hair and pressed me against the bed and grabbed my neck. He put his fingers into my eyes. He threatened me when he left that he would not let me live. He will kill me no matter where I go.”

With the community breaking its typical silence, a more nuanced universal story is emerging of a young wife struggling privately in a difficult marriage with a man who may have been suffering himself from a mental illness, family members say.

“I want prayers right now. I want that no one else suffers like me … I don’t know how I am handling it,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to keep secrets, things like this. They should talk about it … I don’t know what will happen to my daughter. She is so small. I want to see her grow.”

She continued: “I really hope that my story changes lives of some. If it changes the lives of some of the women around the world, then it will be my success, I guess.” Her wish for others is that they not live in shame. “Don’t think about anything else. Don’t think about the society. Think about what is best for you.” she said.

Speaking for herself and other victims of violence, she asked, “Why will we be ashamed?…They should be ashamed.” Monzur got on a flight to Canada that night with her father. The government of Canada just said it will give her mother and daughter permits to live in Canada with her. Meanwhile, the road to recovery is just beginning. In Dhaka, her daughter just lost a tooth and cried hysterically at the sight of the small trickle of blood, remembering her mother’s attack. And, on Friday, after four surgeries, the doctors in Canada gave Monzur the grim news: her eyes are blind forever.

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Asra Nomani will be teaching a course to the U.S. military in August, “Wound Collectors: Negotiating Honor, Shame, Grievances and Denial in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

Samir A. Nomani, the author’s nephew and a rising college freshman, contributed to this article.

NB: First published at The Daily Beast.

Sexual Assault By A Teacher Triggers Student Uprising

Rezwan — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 09:05:30 +0000

The recent events at the Viqarunnisa Noon School and College (VNC), a prestigious girls educational institution in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, has stirred much buzz in the Bangladeshi blogosphere. Porimol Joydhor, a teacher of Bangla department of the school’s Bashundhara campus, was accused of raping a female student of class ten at VNC while giving her private tuition in his premises.

According to reports Porimol recorded the incident in his mobile and threatened the victim that he would post it on internet if she divulged the matter. As the investigations began more shocking information were revealed. The incident took place in late May and the school headmaster at Basundhara branch did not take any action against the teacher after the victim reported it in a letter. Guardians alleged that because Porimol was a student leader of the ruling party the authorities ignored these allegations. When the news broke out in the media [bn] in early July the school governing body was put under a lot of pressure. Porimol was sacked and went into hiding. The committee also suspended two other teachers for their alleged misconduct with girl students.

The events and the student protests caused much uproar in the country and more drama unfolded as the students continued their protest which led to the replacement of the school principal. The mainstream media was accused of using sensationalism and politicizing the events. But some students continued to share their sides of the story via blogs and Facebook.

Bloggers like Bengal Masud posted pictures of the protests and provided regular updates. He posted [bn] on the 6th of July:

অবশেষে ব্লগ-ফেসবুক এবং রাজপথ এই ত্রিমুখী আন্দোলনে পরিমলকে গ্রেফতার করতে বাধ্য হয়েছে পুলিশ। বুধবার দুপুর ১২টার দিকে কেরাণীগঞ্জে এক আত্মীয়ের বাসা থেকে পরিমল জয়ধরকে গ্রেপ্তার করা হয়।

At last after the three-fold campaign via Blog, Facebook and street protests the police was forced to arrest Porimol. Wednesday (6th of July) at around noon he was arrested from a relatives house in Keraniganj (near Dhaka).

Students hold placards denouncing sexual abuse at their school, as they gather at the Central Shaheed Minar.Image by Safin Ahmed. Copyright Demotix.

The students were still in doubt whether the victim would get justice and continued with their protests. Their demands included:

All the accused should be brought to justice
The school principal and the school management should clarify why they did not do anything against the accused
Demanding resignation of the school principal for protecting Porimol.

