Sajeeb Wazed

Latest Developments on my Mother's Trials

2008-01-31T22:13:00.000-05:00

There have been some significant developments in the cases against my mother. The first trial initiated was a charge of extorting money from businessman Azam Chowdhury. This trial started early December and under the Emergency Powers Rule 2007 (EPR) has to be concluded by the end of February. The key developments in this case so far are as follows.

1. Last week Azam Chowdhury called a press conference and announced that he did not file charges against Sheikh Hasina and she had nothing at all to do with this case.

2. The only evidence the military regime has provided is the confession of Sheikh Selim, former Minister and my mother’s cousin. On the very first day of hearings Sheikh Selim submitted to the court in writing that he was physically tortured repeatedly and threatened with death to make a false confession against Sheikh Hasina. He wished to retract his confession.

3. In fact, there is evidence exonerating my mother. The money was paid by check and the checks were endorsed and cashed by a third person. This person has not been investigated by the military regime at all.

4. Yesterday Azam Chowdhury testified in court. His testimony was that he did not file charges against Sheikh Hasina, that she had nothing to do with the case and that he had never even met her.

5. The High Court (appeals court) had appointed seven attorneys as Amicus Curae, or “friends of the court” to file briefs on our motion that trying her under the EPR was illegal. One attorney recused himself but the remaining six submitted briefs that trying Sheikh Hasina under the EPR for allegations that occurred seven years prior to the enactment of the EPR was indeed illegal and unconstitutional.

The second trial is a charge of receiving a bribe from Summit Industries. Summit Industries won a contract to build a power plant in Khulna. Shortly after, they purchased the house next to the Bangabandhu Museum and donated it to the Museum. The Museum is owned and operated by the Bangabandhu Trust, which also provides scholarships to 1200 needy students. My mother is the Chairperson of the Board of the Trust, but a curator and staff run the day to day operations and manage all financial transactions. The regime claims that another bidder, New England Power, was the lowest in this project and that this donation was a bribe to my mother to give Summit the contract. This trial has to conclude in March under the EPR. The facts in this case so far are:

1. Donation was made in kind to the Bangabandu Trust. The regime has never claimed that my mother received any money from Summit Industries or any other individuals involved in this project.

2. An independent accounting firm, who are the local partners of Earnst and Young, has evaluated the project and concluded that Summit was in fact the lowest bidder. New England Power's bid did not use the specified tariff rates but instead attempted to cheat and used a lower “estimated” rate with a clause that allowed them to subsequently raise their price if the actual tariff rate was higher. Because of this their bid was considered “unresponsive” and disqualified.

3. At about the same time Summit Industries also made a cash donation to the Dhaka Cantonment Board. The Cantonment Board is owned by the Army and this donation was for building a hospital. This donation was in the amount of $2 million and is four times the monetary value of the donation to the Bangabandhu Trust.

Both these trials are being conducted in special courts set up under the EPR. The regime, including Chief Advisor Fakruddin Ahmed, is lying in claiming she is being tried under the “law of the land”. As I have maintained, these charges are completely trumped up and my mother is innocent. These recent facts prove that beyond any doubt.

Thank You

2007-12-23T15:52:00.000-05:00

I would like to thank all of you who have donated so generously for the cyclone relief. We have raised several thousand dollars. About half of that has been distributed as relief supplies directly through Suchinta. The other half has been sent to the Awami League's relief fund.

The relief efforts are by no means over. However, despite the military regime's statements urging all to help, they have hampered the relief operations of everyone else. They have instituted stringent requirements that anyone wishing to mount any aid operations must apply for permission and then be monitored by government officials. This has simply added a significant layer of bureaucracy to the efforts and slowed things down. In the end our poor people have suffered.

There have been many news reports outlining the lack of coordination in the regime's relief operations. More significantly, there have been a few reports of corruption and nepotism in the distribution of relief. I don't have to tell you how ironic this is considering the regime claims to be fighting corruption.

Considering that some of the most corrupt politicians of the past few years are still free and being actively supported by this regime, this is hardly surprising.

Cyclone Relief

2007-11-22T10:39:00.000-05:00

Dear friends,

For the past week I have been trying to raise funds and set up a mechanism to send those funds for our relief efforts for the cyclone. My organization, the Bongobandhu Foundation, along with Suchinta has set up a website where you can donate online. The address is:

http://www.cycloneaid.shuchinta.com/

You can also contact the General Secretary of the Foundation, Mr. Fazlur Rahman at (+1) 561-577-2531.

The ongoing state of emergency maintained by this military regime has hampered our relief efforts severely. During every natural calimity the Awami League mounts its own relief operations with thousands of volunteers. This time around, it is simply not possible as many of our leaders and activists are now political prisoners of this regime. Along with this, the threat of donations being termed "bribery" or "extortion" by this regime and the indefinite detention without trial that would automatically follow has scared most of our party people. It is the poor that are ultimately suffering.

Still, I would like all our supporters to help in any way they can. I thank you in advance.

Joy Bangla.

Case Against My Aunt and The Economist Article

2007-11-13T10:26:00.000-05:00

This week the military regime finally issued an order demanding that my aunt surrender herself to the courts. Once again, I find this astounding. The facts behind all of this make a mockery of due process.

In the original charge sheet filed in this case my aunt's name was not mentioned anywhere. Of course, the fact remains that the charge sheet itself was filed by the businessman in question while he was in DGFI (Bangladeshi military intelligence) custody. Why didn't he file these charges in the last five years? After all, my mother has not been in power since 2001. My aunt certainly has never been involved in politics.

My aunt lives in a small, two bedroom apartment in London. She has lived there for 10 years. She was not even in Bangladesh at the time this alleged extortion incident occured. The police were sent to sieze her property in Dhaka, but found none. She doesn't have any as she has not lived there in all this time.

My entire family's accounts have been frozen. This regime has not shown one single unusual transaction in any of them. This regime has also investigated all our accounts and property outside of Bangladesh. If indeed my mother or aunt were involved in corruption, where did the money go? Did it just vanish? This is like saying that because I did not see you steal, that does not prove you did not. It's impossible to prove a negative. The fact is, there is no money to find because there was no corruption.

My aunt does not even own a car in London. She takes the bus, even in the snow in the winter. She has diabetes but lives on her own. She has no staff or even a maid to help her out. To treat her this way is an abomination.

In a further testament to the complete lack of due process, there has still been no trial against my mother or aunt. It is illegal to attempt to sieze someone's property without so much as a trial. People are innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. But this regime clearly does not care about that.

On the other hand, some of the most corrupt ministers from the previous regime as well our our own party still remain free. I won't name names, but most of you know who they are. This fact alone proves this regime's intentions.

This is clearly an attempt to destroy the reputation of Bangabandhu's family. That is what is happening here. In case you don't believe me, read this article from The Economist. Pay attention to the last paragraph:

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10113855

This is what is happening in Bangladesh today. DGFI is extorting businessmen to increase it's control over the media. This is shocking.

This is the media age and whoever controls the media controls public perception. It is no secret that the media in Bangladesh is currently censored. Now it appears this regime is attempting to go further, to take over the media directly. This way they can attempt to shape public opinion by whatever lies they propagate.

This is where our country is headed. We are a police state now, with no constitutional rights and no due process. We are about to become one where our military intelligence controls the media and decides who is going to be in politics and who is not. We have seen this twice before in our history. It does not bode well for our future.

A Recent Event

2007-11-03T12:38:00.000-05:00

I would like to share an event that took place recently. Here at Harvard we have seminars that are organized on a regular basis by the students themselves. The speakers are students and topics are suggested by us and selections made by a committee of our fellow students.

