There have been some significant developments in the cases against my mother. The first trial initiated was a charge of extorting money from businessman Azam Chowdhury. This trial started early December and under the Emergency Powers Rule 2007 (EPR) has to be concluded by the end of February. The key developments in this case so far are as follows.
1. Last week Azam Chowdhury called a press conference and announced that he did not file charges against Sheikh Hasina and she had nothing at all to do with this case.
2. The only evidence the military regime has provided is the confession of Sheikh Selim, former Minister and my mother’s cousin. On the very first day of hearings Sheikh Selim submitted to the court in writing that he was physically tortured repeatedly and threatened with death to make a false confession against Sheikh Hasina. He wished to retract his confession.
3. In fact, there is evidence exonerating my mother. The money was paid by check and the checks were endorsed and cashed by a third person. This person has not been investigated by the military regime at all.
4. Yesterday Azam Chowdhury testified in court. His testimony was that he did not file charges against Sheikh Hasina, that she had nothing to do with the case and that he had never even met her.
5. The High Court (appeals court) had appointed seven attorneys as Amicus Curae, or “friends of the court” to file briefs on our motion that trying her under the EPR was illegal. One attorney recused himself but the remaining six submitted briefs that trying Sheikh Hasina under the EPR for allegations that occurred seven years prior to the enactment of the EPR was indeed illegal and unconstitutional.
The second trial is a charge of receiving a bribe from Summit Industries. Summit Industries won a contract to build a power plant in Khulna. Shortly after, they purchased the house next to the Bangabandhu Museum and donated it to the Museum. The Museum is owned and operated by the Bangabandhu Trust, which also provides scholarships to 1200 needy students. My mother is the Chairperson of the Board of the Trust, but a curator and staff run the day to day operations and manage all financial transactions. The regime claims that another bidder, New England Power, was the lowest in this project and that this donation was a bribe to my mother to give Summit the contract. This trial has to conclude in March under the EPR. The facts in this case so far are:
1. Donation was made in kind to the Bangabandu Trust. The regime has never claimed that my mother received any money from Summit Industries or any other individuals involved in this project.
2. An independent accounting firm, who are the local partners of Earnst and Young, has evaluated the project and concluded that Summit was in fact the lowest bidder. New England Power's bid did not use the specified tariff rates but instead attempted to cheat and used a lower “estimated” rate with a clause that allowed them to subsequently raise their price if the actual tariff rate was higher. Because of this their bid was considered “unresponsive” and disqualified.
3. At about the same time Summit Industries also made a cash donation to the Dhaka Cantonment Board. The Cantonment Board is owned by the Army and this donation was for building a hospital. This donation was in the amount of $2 million and is four times the monetary value of the donation to the Bangabandhu Trust.
Both these trials are being conducted in special courts set up under the EPR. The regime, including Chief Advisor Fakruddin Ahmed, is lying in claiming she is being tried under the “law of the land”. As I have maintained, these charges are completely trumped up and my mother is innocent. These recent facts prove that beyond any doubt.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Thank You
I would like to thank all of you who have donated so generously for the cyclone relief. We have raised several thousand dollars. About half of that has been distributed as relief supplies directly through Suchinta. The other half has been sent to the Awami League's relief fund.
The relief efforts are by no means over. However, despite the military regime's statements urging all to help, they have hampered the relief operations of everyone else. They have instituted stringent requirements that anyone wishing to mount any aid operations must apply for permission and then be monitored by government officials. This has simply added a significant layer of bureaucracy to the efforts and slowed things down. In the end our poor people have suffered.
There have been many news reports outlining the lack of coordination in the regime's relief operations. More significantly, there have been a few reports of corruption and nepotism in the distribution of relief. I don't have to tell you how ironic this is considering the regime claims to be fighting corruption.
Considering that some of the most corrupt politicians of the past few years are still free and being actively supported by this regime, this is hardly surprising.