Many people became furious as the school principal was accused of saying that it was mutual sex. Xabir vents his anger [bn] at Amra Bondhu Blog:

আপনার কি জানা আছে মিউচুয়াল সেক্স হওয়ার জন্যে “কনসেন্ট” নামে একটা জিনিস লাগে। কিন্তু মহামান্যা মাথামোটা অধ্যক্ষা সাহেবা, ১৮ এর নিচে (ক্ষেত্র বিশেষে ১৬) একজন নাবালিকা কখনোই সম্মতি দিতে পারে না।

Do you know that “consent” is required for mutual sex? But dear **** principal, a minor girl below 18 (in some cases 16) can never give consent on her own.

Moreover, the blogger reveals that the section 5 of Sexual Offences Act (2003) says “a person commits an offense if he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with his penis and the person is under aged.”

An anonymous ex-student of VNC recalls [bn] in her blog that her Alma mater was not like this. She posted [bn] on the 8th of July about the student protests online and offline:

আমাদেরকে স্বীকার করতেই হবে যে, যে সব ছোট বোনেরা ফেসবুক এ ইভেন্ট খুলেছে তাদের উপর যথেষ্ট চাপ থাকবে কালকে।এতক্ষনে হয়তো আমাদের গায়ে মানে না আপনি মোড়ল; হোস্নে আরা বানু তোমাদেরকে টিসির ভয় দেখিয়েছেন। পুলিশ প্রশাসনও হয়তো কালকে ভাড়াটে গুন্ডার মতই ব্যাবহার করবে। তারা হয়তো আত্মরক্ষার জন্যই চাইলেও অনেক কিছু করতে পারবেনা। আমাদের সেই সব বোনদেরকে বলছি – আপুরা তোমরা একটুও ভয় পেয় না। আপুরা আছি, আপুরা তোমাদের সবার পাশে আছি।

We have to admit, those younger sisters who opened this Facebook event will be under much pressure tomorrow. It might happen that the principal Hosne Ara Banu had already threatened them to expel from the school. The police may act like hired goons tomorrow. Those sisters may not be able to do much to be safe. But I am telling to those sisters, please don’t be afraid. We ex-students are with you together on this.

Students hold placards denouncing sexual abuse at their school. Image by Safin Ahmed, Copyright Demotix

On the 9th of July the students of VNC along-with Parents and ex-students formed a human chain demanding resignation of the Principal. Bengal Masud posted [bn] videos and pictures of the event.

Soon the protests gathered more support from other members of the civil society. Also many teachers from VNC joined [bn] in the protests.

Blogger Alim Al Rajee is posting [bn] regular updates on this. This Facebook page is also providing updates. Some students are providing updates [bn] on how the interim principal is being accused of belonging to a political party and how the girls are being threatened by different quarters.

Shimul Kibria at Choturmatrik Blog writes [bn] about the trend of blaming the victim in a rape incident as some are blaming the student of VNC rather than Porimol:

কিছু মানুষ তাদের পারিপার্শ্বিকতার নারীদের চিনেছে নিছক একটি ভোগ্যপণ্য হিসেবে। তাদের চিন্তামতে/বিবেচনায় নারী মাত্রই ক্ষুদ্র মননের, স্বল্প ক্ষমতার একটি প্রাণী যা আসলে পুরোপুরি পুরুষের অধীন!

Some people have learnt that women are only consumables. In their perspective women cannot think big, they have relatively less power and are completely submissive to men!

He continues:

প্রতিবাদ এখানেই শেষ নয়; পরিমল ও তার মদদ দাতাদের কঠোর বিচারকার্য নিশ্চিতকরণ, নারী ও শিশু নির্যাতন আইনের যথোপযুক্ত প্রয়োগ নিশ্চিতকরণের জন্যে এই মঞ্চ আরো এগিয়ে যাবে; এটা আমার মতো আরো লক্ষাধীক মানুষের প্রাণের চাওয়া।

The protests have not ended; we have to ensure justice for Porimol and his cohorts and ensure proper implementation of the women and children’s act. To achieve these goals this platform should march forward, this is the demand of many thousands of people like me.

First Published by Rezwan@Global Voice Online.