I had suggested the topic of human rights violations by the current government of Bangladesh. Most of the committee members are friends of mine, or so I thought. Eventually, the committee decided to host a seminar on a somewhat similar topic and invited me to present. The topic selected was, “Living in exile,” which was fine with me given that my family has lived in exile for five long years and I am now a prime target for the current regime of Bangladesh.

I then found out that one of the committee members, a Bangladeshi none the less, had emailed the entire committee that I was biased as I was a member of one of the political dynasties and my mother was in jail for corruption. Of course, this student did not mention that there has been absolutely no trial against my mother and her detention has repeatedly been ruled illegal by our Appeals Court. This surprised me even more because I had considered this student a friend and had discussed my topic with her and she had acted very supportive.

Still, I presented my topic from a human rights angle, along with two other classmates who are also in exile. I am a man of principle and I do not accept human rights violations for any reason. Corruption can be eliminated without, torture, murder and detaining people indefinitely without a trial. In fact, I believe that an oppressive regime is itself no better than the corrupt it claims to fight.

After my presentation there was a question and answer session. During this the Bangladeshi student who tried to sabotage my presentation took the microphone and made a lengthy speech about how I was biased. I actually had to interrupt her and ask if there was a question in there somewhere. She finally asked a couple of questions but they were so irrelevant that I don’t even remember them.

Since she raised the issue, I let the audience know what she had done behind the scenes. I pointed out one fact; she did not dispute that detention without trials, torture and murder were being undertaken by this regime. This is a common theme I have noticed with those who support this regime. They never address the issue of human rights violations, except to say, “Well, we don’t condone them.” Well if you don’t condone them, what does it say about your principles if you are supporting a regime that is using torture, murder and illegal detentions as a means of law enforcement?

This student also went on to say how the political dynasties were ruining Bangladesh and a good man like Mohammed Yunus (our Nobel prize winner) could not take leadership. I find this hilarious because no one stopped Yunus from forming a political party. In fact, he did so even while all political activity was banned. While my party members were arrested simply for getting together for dinner in one house, Yunus was actively supported by this regime in trying to form his party. As it turned out that he could not find anyone else to join him because he has very little popular support. It appears to me that this student does not believe the people of Bangladesh should choose their leadership, but that it should be chosen only the elite few such as her.

No one handed my mother the post of Prime Minister. She was elected by the people of our country. She did not even ask to be the President of our party. She was elected in absentia while in exile! And I certainly will not have the help of the military or the elite if I join politics. I will have to run for any post within the party as well as in national elections.

This student’s husband was also present at the seminar. He is also Bangladeshi, from a very wealthy family. He took the microphone and challenged me, “Is there a government order that you are exiled, yes or no?” I responded that there was clearly the threat of arrest against me but he tried to corner me, “Just yes or no.” I told him this wasn’t a court of law, but this demonstrates that he was simply trying to manipulate the question to make it appear as though I was lying. Just like his wife, he was trying to divert attention from the issues of human rights that I had presented.

The story does not end there. As I was leaving, the husband started getting in my face and challenging me. He kept trying to egg me on with one personal attack after another; “You’ve never even lived in Bangladesh. You’re like that Afghani guy sitting far away criticizing our country,” “You never say one good thing about Bangladesh. Go on, say one good thing.” He would not let me walk away and kept attacking me in this manner until a Pakistani friend of mine intervened. It was quite ironic, a Pakistani stopping a confrontation between two Bangladeshis!

This just goes to prove my point. Just like all that support this regime, neither the husband nor the wife actually ever denied that human rights violations were taking place. In fact, neither of them even said these violations must stop, which is a testament to their lack of principles. Instead they tried to attack me personally to divert the issue. It’s the oldest political trick in the book.

Unfortunately for them, they really did not have anything to attack me with. The crowds that showed up during my various tours throughout Bangladesh in the previous two years are my testament. I’ll take the support of the majority of my people over the support of the elite few any day.

Meeting General Moeen

2007-10-25T19:48:00.001-05:00

In case you missed the newspaper headlines, television, radio and blog coverage, General Moeen and I met at a lunch on Tuesday. This was a small private event. All the Bangladeshi students at Harvard and select faculty members were invited. All told there were about 20 people.

The General was very cordial and friendly. We exchanged pleasantries and chatted briefly. He made a presentation, with an accompanying PowerPoint slideshow. The presentation was clearly prepared as a public relations tool. It contained several propaganda items, such as a claim that the corruption in Bangladesh began to grow from the Awami League’s term from 1996, the economy was growing very well currently, people were rejoicing with this government in power, etc.

We had an opportunity to ask questions and since the General had highlighted the fact that Transparency International has rated Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world for five years running, my first question was, “Transparency International has only been evaluating Bangladesh since the year 2000 or so. Isn’t it true that corruption and weakening of governance were actually instituted by past military dictatorships? For example, General Ershad’s regime was regarded as one of the most corrupt governments we have ever had.” To that he responded that each government had contributed to the process over 36 years.

My next question to him was that the Awami League is the party that raised the issue of reforms back in July, 2005 with our comprehensive reform proposal, but we have been completely shut out of the process by this government. I asked him whether reform was sustainable without engaging the political parties as partners in the process. To this he replied that the Election Commission was scheduled to sit with the parties for dialogue.

My third question to him was if he would release all political prisoners, including my mother, who were being held without trial and let the judicial system deal with them. He responded that this was up to Anti Corruption Commission and the government had nothing to do with it. He went on to say that if my mother was found not guilty and released he would be most happy.

He was quite firm about elections being held as per the promised roadmap, by next October or so. However, it became clear that the state of emergency is going to be maintained at least until after the municipal elections scheduled early next year. This is a serious concern as the state of emergency continues the factor of intimidation for all political activity. If only people supported by this regime are allowed to campaign and everyone else intimidated into hiding, then any such elections will be meaningless.

That, in a nutshell, was my meeting with General Moeen. Besides this, he attended a class on election reform where the class made a presentation to him and took his questions. He also had a few private meetings. And that was it for his trip.

Phone Call With My Mother

2007-10-17T19:33:00.000-05:00

Today, after three months, the military government finally allowed me and my sister to speak with my mother. Of course, the call was limited to five minutes and was monitered by the government. Still, it was good to speak to her after all this time.

She is in good spirit, keeping herself busy reading and writing. Even though she is under arrest she was most concerned about us. I never knew this until now, but she told me that it was a dream of hers that I go to Harvard. Of course, I decided to take a different route when I was younger. After all these years, circumstance and luck have brought things full circle. Life is full of surprises.

In the meanwhile, our so called "civil society" members here in the US have been arguing that this regime is cleaning out corruption, reforming the country and fighting terrorism. Here is what I have to say to this.

Approximately 250,000 people have been arrested so far and an unknown number are still detained. There have only been 200 or so trials to date. How has this regime determined that the rest of the detainees are guilty? After all, they have not been tried. These people are being presumed guilty and the onus is on them is to prove their innocence in order to obtain their freedom. This is an egregious violation of human rights and due process.

So my question to the "civil society" members supporting these arrests is this. If someday someone claims you committed a crime, it would be O.K. if the police arrested you first and held you for months until your trial?

Our “civil society” has also claimed that this government has saved us from terrorism. However, under this regime the fundamentalist parties, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami, have enjoyed complete immunity in spite of evidence of terrorism and corruption against them. What does our “civil society” have to say about this? This directly contradicts their claim of this regime fighting terrorism.

As for this regime fighting corruption, some of the most corrupt politicians from both the major parties remain immune from prosecution. Even more so, these corrupt politicians are being actively supported by this regime in trying to break up the two parties and form new ones. This regime has made absolutely no secrets about this. So how is this fighting corruption?

