Bangladesh: Political Storm, Tottering Economy, Sidr as Ultimate Challenge

CTG would have done Miguel de Cervantes proud! Don Quixote is reincarnated in Bangladesh in 2007!!! 1/11 is likely to be an epitaph for the desecration of the dreams and aspirations of 150.0 million people of Bangladesh.

Democracy has gone up in smoke though, the economy and society are sliding down fast - probably in their nadir. After all, what goes up comes down. Isn’t that the inexorable law of nature? The vacuous have created a vacuum. And, “Nature abhors vacuum”. The cats are caged, and the mices are playing. Those who have been fishing in troubled waters have hightailed for heavenly shores beyond the pale. Bangladesh and Bangladeshis are on the brink. Disaster in the looming? Doomsday?

For the moment though, the nightmare continues. Hopes for another tomorrow keep alive the brave hearts. May be there’s silver lining in the clouds? May be, a Messiah shall offer deliverance?

Paradise lost? May be, phoenix shall rise from the ashes. Tangerine dreams. Utopia? A resilient people surviving against the vagaries of nature and the fury of the elements are not the ones to cow down to man-made calamities and cauldron of conspiracies. Time alone shall tell.

hey the daily star is behaving like a blog, they reprinted this NYT story, kinda hiding behind a reference. very odd, is it normal behaviour to have a headline ‘NYT on Bangladesh’?

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=13410

making desh work has to be the toughest job in the world…

Did they switch over to the pro-peking newage? I really want to know the literary comsumption practices of this upper middle class. Is it best conveyed through whats on the shelves of words and pages and etcetera?

Do you think theres any chance of, say the Bangladesh observer rising for the ashes, or for unabashed ’spirit of the ganj’ publications like mashik madina to break through and rehabilitate these misled uncle toms?

Mr mintoo needs a slap, which city does he live in. these unaccountable ‘entrepreneurs’ should be reintroduced to the concept of shame.

I happen to be an entrepreneur in Bangladesh and know exactly how hard it is to do business is such conditions, and in previous conditions.

So Leela, you are saying that entrepreneurs if they amass such wealth have to be corrupt otherwise they cannot make money? I mean they cannot work hard do business and make money honestly? I believe he said he wanted to divest because he did not want to live in uncertainty, not because he cannot make more money. Maybe you should give the entrepreneurs praise for living in such conditions and creating employment, wealth, and foreign exchange for Bangladesh instead of criticizing.

Fugstar: Unaccountable? Should be introduced to the concept of shame? Why? Mr. Mintoo was recently released from prison without any charges. Now I don’t want to be biased, but an entrepreneur was held in prison for 6 months without charge, I find that unacceptable. More so because even being a small-time entrepreneur compared to him, (even without going to jail) I can feel businessman’s pain. How is/was he unaccountable?

It’s a shame that you both without any sort of proof are calling hard-working Bangladeshi entrepreneurs corrupt and unaccountable. It’s obvious the both of you know very little about Bangladesh and what is going on, and feel for te country even less so. I guess you both live abroad so I don’t blame you for not caring or understanding Bangladesh. But you cannot blindly accuse a man/entrepreneur of corruption without giving any sort of evidence of his corruption or lack of accountability. If I am not mistaken, he never held a political post. Plus he was released without charge. Where is the corruption?

Reza

That is true, you did speak of only Mr. Mintoo. But in light of the current situation, I must defend what he has said. What he said echoes what ALL entrepreneurs are thinking in Bangladesh. Why invest here if our country’s politics is just going to get worse? That is why I took the liberty to write you.

I do not know if he thinks this government is worse than the previous governments because I do not think I read that anywhere. But do you know the prices of bribes have gone up? They are now uncontrollable and widespread, just being done a bit more quietly. So it makes me wonder what exactly the motive of this government is if not to protect the people that legitimately work and do business in Bangladesh, against corruption?

Having said that, businessmen have suffered the most under this regime. A lot of legitimate businessmen have been harassed. Many have had to shut down their businesses, these are people that do business not politics and pay their dues to the State. Others are having a hard time doing business. There are people who have signed contracts with foreign parties, but due to unnecessary hassling by the banks, cannot start their business now, and others that have already invested the initial capital, and will never see it again. Businessmen are being extorted by various quarters, the government knows, but refuses to do anything about it. Furthermore people like the Mayor of Dhaka City, who is amongst the top 5 most corrupt people ever are still roaming free, while some important businessmen are in jail. Please keep in mind that there is a difference between crime in business and corruption. Both need to be punished I agree regardless of whether one is a businessman, but the priority here must be to go after the corrupt, and then the rotten businessmen, some of who also deserve punishment for their crimes.

