Bangladesh News and Discussion

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 29 Sep 2012 17:52

Update on Bangladesh census data. It appears that the earlier data was optimistic. The revised data shows that the population is 149 million +. So the growth rate is 15% and not 13.4% as claimed earlier. The 2001 growth rate was 17+%. It means that the decline in population has slowed down. The addition to population was 19 million in 2001 and continues to remain 19 million in 2011. Will update once we get the final data.

Also I have done a back-of-the-envelope calculation regarding the persistent high population growth figures of Muslim majority districts in West Bengal and Assam. The growth rate of WB is 14%. If we consider the Hindu growth rate to be 12% and take the all-India difference in Hindu and Muslim growth rate which is 50% (29% Muslim vs 19% Hindu in 2001) then the Muslim growth rate should be 18%. If we take the Hindu growth rate to be 11% then the Muslim growth rate should be about 16.5%. However, the Muslim growth rate in Muslim majority districts is at least 22-23% as from census 2012. It means at least 4-5% population are illegal Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants i.e. about 1 million have migrated into WB between 2001-2011. Will confirm these estimates when more census data comes out.

I think something similar may be the case in Assam where upper Assam growth rate is 10-12% and Muslim majority districts have growth rates in the lower 20s.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 29 Sep 2012 18:20

http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=35301

It seems the villagers in the border areas are blocking land aquisition. It may be a tactic to stall or slow down border fencing so that more illegal immigration takes place.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 29 Sep 2012 18:47

The greatest obstacle to tackling the islamist/BD-immigrant problem in Assam and WB is the north+western Indian biz and political interests tied to the gulf. The gulf in turn keeps the pressure on to protect islamism by the rashtryia side. There are solid connections and investments in the madrassaha nd islamist netowrks to the Saudis and Arabic language institutions funded - yes, predictably by the Gulf sunni countries and UK based sunni orgs [who have their own sweet Sunni Saudi coinnections blessed by the regime there] - specifically spreading more rapidly in the border areas within BD. The largest current investments are going on Sylhet, and Raajshahi and Kusthia sector according to my network.

For the northwestern elite-regime Indians, it doesnt really matter if Assamese or WB Hindus get raped or eliminated - as long as the financial cuts from circulation of Gulf money benefits their own "economies" [ in a private network sense] - albeit all very legally of course. These are the e;ements which will mount propaganda as well as rashtryia coercion initiatives to prevent any local defense that Hindus may organize - again to please their gulf benefactors. So any plans to resist has to take into account this intervention from the rashtra.

Hence my repeated urgings to not go for outright confrontations that will be used by the rashtryia benefactors of islamism to crush your capacity to fight in the future forever. The rear areas need to be built up for depth and preparation later on.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 29 Sep 2012 19:26

I don't think it is the people/business interests of Western or Northern India that is responsible for this. It is the local ruling establishment and the central coterie who are responsible for their narrow self-interest.

nakul · Post by **nakul** » 30 Sep 2012 14:04

Protesters torch Buddhist temples, homes in Bangladesh

Hundreds of Muslims in Bangladesh burned at least four Buddhist temples and 15 homes of Buddhists on Sunday after complaining that a Buddhist man had insulted Islam, police and residents said.

member_23629 · Post by **member_23629** » 30 Sep 2012 14:20

nakul wrote:Protesters torch Buddhist temples, homes in Bangladesh

Hundreds of Muslims in Bangladesh burned at least four Buddhist temples and 15 homes of Buddhists on Sunday after complaining that a Buddhist man had insulted Islam, police and residents said.

These people have truly become the dregs of humanity. Mass hysteria and mob violence on defenceless people -- this has become the standard modus operandi. All civilisational progress of the last 500 years is under threat from these Neanderthals. I hope they don't pull the rest of humanity with them into the gutter. The only solution is to pay them back in the same coin -- the problem is the rest of the world has moved on from medievalism and become too civilised for that. The whole world is wondering what to do with its "Muslim problem."

nakul · Post by **nakul** » 30 Sep 2012 18:37

varunkumar wrote:
nakul wrote:Protesters torch Buddhist temples, homes in Bangladesh
These people have truly become the dregs of humanity. Mass hysteria and mob violence on defenceless people -- this has become the standard modus operandi. All civilisational progress of the last 500 years is under threat from these Neanderthals. I hope they don't pull the rest of humanity with them into the gutter. The only solution is to pay them back in the same coin -- the problem is the rest of the world has moved on from medievalism and become too civilised for that. The whole world is wondering what to do with its "Muslim problem."

Facebook insult triggered the outrage

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 30 Sep 2012 19:48

Supratik wrote:I don't think it is the people/business interests of Western or Northern India that is responsible for this. It is the local ruling establishment and the central coterie who are responsible for their narrow self-interest.

You know very well how the local ruling interest came into being, don't you? Both the Bengal left and the congrez came from the same elite circles. A certain communist lady-leader used to take shelter in the illustrious CM's house whenever the violent raids on the aam follower of communists were taking place under that very same CM's orders. How did that CM come into prominence, and the group around him? By opposing whom and on what grounds? Because they toed the Nehru line during and after the Partition. JB was quite close to this CM. Portions of the congrez leadership and certain portion of the communists used to share liquid fuels at an exclusive club together with local industrial captains and barons, but more so with barons with Delhi connections and affiliations.

