The west is afraid that the Bangladeshis might vote to power the party that may not be as responsive to their demands as they would like. Demands meaning hunting terrorists, nurturing secularism, and further opening up the economy, weakening the state in Bangladesh by allowing foreign penetration of state institutions – financial, organizational, ideological and otherwise, writes Anwara Begum.

ANYBODY afraid of Virginia Woolf? Probably not, she is dead; her books could still scare control freaks though. It seems pretty much everybody is afraid of Bangladesh or Bangladeshis. I can see the reader frowning but I am sure s/he will agree with me a little later. No matter how oppressed we feel, how persistently we are hounded, how blatantly we are subjected to deprivation (with the help of our parasitic elites) and how childishly our politics and economy are disturbed, we are said to be the reason of fear. We arouse fear in others who would love to see us ape them and become their carbon copies (we can never be their equal but be only copies, subordinate, dependent copies, so they can shape and reshape us like the creator). Alas, copies are not real! We arouse fear on so many counts that most Bangladeshis must be feeling that they are a curse (?) on the globe. It is not just outsiders but also some forces inside Bangladesh with strong linkages with outsiders who are afraid of us.

But the truth is it is the dominant who suffer from or create such a fear syndrome. The whites portray the blacks as muggers, drug addicts, even murderers, and then fear them. The capitalist media creates fear about the workers who thoughtlessly (?) go on strike and create mayhem in the streets; the upper caste fears the lower caste seeing it as dirty, ugly, and always scheming to break out of control. Whole religions can be branded oppressive and their followers feared as terrorists or potential terrorists. There is fear created around the figure of the ‘criminal’ and ‘woman’. Such fear is part of the strategy of constructing the dominated, the marginal, or the oppressed as the ‘other’. It demonizes them and legitimizes (and invites) strict control or repressive domination over them. Ethno-linguistic minorities are subjected to such dehumanization, of course. Many references can be given on the issue but I will just provide two: The Birth of Whiteness: Race and the Emergence of U.S. Cinema; edited by Daniel Bernardi; Rutgers University Press, 1996; Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media; Routledge, 1994.

The west and India, the copycat
LATELY everyone seems afraid of the probability that a fair enough election might be held. What if a fair enough election is held after all and the party you do not like comes to power? In other words, what if the Bangladeshis vote for a party you do not like? I have heard Bangladeshi analysts and observers express concerns that election result engineering will take place in addition to some electoral frauds.
The west is afraid that the Bangladeshis might vote to power the party that may not be as responsive to their demands as they would like. Demands meaning hunting terrorists, nurturing secularism, and further opening up the economy (as if the economy could be opened up any further), weakening the state in Bangladesh (the state hardly got a chance to form, really) by allowing foreign penetration of state institutions – financial, organizational, ideological and otherwise. These demands ensue from the old paradigm that produced the failed policies against so-called Islamic terror, the devastating wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the horrific economic crisis worldwide. Ask any average citizen of this country – a rickshaw-wallah or a vendor – he would advise the west to take a deep breath and a moment to ponder; the westerners played games with the world and since they were the hegemon and messed up seriously with the globe they need to control their interfering minds and hands.
It is not just the west that is afraid of us but India as well. India is afraid that Bangladesh is fast becoming a breeding ground of terrorists without the Bangladeshis having any inkling of it! It is afraid that the Bangladesh economy might try to be autonomous (and who knows what will happen if the economy does develop and gains autonomy?) unless it is swamped by Indian goods. So beggar thy poor neighbor. We Bangladeshis seem to have a crooked collective mind as well. That’s why we would love to destabilize (?) India by protecting its separatist elements. Talk about blaming others for one’s own policy failures!
Average Indians do not get to watch our TV program’s; I wonder if there is a fear that they might like and admire Bangladeshi program’s. Some young people have told me that the Indian youth love Bangladeshi band music and they don’t let visiting Bangladeshi bands get off the stage. The average Indian citizen really would not have any problem admiring Bangladesh. The problem lies with the policymakers, the bureaucratic implementers, media high-ups, meaning the Indian elites. There are other fears of course. One of them being Bangladeshis playing havoc with the Indian economy just by a few of them walking across the border into India!
What do all these fears do? They create the penchant to intervene in Bangladesh politics and economics just like a traditional imperial power. I know some of my theoretical purist readers would be annoyed and say ‘Come on! The Indians are non-western, non-white people. How can they behave like the white Europeans?’ I don’t want to answer the question directly. This is a pity of course. India is a non-western and non-white power now. It was a colony before. India has grown in power and economic ability but has remained an obedient student of the old European (American) world – the knowledge that world produced, the findings it spread, the paradigms it used. About a year back, I asked my former teacher, a famous American sinologist, if Chinese scholars were thinking about alternative paradigms for international relations. He mentioned that he was involved in preparation for a major seminar and found ideas about alternative theoretical frameworks from potential Chinese participants. I am sure serious Indian scholars have done work on ‘different’ ways of seeing inter-state relations that would promote peace, cooperation, and reduce conflict not only in our region but beyond it as well.
It might sound like repeating a cliché but there has indeed been a lot of progress in science and technology and globalization has created linkages that have brought countries closer. Consequently, it seems, we all now live in glasshouses that are fragile and vulnerable. Mutual respect and admiration may take us a long way rather than wielding a big stick (that is used against the black or the brown ‘other’). Too much faithful learning from our former (and current, in my opinion) colonial masters simply cannot be good for our socio-econo-political health. India being a non-western emerging power has to reckon with this and try to offer some fresh thinking rather than following word for word the old world’s thinking on international relations forcing its neighbors to wish they lived on a different planet. Some unlearning needs to take place, indeed.
Bangladeshis do not have any problems admiring India for its economic progress and they are genuinely hurt to see Indians attacked and dying. That is only normal. Bangladeshis also do not like India to ignore our legitimate, elected leaders and gang up with western powers to intervene in Bangladesh politics and economics with the aim to control this country and choke off its democratic aspirations. Bangladeshis are a wonderful people: talented, resilient, tolerant, and brave. We have our indigenous secular trends. Those who know Bangladeshis well would have a hard time believing that this country could suddenly slip into the grasp of religious fundamentalists. So much money has been scattered to create a discourse suggesting religious fundamentalism is spreading in Bangladesh that one needs real courage just to point out that it is practically/politically impossible because of what I call ‘the identity construction’ efforts of our two major political parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party with solid blocks of followers, let alone the flexible nature of Islam in Bangladesh.