The relief efforts are by no means over. However, despite the military regime's statements urging all to help, they have hampered the relief operations of everyone else. They have instituted stringent requirements that anyone wishing to mount any aid operations must apply for permission and then be monitored by government officials. This has simply added a significant layer of bureaucracy to the efforts and slowed things down. In the end our poor people have suffered.
There have been many news reports outlining the lack of coordination in the regime's relief operations. More significantly, there have been a few reports of corruption and nepotism in the distribution of relief. I don't have to tell you how ironic this is considering the regime claims to be fighting corruption.
Considering that some of the most corrupt politicians of the past few years are still free and being actively supported by this regime, this is hardly surprising.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Cyclone Relief
Dear friends,
For the past week I have been trying to raise funds and set up a mechanism to send those funds for our relief efforts for the cyclone. My organization, the Bongobandhu Foundation, along with Suchinta has set up a website where you can donate online. The address is:
http://www.cycloneaid.shuchinta.com/
You can also contact the General Secretary of the Foundation, Mr. Fazlur Rahman at (+1) 561-577-2531.
The ongoing state of emergency maintained by this military regime has hampered our relief efforts severely. During every natural calimity the Awami League mounts its own relief operations with thousands of volunteers. This time around, it is simply not possible as many of our leaders and activists are now political prisoners of this regime. Along with this, the threat of donations being termed "bribery" or "extortion" by this regime and the indefinite detention without trial that would automatically follow has scared most of our party people. It is the poor that are ultimately suffering.
Still, I would like all our supporters to help in any way they can. I thank you in advance.
Joy Bangla.
For the past week I have been trying to raise funds and set up a mechanism to send those funds for our relief efforts for the cyclone. My organization, the Bongobandhu Foundation, along with Suchinta has set up a website where you can donate online. The address is:
http://www.cycloneaid.shuchinta.com/
You can also contact the General Secretary of the Foundation, Mr. Fazlur Rahman at (+1) 561-577-2531.
The ongoing state of emergency maintained by this military regime has hampered our relief efforts severely. During every natural calimity the Awami League mounts its own relief operations with thousands of volunteers. This time around, it is simply not possible as many of our leaders and activists are now political prisoners of this regime. Along with this, the threat of donations being termed "bribery" or "extortion" by this regime and the indefinite detention without trial that would automatically follow has scared most of our party people. It is the poor that are ultimately suffering.
Still, I would like all our supporters to help in any way they can. I thank you in advance.
Joy Bangla.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Case Against My Aunt and The Economist Article
This week the military regime finally issued an order demanding that my aunt surrender herself to the courts. Once again, I find this astounding. The facts behind all of this make a mockery of due process.
In the original charge sheet filed in this case my aunt's name was not mentioned anywhere. Of course, the fact remains that the charge sheet itself was filed by the businessman in question while he was in DGFI (Bangladeshi military intelligence) custody. Why didn't he file these charges in the last five years? After all, my mother has not been in power since 2001. My aunt certainly has never been involved in politics.
My aunt lives in a small, two bedroom apartment in London. She has lived there for 10 years. She was not even in Bangladesh at the time this alleged extortion incident occured. The police were sent to sieze her property in Dhaka, but found none. She doesn't have any as she has not lived there in all this time.
My entire family's accounts have been frozen. This regime has not shown one single unusual transaction in any of them. This regime has also investigated all our accounts and property outside of Bangladesh. If indeed my mother or aunt were involved in corruption, where did the money go? Did it just vanish? This is like saying that because I did not see you steal, that does not prove you did not. It's impossible to prove a negative. The fact is, there is no money to find because there was no corruption.
My aunt does not even own a car in London. She takes the bus, even in the snow in the winter. She has diabetes but lives on her own. She has no staff or even a maid to help her out. To treat her this way is an abomination.
In a further testament to the complete lack of due process, there has still been no trial against my mother or aunt. It is illegal to attempt to sieze someone's property without so much as a trial. People are innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. But this regime clearly does not care about that.
