Not me, Rahul. I am a proud Bengali and a Bangladeshi, and I never felt that these two identities clash with each other!Rahul M wrote: it may interest you that the BDs, especially those that are meant in your post always refer to themselves as bangladeshis and frown when they are called bengalis, in an effort to distance themselves from the bengali speaking population of India.
Chandragupta, I think it's becoming a stretch. Using your own logic and text, I can very well claim that no matter what we Bangladeshis do, we'll always be subjected to "Completely ungrateful people", "Muslims will always stick with their own kin" ... such words. Every nation has its sides, and more so for an ideologically divided nation like ours. So if anyone searchs for dirt from their point of view, there's always plenty on one side. And as expected, the followers of Piggistan (I love this name!Chandragupta wrote:It's only a matter of time before the BD media & public opinion goes anti-India & starts blaming India & RAW for the massacre. Completely ungrateful people, these Bangladeshis. Proves that no matter how you treat them, no matter where they are, Muslims will always stick with their own kin, in this case, the Pigs from Piggistan.
) have come out with RAW conspiracy theories and they now find more blame with the AL govt's handling the situation than the murderers who did the killings in the first place. But you cannot paint the whole country in one brush.I would also like to know his definition of a "low class". Low economic class, I presume? Or does he mean the families of peasants and beggars have taken over the country now? No personal offense to you intended, but your relative is a fool ... and seems to have a very narrow knowledge of 'his/her' own country. Is it his class superiority or dynasty superiority complex, I don't know, but it sure sounds like one. Yes, the mass migration of Hindus and the 1971 killings (both Hindus and Muslims) were devastating, but to deduce that there is no culture or education left in the country is utter rubbish. There is not enought time or space on this forum to refute such arguments, but I wish I could face this person myself to have a chat or two.g.sarkar wrote:Raybabu,
Unfortunately, there are no "angels" in Bangladesh. I am related by marriage to a Bangladeshi and have had contacts to many Bangladeshi here in the US. From them I gather that Mujib ultimately was a fool that let his guard down and allowed power to go to his head. He always promoted corrupt cronies over more competent people. He took instantenous Tughlaki decisions that were not planned properly. This turned everybody against him. In the end he had no friends left. Even his supporters did not mourn him in the US. My relative tells me (and he belongs to the majority community in Bangladesh) that the mass migration of Hindus and the killings of educated people in Bangladesh by the Pakistanis has left the country without much talent. Only, "low class" (his words) people have survived and prospered. They have no culture, background or education. Only a generation back these people were plain peasants and beggars. They are now in top, becoming officers in the army and their uncles are ambassadors in the different capitals of the world. They are ready to sell themselves to anyone for a small sum of money. He relates an incident of a failed coup started by the BD airforce that was financed by Col. Gaddafi for just 5 million dollars. Right now money is flowing into Bangladesh from Saudi Arabia and given to Islamic parties. The result can be seen in the streets with girls in hijab and men in flowing beards. With the Hindus gone from their land, they have only to bite each other in fraustration and blame India for all their misfortunes. The last point is very important. Most Bangladeshis that I know hate themselves and their country, and when they see India's prosperity they hate India with a singlemindedness. India should stay out of their affair, as whatever they did, they will be blamed for BDs state of affairs. India has nothing to gain there. Build the fence around BD even a meter higher than that has planned and keep them away.Gautam
Thank you Bangla(desi) bhai.Finally, I second g.sarkar's last sentence (underlined). Finish the goddamn border fence already!!! That will take care a lot of your and our own problems.
I agree that this fight is far from over. The generation that oversaw the creation of the country (our fathers' generation) were probably best equipped to resolve this crisis in the new country - but it has only widened during that time. May take few more generations, I'm afraid.brihaspati wrote:I support Shafqat's assessemnt of Bangladeshis. But I would qualify this with the feeling that social strength is not always measured by numbers. A small group of elite can dominate a society by various means, and I would say that the balance of forces in favour of Bengali nationalism and cultural identity is slightly weaker or evenly balanced against the forces of theologians and their networks among the elite including the most significant elite of BD - its political elite and the military. Over time the Bengali nation may finally emerge out of its profound dilemmas about Islam, Pakistan and "Bangaliana/Banaglittwa" but the confusions and the debates and the conflicts are still far from over.
This sentence stuck me....precisely the reason I feel BDR CANNOT be disbanded.... but OTOH how would you separate the wheat from the chaff???!!!Shafqat wrote: Worst case, it also opened the possibility of recruitment of the 'right' people in the future and may have already strengthened 'the other side'.