These are just some reasons that your comments (pardon me) which I believe were made due to lack of understanding and naivety, affect the whole business community, not just Mr. Mintoo. Again, I’m not sure if you’ve spent enough time in Bangladesh ever to understand everything completely, which can be a reason for you to write just on hearsay. You need to give the people that actually help Bangladesh (entrepreneurs) more credit.

And lastly, although I do not want to get into speaking on behalf of an individual, but in light of what you wrote it begs the questions. “Mr. Mintoo’s reputation for being an honest dealing businessman…is sadly non existent?” What is it that you know that I don’t? Because you’re right, I have no idea. Kindly explain. “He is RUMORED to have participated in massive corruption hand in hand with top politicians” And you’re saying your accusations are not blind? Just because it’s rumored, he is now corrupt? And that’s what you go on to accuse a someone’s reputation to be bad? Let’s not forget, he was jailed for 6 months without any charge. We’ll leave the Tk.50,000 extortion out of this as we all know that that’s not even worth the mention as that was a cheap ploy to hold him in jail. I mean the guy is worth at least $30,000,000! He has an empire and I highly doubt he would waste his time on Tk.50,000. I believe the court has even quashed that case.

Please don’t take anything here personally. These (obviously) are my views. I truly believe a Bangladeshi entrepreneur can make not only $30 mil, but much more than that legitimately because we are that good. And it is disappointing to hear criticism just because someone has a fortune. The problem is anyone with a lot of money now is accused of corruption. It’s almost like having any money nowadays is a crime. What is heartbreaking is ALL of us fall under this category and now even to you, the educated.

It’s the whole feeding the media engine aspect of janab mintoo that disturbs me. Where and to whom we say things is important. Call me idealist but i think we should expect to be safe from eachothers tongues. The international backstab needs to be recognised as a vice. Sorry to offend any liberals but if a journalist ever comes up to you, its normally wise to tell them to shove off and get a life.

#tries to exhibit electronic empathy#

Yes i can’t feel your specific pain and fear at the moment, good luck to you in conquering it. Your community is rather vulnerable to the whims of civil servants and forces types at present. You folks must have been forced by practical circumstance to make decisions in the past that were necessary and normal at the time, but now appear to be doubtful and compromised. I’m sure you’ll be able to ride out the storm inshallah. Please dont run away from the battlefield.

There are good eggs and bad eggs in every walk of life. It is a painful reminder of a gap in standards that public perception of the educated or the wealthy is so poor.

I dont think the ‘you are jealous, thats why you complain’ approach is particularly sticky. I distinguish industrialists from entrepreneurs. The later are creative, the former are a more bog standard species who push no envelopes and operate well within their safety zones.

As a qaum we havent been very good at capitalism of any useful description in a long time. i hope this changes, but a sea-change in public morality, honesty and trust is in your entreprenaurial interests surely? A social environment where good element and characteristics are promoted and shady ones demoted is a better business environment.

Fugstar, I could not agree with you more. But unfortunately you speak of a Utopia, which is a far reach (but one we should aim for) for Bangladesh. As I mentioned to Leela, prices of bribes are now higher. I was the happiest person when the military took power as I really believed it would make a difference, but it seems that things have gotten worse. As I also mentioned, not only do we have to bribe, but we are extorted and banks no longer cooperate with us. Wasn’t this movement supposed to make things better. I feel that the government needs to focus on changing the system instead of trying to change people. Once a solid accountable system is in place and enforced, only then can people’s mindset change. I mean, it took us about 20 years to become the people we are because of a failed system. It would have taken us a few years to get out of it, but I fear that this government has set the country back a few years with some basic and petulant mistakes which could have and should have been avoided.

