Will there be any legacy of this government left to be emulated?

MOZAMMEL H. KHAN

SINCE HER arrest on July 16, 2007 Sheikh Hasina was constantly apprehensive about getting fair trials for all the legal suits that have been brought against her for all the wrong-doings she allegedly have committed a decade or so earlier. In front of the trial judges in the make-shift court houses she repeatedly declared her apprehensions that the verdicts have already been decided and the trail judges, in her words, have no other option but to hand down them regardless of the merits of the incriminations which are expected to be unfolded during the trial proceedings. The justifications of her assertions have been reinforced with the accusations of her counsels that a certain 'agency' has been intimidating them for working as counsels for the former PM. The public disclosure of intimidation was made by no other than Barrister Shafique Ahmed, a respected legal expert, a former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and once again a contender for the Presidency. Barrister Shafique went as far as narrating his conversations with the one from the same agency who questioned him why he is running for the SCBA presidency while working as a counsel for Sheikh Hasina, as if it involves conflict of interest and the particular agency is a watch-dog body to oversee it. The reason for the absence of number reputed legal experts of the country in the counsel-list of Sheikh Hasina is now glaringly clear. If a lawyer of Barrister Shafique's stature could be intimidated by an 'agency', it would not be difficult to extrapolate the pressure that a lower court judge would be undergoing making the premonition of Sheikh Hasina a reality.

Since the installation of second CTG on January 11, 2007 under the leadership of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, I wrote a number of pieces in DS singling out Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed as the chief asset to the government. In fact, in my judgment, I could not find any one better than Dr. Fakhruddin to lead the CTG, both in quality and objectivity. I was interviewed number of times by local TVs where I reassured the audience that there was no reason to cast aspersion on the integrity of the Fakhruddin Administration to hold a free, fair and credible election. My assertion was intensified by a number of speeches he delivered to his fellow citizens over the months, which are remarkable both in contents and style of delivery. In all of his speeches, the CA emphasized over and over again about establishing rule of law, human rights, good governance, transparency and accountability. He never forgot to reassert his hold on to the government, that he is in charge and the armed forces are only 'assisting' his government, albeit a redundant stipulation, since as an organ of the state, it is bound to 'assist' any constitutional government when ordered to do so. The only exception to his otherwise flawless speeches which he made in Manikganj, the day his government asked for the 'assistance' of around thousand members of the law enforcing agencies, some of them wearing bullet proof vest, who reportedly brought dog squad with them to arrest an unarmed near-60-year-old woman, a former PM, isolated in her home. Boasting at her arrest, the CA declared 'no one is above the law'. The DS editor Mahfuz Anam in his excellent commentary instantly retorted by asserting, "to say that nobody is above the law must also mean that law is not the handmaiden of anybody either."

Contrary to his words and the citizens' expectation, how much did he accomplish in terms of establishing rule of law and transparency and accountability of his government? As the chief executive of the government, he is evidently accountable for the deeds of any one 'assisting' his government to establish good governance, which certainly he as well all his fellow citizens expects any future government to emulate. On October 29, 2007 it was reported in a number of media that an invisible force assembled a number of BNP standing committee members in a house and forced them to form a committee which since then known as 'reformist' group of the party. A few of those members in a sworn affidavit submitted to the high court that they were, in fact, forced by an invisible force to sign on the papers agreeing to the formation of the committee. It has been reported in the media as well as alleged by leaders of pro-Khaleda BNP in the last few days that a few of their standing committee members have been detained (later released) and threatened to withdraw their support from the pro-Khaleda faction of the party. Does any citizen of the Republic want these activities to be emulated by the 'assistants' of any future government?

The way the election of the SCBA and the DUTA have been forced to postpone has no precedence during the tenure of any of our elected, military or quasi-military government. As if that was not enough, a few members of the so-called 'assisting' organ of the state went to the house of the election officer, a Professor of the University, at wee hours of night and threatened him to resign or postpone the election. Even the notorious thugs of any political government, indiscriminate bashing of its rule is a pastime for a few sycophants of the current government, had never dared to tread in that arena.

Only on the other day, an illustrious bureaucrat, one of a few civilian decorated hero of our great war of liberation, who became a house hold name in 1971, was rearrested after he was granted bail by the supreme court and released, on charges of making inflammatory speech at 'Panthapath' after his release. The fact of the matter, as disclosed by his lawyer, that he never went to Panthapath, let alone making a speech, which he was never accustomed to making, since he was a bureaucrat, not a politician. How the IG of police will explain the act of his officer when we hear him making repeated utterances that his forces are now working without any pressure from any quarter? Most of all, how a Princeton educated chief executive will account for this brazen lie when he is tirelessly preaching his determination to establish rule of law and good governance?

The objective behind the arrest of Sheikh Hasina and putting her hurriedly on trial, notwithstanding her multiple illnesses, is now very obvious at both home and abroad. The world renowned Weekly, 'The Economist', in its current issue (April 17, 2008) has rightfully echoed the reality when it said, "The army's main headache is Sheikh Hasina, whose party is widely expected to win the election. Her detention on corruption charges has made her more popular than ever."

I personally felt myself out of touch when I heard many of our compatriots clamouring the separation of judiciary from the executive branch. I only found my views resonating in the words of the octogenarian lawyer Barrister Rafiqul Huq. Before the separation of judiciary at least the high court division of the Supreme Court had the independence if the honourable judges had the desire to avail it. But after the separation of judiciary, as it appears, the independence of the high court division, let alone the lower judiciary, apparently has been striped off by the Appellate division. And today after the verdict by the Appellate division that the court (that includes High Court) cannot grant bail to any one arrested under EPR, in the words of Barrister Rafiqul Huq, "it is the last nail on the coffin of human rights." As President, Justice Shahbuddin Ahmed refused to sign a bill that forbade bail for the accused, passed by the parliament during the tenure of the last AL government.

In a seminar on August 12, 2007 the honourable Chief Justice while lecturing the judges declared, "judges couldn't be compelled to work independently by enacting laws. It has to be in their culture. If a judge is not committed to work freely, law cannot make him/her independent." Quite to the contrary, the nation has witnessed the curtailing of their freedom by staying or overturning most of the verdicts handed down by judges of the high court division by the Appellate division thereby concentrating the whole authority/independence of the judiciary into the apex body. #

Dr. Mozammel H. Khan is the Convenor of the Canadian Committee for Human Rights and Democracy in Bangladesh

Is Dialogue or Election Date Declaration Appropriate To Reduce Uncertainty?

Dr. ABDUL MOMEN

ONCE AGAIN the new game in Dhaka is ‘dialogue or sanglap’-- dialogue with political parties and other interest groups. Have we seen such before? Dialogues of Mannan Bhuiyan and Abdul Jalil of 2006 or past dialogues of CTG Advisors that resigned in 2006 are still fresh in our minds. Question is; will it reduce political and economic uncertainty that plagued the country since 1/11 and brought economic disasters, one after another—double-digit inflation, plummeting investment, increase of joblessness, decrease of business confidence, increase of load shedding and water flow disruption and the like. If the objective of the dialogue is to have a ‘managed election’ or ‘to buy time’ for a new adventure, in that case, such dialogues may end in futility. Is it the reason as to why the newly appointed U. S. Ambassador to Bangladesh warned the military not to take additional burden? Are these dialogues prelude to a new adventure?

It is reported that the military intelligence forces have finalized a list of ‘300 acceptable candidates’ in each parliamentary constituency for the ensuing election. The government will do its best to get them elected. Reportedly, this list is composed of politicians of all shades and opinions, former bureaucrats both civil and military, NGO and civil society leaders, journalists, educators and also businessmen. Necessary arrangements will be made so that none outside this ‘acceptable list’ could be elected. More importantly, if there is any chance of a candidate getting elected outside the list, in that case, all popular tools such as corruption, extortion or terrorism cases will be lodged against such candidate to prevent him/her from contesting. If that does not deter him or her, ‘extra judicial killing’ like ‘encounter, heart attacks’ are still available to achieve the desired end. Will such ‘managed parliament’ deliver benefits to the country? Will they authorize all the actions of the current Caretaker government (CTG) of Dr. Ahmed?

Dr. Ahmed repeatedly declared that he is committed to hold election by December 2008 and he would withdraw the ‘state of emergency’ prior to it. But is he really in-charge and if so, why is he reluctant to declare a specific date yet? In earlier governments, for example, during 1975-81, we all knew that General Ziaur Rahman was in-charge of decision making. We knew that during 1982-90, it was General H. M. Ershad, during 1991-96 and again in 2001-2006, it was Begum Khaleda Zia and during 1996-2001, it was Sheikh Hasina in-charge of decision making. They could take decisions, good or bad. But now who is in-charge, which Ahmeds? Is it Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed or Dr. Moeen U. Ahmed or Dr. Iazuddin Ahmed? Or is it General M. A. Matin, the Home Advisor or Lt. Gen. Hasan Mashud Chowdhury, the ACC Chief or the British or the Indian High Commissioners? Or are they all order takers? Does Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed have absolute command and respect? We don’t know.

Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed is an intelligent bureaucrat. He knows that prolonging emergency will discourage both domestic and foreign investment and will create economic hardships in the country. He knows that the major problems of Bangladesh are (1) food shortage and price spiral, (2) energy crisis, (3) ill governance, (4) poor literacy rate, (5) mistrust between political leadership and military generals, (6) large scale unemployment and (7) corruption. Unfortunately, his government other than some lip service in the area of corruption, failed to initiate projects either to reduce energy crisis, or price spiral, or shortages and/or unemployment. Reportedly 30 million Bangladeshis will suffer from food hunger, malnutrition and starvation. His government failed to take necessary steps to evade the impending crisis. Nor he initiated any projects to help improve governance or to reduce illiteracy. More importantly, his only achievement other than creating an office of a 4-star general is ‘corruption jihad’ and it is basically targeted to punish a ‘select group of politicians and businessmen’ to gain cheap popularity. Sadly no effort has been seriously initiated or taken yet to improve the nation’s dysfunctional system to reduce chances of pervasive corruption and misuse of powers (extrajudicial killing, a form of misuse of powers is still not under control). No wonder, his corruption jihad is blamed as politically motivated and therefore, questionable. His administration is aware of it and therefore, they refrained from trying the cases openly and transparently in any legal court under existing laws. He is trying them in Kangaroo courts under emergency rules. Such is a disservice to the nation more so as their high hopes of ‘corruption-free Bangladesh’ have been virtually shattered and raped. Question is; when the emergency will be over, will such cases be declared null and void? Since many of our judges change their minds with the change of powers like weathers, we are afraid; will such corruption jihad be a waste of public resource and futile exercise?

In Bangladesh, there are mainly two camps; one Awami League (AL) and the other anti-Awami League. The anti-AL groups overwhelmingly supported Begum Khaleda Zia to power in 2001. They had high hopes and many thought, she would do well. Unfortunately, her performance was very poor, worse than her own record of 1991-96. Most of her close associates were highly corrupt and greedy unlike the current CTG. Other than her commendable effort of controlling environmentally non-friendly plastic garbage bags and three-wheel baby taxis off limit to Dhaka, her government’s milestones were looting, misappropriation and ill governance. Many of her supporters that were not die-hard BNP were shocked as well. They were shocked when she tried to defraud the nation with a ‘doctored election’. They disapproved her manipulation of appointing her handpicked President Dr. Iazuddin Ahmed (the current President) as Chief Advisor with an evil motive to cheat the election results. Such attempts created fear, mistrust and rejection. Finding no alternatives, her rival the AL party launched a country-wide agitation for a ‘free, fair, non-violent and credible election’. It was supported by moral majority and the public at large. As a result, the BNP-Jamaat manipulation did not work and 1/11 became a reality. Dr. Iazuddin Ahmed had to resign as Chief Advisor, and he confessed of his government’s wrong doing and voter fraud or manipulation. A new Caretaker government (CTG) backed by army was installed. AL leader Sheikh Hasina welcomed the new CTG of Fakhruddin Ahmed as people’s victory. Dr. Ahmed took the oath of office to hold a ‘free, fair, non-violent and credible election as soon as possible’. But unfortunately, he was misguided and he is taking too much time to hold an election. Question is; will his election be ‘fair, free and more importantly, credible’?

Those that were anti-AL but not necessarily hardcore BNP also welcomed the military-backed interim Caretaker government of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed. Although most of the advisors of the CTG are anti-AL and they are all beneficiaries of the past BNP-Jamaat government, Khaleda Zia abstained from welcoming the new CTG. For example, Dr. Ahmed who was a retired banker living in Washington D. C. was appointed as the Governor of the Bangladesh Bank by Khaleda Zia. Reportedly, he got the job due to two people; his wife’s elder brother, Enam Ahmed Chowdhury, Khaleda’s Advisor (and then Chairman of Privatization Board) and Dr. Osman Faruq, another World Bank economist who was Khaleda’s Education Minister. General Moeen U. Ahmed was made Army Chief by Khaleda Zia at the advice of Khaleda’s son, Tareq Rahman by bypassing six senior generals. Being beneficiary, they had to compromise. In one end, their ethical and moral minds demand them to punish the looters of the nation i.e. BNP leaders and on the other, such punishment would destroy their own ideological group, i.e., the BNP and anti-AL group, and therefore, they were at a loss. Under such a situation, they could not be straight forward and judicious in their decisions. Therefore, they followed highly complex, non-transparent, discretionary and non-standard approaches creating extreme uncertainty and ambiguity. No one could follow them nor could understand their divergent motives. They moved one step ahead but immediately two steps backward. In fact, they had to devise creative ways and manipulate evidence to punish their targeted ones while causing minimal damage to their own ideological party; i.e. BNP. They tried to balance BNP by eliminating die-hard but corrupt Zia supporters and by encouraging forming a ‘reformed BNP’ party mostly composed of those politicians and ex-bureaucrats that could be easily brought and sold. However, they were hard onto the AL, their perceived-enemy, the party that they dislike. They picked up few corrupt people but left many gurus that support them made their effort questionable.

In addition, they tried to set up new political parties but failed. They used cheap slogan-- ‘political reform’ formula and tried to use ‘stick and carrot’ policy to divide the AL. It also did not succeed much. Now they are using ‘dialogue’ to befool the political parties and the nation. Will that work? However, good news is that finally ‘no dialogue with politicians’ that taboo is over.

Soon they might argue through their opinion leaders that ‘failure of dialogues’ and ‘release of the AL leader Sheikh Hasina and the BNP leader Begum Khaleda Zia’ will lead the nation to a situation prior to 1/11. No one wants to go back to 1/11 and witness a ‘doctored election’ or a ‘managed election’ (now stories are coming out that then Police Chief Anwarul Iqbal was involved in the conspiracy of the deaths of October 28th event. He withdrew police forces from the area in spite of knowing fully-well that such would create law and order problems. As a reward, he became an Advisor). No one wants the nation to go down and derail its process of growth. The current emergency rule has led the nation backward and created vacuum, uncertainty and political mistrust. There is also fear of rise of terrorism. All these can be avoided if the CTG declares an election date right now, and with a view to end mistrust and promote confidence building, releases political leaders both Hasina and Khaleda and withdraw the state of emergency. Let them be tried in normal court of law. Could the CTG rise above partisanship? Does it have the maturity and mindset to be an honest broker?

Let the ACC and the EC be non-partisan and honest brokers as well. It is not easy to be non-partisan----already it is reported that Gen. Hasan Mashud Chowdhury of the ACC had threatened resignation if Hasina is allowed to go free (and allowed to face her cases in normal court of law). The actions of the CTG, the ACC and the EC are all questionable and claimed to be politically motivated although all of them are personally honest and not corrupt to the best of my knowledge. No one can blame that Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, Dr. ATM Shamsul Huda or Lt. Gen. Hasan Mashud Chowdhury is personally corrupt or they have any evil design. They hope to do good to the nation. In spite of this, the EC is being blamed by the ‘Khaleda-BNP’ for division of their party. The ACC is being blamed for ignoring corruption cases against military, and the CTG is being blamed for weakening the political parties under various pretexts. Such partisan mentality and approach has to be given up. Can they do it? Otherwise, the nation may face more uncertainty, more economic deprivation, and surely, more cloudy days. Who knows, will such partisanship lead it into another Afghanistan or Iraq, the land of misfortunate and prolong civil wars and terrorism? Is it prudent for Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed to make an about turn not for himself or Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed but for the nation and its wellbeing? Ahmed must review and reflect one question and it is; ‘becktir cheye dhal boro, na dhal thekey jathi’ ---is the interest of a group or party is bigger to that of an individual ego and is the public interest of the nation bigger to that of a party or a group’? If Hasina and Khaleda are released under street demonstrations not under due process, then many of the achievements of the present CTG will be evaporated. Therefore, he must decide and take appropriate actions now. Remember, one day lost is lost forever. #

First published on April 21, 2008, Boston, USA

Dr. Abdul Momen, a professor of economics and business management, Boston, USA <Sylhet@Verizon.net>

Life Is Not Ours: Attacks on hill forest ethnic minorities of Bangladesh

Caption: Bangladesh ethnic, cultural and religious minority leaders Moni Swapan Dewan, Sanjeeb Drong, Ratan Barua and others attend the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) in last week of April 2008 - Photo: BAPNews Agency

ON 20TH April 2008 as the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues gathered in New York to hold its seventh session, hundreds of illegal plain settlers attacked seven indigenous Jumma villages in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) of Bangladesh. These villages - Nursery Para, Baibachara, Purba Para, Nangal Mura, Retkaba, Simana Para and Gangaram Mukh of Sajek union under Baghaichari upazila (sub-district) in Rangamati district were attacked for 4 hours from 9.30 pm to 1.30 am on 20 April 2008.