There were at least three big biz links between UP and Bengal, who also coincidentally happened to be mediators between the Brits and congrez during the buildup and actual WWII, [before and after congrez left the provincial ministries]. The brits practically eliminated all those political groups, within and outside the congrez that also coincidentally seemed to have not been toeing affiliation to the Delhi coterie of congrez.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 01 Oct 2012 14:32

That is what I meant that there is collusion between the local leaders of Assam and WB with the central coterie/family who would like to keep the situation as it is. I think this land acquisition issue is a red herring to counter the opposition on illegal immigration and show they are trying to do something while keeping the border open so that there is more illegal immigration.

The collusion between the CPIM and Congress to keep the illegal immigration flow intact in WB was well documented in a series of article by Bartaman newspaper in the 1990s. The NDA should have sealed the border forcibly like they did with the Pak border when they were in power between 1998-2004. I am not sure why they did not do it. If the 150 yards issue was an issue then they should have sacrificed 150 yards instead of keeping the border open.

As for Punjab/Rajsthan/Gujrat border, they have no illusion about the impact of illegal immigration from Pak. On the other hand Bengalies and Assamese have self-delusion about appearing communal if they stop illegal immigration. I would blame the local people of Bengal and Assam for the fate that awaits them in the future. But it is also going to affect other regions of India e.g. north-east Bihar is already showing abnormal population growth which I believe is coming from the Murshidabad-Dinajpur corridor.

However, there still are solutions. The districts of Jalpaiguri and Coochbihar should be merged with the rest of Western Assam outside BATC to form a Kamptapur Autonomous region with power resting on the tribals. The local political collaborators in Assam and WB must be electorally finished. And finally the border should be sealed ASAP. If the NDA comes to power in 2014 they should immediately seal the border no matter what.

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 01 Oct 2012 18:18

Pictures of the Buddhist temples destroyed:

http://rt.com/news/buddhist-temples-tor ... adesh-342/

A Hindu temple was also attacked in Chittagong.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 01 Oct 2012 19:01

Please correct me if I am wrong, but the discontinuous fencing may not be treated just as fenced borders are treated. Meaning that if fenced borders have with daily patrols, then it may not be too correct at all to treat unfenced border in exactly the same manners.

If there are some km. of border unfenced, then such could have 24 hour observing posts/observers etc till it is fenced.

sum · Post by **sum** » 01 Oct 2012 19:15

^^ Wonder if our Azad maidan junta will now hold a march to protest what their Ummah brothers did in BD?

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 01 Oct 2012 19:56

After Buddhist Temples now Hindu Temples come under attack

Bangladesh— Hours after rampaging through a Buddhist village in Cox’s Bazaar’s Ramu Upazila in the early hours, religious fanatics on Sunday launched attacks on Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries in Patia at noon.
“The attacks took place between noon and 1:30pm,” Acting Officer-in-Charge of the Patia Police Station Aminur Rashid told bdnews24.com.
The police officer said the fanatics had carried out the attacks alleging defamation of Prophet Mohammad.
He said two Hindu temples and two Buddhist viharas were damaged in the attacks.
According to the accounts of local journalists, several hundred fanatics took out a procession and launched attacks on the Lakhara Abhoy Buddhist Viahar at around noon and set it on fire.
They also attacked the Kolagaon Rotnangkur Buddhist Vihara, Kolagaon Nobarun Sangha Durga Mandir (temple) and the Matri Mandir at Jele Para, they said.
The attackers reportedly smashed an ancient Buddhist statue at the Rotnangkur Buddhist Vihara and set fire to a statue of Goddess Durga at the Nobarun Sangha Mandir. The fanatics also set fire to various goods in the temples, according to the newsmen.
The OC said the situation was calm. “Additional police forces and members of the RAB have been deployed at the scene to avert further tension,” he added.
Meanwhile, tension is running high among the locals following the attacks. Top administrators and local MP Shamsul Hoque Chowdhury were present at the spot.
Earlier on Sunday, a mob torched and vandalised a Buddhist village in Cox’s Bazaar’s Ramu Upazila in one of the worst religious attacks in Bangladesh which appeared to have been triggered by a Facebook posting allegedly defaming the Quran.
Seven Buddhist Viharas, around 30 houses and shops were torched in the attacks that started at 11:30pm on Saturday lasted until around 4am on Sunday. More than a hundred houses and shops were also reportedly attacked, vandalised and ransacked.

http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/after- ... er-attack/

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 02 Oct 2012 03:34

Supratik mahoday,
there was active intervention from the central regime - more so through its organs of power, not to prevent inflow of muslims from the East. They knew that more East Pak/BD muslims were allowed to infiltrate in that end, the more would the respective non-Muslim societies of WB and BD be cornered and engaged in local fight for survival. It would only engage, absorb, and neuter the Bengalee radicals - on both sides of the "vishwapremik jive prem kare jei jana" love for Muslims/Islam and the anti-Islamic divide.

The Naxalite movement was penetrated and managed well by the rashtryia agencies, and used to both provoke as well as subvert more mainstream political assertion by Bengalees. In fact the strategy was used also by Sk. Mujib to first use/encourage and then massacre the leftist and even non-Islamism based radicals in BD. So, overall, the Indian rashtra managed to destroy the militancy that could have otherwise been harnessed into mainstream politics and used by the regional forces to perhaps become strong enough to become a headache for dynastic coteries of upper UP. At least two whole generations of political brains were destroyed - as well as brains that could have become useful for more more mundane but more productive activities benefiting whole of India.