The army, bureaucracy and halo around them
Fear is being instilled in the army and the bureaucracy about their own country. It is difficult enough to establish civilian/political supremacy over these two institutions even under ideal circumstances (ask any scholar from developed or developing countries). The British should know well; they produced the famous sitcom ‘Yes, Minister’. It is even more difficult when foreign forces directly access these institutions and woo them to see Bangladeshis as violent, rowdy, unpredictable, and in need of strict control.
The state in this post-colonial society is in a formative phase. The past two years, an alliance of the army, bureaucracy, civil society elements, and foreign forces governed Bangladesh using a suffocating, autocratic emergency rule. I am not a ‘decolonization believer’ and I do not believe that the Third World countries were decolonized, the sacrifices of our nationalists notwithstanding. The term post-colonial society is more for facilitating communication; the developing countries are still colonized and often such bureaucratic-military alliances are invoked to take over power and discipline the people who are about to cross limits like unruly children (?). It is very difficult for weak Third World states – functioning, as they do, in an extremely harsh and militarized world order which encourages strict domination and control over non-western territories and non-Western people – to maintain civilian control over the bureaucracy and military. The west, the US to be more specific, has used such bureaucratic-military alliances to suppress and repress Third World people on a regular basis. More often than not ravenous trans-national capital has been a part of this alliance. The post-January 2007 Bangladesh shows the parasitic civil society has become an eager partner. Historically, the army interventions have always had civilian involvement. Some civilian quarters – conservative politicians/capitalists fearing labour power, for instance – invited the army, almost always with US backing.
It is extremely important, for a country like Bangladesh, to safeguard the integrity of state institutions like the bureaucracy and the military and have civilian control over them. The political parties must form a rock solid consensus on this issue. This is needed for our own good as well as for the good of these institutions. We do not have the luxury of being European countries which can get economic help from the US and which did not have to worry about their defence. I know, reader, Europe felt controlled by the US during the cold war and the US did intervene in the internal politics of European countries – in West Germany, for instance, in the early 1960s, to isolate Chancellor Konrad Adenauer after the treaty between West Germany and France was signed in January 1963. Still, we do not call European countries developing or underdeveloped countries, do we? Our journey to development is different in nature and far more difficult, to be honest.
The degree of elitism surrounding our bureaucracy and army is nothing less than unhealthy. I call it the halo surrounding these institutions which alienates them from the people of this country whom they are supposed to serve and protect. The halo has to be dismantled. These institutions need to reckon with the fact that their higher education and training do not locate them on a pedestal from which they can look down upon the average citizen and expect reverence. Just like any other institution of this country they belong to Bangladeshis and must learn to identify with the trials and tribulations of the common people. A soldier or an army officer has no reason to think that he has somehow acquired a special status. Isn’t each and every citizen expected to make the supreme sacrifice when his/her country is in danger? The average Bangladeshi is fighting, struggling each and every moment of her/his life for freedom, livelihood, and cultural independence and this struggle should not be seen as somewhat of a lower quality compared to fighting wars or manning borders. And it should be regarded with the utmost respect.
We can hear fear expressed of the next parliament. This fear of course is the disguised efforts to control the representatives. This government has approved some one hundred and five ordinances and it wants to talk about the approval of these with the two leaders. Why such haste and why such tyrannical concerns about controlling the parliament? I am sure the parliament, whichever party wins the election, would like to consider the ordinances and then think about approving them through open deliberation. If it thinks most of them would be useful for the country it will pass them. This authoritarian tendency to manipulate the parliament even before the election is held is dangerous, to say the least. It will frustrate the efforts to attain openness in the political system and will strengthen the culture of secrecy. It challenges our efforts to institutionalize the legislative process.
The election should be fair and acceptable. The parties, election commission, bureaucracy, and military need to do their level best so an acceptable election is held and we can veer away from uncertainty and destructive chaos. Can the media figure out a way of playing a constructive role so any plan or efforts to subvert even part of the election process can be uncovered? The foreign forces have done enough of ‘playing God’ and messing up other people’s political and economic systems; there has to be a stop. This severe world economic crisis should point at their own limitations and remind them that they, like us, are only human. It would be helpful if they could make it understood to different forces that they support a fair election and would respect the results.
To all concerned: There is no need to be afraid of Bangladesh. How about admiring it?
Anwara Begum is a professor of political science at Chittagong University.