But I still cannot see eye to eye on a few issues. Industrialists ARE entrepreneurs (but you are right to a certain extent, they do operate within their safety zones, but they’ve worked their way there). Let’s not forget how they became industrialists, by taking those entrepreneurial steps. The business community is trying to stay strong because frankly there is too much at stake personally and nationally. But with a few key industrialist/entrepreneurs being treated in the way they have been, it is not an encouraging sign. I will not defend any illegal acts that have been committed (if so) by Babul (Jamuna), Salman Rahman (Beximco), and Hashem (Partex), but one needs to remember that together they employ nearly one hundred thousand people! In Bangladesh, there is average 5-6 per household, so 6 people are dependent on 1 persons salary (so close to 600,000 people depending on one person’s salary). Groups like Bashundhara (owners are undeniably disgusting people), Jamuna, Beximco, and Partex have backlogged salaries for months now. Indeed it is a sign of encouragement that Abul Khair Litu and Abdul Awal Mintoo were released. Otherwise with all the people mentioned, it would be over 150,000 employees. There may be bad sides to the Beximco owner, and if found guilty, he should be punished. But Beximco Pharma, garments/textiles and Shinepukur (bone china) have each lost upto 60% clients and suppliers (some taken by Square and our Honorable advisor TC). Do you know what the loss in foreign exchange is? I don’t know the exact amount, but I can assure you it is MANY MANY millions of dollars (maybe even up to $50 million), that’s also a few million $s lost in taxes. He’s in jail and Khoka is not?

My point is industrialists are the people that aspire the young entrepreneurs (their good sides we try to take obviously, well most of us at least). In fact, in this day and time, industrialists are the most important people as they are the ones moving the private sector forward in leaps. Again, they should be punished for any wrong doings, but the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats must come first. Rotten businessmen should have been left till the end of their crusade, or even better, they should have forced the next government to charge them, which would give the next government more credibility.

Thank you for your words of encouragement, I do appreciate it, but it really should be coming from the army directly to the whole business community. But as far as running away, I’m not, but I, like most, have taken much of my money abroad. This is hurting the country a lot I know and I feel like most the people don’t feel good about doing it, but as Mr. Mintoo said “I do not want to live in uncertainty.”

By the way, would you say no to New York Times if they wanted to interview you? Would you tell them to bugger off? If you’re thinking “well he didn’t need to speak like that”, would you or I heap praise on a government that jailed us for 6 months without charge? As far as the article is concerned in Bangladesh, pretty much everyone, especially the business community, has appreciated his honesty. Supposedly a faction of the army was not happy with the article, but even most army members (according to one of the Brig. Generals in DGFI) have admitted that it is a wake up call to them that if a man like Mr. Mintoo who brought his wealth back from the USA 25+ years ago to Bangladesh to invest is flirting with the idea of packing his bags up, then almost all businessmen are thinking the same thing, and that would be murderous for the military.

By the way, I wasn’t accusing anyone of jealousy. I’m pretty straight forward about my thoughts. I don’t think you nor Leela are jealous at all. I just think that you both have not spent enough time here (schooling/working) to know the facts and really understand Bangladesh (e.g. knowing about higher bribes, accusing someone based on rumors and hearsay) and the real face of this government.

But I take back the line that you don’t care about Bangladesh. It is obvious you do.

Damn, I write a lot.

I couldn’t have resisted the temptation to barge in, if you would be kind enough in excusing my intrusion into your private dialogues and discussions. I do hope you would, particularly because the matter is rather important and does merit and warrant more precise scrutiny and empathetic considerations.

I shall recount a story of my life,- real. In 1994 I was for the moment living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, away from my home in Chittagong. “Ezhar Company” was almost continually in the news, as a famous, or infamous, “Smuggler”. The president of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association, BFFEA, popped up in Cox’s Bazar in the company of the PRC Ambassador and requested my company to tour the Teknaf BDR outposts and other Teknaf areas bordering Myanmar along the Naf river. I had obliged.

Breaking journey during the day at the Teknaf town, the BFFEA president asked me to give company to the Ambassador at the PWD Guest house, while he informed me that he had to go and see “Ezhar Company” for discussion. I was curious, and queried “What do you have to do with a renowned smuggler”? He had a grin on his face, and said “Come along, see for yourself, but don’t participate in our discussion”. Their discussion happened to be on a 120acre shrimp farm that te BFFEA president hard partnered with “Ezhar Company” with expatriate Chineses technicians engaged in technology joint-venture. I looked about and had glimpses of many investments of “Ezhar Company” around this area.

As we began back our journey from Teknaf to Cox’s Bazar, the BFFEA president told me that “Company” owned almost half of Teknaf, and had many more investments and employed literally in thousands! I was amazed and asked him, “What about his label as a smuggler, then”? My companion was all charm and wit and replied “Nizam Bhai, Ezhar Company is putting WTO’s plana far in advance. He is doing away with Tariifs and Duties and doing frontier-less trade”. He then chuckled with a wry note of exclamation : “Conventional society and the Establishment label people ahead of their times with their disapproval as ‘Smuggler’, create obstacles for entrepreneurs like Ezhar Company, and, then, hem them in for grafts. See the records how the Jatiyo Party and the Awami League have been courting the man to have him as their MP candidadate for Teknaf.”