It’s this hypocrisy that amazes me. Integrity and principles are absolutes. You cannot pick and choose. Those who are willing to compromise some principles are more than willing to compromise other principles given the opportunity.

After all, many of the politicians that have turned corrupt weren’t always that way. They were just willing to compromise their principles a little bit. When the opportunity arose to gain by compromising their principles further, they simply didn’t hesitate. That is why the people who support the illegal acts of this regime are no better than the corrupt politicians themselves.

To all Bangladeshis with integrity, thank you for not compromising your principles. I urge you all to speak out. Hold this regime accountable.

Events So Far

2007-10-08T19:47:00.000-05:00

Once again, I must apologize for taking so long to post. School is keeping me really busy. With class, recruiting for a job and homework I am working 12-14 hours a day. That leaves a little bit of time to spend with my family, but not much. On top of that, I was down with the flu for an entire week so I've fallen really behind.

My mother's 60th birthday has come and gone. None of us were allowed to even speak to her. It is now almost three months since she has been arrested. She continues to be held without a trial. This is a 60 year old woman, a former Prime Minister, being held without a trial for three months. This makes a mockery of due process.

The regime continues to tell foreign representatives and government officials that my mother is being kept in luxury. This is another blatant lie. She is being kept in virtual solitary confinement. She has still not been allowed access to telephones. She has not received treatment for the damage caused to her ears in the August 21st, 2004 grenade attack. It causes her severe headaches and nausea. The bed she was given had broken. I don't know if it has been replaced yet. This is not living in luxury.

In the meanwhile, Fakruddin was here in the US. He was questioned repeatedly about due process and kept repeating the phrase "Law of the land." If he was indeed following the law of the land, why would he feel the need to keep defending it? Bangladeshi law prohibits detention without bail in all but capital cases. So Fakruddin is clearly lying.

Fakruddin spoke at the Asia Foundation, but only selected people were allowed to ask questions. Outside of those, many hands were raised but all were refused. Clearly he had something to hide. When he spoke at Columbia University they were not able to keep such a tight rein on questions and some difficult ones were raised, which he essentially ignored. This is clearly not the mark of an upstanding man of integrity. In fact, this is exactly how a dirty politician acts.

In fact, I've learnt from a very confidential and trusted source that before accepting the position of Chief Advisor, Fakruddin's condition was that he be given three years to rule. How does a non elected appointee demand to rule for three years? And yes, this is from a very senior and respected source.

In the meanwhile, there riots appear to be breaking out on a regular basis in Bangladesh. One week it is laborers in an Export Processing Zone. Another week it is workers at a garments factory. In each case this regime cracks down with brutality. In half of the incidents at least one protester has been killed by the police. Have we become savages? Why is it that our civil society doesn't even bat an eyelid at these murders?

Yet, the Islamists have been protesting every Friday for three weeks against a cartoon. Far from cracking down on this violation of emergency, this regime has allowed these protests to continue. This simply adds to the complete immunity this regime has shown to Jamaat-e-Islami for corruption and terrorism. Do we need any more evidence of this regime's fundamentalist leanings?

I ask all patriotic Bangladeshi's to keep raising awareness about what is happening in our country. We will not lie down and let these people turn out country back 17 years. We do not want Bangladeshi to become another Pakistan.

Update

2007-09-12T19:37:00.000-05:00

I need to apologize to all my regular readers. I have been unable to update in quite a while. My new semester just started and I've been rather tied up. Now classes have started and I am a little more settled, so I promise to try and update every week. I have also added the option to sign up for notification of new posts, so you don't have to keep coming back to check.

It has been almost two months now since my mother was arrested. We have had absolutely no contact with her. The military regime has not allowed her access to any telephones whatsoever. In the meanwhile, my sister has had a baby, without even being able to so much as speak to her mother. This is how inhuman this government is.

There is absolutely no justification in not letting my mother have access to a telephone. International law requires that people who are incarcerated be allowed to communicate with their families. Of course, there is absolutely no justification in keeping my mother incarcerated. If she really were corrupt, what difference would it make if she were in custody or not until after her trial?

It's no secret that this regime's goal is to eliminate my mother from politics. They call it their "minus-2" plan. That is why my mother is incarcerated. They also know how popular she is and this is why she is not allowed access to a telephone. If her voice gets out people would rise up against this government. They have to keep her silenced. They fear her.

This regime's war on corruption has become a sham. I won't take any names, but the man who headed the third most corrupt ministry in the last government is walking free, holding meetings and press conferences. There are many more like him, including from my own party, who have also been left free and allowed to blatantly violate the emergency rules while others are arrested for even making statements against the government. So much for an honest government!

I applaud Human Rights Watch and the European Parliament for the strong stance they have taken against the human rights violations of this regime. Here are links to their statements:

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/11/bangla16851.htm

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?Type=TA&Reference=P6-TA-2007-0385&language=EN

This is far from over. For all of our supporters and well wishers, please raise your voice in any way you can. Contact your local media. Contact your local government officials. Tell them what is happening in Bangladesh. Demand that they take action against this illegitimate regime.

Repression and statement by Human Rights Watch

2007-08-25T17:00:00.000-05:00

In typical fashion of every other dictatorship preceding them, the military regime of Bangladesh has decided to quell the pro democracy protests with force. Approximately 100 students were rounded up at Shahbag in Dhaka and beaten with sticks by army personnel. Another male student was pulled out of his home and his arms and legs broken by soldiers. These and other such incidents have been reported by BBC Bangla Radio and bdnews24.com.

Five academics were picked up last night for “interrogation” without charges. There whereabouts were unknown until later today in Bangladesh. Most likely they were taken to the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence’s (DGFI, the military intelligence wing) torture cells inside Dhaka Cantonment. Today they were charged with “illegal attacks and property damage”, even though they themselves did not participate in the protests. Some of them are members of the Dhaka University Teachers Association which had demanded the immediate lifting of the state of emergency and restoration of democracy, after protests had been ongoing for the second day. These individuals have been targeted primarily for their affiliation and/or support for the largest political party, the Awami League, which remains the biggest political threat to this regime.

Following is a statement today from Human Rights Watch, regarding the developing situation in Bangladesh:

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Bangladesh: Abuses Grow in Crackdown on Protests

Students Angry After Eight Months of Emergency Rule

(New York, August 25, 2007) – The Bangladesh government must respect international human rights standards as it enforces a curfew and seeks to police demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch reiterated that anyone detained under the emergency regulations must be charged with a cognizable criminal offense or released, and that anyone mistreated in detention should be able to seek and obtain an effective remedy before competent authorities.

The demonstrations currently taking place in Bangladesh come after eight months of repressive emergency rule, which has restricted the rights to protest and to seek a legal remedy, and fails to respect basic due process rights.

"What sparked these protests is the ongoing repression of emergency rule, and the government's heavy-handed response is like oil on a fire," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "While the protesters should remain peaceful and must exercise restraint to prevent loss to life and property, the government should immediately address some of their legitimate concerns instead of arbitrarily arresting people, beating detainees and fueling anger."

The recent unrest was sparked by an incident on August 20, when soldiers beat up a student as he was allegedly obscuring their view at a soccer match. Furious students protested against the attack, and demanded the immediate removal of an army camp located on the Dhaka University campus. The protests soon spread and became violent, resulting in one death. The government imposed a curfew on August 22 and suspended cell phone services during curfew hours.

Since then, the armed forces have carried out several raids on the Dhaka campus and elsewhere, detaining academics and students, including four university teachers, presumably on the grounds of alleged involvement in the rioting.

