Abu Hena
An audio message purported to be delivered by the Afghanistan based al -Qaeda chief Ayman al- Zawahiri was circulated by all TV channels and newspapers of the country on 15 and 16 February. In the message al – Zawahiri urged the people of Bangladesh to rise against the criminals who are guilty of “the crimes that are being committed in Bangladesh today against the core beliefs of Islam, the Prophet of Islam ( pbuh), and the Muslim ummah.” The message title “Bangladesh: A Massacre Behind A Wall of Silence” was backed by photographs of Hefajat -e – Islam’s 5th May’s rally at Shapla Chattar and the repressive actions of the law enforcers which killed and wounded unknown number of Islamic clerics, teachers and students at dead of night.”
The Pakistan army, the treacherous power hungry politicians of Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are always prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of fulfilling their ambitions and desires, were all equal participants,” al – Zawahiri said, adding “This is the bloodbath taking place in Bangladesh, without the Muslims paying the least attention to it.” The al – Qaeda chief alleged that thousands of people were being killed in the streets of Bangladesh “without any guilt, except that they have come out to protest against the collusion of the anti Islamic secular government with a bunch of transgressing secularists who are heaping insults and vulgar abuses on Islam and the Prophet of Islam (pbuh).”
‘The Republic of Fear’
The message has come when politics everywhere in the world is becoming emotional and fury is spreading in all directions. Recently a spectator at bull- fight in Barcelona threw a bottle at one of the picadors. The police arrested him and as he was led away, the crowd booed the policemen in contempt chanting “Libertad, Libertad.” This captures the mood of the moment. Someone who behaves like that way deserves to be arrested. Yet the crowd’s feeling of hostility to the police trumped that view. The arrested man became the symbol of oppressed liberty, despite the fact that everyone had witnessed his crime. The distinctly indignant groups are in Spain, Greece, Italy, Ukraine, Thailand and Bangladesh.
As pro-democracy uprisings sweep one Arab capital after another as well as the world’s second largest Muslim state of Bangladesh, it’s vital to understand “the mechanics of violence”, as Iraqi intellectual Kanan Makiya calls it in his book “The Republic of Fear.” That’s what has kept the region’s kings, emirs, presidents and prime ministers in power for long. Like most Arab countries, Bangladesh is ruled by a family whose primary aim is to remain in power at any cost. There is no history of leaders stepping down voluntarily in such countries. In the past, the most common way to change a government was a coup d’etat. But the new tyrants who operate behind the façade of democracy take lessons from their own successful conspiracies, keeping the subjects in constant fear. But the real key to regime’s survival has been what Rand Corporation analyst James Quinlivan calls “coup – proofing.“ In a 1999 study, he itemized the basic safeguards for despots. First: consolidate an inner core bound to the regime by “family, ethnic and religious loyalties“ — in essence a mafia, with good fellas in various guises protecting the big guy’s back ( and their own ; if he goes down ). Second: create a parallel military devoted to regime protection, when the standing army stands by. Third: maintain multiple secret police, security and espionage services. One more technique is to keep the military busy and professionally satisfied through “the fostering of expertness. “Coup-proofing is not cheap. The wealthy Arabs can afford it, but the regions without substantial oil reserves rely on foreign patrons. As Britain reduced its presence in the Middle East, America filled the gap. India’s record of secret and not-so-secret connivance with the Awami League party in Bangladesh has similarly proved to be a great obstacle to the survival of its multi- party democracy.
Democracy and militancy
For pro- democracy activists in Bangladesh, India’s involvement with a particular political party and its adherents is a dangerously charged issue, and its traces are everywhere down to the fudged election of 5 January. From the beginning of Hasina administration in 1996 onward, Delhi collaborated with her government which terrorized, arrested, interrogated, tortured and executed those who opposed her. This programme suited the regime’s needs by helping it eliminate political opponents. For years, India’s undercover contacts have spanned the spectrum of Bangladesh ‘s politics and society causing widespread rancor and fury.
