After Destroying Pakistan, The US Now Wants to Ruin Bangladesh
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
18 December
2023
The US Shows
Its Support to Jamaat for Upcoming Elections
Main
Points:
1. The US does not want stability in
South Asia.
2. It has a history of backing
extremist organisations for its own interests.
3. During Awami League government,
Bangladesh had become a centre of terrorism.
4. Jamaat Islami does not believe in
democracy and secularism.
5. Shaikh Hasina eliminated terrorists
from Bangladesh.
------
Shahriar
Kabir. The Telegraph.
------
Shaheryar
Kabir's interview gives a peak into the current political situation in
Bangladesh. The country will go to the polls in January 2024 and Shaikh
Hasina's Awami League is bracing for a fourth consecutive win. Hasina has
successfully led Bangladesh's transition from a haven of militancy and
terrorism to a democratic secular country and a growing economy. She has a
large support base not only among the secular and democratic minded Muslims but
also among the minorities because during her tenure, the minorities have felt
safer than in the Awami League government supported by Jamaat Islami.
Shaheryar
Kabir expresses surprise at the proximity of the Communists to the Jamaat
though it knows well that Jamaar does not approve of communism as a political
ideology and its agnosticism. This may surprise many but not those who know
about their relations as far back as the 1940s when the freedom movement was at
its peak. During the period, Jamaat and the communist party would jointly
organise public meetings against the British. It would then be seen as the two
fighting for a common cause and so no one would express surprise. But that
their bonhomie continues even after the Independence not only in Bangladesh but
also in India is really surprising. The Jamaat Islami in India feels at home
with the communists. This perhaps because the Shaikh Hasina government's
overwhelming popularity and Awami League's mass base does not give them the
space to work and grow. Therefore, both the organisations think that in Awami
League's government they may get better prospects and greater space because of
their century old relations.
As for the
US declaring the Jamaat Islami a moderate Islamic party, it changes labels
according to its convenience. The US has nothing to do with morality or human
rights as these are only the US's political tools. Remember the Good Taliban,
Bad Taliban theory when it required the support of Taliban or needed to support
them as per their political convenience. It seems that the US has focused on
Bangladesh politics for a few reasons. First, Hasina government has eliminated
terrorism from Bangladesh and put it on the path to economic growth. A country
that is progressing reduces its dependence on global powers and does not take
dictation from the US. Second, Hasina government has pursued an independent
foreign policy. On the one hand, she has maintained good relations with India,
and on the other hand she has reached out to China to establish economic
relations with her. This irks the US. Therefore, a government headed by
BNP-Jamaat alliance will serve its interests better.
However,
Hasina government's use of EVMs in elections has created doubts over the
transparency of the elections. Shaikh Hasina's party fared much better in the
last elections raising doubts over the efficacy of the EVM. This needs to be addressed.
It is intriguing and disconcerting that the governments of the South Asia
insist on the use of electronic voting machines. The Hasina government should
concede to the demand of use of ballot papers in elections if it really
believes that the masses are with her.
------
India
would hate to see Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamaat wrest power: Shahriar
Kabir
By
Subhoranjan Dasgupta
17.12.23
The
parliamentary elections are due early next year and Bangladesh is roiling. The
chief actors are the ruling Awami League, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(BNP), the Jamaat-e-Islami and Uncle Sam. In the news — protests and rallies
against the incumbent Sheikh Hasina-led government eyeing a fourth consecutive
term in office, arrests of Opposition leaders and supporters, and the ensuing
violence. In September, an over-anxious US State Department announced the
imposition of visa restrictions on “Bangladeshi individuals responsible for, or
complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh” and in
November, the sudden departure of US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas for a
“short vacation” caused a flutter. Against this political backdrop, Subhoranjan
Dasgupta chats with Bangladeshi human rights activist Shahriar Kabir.
Here are the excerpts.
Q: The
BNP is sustaining its agitation, turning violent at times. To what extent have
the people of Bangladesh responded to their programme?
The
agitation launched by the BNP in the first phase was more or less peaceful. The
people also responded to a certain extent...
But since
October 28, the BNP-Jamaat’s anti-government movement turned violent — a
constable was butchered, journalists were severely assaulted, the residence of
the Chief Justice was attacked, many buses and other vehicles were set on fire
and a couple of helpers of buses were burnt to death. Above all, the blockade
of rail and road and the days of hartal adversely impacted business, daily wage
earners and peasants in particular who supply vegetables to towns and cities. I
fear rallies, blockades and hartals will conti- nue till the elections. The
people, however, are tired, even disgusted, by this continuing unrest and they
are not simply responding. In other words, the support to the BNP’s
anti-government movement has completely subsided.
Q: Will
the ruling Awami League succumb to pressure?
The ruling
power has categorically said that no caretaker government will be installed
under any circumstances to conduct the elections. Earlier, the ruling party
invited the BNP to talks and consultations but this appeal has been ignored.
Sections of the BNP, however, have come out of the BNP fold to contest
elections on their own.
Q: What
is the latest political position of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the electoral ally of
the BNP, which has been labelled a “moderate Islamic party” by the US?