I changed my notion about “smugglers” like Ezhar Company. Tax evasion is a standard practice for capital formation even in the Developed world and Western society. I don’t codone though smuggling of contrabands and arms and drugs,- heinous crimes!

In the same year, 1994, in Dhaka, in an inter-Ministerial Meeting (Fisheries, Industries & Commerce) held under the auspices of the Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, attended by the respective Ministers and Secretaries, with the Agriculture Secretary A.N.M Eusuf attending in addition, I was asked to speak and comment. Among others, I had concluded by saying” “Those who make Black money White, invest in enterprise development, employ people, and contribute towards the GDP and the national economy as such, are patriots, and those who make White money Black are culprits and act against National interest.”

There was an uproar! A.N.M. Eusuf stood up and queried “Mr. Selim please explain what you have said and what precisely do you mean?” I recounted to the audience my experiences in Teknaf and about “Ezhar Company” regarding “smuggling” and “Black Money”, and added that GOB begging and borrowing billions of Dollars as White Money with Interest from the international financiers and people in the corridors of power and Government siphoning off almost eighty per cent (80%) in foreign countries tantamount to making White Money Black, and which not only doesn’t come to any use of Bangladesh and Bangladeshis, but also tragically leaves the debt burden on the National Excequer and the public at large. Pandamonium broke out, and the Fisheries Secretary unceremoniously and summarily declared the Meeting as ended!!

I maintain and hold that private enterprise and entrepreneurs have made what Bangladesh is today, and in spite of the Government. You can see the fundamentals and tangibles of entrepreneurship and enterprise of these bold and brave hearts all around Bangladesh. The degree of difficulty that private enterprise confronts against a coterie of utterly corrupt bureaucracy and politicians and having surmounted these stumbling blocks and paid through the nose the costs of corruption and then built up enterprise brick by brick is stupendous and amazing. Taking a country’s economy straddled by Public Enterprise at 87% in 1988/1990 with the SOEs bleeding the economy white, Private Enterprise alone and proudly reflected a reversal of the economy from negative growth to about 6% prior to 1/11. LOOK AT WHAT 1/11 HAS DONE TO THE ECONOMY AFTER BERATING AND BROW-BEATING PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

Politicians and bureaucracy have nothing to show for fundamentals and tangibles; private enterprise has. Public Enterprise introduced by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has eaten up the entire industry, business and econmy -gone are all the thriving Jute, Textile, Chemical, Heavy and Light-Heavy industries, thanks to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the “Servants of the State”. A nexus of politicians-bureaucrats under the tutelage of the Awami League in 1972 has seen a “Sonar Bangla” ravaged and plundered by the 1980s. The looting still continues under these parasites.

Private enterprise creates and produces. It does not demolish and destroy. Remember Henry Ford? “Produce or perish.”

Produce or perish is the order of the day. And, Globalization has made it doubly difficult. Regulation is all right, of course. But, regulation by those who have made corruption their religion????

The rheotorics of salaried servants dictating and holding hostage entrepreneurs and private enterprise (arguably for ransom?) have already taken their toll on the economy and society. We have seen one brand of rulers politicking and destroying through “Jalao-porao”, “Aborodh” and “Shara Desh achal korey dibo”, and now we are seeing another brand of servant-rulers destroying and damaging through dooms-day dictats and witch-hunts. Jingoism - pugancious patriotism - (orr, pretenses about them) have never ever historically proved to be beneficial. In Bangladesh Sheikh Mujib’s brand of nationalism has seen Adamjee, Bawany and a host of other inherited industrial empires crumblew under the weight of corruption hidden behind the veil of “Joy Bangla”. I suspect similar fate awaits Bangladesh under the veil of the slogan of this current Government “Corruption-free Bangladesh.”

This is the tragedy of our nation - aliens rulers and plunderers at least leave their mark in assets and installations (like the British and the West Pakistanis have left in various assets, installations and industries), rulers of the soil not only diminish and destroy whatever is standing as assets, installations and industries (like the Adamjee Jute Mills and Rangs Bhaban), they also don’t create at all. There are no positives and plus points we can glean from our local home-grown liege lords, except death and damnation (”Chuoattarer Mannantar”, for instance)!