Who were allowed to survive? Look at the illustrious figures of current Marxist leadership - for example Brinda Karat, was at Calcutta Uni, in the hotbed of conflict, in the hottest period of conflict. Most of the subsequent CPI(M) topcat leadership - the JB brigade of SFI sourced leadership, survived. Even though others of the same movement were qatl-ed - by a combination of throatcutters and uniformed introducers of iron rods into captive naked women.

That society was crushed, with a view to destroy its political class that survived the Partition gameplan - with all the resources a modern semi-totalitarian state under dynastic leadership and coterie arrangements, could manage, taking inspiration from the Brit model.

I have the deepest possible hatred for the Naxalites, because they helped in the Delhite project to destroy all political forces that would not be dependent on the Delhi group. But they could not have done any teetsy-bitsy harm, if the rashtryia management did not do its bit.

They never risked this on the western borders, because that was much closer to their heartland, the land they identify with. Only exception was when they briefly went out of power as part of the lesson taught to them for having gone out of their brief in helping out Mujib and making a nuke blast. That was the only time when they thought of encouraging the same stuff as they had done in WB, as a time tested means of creating trouble for the split polity at the centre then. Once they got back into power- they moved the entire apparatus/model used in WB to the "west" and cleaned up in a similar manner. The Brit policy of selective military highlighting was also a factor. This is one regime with a mortal distrust of the army, and fear of changing well established ethnic structures in it -too.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 02 Oct 2012 03:41

sum wrote:^^ Wonder if our Azad maidan junta will now hold a march to protest what their Ummah brothers did in BD?

Muslims never ever come out in protest of "insult" or "destruction" of non-Muslims religious or iconic entities. Indian muslims too - never ever come out to do this.

abhischekcc · Post by **abhischekcc** » 02 Oct 2012 10:38

brihaspati wrote:The largest current investments are going on Sylhet, and Raajshahi and Kusthia sector according to my network.

Any info on the commodities/business lines they trade in?

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 02 Oct 2012 15:22

B,

I have no broad disagreements with you on this. The idea is to teach the Bengalies a lesson for being troublesome/radical and the Assamese for trying to opt out of India. However, they are ostriches as this has serious consequences for other parts of India as well which is why you need a fresh polity to look into the matter ASAP and if necessary use stern measures to counter it. I had high hopes on the NDA when they were in power. They have done a few things for example sanctioning the border fencing, creation of Bodoland autonomous region and amending the citizenship act. But these are not enough. The plan of the central coterie and their local allies should have been nipped in the bud. I hope if the NDA comes to power in 2014 they will take sterner action. Otherwise it may be a lost cause with the demographics irreversibly altered.

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 21 Oct 2012 19:41

someone had posted a picture claiming it was an Indian Army soldier who had bayoneted a heap of Razakars in midst of an assembled crowd.

Searching for Bongo Bir Kader 'Tiger' Siddiqui will inform it was he, a Mukti Bahini, photographed in the act

please point it out if ever you come across someone associating the act with the IA.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 21 Oct 2012 19:49

Surasena wrote:Pictures of the Buddhist temples destroyed:

http://rt.com/news/buddhist-temples-tor ... adesh-342/

A Hindu temple was also attacked in Chittagong.

I hope to see Burmese Buddhis response to this. Burmese Buddhists are not as dhimmi as Indian Hindus are.

I also hope to see open invitation by Burmese/Myanmar govt to all BD Buddhists and expulsion of all Muslims from Myanmar.

If (sic) secular India fails to be the leader of dharmic ideologies, someone else will do the job.

/Dream

The tract of Chittagong is declared a NFZ and protected area for BD Hindus and Buddhists by India and Burma.

/Dream off

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 21 Oct 2012 19:52

Supratik wrote:B,

I have no broad disagreements with you on this. The idea is to teach the Bengalies a lesson for being troublesome/radical and the Assamese for trying to opt out of India. However, they are ostriches as this has serious consequences for other parts of India as well which is why you need a fresh polity to look into the matter ASAP and if necessary use stern measures to counter it. I had high hopes on the NDA when they were in power. They have done a few things for example sanctioning the border fencing, creation of Bodoland autonomous region and amending the citizenship act. But these are not enough. The plan of the central coterie and their local allies should have been nipped in the bud. I hope if the NDA comes to power in 2014 they will take sterner action. Otherwise it may be a lost cause with the demographics irreversibly altered.

we give NDA a single term, that too riddled with coalition partners like JD(U) and demand why BJP didn't take care of
- UCC
- A370
- BD
- Pakistan
- Ayodhya, Kasi and Mathura
- Hindu constitution
- fixing education system
- defeating Taliban
- vikramaditya, arihant, LCa, MCA, a7
...

nakul · Post by **nakul** » 24 Oct 2012 01:48

Khaleda Zia likely to visit India in Nov

Sources said the visit would counter the ‘canard’ that the India’s diplomatic engagement and ‘comfort level’ was limited to the current Bangladesh government led by Sheikh Hasina. “Bangladesh is too important a country for India, and not just as a neighbour,” said an official source.