According to the reports of four journalists from Khagrachari who visited the area on 21 April 2008 with local government officials, at least 500 houses in the 4 kilometre stretch from Baghaihat to Gangaram were burnt down. Several indigenous Jummas were wounded and an unknown number of women were raped by the perpetrators. Reports of the mayhem are still coming.

Hundreds of people have been displaced and indigenous Jummas took shelter into the deep forest fearing further attack. Two members of the Rangamati Hill District Council, Deputy Commissioner of Rangamati Mohammad Nurul Amin, Police Superintendent of the district Abdul Baten visited the spot and provided Taka 100,000 (US 1600) to the Commanding Officer of Baghaihat Zone Lt. Col. Sajid Imtiaz to distribute to the victims. Only 10 victims including two women members of the Sajek union came to Baghaihat bazar to receive relief while others refused to come fearing retaliation.

Tension has been mounting in the area since March 2008 when the Army began illegally settling new illegal settlers from plain districts onto the indigenous Jumma people's land at Baghaihat, Gangaram, Massalong areas under Sajek union. Having heard rumours of an impending attack, around 50 - 60 Jummas gathered in Gangaram Mukh village to discuss how to defend themselves. This information somehow leaked to the army who approached the villagers and told them not to worry. As Army personnel led by a Havildar, Harun kept the indigenous Jumma men talking, a group of Bengali settlers began the attack.

The conditions for those attacked have already been precarious. There is a serious humanitarian crisis with many indigenous peoples in these villages starving as a result of bamboo flowering. The flowering of the bamboo has been accompanied by an unusual increase in rodent population which eat up other sources of food, including crops and stored food items leading to acute food shortage in the affected area. There has been no assistance from the government of Bangladesh to assist the affected indigenous peoples and with the burning down of the villages –everything has been destroyed.

ACHR’S EARLY WARNING
On 25 January 2008, in its Weekly Review “Bangladesh: The Army attacks Buddhism to facilitate illegal settlement in the Chittagong Hill Tracts” available at http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2008/203-08.html, Asian Center for Human Rights highlighted the systematic action of the Bangladesh Army to forcibly evict indigenous Jumma people from their lands and the deliberate and illegal implantation of the plain settlers on their lands.

In its earlier WEEKLY REVIEW “Bangladesh: Indigenous peoples living on the edges of riots” (http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2007/182-07.htm) Asian Centre for Human Rights had also highlighted the high levels of tension and the threat of a deterioration of the situation into riots. The riots were prevented only after Chief of Bangladesh Army and de facto ruler of the country, General Moeen U Ahmed visited Dighinala of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) on 28 August 2007.

Since the imposition of the State of Emergency, the implantation of illegal plain settlers has intensified with the direct involvement of Bangladesh army. The Bangladesh Army has operated as the de facto government in the CHTs since 1976. The CHTs Accord of 1997 was supposed to have led to the withdrawal of military camps. But, successive governments failed to implement the provisions of the Accord.

NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTION
This deliberate act of arson, looting, assault and rape, leading to the destruction of seven Jumma villages is reminiscent of similar attacks which forced over 70,000 indigenous Jumma peoples to cross the international border and seek refuge in India in 1985-1986. German anthropologist Wolfgang Mey’s report, “Genocide in the Chittagong Hill Tracts” (IWGIA Document 51 of 1984) highlighted gross and flagrant human rights violations on the indigenous Jumma peoples. These violations were further proven by Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission in its report, “Life Is Not Ours” in 1991. The CHTs Commission headed by Prof Douglas Sanders had visited the indigenous Jumma refugee camps and the Chittagong Hill Tracts with the permission of the government of India and government of Bangladesh.

The latest burning down of over 500 houses in the CHTs was barely covered in Bangladeshi press. It is unlikely to receive international attention either. Given the State of emergency, there cannot be any protests by indigenous Jumma peoples in the CHTs; the protest in mainland Bangladesh so far remain muted and confined to university campuses. It remains to be seen how the Bangladeshi civil liberties and human rights groups address the situation.

Whether the State of Emergency is proclaimed or not, it makes little difference to indigenous Jumma peoples. In the CHTs, the army rules the roost and the civilian authority remains subservient to the Army. Yet, there is no denying that lifting of emergency will provide much needed political space in mainland Bangladesh.

The response of the international community including the United Nations with regard to the proclamation of State of Emergency in Bangladesh since 11 January 2007 remains disturbing. Bangladesh faces nothing which threatens the life of the nation as provided under Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights but emergency remains in place.

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is unlikely to be able to address such as the burning down of 7 villages in the CHTs. Lost in UN semantics, in the past, human rights violations such as the burning down of 500 villages were not referred in the Annual Sessional Report of the PFII which consistently focused on manufacturing recommendations.

Therefore, the foreign diplomatic missions based in Dhaka particularly the European Union and Bangladeshi civil society organizations should undertake a visit to the affected areas to assess the extent of the damages caused and address immediate needs of those displaced. Unless international community undertakes such visits, attacks on indigenous Jumma people will only intensify. #

Report by Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), Delhi, India, April 23, 2008

Will the Maitree Express turn out to be a train to nowhere?

Mythic Consolations

SUNANDA K. DATTA-RAY

THE ROMANCE of the railroad generated confidence long before strategic writers recognized connectivity as an essential element of bonding. One of history’s best-known examples is British Columbia’s refusal to join the Canadian federation until the Canadian Pacific Railway was built. But romantics on either side of the Bengal-Bangladesh border would be well advised not to be carried away by the heavy symbolism of the flower-bedecked Maitree Express running for the first time in 43 years on Pahela Baisakh.

True, India has no major political problem with Bangladesh, like the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan or the border with China. But the state of mind that generates mistrust is the most dangerous of all dividing factors for it can breed monsters out of trivialities. So, when Pranab Mukherjee told the Bangladeshi daily, Prothom Alo, that “the depth of political relations between our two countries is now as deep as it should be”, it sounded like a realistic admission that, train or no train, there never can be a return to the euphoric high noon that animated the two Bengals in 1971. The external affairs minister’s compliment to the interim government for cooperating with India is even more revealing. Despite its achievements, this government is not politically accountable. It is an executive regime that can take sensible decisions regardless of grassroots reactions but enjoys no popular mandate. Precisely for that reason, it may also run counter to the popular mood. An election may not uphold its values and virtues.

A small detail like the Maitree Express’s change of engine and crew at the border, however cordially carried out, highlights the absence of trust between the two countries. Born on the rail track, as it were, and bred in railway saloons and station retiring rooms, I have a nose for these minutiae. For all the bickering between Singapore and Malaysia, the train from Kuala Lumpur drives right into Singapore’s heart. The quaint little station at Tanjong Pagar, the tracks, rolling stock and staff all belong to Malayan Railways. The same crew and engine serve the entire route. There would be no train if Singapore demanded proprietary rights. In the early Fifties, the vivid green Parbatipur Express, with its huge white Arabic lettering, swept past our bungalow in Kanchrapara as a mobile manifestation of Pakistan’s Islamic personality. I doubt if the engines and crew were Indian.

As a reporter covering Ireland’s Troubles in the late Sixties, I often rode the train from Belfast in British-held, fiercely Protestant Northern Ireland to Dublin, mellow capital of the predominantly Catholic Irish republic, and back. No one was aware of when and where we crossed the border. Yet, those were the days when the Provos, the murderous Provisional Irish Republican Army, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary each defended its pitch with the fervour they devoted to god and Caesar. The railway could be ignored because the substance — Protestant supremacy, Catholic emancipation — mattered more than the symbol.

For Bengalis, the symbol always takes precedence over the substance. The tearful passengers on the train were refugees of the spirit, dwelling nostalgically on the innumerable plates of chicken curry they had devoured (or had heard of being devoured) on the pre-partition Goalundo-Narayanganj steamer. Their objective is not sound political and economic relations between the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh with an 89.7 per cent Muslim population whose ‘state religion’ is Islam. They yearn for the consolation of a mythic East Bengal where hilsa was sold as a whole fish, not chopped into pieces, and a goat slaughtered for meat.

I say ‘mythic’ because there are far more East Bengal zamindars in Calcutta today than ever existed in real life east of the Padma. But real or imagined, that lifestyle presumed a communal hierarchy — Muzaffar Ahmed of the National Awami Party called it the “two-hookah” culture — that played no small part in East Bengal’s choice in 1947. Beneath the bravado, Bangladesh lives in neurotic fear of attempts to undo that decision. So does Pakistan. When a sentimental Bengali gushed during the Calcutta visit of Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Pakistan’s suave former high commissioner, that the British mischief of partition should be undone so that India could be united, he saw it as further evidence of Hindus still not being reconciled to Pakistan.