Khaleda’s War Cry to Unseat Government

Kh.A.Saleque. — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:16:32 +0000

BNP chairperson and leader of the opposition in Bangladesh parliament has issued a war cry to unseat the government through Arab awakening type mass upsurge. Addressing a gathering of party loyalists and aligned groups on a day long hunger strike in Dhaka Khaleda announced that there will be no more hartals. Instead she will lead rallies with people to unseat the democratically elected government through Arab awakening type mass upsurge. She also announced that no election will be allowed to be held in Bangladesh without Caretaker Government. She and her party and alliance would resist any action to provide transit to India through Bangladesh.

Khaleda Zia is the leader of the opposition in the parliament. As elected MP she is enjoying all facilities and privileges as the member of the parliament. She has abstained from Parliament and did not join the recent discussions and dialogues on the constitution amendment. She has declared actions for scrapping constitution provision of care taker government following the verdict of Supreme Court declaring it illegal. So her statement favoring continuation of Care Taker Government directly goes against highest court verdict. Any sensible citizen has legal and constitutional right to sue her for her statement. Khaleda perhaps forgot that her alliance had landslide disaster in election held under care taker government. In recent times in no election under present EU there have been any credible allegations of state interference. So her statement favoring CTG and her declaration of no election under EU is unconstitutional. BNP or any party may or may not participate in any or many elections. But in reality BNP does not have organizational strength to oppose any election.

Energy crisis, power and water crisis are fall out of Khaleda’s own failures. In her last term she did nothing to meet emerging massive deficits. The depth and diversity of the crisis is so acute that it is taking more than expected time. Khaleda if she is peoples leader must suggest how to improve the situation .Instead she has let out her B and C teams to oppose government initiatives to explore and exploit own resources.

Flying in and out of Shahjalal International Airport has now become risky for unplanned city growth. A carefully planned international airport at Suitable place can turn Bangladesh an important hub of global air links. Why Khaleda has to oppose the initiative for a new modern International Airport?

Why she should oppose special economic Zone in Sylhet if it creates massive job opportunity and ease massive trade imbalance with India?

Her declaration for not pursuing any further hartal type destructive program has not emanated from her love of people. She found that recent hartals apart from creating nuisances brought no mileage for her evil design. People not only responded but also resisted. Senior party leaders refused to join street agitations during hartal. But in any case we welcome her statement and hope that she remains true to it.

Present government has been voted to power through fair, free and credible general election for 5 years term . Despite some failures it is trying relentless to reconstruct Bangladesh that Khaleda government left behind in 1996. No one can bring any Khaleda Government type corruption against any. Government has initiated many milestone projects in Energy, Communication and other sectors. Relation with different countries including neighbors has started to improve. Many disputed issues with India are on the advanced stage of getting resolved. Teesta river water sharing treaty. Land boundary demarcation and exchange of enclaves may happen soon. India, Nepal, Bhutan may use Bangladesh ports. Several initiatives have been taken to ease grid locks in Dhaka and Chittagong.

Implementation of Dream Padma Bridge will start soon. Why leader of the opposition instead of raising her disapproval in the parliament is behaving like paper tiger on the street? Can she tell what Bangladesh looses in allowing transit for India through Bangladesh? Why Bangladesh must not utilize the opportunity of gaining economically from it? Why Khaleda is not placing her proposal for resolving issues with India in the parliament?

Present Government has advanced slowly but steadily on the trial process of criminals against humanity. It has surfaced involvement of her two sons in money siphoning, involvement of her eldest son in August 21 massacre. People understand her heart burning for protecting the corrupt syndicates, plotters and masterminds of terrorist activities of her time. But people fail to understand what she meant for upstaging a democratically elected government through Arab Awakening type movement.

Perhaps the little informed leader does not know Arab Awakening is staged against corrupt autocrat regimes which very cruelly are trying to suppress spontaneous people’s movement. When her own son’s area alleged in corrupt, money laundering and abetting killers and terrorists how she can lead any such movement against still a very popular government?