... But seeing the AL track record of corruption I dont see anything good happening 
That should read: Welcome back to the forum.RayC wrote:Shafqat,
Welcome to the forum.
Actually the identity if Bangladeshis as Bengalis is not a very old one. Before The partition occurred, the identity of the two main groups living in east Bengal were "Bengalis" and "Mussalman". It was much later that the Muslims of East Pakistan started calling themselves "Bengalis". To be more precise,they became Bengalis when Urdu was forced upon them. Bhasa andolan is not very old as far as the life time of a nation goes. I would refer you to articles written by Annada Shankar Ray, who had written some articles on this topic in Sharadiya Desh Patrika.Shafqat wrote: Not me, Rahul. I am a proud Bengali and a Bangladeshi, and I never felt that these two identities clash with each other!
But yes, there are such people ... just to make my position clear w.r.t. to those
No Sir, my definition of low class has nothing to do with economics. I thought my thoughts were clear, but if you still chose not understand, then let me try one more time. Low class is when you start growing a long flowing beard and tell me that only a Muslim can go to "Behest"! Low class is when you start peppering your sentences with "Alhamdullilah", "Inshallah", when you are talking to a Hindu in Bengali. As you write, the killings of Hindus by the Pak army was devastating. But that was for the Hindus. For the Bangladeshi Muslims it was good riddance, and an opportunity to take over their land and property. The number of Hindus have fallen in Bangladesh, because they do not feel secure there, with their life, their property and their faith. And they have voted with their feet. Now, as I said my relative is a part of the Majority community there, that is the code word for being a Musalman. If you think he is a fool then it is just your opinion, every one has one like an A.H. I think he is just being honest. And he is not the only one that has told me about the situation there. Historically, most of the educational institutes in East Bengal was founded by the Hindus living there. From the time of Ayub Hindus were targeted. During the time of Yahya all Hindus and educated Muslims were targeted for destruction. There is nothing controversial about this, every one knows this. The problem is this Mian: You have already formed an opinion. To know more of Bangladesh, you need to learn history. From the time of Ayub, history is no longer taught in Pakistani schools. So, a chat will not help. You need to unlearn a lot of stuff that you have assumed to be correct.Shafqat wrote: I would also like to know his definition of a "low class". Low economic class, I presume? Or does he mean the families of peasants and beggars have taken over the country now? No personal offense to you intended, but your relative is a fool ... and seems to have a very narrow knowledge of 'his/her' own country. Is it his class superiority or dynasty superiority complex, I don't know, but it sure sounds like one. Yes, the mass migration of Hindus and the 1971 killings (both Hindus and Muslims) were devastating, but to deduce that there is no culture or education left in the country is utter rubbish. There is not enought time or space on this forum to refute such arguments, but I wish I could face this person myself to have a chat or two.
Like Stan has devoted time and resources to understand the dynamics of this debacle, I would encourage the readers (those who haven't yet) to devote a little more time to know more about the society before believing others' stupid words. Most of your comments about the political systems and the local and 'foren' parties at play are correct. But such utter baseless personal opinions are dangerous.
I am not sure which Bangladeshis you are refering to here, but I believe I know more and most that I have seen are not like that. They do not hate themselves, and they do not hate their country either. They may choose to emigrate to the richer countries for a better economic future - but so may many Indians. They envy India's prosperity for sure, but only to be like that. They look at India's growth with an 'awe' (couldn't find the right word, I mean, surprise+commendation) and they wish they could replicate that. I mentioned in the other post, that the right-wing followers of piggistan are not like that as they always try to find the hand of 'evil India' in everything ... but apparently, they don't rule the country, do they? They ain't the majority either, as the elections clearly showed.
Old news from the 27th - http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... ?nid=77654
Seizure of various firearms and equipment on BDR Headquarters premises yesterday confused the army personnel and other investigators of the assassination of military officers. Besides, it is suspected that some members of the Rifles Security Unit (RSU) were also involved in the carnage, sources inform.
The sources say the personnel from various agencies including army, navy and fire service yesterday recovered several grenades, huge number of firearms, ammunition and other equipment including binoculars, walky-talkies and slings of SMGs. Recovery of two binoculars and the belts of SMGs confuses the army and others investigators as these are used neither by the Bangladesh Army and BDR nor by any other government agencies.
Lt Ashiquzzaman of Bangladesh Navy told The Daily Star navy personnel recovered an LMG, five SMGs, two rifles, one pistol, 30 loaded magazines, and 2,000 bullets. Other recovered explosives, arms and ammunition include 24 grenades, 16 walky-talkies, several thousand bullets of various guns, huge number of uniforms and shoes of the soldiers and their credit cards. Earlier, about 10,000 bullets and several firearms and grenades were recovered from the BDR Headquarters. Some other arms and explosives were also recovered from neighbouring areas. Sources say these arms, ammunition and explosives were left behind by the soldiers.