There are some similarities with Russia’s complex-ridden relations with Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia. They have little in common with each other but are strongly united in their suspicion of Russia, of which they were once a part. Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, the secessionist Tskhinvali area of Georgia and Ukraine’s flirtation with the North American Treaty Alliance would not have looked like serious casus belli if it had not been for underlying misgivings. But there is a difference with the subcontinent. Russia aggressively cuts off gas pipelines, threatens NATO missiles and makes open overtures to breakaway regions. India is placatory, overlooking even an estimated 12 to 18 million illegal migrants in our midst.

That does not appease a people who may now have revised their liberation history, but who are haunted by the fear that what was done in 1971 can be done again. That apprehension surfaced within months of Mujibur Rahman’s return to Dhaka, to the disgust of India’s first high commissioner, Subimal Dutt, who was a member of the Indian Civil Service but also from a modest Chittagong family, and culminating in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s visit in August 1974, months before the night of Dhaka’s long knives. Visible linkages like trains do have a place in diplomacy, but mainly to impress and involve the populace in official goodwill initiatives. That counts for little among an effervescent people whose quick changes of mood are woven into my childhood memories of Direct Action Day when it was “Allah ho akbar!” one moment and “Hindu-Mussalman bhai-bhai!” the next.

Even if the next set of elected Bangladeshi politicians retains the present regime’s efforts, there is no guarantee that political exigencies will not tempt them again to change course. Paradoxically, the Bangladesh-India relationship is part of the equation between the two Bengals that is subject to all the emotional vicissitudes captured by Muzaffar Ahmed’s two-hookah analogy compounded by the village-city complex. Dhaka may long ago have far outstripped Calcutta, as rich Bangladeshis never tire of reiterating, but objective fact does not exorcise subjective reaction rooted in the past. If Bangladeshis had not been so mercurial, Inder Kumar Gujral would not have warned, when he was in office, against buying Titas gas direct even from Hasina Wajed’s government, suggesting that only a multinational middleman could absorb shocks. New Delhi’s insistence even now on protecting the train and Mukherjee’s “as deep as it should be” are reminders of strictly limited expectations.

The emotional Bengali public is another matter. Large sections of it imagined in 1971 that Epar Bangla Opar Bangla were about to unite. Even if that hope was belied, they expected free travel without the fuss and bother of passports and visas. That, too, was just wishful thinking, as any Indian who had suffered the indignity of the foreigners’ registration office in Dhaka’s Lalbagh should know. Bangladeshi uniforms have replaced Pakistani uniforms, but the men inside are still the same.

Some caveats must be entered. There has always existed in Bangladesh a substantial, reasonably liberal constituency that harbours only friendly feelings for India. Greater interaction, courtesy Maitree Express and other follow-up forms of communication, may strengthen this lobby and help to dissolve Bangladeshi reserve. On the other hand, too many people from Calcutta, especially non-Bengali traders, may again arouse economic fears. Also, the understandable and unavoidable ambivalence of Bangladeshi Hindus, about 9 per cent of the population, is a permanent irritant. The Maitree Express is an attractive idea, but no one should be surprised if it turns out to be a train to nowhere. #

Sunanda Datta-Ray could be reached at sunanda.dattaray@gmail.com

Let them eat spuds: potatoes - the world's new staple

ANDREW BUNCOMBE

AS THE Bangladeshi army is ordered to march on potatoes rather than rice, Andrew Buncombe investigates whether the humble tuber, so popular in the West, can really help alleviate the global food crisis

When the order came down from the top brass of Bangladesh's armed forces it sounded like a joke. Some of the soldiers and sailors who were told that from now on their daily rations would include increased servings of potatoes almost certainly did not take it seriously either.

But in a country where rice is overwhelmingly the staple dish, this was no laughing matter. With Bangladesh and the rest of Asia gripped by a rice crisis that has sent governments into panic, last Friday's announcement by the military that it was turning to the potato to supplement its troops' rations was for real. "The daily food menu now includes 125g of potato for each soldier irrespective of ranks," it said.

But it is not just in Bangladesh that the humble spud is being turned to for help. With world food prices soaring and with riots breaking out everywhere from Egypt to Indonesia, experts believe that increased use of potatoes could provide at least part of the solution. Easy to grow, quick to mature, requiring little water and with yields two to four times greater than that of wheat or rice, the potato is being cultivated more in an effort to ensure food security, agronomists say.

Such are the hopes being placed on the tuber that the UN named 2008 the International Year of the Potato. "As concern grows over the risk of food shortages and instability in dozens of low-income countries, global attention is turning to an age-old crop that could help ease the strain of food price inflation," said the world body.

"It is ideally suited to places where land is limited and labour is abundant, conditions that characterise much of the developing world. The potato produces more nutritious food more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop."

The emergence of the potato as a potential solution to global hunger comes amid mounting concern about the increased cost of food around the world. The price of rice, wheat and cereals has soared in recent months, as a result of the increasing price of oil, rising demand and uncertain supplies. Many countries have been forced to take special measures to protect their food supplies. India, for instance, recently banned the export of rice except for its premium basmati.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, expressed his own concern about the mounting food prices at globalisation talks in Africa this weekend, saying they posed "a threat to the stability of many developing countries". Meanwhile, the UN's food envoy, Jean Ziegler, went much further, saying they were leading to a "silent mass murder" that he blamed on the West.

Mr Ziegler said that growth in bio-fuels, speculation on the commodities markets and European Union export subsidies meant the West was to blame for the problem. "Hunger has not been down to fate for a long time – just as Marx thought. It is rather that a murderer is behind every victim. This is silent mass murder," he told the Austrian newspaper, Kurier am Sonntag.

"We have a herd of market traders, speculators and financial bandits who have turned wild and constructed a world of inequality and horror. We have to put a stop to this."

Against such a stark backdrop, the global challenge being presented to the potato by its champions could hardly be tougher. And yet, already the potato is quietly going about its business, often in places that one might not normally associate with it. Indeed, around the world it is the third most-produced crop for human consumption, after rice and wheat.

Take China. Already the world's largest producer of potatoes, the country has set aside large areas of additional agricultural land in an effort to increase their cultivation. India has told food experts it wants to double potato production in the next five to 10 years while Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are also working to increase the area under cultivation for potatoes. Belarus currently leads the world in potato consumption, with each inhabitant eating an average of 376lb a year.

In the north-east Indian state of Nagaland, which borders Burma, local authorities are working with NGOs to develop quick-maturing potatoes that can be grown between the region's two rice harvests. It is seen as an additional source of food rather than a replacement and the NGOs are working with the communities to educate people about the benefits of the potato and how to grow it. (Could the chip butty become a Nagaland delicacy?)

The root of civilisation The potato was first cultivated 7,000 years ago by the Incas in Peru and the name is thought to have derived from the Indian word batata. The Incas revered them and buried them with their dead. Spanish conquistadors in search of gold discovered the vegetables in Peru in 1532. They used them on their ships to prevent scurvy. It was not long before farmers in the Basque region began to grow them and the potato spread across Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. It wasn't a smooth path, however. Most people knew more of the potato's disadvantages – the crop hails from the same family as deadly nightshade – than they did of its considerable benefits. The Orthodox Church in Russia rejected it outright as it was not mentioned in the Bible. Potatoes arrived in England towards the end of the 16th century. Although popular legend has it that Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the crop to England, it is more likely that English pirates stole it as booty from Spanish ships. The nutritious vegetable caused a population explosion in Europe, especially in Ireland. But the failure of the Irish crop in 1845 led to a devastating famine. In 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. - Claire Ellicott

In Peru, where the potato was first cultivated, a doubling in the price of wheat in the past year has led to the launch of a government programme to encourage bakers to use potato flour rather than wheat flour to make bread. As part of the scheme, potato bread is being given to schoolchildren, soldiers and even prisoners in a hope that it will catch on. At the moment, there is a shortage of mills that are able to make potato flour.

"We have to change people's eating habits," Ismael Benavides, Peru's agriculture minister, told Reuters. "People got addicted to wheat when it was cheap."

Meanwhile, in Latvia, a sharp increase in the price of bread in the first two months of the year saw sales fall by up to 15 per cent. To make up for the Latvians' shortfall in calories, sales of potatoes increased by around 20 per cent during the same period.

The potato was first cultivated 7,000 years ago high in the Andes close to Lake Titicaca. There are at least 5,000 varieties of potato, of which more than 3,000 are found in the mountains. Ranging in colour from plaster-board white through yellow to aubergine purple, the tuber retains huge practical and cultural significance in South America.

It was taken to Europe by the Spanish, who apparently first encountered it in 1532. Documentary evidence suggests that by 1573, potatoes were already being sold in the markets in Seville. It arrived in India some time afterwards, possibly brought by the Portuguese who seized Goa. Known in Hindi as aloo it is the basis of a number of famous Indian dishes, such as the potato and cauliflower curry aloo gobi.

Experts say the potato has great nutritional value. It is a source of complex carbohydrates which release their energy slowly and have just 5 per cent of the fat content of wheat. They have more protein than corn and nearly double the amount of calcium. They also contain iron, potassium, zinc and vitamin C, and were eaten by sailors in previous centuries as a guard against scurvy.