Rather people must join movement to bring back all criminals and corrupt element that have fled from Bangladesh after carrying out massive corruptions and siphoning off people’s money. People must rally around initiatives to try War criminals and masterminds of terrorist activities killing innocent people.

Khaleda must thank present government that if after acting like a novice and spreading hatred and venom against ruling government she is not being put behind the bar for voicing disapprovals of highest court verdict. She is better advised to join parliament and try to keep government honest through honest objective criticism. She must also come up with better alternative proposals in the parliament and wait till next general election for taking peoples verdict.

Bangladesh opposition threatens election boycott, hints of overthrow

Saleem Samad — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:53:49 +0000

Bangladesh’s main opposition party has threatened to boycott the election if the government refuses to hold polls under non-partisan neutral government.

“We will not take part in the elections under a partisan government, as people will never accept the scrapping of the caretaker government system,” the head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), former prime minister Khaleda Zia, said Wednesday.

She urged her supporters to overthrow the government through a popular uprising such as those that have occurred in some Middle East countries since the beginning of the year, a definite shift of strategy of her anti-government campaign launched two weeks ago.

Criticizing the government that has been in power for two and half years, Zia said should her party win the election, she would scrap the recently overhauled constitution that dropped the impartial non-party caretaker administration to ensure holding of a credible general election.

The opposition fears that the election would be rigged and manipulated, which would further marginalize their share in the 300-member parliament. The next election is scheduled in 2013.

“Election without caretaker government cannot be held in the country and any election without participation of BNP will not be acceptable,” she warned.

The ruling Awami League has amended the constitution, which not only prohibited the interim government from holding a general election, but also included a Koranic verse in the constitution. In a radical shift from secularism, the government has adopted an Islamic constitution.

Ruling party vehemently opposed the argument and said the election commission, literally a paper tiger would hold the election independently after it is significantly strengthened, the government promised.

Bangladesh press war crime charges against Islamic leader

Saleem Samad — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:36:55 +0000

Bangladesh investigators press war crime charges against Islamic leader, accusing him of genocide, murder and rape during the bloody war of independence in 1971 on Monday.

Bangladesh chief prosecutor Ghulam Arif Tipu accused Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a senior leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, has been also accused of “crimes against humanity, looting, arson and forcible conversion to Islam.” This is first charge against a war criminal since Bangladesh was born four decades ago.

Tipu said that investigators of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) have completed probe and submitted a 4,074-page report. The probe has found compelling evidences of war crimes.

Sayedee is detained along with other seven other war crime suspects from his Jamaat-e-Islami party and from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The opposition argues that the government is marginalizing

The war crimes tribunal, a special court created two years ago to try people suspected of atrocities during the independence from Islamic Pakistan, will hold a hearing on Thursday to decide whether the charges will be taken into cognizance.

The official liberation war documents claim that nearly three million people were killed during the nine-month long struggle and another 400 thousand women were sexually abused by marauding Pakistan army and their armed militia mostly recruited from youths of Islamic religious groups.

Meanwhile, the New York-based Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said the amendments to the rules of procedure for the International Crimes Tribunal have failed to international standards.

The international rights group has said the changes are needed in areas such as requirements for a clear articulation of the crimes, the due process rights of the accused, and victim and witness protection, the organization writes on its website.

Bangladesh law minister Shafique Ahmed on June 19 said the trial of two Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, among the seven charged could begin in July. “The rest may face trial in August,” the technocrat minister commented.

“We want these trials to succeed in bringing the people responsible for the horrific crimes of 1971 to justice,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of the organization.

Further Reading:

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=200570&cid=37.

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/07/11/bangladesh-guarantee-fair-trials-independence-era-crimes.

Indo-Bangla Relation on Cross Road

Kh.A.Saleque. — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:30:00 +0000

The eagerly awaited return visit of Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohon Singh is being fixed on the first week of September 2011. This very important summit must address and honestly attempt to resolve several sensitive unresolved matters between the two SARRC neighbors –the largest democracy of the world India and the land of great potential Bangladesh. It is a healthy sign that the with the high profile visit round the corner India decided to withdraw some uncalled for and controversial off the record statements of Indian Prime Minister about Bangladesh during his meeting with a section of Indian media. Let us not look back into that controversy here. Let us look forward to very friendly summit which should further strengthen the friendly ties which were so smoothly initiated during the visit of Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina to India.