On the other hand, some of the most corrupt ministers from the previous regime as well our our own party still remain free. I won't name names, but most of you know who they are. This fact alone proves this regime's intentions.
This is clearly an attempt to destroy the reputation of Bangabandhu's family. That is what is happening here. In case you don't believe me, read this article from The Economist. Pay attention to the last paragraph:
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10113855
This is what is happening in Bangladesh today. DGFI is extorting businessmen to increase it's control over the media. This is shocking.
This is the media age and whoever controls the media controls public perception. It is no secret that the media in Bangladesh is currently censored. Now it appears this regime is attempting to go further, to take over the media directly. This way they can attempt to shape public opinion by whatever lies they propagate.
This is where our country is headed. We are a police state now, with no constitutional rights and no due process. We are about to become one where our military intelligence controls the media and decides who is going to be in politics and who is not. We have seen this twice before in our history. It does not bode well for our future.
In the original charge sheet filed in this case my aunt's name was not mentioned anywhere. Of course, the fact remains that the charge sheet itself was filed by the businessman in question while he was in DGFI (Bangladeshi military intelligence) custody. Why didn't he file these charges in the last five years? After all, my mother has not been in power since 2001. My aunt certainly has never been involved in politics.
My aunt lives in a small, two bedroom apartment in London. She has lived there for 10 years. She was not even in Bangladesh at the time this alleged extortion incident occured. The police were sent to sieze her property in Dhaka, but found none. She doesn't have any as she has not lived there in all this time.
My entire family's accounts have been frozen. This regime has not shown one single unusual transaction in any of them. This regime has also investigated all our accounts and property outside of Bangladesh. If indeed my mother or aunt were involved in corruption, where did the money go? Did it just vanish? This is like saying that because I did not see you steal, that does not prove you did not. It's impossible to prove a negative. The fact is, there is no money to find because there was no corruption.
My aunt does not even own a car in London. She takes the bus, even in the snow in the winter. She has diabetes but lives on her own. She has no staff or even a maid to help her out. To treat her this way is an abomination.
In a further testament to the complete lack of due process, there has still been no trial against my mother or aunt. It is illegal to attempt to sieze someone's property without so much as a trial. People are innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. But this regime clearly does not care about that.
On the other hand, some of the most corrupt ministers from the previous regime as well our our own party still remain free. I won't name names, but most of you know who they are. This fact alone proves this regime's intentions.
This is clearly an attempt to destroy the reputation of Bangabandhu's family. That is what is happening here. In case you don't believe me, read this article from The Economist. Pay attention to the last paragraph:
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10113855
This is what is happening in Bangladesh today. DGFI is extorting businessmen to increase it's control over the media. This is shocking.
This is the media age and whoever controls the media controls public perception. It is no secret that the media in Bangladesh is currently censored. Now it appears this regime is attempting to go further, to take over the media directly. This way they can attempt to shape public opinion by whatever lies they propagate.
This is where our country is headed. We are a police state now, with no constitutional rights and no due process. We are about to become one where our military intelligence controls the media and decides who is going to be in politics and who is not. We have seen this twice before in our history. It does not bode well for our future.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
A Recent Event
I would like to share an event that took place recently. Here at Harvard we have seminars that are organized on a regular basis by the students themselves. The speakers are students and topics are suggested by us and selections made by a committee of our fellow students.
I had suggested the topic of human rights violations by the current government of Bangladesh. Most of the committee members are friends of mine, or so I thought. Eventually, the committee decided to host a seminar on a somewhat similar topic and invited me to present. The topic selected was, “Living in exile,” which was fine with me given that my family has lived in exile for five long years and I am now a prime target for the current regime of Bangladesh.