Journalist associations in Bangladesh have alleged that law enforcement officers have harassed journalists during curfew hours. Several newspapers and television networks reported that security forces beat their journalists while they were gathering information on the demonstrations, and some journalists were detained and beaten in custody. The Daily Star newspaper, for example, said that on August 23 two policemen beat its reporter Kamrul Hasan Khan with sticks on the university campus. Police also beat reporters from the daily Samakal, from a private TV channel Baisakhi and from the online news portal http://www.bdnews24.com/, some of them after they were detained in police stations. Many of these journalists were attacked despite carrying press identification, which is supposed to serve as a curfew pass.

Several web news portals and blogs have reported that army personnel have detained and beaten journalists and students. Sanjeeb Hossain, describing the arrest of his father, Dr. M. Anwar Hossain, a professor at Dhaka University, said that soldiers took him away around midnight and refused to tell the family where he was being taken or when he would be returned.

"The authorities are trying to silence political protest through arbitrary arrests and restricting freedom of expression," said Richardson. "The government can take steps to make sure a protest is peaceful, but it must above all respect its human rights obligations when doing so."

Since the imposition of emergency rule, Bangladeshi armed forces have been responsible for abuses such as arbitrary detention, torture and deaths in custody. The emergency laws limit access to effective remedies, including the right to bail and the right to challenge the lawfulness of a detention.

The authorities have detained more than 250,000 people since the caretaker government took over in January 2007. Several political leaders are in custody including Awami League leader and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed. Another former prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, is under virtual house arrest.

The caretaker government was established in Bangladesh on January 11, 2007, and was largely welcomed by Bangladeshis and international actors seeking relief from widespread corruption, political tension and severe human rights abuses that had emerged in recent years. The promise to hold free and fair elections was applauded. However, the caretaker government has presided over serious human rights violations since taking office.

Some kinds of violations, such as torture and extrajudicial killings in the form of alleged "crossfire killings," were serious problems before the caretaker government came to power, and have continued under its administration. Other violations, which stem from emergency rules that undermine basic due process rights, or the large number of arbitrary arrests and detention without proper judicial oversight, are a direct result of the caretaker government's policies. While certain restrictions on some rights during properly declared states of national emergency are permitted under international law, it is far from clear that the measures under the government’s emergency law are limited to "the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation."

"This government claims to believe in democratic principles and the rule of law. Yet, its actions demonstrate an attempt to silence critics and limit democracy," said Richardson.

Related Material

Bangladesh: Protecting Rights as Vital as Ending Corruption Press Release, August 1, 2007

Bangladesh: Release Journalist and Rights Activist Press Release, May 11, 2007

Bangladesh: Elite Force Tortures, Kills Detainees Press Release, December 14, 2006

Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Torture and Extrajudicial Killings by Bangladesh’s Elite Security Force Report, December 14, 2006

Bangladesh Country Page

From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/25/bangla16739.htm

© Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA

Fight for Democracy

2007-08-23T08:55:00.000-05:00

For those who were around during the late 1990s, this is going to sound all too familiar.

An indefinite curfew has been imposed in all the major cities of Bangladesh and the mobile phone network has been shut down by the military regime. This follows three days of violent protests by students that have spread throughout the country. The protests were sparked by the assault on a student by several army personnel at Dhaka University. The protests have spread beyond the students and hundreds have been injured so far, some by gunshots from the police. Today a protester was killed by the police.

This current regime is an unelected one, with a civilian advisory committee that was handpicked by the military. The real power resides with the Chief of Army, Dictator General Moeen Uddin Ahmed. While vowing to clean up corruption, Moeen has embarked on a publicly stated goal to replace the leadership of the two major political parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. This has been termed the “minus-2 formula.” This is really political elimination by Moeen in order to consolidate his own power. Elections have been deferred and an indefinite state of emergency maintained in Bangladesh, with all constitutional rights suspended.

Protesters are demanding the restoration of democracy and the resignation of this regime. Moeen has responded by cracking down and imposing this indefinite curfew. The mobile telephone networks have also been ordered to shut down in the evenings. This is the typical response of military regimes.

A media blackout has been imposed. Now army personnel are attacking journalists, with several having been arrested and many beaten up so far. Many journalists are stranded in their offices unable to leave because of this. So much for a “clean and moral” government!

What is happening now was inevitable. This regime’s policies and arbitrary abuses of power have scared businessmen and financial institutions, driven up prices and even hurt traditional relief efforts during the floods. Labor unrest has repeatedly been met with deadly force by this regime, with several protestors killed by the police over the last six months. Chief Advisor to the Dictator Fakruddin Ahmed is trying desperately to blame it on “evil forces.” However, since most popular political leaders are behind bars and all their bank accounts frozen, this is a hard sell.

This is people power at work. The myth of this regime’s popularity has been shattered. What Moeen and Fakruddin forgot is that they did not have carte blanche to do whatever they wanted. Now this may be the beginning of the end for this regime.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “A tyrant, no matter how invincible he may appear, eventually falls.” I would like to extend my support to the students and people of Bangladesh in their fight for democracy.

Flood, Prices and Arrests

2007-08-05T15:39:00.000-05:00

These three, seemingly unrelated issues are converging to make the lives of our citizens miserable. Since this military regime has taken over inflation has been skyrocketing. This has been a direct consequence of the actions and policies of this regime, in particular the arbitrary arrests and the continued state of emergency. Now we have been hit with a natural disaster and people’s suffering is multiplying.

General Moeen Ahmed has tried to take this opportunity to try to blame the politicians for this suffering. Advisor Tapan Chowdhury has blamed the government officials and bureaucracy. Yet this regime refuses to classify this as a national disaster.

This regime has, for the last six months, targeted the Awami League in an attempt to weaken it politically, as we are the only party large enough and popular enough to mount a campaign against their illegal takeover of power. Unfortunately, today the people of our country are suffering because of this. Today many of our most capable leaders are under arrest and most of our activists are laying low for fear of arrest. They are trying to aid the flood victims in their individual capacities, but it is far from an organized effort. The government has so far mounted no relief effort of any consequence.

The political parties, especially the Awami League, have tremendous capacity to provide aid and relief during disasters. Ours is the only party that has an organization at every village. We are able to mobilize this grassroots very quickly and distribute relief materials as well as provide aid. One only has to look at how the flood of 1998 was managed during the Awami League’s term in power. However, until Sheikh Hasina is released there can be no significant relief effort organized by the Awami League. The party activists will not follow anyone else. This regime and many foreign powers as well have always underestimated my mother’s popularity, especially within the party.

Most businessmen are either fleeing the country or their business has slowed dramatically because their trading partners have. No one knows who will be arrested next. I have heard from about a dozen businessmen that they have been extorted by military officers. The amounts demanded are staggering even compared to the corruption of the last BNP-Jamaat government; 20, 30 even 50 lakh Takas (US $29,000 to $72,000) per instance. Slowly our fine military is being corrupted again, just as they were during the terms of Generals Zia and Ershad. All it takes is a few rotten apples.

More importantly, this is what is continues to drive up prices. Once again, despite all the criticism against us, inflation was a steady 1.59 % during the Awami League’s term. Only a stable government that is responsive to the people can deliver that. A military regime cannot.

Our economy is slowing down dramatically. The vast majority of our country can no longer afford to feed themselves. Now the floods are causing further devastation. This regime has no plan, no experience and other than lofty speeches, no real desire to help the people. Their primary focus has been to eliminate all political opposition in order to consolidate their hold on power. Everything else, including the suffering of our citizens, is secondary. They have had absolutely no hesitation about knocking down the livelihoods of thousands. Even in the midst of this devastating flood they are busy spending crores of taka in demolishing a building that houses jobs for almost 35,000 people.