India must realize that irrespective of size and economic situation Bangladesh and India are sovereign equal and matters must be dealt with on the basis of sovereign equality. Everything must be looked upon on mutual win- win basis. No party must have take all and share nothing attitude.

Bangladesh Needs Equitable Share of Water:

The river based agro economy of Bangladesh desperately needs equitable share of water through all common rivers. Indian actions of unilateral withdrawal of water in some common rivers have initiated desertification in huge areas of Bangladesh. During the ensuing summit meaningful progress must be achieved on water sharing. Bangladesh must be ensured of its legitimate right in accordance with international norms as lower riparian country. We hope Teesta Water sharing agreement will be inked during the summit. There must be unconditional assurance by India to honor all signed Indian treaty and agreements on water sharing. India must not take any project on the upstream which may harm Bangladesh on the downstream.

Maritime and Land Boundary Disputes must be resolved:

It is a pity that several issues relating to boundary disputes in land and water remains unresolved for 40 years. Bangladesh will love to see complete implementation of Mujib-Indira treaty on exchange of border Enclaves. There must be authentic survey of boundary demarcation and India must not resort to barbed wire fencing as Bangladesh government in the meantime done more than enough to crack down on all hide outs of Indian insurgents inside Bangladesh territory. India must assure Bangladesh and practically implement that no innocent Bangladeshi is killed along the border by BSF. The maritime boundary disputes must also be attempted to resolve on the basis of sincere bilateral discussions. Petroleum resources underground cannot be bounded by physical boundaries. If the maritime boundary demarcations are agreed in accordance with International law there may be still some overlaps of underground resources. These can be exploited on the basis of Joint Development agreement in practice in many countries-Indonesia- Malaysia, Malaysia-Thailand, Netherlands –Germany.

Cross Border Trading of Energy:

It is great that after several years of discussions India and Bangladesh have started implementation of power grid connectivity. But we understand the power trading is stuck on some issues of power tariff. The power Grid connectivity between India and Bangladesh must give Bangladesh access to Hydropower from Nepal and Bhutan. 4 Countries must make meaningful progress in sharing power according to their needs. Manmahon- Hasina summit must set the strong the basis for such power trading. Tariff and other technical and non technical issues which barricades power trading must be honestly resolved.

Exchange of Criminals and Prisoners:

Present Bangladesh government has done a lot in crashing all militant hide outs from inside Bangladesh territory. No group or individuals are now allowed to use Bangladesh territory to work against Bangladesh and neighbors. Bangladesh also arrested or pushed back some identified Indian insurgents. But several top Bangladeshis terrorists are carrying out operation from inside India. Indian government must sincerely try to arrest them and hand over to Bangladesh. Some identified criminals against whom there are arrest warrant are allegedly hiding in India. Some are in Indian Jails. They should be returned. In this context if any treaty or protocol needs to be signed that must be inked.

Trading:

To balance huge trade imbalance India must withdraw all tariff and non tariff barriers those are impeding entry of Bangladeshi export commodities into India. In any bilateral talks some lists are exchanged and parties agree to act upon it. But in actual practice very little are achieved. Not only border hats Bangladesh needs zero tariff or minimum tariff on its goods entering India. Bangladesh has agreed to provide transit to India to travel across from East to west [Tripura, Meghalaya – West Bengal. In future India may use like Bhutan, Nepal, China and Myanmar Bangladeshi ports for their exports and imports. But in exchange Bangladesh must get free trading rights with 7 sisters around Bangladesh, unhindered access for trading Nepal and Bhutan.
India must take actions in its border to stop free entry of drugs and narcotics from their part into Bangladesh and BGD to stop this nuisance.