I then found out that one of the committee members, a Bangladeshi none the less, had emailed the entire committee that I was biased as I was a member of one of the political dynasties and my mother was in jail for corruption. Of course, this student did not mention that there has been absolutely no trial against my mother and her detention has repeatedly been ruled illegal by our Appeals Court. This surprised me even more because I had considered this student a friend and had discussed my topic with her and she had acted very supportive.
Still, I presented my topic from a human rights angle, along with two other classmates who are also in exile. I am a man of principle and I do not accept human rights violations for any reason. Corruption can be eliminated without, torture, murder and detaining people indefinitely without a trial. In fact, I believe that an oppressive regime is itself no better than the corrupt it claims to fight.
After my presentation there was a question and answer session. During this the Bangladeshi student who tried to sabotage my presentation took the microphone and made a lengthy speech about how I was biased. I actually had to interrupt her and ask if there was a question in there somewhere. She finally asked a couple of questions but they were so irrelevant that I don’t even remember them.
Since she raised the issue, I let the audience know what she had done behind the scenes. I pointed out one fact; she did not dispute that detention without trials, torture and murder were being undertaken by this regime. This is a common theme I have noticed with those who support this regime. They never address the issue of human rights violations, except to say, “Well, we don’t condone them.” Well if you don’t condone them, what does it say about your principles if you are supporting a regime that is using torture, murder and illegal detentions as a means of law enforcement?
This student also went on to say how the political dynasties were ruining Bangladesh and a good man like Mohammed Yunus (our Nobel prize winner) could not take leadership. I find this hilarious because no one stopped Yunus from forming a political party. In fact, he did so even while all political activity was banned. While my party members were arrested simply for getting together for dinner in one house, Yunus was actively supported by this regime in trying to form his party. As it turned out that he could not find anyone else to join him because he has very little popular support. It appears to me that this student does not believe the people of Bangladesh should choose their leadership, but that it should be chosen only the elite few such as her.
No one handed my mother the post of Prime Minister. She was elected by the people of our country. She did not even ask to be the President of our party. She was elected in absentia while in exile! And I certainly will not have the help of the military or the elite if I join politics. I will have to run for any post within the party as well as in national elections.
This student’s husband was also present at the seminar. He is also Bangladeshi, from a very wealthy family. He took the microphone and challenged me, “Is there a government order that you are exiled, yes or no?” I responded that there was clearly the threat of arrest against me but he tried to corner me, “Just yes or no.” I told him this wasn’t a court of law, but this demonstrates that he was simply trying to manipulate the question to make it appear as though I was lying. Just like his wife, he was trying to divert attention from the issues of human rights that I had presented.
The story does not end there. As I was leaving, the husband started getting in my face and challenging me. He kept trying to egg me on with one personal attack after another; “You’ve never even lived in Bangladesh. You’re like that Afghani guy sitting far away criticizing our country,” “You never say one good thing about Bangladesh. Go on, say one good thing.” He would not let me walk away and kept attacking me in this manner until a Pakistani friend of mine intervened. It was quite ironic, a Pakistani stopping a confrontation between two Bangladeshis!
This just goes to prove my point. Just like all that support this regime, neither the husband nor the wife actually ever denied that human rights violations were taking place. In fact, neither of them even said these violations must stop, which is a testament to their lack of principles. Instead they tried to attack me personally to divert the issue. It’s the oldest political trick in the book.
Unfortunately for them, they really did not have anything to attack me with. The crowds that showed up during my various tours throughout Bangladesh in the previous two years are my testament. I’ll take the support of the majority of my people over the support of the elite few any day.
I had suggested the topic of human rights violations by the current government of Bangladesh. Most of the committee members are friends of mine, or so I thought. Eventually, the committee decided to host a seminar on a somewhat similar topic and invited me to present. The topic selected was, “Living in exile,” which was fine with me given that my family has lived in exile for five long years and I am now a prime target for the current regime of Bangladesh.
