Wither Reforms?

I would like to thank everyone, especially our party activists and supporters around the world, for pulling together in the past week’s crisis. You raised your voices and the world heard. My mother’s story was covered by 151 newspapers in 41 countries and I don’t even know how many radio stations and television networks. This is from article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the United Nations:

“No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.”

Bangladesh ratified this in the year 2000, incidentally under my mother’s government. What the Caretaker did was illegal and a blatant violation of human rights. But that comes as no surprise. This Caretaker has shown a complete disregard for human rights and civil liberties.

On the topic of the Caretaker Government (CG), they have been talking a lot about reforms, especially within the political parties. That being the case I would like to take a look at the reforms that have been promised by the CG itself.

The CG has done some good, without a doubt. They have arrested some of the most corrupt people in Bangladesh, including Tareq Rahman. However, it has been three months since their anti-corruption drive began but we have seen very few charges filed against those arrested. Why is that? Could it be there is no evidence against these people, which means that many of them are actually innocent? Considering that over 100,000 people have been arrested so far this is a gross violation of human rights. How would you feel if someone claimed you were corrupt, then they arrested you without any charges and held you in prison indefinitely?

If they are not going to charge these people then holding them, in some cases against a High Court ruling for their release, is illegal and unconstitutional. Besides, if they don’t charge people how can they clean up corruption?

The CG announced that they would enact new laws, remove the influence of black money and make the Election Commission independent. The did reconstitute the Election Commission somewhat, but the history of one of their senior appointees makes one wonder if the CG is really interested in fighting corruption. After all, no one this CG appoints should have any taint of corruption in their recent past.

They have finally announced changes to the electoral laws, but that too leaves much to be desired. Looking at them closely there does not appear to be any steps to block the influence of so called black money.

Even more shocking, the CG has refused to make Election Secretariat independent of the Prime Minister’s Office! How can you have true independence of the Election Commission if it does not control its own secretariat? They have argued, which experts disagree with, that it would require a constitutional amendment. So the CG has no compunctions about violating the constitution in every other way but this?

But the most important aspect of electoral reforms, the one issue that was the root cause of all the protests and upheaval, the voters list remains incorrect. This government has been in power for over three months, the new Election Commission for over two, yet they have not even begun the task of updating the voters list. Why could not this task be undertaken in parallel with the drive against corruption? After all, the CG had plenty of time to bulldoze the homes of the poorest of our society. Now we are being told that it will take 18 months when most experts agree that it can be done in about 45 days. So what real electoral reforms has this CG undertaken?

What about the CG’s much vaunted declaration of making the judiciary independent? Our new leaders made grand speeches on how this has been a travesty perpetuated by the politicians and how they intend to fix this? The CG has asked for a two month extension on this. This is on top of the previous extension they had requested a couple of months ago. Isn’t this exactly what the politicians are accused of?

The Anti Corruption Commission has been strengthened, but actually too much. It has been given the power to arrest anyone without charges or warrants and even seize their assets without so much as a court order. How can this possibly be justified under any law? Such a law itself is against our constitution, not to mention all human rights.

Last, but certainly not the least, the last government was responsible for almost 1000 extra judicial killings by the security forces. Those killings have continued at the very same rate under this CG, at least 70 at last count in 3 months. How is this reform? What makes this CG any better than the previous government?

What surprises me most are the people who still keep hoping this CG will bring about reform. You have to wonder how those who shout loudest about morality and legality so willingly support a government that has shown a total lack of morality and legality. Their arguments simply ring hollow. If you stand on principle, you have to stand on all principles. Otherwise, it’s just politics as usual.

Bar Against My Mother

First of all, I would like to thank all that have shown support for my mother through this ordeal. What the Caretaker Government is doing is outrageous and completely unacceptable. I apologize that I have not been able to post earlier and this is going to be a brief post as well. I have been extremely busy with this crisis and am pressed for time.

The CG is determined to keep my mother out of the country. From a human rights standpoint, this is a clear violation. She is a citizen of Bangladesh and has every right to return to her country. And let us not forget, she is the daughter of the Father of the Nation. Above all else, she has every right to return to Bangladesh.