Friendly Relation must be strengthened:

Bangladeshis have no particular reason to have Indian allergy excepting a very limited group of fundamentalists. But many Bangladeshis do not like big brotherly attitudes of a section of Indian beauracrats – the spoilers. Many great initiatives in the past to normalize relations have been spoiled for this. Some great initiatives taken during Bangladesh PM’s visit to India could not make meaningful progress for bureaucratic attitude. When there are political commitments of highest level beauracrats must not create impediments.

Let the visit of Indian PM to Bangladesh and the ensuing Summit opens the avenues of several Win- Win breakthroughs of mutual relations. It is only through mutual co –operation respecting sovereign equality two important SAARC countries can make giant strides towards economic development and poverty alleviation. Let Bangladesh-India be trend setters in the South Asian region.

BNP Leader publicly certified the innocence of Motiur Rahman Nizami

Abdullah Harun Jewel — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:15:13 +0000

“He’s not a war criminal. He’s not evil. He didn’t lie. He wasn’t anyone’s poodle. He hasn’t got blood on his hands.’’ This is not an unusual stand for a lawyer Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah who is advocating in favor of a criminal, no matter whether the criminal had raped or killed the lawyers’ daughter or not.

It was like splitting the sky when Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah , member of BNP’s standing committee, publicly certified the innocence of Motiur Rahman Nizami, mastermind of all genocides during the liberation war of Bangladesh. Barrister Rafique in a public meeting today also said that Nizami is a man of noble character and sets precedence as great leader. They also refused the contribution of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is interesting that these defence lawyers talks about ’3 million dead’. Nizami started praising Bangabandhu as great leader and founder of Bangladesh in many public meeting before his arrest as war criminal.

Motiur Rahaman Nizami was member of Razakar force and Peace Committee formed to collaborate with the Pakistani Army. He was also the chief of operations of Al-Badr (death squad) force, responsible for the genocide, rape and murder of thousands of Bengalis during the liberation war.

The partisan people attended in the public meeting could probably have tolerated Rafique’s loathing streak but conscious people expects more plausible speech from a noted lawyer and politician. What is worse than a hypocrite unearthing the truth in false?

Nizami, heading the Islamist party Jamat-e-Islami, has been in jail along with five others top war criminals. They have been accused of leading a militia that targeted unarmed civilians in the run up to Bangladesh’s liberation in December 1971. The Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal accused them of collaborating with authorities in erstwhile Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War. The news and their speeches of that time published in different national and international newspaper unanimously prove their involvement against freedom movement of Bangladesh. Daily Sangram is another example to reveal their role.
Jamat-e-Islami had been patronized by the rulers after 75. They never apologized for their activities even for their support against independence. Though they made their political ground strong enough and shaped a position patronizing different Jihadist or Islamist terrorist group but the sentiment majority peoples of Bangladesh was always against them. Conscious citizens desired that they should have been arrested without the benefit of charges.

The Japanese soldiers that water boarded US prisoners during world war-2 were charged with war crimes and sentenced to death! In the last general election strong anti WCC sentiment “crimes against humanity” blinded everyone into supporting their punishment.
On March 25, 2010, the ruling Awami League government set up a special tribunal for the trial of “war criminals” accused of genocide and those who sided with the Pakistani military during the ‘Liberation War’.
The fate of our people is that the main opposition party is not co-operating with the war crimes tribunal. In the interrogation of War Crime Tribunal Nizami also other accused, had regretted for their role in the genocide of three million people perished in 1971. Nizami admitted that atrocities carried out by the Pakistani troops was actually “genocide”.

“I was compelled to do it to save my life as the Pakistani army would have killed me otherwise,”

It is deemed an unacceptable excuse! But their lawyers claimed that they played no role in it.

The tradition of our politics is to attain state power at any cost. BNP didn’t expressed their solidarity with the War Crime Tribunal only to have a stand against ruling party. Our leaders are yet follow the commandment of the party. Till now no leaders of BNP voiced in favor of any prime accused publicly. Barrister Rafique-ul Huq’s falsehood seems astonishing but the fact is being a noted lawyer he was charged for contempt-of-court. So the irresponsible vocalizations of a lawyer can only be labeled as liar.