Although it may sound rather self-righteous, but considering our experiences from 1972 to 2007, with the instances of the Adamjee Jute Mills and Rangs Bhaban, and a host of others similar to them, one may perhaps be prone to reconsider where in all this history of “Sonar Bangla Shashan Keno” poser, whether the actors and players posing the question are the perpetrators or whether the producers toiling in enterprise are the perpetrators? Be the judge yourself.

i believe that a krishnachura period is in the future somewhere.

this is going to be preachy, because i think you folks may be interested and that some useful communication is going on here. (its beyond ‘You inexperience bookworm!’ and ‘You capitalist misery monger!’)

Not just corporate institutions, the idea of building and nurturing any institutions has not really taken off in our social behaviour. I see that here where i was born and raised in londonistan, but we are iA improving and developing some ‘medium level’ jive.

a lot of our restauranteers no longer serve alcohol. they take the loss and adjust accordingly. they know what halal and haram rizk is. no good can come out of harami mercantilism. sorry. if you want help imagining creative ways out of a fix i would like to assist, though i guess you would respond ‘things dont work like that in bangladesh’. fair enough.

smuggling.
i would love for our defenders of the public right to know to explore this issue with precision. but they wont, its a tough one and one would probably end up getting shot. theres a lot of very evil innovation going on there.

Industrialists arent entrepreneurs. That one is more about invention… not emulation and exploitation of the captors postindustrial or postcolonial guilt.

providing employment as a public good.
I was in khilga around dawn this summer. and what did i see? There were ladies working on the roads, breaking their backs, contorting their bodies and twisting their spines with bricks and other gear….. ‘being employed’. i’m sure their boss contractors would play the employment defence.

the battalions of RMG ladies going to work in institutions who are too chicken to train them up, improve them and refine their products also bother me. thats not entrepreneurism thats industrialism. it might not even be industrialism just mercantilism.

i’m also conflicted because there is and real dignity and learning in honest work (not simulation). I dont really ‘buy’ that the present crop of union leaders are an honest bunch, but i do hope for some light of these bosses, or at least their offspring. Yup and i realise its hard to retain staff once youve skilled them up. but please do it anyway, as if there is no tomorrow!

On generational poison.
I knew a deshi who was the son of a big corrupt businessman, a father who revelled in oppulence. The poor young chap has no respect for his murrabbi. its sad, but its one stage above those who have no shame and flaunt their fake prestige. Not to mention the publics who just respect money and have fallen at the gates of materialism. Our forefathers may not have had many houses, cars and square meals to their names, but they had their honour. thats heritage, not the stuff in museums.

id name drop some folks who i believe are entrepreneurs if i didnt think that were crass and act as a kiss of death. But i have question which relates to historical observation, the present situation and the future.

Aren’t so many people registering on BBAs in BD doing so as an adjustment to the nonexistance of bengali muslim industialists?

The baniyas and the non-bengalis were generally turfed out and there was and still is a gap. At present lot of ‘management’ ’science’ is being consumed at home and abroad in the hope that this helps us pick up the habit and innovate in our social circumstances. The idea of CSR is even being emulated. Many elite business forums(ie. chamber) exist and inbreed with themselves, ensuring their reproduction.

If you were to develop a curriculum for managing bangladeshis, getting the best out of them. what lessons and problems would you include? What secrets are you willing to share? What specific things must we learn from specific global communities (eg. gujratis, hindu sindhis, ismailis, japs, chinese, lebanese, greeks etc)? what local practices must we understand better? what data do you need?

In your field there is a certain and obvious learning by doing that emulation cannot touch. Only practical translation (not blogging) works. Thats why im asking.

I am 110% behind what Mr. Selim has said. (Personal note for you at the end). He points out the stark reality of the Bangladesh today. You cannot break infrastructure existing, but you must build on it but you must build on what you have.

Fugstar, great that you are a devout muslim, but please do not bring religion into this conversation as it has little meaning here. The Bangladeshi’s in London might do it, but if you give ANY Bangladeshi a chance to serve and sell alcohol in Bangladesh, they would do it in a heartbeat, haram or not, because there has to be food on the table at the end of the day.

Now here is where I want to explain to you the role of an entrepreneur/industrialist (they are just as important as each other and a nation wouldn’t function without either) and the government. The views that you have taken only represent what the government should do, not businessmen. Like I said, people in Bangladesh would serve alcohol in a heartbeat because there is money to be made, but it is the governments solemn duty to make sure the framework is set so that people can do business freely, with the parameters set and enforced by the government. Therefore, businessmen will always find ways to pay less tax, as Mr. Selim mentioned, it is a practice of the world, but it is the governments job to ensure that the maximum amount of tax is collected and to set up a more transparent system to tax and collect. Some money of the State is lost due to tax evasion, even more is lost in paying bribes to the collector and ministers (government officials). That is why the system needs to be fixed, not the people. People will change with the system.