Source:

http://www.newagebd.com/2008/dec/29/edit.html#2

Introduction

The History of RAW

The Structure and Function of RAW

RAW’s Role in Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka

Covert Action in Afghanistan, Pakistan

Relations with the CIA

Weaknesses in RAW

A sensational American report has confirmed the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s most powerful intelligence agency, was directly involved in the secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh, and is currently engaged in similar activities. RAW has a long history of activity in Bangladesh supporting both secular forces and the area’s Hindu minority, masterminding the break up of Pakistan in 1971, says the report made available to the News Intelligence Network (NIN) The report has been prepared by the innocent sounding Federation of American Scientists (FAS), a group which is however engaged in analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy concerning global security, especially about countries which have nuclear capability.

It is a privately funded non-profit policy organisation, whose Board of Sponsors includes 55 American Nobel laureates. FAS was originally founded as the Federation of Atomic Scientists in 1945 by members of the Manhattan Project, who produced the first atomic bomb. RAW is extensively engaged in disinformation campaigns, espionage, sabotage and terrorism against Pakistan and other neighboring countries, reveals the sensational secret report. It also gives details of the truly alarming involvement of RAW in terrorist activities in Pakistan. The report reveals the involvement of RAW in Bangladesh dating from the 1960s, when it promoted dissatisfaction against Pakistan in the then East Pakistan, including funding Mujibur Rahman’s general election in 1970 and providing training and arming to the Mukti Bahini. The report claims an estimated 35,000 RAW agents have entered Pakistan at various times between 1983-99, with 12,000 having worked in the past or working presently in Sindh, 10,000 in Punjab 8,000 in North West Frontier Province and 5,000 in Balochistan. “As many as 40 terrorist camps are currently operating at Rajasthan, East Punjab, [occupied] Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of India and are run by RAW’s Special Service Bureau [SSB],” the report reveals. The report further confirms that throughout the Afghan War, RAW was responsible for the planning and execution of terrorist activities in Pakistan to deter Islamabad from supporting the Afghan liberation movement against India’s ally, the Soviet Union.

“The assistance provided to RAW by the KGB enabled RAW to arrange terrorist attacks in Pakistani cities throughout the Afghan War,” the report says. “The defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan did not end the role of RAW in Pakistan, as it established training camps in East Punjab, [occupied] Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan where agents are trained for terrorist activities,” it reveals.

It further says that RAW has become “an effective instrument of India’s national power, and has assumed a significant role in formulating India’s domestic and foreign policies.” RAW, according to the report, has enjoyed the backing of successive Indian governments in these efforts. Working directly under the Prime Minister, the structure rank, pay and perks of the Research and Analysis Wing are kept secret from parliament.