Law Advisor Mainul Hossain claimed that the people will be responsible if this government fails. The fact is this government has already failed. They should either hold elections immediately or step aside and hand over power to a constitutional caretaker headed by a retired Supreme Court Justice. Bangladesh cannot afford this regime any longer.

Latest

2007-07-20T21:47:00.000-05:00

Some of my mother’s attorney’s were finally allowed to meet her today. This is four days after her arrest. Under the law attorneys are allowed access to their clients at any time they need. The military government not allowing her access for four days is illegal and a violation of due process.

My mother’s arrest itself was conducted without any warrant whatsoever, as was the search of her house and seizure of property. Legality and due process are the least of this regime’s concerns.

She has not been allowed any access to telephone or any other means of communication. She is being held in solitary confinement. This was the only way they could silence her.

During the arrest my mother sustained an injury to her leg as she was physically pushed into the prison van. She is a former Prime Minister and the daughter of the Father of the Nation. To treat her this way is outrageous and completely unacceptable. This regime has no human decency.

Now it has been reported that this regime is going to file charges of “anti-state activities” against me. As I have not lived in Bangladesh in 14 years and have only spent a total of 7 years of my life there, this must mean they are now afraid of me. Our campaign is picking up steam. Now want to make sure I don’t return to Bangladesh and fuel it further.

Legal Aspects of Case

2007-07-19T12:06:00.000-05:00

The charge itself against my mother is very flimsy. Azam Chowdhury, a businessman, was arrested by the military and forced to file them while in custody. The claim is that Sheikh Selim, former Health Minister and my mother’s cousin, demanded that Chowdhury pay him or his project would be stopped by the Prime Minister’s Office. Chowdhury paid Sheikh Selim by check, which itself is suspicious as to why he would extort money and leave a paper trail.

Sheikh Selim was arrested and tortured and was forced to sign a false confession. Nowhere is there any direct evidence against my mother.

The alleged extortion occurred seven years ago. The fact that Chowdhury did not come forward with this allegation during the last five years in which the BNP was in power is further evidence that the charges are false. The BNP would have been only too happy to arrest my mother.

No charge sheet has yet been submitted by the police against her. It should be noted that the Law Advisor, Barrister Mainul Hosein stated that it was necessary to arrest her for submitting charge sheet, thereby putting it on record that the Government has arrested her without submitting a charge sheet against her. Under criminal procedure the suspect in a complaint cannot be arrested until the charge sheet has been filed.

The case has been lodged under Section 385 and 109 of the Bangladesh Penal Code. The allegation is that she has abetted the commission of the offence of extortion. But the allegations brought against her in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the police do not constitute the offence of extortion. For the offence of extortion to occur there has to be inducement, which should result in creating such fear in the mind of the victim as to make him give property.

The case has been brought under the Emergency Power Rules, 2007, by virtue of Section 19(j) of the Emergency Power Rules, 2007. This deprives her of her right to bail, appeal and an open trial by jury. It should also be noted that the alleged offence occurred some seven years prior to the enactment of the Emergency Power Rules, 2007 and legally they cannot be applied retroactively to this offence.

The authorities have not as yet allowed either family or even her lawyers to meet her. This is yet another violation of due process as every accused is entitled to meet family members and lawyers at regular intervals.

Finally, the Anti-Corruption Commission has issued a notice to her after her arrest to provide a wealth statement. But as she is under arrest and has no access to either her personal documents or her lawyers, she may be held responsible and convicted under the Anti Corruption Act, 2004, if she fails to submit her wealth statement in time. This is a trap by the authorities and yet another violation of due process.

I receive many anonymous comments that make blatantly false accusations and claims. I reserve the right to moderate these comments out, as well as any personal attacks and vulgar language.

Update

2007-07-18T09:38:00.000-05:00

My mother is being detained under the Emergency Powers Rule, 2007, not under the criminal code of Bangladesh. There is no due process under the emergency powers. Right to bail and right to appeal are denied and the detention can be extended indefinitely even without a trial. Trials are conducted by special tribunals in camera (only the judge is present, there is no jury and the proceedings are closed to outside scrutiny) and summarily (normal procedures such as conducting discovery are not allowed.) This is a violation of international human rights laws, in particular Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

No one is being allowed to visit her, not even relatives. She has no access to telephone or any other means of communication.

Over 200,000 individuals remain arrested for up to six months now under these Emergency Powers. Of these, only a dozen or so cases have gone to trial. One former minister has been sentenced by a special tribunal to 12 years imprisonment for possessing 21 bottles of alcohol in his home without paying import duties on them. No other charges were brought against him.

This is not justice. This arrest itself is illegal and a violation of all human rights.

My Mother's Arrest

2007-07-17T09:18:00.000-05:00

My mother was arrested in a dawn raid (5:00am Bangladesh time) from her house on Monday 16th July. Approximately 1,000 members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the army and the police surrounded her house in Dhaka and searched the premises without a warrant. They then took my mother to court where she was denied bail and ordered detained under authority of the indefinite state of emergency being maintained in the country.

After she was taken away, the armed forces confined all members of the household in a single room and proceeded to search the house without a warrant. They have since seized her personal belongings including her laptop, her mobile phone, her car and CDs.

The cases that were filed against her months ago have not yet gone to trial. Her arrest comes just one week after she exposed attempts by the military’s intelligence wing, Directorate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI) to break up the two major political parties and create a new party of handpicked leaders with dubious track records.

It has been no secret that the goal of this regime is to remove my mother from politics. To that end they first tried to intimidate her with trumped up charges when she was outside the country, but she would not be intimidated and declared she would return to face them. Next the tried to exile her, but were forced to back down and let her return. Then they placed her under virtual house arrest, even though they continued to claim there were no restrictions on her. Her arrest comes as no surprise.

It is also no secret that this regime has been trying to form a handpicked political party. They are attempting to do this with some very familiar faces within the two major parties. These are the same people against whom we have repeatedly heard allegations of corruption. Yet, while vowing to clean up corruption, this regime has actively participated with these corrupt and opportunistic politicians in trying to create divisions within the two parties.

The grassroots of the Awami League are completely united behind Sheikh Hasina. Due to this the regime’s attempt at creating a division within the Awami League was failing. This is the real reason my mother has been arrested. This was the only way they could silence her.

Police had to resort to teargas and rubber bullets outside of the court when my mother was ordered detained because of the large crowd that had gathered there to protest her arrest. On the route to the sub-jail the convoy was confronted at several points by crowds of supporters. Demonstrations and rioting have been breaking out throughout Bangladesh for the last two days, despite the state of emergency. For a short while the Dhaka-Chittagong highway was shut down because of rioting. A three day strike is in effect at all educational institutions throughout the country.

Demonstrations are ongoing in front of Bangladeshi embassies and consulates throughout the world. This includes Washington, DC, New York and Los Angeles in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan and the Saudi Arabia just to name a few.

We will not be silenced. We will not let the generals and a few sycophants take over power through the backdoor by destroying democracy under the guise of reforms, as they have done in the past.

I urge all Bengali’s around the world to stand with us at this critical hour. I urge our troops in our armed forces to look at what is happening. This is going to set our nation back 30 years. Our nation’s future is at stake.

The Next Step

2007-07-10T12:31:00.000-05:00

I would like to apologize to my regular readers for not being able to update sooner. I am in the process of making a transition to Harvard. Trying to do that with a seven month old baby is challenging to say the least!

The events of the past six months bring to mind a famous poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller, written about the Nazi regime.

First they came for the communists,
and I did not speak out—
because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists,
and I did not speak out—
because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I did not speak out—
because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me—
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

I was reminded of this poem by a senior representative from a human rights organization. He quoted it in reference to the events in Bangladesh. Pastor Niemöller wrote this about the apathy of the intellectuals in Germany as the Nazi’s persecuted one group after another, all except for their own collaborators.

