Category: History
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How Prof Yunus, The Daily Star, BSS are tempering OHCHR’s biased report on July-August riot
Ever since the OHCHR released its full (but incomplete and one-sided) report on Wednesday, the Bangladesh interim government has highlighted the key facts on social media from official accounts and also through the state-run news agency BSS and pro-US newspaper The Daily Star. While the Chief Adviser’s Facebook account mentions 1,400 deaths, it falsely claims…
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The 1971 Hindu Genocide in Bangladesh: A Dark Chapter of Systematic Atrocities
In 1971, during the Bangladesh Liberation War, one of the most brutal chapters in modern history unfolded, particularly affecting the Hindu community and the Awami League in what was then East Pakistan. This conflict, which led to the creation of Bangladesh, was marked by widespread violence, including genocide, rape, arson and looting, forced conversion to…
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How is the International Crimes Tribunal functioning in a peculiar situation?
The International Crimes Tribunal was formed in 1973, but the trials of the Pakistan Army’s collaborators for genocide, murder, rape, loot and arson couldn’t be launched due to the assassination of then-President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975. The subsequent governments rehabilitated them in politics and society. After the Awami League returned to power in…
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Yunus and Grameen Bank won Nobel Prize despite massive blunders for years
A glimpse of management style of Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus:-He was far above accountability due to his fame and prestige-A sign of personal interest, arbitrariness and nepotism-He frequently traveled abroad for personal gain and publicity-He acted capriciously even during the bank’s deep crisis-He disabled Board members by destroying chain of command-He was reluctant to hand…
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Sheikh Hasina decided to resign on August 4th, says Arafat
When the complex reality that emerged on August 4 at one stage of the students’ quota movement and the way a section of the country was criticizing her, the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was staying at Ganabhaban, repeatedly said out of frustration that despite her contributions to the country’s development, if they criticize…
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2001-06: The Dark Prince and his Hawa Bhaban
This is the compilation of a three-part series on corruption, politics and violence during the 2001-06 period based on secret US embassy documents. It was first published in Dhaka Tribune. BNP leaders claim that all charges of corruption, election engineering and patronization of terrorist activities against the party’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman and his Hawa…
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1971: In US Senate, Ted Kennedy spoke for Bangladesh’s independence
▶️ US maintained that it was an internal affair of Pakistan▶️ On May 3, the Senator called for UN intervention▶️ On November 1, Kennedy’s report revealed plights of refugees On the third day of May 1971, the ruthless Pakistani military of General AMA Yahya Khan was conducting the genocidal “Operational Searchlight” in East Pakistan: butchering…
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How India and Bangladesh can stop border killings
For decades, India’s trigger-happy Border Security Force (BSF) has been shooting hundreds of Bangladeshis dead in the name of maintaining law and order along a nearly 4,100km porous land border. While organized gangs from both countries are involved in crimes, many ordinary citizens cross the border casually with both paramilitary forces widely accused of having…
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‘শেখ হাসিনা ৪ঠা আগস্টেই পদত্যাগের সিদ্ধান্ত নিয়েছিলেন’
ছাত্রদের কোটা আন্দোলনের এক পর্যায়ে ৪ঠা আগস্ট যে জটিল বাস্তবতা তৈরি হয়েছিল এবং দেশের একটি অংশ তাকে টার্গেট করে যেভাবে সমালোচনা করছিল, তখন গণভবনে অবস্থানকারী তৎকালীন প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা হতাশা থেকে বার বার বলেছিলেন যে, এত কিছু করার পরও যদি এরা সমালোচনা করে, তাহলে তারাই দেশ চালিয়ে দেখুক। তিনি তখন তার সরকারের হাত ধরে দারিদ্রের…
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Professor Muhammad Yunus: The importance of being earnest
In this op-ed dated August 17, 2024. I warned that nepotism, arrogance, and culture of impunity could nullify the revolution’s success. From childhood, humans learn about their daily needs from their surroundings and the dos and don’ts from their parents, teachers, journalists, public representatives, law enforcers, and the judiciary. However, while the textbooks, social norms…
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Why did Nixon sell lethal-end weapons to genocider Pakistan?