“Current policy debates in India have generally failed to focus on the relative priority given by RAW to activities directed against India’s neighbours versus attention to domestic affairs to safeguard India’s security and territorial integrity,” the report says. It points out that RAW has had limited success in dealing with separatist movements in Manipur and Tripura in the northeast, Tamil Nadu in the south and Punjab and Kashmir in the northwestern part of the country.

RAW, it adds, has failed to neutralise freedom fighters in Kashmir and similar indigenous movements in Kerala, Karnataka and other places, along with economic and industrial espionage activities in New Delhi and Bombay. Giving a background of the intelligence agency, the American report says RAW was set up in 1968 “specifically targeted on Pakistan”.

Pakistan, the report says, has accused RAW of sponsoring sabotage in its Punjab province, where it has been supporting the Seraiki movement, “providing financial support to promote its activities in Pakistan and organising an International Seraiki Conference in Delhi in November December 1993″. It adds: “RAW has an extensive network of agents and anti-government elements within Pakistan, including dissident elements from various sectarian and ethnic groups of Sindh and Punjab.”

According to it, India is funding the current upsurge of terrorism in Pakistan “and has been behind the sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis, which has resulted in thousands of deaths in the last few years.” Terrorist activities in Pakistan attributed to the clandestine activities of RAW in the report include:

A car bomb explosion in the Saddar area of Peshawar on 21 December 1995, which caused the death of 37 persons and injured over 50 others.

An explosion at Shaukat Khanum Hospital on 14 April 1996, claiming the lives of seven persons and injuries to over 34 others.

A bus traveling from Lahore to Sahiwal was blown up at Bhai Pheru on 28 April 1996, causing the deaths of 44 persons on the spot and injuring 30 others.

An explosion in a bus near the Sheikhupura Hospital killed nine persons and injured 29 others on 08 May 1996.

An explosion near Alam Chowk, Gujranwala on 10 June 1996 which killed three persons and injured 11 others.

A bomb exploded on a bus on GT Road near Kharian on 10 June 1996, killing 2 persons and injuring 10 others.

On 27 June 1996, an explosion opposite Madrassah Faizul Islam, Faizabad, Rawalpindi, killed 5 persons and injured over 50 others.

A bomb explosion in the Faisalabad Railway Station passenger lounge on 8 July 1996 killed 3 persons and injured 20 others.

Another startling claim made by the American report is that it was RAW that was behind the hijacking of an Indian airliner to Lahore in 1971, “attributed to the Kashmiris, to give a terrorist dimension to the Kashmiri national movement”.

The report continues: “During the course of its investigation the Jain Commission received testimony on the official Indian support to the various Sri Lankan Tamil armed groups in Tamil Nadu,” the report reveals. From 1981, RAW and the Intelligence Bureau, according to the report, established a network of as many as 30 training bases for these groups in India. Centres were also established at the high-security military installation of Chakrata, near Dehra Dun, and in the Ramakrishna Puram area of New Delhi.

The report says that RAW and the Ministry of External Affairs are provided Rs. 250 million annually as “discretionary grants” for foreign influence operations. “These funds have supported organisations fighting Sikh and Kashmiri separatists in the UK, Canada and the US,” it says.

It further reveals: “An Extensive network of Indian operatives is controlled by the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC whose covert activities include the infiltration of US long distance telephone carriers by Indian operatives, with access to all kinds of information, to blackmail relatives of US residents living in India”. Citing an example, it says that in 1996, an Indian diplomat was implicated in a scandal over illegal funding of political candidates in the US. Under US law foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to federal elections.

The US District Court in Baltimore sentenced Lalit H. Gadhia, a naturalised US citizen of Indian origin, to three months imprisonment. Gadhia had confessed that he worked as a conduit between the Indian Embassy and various Indian-American organisations for funnelling campaign contributions to influence US lawmakers. Over US $46,000 from the Indian Embassy was distributed among 20 Congressional candidates. The source of the cash used by Gadhia was Devendra Singh, a RAW official assigned to the Indian Embassy in Washington, the report says. It adds that illicit campaign money received in 1995 went to Democratic candidates including US Senators Charles S Robb (D-VA), Paul S. Sarbanes (D-MD) and US Representatives Benjamin L Cardin (D-MD) and Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) — (May 24, 1998).