You grew up in London in a perfect world. It does not match Bangladesh (although beneath the scenes even there the concepts are the same). You cannot think and expect people will give up money for morality yet. it will not happen in a country as young as Bangladesh. People in the west would not do it if they were not so socially conscious because it has become a way of life there. If they don’t do it, they will be worried what their customers or consumers think. Otherwise, only a few that really mean it would take part in such moral acts. How many restaurant owners are REALLY happy to have stopped selling liquor? Maybe when you go into eat they have a smile on their face, try to talking to them in the off hours and getting it out of them. I feel you may be disappointed with the result.

Anyways, back to the point. As Mr. Selim puts it, it is the bravehearts, the entrepreneurs AND industrialists that have taken Bangladesh to the (so far) economic pinnacle with a growth of over 6%. Because of the past few governments, it could not be higher. Now with this government, all that was good is being undone. is it that difficult to identify the actual causes of the horrendous state we are in? Fix the government systems and bureaucracy, only then change will follow.

Pardon me, but judging from your past few blog posts, it seems that for some reason you have a real grudge against the rich. Do you wish for the cream of society (industrialists, which is mixed with good and bad people) to be wiped out and a new level to rise (entrepreneurs)? You think they will be any different than the group now? You are expecting a utopia which is not possible. You need to bridge the gap of understanding you have about Bangladesh in regards to comparing it with the UK (although I appreciate the vision you have for Bangladesh). The points you make can not make sense in a young nation such as Bangladesh. We are (almost) 36 years old whereas the nations you are comparing to Bangladesh are hundreds of years old, who have been through at their early stages what we are going through.

Underlying point is that you must differentiate between the business community and the government. I am not saying businessmen are exempt, but in this situation, they cannot be blamed. Again, if a businessman has wronged, then he deserves to be punished but in the normal court of law, not a puppet court where the army hands out the sentence it feels the case deserves.

I hope that you will champion entrepreneurs AND industrialists (instead of degrade this particularly very important group) and see that the Bangladesh you want can ONLY be built by their efforts, with the support of the government. I agree that their has to be a standard of morality, but that will come, as I mentioned, with a change within the system, and an enforced system.

Mr. Selim, in the past posts Leela and Fugstar go on to personally attack a renowned industrialist Mr. Mintoo, which is how this topic on the blog started. I am under the impression that he is a good man and from the research that I have done recently, it seems that many businessmen in my generation were the happiest during his tenures as the FBCCI chief. I have also seen the man on TV numerous times where he has publicly bashed both AL and BNP very honestly and openly. However, Leela and Fugstar have labeled him as corrupt and unaccountable (which spurred me to research on him, but I have yet to talk to a person that has bad-mouthed him). Because I feel that Mr. Mintoo represents the business community better than anyone else that I can think of, as an entrepreneur I found this insulting because that is the light everyone is seeing us entrepreneurs/industrialists in at the moment. Can you shed some light on this man because maybe I should not be defending him (although I am actually defending ALL businessmen). Also, on a side note, how come he is the only person to have publicly criticized both AL and BNP during their tenures and remain untouched (although I also recently found out that he has never participated in doing business with the government), but still?

By the way, may I propose that you change your name to Nizam U. Mahmood (Selim). It seems to be the “in” thing these days.

[...] discussion about industrialists v. entrepreneurs that’s going on in the comments of Leela’s post.  My quick Taka 1.372 (under prevailing exchange rates): the appropriate distinction is to worry about [...]

May I point out to you all that let’s not get personal. I was just placing a fact of life to compare whether we are going from frying pan to fire because of the so-called 1/11 ‘change’. This reminds me of Harvard sociologist Pitrim Sorokin’s definition of ‘achieved change’ and ‘immanent change’. 1/11 is not even a change, in fact. It is a transition, and where such ‘transitions are more transitional than most’ (a sociological aphorism about traditional scieties such as ours), change doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.

The point I was trying to make was very simple: an Establishment-defined societal categories for the convenience of wholesale plundering and looting of the State by a nexus of bureaucrats-politicians-civil society as opposed to the tax evasion by the business community. The former’s crime is much greater and larger than that of the latter. Economist Abul Barakat had written a compendium in 2001 highlighting how billions of loans, credit, et cetera are laundered outside of Bangladesh by the triumverate, and the expatriate ‘Consultants’!