I then found out that one of the committee members, a Bangladeshi none the less, had emailed the entire committee that I was biased as I was a member of one of the political dynasties and my mother was in jail for corruption. Of course, this student did not mention that there has been absolutely no trial against my mother and her detention has repeatedly been ruled illegal by our Appeals Court. This surprised me even more because I had considered this student a friend and had discussed my topic with her and she had acted very supportive.
Still, I presented my topic from a human rights angle, along with two other classmates who are also in exile. I am a man of principle and I do not accept human rights violations for any reason. Corruption can be eliminated without, torture, murder and detaining people indefinitely without a trial. In fact, I believe that an oppressive regime is itself no better than the corrupt it claims to fight.
After my presentation there was a question and answer session. During this the Bangladeshi student who tried to sabotage my presentation took the microphone and made a lengthy speech about how I was biased. I actually had to interrupt her and ask if there was a question in there somewhere. She finally asked a couple of questions but they were so irrelevant that I don’t even remember them.
Since she raised the issue, I let the audience know what she had done behind the scenes. I pointed out one fact; she did not dispute that detention without trials, torture and murder were being undertaken by this regime. This is a common theme I have noticed with those who support this regime. They never address the issue of human rights violations, except to say, “Well, we don’t condone them.” Well if you don’t condone them, what does it say about your principles if you are supporting a regime that is using torture, murder and illegal detentions as a means of law enforcement?
This student also went on to say how the political dynasties were ruining Bangladesh and a good man like Mohammed Yunus (our Nobel prize winner) could not take leadership. I find this hilarious because no one stopped Yunus from forming a political party. In fact, he did so even while all political activity was banned. While my party members were arrested simply for getting together for dinner in one house, Yunus was actively supported by this regime in trying to form his party. As it turned out that he could not find anyone else to join him because he has very little popular support. It appears to me that this student does not believe the people of Bangladesh should choose their leadership, but that it should be chosen only the elite few such as her.
No one handed my mother the post of Prime Minister. She was elected by the people of our country. She did not even ask to be the President of our party. She was elected in absentia while in exile! And I certainly will not have the help of the military or the elite if I join politics. I will have to run for any post within the party as well as in national elections.
This student’s husband was also present at the seminar. He is also Bangladeshi, from a very wealthy family. He took the microphone and challenged me, “Is there a government order that you are exiled, yes or no?” I responded that there was clearly the threat of arrest against me but he tried to corner me, “Just yes or no.” I told him this wasn’t a court of law, but this demonstrates that he was simply trying to manipulate the question to make it appear as though I was lying. Just like his wife, he was trying to divert attention from the issues of human rights that I had presented.
The story does not end there. As I was leaving, the husband started getting in my face and challenging me. He kept trying to egg me on with one personal attack after another; “You’ve never even lived in Bangladesh. You’re like that Afghani guy sitting far away criticizing our country,” “You never say one good thing about Bangladesh. Go on, say one good thing.” He would not let me walk away and kept attacking me in this manner until a Pakistani friend of mine intervened. It was quite ironic, a Pakistani stopping a confrontation between two Bangladeshis!
This just goes to prove my point. Just like all that support this regime, neither the husband nor the wife actually ever denied that human rights violations were taking place. In fact, neither of them even said these violations must stop, which is a testament to their lack of principles. Instead they tried to attack me personally to divert the issue. It’s the oldest political trick in the book.
Unfortunately for them, they really did not have anything to attack me with. The crowds that showed up during my various tours throughout Bangladesh in the previous two years are my testament. I’ll take the support of the majority of my people over the support of the elite few any day.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Meeting General Moeen
In case you missed the newspaper headlines, television, radio and blog coverage, General Moeen and I met at a lunch on Tuesday. This was a small private event. All the Bangladeshi students at Harvard and select faculty members were invited. All told there were about 20 people.
The General was very cordial and friendly. We exchanged pleasantries and chatted briefly. He made a presentation, with an accompanying PowerPoint slideshow. The presentation was clearly prepared as a public relations tool. It contained several propaganda items, such as a claim that the corruption in Bangladesh began to grow from the Awami League’s term from 1996, the economy was growing very well currently, people were rejoicing with this government in power, etc.