After recovering the arms and equipment, army officials exhibited those to the media at the hall room of Rifle Paribar Kalyan Samity (Ripoks) and the arsenal of BDR. They also let journalists observe all the places and recovered arms and ammunition and also answered their queries. Maj Awal said, "The two binoculars recovered in a search really confused us as these are used by neither the army, BDR and police nor any other government agencies in the country."
He suspects other parties imported these binoculars from outside. "The SMGs recovered are used by BDR but the belts are not, which is another mystery to us," Maj Awal added. He also said they recovered some walky-talkies which are used by RSU. "We suspect some field-level RSU members might have been involved in the carnage and they did not make aware their senior officials," Maj Awal said. "If they informed the blueprint of the conspirators, the incident could not have been so brutal."
Sources say a huge number of arms were found under the beds and pillows of the sepoys. Besides, most of the doors to the arsenal and the office of RSU and all the boxes of the firearms were found broken. Some of the army officials said they suspect the culprits might have left behind various other materials in the ponds. If the ponds are thoroughly searched it could be helpful in unfolding the mystery, they added.
Apart from this, personnel from the army and fire service dug out huge ashes from a hole at a place in between Ripoks and Darbar Hall. Maj Awal said the hole was dug out with the suspicion that it was a mass grave but no body was found there. "But this huge quantity of ashes hidden into the hole confused us," he said. "The CID investigation team would probe it whether the culprits have burned something important and later hid those in the hole."
Moreover, another mystery over the presence of two foreign nationals, a female and a male, inside the BDR headquarters was yet to be unfolded Witnesses say foreign nationals Tang Yunpeng, 30, and Xang Zhaoua, 28, came out of the BDR Headquarters in the afternoon on February 26. Sources say the reason behind their stay at the BDR HQ could not be known and they also did not make any comment on the condition during the hostage period.
Two confined Chinese nationals, Tang Yunpeng, 30, and Xang Zhaoua, 28, were also rescued at about 5:00pm yesterday. But the reason behind their stay in the BDR Headquarters could not be known. They also did not make any comment on the condition during held hostage.
Two Chinese women came out at around 5pm. They refused to speak to reporters, but their travel bag tags showed their names as Xang and Tang Yun Peng and had Feb. 4 stamped as their arrival date in Bangladesh.
At this stage, the puzzle is wtf were the Chinese doing inside BDR hq in Pilkhana? Were they a target for some showmanship? If so, was there a faction in BDA/BDR/RAB trying to squeeze the Chinese in decreasing the prices downwards and the rest was "friendly fire" -- or was the action in Pilkhana a multi-purpose one?
China will provide special preferential treatment for access of some Bangladeshi products to its market to reduce the prevailing trade imbalance between the two countries and cooperate in paving the way for implementation of the Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant. It assured cooperation in constructing two more bridges–Meghna and Gomti bridges–in Bangladesh. China will also consider Bangladesh’s request for engaging itself in the Bangladesh-Myanmar road link scheme meant for enhancing trade and people-to-people contact.
The assurances came during official talks between Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Great Hall of the People yesterday. It was hoped at the official talks that trade volume between the two countries would reach a targeted $5billion by 2010. The talks lasted about an hour, covering politics, trade and economic cooperation and investment as well as agricultural cooperation.
The chief adviser requested China’s involvement in Bangladesh-Myanmar road communications to connect Kunming of China with the trans-border road link and sought Chinese government’s cooperation in constructing a 111-kilometer road. Responding positively to Bangladesh’s request, the Chinese side said they would talk to Myanmar. Similarly, Bangladesh side said they would also carry it forward with Myanmar. The meeting emphasised tripartite meeting involving Bangladesh, Myanmar and China.
Responding to the request of the chief adviser, the Chinese side instantly declared that they would double the present number of Bangladesh’s student scholarships from 50 to 100. At the official talks it was told that China would send a delegation to Bangladesh over the matter of Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant. On investment, Bangladesh offered to set up a special economic zone for China. The Chinese side showed interest, saying that top Chinese companies will invest in Bangladesh. They also assured that China would extend cooperation in setting up North-West Fertilizer Company in Bangladesh.
The chief adviser said China’s technical know-how and Bangladesh workers and cheap labour force can make up a “win-win situation” for trade and investment for both the countries. Defence and technical cooperation between Bangladesh and China was also discussed and the two sides hoped that the cooperation would be further strengthened.
Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossian, CA’s Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim, Bangladesh Ambassador to China Munshi Faiz Ahmed and Secretary of CA’s Office Kazi Aminul Islam from Bangladesh side, while Chinese foreign minister, vice- minister of commerce, Chinese ambassador to Dhaka and assistant minister for foreign affairs were present at the official talks.
After the talks, an agreement on economic and technical cooperation and two memoranda of understanding (MoU) on hydrological information on the Brahmaputra river and on agricultural technical cooperation were signed. Foreign Secretary M Touhid Hossain and Bangladesh Ambassador in Beijing Munshi Faiz Ahmed and two vice-ministers and head of Agriculture Academy signed the agreement and MoUs on behalf of their respective sides. Chief Adviser Fakhruddin and the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao witnessed the signing ceremony.
The chief adviser also met Chinese President Hu Jintao and Vice-president Xi Jinping. The top leaders of the present-day economic superpower–its president, premier and vice-president–remarked that the Bangladesh-China friendship is “an all-weather friendship” that remains alive overcoming various issues. The Chinese rulers assured Bangladesh of all-out cooperation in accelerating its socioeconomic development.
They said the visit of the chief adviser will remain as a “milestone” in the friendship between Bangladesh and China. After the talks, Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and CA’s Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim briefed newsmen about the outcome of official talks, The chief adviser yesterday called on Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of People.
During the meeting, the Chinese president said Bangladesh-China relations are very excellent and based on comprehensive partnership of cooperation and the visit by Bangladesh’s chief adviser will further boost the existing ties. He appreciated Bangladesh’s support to China in successfully hosting the Beijing Olympics 2008 and Paralympics Beijing 2008. He also expressed gratitude as Bangladesh stood beside China during recent earthquake and sent medicines and tents and other relief supplies, which reflect the “deep friendship” between the two countries. The Chinese president assured all-out cooperation in socioeconomic development of Bangladesh.
I'm afraid I find your newer post more off the mark. Yes, I realized that your relative is a muslim, and that made me wonder even more. So basically it's his opinion versus mine. I don't care if Pakistani schools teach history or not, the ones in Bangladesh do, and my father taught history for 40 years. If growing up with thousands of history books didn't teach me anything about my own country, nothing else ever will. Maybe we can rest this discussion here.g.sarkar wrote:No Sir, my definition of low class has nothing to do with economics. I thought my thoughts were clear, but if you still chose not understand, then let me try one more time. Low class is when you start growing a long flowing beard and tell me that only a Muslim can go to "Behest"! Low class is when you start peppering your sentences with "Alhamdullilah", "Inshallah", when you are talking to a Hindu in Bengali. As you write, the killings of Hindus by the Pak army was devastating. But that was for the Hindus. For the Bangladeshi Muslims it was good riddance, and an opportunity to take over their land and property. The number of Hindus have fallen in Bangladesh, because they do not feel secure there, with their life, their property and their faith. And they have voted with their feet. Now, as I said my relative is a part of the Majority community there, that is the code word for being a Musalman. If you think he is a fool then it is just your opinion, every one has one like an A.H. I think he is just being honest. And he is not the only one that has told me about the situation there. Historically, most of the educational institutes in East Bengal was founded by the Hindus living there. From the time of Ayub Hindus were targeted. During the time of Yahya all Hindus and educated Muslims were targeted for destruction. There is nothing controversial about this, every one knows this. The problem is this Mian: You have already formed an opinion. To know more of Bangladesh, you need to learn history. From the time of Ayub, history is no longer taught in Pakistani schools. So, a chat will not help. You need to unlearn a lot of stuff that you have assumed to be correct.
Gautam
Thanks, Ananth.Ananth wrote:That should read: Welcome back to the forum.
shaf, I'm well aware that not all are like that, hence the bolded part.Shafqat wrote:Not me, Rahul. I am a proud Bengali and a Bangladeshi, and I never felt that these two identities clash with each other!Rahul M wrote: it may interest you that the BDs, especially those that are meant in your post always refer to themselves as bangladeshis and frown when they are called bengalis, in an effort to distance themselves from the bengali speaking population of India.
But yes, there are such people ... just to make my position clear w.r.t. to those
forum update reset the counter for all of us !The funny thing is, I am still shown as a BRFite-Trainee with single digit posts!!! Is this a tech glitch, or was my posting history purged somehow ... any clue?
Rishi ji,Rishi wrote:Chetak, what is your point? Or agenda?
but I have a point to makeAre these BD's employed by BD's... they are employed by 'us' for economic reasons.. cheaper, more gullible. Why blame the poor uneducated illegals, its we who are to blame. If ever, the GoI enacts laws that penalizes the employer, only then would migration stop.chetak wrote:BDs working on construction projects and taking away Indian jobs is the least of our problems, its what comes after.