And yet, for all its nutritional wonders and easy-to-grow charms, the potato seems to suffer from an image problem. It may have to do with the awfulness of the Irish famine, when the crop failed as a result of potato blight and perhaps a million people starved, their fate and suffering exacerbated by the continued export of other foods to England. Perhaps, too, it is linked to the early aversion Europeans had to the potato; when it was first brought back from the New World it was used mainly as a feed for cattle.

"The thing is that in the West we take the potato for granted," said Paul Stapleton, a spokesman for the International Potato Centre, a non-profit group based in Peru that has been working with governments around the world to develop faster-maturing strains of potato. "We just go to the supermarket and buy a bag or else we'll have fish and chips on a Friday night on the way back from the pub."

Speaking yesterday from Lima, Mr Stapleton said he believed potatoes could help solve not just the current food crisis but also the challenges of feeding a world with a population that is growing by 600 million people every 10 years. "It can help with the current crisis and with the population that is coming," he said. "There are no more areas to plant rice or wheat. What is going to happen as the population increases? Either we are going to increase yields of what we are already growing or use marginal land. The potato is perfect for that."

Analysts say that while the price of other foods has increased sharply, one factor that has helped potatoes remain affordable for the world's poorer people is that it is not a global commodity that attracts the sort of professional investment that was so damned by the UN's food envoy, Mr Ziegler. Around 17 per cent of the 600 million tons of wheat produced every year are traded internationally compared to just 5 per cent of potatoes. As a result, potato prices are driven mainly by local tastes rather than international demand, they say.

In such circumstances, the scientists in Lima believe it is in the developing world that the potato will reach new heights. From Kenya and Uganda to Nepal and Bangladesh, they envisage increased cultivation of potatoes and a situation where farmers will grow them either as cash crops to sell in the market or else to feed their families. "The countries themselves are looking at the potato as a good option for both food security and also income generation," said the centre's director, Pamela Anderson.

Confronted by such a challenge, could this really be the time of the potato? #

First published The Independent, London, United Kingdom, April 21, 2008

A food crisis further complicates the army's exit strategy

Photo: Bags to fill before they eat

A different sort of emergency

OUR POLITICIANS were corrupt, but we had enough money to buy food," says Shah Alam, a day labourer in Rangpur, one of Bangladesh's poorest districts, nostalgic for the days before the state of emergency imposed in January last year. He has been queuing all day for government-subsidised rice. Two floods and a devastating cyclone last year, combined with a sharp rise in global rice prices, have left some 60m of Bangladesh's poor, who spend about 40% of their skimpy income on rice, struggling to feed themselves.

In the capital, Dhaka, a debate is raging about whether this is a famine or "hidden hunger". The crisis is not of the army-backed interim government's own making. But it is struggling to convince people that the politicians it locked up as part of an anti-corruption drive would have been equally helpless. They include the feuding leaders of the two big political parties, the former prime ministers Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League.

The state of emergency, imposed to silence riotous politicians and repair corrupted institutions, can barely contain the growing discontent. This week thousands of garment workers went on strike for higher pay to cope with soaring food prices. The crisis has emboldened the political parties, which have been calling more loudly for the release of their leaders.

The army's main headache is Sheikh Hasina, whose party is widely expected to win the election. Her detention on corruption charges has made her more popular than ever. Senior leaders of the League say it will boycott the election if the courts convict her. The threat might be empty. But it is a risk the army cannot afford to take. The patience of Western governments, which backed the state of emergency, is wearing thin. Human-rights abuses continue unabated. And they fear the political vacuum might be filled by an Islamist fringe, whose members this week went on a rampage to protest against a draft law giving equal inheritance rights to men and women.

The election will almost certainly take place. And, unlike in the past, rigging it will be hard. Bangladesh has its first proper voters' list. Criminals will be banned from running. But to hold truly free and fair elections, the army will need to reach an accommodation with the parties. There is talk of a face-saving deal allowing Sheikh Hasina to go abroad for medical treatment, in return for a promise that the League will not boycott the election. Hardliners in the army will not like it. But they have largely been sidelined. With food prices likely to remain high and rice yields half those of India, Bangladesh desperately needs to secure food aid, investment and trade.

It also badly needs to sustain the rising flow of billions of dollars in remittances, which have lifted millions of Bangladeshis out of poverty. This complicates the government's stated plan of considering prosecution of those who assisted the Pakistani army in a campaign that left 3m Bengalis dead in the country's liberation war in 1971. Saudi Arabia, which accounts for 40% of total remittances, objects to an international war-crimes tribunal. If the two big political parties had their way, a large number of leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, would stand trial.

It appears unlikely that the army will walk off the pitch and let the politicians run the country without altering the rules of the game. The interim government has already approved, in principle, the creation of a National Security Council, which would institutionalise the army's role in politics. Last month the army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed, extended his term by one year in the "public interest". His term now runs out in June 2009. But many Bangladeshis still doubt that he will go down in history as that rare general who gave up power voluntarily. #

First published in The Economist, London, Britain, April 17, 2008

Bangladesh's long wait for justice

Photo: Bangladeshi authorities claim that three million people were killed, while a Pakistani government investigation put the figure as low as 26,000 civilian casualties

TONY BIRTLEY in Dhaka

"Some things that happened are reminiscent of the Holocaust. This is a never ending list of atrocities, violence beyond imagination"
- Dr M.A Hasan, War Crimes Fact Finding Commission

HE STOOD rigid like he had seen a ghost which he probably had. His face was expressionless, devoid of emotion, belying the inner turmoil that Tapan Kumar Das was obviously wrestling with.

We stood at culvert number 337, one kilometre down the tracks from Saidpur railway station, a small Bangladesh town close to the Indian border.

It was the first time 62-year-old Kumar Das had stood here since that day, June 13, 1971. Within a few minutes it all came flooding back to him. And the story he told me made me understand why he had never come back since.

During the war of Liberation with Pakistan he was rounded up along with another 430 men women and children, all of them Hindus.

Their captors were fellow Bengalis, but Muslim supporters of Pakistan who were fighting against secession.

The train slowed to a halt, he told me, and then Hindus were brought out of the carriages.

"Men with swords and knives were waiting," he said. "And they were crying 'help me help me, save me save me, oh god save me' but no one there, no one there. They killed us one by one. Only 21 people, 21 young men we jump from the train and narrowly escaped."

Das said that Pakistani soldiers were waiting on the other side and opened fire as he and the 20 young men ran.

Family lost
He has never forgotten what happened, forgiven those who did it, nor travelled on a train since.
Das says he lost 13 members of his family that day including his father, elder brother, uncle and cousins, cut down by swords and bullets in a preplanned execution.

His story is but a small part of a greater picture of horror that happened during nine bloody months as the war of liberation was won with the help of India and the nation of Bangladesh came into being.

But it came at a terrible cost.

According to Bangladeshi activists up to three million people were killed by Pakistan and its local allies. Pakistan denies the allegations and claims just 25,000 people were killed.

The full story of what happened those 37 years has largely been suppressed, in part by international manipulation during the Cold War era, and in part by delicate domestic politics and concerns.

This could change however. There is a growing momentum within Bangladesh for pressure to get an international war crimes tribunal convened to try those accused.

Evidence collected
A group called the War Crimes Fact Finding Commission was started a few years ago to collate evidence.

"Some things that happened are reminiscent of the Holocaust. This is a never ending list of atrocities, violence beyond imagination" said Dr. M.A Hasan one of the leading members of the commission.

His brother was killed during the war and he has devoted 19 years of his life to the pursuit of justice.

"We have tried for reconciliation. If the perpetrators, if they don't open their minds how can you forgive, how can we get dialogue," he said.

"They need to open their minds and confront the truth or they should feel guilt and then the victim can say we push for reconciliation."

There have been half hearted moves before to get justice but these all petered out.

But this time however, there is added momentum with the backing of a group of formers senior military officers known as the Sector Commanders Forum.

"We cannot have reconciliation without truth, we cannot base reconciliation on falsehood so we want the truth and truth can only come out through trial so we want the truth, we want the light, we want to come out of the darkness we are living today," A.K. Khandker, retired air vice-marshal, said.

He was a sector commander in the Pakistani army in 1971 and said he saw how civilians were brutally murdered.

But Khandker says that he and other officers were spurred to join the calls for a tribunal because of what he calls "the denials and lies" being offered by some about what happened in 1971.

War crimes
The Fact Finding commission has documented thousands of incidents of alleged war crimes, taken thousands of statements from survivors and eye witnesses and collected video and photographic evidence.

It has resulted in a total of 1,600 people being official accused of war crimes. This number includes 456 Pakistani soldiers as well hundreds of locals who fought with Pakistan.
These include some from major Bangladesh religious parties, some of whom have served in government as ministers. But the accusations are completely denied.

Abdur Razzaq is a London trained barrister who is also assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islam.

He said: "These are mere allegations. The onus is on them to prove these allegations. As far as we are concerned it was a political decision, we have never been involved with any of those crimes.