We had an opportunity to ask questions and since the General had highlighted the fact that Transparency International has rated Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world for five years running, my first question was, “Transparency International has only been evaluating Bangladesh since the year 2000 or so. Isn’t it true that corruption and weakening of governance were actually instituted by past military dictatorships? For example, General Ershad’s regime was regarded as one of the most corrupt governments we have ever had.” To that he responded that each government had contributed to the process over 36 years.
My next question to him was that the Awami League is the party that raised the issue of reforms back in July, 2005 with our comprehensive reform proposal, but we have been completely shut out of the process by this government. I asked him whether reform was sustainable without engaging the political parties as partners in the process. To this he replied that the Election Commission was scheduled to sit with the parties for dialogue.
My third question to him was if he would release all political prisoners, including my mother, who were being held without trial and let the judicial system deal with them. He responded that this was up to Anti Corruption Commission and the government had nothing to do with it. He went on to say that if my mother was found not guilty and released he would be most happy.
He was quite firm about elections being held as per the promised roadmap, by next October or so. However, it became clear that the state of emergency is going to be maintained at least until after the municipal elections scheduled early next year. This is a serious concern as the state of emergency continues the factor of intimidation for all political activity. If only people supported by this regime are allowed to campaign and everyone else intimidated into hiding, then any such elections will be meaningless.
That, in a nutshell, was my meeting with General Moeen. Besides this, he attended a class on election reform where the class made a presentation to him and took his questions. He also had a few private meetings. And that was it for his trip.
The General was very cordial and friendly. We exchanged pleasantries and chatted briefly. He made a presentation, with an accompanying PowerPoint slideshow. The presentation was clearly prepared as a public relations tool. It contained several propaganda items, such as a claim that the corruption in Bangladesh began to grow from the Awami League’s term from 1996, the economy was growing very well currently, people were rejoicing with this government in power, etc.
We had an opportunity to ask questions and since the General had highlighted the fact that Transparency International has rated Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world for five years running, my first question was, “Transparency International has only been evaluating Bangladesh since the year 2000 or so. Isn’t it true that corruption and weakening of governance were actually instituted by past military dictatorships? For example, General Ershad’s regime was regarded as one of the most corrupt governments we have ever had.” To that he responded that each government had contributed to the process over 36 years.
My next question to him was that the Awami League is the party that raised the issue of reforms back in July, 2005 with our comprehensive reform proposal, but we have been completely shut out of the process by this government. I asked him whether reform was sustainable without engaging the political parties as partners in the process. To this he replied that the Election Commission was scheduled to sit with the parties for dialogue.
My third question to him was if he would release all political prisoners, including my mother, who were being held without trial and let the judicial system deal with them. He responded that this was up to Anti Corruption Commission and the government had nothing to do with it. He went on to say that if my mother was found not guilty and released he would be most happy.
He was quite firm about elections being held as per the promised roadmap, by next October or so. However, it became clear that the state of emergency is going to be maintained at least until after the municipal elections scheduled early next year. This is a serious concern as the state of emergency continues the factor of intimidation for all political activity. If only people supported by this regime are allowed to campaign and everyone else intimidated into hiding, then any such elections will be meaningless.
That, in a nutshell, was my meeting with General Moeen. Besides this, he attended a class on election reform where the class made a presentation to him and took his questions. He also had a few private meetings. And that was it for his trip.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Phone Call With My Mother
Today, after three months, the military government finally allowed me and my sister to speak with my mother. Of course, the call was limited to five minutes and was monitered by the government. Still, it was good to speak to her after all this time.
She is in good spirit, keeping herself busy reading and writing. Even though she is under arrest she was most concerned about us. I never knew this until now, but she told me that it was a dream of hers that I go to Harvard. Of course, I decided to take a different route when I was younger. After all these years, circumstance and luck have brought things full circle. Life is full of surprises.