Zia’s visit comes at a time when India and Bangladesh are finding it hard to clinch a crucial water sharing pact over the Teesta despite the two sides having broadly agreed on a sharing arrangement, mainly because of a position taken by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who scuttled attempts to sign the agreement during the PM’s visit to Dhaka last year. Bangladesh is also going for general election in 2014, and within that country, there is a prevailing view that Zia could return to power especially if Hasina is unable to clinch the Teesta pact before that.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 24 Oct 2012 02:19

What was the result of her recent visit to meet the Chinese Communist Party - on their invitation?

sum · Post by **sum** » 03 Nov 2012 08:47

X-post:

sum wrote:^^ Shiv sena must be the only regional party in the world which is a source of khujli for multiple countries:

Khaleda draws flak after assurance to India

A strong reaction came from Minister for Environment and Forest Dr. Hasan Mahmud, who accused Ms. Khaleda Zia of having links with Shiv Sena. “We have learned that Khaleda Zia had a secret meeting with the Shiv Sena,” said the Minister. “If the Shiv Sena unleashes repressions on the Indian Muslims, that will stir an anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh, which can be capitalised during next general elections. BNP has a dual policy, they have a policy of appeasement of India, while in power, but use anti-Indian card when in opposition.”

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 02 Dec 2012 12:33

Buddha statues found in Rohingya camp

Cox's Bazar, Nov 8 (bdnews24.com)— Three statues of Buddha believed to have been looted a month ago during a communal riot at Ramu have been recovered from an official camp for Rohingya.

Rapid Action Battalion recovered the statues on Wednesday from a market at Kutupalong refugee camp, said Maj Sarwar-e Alam, a RAB officer at Cox's Bazar's RAB-7 camp.

They also arrested two Rohingya men, he said.

The statues were found in a shop of Baktar market at Kutupalong. The shop is owned by Jafar Alam Dipu, 35, who was among the arrested. Another man, 22-year-old Imam Hossain, was also arrested as his associate.

The RAB official said the recovered statues were looted on Sep 29 and 30 during a communal riot at Ramu and Ukhia over a Facebook post , which was thought to be derogatory to Islam. A Buddhist man has been blamed for the post, but he said he did not do that, rather he was tagged by someone he does not know.

Locals told journalists later that Rohingya refugees were involved in the attack.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 04 Dec 2012 09:58

India introduces liberal visa regime for Bangladesh.

Living up to the promise made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to remove trade and non-tariff barriers between India and Bangladesh, India has decided to adopt a liberal visa policy for various categories of Bangladesh nationals, as a pro-active step, to promote economic engagement, people-to-people contact, cultural ties and tourism between the two nations.

It was in October this year when both countries agreed during the Home Secretary level talks to hold exclusive meeting to work out procedures and modalities at the earliest. However, India has not waited for joint working group (JWG) to be set up to sort out the liberal visa regime issue and has gone ahead unilaterally to simplify visa procedures for senior citizens, students, businessmen, medical patients and to promote tourism. “There is no formal agreement between India and Bangladesh on the visa regime. As a step towards showing India’s commitment to joining hands with Dhaka in giving a boost to the economic prosperity of Bangladesh and its people, we have decided to adopt a liberal visa regime,’’ India’s Ambassador to Bangladesh, Pankaj Saran told journalists here at the start of the “India Show” organized by Ministry of Commerce and Industry and FICCI. India at present gives nearly 500,000 visas to Bangladesh nationals every year and with a new visa regime in place, this figure is likely to witness a massive hike.

India has already signed a liberal visa regime with its other neighbour – Pakistan — introducing for the first time group tourist and pilgrim visas, multi-city and multi entry visa for businessmen, visa on arrival for senior citizens and other categories. However, the visa regime with Pakistan is yet to be formally implemented in ground.

But in case of Bangladesh, Mr. Saran the India mission in Dhaka has decided to grant liberal visa permits to businessmen, artists and for tourism purposes. “Earlier, businessmen and other categories would get five days visa with single entry condition. This was making it very difficult for even those people who have been dealing with Indian corporate world for the last two to three decades. Now we are granting six month multi entry visa and even longer term visas to various categories including artists from Bangladesh that is going to make things smooth and easy,” he added.

India is also looking to capitalize on medical tourism concept and in view of its strong medical facilities seeking to tap a huge market of citizens of Bangladesh would want to visit the country to seek medical treatment. Then there is another category which seeks to visit India with tourism purpose in mind. Then there is another category which seeks to visit their near and dear ones in west Bengal and other parts of India.

Arvind Mehta, Joint Secretary in Commerce Ministry said his Ministry had been pushing for a liberal visa regime with not only Bangladesh with all the SAARC nations and be partners in their development. “It is a very encouraging development that Indian mission in Dhaka has paved the way for smoother and liberal exchange between the people and economic of the two nations. It will help in promoting Bangladesh as a major investment destination for Indian business houses,” he added.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 04 Dec 2012 10:58

^^500,000

? What's the point of fencing?

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 06 Dec 2012 17:24

Looks like UPA is hell bent on making India an islamic emirate .

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 10 Dec 2012 05:01

Innocent Hindu Tailor ghastly murdered in open day light by fanatic Muslims in Bangladesh Bandh

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 18 Dec 2012 07:58

Now, visa on arrival for Bangla citizens.

The Centre is planning a new travel agreement with Bangladesh, enabling citizens of both the countries to avail of visa on arrival.

This new travel agreement is likely to be signed in January, 2013, when Indian home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will be visiting Dhaka to sign a number of other pacts with his Bangladeshi counterpart M K Alamgir. Indian officials are expecting the new travel agreement to come into effect from April, as it will take some time to process it.