As the Obama administration rushed to embrace the Middle East’s rising democrats following the Arab Spring, America is now confronted with the swarms of young Arabs as well as Bangladeshis who are as mad as hell for real taste of democracy and are not going to take any foreign connivance to protect despotism of a particular political party or a family any more. In the situation, Washington may be tempted to side solidly with the pro- democracy protesters whether they are liberals or conservatives, religious or irreligious. But eventually the responsibility must be understood and assumed fully and with a purpose . America’s Founding Fathers prided themselves on their “decent respect to the opinions of mankind“ without regard to race, religion or ethnicity. Lack of such decent respect is proving to be a barrier to successful American foreign policy . The Bush doctrine is America’s grand strategy since the end of the cold war. One of its five interlocking parts is about export of democracy which says,”The best solution to global jihadism is to export democracy. America needs to abandon its deals with authoritarian regimes and encourage democracy the world over.”
The September 11 (9/11) proved that a band of fanatics from a far away place could strike at the very heart of American civilization. Yet despite this vulnerability Americans are also conscious of their country’s vast power. The world’s only superpower has more military might than the next 20 most powerful countries combined . Surely, this power can eliminate the threat from terrorist networks. President Obama went after high – value al – Qaeda targets in Pakistan which proves the contention. The war on terror still remains a principal element of American foreign policy . Yet it is not the only issue that America is preoccupied with . America remains the world’s indispensable power with immense global responsibilities. So far President Obama’s administration has concentrated on containing Iran until it collapses under the weight of its own contradictions and containing al- Qaeda until it dies a natural death.
The legacy of democracy
American exceptionalism determines the texturing of the American foreign policy. Americans are deeply religious and patriotic and they are more willing than others to use force to bring justice to the people who deserve it. When it comes to religiosity, Americans are more like the people of the developing countries who trust in God, than the people of other developed countries. The same religiosity forms the basis of Bangladeshi society. The Islamic clerics who lead the prayers and the scholars and teachers who impart education in madrasahs are an integral part of the society. Any attempt to brand them as terrorists or jihadists is sheer nonsense . The country was known as Turkish Bengal during the middle ages as the Turkish General Bakhtiar Khilji laid the foundation of Muslim rule in Bengal in 1202. Since then for a long stretch of 500 years this land was ruled by successive Muslim rulers. The British rulers recognized the diverse history and culture of the people of India and, in 1947, partitioned the sub- continent into two separate states on the basis of two -nation theory. Bangladesh became separated from Pakistan in 1971 mainly to free itself from economic exploitation and to establish social equality, democracy and justice, still remaining partitioned from India on the basis of the same two – nation theory.
Democracy in Bangladesh is hundred years old. It was in 1937 that Shere- Bangla Fazlul Huq, a tripos from Calcutta University became the first prime minister of undivided Bengal. He was followed by H. S . Suhrawardy, who did his BCL ( Bachelor of Constitutional Law ) from England in 1918 . H.S. Suhrawardy is still regarded as the most successful prime minister of Pakistan. Tamizuddin Khan, another Bangladeshi is reckoned to be the most outstanding Speaker of the Pakistani Parliament. We have experience in local government since 1860 when the union parishads were established . Fazlul Huq was the first elected mayor of Calcutta city corporation in 1932 . Our elected District Boards functioned during the colonial days. We have all the ingredients that make a perfect democracy. Yet we have lost all the democratic institutions which we inherited from the colonial past due to despotic nature of our present rulers . Our unique geographical location has endowed us with a great strategic importance in the region. America’s best chance of success here will be the creation of a democratic Bangladesh that upholds the rule of law, respects the rights of its people, provides them security and acts as an ally in tackling terrorism. At the moment a state of nature is prevailing here and any further continuation of this state of affairs will prove disastrous both for the country as well the region.
The writer was a Member of Parliament from 1996 to 2006.
Source: Weekly Holiday