I am sorry if I disappointed you. I was talking of undivided Pakistan, that included East Pakistan. During the time of FM Ayub Khan, when teaching of history was stopped in schools. The problem was that he did not want to include the history of Hindus in the school history books of Pakistan. That created some obvious problems. He solved it by removing history alltogether and teaching history only as a part of social studies. This way he could pick and chose the periods that were Islamic and relevant to his historic view point. I can very easily find out if the practice has continued in Bangladesh. Regarding resting the discussion here:Jo hukum Janab.Shafqat wrote: I'm afraid I find your newer post more off the mark. Yes, I realized that your relative is a muslim, and that made me wonder even more. So basically it's his opinion versus mine. I don't care if Pakistani schools teach history or not, the ones in Bangladesh do, and my father taught history for 40 years. If growing up with thousands of history books didn't teach me anything about my own country, nothing else ever will. Maybe we can rest this discussion here.
Any one knows about this person Touhidul Alam? His background etc?Deputy Assistant Director of the BDR Touhidul Alam who led a rebel delegation in talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been taken into custody while attempting to flee the country, said Nabo Jyoti Khisha, the chief of Lalbagh police station where a case has been filed.
I feel a very welcome developement is the 'parallel' investigation set up yesterday by the Army. This is being independently conducted by the army lead by the ex-head of the BDR.Sanku wrote: If so its a fairly big developments and if BD authorities are not trying to do anything fishy the truth should be out soon.
Meanwhile, an interesting development finally on. This may be why Saka Chowdhury might have been pissed with Sh. Hasina. Saka was suspected to be involved in shipping arms to ULFA in 2004. But some alert police official figured that arms were being shipped and stopped it. But the case was pushed under the rug by BNP government. Finally, five years later, Sh. Hasina government is dusting the file -- probably in revenge over BNP and Saka, not necessarily cos she loves India.
List of conspiracy theories, now in circulation in internet:
1. BNP did it to punish army for withdrawing its support from the party. Tareque may have financed it.
2. Jamaat did it as they don’t want the trial of war criminal to go on and this issue has now gone to back burner.
3. A section of military involved and they wanted to remove Moeen, but failed.
4. Pakistan’s ISI is desperate to kill Hasina because she is determined to go ahead with trying war crminals and Mujib’s killers.
5. Indian Raw and Israeli Mossad did it as they would like to turn Bangladesh into a vassel state, which is Jamaat’s pet allegation, and a section of military also supports this views.
6. Myanmar military did it for punishing BDR and military for sending ships during its oil exploration in the Bay of Bengal. (TV Channel Al Jajira came up with this wild speculation)
7. Smugglers joined hands with pro-ruling party politicians to ease strict restrictions on border smuggling.
8. Assam Liberation Front did it as they do not want it’s captive leader Anup Chetia, now in Bangladesh jail, to be handed over to India.
9. India (RAW) did it to take revenge of killing of its military forces during a battle in Padua in 1997.
10. Greater international conspiracy to turn Bangladesh into another Afghanistan as part of war on terror.
11. Hezbut Tahrir, a right wing party is behind this as it wants to establish Khilafat taking advantage of anarchy.
12. JMB did it to take revenge on RAB officials who successfully dismantled its networks and Bangla Bhai.
13. A new dark horse general is waiting in the wings to stage a coup to help secure interests of US, UK, EU and India. It is a plot to provoke military to topple the government.
14. A large number of slain officers served under CTG and they were posted at BDR during the current regime. They are now gone who could have been potential witnesses. {CTG stands for caretaker government}
15. A section of politicians, businessmen and media people are involved who wanted to teach both BDR and military for waging torture on them during CTG period.
16. Multinational oil companies are behind this as they want a weaker government, unable to protect its natural resources.
17. Some groups are determined to kill Hasina, Khaleda, and Moeen and they want to establish a new leadership.
18. This was done to justify the formation of the South Asian Task Force. {Duh!}
19. Military’s desire to institute National Security Council will be materialized through this massacre.
20. A grand design to have UN Peacekeeping Force in Bangladesh.
Two prime accused of a case filed in connection with the sensational Chittagong arms haul gave confessional statements before a Chittagong court yesterday. Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate Md Osman Gani started recording the confessional statements of the accused--Hafizur Rahman and Din Mohammad--under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) around 2:00pm.