The move is aimed at mending fences with Bangladesh. The country had been left disappointed after the Teesta agreement fell through in September 2011. The objection raised by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee threw a spanner on the agreement. With the Teesta pact put on hold and Mamata still sticking to her stance, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid skipped the subject while discussing bilateral issues with Alamgir in New Delhi earlier this month.

The visa on arrival will initially be restricted to certain categories of travellers. Shinde and Alamgir had held talks in Delhi a fortnight back, so that Bangladesh government agrees to provide a similar visa on arrival to Indians.

The move is also expected to give a boost to the image of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who will be facing the elections in 2013. She is known for her initiatives to improve Indo-Bangla relationship. In 2012, there were regular talks on bilateral issues, with Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni travelling to India on a number of occasions. Even Hasina had sent an envoy to attend former Prime Minister I K Gujral's funeral recently. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee also has plans to visit Bangladesh.

While on Sunday Vijay Diwas was celebrated to remember Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, this visa on arrival will help to further improve ties with Bangladesh, Indian officials said.

Indian officials said the facility would be available to patients coming to India for treatment - elderly citizens above 65 and children below 12 years of age with parents accompanying them. Plans are afoot to extend this facility to businessmen and tourists travelling in groups. Visa on arrival is likely to remain valid for two months and talks are on to explore the possibility of exempting businessmen from reporting before the local police. Also, travellers who have never overstayed the visa period could be eligible for this visa.

There are plans to allow Bangladesh visitors to enter India, through visa on arrival, at points like the Haridaspur-Benapol border, as the Kolkata to Dhaka bus plies through the route. Another point can be Gede-Darshana border, in case the visitors travel by train and the Kolkata and Delhi airports. Similarly, a visa on arrival centre may come up at Tripura as there is a direct bus link between Agartala and Dhaka.

However, the officials want to ensure that the entry and exit points from India to be the same. Then it will be easier for the Indian agencies to keep track of those who are staying back, because there are often allegations that many people from Bangladesh, entering on short visas, are staying back and it becomes difficult for the Indian agencies to track them.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 18 Dec 2012 21:14

Bangladesh erupts in protest, demands ban on Islamic parties

http://www.niticentral.com/2012/12/bang ... rties.html

A general strike to demand the ban Islamic political parties, in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, to shut down schools and stores and disrupted traffic in the capital on Tuesday.

A coalition of five leftist parties was enforcing the dawn-to-dusk nationwide strike, a common tactic in Bangladesh to highlight demands.

More than two dozen Islamic parties in Bangladesh want the country to be governed by Sharia, or Islamic law. The leftists say the Islamic parties should be banned because they oppose the constitutional provision that says Bangladesh be governed by secular law.

Authorities deployed about 10,000 police and security forces in Dhaka as hundreds of protesters took to the streets Tuesday, blocking roads and halting traffic. There were no immediate reports of violence.

Dhaka’s Somoy and Channel-I television stations reported that the strike disrupted communications in many of the country’s 64 districts.

The strike also left thousands of commuters stranded at bus stations, but the Government said trains and river ferries were operating without disruptions.

The leftists are targeting mainly the nation’s largest Islamic fundamentalist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, which campaigned against Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war against Pakistan, another Muslim-majority nation in South Asia.

Jamaat is accused of collaborating with Pakistani troops during the bloody nine-month war that Bangladesh says saw 3 million people killed and about 200,000 women raped. Eight leaders from the party are currently on trial for allegedly committing murder, arson, rape and other atrocities during the independence war.

The leftist parties are also demanding that the war crimes tribunals speed up the proceedings.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 24 Dec 2012 18:40

A trial for the future of Bangladesh - Haroon Habib, The Hindu

December is a landmark month for Bangladesh. It is the month of the liberation of the country from Pakistan in 1971. And it is also a reminder of a great national tragedy — it was during the same month that year that the marauding Pakistani army and their local agents systematically eliminated hundreds of secular intellectuals just before the liberation on December 16, 1971. It capped a nine-month orgy of violence against civilians in which three million people were killed, 400,000 women were raped and 10 million people fled for bordering Indian States as refugees.

This year, as the country celebrates four decades of its independence, it also faces the task of completing a historic trial against the perpetrators of those horrific crimes.

The trial was long overdue. The events following the bloody coup in 1975 in which Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was assassinated, and the divisive politics thereafter, caused many delays in reckoning with the cruelties. When Sheikh Hasina came to power, this was on her agenda. The move towards justice began on March 25, 2010, under a domestic law framed in 1971. But the path is yet not easy.

In the crucial last year of its tenure, the Hasina government faces, on the one hand, street protests by opposition parties positioning themselves ahead of the elections, and on the other, organized opposition against the trial by the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, the party that had opposed Bangladesh’s independence, supported by the Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Jamaat-e-Islami and its militant students wing, Islami Chatra Shibir, have chosen the route of organized street violence. Their aim is clear — they want their key leaders, now on trial in war crimes tribunals, to be set free. Jamaat cadres — no one can forget that the party sided with Pakistan army in all conceivable ways to foil the national quest for freedom — have gone as far as to attack the police, snatching their rifles and setting on fire dozens of police vehicles in Dhaka and across the country. They also attacked the Law Minister's motorcade.

The spate of attacks across the country has left several hundred policemen injured, many of them hospitalized with serious injuries. The government sees these as ominous signs of a plot to destabilise the country and foil the trial. The manner in which the police came under attack was somewhat unprecedented, and astonishingly, in most cases, the police lost the battle to the attackers.