"Yes we supported Pakistan but we are not involved with any of the crimes - rape, murder or looting, and no one has bee convicted."

Up until recently, there was little to show for that dark period; a few monuments but no official museum. It has been left to a few private individuals to start their own Museum of the War of Liberation, containing memorabilia from that period including human skulls and bones of victims.
Akku Chowdhury is trustee of the museum.

"There were people didn't know about the liberation war, they didn't even know about the genocide because there was a systematic policy of erasing that part of history after 1975," he told Al Jazeera.

"So due to that vacuum we decided to start this museum so that at least we could show to the new generation how the nation was born, what price we had to pay for this flag, for this independence."

Rape allegations
There are many examples of the human price that was paid.

Hasina Begum remembers 1971. She says she was wounded by Pakistani soldiers who shot dead her mother and then smashed her two young brothers into a wall until dead.

"As they burst into our room my father said 'it is the end of the universe' and we started to read the Quran" she said while wiping tears from her eye.

"The Pakistani soldiers were like devils. I only survived because I played dead."

It is claimed that 450,000 women were raped during the nine months of hostilities.

Some committed suicide, others had abortions. Those who gave birth gave their babies up for adoption in countries like Canada and the United States. Few received any counselling or help. Some were even shunned by the conservative society.

That is what happened to Butul Rani. She says she was taken to Dhaka prison by Pakistani soldiers and was raped twice in three days. She was 13 years old.

"If I had a weapon I could have killed them" she said.

"Every human being has got some dignity and after I was raped my dignity was destroyed. Many people said unkind things after the incident."

It is clear that a growing number of people feel the dignity of Bangladesh has suffered because no has been held accountable for what happened all those years ago.

UN tribunal
The only way for the damage to be repaired is for a United Nations tribunal to be convened.

A.K. Khandker, a former air vice-marchal, agrees.

"If the United Nations is involved for this trial, the trial will carry credibility and second thing that once the United Nations is involved no political party coming into power will be able to stop it or cancel it," he said.

That has happened in the past but the momentum this time may be too much for any political party to stop.

"Those who are responsible for killing three million people should be behind bars," Shahriar Kabir, a writer and journalist, said.

"The important thing is criminals should face the trial, they should be punished so that such crimes cannot be repeated."

But, standing on the railway tracks at Saidpur, Tapad Kumar Das, fears that justice may be put off once more.

"They must come before the law," he said almost pleading. "Justice, yes justice. If not they will come again, they will organise and come again. No doubt".

Before the UN can consider setting up war crimes tribunal there must first be an official request from the government.

Bangladesh will not have a government to replace the current emergency caretaker administration until next January, but many parties are already indicating they will include the issue of a tribunal in their mandates.

It is not certain if Bangladesh will get justice and its day in court. But until it does it will be difficult for many to move on, away from the memories of the terrible cost that was paid for the birth of a nation. #

First published in AlJazeera

Bangladesh military chief Gen. Moeen's Potato Philosophy

RIPAN KUMAR BISWAS

ALTOGETHER THIRTEEN courses were served at the lunch following the army chief's meeting with the national editors at the army headquarters on April 8, 2008. The menu included potato soup, French fries, potato corn curry, potato kopta curry, potato roller gravy, potato with spinach, potato malai curry, potato navaratna, potato pudina, and potato pulse.

The key to a successful lunch meeting is making people feel comfortable. During the lunch, the army chief made a 5-point appeal to the press to help bring down prices of essentials, hold credible elections, encourage people to diversify their food habit, improve the rule of law and security and highlight rural news. Behaving graciously throughout the meal, he stressed the need for the nation to consume potatoes alongside rice to alleviate the food crisis and requested the press to spread the slogan “potatoes alongside rice every day (Bhater pashe aloo protidin)” throughout the country, which is according to him, already a common slogan in the army itself.

According to a new WB-IMF report from Washington through a video conference connecting Dhaka, New Delhi, and Islamabad on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, sharp rise in food grain prices in recent times will worsen poverty situation in most of the South Asian countries including Bangladesh, leaving UN development goals (fixed in the UN Millennium Development Goals, a set of eight globally agreed development goals, by the given timeframe) by 2015 in the developing countries uncertain. As there's a lot of fear and greed out there, the Philippines, the largest rice importer, recently urged China, Japan, and other Asian nations to attend an emergency meeting on the region's food crisis to try to reverse export curbs that have driven prices to a record. Governments of those countries are getting afraid of unrest.

Shortage of supply, international price-hike, extreme weather events, and government incompetence are responsible for the present food price hikes. According to the economists’ suggestion, country should try hard to increase the supply of the most demanded commodity and in the mean time divert the food habit to an unmet demanded commodity for the time being.

Potatoes are best known for their carbohydrate (approximately 26 grams in a medium potato). Starch is the predominant form of carbohydrate found in potatoes. A small but significant portion of the starch in potatoes is resistant to enzymatic digestion in the stomach and small intestine and, thus, reaches the large intestine essentially intact.

Many critics felt sad as one of the General from the independent Bangladesh now recommended eating potato. They might recall the history while the then late General Ayub Khan once advised the East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) people to eat bread instead of rice. But everybody should have to keep in mind that the time is totally different as the then East Pakistani people had been advised or forced to change their mother language, their heritage, their culture, and their nationalism.

Potatoes contain a number of important vitamins and minerals. A medium potato (150g/5.3 oz) with the skin provides 27 mg vitamin C (45% of the Daily Value (DV)), 620 mg of potassium (18% of DV), 0.2 mg vitamin B6 (10% of DV) and trace amounts of thiamine, riboflavin, foliate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc. Moreover, the fibre content of a potato with skin (2 grams) equals that of many whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals. In addition to vitamins, minerals and fibre, potatoes also contain an assortment of photochemical, such as carotenoids, and ploy phenols.

A single serving of a potato can provide a person with 40% of the daily value needed of vitamin C; this will help keep the body from bruising easily. Also, the potato can give 20% of the potassium needed for the body each day; it is a needed element for everyone. It helps stabilize the body when it is being over worked. Though not likely to cause serious harm, green skinned potatoes can taste bitter and may result in temporary digestive discomfort.

The potato, a name derived from the Native American Indian word "Batata," was first cultivated by the Inca Indians in Peru over 7,000 years ago. It was introduced to Europe around 1700 and subsequently by European mariners to territories and ports throughout the world. Historical and genetic evidence suggests that the potato reached India not very much later than Europe, taken there by either the British or the Portuguese. Genetic studies show that all 32 varieties of potato grown in India derive from the Chilean subspecies. The earliest unequivocal reference to the potato in India is in an 1847 British journal.

In recent decades, the greatest expansion of potato has been in Asia, where as of 2007 approximately eighty percent of the world potato crop is grown. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, China has become the world's largest potato producer, followed by India. Potato is the world's most widely grown tuber crop, and the fourth largest food crop in terms of fresh produce — after rice, wheat, and maize (corn).

Last year, eight million tons of potatoes were produced in Bangladesh but there is capacity of preservation of only two million tons. According to the army chief, eating potato will not only help to reduce sharp rise of food grains but also potato growers will get fair price and will be encouraged to cultivate potato next year.

The United Nations have officially declared the year 2008 the International Year of the Potato in order to “increase awareness of the importance of the potato as a food in developing countries.”

Of course, there is nothing tasty, traditional, or important in compare to rice and people of Bangladesh cannot take anything instead of rice. But potatoes are one of the most nutritious staple crops discovered by man and can be habituated along with rice. #

First published on April 16, 2008, New York Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York. Ripan.Biswas@yahoo.com

The original sin: Justice for 1971 crimes

Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

Dr. AHMED ZIAUDDIN

BANGLADESH STILL has not dealt with its past and past never left her. For any society, traumatized by serious crimes and widespread victimizations, dealing definitively with past is critical, or else, it will hunt present and future. A tormented society cannot just be expected to forget or even forgive, unless ways are found to bring the society to terms. In nearly four decades, Bangladesh has failed to reconcile with its past, an “original sin” according to a noted commentator.

Societal victimizations have innate characteristics. It also victimizes succeeding generations. It would be wrong to assume that passing off those directly victimized would lessen traumas, pains, grievances of their successors. It would not. Only “justice” guarantees compressive closure and that is what is preciously needed now in Bangladesh.

If the current Caretaker Government has its way, it's not likely to take steps to initiate the process of long denied and demanded justice for 1971 crimes. In that case, the Government risks being accused of exploiting sensitivities of 1971 for short-term political gains, like many of its predecessors. The Chief Advisor and Chief of Army, two key players of the current administration, early in their regime, in a synchronized way, raised spectrum of expectations of justice. That opened up torrents of pent-up feelings and emotions of pains as well as hope that those responsible would finally be brought to account and victims get justice.