It took around two-and-half-hours to record the 10-page statement of Hafizur Rahman and two-page statement of Din Mohammad. Sources said the accused provided new and important information regarding the haul of 10 truck-loads of weapons at Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd jetty on April 2, 2004. However, the contents of their confessional statements could not be known. Tight security was maintained at the court while their statements were being recorded. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had taken the two on remand in two phases.
The Bangladesh Rifles, a 67,000-strong paramilitary force, is deployed to secure the 4,427 kilometre frontiers of Bangladesh with India and Myanmar. This is in accordance with the Indo-Bangladesh Treaty which bars both countries from deploying army units to man the borders and provides for surveillance through paramilitary forces.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has cancelled her tour to Saudi Arabia, the foreign secretary said on Tuesday. A foreign ministry statement the day before had announced Hasina would depart for Makkah on March 7 to perform Umrah hajj and pray for the souls of the army officers killed in the BDR mutiny, and return on March 11.
But foreign secretary Md Touhid Hossain told bdnews24.com on Tuesday: "The prime minister decided late last night to cancel her trip." It would have been her first overseas visit since she took the office on Feb. 6. Saudi ambassador Abdullah Bin Naser Al Busairi, who saw foreign minister Dipu Moni on Monday, told reporters Hasina had been set to meet the Saudi king on March 8. The envoy said his government supported the Bangladesh government's position to end the mutiny through negotiations.
Pakistan tour still on despite attack on Lankan cricketers: BCB
Dhaka, March 3 (bdnews24.com) - The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Tuesday rejected any possible cancellation of Pakistan's tour of Bangladesh to play a one-day international series this month following the heinous attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore. At least 12 unidentified gunmen on Tuesday morning attacked a bus carrying the team near the Gaddafi Stadium that left six Sri Lankan players injured and eight police personnel dead.
The Sri Lankans were being driven to Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of the second Test. The match has been called off and the cricketers are due to fly home. Besides, the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny in Dhaka also forced many to think that the series against Pakistan would be called off.
"At the moment I can tell you that Pakistan will be coming here. Till now we have been not received a request from the Pakistan Cricket Board to cancel or defer the series," said Jalal Younus, chairman of the BCB media committee. Pakistan are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on March 7 to play a five-match one-day international series as well as two Twenty20 matches against Bangladesh.
"We have been preparing keeping the things in mind that Pakistan will come here in line with the previous schedule. "Besides, there is no reason to cancel the series as we have yet to get any directives from the government," said Younus. Sports Minister Ahad Ali Sarker told bdnews24.com that the government has also no plans to cancel Bangladesh's home series against Pakistan.
"The Pakistan cricket team will visit Bangladesh as scheduled. Till now it is the government's decision," said the minister. The BCB, meanwhile, has condemned the deadly attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore. "The BCB is deeply concerned at this unprecedented attack on cricket which is a symbol of hope and aspiration for millions in the sub-continent and around the world. "We are deeply saddened by the unfortunate events and express solidarity with the players, match officials and victims of the attack," said a statement.
bdnews24.com/mp/ar/lg/1905 hours
Stan_Savljevic wrote:
The Bangladesh Rifles, a 67,000-strong paramilitary force, is deployed to secure the 4,427 kilometre frontiers of Bangladesh with India and Myanmar. This is in accordance with the Indo-Bangladesh Treaty which bars both countries from deploying army units to man the borders and provides for surveillance through paramilitary forces.
If BDR takes care of the frontier with India, who takes care of the small sliver of a frontier with Burma (Chittagong and Cox's Bazar)? How does the army get any operational training with this background? What does the army do other than UN ops? Would they have been weary to take on the BDR in the immediate aftermath of the mutiny given this deficiency in facing up to the BDR? Hypothetically, if they had taken on the BDR, would nt it have been a long drawn attrition with BDR probably being overwhelmed only due to numbers?
The alleged leader of the murderous Feb 25-26 BDR mutiny, Touhidul Alam, and four others were arrested Tuesday in the capital, RAB said. "Five including DAD Touhid and DAD Abdur Rahim have been arrested in Hajaribagh," commander AK Azad, director of legal and media wing of the elite Rapid Action Battalion, told bdnews24.com. Rahim was earlier identified as a sepoy.
"It was a joint operation of the RAB intelligence wing and local RAB 2, based on information from another intelligence agency," RAB later said in a statement. "They were arrested in a residential area near the Methorpatti (sweepers' colony) in Hajaribagh at 5:30pm," the statement said.
The other three arrested were not among those named in the case filed on Feb 28. RAB gave the three names as Habilder Azad Ali, Nayek Md Feroz Ahmed and Sepoy Zahir Hossain. Touhidul Alam, a deputy assistant director, had led a rebel team in negotiations with the government during 33-hour mutiny ending Thursday evening.