Neither have the arrests of a few hundreds Jamaatis stopped the violence. Jamaat, which has grown over the years to become the most organized cadre-based party both in terms of its funding and structure, launched the offensive from November, continuing it into the nationally sensitive month of December. In the backdrop of sustained street violence, secular, pro-liberation forces are seriously concerned that if such violence in the name of democracy is not checked, it may emerge as a single biggest threat to country’s liberal polity and security. There have been calls for a ban on Jamaat, but there are concerns too that proscription might send the party underground, with more dangerous consequences.

The main opposition BNP has not condemned the actions of its Islamist ally. Rather, it has been providing vital support to Jamaat’s game plan, to the extent that even BNP sympathizers are concerned that the “poisonous weed” of Jamaat’s theocratic and medieval political and social agenda might ultimately eat up the very vitals of what remains of the party’s remaining liberalism.

Alongside the unrest for the release of those on trial, Bangladesh has been witness to a separate set of violent protests by BNP and Jamaat for restoration of the caretaker government system. Pro-government activists, such as the Awami League student wings, have only added to a volatile situation by taking it upon themselves to thwart the opposition protests.

A number of cases in the war crimes courts are awaiting verdict, but the trial process has come under an increasingly hostile campaign at home and abroad. The head of one tribunal stepped down on December 11 after a controversy over his leaked Skype conversations with an expatriate war crimes expert. The tribunal chief’s e-mail and Skype accounts were hacked and the private conversations were published by a pro-opposition newspaper. The resignation, just ahead of case judgments, came as a big shock to vast majority of people who want justice done, but were celebrated as a “victory” by the Jamaat and BNP.

A total of 10 accused — most are Jamaat leaders — are presently in the dock. Jamaat has reportedly deployed significant sums of money to influence the US policymakers against the war crimes trial. Law minister, Shafique Ahmed, alleged that the government has evidence to show that Jamaat has appointed lobbying firms in the U.S. and the U.K. to frustrate the trial. The minister alleged publicly that Mir Kashem Ali, a Jamaat leader now facing trial, and also the key person behind the fast growing Islamic Bank, as also the head of Jamaat’s media house, had paid $25 million to the U.S. lobbying firm Casadian Associates.

These challenges to the war crimes trials have, in one sense, reawakened the “pro-liberation” forces, making them aware that there is no room for complacency. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who sees a conspiracy to malign her government at home and abroad, has vowed to move ahead with the trial to fulfil a national obligation.

While the Hasina government can take credit for some unique achievements towards secularising Bangladesh and improving relations with India, some high profile scams, including alleged corruption in the Padma bridge construction, the high prices of essentials, and the bad image of some ministers and field level activists, have all seen its popularity come down. The opportunity is being utilised by those who want this government to collapse even ahead of the next election, so that the vital war crime trial suffers a setback. The scrapping of the caretaker government system, and the U.S. displeasure over the government’s treatment of the Nobel Laureate and Grameen Bank founder Muhammed Yunus have complicated the scenario for Prime Minister Sheikha Hasina.

It is to be hoped that the fast developing situation will not impede the landmark trial, vital for healing a deep national wound. The trial is not only crucial for Bangladesh, but also for the region. If it stalls, there is every possibility of a resurgence of religious extremism in Bangladesh that is bound to affect its neighbours. Born out of a national war fought against religious bigotries and military chauvinism, Bangladesh cannot allow on its soil the tragedies being experienced by Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Anurag · Post by **Anurag** » 26 Dec 2012 03:37

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkJGpFrMeKQ

Samudragupta · Post by **Samudragupta** » 29 Dec 2012 23:47

Taking strong exception to Turkey seeking "clemency" for those accused of the 1971 war crimes, Bangladesh has asked it to explain why it is interfering in the ongoing trial of these suspects, most of whom belonged to the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami party.

"The Turkish move surprised us," a Foreign Ministry official saod, noting that Dhaka-Ankara ties have otherwise been "excellent" and witnessed exchange of high-level visits in recent years.

The official's remarks came days after right-wing Turkish President Abdullah Gul sent letters to his Bangladesh counterpart Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina calling for "clemency" for those accused of war crimes.

A visit by a 14-member Turkish political delegation to Dhaka to witness the trial process has worsened the matter.

The Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry official said the Turkish envoy here was also asked to explain his country's interference in the ongoing trial of the Bangladeshi

suspects.

Bangladesh government told him that the December 23 letter from the Turkish President was not acceptable as "it is a clear interference in the internal affairs" of the country.

Foreign ministry officials said the aide memoir handed to the envoy categorically mentioned that Bangladesh government was determined to conduct the war crimes trial as the people of the country extended their overwhelming support for the initiative, and "the trial is taking place in the most transparent way by maintaining international standard".

"Bangladesh believes that it is not the job of a friendly country to create any problem or confusion about an issue and hopes that this type of incident will not happen again," they quoted the diplomatic protest letter as saying.

The Foreign Ministry officials said Bangladesh's envoy in Ankara, Md Zulfiqur Rahman, was summoned by the Turkish Foreign Office a day after Dhaka summoned Turkish envoy.

According to officials familiar with the case, Gul in his letter said the accused, mostly belonging to Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami party and particularly its former chief Ghulam Aazam should be pardoned as they were too old to stand the trial.