First, the
Jamaat, funded by the ISI, is egging on the BNP. Second, the high court has
banned the Jamaat from contesting elections. It has appealed to the Supreme
Court but the verdict is awaited. You see, the politics of Jamaat, even its
very Constitution, is totally opposite to the secular, democratic Constitution
of the country. Its guidebook is the Quran, which is of course acceptable as a
religious holy text, but that cannot be the basis of modern governance.
Further, its Weltanschauung is thoroughly anti-women and anti- minority. It is
not at all a “moderate Islamic party” as the US administration labels it. It is
a rabid fundamentalist party whose past is nefarious and condemnable. It
collaborated with the killing army of Yahya Khan in 1971 and took part in the
genocide of the Bengalis. Even now it acts in close concert with the ISI. It
will contest elections in an indirect or covert way as before, that is, support
“independent” candidates nominated by them.
Q: How
would you evaluate the political position of the Jatiya Party, which functions
as the main Opposition in the absence of the BNP, and Leftist parties such as
the Bangladesh Communist Party and the Workers Party of Bangladesh?
The Jatiya
Party has to settle its own internal tussle. In any case, they are putting up
candidates in most constituencies. The Left, which had functioned in the past
as partners of the coalition led by the Awami League, however, seems to have
shifted gear. It has inched closer to the BNP. I find this inexplicable. How
can the “secular” Left inch close to a political formation that works in
concert with the Jamaat? Indeed, some Left politicians have been attending
rallies and meetings organised by the BNP and other Islamic parties. When
journalists ask them why, they fail to give a convincing reply.
Q: Why
has the US been taking such an excessive interest in Bangladesh?
The policy
and attitude of the US administration towards Bangladesh have been flawed since
the very beginning. It supported the murderous military regime of Pakistan
during the Liberation War. During that phase, the American Consul General of
Dhaka, Archer Blood, repeatedly stressed in his reports the blunder that the
State Department was committing. Not only was he ignored but also cornered by
Henry Kissinger and his aides. We, on our part, have made all possible efforts
to influence American Congressmen and tell them that their State Department’s
“moderate” Jamaat is, in actuality, a Bangladeshi version of the Taliban... The
US government faces no problem dealing with a thoroughly royalist dispensation
like Saudi Arabia, which hacks off limbs as punishment. It had all along
supported the military regime of Pakistan since 1947 as a valued ally. It
prompted the bloody military takeover of Chile in 1973 by General Pinochet —
the Leftist democrat Salvador Allende died fighting. It departed from
Afghanistan in the most casual, careless manner... It carpet-bombed Iraq
falsely claiming that Iraq has a secret store of nuclear weapons. In short, its
record as the protector of democracy and human rights is shocking and
inglorious. But now the same country is tearing its hair over Bangladesh. The
truth lies elsewhere. White House is against the functioning of national,
secular governments in the developing world which are trying to follow
independent foreign policies. The present Bangladesh government nurtures a special
relationship of amity with India, invites China to undertake bilateral economic
projects, while Russia is helping us build our nuclear power plant. Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina has told the Americans that we cannot allow them to set
up any deep-sea port or naval base in the Bay of Bengal. I think this concept
and practice of sovereignty irks the strongest nation of the world used to
gestures of subservience. The US government always prefers puppet regimes in
the developing world and elsewhere.
Q: New
Delhi, on its part, has explicitly stated its preference for the Awami League
to the US government. Has this had any effect?
We are
grateful to the Indian government for its supportive role since 1971. I think
this should have some impact. The reasons for India’s preference are crystal
clear. Tell me, how can New Delhi forget the troubled past when the BNP and the
Jamaat coalition government actively encouraged and assisted the insurgency
movement in the northeastern states of India? At that point in time, no fewer
than 160 military training camps were active in Bangladesh and the leaders of
the secessionist movements were treated as guests and freedom fighters. The
Awami League government, after coming to power in 1996, rooted out such
insurgency and handed over those secessionist leaders to the Indian government.
The minority community also had to face a lot of harassment, even persecution,
during the BNP-Jamaat regime. Expectedly, India would hate to see the
BNP-Jamaat, supported by the ISI, wrest power in Bangladesh. New Delhi has told
Washington in unambiguous terms that the present dispensation is indispensable
for the progress and stability of the entire region.
Q:
India’s defeat at the cricket World Cup final is said to have been greeted
fulsomely in Bangladesh. Is the common perception in Bangladesh opposed to
India?
Indeed,
there are pro-Pakistan elements in our politics and society. These
anti-liberation Islamists supported Pakistan during the Liberation War of
Bangladesh. Their political and ideological successors are still active, and
are trying to re-establish the Pakistani concept in the politics, culture and
society of Bangladesh. Its reflection in sports is also quite visible. We have
seen in the past how Bangladeshis are supporting Pakistan against India in
cricket matches. This is nothing new. But the majority of sports spectators in
Bangladesh love good cricket and support India.
Source: India
would hate to see Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamaat wrest power: Shahriar
Kabir
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-west/destroying-pakistan-us-ruin-bangladesh/d/131331
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