Indian prime minister comment’s on Bangladesh raises eyebrows

Saleem Samad — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 07:39:19 +0000

In an unwarranted comment, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said Bangladesh political landscape can change anytime.

Speaking at the capital New Delhi to a select group of Indian newspaper editors he frankly said his neighbours worries him a great deal. “So a very uncertain neighbourhood.”

He blames Pakistan’s dreaded spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) having nexus with the terrorist elements in Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami may change the political regime in Bangladesh, India’s eastern neighbour.

The prime minister also said that he reckons that at least 25 percent of the population of Bangladesh motivated by the Jamaat-e-Islami are diehard anti-Indian, and are working for Pakistan spy agency.

The branding of a quarter of Bangladesh’s population as “anti-Indian” by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has raised diplomatic eyebrows here.

However, Bangladesh senior government official who does not wish to be names scoffed off Indian prime minister comments and said it was out of context. The official on Friday, of course said that Bangladesh would seek clarification from New Delhi regarding the sensitive comments.

Professor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah of state run Dhaka University said his comments came when Indian and Bangladesh senior officials are frequenting visits into each other capital prior to the visit of prime minister Singh’s visit to Bangladesh, like in the end of this year.

Since Shiekh Hasina returned to power nearly three years ago, has initiated steps to nab wanted Indian insurgent leaders who were sheltered in Bangladesh for decades. Most of anti-Indian leaders were unofficially extradited, despite both countries does not have any treaty to handover each others most wanted persons. Scores of camps of northeast guerrilla groups and were operating from inside Bangladesh territory have been busted.

India’s former High Commissioner in Dhaka Veena Sikri was more forthright. “I don’t think it is proper to describe people of another country in this manner,” she said while contextualising the BNP’s stand. “The BNP says the interests of Bangladesh are not served by India. Sheikh Hasina on the other hand seeks to promote friendship because she feels friendship with India is in Bangladesh’s interest.”

“I do not agree that 25 per cent population of Bangladesh supports the Jamaat-e-Islami. If you look at the votes they had polled in the last elections, it does not reflect so, although they contested elections along with the right-wing Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Begum Khaleda Zia,” said a close observer of politics in Bangladesh.

The influence of the ISI, which has been trying to regain its hold since the early days of an independent Bangladesh, was strong under earlier regimes. But institutions such as the Bangladesh Army or the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, unlike the Pakistani ones, are very sensitive to public opinion.

Singh mentioned that Bangladesh government has gone out of its way to help India in apprehending anti-Indian insurgents operating from inside Bangladesh for a long time, he said. “And that is why we have been generous in dealing with Bangladesh.”

The former Indian ambassador Dev Mukerjee, who was posted in Bangladesh echoed with the Bangladesh official and said he does not fear that Jamaat-e-Islami is capable of undertaking any action, when he does not have significant people support, which they failed to demonstrate in the electoral regime in past polls.

Thousands protest in Bangladesh against Islamic Constitution

Saleem Samad — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:08:11 +0000

Caption: Thousands demonstrates against adoption by parliament an Islamic constitution in Bangladesh capital on Thursday.

Thousands of protesters marched in capital Dhaka on Thursday against Bangladesh parliament adopted an Islamic constitution, steering away from a secular political culture, which was enshrined in 1972 constitution.

A half a mile long rally organized by a conglomerate of left parties and pro-secular groups, chanting anti-government slogans and waving red flags marched towards the parliament, where the ruling party and her alliance lawmakers hastily adopted several amendments to the constitution on Thursday noon.

Hundreds of riot police in flak jackets, armed with shot guns and tear gas shells blocked the marchers putting up barbed-wire fences. The protesters in summer heat and intermittent rain stopped at exit of the Dhaka University, where leaders in makeshift dais addressed the crowd and bitterly criticized the government for switching to an Islamic constitution.

