Dear Mokarram,/ Dear members, 

Assalamu Alaikum.The western journalism has a peculiar way of presentaion of
things when it comes to Islam and Muslim countries.I would not comment on
the
whole piece below, things are well-known by this time about what happened in
the last three months and what is happening now. Most of the people  know it
is
some western embassies whose perceptions were flawed, they acted in a
partisan manner, all their runnings and statements went in favor of the
political agitators and towards cancellation of election. This has led to
the derailment of the constitution and emergency with all its consequences
some of which you mention. 

For today, I do not want to elaborate this point but comment on the last 2
paras of the article which shows  near total bias of western journalism
about Islam and Islamic activities. The last two paras say : 

QuotePoverty in Bangladesh has made its mostly Muslim  population
vulnerable to recruitment by Islamic  militant organizations. Hossain said
such groups  exploited previous situations to make political  headway. 

"If people cannot express their rights freely, then> fundamentalist groups
will have more influence," she said. "Now, no political activity is allowed.
With the  absence of political participation, mosques will be  used by the
right-wing religious parties. This cannot be a good thing." Unquote 

It is totally a biased opinion that Islam flourishes in poverty. Quoting
someone and generalise it as the opinion of the nation or civil society is
an old tool of biased groups..Islam in Bangladesh is represented by
democratic and civil Islamic political and social parties and organisations.
So-called militant fringe, backed by some foreign elements have been almost
crushed.Their progress had been through hard labor and most of their workers
belong to the middle class . 

The second para is a tirade against mosques. Mosques have historical  and
well-known roles. They have been operating under previous marial laws or
emergencies also.The mosques do not discuss partisan politics, they discuss
religious ,moral and social issues, sometimes national and international
tragedies
and excesses committed by the powerful and the tyrants.. 

The article represents the same western mind, to bring up bias against
Islam, even when irrelevant. 

Shah Abdul Hannan 

 


 ----- Original Message -----
From: "mokarram hossain" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 12:18 AM
Subject: Bangladesh Military Accused of Stalling on Elections: Washington
Post, 25 Jan, 2007 


> Bangladesh Military Accused of Stalling on Elections
> Activists, Others Say State of Emergency Is
> Camouflaging Efforts to Delay Vote Date 
>
> By Nora Boustany
> Washington Post Foreign Service
> Thursday, January 25, 2007; Page A22 
>
> A state of emergency in Bangladesh that has included
> the banning of political activity and a free press and
> led to extrajudicial killings is masking efforts by
> the military and its backers to stall parliamentary
> elections, human rights activists and observers say. 
>
> President Iajuddin Ahmed declared the state of
> emergency Jan. 11 to quell months of political unrest
> generated by charges from the opposition that voter
> registration rosters had been inflated by the ruling
> Bangladesh National Party ahead of elections
> originally scheduled for Jan. 22. 
>
>
> In a report Sept. 11, the nonprofit National
> Democratic Institute for International Affairs
> expressed alarm over preparations for the vote and the
> composition of the electoral commission. An institute
> delegation led by former senator Thomas A. Daschle
> (D-S.D.) said in a statement that voter lists with 93
> million names, in a country with a population of 144
> million, were "substantially inconsistent with the
> 2001 census data." The institute said it would not
> certify the election process as fair or unfair. 
>
> Under threat of a boycott by the Awami League, an
> alliance of opposition parties, the elections were
> postponed; a new date has not been set. In his first
> address to the country, Fakhruddin Ahmed, who took
> over as head of a caretaker government Jan. 12,
> promised early this week that the vote would be
> "meaningful" and "free of corruption and terrorism." 
>
> A crackdown to quell election-related violence has
> resulted in 19 deaths in the past 10 days, according
> to Odhikar, a Bangladeshi human rights group. About
> 2,000 people have been arrested, Human Rights Watch,
> Amnesty International and Bangladeshi journalists say. 
>
> Street protests initially began in the fall when
> Iajuddin Ahmed, the outgoing president, put himself in
> charge of a caretaker government, forgoing procedures
> that mandated appointing someone from the judiciary,
> Hameeda Hossain, a human rights activist, said in an
> interview by telephone from New York. 
>
> The caretaker government had three months to organize
> the elections. By law, voter rosters must be published
> and sent to voting centers. 
>
> When U.S.-based civic rights groups criticized the
> preparations for the elections, pointing out that 14
> million extra names appeared on the voter lists, the
> opposition and its supporters vowed not to
> participate. The United Nations and the European Union
> said they were pulling out their observers because
> conditions were not adequate for a free and fair
> election. 
>
> The state instituted draconian measures, including
> press restrictions, some of which were subsequently
> lifted. Then, the army stepped in. 
>
> "The military has a very dangerous record of using
> extrajudicial force," Fred Abrahams of Human Rights
> Watch said in an interview from New York. In 2002,
> Operation Clean Heart, ostensibly an anti-crime
> program, led to the arrests of many, and 50 people
> died in custody, he added. 
>
> Tasneem Khalil, an editor at the Daily Star, an
> English-language newspaper, said Ahmed and his
> government took charge with military support. Khalil
> referred to what the Financial Times of London labeled
> "military-backed technocratic rule." 
>
> Another question is "who is running the show, what is
> exactly going on backstage," the journalist said. "To
> cloud the situation more, a section of the army along
> with a section of civil society, with extra-special
> ties with the army, want to defer elections at least a
> year and a half," Khalil said in an e-mail Tuesday. 
>
> "We don't really want a Pakistan-like solution, where
> someone like [Gen. Pervez] Musharraf decrees he is
> staying in power," Hossain said, referring to the
> Pakistani president. "What he ends up doing is
> encouraging the fundamentalists if the army stays on
> and on." 
>
> Hossain, the wife of Kamal Hossain, one of the
> original drafters of Bangladesh's constitution,
> lamented the unhealthy confrontation between the
> country's two main parties, a situation that has
> typified the country's numerous strikes and street
> protests, but added that her countrymen were ready for
> change and were looking for individuals who are not
> into politics for the money. 
>
> "I am sure people are tired of political parties. Out
> of 35 years, 15 years we have had military rule, ever
> since we won independence from Pakistan in 1971. Right
> now what happens if one party wins the election? They
> go all out to intimidate the other," Hossain said,
> adding that she plans to return home Jan. 29. 
>
> In one neighborhood of Dhaka, 20,000 people were
> evicted from their slum a few days ago. "The
> government is going out of its way to do what, cave in
> to business interests? They are using force against
> street peddlers and hawkers," she said. "None of this
> would have happened if the military had not stepped
> in. The army should come under the constitution and
> not act above it." 
>
> Poverty in Bangladesh has made its mostly Muslim
> population vulnerable to recruitment by Islamic
> militant organizations. Hossain said such groups
> exploited previous situations to make political
> headway. 
>
> "If people cannot express their rights freely, then
> fundamentalist groups will have more influence," she
> said. "Now, no political activity is allowed. With the
> absence of political participation, mosques will be
> used by the right-wing religious parties. This cannot
> be a good thing." 
>
> 
>
>
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