They said the Turkish President also feared Bangladesh could witness a civil war if they were handed down death penalties for the 1971 war crimes for siding with the Pakistani troops.

Well the the Turks still seems to have the hangover...

Samudragupta · Post by **Samudragupta** » 30 Dec 2012 00:17

In short Indo-Bangladesh relations may play a part in the Bangladesh elections next year. Yet like in most countries foreign policy will not determine the future course of politics in Bangladesh. Determining factor will be the compromise formula on the mechanism of holding the next elections. Other elements are likely to be poverty reduction, corruption scandals, price rise of both food and non-food items, success and failures of the government in education, health, disaster management, agriculture, manpower export and remittance, law and order situation, religious extremism etc. In short, people may ask themselves whether they are better off today than they were before the Mahajot government was voted to power.

Like the last time the youth is likely to be a major factor in determining who will win the elections and consequently extent of youth unemployment should be watched ( a study reveals that Young people aged 15 to 29 make up one fourth of Bangladesh’s total population. Of 85 million working-age people in the country, 41 % are youths. Some 1.5 million young Bangladeshis are unemployed and 8.5 million are underemployed in the sense of not having work that suits their skills). In gist economic condition and law and order situation are likely to top the concerns of the people on the election day.

The failure of the Indian authorities to deliver on the commitments made during Bangladesh Prime Minister’s visit to Delhi and the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Dhaka has frustrated people across the political spectrum in Bangladesh. It appears that in the face of opposition by BJP and Trinamul Congress on ratification of Land Boundary Agreement and apportioning of Teesta River water it is unlikely that these two issues can be solved before the general elections in India expected to be held in 2014. Conservative rightists and Islamists may exploit this situation to put Awami League government on the defensive on Indo-Bangladesh relations by pointing out their failure to secure legitimate interest of Bangladesh from India.

Increasingly it may become difficult for the government to convince the public that maintaining best of relations with India will serve the best interests of the country. As both countries will have to face the electorate within the next two years it would be prudent for India to come forward with positive attitude on deliverable issues so that trust deficit of the skeptical Bangladeshis are removed and they are convinced that Indian difficulty in delivering the ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement and on the sharing of the Teesta water may be removed once the Indian elections are over.

The above two quotes are contradictory to each other....it seems the deliverables from India is a pure eyewash for the elites of BD to hide their own inefficiencies in maintaining a stable order in the home front....

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 21 Jan 2013 19:10

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21118998

Bangladesh cleric sentenced to death for war crimes

A court in Bangladesh has sentenced a well-known Muslim cleric to death for crimes against humanity during the country's 1971 independence war.

Abul Kalam Azad's conviction is the first verdict handed down by the controversial tribunal.

The cleric, a presenter of Islamic programmes on television, shot dead six Hindus and raped Hindu women during the war, prosecutors said.

He is thought to be in Pakistan and was found guilty in absentia.

BBC Bengali editor Sabir Mustafa says the verdict is being seen as a triumph for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has made prosecuting war crimes a key goal of her government.

Critics of the tribunal, however, say the charges against Maulana Azad and others are politically motivated. The court is not endorsed by the United Nations.

Tribunal officials said Maulana Azad's family failed to co-operate with his court-appointed defence lawyer, and they did not provide any witnesses to testify on his behalf.

As a result, the case was concluded fairly quickly.

Mr Azad was a junior leader in the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami party in 1971 and a member of the Razakar Bahini, an auxiliary force set up to help the Pakistani army by rooting out local resistance.

The Razakars were notorious for their operations targeting Hindus as well as civilians suspected of being sympathetic towards Bengali nationalists.

The International Crimes Tribunal was set up by the Awami League-led government to try those Bangladeshis accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces who attempted to stop East Pakistan (as Bangladesh was then) from becoming an independent country.

Those charged include a number of senior Jamaat leaders and a former minister from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/01 ... ml?hp&_r=0

Bangladesh War Tribunal Orders Cleric Executed

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladesh tribunal sentenced an Islamic cleric formerly tied to a fundamentalist party to death on Monday for crimes against humanity for his actions during the country's 1971 independence war.

The conviction of Abul Kalam Azad was the first verdict handed down by a controversial tribunal trying people accused of committing crimes during the war.

Azad, a former senior member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was tried in absentia after he reportedly fled to Pakistan last April upon being charged. He was expelled from the party.

Jamaat-e-Islami campaigned in 1971 against Bangladesh's war of separation from Pakistan. The party stands accused of supporting or in some cases taking part in atrocities committed by Pakistani troops.

The government has appointed a defense counsel for Azad, widely known for his regular appearance on a television channel and for his colored beard, but the counsel said he did not get support from his family to present witnesses against the prosecution charges.

His two sons and a son-in-law were arrested last year after Azad reportedly fled the country. They told reporters that Azad fled the country hours before security officials raided his home in Dhaka.

Bangladesh says that during the nine-month war, Pakistani troops, aided by their local collaborators, killed 3 million people and raped about 200,000 women.

International human rights groups have raised questions about the conduct of the tribunals set up by the government to prosecute those accused of war crimes.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has complained about flaws in the process — including the disappearance of a defense witness outside the courthouse gates.

The judge presiding over another tribunal resigned last month after the British publication The Economist reported that it had conversations of Skype and email conversations between him and a Belgium-based Bangladeshi lawyer that raised serious questions about the workings of the tribunal.