In a massive constitutional reform, the non-partisan interim government has been deleted, which was practiced for 15 years to hold credible elections and ensure smooth transition to an incumbent political government. The opposition fears that the ruling party will rig the election, despite denial by the prime minister.

A set of 55 amendment proposals were incorporated in the constitution amendment bill by 289-1 division vote.

Main opposition described the abrogation of neutral caretaker government from the democratic constitution will be written in the history as a “black day”. Opposition leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia threatened series of street protests and political agitations to undo the constitution reforms.

Prime minister Shiekh Hasina warned the opposition not to create anarchy and instead olive branches to hold parleys with the government and suggest how to hold a credible election scheduled in 2014 and also reduce military interference in state polity.

The prime minister was highly critical of the last military-backed caretaker government (2006-8), which sent the present prime minister and opposition leader to prison for corruption.

The independence war veterans, secularist and left leaning parties have came down heavily on the government for converting a secular political culture to an Islamic one.

Several lawmakers mostly from the left leaning parties have voted against the proposed amendment of the constitution, which has included Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim (in the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful), a verse from Koran in the preamble and Islam as state religion.

The ethnic minority leader Mangal Kumar Chakma in a statement protested the new constitution, which has termed the indigenous peoples as “tribals, small nationalities, ethnic groups and communities.”

What angered the indigenous peoples when the discovered that they have been bracketed as “Bangalee”, who are majoritarian Sunni Muslims. The indigenous communities divided in several sub-groups have different languages and are mostly Buddhist, Hindu and animist.

Bangladesh gained independence from Islamic Pakistan after a bloody war on the principle to establish a secular and democratic nation.

Former Justice Golam Rabbany lamented at a seminar on Thursday that from now the nation has lost its secular identity, which was gained after decades of struggle. The sacrifices of thousands of martyrs during the independence war, forty years ago have been insulted, he decried.

Bangladesh plans to maneuver from human trafficking watch list

Saleem Samad — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:36:20 +0000

Bangladesh government has envision to maneuver from the United States watch list for being the major source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.

Bangladeshi men and women migrate willingly to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, the Maldives, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore, Libya, Europe, and other countries for work, often under legal and contractual terms, writes U.S. State Department document Trafficking in Persons Report 2011.

Soon after the 9/11 terror attack, the western countries bracketed human trafficking as a security issue, thus the economic migrants were dubbed as illegal or alien migrants, mostly from more than 100 poor countries.

Two senior government officials on Wednesday told a group of journalists at a workshop jointly organized by BRAC, a largest non-governmental organization, Winrock International and human rights journalist’s forum that the government has taken steps to enact a comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation soon.

Dr. Kamal Uddin Ahmed of Ministry of Home Affairs and Sudhakar Datta of Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment said the new law will criminalizes the forced labor of men, in order to integrate anti-labor trafficking objectives into national anti-trafficking policies and programs.

The draft law will increase criminal prosecutions and convictions for all forms of labor trafficking, including those involving fraudulent labor recruitment and forced child labor; take steps to address the allegations concerning the complicity of public officials in trafficking, particularly through the criminal prosecution and punishment of those found involved in or abetting human trafficking; increase the capacity of the Vigilance Task Force and improve oversight of Bangladesh’s international recruiting agencies to ensure they are not promoting practices that contribute to labor trafficking; place Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Cell officers in Bangladeshi embassies in destination countries; and provide protection services for adult male trafficking victims and victims of forced labor, they officials explained.

A significant share of Bangladesh’s trafficking victims consists of men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are subsequently exploited under conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Bangladeshi children and adults also are trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced and bonded labor, says the Trafficking in Persons Report 2011.

About child and women trafficking, the meeting was told that there is no data or reliable sources to know the actual situation about human trafficking.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh parliament early this year has ratified the United Nations Convention 1990 and ILO Multilateral Framework on Labor Migration, which the officials said is a proactive step forward.

The officials are confident that Bangladesh would be able to steer away from tier 2 human trafficking watch lists and move upwards soon.

Trafficking in Persons Report 2011: http://paei.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164231.htm