In the meanwhile, our so called "civil society" members here in the US have been arguing that this regime is cleaning out corruption, reforming the country and fighting terrorism. Here is what I have to say to this.
Approximately 250,000 people have been arrested so far and an unknown number are still detained. There have only been 200 or so trials to date. How has this regime determined that the rest of the detainees are guilty? After all, they have not been tried. These people are being presumed guilty and the onus is on them is to prove their innocence in order to obtain their freedom. This is an egregious violation of human rights and due process.
So my question to the "civil society" members supporting these arrests is this. If someday someone claims you committed a crime, it would be O.K. if the police arrested you first and held you for months until your trial?
Our “civil society” has also claimed that this government has saved us from terrorism. However, under this regime the fundamentalist parties, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami, have enjoyed complete immunity in spite of evidence of terrorism and corruption against them. What does our “civil society” have to say about this? This directly contradicts their claim of this regime fighting terrorism.
As for this regime fighting corruption, some of the most corrupt politicians from both the major parties remain immune from prosecution. Even more so, these corrupt politicians are being actively supported by this regime in trying to break up the two parties and form new ones. This regime has made absolutely no secrets about this. So how is this fighting corruption?
It’s this hypocrisy that amazes me. Integrity and principles are absolutes. You cannot pick and choose. Those who are willing to compromise some principles are more than willing to compromise other principles given the opportunity.
After all, many of the politicians that have turned corrupt weren’t always that way. They were just willing to compromise their principles a little bit. When the opportunity arose to gain by compromising their principles further, they simply didn’t hesitate. That is why the people who support the illegal acts of this regime are no better than the corrupt politicians themselves.
To all Bangladeshis with integrity, thank you for not compromising your principles. I urge you all to speak out. Hold this regime accountable.
She is in good spirit, keeping herself busy reading and writing. Even though she is under arrest she was most concerned about us. I never knew this until now, but she told me that it was a dream of hers that I go to Harvard. Of course, I decided to take a different route when I was younger. After all these years, circumstance and luck have brought things full circle. Life is full of surprises.
In the meanwhile, our so called "civil society" members here in the US have been arguing that this regime is cleaning out corruption, reforming the country and fighting terrorism. Here is what I have to say to this.
Approximately 250,000 people have been arrested so far and an unknown number are still detained. There have only been 200 or so trials to date. How has this regime determined that the rest of the detainees are guilty? After all, they have not been tried. These people are being presumed guilty and the onus is on them is to prove their innocence in order to obtain their freedom. This is an egregious violation of human rights and due process.
So my question to the "civil society" members supporting these arrests is this. If someday someone claims you committed a crime, it would be O.K. if the police arrested you first and held you for months until your trial?
Our “civil society” has also claimed that this government has saved us from terrorism. However, under this regime the fundamentalist parties, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami, have enjoyed complete immunity in spite of evidence of terrorism and corruption against them. What does our “civil society” have to say about this? This directly contradicts their claim of this regime fighting terrorism.
As for this regime fighting corruption, some of the most corrupt politicians from both the major parties remain immune from prosecution. Even more so, these corrupt politicians are being actively supported by this regime in trying to break up the two parties and form new ones. This regime has made absolutely no secrets about this. So how is this fighting corruption?
It’s this hypocrisy that amazes me. Integrity and principles are absolutes. You cannot pick and choose. Those who are willing to compromise some principles are more than willing to compromise other principles given the opportunity.
After all, many of the politicians that have turned corrupt weren’t always that way. They were just willing to compromise their principles a little bit. When the opportunity arose to gain by compromising their principles further, they simply didn’t hesitate. That is why the people who support the illegal acts of this regime are no better than the corrupt politicians themselves.
To all Bangladeshis with integrity, thank you for not compromising your principles. I urge you all to speak out. Hold this regime accountable.
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