Crimes of 1971
It's very difficult to decipher how in Bangladesh “War Crimes” and “War Criminals” became only issue to denote 1971. All campaigns, for justice or otherwise, organizations, newspapers and other medias, commentaries “exclusively” focus on War Crimes. It is as if, only one crime was committed in Bangladesh in 1971. Trial of War Criminals is the only call that emanates from Bangladesh today and this excessive focus on War Crimes has enabled those allegedly responsible, to spin and play around legal technicalities of definition of War Crimes.

In reality, most victims in Bangladesh in 1971 were victims of Genocide and Crimes against humanity, two most abhorrent crimes known to the world. National, ethnicity, racial and religion determined fates of victims of 1971.

Pakistani military and their local cohorts intentionally targeted Bangalees, to destroy in part or whole, because of their national, ethnical, racial identities. Others were exclusively targeted because of their religion, such as Hindus. Once transposed, such facts neatly fit the Crime of Genocide as defined in the Genocide Convention of 1948 and the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973.

The next crime, which victimized large numbers of other victims, was Crimes against humanity. In short, international laws, it means, widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with the knowledge of attack. In other words, Crimes against humanity are large-scale attacks, and inhumane acts against or persecutions of civilians. In 1971, most victims were unarmed civilians and not armed combatants. For those carrying weapons, different laws apply but under no circumstances, civilians could be targeted.

So, it's very important to keep in mind while demanding justice for crimes committed in 1971, that one particular crime is not overemphasized so that it becomes synonymous to 1971.

Highest criminal responsibility
Anyone who has committed any of these crimes or ordered, solicited, induced, facilitated, aided, abetted, incited or contributed in any other way in furthering the criminal activity with the knowledge, should be individually held accountable. However, it's important that attention is given to those in superior authority, who planned or organized or ran criminal organizations like Al Badr, bore highest criminal responsibility, and should be pursued in all earnest. Bringing those to justice with higher criminal responsibility should thus be made a priority.

Duty to prosecute
Investigation and prosecution is not an “option” for a State but a “duty” under international and national laws for international crimes like Crime of Genocide, Crimes against humanity, War Crimes etc. The Government as the authority of the State, is obliged to “prevent” the commission of Genocide in the first place, and committed, investigate and then prosecute those responsible.

In regard to Bangladesh Genocide, this is preciously what the Government of Pakistan said in its case against India concerning Trail of Pakistani Prisoners War on 11 May, 1973. Pakistan filed a case on that day before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the judicial organ of the UN that mainly resolves disputes between its members and is based in The Hague, Holland, to prevent India from transferring 195 POWs accused of Genocide, Crimes against humanity and War Crimes to Bangladesh for trials in Bangladesh.

In its application, Pakistan maintained that “Pakistan has an exclusive right to exercise jurisdiction over one hundred and ninety-five Pakistani nationals or any other number, now in Indian custody, and accused of committing acts of genocide in Pakistani territory, by virtue of the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948, and that no other Government or authority is competent to exercise such jurisdiction.”

Pakistan further said, “That the allegations against the aforesaid prisoners of war are related to acts of genocide, and the concept of “crimes against humanity” or “war crimes” is not applicable.” In other words, Pakistan accepted that 195 POWs, who were top ranking military leaders in Bangladesh, committed “acts of genocide” and thus reinforcing what Bangladesh has always maintained. Pakistan's sojourn to the World Court, however, failed as India did not recognize jurisdiction of the ICJ.

Unfortunately, despite admitting Genocide before the International Court of Justice, Pakistan negated from its claim to investigate and prosecute of those of its nationals for committing Genocide, and so also Bangladesh, whose nationals were victims and on whose territory, crimes were committed. The losers, at the end, were those millions of victims.

The Government of Bangladesh thus cannot circumvent its duty to investigate and prosecute crimes of 1971 on any pretext, such as, failures of previous Governments, or shortages of time, or on other grounds. Obligation to investigate and prosecute is a duty that the Government cannot withdraw from and further perpetuate culture of impunity that is so endemic in Bangladesh.

Two laws, same crimes
Why Bangladesh adopted two different sets of laws for the same sets of crimes committed in 1971 has since been an enigma.

The first legislation, proclaimed within weeks of liberation of Bangladesh on 24 January, 1972, the Presidential Order no 8, titled the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972, was designed to prosecute “certain persons, individuals or as members of organizations, directly or indirectly have been collaborators of the Pakistan armed forces, which has illegally occupied Bangladesh by brute force, and have aided and abetted the Pakistan armed forces in occupation, in committing genocide and crimes against humanity..” etc. In other words, the law was for prosecution of collaborators.

The other one passed a year and half later on 20 July 1973, the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, was to try and punish any member of “armed forces, defence or auxiliary forces” who committed seven major crimes, including Crimes against humanity, Genocide and War Crimes. It baffles many, why it took so long to enact this law, purportedly to judge main protagonists of these crimes, while within five weeks after victory from occupations; laws were ready to try locals!

The two laws dealt with collaborators and members of armed forces differently for committing very same crimes. In fact, no members of armed forces were ever brought under the International Crimes Act 1973, while several thousand collaborators were brought under the net.

This duality, apparently with no plausible justifications, essentially went against an important principle of law, equal treatment under law, and as a result, when final batch of 195 POWs were allowed to return to Pakistan, for whom the International Crimes Act 1973 was primarily meant for, then the Collaborators Order lost some of its edge. If there was one law, for the crimes committed in 1971 and given adequate constitutional protection, perhaps that law would have played more significant roles.

Non-prosecution or amnesty
Several Special Tribunals under Collaborators Order processed numerous cases and leading members of East Pakistan Government headed by Dr. M.A. Malik were convicted. Senior Jamaat leaders were also convicted for participating and collaborating in crimes. Many more were being investigated and thousands of others remained detained.

The Government, on 16 May, 1973, for the first time, declared clemency to certain categories of persons who had been convicted for or charged with the offences under the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972. On November 30, 1973, the Government made second announcement of clemency to those who had been convicted or accused of offences under the Collaborators Order, except those accused of murder, rape or arson. The en mass release was premised that this would contribute to national reconciliation but in reality, it had exact opposite effects.

There was no consultation of any sort with victims of 1971 crimes, who lost most and thus, the proverbial first seed of the 'original sin” was planted though this unilateral decision. Not only small fries but big fishes then wiggled out of prison because of corruption, favouritism and misuse of powers.

The amnesty order was also legally flawed, in that, only the President of Bangladesh under Article 57 has been authorized to grant pardons to “convicted” persons, not those accused or under trial. Under the misnomer of amnesty, the Government in fact stopped all prosecutions, did not press charges further and released others. It acted illegally in releasing those convicted.

If analyzed, it transpires that what happened was, in absence of better expression, non-prosecution, where the Government decided not to pursue complaints. This was in no way clemency or amnesty, and therefore, successive Governments are under no legal obligations not to prosecute because this amnesty order. This amnesty order in no way is a hindrance to initiate investigations against those freed. Moreover, another similar order could easily replace that amnesty order.

Approaches followed
Nobody could imagine seismic effects of Genocide, Crimes against humanity and War crimes on lives, properties and future of Bangladesh. The new Government just could not get grips over tsunami of pains and sorrows. Victims were helped in some ways but mostly left to fend for themselves. Many new civil society actors emerged and organizations formed, but nobody organized the victims that would have given them some voice. There was no “policy” produced to deal with victims and aftermaths of Genocide and a Liberation war.

In some ways, however, Bangladesh, even in absence of a policy, victim's organizations or effective consultations, made attempts to deal with consequences. It picked up local collaborators to avoid private vengeances. Law to prosecute and punish collaborators was brought in, and Special Tribunals started to operate.

Some key individuals were stripped of their citizenship; a strategy though received initial supports, was legally flawed. Such disqualifications were not made as a part of punishment, after a legal process, but done with executive fiat. All such disqualifications were subsequently reversed.

Amnesty, perceived to be panacea of reconciliation, simply collapsed on weights of injustice. Those beneficiaries of amnesty or non-prosecution, regrouped, eventually re-energized and mounted opposition to very ethos of Bangladesh, a liberal and secular society. Today's Islamists are by and large same individuals, believing in same ideologies, and belonging to same organizations that benefited reconciliation gesture.

Virtually nobody received compensation in a meaningful way, nor was lost properties restored. Obviously, there was no question of reparations and victims then forced to pick-up themselves and move on. Some monuments and mausoleums were constructed, symbolizing struggles and sufferings. Even within victims, some sort of artificial hierarchy emerged though marking of Intellectual Martyrs

Day on each 14th December, while million other victims have not got such a day for collective grievances and reflection. As yet, Bangladesh doesn't commemorate a Victim's Day or even a Genocide Day.

Conclusion
Those who thought that with disappearances of victims, calls for justice would also die. They could not be more. Now the nation united in calling for justice for crimes of 1971. The past has returned with force, that many tried to bypass.

Bangladesh has to deal with its past, and now, or else, schism and fault lines developed on 1971 would further widen. The wounds are too deep to heal without justice.