Pakistan had a request for five F-104 replacement aircraft and wanted to get 100 US-made second-hand M47 tanks, which were part of a promise to Gen Ayub Khan from President Lyndon Johnson during a stopover visit to Karachi airport in December 1967. After months of negotiations, President Richard Nixon on June 11, 1970, approved the…
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Why is ‘Joy Bangla’ slogan so powerful?
“Joy Bangla” meant hail Bangla or long live Bangla, referring to the land where the Bengali-speaking people lived in undivided India. The slogan, first used by our great national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam with the spirit of Bengali nationhood in 1942, became the strongest words against domination and discrimination of the West Pakistani military rulers.…
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How dangerous are the Afghan returnee militants of Huji-B?
Bangladesh has been talking about Islamist militancy and extremism, or an armed struggle to establish a Shariah-based state, since early 1999. Members of the Bangladesh branch of the Pakistani militant outfit Harkatul Jihad al-Islami or HuJI attacked poet Shamsur Rahman with the intention of killing him on January 18 of that year. After that, in…
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1971 Genocide: Ukhiya Buddhists fled to Arakan to save their lives
After the Pakistani military launched genocide in East Pakistan on March 25, 1971, to suppress the Bengali resistance for an independent Bangladesh, other Bengalis linked to Islamist parties became their supporters and formed auxiliary forces, like the Peace Committee, Razakar, al-Badr, al-Shams, and Mujahid Bahini, across the country. The collaborators were mainly tasked with assisting…
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What are the political reform proposals for Bangladesh already available?
Ever since the student leaders of Ganatantrik Chhatra Shakti announced a government-ouster movement on Saturday, the social media and mainstream media have flooded with nominations for the new prime minister from civil society, the main opposition BNP and Islamic scholars. Some are also suggesting the names of Cabinet members. Yet, no one has come up…
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Bangladesh anti-quota movement: Dangers of open social media in the third world
When some top media outlets and their sympathizers in the opposition, civil society and young generation work together against the establishment, it may not take too long to unseat a government. It’s not surprising that a harsher reaction from the executive and legislative bodies of the State is imminent. The incumbents would try their best…
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Why has the US been dismayed with Sheikh Hasina since 2009?
Even though the two countries have maintained a bilateral relationship, the United States, under three different presidents, has always been critical of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League for some of her major political decisions that hurt US interests related to Grameen Bank founder Dr Muhammad Yunus, the trial of war criminals linked to Jamaat-e-Islami, the hanging…
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Strict actions are needed for effective reforms
This op-ed was published on March 15, 2024. As Bangladesh continues to grapple with longstanding crises such as reserve management, corruption, and law enforcement, it’s evident that meaningful reforms are needed to overcome this uncomfortable situation and ease uneasiness. And such reforms demand resolute leadership. The aftermath of the recent elections, which saw the incumbent…
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Do humans learn from animals?
In the grand tapestry of life on Earth, humans have thrived by learning invaluable lessons from the myriad beings that share this planet with us. The wisdom that animals and nature have bestowed upon us is immeasurable, ranging from the straightforward tasks of gathering food to the intricate ones of building boats and aircraft. However,…
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US interests, accusations of ‘Arab Spring’, and Bangladesh’s path forward
In a recent twist of geopolitics, Russia has accused the United States of planning events to destabilize its close ally Bangladesh following the January 7 elections. The allegations, drawing parallels with the “Arab Spring”, shed light on the intricate dynamics of great power competition in South Asia. Earlier, China slammed the US for its alleged…
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What did the Biden administration seek from Sheikh Hasina?
Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League came under great pressure at home and abroad from the very beginning regarding the dramatic results of the 2018 parliamentary elections and allegations of vote rigging—that too after a lopsided election in 2014. Her government had to face one rumor after another, harsh controversies and criticisms for corruption, irregularities, inefficiency, nepotism…
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How US is modernizing Bangladesh Army
Despite calls by US politicians and Human Rights Watch to exclude members of the Bangladesh Army and police from the UN Peacekeeping missions, accusing them of violating human rights, the United States has continued providing Bangladesh with numerous new military capabilities to support the Army, Navy, Air Force and Special Operations units. This assistance comes…
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JUNE 22, 1971: US was nonchalant when Syed Nazrul sought recognition
The Nixon administration decided to keep mum when it received the first formal request for US recognition of Bangladesh in June 1971 and announced support for a unified Pakistan. Dated “Mujibnagar”, April 24, the letter requested President Richard Nixon’s immediate US recognition of the “sovereign independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh” and establishing diplomatic relations with…
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May 10, 1971: Pakistani military ruler Yahya invites Awami League to form government
In early May during the Liberation War, Pakistan President General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan was pondering the transfer of political power without holding fresh elections. He was in favour of the Awami League forming the nucleus of the government in East Pakistan as it swept a landslide victory in the December 1970 elections, except for…
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1952 Language Movement Series: Not 5, dozens were killed on February 21-22
Bangalees started getting united to thwart possible attempts to undermine Bengali in July 1947, a month before the establishment of Pakistan and India based on religion, as they sensed the political leadership in West Pakistan would prioritize Urdu. They were right. The initiatives, taken by the West Pakistani rulers and supported by some Bangalee Muslim…
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THE BLOOD TELEGRAM: How a US envoy exposed genocide by Pakistan Army
While the Nixon-Kissinger administration continued supporting military strongman General AM Yahya Khan, who launched a crackdown to “maintain the integrity of Pakistan,” a diplomat in Dhaka urged the US government to express shock, describing the atrocities in a telegram on March 27, 1971. “Selective Genocide” was the title of the telegram sent by Consul General…
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Pakistani cricketers frustrated as Tigers show them door
The over-confident cricketers and management of Pakistan cricket team thought they would bag trophies and prize money from Bangladesh tour alongside the compensation since Bangladesh refused to visit Pakistan to play a series several years back for security reasons. But they now have to cry after scandalous defeat in the 3-match ODI series and the…
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মীরজাফরদের বিচার না হলে মুক্তিযুদ্ধ শেষই হবেনা
নরপশুকে ফাঁসি দিতে একটা খুন/ধর্ষণই যথেষ্ঠ ছিল। আর অন্যায়ভাবে যাবজ্জীবন দিলে ক্ষমতার বলে ছাড়া পেয়ে যেতো, তখন বলতো সব অভিযোগ বানোয়াট। অতঃপর বিচারের সাথে সংশ্লিষ্টদের উপর প্রতিশোধ নিতো। সরকারি দল আওয়ামীলীগ বিচার কাজ সরাসরি তত্বাবধান করছে — এইটা ওপেন সিক্রেট এবং দরকারি। এই বিচার আটটা-দশটা খুন-ধর্ষণের বিষয় না। বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাসের সবচাইতে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ এই বিচারকে কেন্দ্র…
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WikiLeaks: Zia, Farooq, Rashid sought US military assistance
After the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975, then chief of army Ziaur Rahman sought military support from the US through its embassy in Dhaka to what he said thwart India-backed intervention of miscreants in Bangladesh. Then ambassador to Dhaka Davis Eugene Boster wrote to Washington about it after two more…
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WikiLeaks: Hasina wanted to improve image with US in 1991
Soon after the BNP came to power on March 20, 1991, then opposition leader in parliament Sheikh Hasina alleged that the government had been turning authoritarian. She was also against the BNP’s constitution amendment proposals, especially shackling the president. “She said that the BNP proposal contains a provision that the president is ‘bound’ to dissolve…
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