The issue here is not holier-than-though shibboleth of morality and religious ethics. The choice is between better of the two evils. Indeed, a choice for the ‘necessary evil’. The individual here, for instance Mr. Abdul Awwal Mintoo, is irrelevant. I do not know him personally. I do know that he had made his initial money as a US citizen shipping wheat to Bangladesh a contractor under US PL480 prgramme. He later came down to Bangladesh and had begun investments in industries.

“U”, the in-thing, means a propensity to make a “U” turn. I rather like my name the way it is, as my father had kept it. The normal abbreviation I use is Nizam M. Selim. In my days, I have seen quite a number of men in uniform, including a horde of Generals, even from Pakistan days. I happen to be a disrespecter of persons, and couldn’t care less who has prefixes and suffixes after their names. I am happy the way I am,- a man on the street earning his own bread and butter through his ‘karma’. Good luck to the predators and parasites who work as servants paid from the Tax-payer’s money. That was never ever in my mind for an avocation, and I am averse to be labeled as a servant. “Iam the master of my own fate and captain of my own soul”. Thank you.

Mr. Selim, again, I completely agree with your distinction. I hope the others see the differentiation you’re making and where the priority should be during this transition period for Bangladesh.

And I was only kidding about the “U” thing. Nothing personal.

Ms. Leela,

Firstly I would like to thank you for putting some support in to your argument.

I have understood your point very clearly and I appreciate your stance that everything said and done must be in the best interest of Bangladesh. I also agree that NYTimes carries weight across the globe therefore what was said by Mr. Mintoo is negative to the image of Bangladesh.

However, I think we can excuse Mr. Mintoo for the statements he made just because of what you said, the government “had imprisoned him on insubstantial charges”. Maybe he was trying for sound byte, but I will give him benefit of the doubt and say that he was most likely just being honest. It is easy for us to accuse him of hurting Bangladesh, but I am sure we would be outraged if either of us would have to spend almost 6 months in jail and maybe our thinking caps would be on for some time after release. Plus, Bangladesh was a great place for investment, and will be soon again, but it is NOT so at the moment. That is the reality.

As I mentioned previously, I have done some research on Mr. Mintoo and came up with the same issues that you have mentioned: Frigate and Land purchase.

The underlying point is do we not believe in innocent until proven guilty, or is it the other way around?? Last I checked he was not charged with anything. In addition, I can’t help but notice that you have linked ONLY Daily Star articles. Weren’t you the one criticizing the Daily Star earlier in the blog? Blatant pandering (which I agree with)? He was arrested and even taken into remand. Has he been charged with the Navy Frigate corruption? Wouldn’t the government charge him if there was something there? I mean there was a loss of $70M to the state (supposedly)! And surely they would love to convict S. Hasina using the frigate case, wouldn’t they? As far as the land purchase is concerned, it clearly states that he bought ‘abandoned land’, meaning it is no ones land, although some claim that it may be forest land. On top of that, the article does say that he ‘purchased’ the land, not stole it. But I will wait for an outcome in that case (if there is a case at all) to make a proper statement either in his favor or against him. Whatever the case, I hope justice prevails.

My research into his background has also come up with something that may be interesting to you. Mr. Mintoo wanted to become Mayor of Dhaka and was promised nomination by K. Zia before the last election, prompting him to join the BNP. After joining, he was given a document by K. Zia and was told to sign, in exchange for nomination for Mayor. It was a State Witness testimony saying that he was a witness to the Frigate case corruption against S. Hasina. In short, the DG of the ACC then called him in to sign and he refused. Soon after, the papers came out saying that he was the agent and was involved with the case. The matter was taken up to Supreme Court where charges against Mr. Mintoo were quashed. Even more interesting, is that the DG of the ACC at the time, was our (very) HONORABLE (current) Advisor MA Matin. There was a connection however, I found. The Frigate company officials came to Bangladesh and met Mr. Mintoo as he was then the FBCCI Chief and asked hi to set up a meeting with S. Hasina. He sent in their request and she told them to meet Sheikh Helal, so he introduced them to Sheikh Helal. But I think that can hardly be seen as a crime.