All out efforts should be made to organize victims of Genocide and other crimes of 1971. Victims should be reminded that their pains are felt and shared by all. Victims should also be made center of all activities and all approaches should be victims centric.

Without prosecutions, there would be no healing. In post conflict societies, peace only comes with justice. The Government of Bangladesh cannot shrink off its responsibilities, if it aims at a democratic, developed and peaceful Bangladesh. It has to fulfill its obligations, without which, all aims will remain elusive. Experiences around the world tell us, justice is the best healer and that; there is no peace without justice. #

First published in the Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 29, 2008 The writer is international law expert and can be reached at Bangladesh Center for Genocide Studies, Belgium

Kissinger's 1974 Plan for Food Control Genocide

JOSEPH BREWDA

ON DECEMBER 10, 1974, the U.S. National Security Council under Henry Kissinger completed a classified 200-page study, "National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests." The study falsely claimed that population growth in the so-called Lesser Developed Countries (LDCs) was a grave threat to U.S. national security. Adopted as official policy in November 1975 by President Gerald Ford, NSSM 200 outlined a covert plan to reduce population growth in those countries through birth control, and also, implicitly, war and famine. Brent Scowcroft, who had by then replaced Kissinger as national security adviser (the same post Scowcroft was to hold in the Bush administration), was put in charge of implementing the plan. CIA Director George Bush was ordered to assist Scowcroft, as were the secretaries of state, treasury, defense, and agriculture.

The bogus arguments that Kissinger advanced were not original. One of his major sources was the Royal Commission on Population, which King George VI had created in 1944 "to consider what measures should be taken in the national interest to influence the future trend of population." The commission found that Britain was gravely threatened by population growth in its colonies, since "a populous country has decided advantages over a sparsely-populated one for industrial production." The combined effects of increasing population and industrialization in its colonies, it warned, "might be decisive in its effects on the prestige and influence of the West," especially effecting "military strength and security."

NSSM 200 similarly concluded that the United States was threatened by population growth in the former colonial sector. It paid special attention to 13 "key countries" in which the United States had a "special political and strategic interest": India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. It claimed that population growth in those states was especially worrisome, since it would quickly increase their relative political, economic, and military strength.

For example, Nigeria: "Already the most populous country on the continent, with an estimated 55 million people in 1970, Nigeria's population by the end of this century is projected to number 135 million. This suggests a growing political and strategic role for Nigeria, at least in Africa." Or Brazil: "Brazil clearly dominated the continent demographically." The study warned of a "growing power status for Brazil in Latin America and on the world scene over the next 25 years."

Food as a weapon
There were several measures that Kissinger advocated to deal with this alleged threat, most prominently, birth control and related population-reduction programs. He also warned that "population growth rates are likely to increase appreciably before they begin to decline," even if such measures were adopted.

A second measure was curtailing food supplies to targetted states, in part to force compliance with birth control policies: "There is also some established precedent for taking account of family planning performance in appraisal of assistance requirements by AID [U.S. Agency for International Development] and consultative groups. Since population growth is a major determinant of increases in food demand, allocation of scarce PL 480 resources should take account of what steps a country is taking in population control as well as food production. In these sensitive relations, however, it is important in style as well as substance to avoid the appearance of coercion."

"Mandatory programs may be needed and we should be considering these possibilities now," the document continued, adding, "Would food be considered an instrument of national power? ... Is the U.S. prepared to accept food rationing to help people who can't/won't control their population growth?"

Kissinger also predicted a return of famines that could make exclusive reliance on birth control programs unnecessary. "Rapid population growth and lagging food production in developing countries, together with the sharp deterioration in the global food situation in 1972 and 1973, have raised serious concerns about the ability of the world to feed itself adequately over the next quarter of century and beyond," he reported.

The cause of that coming food deficit was not natural, however, but was a result of western financial policy: "Capital investments for irrigation and infrastucture and the organization requirements for continuous improvements in agricultural yields may be beyond the financial and administrative capacity of many LDCs. For some of the areas under heaviest population pressure, there is little or no prospect for foreign exchange earnings to cover constantly increasingly imports of food."

"It is questionable," Kissinger gloated, "whether aid donor countries will be prepared to provide the sort of massive food aid called for by the import projections on a long-term continuing basis." Consequently, "large-scale famine of a kind not experienced for several decades—a kind the world thought had been permanently banished," was foreseeable—famine, which has indeed come to pass. #

First published as part of a feature in the December 8, 1995 issue of Executive Intelligence Review

Baitul Mukarram showing sign of Lal Masjid of Pakistan

Photo: Three members of Islamist outfits beat up a policeman, two with the snatched shotgun and helmet while the other with a bamboo stick, after the cop fell behind his retreating colleagues who chased the agitators near Baitul Mukarram National Mosque yesterday. Courtesy The Daily STAR


SHAMIM CHOWDHURY

The efforts of law enforcing agencies to seize weapons are commendable; these confiscations will delay the next rounds of attacks, and save many lives. But unfortunately these efforts are not sufficient to mitigate militancy; identifying the sources of weapons of the militants and breaking these networks is imperative to defeat the militants. The sooner the government addresses these issues, the better; delay will only make these issues more difficult to deal with. Let us hope that it is not too late already.
Quoted from Dr. Ali Riaz, Associate Professor of Politics and Government at Illinois State University. His most recent book is: Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh: A Complex Web (London: Routledge, 2008). His other books includes God Willing: The Politics of Islamism in Bangladesh (Rowman and Littlefield, 2004)

THERE is reason for every conscious people to be worried about which direction Bangladesh is moving. In absence of interim government’s inability to handle Islamist bigots creating a situation where people have to take the law into their own hand to challenge the mullah’s plan to turn the country backwards, slid into a state of Taleban.

Jamaat-e-Islami, the lead Islamic radicals are burning not just the cars and motorcycle, but also beating law enforcing officers. The Islamic radicals set the prayer rugs of Baitul Mukarram on fire. Mercilessly beat Muslim devotees who went to the mosque for prayer. It happened not just in Dhaka but also in Chittagong. Followers of Islami Chattra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Isalmi attacked police station and a mosque without any provocation.

Baitul Mukarram mosque seems to reflect what happened at Lal Masjid in Islamabad, Pakistan last year. Baitul Mukarram, a landmark of the Dhaka city is no longer a place for worship. It has turned into place for agitation by radical Muslims. The place was first used by Mullahs in 1974 to agitate against Daud Haider’s poem published in Sangbad. Later it became the centre for Jamaat-e-Islami expressing their Islamic grievances after they became majority of the Baitul Mukarram managing committee. This is a national mosque, and the devotees should claim to return it back.

I will ask civil society, forward looking political organization, women’s right organization, Islamic organization, especially Sector Commanders Forum to declare Baitul Mukarram our national mosque free of bigots. Call for a special national prayer session in Baitul Mukarram and return the mosque to Muslim devotees. Take oath to fight one last time to free this country from religious bigots. These are the same people who killed our brother, sisters, fathers and mother in 1971 in the name of Islam. These are the same people who raped our women and handed them to brutal Pakistani military force.

Progressive political parties have to take a stand on this issue; nation wants to know where they stand. If they fail to take a stand in favour of fifty percent population of the country then they have no right to ask out vote.

Civil Society irrespective of creed, gender, religious belief and political identity have to make demand similar to what Sector Commanders Forum pressed that political party declare that they will not associate with religious bigots and will pass women’s equal right act if they voted to power. I will urge the civil society to boycott any political entities that will not come forward in favour of women’s equal right.

I also request Nobel Laureate Dr. Yunus who’s Nobel peace prize is a direct benefit of our disadvantage women. He would not have won the prize without the efforts given my women in the goal for empowerment. Why is he not speaking up? Unfortunately he also did not take any position on the pressing issue faced by the nation. Specially when political stability of the country was falling apart, because of incompetent president Dr. Iajuddin's anti-constitutional move, it was Dr. Yunus who came out to support him and asked Iajuddin not to listen to anyone and go forward with blue print election.

When half of the population is women who are the Mullahs to deny equal rights to women.

It is the woman who earns the maximum foreign currency of the country giving their sweet and blood working 12 + hour shift in a garments industry, who are these people who wants to stop them from their legitimate equal right?

It is the women, who contributes in agro-economy and it is because of women-farmers our agriculture sector is growing more and more, keeping pace with the population growth. Male farmers only farms. On the other hand the female farmers not just farms but is responsible for preservation of seeds, barns and preparation for sale of food stocks. In addition they take care of well-being of entire family. Then what is the problem with the Mullahs?

Every citizen who has expressed solidarity with Bangladesh and believes in the constitution of the country has to abide by it. Our constitution gives the equal right to all citizens. Bangladesh government who took oath under this constitution have to uphold it and protects it. If they fail to protect the integrity of the country, which was achieved from the sacrifice of millions of martyrs, surely we will protect the nation on their behalf.

Let us walk together out of darkness toward the light. #

Shamim Chowdhury writes for different Bangladeshi listserves and blogs. He lives in Maryland, USA