The courtroom was packed Monday as Obaidul Hassan, the head judge of a separate, three-member tribunal, pronounced Azad guilty Monday of crimes including murder, abduction and looting.

Hassan said Azad was "guilty of crimes against humanity beyond a reasonable doubt."

A former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami and its other top leaders also face prosecution. Two other men from opposition leader Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party also stand trial.

Jamaat-e-Islami — a key partner in Zia's former government — says the charges are politically motivated. Authorities deny the claim.

Zia, the longtime political rival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has called the tribunal a farce. Hasina, in turn, has urged Zia to stop backing those she says fought against the nation's quest for independence.

A Hasina-led political alliance highlighted the issue of trying suspected war criminals during the last election campaign. The alliance clinched a landslide victory against Zia-led coalition that included Jamaat-e-Islami.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 29 Jan 2013 00:33

Bangladesh, India sign extradition and visa deals

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/ ... NK20130128

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 06 Feb 2013 01:13

Bangladesh war crimes sentence sparks protests
Wachc the Catch

A war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh has found a leader of the main Islamist party guilty of crimes against humanity during the war for independence from Pakistan in 1971.The trial of Abdul Kader Mullah, of Jamaat-e-Islami, has sparked protests from supporters who accuse the government of pursuing a political vendetta.On Monday thousands of people marched through the capital, Dhaka, demanding the release of their leaders.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 06 Feb 2013 03:43

Ameet wrote:Bangladesh, India sign extradition and visa deals

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/ ... NK20130128

Do Bangladesh and pakistan have an extradition treaty? I could not find any reference to it online. As regards turki's interference, I think there is more than what meets the eye. Could be there be a paki pressure on the turks to ask for clemency for one of their own. Once extradited, the jamaati could spill the beans on others who are hiding in pakiland.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 15 Feb 2013 09:10

Looking East, first in the line of sight - The Hindu

Union External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s upcoming visit to Bangladesh on February 16-17 is significant on several counts.

It will be his first visit since assuming office in 2012, and comes weeks after the two countries signed an extradition treaty. While there, he is expected to chair a meeting of the India Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission and review the gamut of the relationship.

The visit gains further significance in the light of the violence in 2012 between tribals and Muslims in Assam, which is rooted in the issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh. Bangladesh is crucial to India’s “Look East” policy as New Delhi seeks to foster closer cooperation with its neighbours to bring about economic development and prosperity in its long-neglected north-east region. Further, India’s foreign policy has a growing regional perspective, of which Bangladesh is an important component.

The visit could also lay the groundwork for a landmark visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to Dhaka in March.

The relationship has been a priority for both the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and the Awami League government in Bangladesh, with a host of high-level visits in the past two years. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited New Delhi in January 2010. Under her regime, Bangladesh has also handed over key United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants in its territory to India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid a historic visit to Dhaka in September 2011. The visit, the first by an Indian leader in 12 years, resulted in the signing of a crucial boundary swap agreement allowing about 50 Bangladeshi enclaves inside India to be integrated within Bangladesh and about 100 Indian areas inside Bangladesh to become a part of India. Other agreements included promoting trade, investment and economic cooperation; boosting regional connectivity and people-to-people contacts; transmission and distribution of electricity; promotion of educational and cultural cooperation and environmental protection among others.

Findings from a youth summit

In this context, a relevant development took place in Guwahati on February 1 in the form of the “Maitree Summit,” a track-II dialogue between India and Bangladesh. The summit gains significance on account of some of its important observations and recommendations.

Organised by the Youth Forum on Foreign Policy (YFFP), a Delhi-based think tank and the British Deputy High Commission in Kolkata {Why is the involvement of this colonial power? Amazing. What is the agenda they are pushing here ?} , the dialogue brought together Indian and Bangladeshi speakers from academia, media, business and politics and held out the promise of stronger cooperation between the two neighbours.

The broad message was the need for India and Bangladesh to cooperate in as many areas as possible including the development of infrastructure, labour and skills, mitigating environmental disasters and diplomacy.

Joint academic cooperation as a means to address issues complicating the India-Bangladesh relationship could focus on research on illegal migration, the enclaves, arms proliferation, drug trafficking, transition rights, water-sharing, terrorism and fundamentalism.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi made a strong pitch for boosting trade, cultural and transport links between north-east India and Bangladesh as it would benefit the entire region. He also alluded to the common destiny of the two regions — Assam and Bangladesh face climate change, floods, soil erosion, a porous border and smuggling — and called for joint efforts to tackle them. The future of north-east India also depended on relationships with neighbours such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.

The Bangladeshi delegates expressed disappointment over the failure to reach an agreement regarding the sharing of Teesta waters when Dr. Singh visited in 2011. There was also a sense that Bangladesh sought an equal standing in its relationship with India. While acknowledging that Dhaka needs New Delhi, it was pointed out that China and Myanmar were also helping Bangladesh in several areas. It was also in India’s interests to see a stable and prosperous Bangladesh because of the inextricable ties between the two countries.

A survey conducted by YFFP in January showed that young Indians did not appear to give much importance to their immediate neighbours, other than China and Pakistan. Only three per cent of the respondents felt Bangladesh is important while 43 per cent said relations with the United States are the most significant, followed by China and Pakistan.

While the summit stressed the importance of people-to-people contacts in enhancing India-Bangladesh ties, the survey points to the need for more young people to be involved in such contacts.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 15 Feb 2013 20:59

Candlelight vigil demanding the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/02/hang ... eshis.html