Source:

http://indianterrorism.bravepages.com/RAWterrorism.htm

http://www.fas.org/irp/world/india/raw/index.html

Saudi Arabia being the custodian of the holy places has a tremendious opportunity to reshape the muslim world. The muslim world actually looks up to Saudi Arabia for leadership and guidance. Unfortunately they failed to materialize the dreams and aspirations of the people of the world. With billions of petro dollars they can actually make a lot of difference to any poor country. Consider this..if Saudi Arab picks up one country as an example and starts investing only 1 billion dollars each year and employes thousands of people from that country, I believe it will change the country considerably. It might take only 5/7 years to move that country from a least underdeveloped country to a middle income country. Thats a powerful influence this any country could do to any where in the world as much as like America.

Here are couple of things that it can do to broaden its  image in the muslim world:

1. Take a firm stand in the somalia crisis and take leadership if necessary.  We have seen what American intervention can do.

2. Intervene in the Lebanese crisis for greater good and not to create division between the Sunni and Shia’s.

3. Take charge of the OIC leadership which is nothing but a place to chat and gossip.  Create a real meaningful platform to do anything good.

4.  Stop its reliance on American for its Foreign Policy decision and start acting independently and distance it self from USA to show the world its not a stooge of America.

5.  Foster greater relationship with other Muslim countries specially Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia and create a diverse force to awaken with.

6.  Put greater imphesis on Transfer of Technology for its technological areas of work and be self reliant on Technological achievement like Iran or Malaysia.

7.  Build a strong army, navy and airforce with diverse knowledge base and equipment. Relying on USA and western powers only will not be good in the long run.

8.  Make  education compulsory for its people upto the Bachelor level and create an education fund to help other muslim nations.

9.  Diversify its income from oil and look for alternative economic potentialities.

10. Build atleast 3/4 nuclear power plants for energy security.

11. Finally like America give immigration to couple of millions of muslims to create a diverse knowledge based people. Immigration brings knowledge, culture and diversity which made American the greatest nation in the world. Free Advertising

The recent news coming from Bangladesh is a bit disheartening and deserves a closer look. First the election held on Aug 4th, 2008 failed to bring considerable changes that the people have hoped for. The election brought back almost 65% of the peoples who had questionable criminal records. According to Brotee http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=49473, the educational qualification of the candidates was not at the expected level and they crossed the spending level by almost 200% and bought some of their votes. Secondly, the High court release of corrupt politicians and business personalities http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=49319 are making a mockery of the justice system of Bangladesh. Thirdly, the heavy politicized High Court of Bangladesh ruled against EC about holding the Aug 4 election in a not partisan way and made the election of Aug 4th as a political one. All these along with other minor and major changes in the government is making everyone to think that the much anticipated changes that people have hoped for is getting rolled back and the same corrupt people is coming back in a new fashion and bottle. The present CTG is giving an impression that they become weak and trying to get out of the way as soon as possible by holding a election that will put back some of the old guard that the people tried to get rid of instead of making this country as prosperous as it can get.

I guess it all started happening after the resignation of Barrister Moinul Hossain, who was actually doing great work for the country than harm. The eminent lawyer Dr. Kamal Hossain was another true patriotic force who was also trying to progress this country for the good and bring accountability for the nation. The present CTG needs to look at its recent decisions closely and make a farm decision & correct steps. After all the whole nation is looking at them for positive results and they have the support till now.

AL and BNP are two of the biggest political parties in Bangladesh. Together they control almost 80% of the votes. Nevertheless after the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 and subsequent bad rules by AL and BNP has put a dent on peoples mind about their true intentions. Together AL and BNP ruled this country for almost 27-28 years and rest of them by military rulers. I have to say if the military rules were not bent on ruling the country on their own, they would have been the ultimate benefactor of people of Bangladesh. After 1/11 of 2007 and its subsequent handling of the country, the military has shown extreme restraints and is doing an Excellent job in bringing the much anticipated reforms in Bangladesh.

Still a lot has to be done, particularly with in the big political parties. Years of misrule, disgust, corruption, nepotism, negative attitudes has tarnished the image of this two big parties to a great extend. Again an election without this two main parties might be unthinkable, if we can not find an alternate solution to their demise. May be the fault was to rely on the corrupt & Inept begums in Bangladesh or what ever that may be, for a sustainable democracy the country can not depend solely on two individuals. The country needs to proceed on its own and find suitable, charismatic, expert leaders for its development. I have to congratulate the European Union for their positive comments about Bangladesh and point out, that Election 2008 in Bangladesh can happen even if these two political parties boycott it out of their whims.

Lets hope the scenario does not happen but if that happens, we should be happy that when the election is over and a new government is in place, we are on our way to a more democratic institution that is not dependent on, or polarized solely by two political parties. We have a new beginning for this impoverished country and people are more patriotic, proud, disciplined and love this country more than anything else.