Two days later, the government sued him and five others, charging them with treason, murder, arson and looting. The case, filed by the Lalbagh police, was registered Saturday night. A magistrate on Sunday took the charges into cognizance. Over a thousand BDR men were also charged, but the Lalbagh OC Nobojyoti Khisha did not identify them.
At least 62 army officers were dead or missing in the mutiny, according to the army. Civilians and BDR men were also killed. DAD Touhid led a team of 14 BDR men to talks with the prime minister at her home on the day the border guards rose in rebellion at their headquarters in the capital. Touhid also led the renegade BDR men in negotiations that followed with the home minister late into the night.
The other four names that Khisha mentioned in his submission were DAD Nasiruddin Khan, DAD Mirza Habibur Rahman, DAD Jalil (one name given), Sepoy Selim. "More DADs may be involved with the incident," Khisa had said after filing the case. Khisa said in his court submission the government had information that the rebel border guards were 'instigated by vested quarters to upset the stability of the state and to make unlawful gains'. Their action amounted to treason, the court was told.
Police attributed the delay in filing the case to time taken 'to analyse the situation, gather information on the events and complete official formalities'. After the first round of talks with the rebels on Feb 25, prime minister Sheikh Hasina offered a general amnesty to the BDR mutineers, but later said the pardon would not cover those who directly killed, looted or committed such other criminal acts. The prime minister told parliament Sunday that the BDR revolt was a "completely pre-planned massacre".
Dhaka, March 3 (bdnews24.com) - The recent BDR massacre was executed to foil the government's efforts to hold the war crimes trial, a minister said Tuesday. "The horrid Peelkhana killings and plundering clearly show that the conspirators active in destabilising the Bengali nation and its language are menacingly strong," Commerce minister Faruq Khan told reporters at his Secretariat office. "Therefore, all of us must stay united and frustrate the villains' evil designs," said Khan.
The government measures to take the war crimes trial process forward will be on, "thwarting all the impediments posed by the conspirators", he added. On the Peelkhana killings, the minister said, "The situation there has improved considerably and the government has brought everything under control. "Our allies at home and abroad assisted us in the rehabilitation process." "We have to be extremely careful though."
About investigation into the BDR bloodbath, the minister said two separate committees have been formed to probe the events. "Two ministers have been withdrawn from the government's probe team to free it from any partisan bias." Khan said the government hoped the probe committee would submit their findings soon to enable the government to take measures "The government will share the probe findings with the people to a maximum possible extent," he added.
bdnews24.com/mk/am/wz/bd/1443h.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina says she fears further sabotage after the bloody BDR mutiny and that the conspirators are not finished yet. "Many did not like the incident to end so soon; the game is still on and the conspirators are not taking a break," she said at a seminar on the country's independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's historic March 7 speech at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh Tuesday.
The mutiny might have gone further, the prime minister added. "I don't know whether I could speak here today," she said in her first public remarks outside parliament since the renegade border guards mutinied at their headquarters on Feb. 25-26. "All will have to remain alert against conspiracy."
On the massacre of the army officers, Hasina said, "No incident could be more condemnable." The ruling Awami League chief mourned the slain army officers and prayed for their eternal peace at the beginning of her speech. She spoke of the Feb. 25 BDR mutiny and urged all to remain on guard in these critical hours. "Somehow we'll have to succeed in fulfilling the pledge for change, upon which we have come to power."
Hasina, daughter of Sheikh Mujib, said, "My father used to say, '[We] cannot live with the West Pakistanis; the country must be freed'." "He used to say, 'There will be elections and we will win majority, but power will not be handed over'." "There will be war and we will gain freedom," Hasina quoted him as saying. "My father was right; he could predict."
Hasina introduced the man, 'Khair', who filmed Sheikh Mujib's Mar 7 speech at then the Racecourse Maidan in Dhaka. The Mar. 7 speech was screened at the seminar, organised by Sheikh Mujib Memorial trust.
bdnews24.com/sum/khk/bd/2011h.
The main opposition BNP staged a ten-minute walkout from parliament Tuesday following a dispute over a derogatory term used by Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury about army officers killed in the BDR mutiny. Ruling party MP Suranjit Sengupta bitterly criticised Chowdhury and termed him a "war criminal". The dispute began at around 7pm when Chowdhury took floor on a point-of-order.
He questioned the terms of reference for the home ministry's committee to investigate the BDR mutiny, saying it did not specify any undertaking to detect the killers. He urged the formation of a parliamentary committee to properly investigate the killings of army officers at the Peelkhana headquarters on Feb 25-26.