Today, seventy years after the Nazi’s and twenty years after General’s Zia and Ershad, we are seeing history repeat itself in Bangladesh. What is happening in Bangladesh under the excuse of reforms is a shame.

Now the Army Chief, General Moeen, wants to rewrite our Constitution, just as past dictators have done. Just like them, Moeen has undertaken first to eliminate all political opposition, under the guise of reform, so he can move on to consolidate his regime. A constitutional amendment is the next step that has been taken by every general to precede him.

Our Constitution clearly spells out that a two thirds majority of an elected Parliament is needed to make any constitutional amendments. There is absolutely no ambiguity about this. There is no scope for a constitutional review committee as Moeen has suggested. What he is proposing is illegal, in no uncertain terms.

Our Supreme Court has in the past ruled that the terms of General’s Ziaur Rahman and Ershad were illegal and that the constitutional amendments made by them were illegal as well. I am dumbfounded how Moeen thinks he can do the same and that it will be upheld by the Supreme Court in the future.

I don’t believe that our armed forces in general support the actions of General Moeen. Our military has become a far more professional force in the last 15 years. If one actually looks at history rather than rhetoric, our country has made far more progress on all fronts during the last 15 years of flawed democracy than any autocratic regime past. What makes anyone think this time things are going to be any different?

The end result will be the same. A new political party of handpicked, corrupt politicians from the existing parties placed in power through a manipulated election. A Constitution amended to give the General vast powers over everyone else. All who oppose them will be persecuted. In the end, our nation will become even more corrupt and yet another failed state.

Many may not agree with me, but wait and see. Today they are harassing and torturing my friends and colleagues. Tomorrow they will come for you. Who is going to stand up to the generals then?

Current Situation

2007-06-20T11:34:00.001-05:00

Well, the propaganda against my family has certainly picked up! That tells me one thing; those behind it are getting desperate. You see, if my family had been involved in any corruption they would have published that in bold headlines instead.

The Caretaker had hired private investigators both here in the US and in the UK to investigate us. Who knows how many hundreds of thousands of dollars they spent on this. Unfortunately for them, they did not find any ill gotten gains. So, because they found no evidence of corruption they decided to play dirty and make up lies to tarnish our character.

It is beneath me to respond to their allegations. The fact they published our addresses is despicable. My sister and I both have families and we have been targeted many times by assassins and fanatics. To publish our addresses publicly puts our families in danger and constitutes aiding those fanatics and assassins.

The fact is many senior politicians who have had allegations of corruption against them for years remain free. While there is a total ban on all political activity and even my mother’s remains under virtual house arrest, these few politicians have been allowed to hold political meetings and organize the launch of a new party. The Caretaker has actively supported them and is financing the launch of this new party.

Someone mentioned Mayor Khoka of Dhaka. He is being financed by our Directorate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI) to organize the grassroots of this new party and has been tasked with organizing the candidates for the municipal elections. These candidates will be handpicked by the military government. The municipal elections receive much less scrutiny and are, therefore, easier to rig. And it is much easier to rig the national elections if all the municipal leaders are under your control. This is why the Caretaker is so intent on holding municipal elections prior to national elections, something unheard of and completely undemocratic.

All this just further strengthens my arguments. This regime’s intentions are exactly the same as the two prior military regimes. They want to eliminate all political opposition, handpick puppet politicians and then manipulate the electoral process to place them in power. This exact same strategy dates back to Ayub Khan. Using the populist agenda of cleaning out corruption as a start to build credibility and then switching to only targeting popular politicians who stand in their way is a tactic that has been used by every single military regime throughout the world.

Propaganda

2007-06-12T17:34:00.000-05:00

Before I get to the gist of my article, I would like to share some good news with my readers. I have just been accepted into the Masters in Public Administration Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Now I have to figure out how to pay for it. I would like to ask the military government to forward me the account numbers of where I have allegedly stashed all this money so I can go to school!

So now the confessions are coming fast and furious against my mother and even me. The latest I’ve read is that apparently I have an office in Dhaka. However, according to the confession itself, my name is not in the transaction at all. So how do I have an IT office in Dhaka if my name isn't even on anything? This is all the more puzzling to me considering that I didn’t even live in Bangladesh at the time and spent very little time there even when my mother was Prime Minister!

A few people have posted comments on this site criticizing me for defending Mr. Jalil. I would like to point out that Mr. Jalil has been arrested on charges of “making provocative statements.” He has not been charged with corruption. Neither have many of our leaders. Kazi Zafrullah, Salman Rahman and many others remain arrested on charges of “anti-state activities.” This is a gross violation of human rights.

As for the allegations against us, there are a few problems with them. First of all, it is impossible to bring in large amounts of money into the United States and United Kingdom and hide it. These are not third world countries.

Second, the BNP government spent five years investigating my entire family and found nothing. If there was any evidence of corruption does anyone really believe they would not have come after us?

Third, all the confessions so far have been coerced from Awami League members who have donated to the party. Of course our members are going to donate to the party! Where else is the party going to generate money from? That is how all political parties around the world operate. Those who can afford more, donate more. That money goes straight into the party accounts. It does not go into my mother’s account. After all, the military government has already looked into my mother’s accounts and found nothing. The Taka 3 crore they found is in the Bongobondhu Trust’s account. That is not a personal account and the military would not release the account information to the press. Yet they claimed this belonged to her. If they were telling the truth, why not release the account information to the press?

What is going on now is simply propaganda. The military government is on a mission to try and discredit my mother because she is the only impediment remaining to them staying in power indefinitely.

In fact, I would like my readers to take a look at this link:

http://www.trustbankbd.com/directors.htm

How are our Army Chief and Chief Election Commissioner on the Board of Directors of a bank? How clean are they? After all, we have not seen any wealth statements from them. What else do they own? Shouldn’t we get complete accountability from them?

The Conspiracy So Far

2007-06-04T14:16:00.000-05:00

In the last couple of weeks the military government has arrested several of our senior most leaders who have not had any allegations of corruption against them, such as Mr. Jalil. They have been arrested for “anti-state activities.” Mr. Jalil himself was arrested because he is the official spokesman for the Awami League and had been quite vocal in his criticism of the military government. As I have stated over and over again, we currently have a police state.

Arresting key, respected leaders of the AL, including the General Secretary of the party, prevents any possibility of reform within the party. Maintaining the state of emergency prevents any possibility of political reform both within political parties and the government in general. At this point is should be quite clear to anyone with any intelligence that this military government has no intention of reform. Reforms are just being used as an excuse to consolidate power. This is exactly what all generals before them have done, without exception.

I would like to point out that now only leaders close to my mother, many of whom have no allegations of corruption, are being arrested. Many other leaders from all political parties, who do have allegations of corruption against them, remain untouched. Why is that?

The military government has made no secrets that it wants to force my mother to retire by arresting all those close to her. They then plan to launch a new party and have that party come to power. How exactly is this fighting corruption? It is impossible for a brand new political party to win an election against established parties; the established parties have a brand recognition that takes decades to overcome. The only way for a new party to win is if the elections are rigged.

Then there is the question of the type of people who will join this new party and participate in this rigging. Those who are willing to violate the laws and rig an election will clearly have no compunctions about being corrupt. Therefore, all this will do is propagate corruption further in Bangladesh.

This is exactly what the military dictatorships of the past have done. We have seen this not once, but twice before in our history. After five months of this regime it is now clear that we are headed down that path once again. If the current regime was truly intent on fighting corruption then why are we not seeing more trials? The vast majority of people arrested remain behind bars without any trial or, in many cases, even charges.