Under any judicial process she has a right to challenge any and all accusations against her. If the CG has a legitimate reason to not want her in the country then why don’t they allow her face the charges against her in court? They have even placed a ban on the media on broadcasting any of her statements. Why are they so afraid of her and what she might say?

The truth is that with the successful movement to stop the rigged election of January, Sheikh Hasina is the most powerful political figure in Bangladesh right now. She is the only one that commands the respect of the greatest majority of our people. With her leadership, Awami League can mount a successful challenge against any authoritarian regime. And that is exactly what this CG wants to eliminate.

Their hope is that with Sheikh Hasina out of the picture there will be no one to stop them from staying in power indefinitely. There will be no one to challenge their absolute rule. Unfortunately, this also means that democracy will not return to Bangladesh again.

This is the so called “Pakistan formula.” They have taken the exact steps, almost without distinction, that were taken in Pakistan seven years ago. What has been the result in that country? Democracy there is finished and the country has become a hotbed of fundamentalist terrorism. Is this the future we want for Bangladesh?

Much has been made about the theory that the personal differences between the two women leaders of the country is the root cause of all the problems there. It wasn’t personal differences that caused the 1000 extra judicial killings of the last five years, or the assassinations of 2 Members of Parliament, or the mass arrests, or even the attempt at a blatantly rigged election.

Incidentally, extra judicial killings have continued under this so called “good government.” Why is that? I won’t even go into the mass arrests without charges and every other human rights violation in the book.

This is simply a power grab. I, along with many others had warned that this would happen if a non elected military backed interim government stayed in power too long.

Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League are now the only hope for restoring democracy to Bangladesh. If she returns to the country this regime will not be able to stay indefinitely. For this to happen we need your support.

I would like to urge all Bangladeshi’s to raise your voice for what is happening. Raise your voice for democracy. Raise your voice for the future of Bangladesh. Raise your voice for the daughter of the Father of the Nation.

The Charges Against Sheikh Hasina

The last few days have been unbelievably busy for me, so this is going to be a relatively short post. I am not going to even bother to try and defend the charges against my mother. They are so ridiculous and baseless that besides those who are dedicatedly anti-AL, no one believes them. All I will say is that the BNP wanted nothing better than to find something to charge my mother with and could not. For this to pop up six years later, after the BNP’s term and just two days after my mother gave an interview to BBC where she called the Caretaker Government unconstitutional, makes it quite clear that these charges are politically motivated.

These charges are too flimsy to hold up in court and the government knows that. They are hoping that the threat of arrest will prevent my mother from returning. They have underestimated my mother.

No one, other than the people of Bangladesh, has the right to dictate to the people of Bangladesh who can or cannot lead them. No one elected this Caretaker Government. In fact they were handpicked by the army. We supported them when they were fighting corruption but now it is clear that they have embarked on a conspiracy to destroy democracy in Bangladesh. This is simply a blatant attempt at consolidating power by eliminating all political opposition. Folks, this is nothing but politics as usual.

Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. I saw a newspaper article the other day from 1982 where a general declared that politicians in Bangladesh had all become corrupt and that the country needed to be cleaned out and set back on the right track. That general’s name was Hossain Mohammed Ershad. We’ve been through this not once, but twice before in our history. They say the definition of insanity is when you keep repeating the same action each time hoping for a different result. Anyone who believes that this time the army intervention is going to be any different needs to have his head examined.

My mother will be returning to Bangladesh within the next couple of days. She has done nothing illegal and has nothing to fear. For those that keep bringing up allegations of corruption against my family, show me some proof! My sister drives 40 miles each way to and from work. My aunt lives in a small two bedroom apartment in London and travels by bus and train as she does not own a car and taxis are expensive. My wife has gone back to work after our daughter was born because we need both incomes to pay our mortgage. And I had to leave my job a few months ago because I became too busy with politics and was going to go back to campaign for the elections. I am now looking for a new job and we are living on our savings, which won’t last a whole lot longer. If anyone has the bank account numbers where all our alleged loot is, please pass them on as we could really use the money.

I would like to ask all of you who believe in democracy to show your support. It is time for this government to go. We must have elections as soon as possible. This Caretaker Government cannot be trusted any longer.