Countering him, Suranjit said, "Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury just two days ago called the army officers killed in the BDR mutiny 'prani (animals)' in parliament." "By use of this term we can understand his view of the martyrs," he said. At one stage of his statement, Suranjit said, "I also understand Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury's pain in carrying the stigma of being a war criminal."
"It is not fair to ask for clarification from parliament on terms of reference of the home ministry's committee," he said. Another treasury bench MP, Tofail Ahmed, said, "We should not play politics over this issue." "The prime minister has clearly said the perpetrators of the BDR mutiny will be found and brought to justice. The government has already filed a case with Lalbagh Police Station," said Tofail. Chowdhury once again shouted for floor to clarify his position on the allegations, but the speaker denied him, prompting the opposition to leave the House at around 7:15pm. They returned ten minutes later. Speaker Abdul Hamid said he would form a parliamentary committee if the home ministry's committee failed to investigate.
Opposition leader Khaleda Zia has called for resignation of home minister Sahara Khatun for a "proper investigation" into the BDR mutiny. The former prime minister, speaking to reporters at her Gulshan office, also said the prime minister's general amnesty for the border guards should be revoked.
"We think reconstitution of the probe committee into the incident by dropping the home minister and the state minister for law was not enough," she said. "The investigation might still be influenced by the home minister; so I recommend the prime minister to ask the home minister to resign for the sake of proper investigation," said the opposition leader.
Khaleda said the government has limited the probe committee's 'terms of reference'. "The TOR may give rise to suspicions in people's mind that the government may be covering up the truth or trying to save someone," she said.
DGFI or RAW?"It was a joint operation of the RAB intelligence wing and local RAB 2, based on information from another intelligence agency,
Dont know if DGFI is involved. But,sum wrote:DGFI or RAW?"It was a joint operation of the RAB intelligence wing and local RAB 2, based on information from another intelligence agency,
The DGFI maintains intelligence unit components in the RAB, who normally liaise with the insurgents and terrorist groups in India.
Till today, the police have already caught 6 members of Hizbut Tahir, a militant outfit, spreading leaflet how RAW conspired the whole thing with the help of AL govt. Do i need to go in lengths about this extremist groups and how/where they are funded and operated?
Hec i even saw a new map of India, supposedly of 2010 thats includes both Bangladesh and pakistan as Hisdustan!! Apparently that is what the indian govt have a long term plan to take their two neighbouring state!!
As is India really wants to add another 350 Million Muslims into their country!!
The way its looking to me so far, like the massacre plan, this hate campaign was also pre planned.
Everything was in place and as soon as the incident is over, they came out in all guns to confuse people, put more pressure to the govt and trying to divert the issue to a new direction.
Actually, by bringing in India into all this for assistance would be playing into the hand of the fundamentalists and the BNP (who are no better!) It must be understood that a large majority of Bangladeshis are very wary and suspicious of India, rightly or wrongly. The Pakistani hangover remains!sum wrote:Its a resounding slap on our diplomatic efforts towards BD for all these years if BD finds it fit to invite both US and UK for investigations while the giant neighbour is shown the cold shoulder by even a "India friendly" govt.
The only saving grace is that the ISI and China were not invited to probe the "mutiny"!!!
Any inclusion of India would only bolster the Anti-India lobby's claims of cover-up / rigging etc once the final report comes out. It's best they get 'so called' neutral investigators, whose findings can't be disputed.sum wrote:Its a resounding slap on our diplomatic efforts towards BD for all these years if BD finds it fit to invite both US and UK for investigations while the giant neighbour is shown the cold shoulder by even a "India friendly" govt.
The only saving grace is that the ISI and China were not invited to probe the "mutiny"!!!
That was because there were dead UK and US citizens. Not because GoI or its agencies did not have the capability to investigate. In this case, BD has no/limited capability to fully figure the pieces from the forensic evidence. A completely different proposition.Nesoj wrote: PS : Mumbai attacks - i don't recollect GoI inviting BD to help in investigations. FBI, Scotland Yard were however invited by India to help.
The dead foreigners were not only from UK / USA.... there were other nationalities involved. Bringing USA / UK into the team gives it a sort of 'international respectability' .... that is very helpful when presenting the findings to the international community. While other countries could dispute a report presented by India, a joint report would stand less chance (do you feel that Pigglystan can openly claim that the FBI has rigged a report in India's favor ?).Stan_Savljevic wrote: That was because there were dead UK and US citizens. Not because GoI or its agencies did not have the capability to investigate. In this case, BD has no/limited capability to fully figure the pieces from the forensic evidence. A completely different proposition.