In fact, corruption is rearing its ugly head even within this government. I will not name names, but a close family member of one of the Advisors was under investigation for corruption within the last four months. The investigation was very quietly hushed up. Each time Giasuddin Mamun was taken for interrogation he was forced to pay bribes to prevent being tortured. Isn't this corruption as well?

Consider the massive plan of the Election Commission to procure thousands of laptops and equipment for their national ID project. How are these items being procured? The process has already begun but there is absolutely no transparency. Why is that? It’s because there is a lot of money being made here by a few businessmen close to the current regime.

This regime is no longer fighting corruption. They are only trying to remove all political opposition and install themselves in power permanently. This is setting our country back 30 years. History is repeating itself. Should we just stand by and let this happen?

Criticism

2007-05-24T16:57:00.001-05:00

Judging from some of the comments I have received, I find it rather amusing that our so called “civil society,” or Shushil Samaj in Bangla, do not like being lumped together when some of them are clearly in the wrong. Yet they have no compunctions about lumping all politicians together. There is this steady stream of criticism about how the political parties need reform, yet Shushil Samaj bristles at criticism of this current regime. Why is that?

But I digress. The problem is not the issue of reforms, the problem is whether the ends justify the means. Is it OK to suspend all civil rights, arrest people without warrants or charges, hold them indefinitely without bail, the list goes on and on. What about the 191,000 or so arrested and 89 killed extra judicially? Has everyone already forgotten about Tasneem Khalil, a journalist and human rights activists arrested because he spoke out against military rule? How is this any different from an authoritarian regime?

You see how the Shushil Samaj reacts when they are lumped together? It's the same with politicians, military men, indeed all people. There are always bad people everywhere, but that doesn't make everyone bad. Right now Shushil Samaj is the only one busy supporting this government, despite all its atrocities. They talk about the evils of corruption and family dynasties, yet turn a blind eye to blatant violations of due process and nepotism within the current regime. What this amounts to is hypocrisy.

Let me remind Shushil Samaj again. There were no mass arrests during the Awami League’s time. There were no arrests without warrants. People were not held indefinitely without bail. There were no extra judicial killings. Due process was followed, even for the murderers of my family.

Guess what else was different during the Awami League’s term? Prices were low and inflation was steady at just 1.59%. Right now, the vast majority of the people of the country are hurting because of spiraling prices of food and essentials. Yet this regime is simply driving prices higher through its policies and actions. Raising the price of diesel is going to raise the price of goods. Arresting people at random is going to spook the business community and drive prices up.

Despite this I hear many of our Shushil Samaj claiming vehemently how this regime has the mandate of the people and how popular it is. While this regime may have been popular a couple of months ago, it has certainly never received the mandate of the people. That requires an election. Without that, there is no way to gauge whether the majority of our population does indeed want this government. And whatever popularity and support they may have had once upon a time is gone.

Does anyone wonder why this regime is so reluctant to lift the state of emergency? It is because they know that as soon as they do, criticism will start flooding in and their pretense of popularity will be shattered. Only the vocal minority, our Shushil Samaj, are busy extolling the virtues of this regime. The rest of the country, the majority, are starving and have had enough. I hear from friends that their maids tell them at least during Hasina’s time they could afford to eat.

Right now the only people who have a say in how our country is run are Shushil Samaj. No one else is allowed to speak. Otherwise they will be picked up in the middle of the night on charges of anti-state activities. Am I the only one that finds it astounding that the Election Commission sits down to discuss reforms with Shushil Samaj but not with the political parties? How does Shushil Samaj have the mandate to decide what the people of the country want? After all, political parties have the extensive grassroots contacts. The elite sitting in Dhaka don’t.

And there, in a nutshell, is your answer. This is a government of the elite, by the elite, for the elite. They were not selected by the people of our country, but rather appointed by an elite few. They are completely out of touch with the people of our country. And their biggest beneficiaries are going to be the elite, not the vast majority of our country that is just trying to make ends meet.

Voter Registration

2007-05-15T13:49:00.000-05:00

So, the Election Commission (EC) has finally announced how and when they will undertake the task of creating a new voters list. (Perhaps; this government has flip-flopped on so many promises that I won’t believe anything until I see it.) There are so many issues with their plan that I don’t know where to begin!

They have decided to prepare a brand new voters list with photographs, abandoning the old list completely, and simultaneously prepare national identity cards. In addition, people will have to come to camps to be registered, instead of officials going door to door. The final touch is that the Army, not the EC, will undertake this task.

Registering an estimated 75 million voters is a monumental task. This is why our laws require that the voters list be updated, not rewritten completely. Any time you start from scratch you run the risk of missing many voters who may not be able to register for one reason or the other. In a country as populous as ours that number could easily run into the millions. The voters list of 2000 is widely regarded as accurate. There is absolutely no justification for abandoning it. Moreover, there is a Supreme Court ruling specifically forbidding this list from being abandoned and prohibiting the creation of a brand new list. Any attempt by the EC to create a new list runs afoul of this ruling and is, therefore, illegal.

The preparation of a brand new voters list from the ground up is why we are in this mess in the first place. The main obstacle to a free and fair election in January was the fake voters list the previous BNP-Jamaat government created from scratch, abandoning the previous list. The steps this EC has laid out bear an eerie similarity to what the BNP did. Once again we are going to end up with a highly inaccurate voters list with a Supreme Court ruling against it and, at least a year and a half after the first one we will once again end up at an impasse.

There are two practical reasons why this new list will be incorrect. First is the EC’s decision not to go door to door and have people come to camps instead to register. The previous EC attempted to do so to correct the previous voters list and it turned out that very few people came to register. What makes anyone believe that this time things will be any different? What happens if the EC goes ahead with this plan and spends crores of Taka, only to have far too few people come to register? Then we will have just wasted all this money and time and we will be no closer to a correct voters list and a fair election.

Second is the decision to let the Army conduct the registration. I’ve heard arguments about how professional our army is today and I have no reason to doubt their competency, but you have to consider the prevailing situation in the country. We have a state of emergency in place where civil rights are suspended and anyone can be arrested at any time without warrants or charges. Already an estimated 170,000 people have been arrested in this manner by the Army, most of them political activists. Many people are going to be far too afraid to go to these camps manned by Army personnel, even if they are not in uniform, for fear of arrest. The remaining political activists especially are clearly going to avoid this.

More sinisterly, perhaps this is exactly what this military government wants. It has been no secret that they want to destroy both the major political parties. So now that their initial attempts at forming an alternative party and exiling both the party leaders have failed perhaps they plan to prevent party activists from registering to vote and therefore, reduce the number of votes the two major parties receive. Would this not be just another attempt to rig an election?

We have had three previous elections that have been widely regarded as fair. After all, only the losing side has complained and no one else, so they must have been fair, right? Then let us just update the voters list and have an election. Leave reform to a democratically elected government that has the constitutional mandate to change laws and policy. Change may happen slowly in a democracy, but it does happen and usually for the better. We have had two dictatorships in the past promise change and reform, but they both ultimately resorted to election rigging to cling to power. Let us not go down that path yet again.

Sheikh Hasina's Return

2007-05-07T21:12:00.001-05:00

I am sure you have all seen the news today. My mother’s triumphant return made headlines all over the world. It was good to turn on the BBC news and see familiar faces, along with throngs of our supporters on the streets. To all our party leaders, activists and supporters, you have my heartfelt gratitude. Today you have shown the world just how popular Sheikh Hasina is. I thank you for that.

For the past four months we have had this propaganda being blasted everywhere about how corrupt all politicians are and how the military and civil society are going to clean out the country. We have heard them go on and on about reform and how they were going to force a leadership change in the two major political parties. Above all, you have had this constant propaganda how the “two begums” are the same and how they have ruined the country. However, those who are the most vocal are not always the majority.

The events of the last two weeks culminating in today’s reception have proven that the two women leaders are not the same. Sheikh Hasina enjoys tremendous international stature. This was demonstrated by the public outcry throughout the world over her attempted exile. Today tens of thousands of her supporters took to the streets to greet her, in direct violation of a state of emergency, risking immediate and indefinite arrest! Today the world has seen the silent majority in action.

People forget that there are two different worlds in Bangladesh. Dhaka city and the ritzy suburbs of Gulshan and Baridhara do not represent Bangladesh. The rest of the country may not have access to the media the way our elite civil society do, but they make up the vast majority of the people. Sheikh Hasina’s government provided these people with the best life of any government in Bangladesh’s history. A 1.59 % rate of inflation, the lowest in the country’s history, self sufficiency in food production for the first time since 1975 and a 500 MW surplus of power production. I could go on and on. Rhetoric is cheap. Take a look at the facts. The silent majority of Bangladesh has not forgotten and today they returned the favor to Sheikh Hasina.

Till now we have heard again and again from this Caretaker Government and civil society how popular they are. It is easy to pretend to be popular when you have a state of emergency in place to intimidate anyone from criticizing you.

Today that fear has been broken. This whole saga has shown the true colors and unpopularity of this unelected government. I would advise them to exit quickly before people get too fed up and rise up and throw them out on their backsides. That day is not too far off.

To all our supporters, once again, thank you. This battle has been won. However, the war will not be over until we have free and fair elections in Bangladesh and democracy is restored through the rightfully chosen leaders of the people. We will not tolerate tyrants, whether they are from the military or civil society.

Wither Reforms?

2007-04-26T19:20:00.000-05:00

I would like to thank everyone, especially our party activists and supporters around the world, for pulling together in the past week’s crisis. You raised your voices and the world heard. My mother’s story was covered by 151 newspapers in 41 countries and I don’t even know how many radio stations and television networks. This is from article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the United Nations:

“No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.”

Bangladesh ratified this in the year 2000, incidentally under my mother’s government. What the Caretaker did was illegal and a blatant violation of human rights. But that comes as no surprise. This Caretaker has shown a complete disregard for human rights and civil liberties.

On the topic of the Caretaker Government (CG), they have been talking a lot about reforms, especially within the political parties. That being the case I would like to take a look at the reforms that have been promised by the CG itself.

The CG has done some good, without a doubt. They have arrested some of the most corrupt people in Bangladesh, including Tareq Rahman. However, it has been three months since their anti-corruption drive began but we have seen very few charges filed against those arrested. Why is that? Could it be there is no evidence against these people, which means that many of them are actually innocent? Considering that over 100,000 people have been arrested so far this is a gross violation of human rights. How would you feel if someone claimed you were corrupt, then they arrested you without any charges and held you in prison indefinitely?

If they are not going to charge these people then holding them, in some cases against a High Court ruling for their release, is illegal and unconstitutional. Besides, if they don’t charge people how can they clean up corruption?

The CG announced that they would enact new laws, remove the influence of black money and make the Election Commission independent. The did reconstitute the Election Commission somewhat, but the history of one of their senior appointees makes one wonder if the CG is really interested in fighting corruption. After all, no one this CG appoints should have any taint of corruption in their recent past.

They have finally announced changes to the electoral laws, but that too leaves much to be desired. Looking at them closely there does not appear to be any steps to block the influence of so called black money.

Even more shocking, the CG has refused to make Election Secretariat independent of the Prime Minister’s Office! How can you have true independence of the Election Commission if it does not control its own secretariat? They have argued, which experts disagree with, that it would require a constitutional amendment. So the CG has no compunctions about violating the constitution in every other way but this?

But the most important aspect of electoral reforms, the one issue that was the root cause of all the protests and upheaval, the voters list remains incorrect. This government has been in power for over three months, the new Election Commission for over two, yet they have not even begun the task of updating the voters list. Why could not this task be undertaken in parallel with the drive against corruption? After all, the CG had plenty of time to bulldoze the homes of the poorest of our society. Now we are being told that it will take 18 months when most experts agree that it can be done in about 45 days. So what real electoral reforms has this CG undertaken?

What about the CG’s much vaunted declaration of making the judiciary independent? Our new leaders made grand speeches on how this has been a travesty perpetuated by the politicians and how they intend to fix this? The CG has asked for a two month extension on this. This is on top of the previous extension they had requested a couple of months ago. Isn’t this exactly what the politicians are accused of?

The Anti Corruption Commission has been strengthened, but actually too much. It has been given the power to arrest anyone without charges or warrants and even seize their assets without so much as a court order. How can this possibly be justified under any law? Such a law itself is against our constitution, not to mention all human rights.

Last, but certainly not the least, the last government was responsible for almost 1000 extra judicial killings by the security forces. Those killings have continued at the very same rate under this CG, at least 70 at last count in 3 months. How is this reform? What makes this CG any better than the previous government?

What surprises me most are the people who still keep hoping this CG will bring about reform. You have to wonder how those who shout loudest about morality and legality so willingly support a government that has shown a total lack of morality and legality. Their arguments simply ring hollow. If you stand on principle, you have to stand on all principles. Otherwise, it’s just politics as usual.

Bar Against My Mother

2007-04-20T12:51:00.001-05:00

First of all, I would like to thank all that have shown support for my mother through this ordeal. What the Caretaker Government is doing is outrageous and completely unacceptable. I apologize that I have not been able to post earlier and this is going to be a brief post as well. I have been extremely busy with this crisis and am pressed for time.

The CG is determined to keep my mother out of the country. From a human rights standpoint, this is a clear violation. She is a citizen of Bangladesh and has every right to return to her country. And let us not forget, she is the daughter of the Father of the Nation. Above all else, she has every right to return to Bangladesh.

Under any judicial process she has a right to challenge any and all accusations against her. If the CG has a legitimate reason to not want her in the country then why don’t they allow her face the charges against her in court? They have even placed a ban on the media on broadcasting any of her statements. Why are they so afraid of her and what she might say?

The truth is that with the successful movement to stop the rigged election of January, Sheikh Hasina is the most powerful political figure in Bangladesh right now. She is the only one that commands the respect of the greatest majority of our people. With her leadership, Awami League can mount a successful challenge against any authoritarian regime. And that is exactly what this CG wants to eliminate.

Their hope is that with Sheikh Hasina out of the picture there will be no one to stop them from staying in power indefinitely. There will be no one to challenge their absolute rule. Unfortunately, this also means that democracy will not return to Bangladesh again.

This is the so called “Pakistan formula.” They have taken the exact steps, almost without distinction, that were taken in Pakistan seven years ago. What has been the result in that country? Democracy there is finished and the country has become a hotbed of fundamentalist terrorism. Is this the future we want for Bangladesh?

Much has been made about the theory that the personal differences between the two women leaders of the country is the root cause of all the problems there. It wasn’t personal differences that caused the 1000 extra judicial killings of the last five years, or the assassinations of 2 Members of Parliament, or the mass arrests, or even the attempt at a blatantly rigged election.

Incidentally, extra judicial killings have continued under this so called “good government.” Why is that? I won’t even go into the mass arrests without charges and every other human rights violation in the book.

This is simply a power grab. I, along with many others had warned that this would happen if a non elected military backed interim government stayed in power too long.

Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League are now the only hope for restoring democracy to Bangladesh. If she returns to the country this regime will not be able to stay indefinitely. For this to happen we need your support.

I would like to urge all Bangladeshi’s to raise your voice for what is happening. Raise your voice for democracy. Raise your voice for the future of Bangladesh. Raise your voice for the daughter of the Father of the Nation.