Anyways, enough about Mr. Mintoo, my actual point is that Bangladesh is not always what it seems on the face. We cannot believe just what we read because unfortunately these filthy politicians have controlled the press for the last 15 years. I would hope (although it is your choice obviously) that you will wait to make judgments on people just based on what is written in the papers (tabloids) and hearsay. Let us get out of the mentality that has deprived most people in this country of their basic rights, which is guilty until proven innocent and pray, hope, and work for a system which is transparent and independent of political pressure, or any pressure for that matter.

I recant my comments on you not caring for Bangladesh. I appreciate as I have mentioned your stance that well-being of the nation comes first. But maybe your experiences and knowledge about Bangladesh are a little limited. Digging beneath the surface can bring to light many surprises that should not be. That is why I sincerely hope that this transitional period for Bangladesh works out (although I’m losing hope in it), because otherwise we will be back to square 1, and maybe even worse.

Dear Leela and Mr. Reza

The issue of Abdual Awwal Mintoo conniving and conspiring with Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League is a tell-tale episode in the plundering and looring of Bangladesh by politicians of the ilk of Hasina/AL. Nothing new indeed! The Frigate, Mig and Oil majors corruption scandals are just then tip of the iceberg.

The issue here is absolutely different. I tend to think both of you are missing the point,- subtle at that. The present CTG itself is the outcome of conspiracy by the Awami League/Sheikh Hasina (?). Indo-American/EU playmakers had been contriving and conniving for long for the emergence of a “Third Force”/Party that could serve their global, regional and sub-regional agendas vis-a-vis Bangladesh.

The likely theory is: Use the Awami League to orchestrate and stage-manage anarchy - the mayhem of October 2006 through “Jalao-Porao”, “Aborodh” and :Shara Desh Achal kore dibo” programmes - and use the subterfuge to cry wolf (Cry “Civil War” in the offing) and let the “Third Force”/Party take over power and Government - the third force being the Army/Armed Forces. In October 2006 Sheikh Hasina/Awami League immobilized the country, put the economy to ruination, floundered the Offices of the Election Commission, Chief Election Commissioner, Judiciary, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Banga Bhaban and the President, put Democracy to the sword and destabilized the State. The ground was created for the Army/Armed Forces to step in through ‘Emergency’ of 1/11, and then Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League went on to welcome the CTG, claiming it is the result of Awami League’s ‘Andolon’. The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, CPD, Dr. Kamal Hossain, Professor Rehman Sobhan, et al are conjectured to have been party to this metamorphosis of the end game: Indo-American lobby putting Bangladesh on its knees to eke out their demands. Acces to Port/Harbour, Corridor, and use of natural resources like Oil, Gas and Energy.

One of the tactics of this lobby was to have put to nix the dominance and preponderance of the leading politicians and political parties upholding national interest. In this line of strategic manoeuvre, BNP and its leader Begum Khaleda Zia were put under the cosh, while Awami League and Sheikh Hasina were given a free run.

Sheikh Hasina was charged on to vindicate the “Minus-Two” ploy. Please do remember: other Awami League leadwers like Amu, Tofayel and Razzak are in queu to toe the lne of the Indo-American/EU lobby and that of the CTG. On the other hand, BNP Office is madeout of bounds by the CTG and BNP itself has been subjected to the scheme and design of division within its ranks and files.

Abdul Awwal Mintoo, a close confidante of Sheikh Hasina and a supporter of the Awami League, and albeit a party to the Frigate and Mig corruption cases, has plausibly been used to soften up Sheikh Hasina to make way for Amu, or Tofayel or Razzak. The NYT revealations by Mintoo couldn’t have taken place without a nod of support from the Army/CTG. My hunch is that the NYT report is to divest Sheikh Hasina/AL of the brunts and blemishes of the corruption allegations and scandals, if only for the Army/CTG/CAS to make an ally of the AL (as propounded Captain, retired, Taj of the AL on May 09, 2007 on “Tritiyo Matra” on Channel “Eye”) and jockey for positioning the AL to form the next Government in the charade of an “Election” in 2008. BNP has already been castigated to the political dustbin by the Army/CTG for leveraging AL to have a hay day in an empty field.

If this theory holds water, then it is irrelevant whether investors are alarmed about FDI in Bangladesh. Who cares? Dick Cheney’s Halliburton-like US comapnies shall rule the roost in Bangladesh, and Black Water-like companies shall have a shooting spree in Bangladesh.

Why don’t you see the plausible scenario? Mr. Mintoo has been let off the hook, like Sayed Alawi of Iraq, to sing the tune for an MIC invasion of Bangladesh. Mr. Mintoo is probably the mouthpiece of the CTG and its Indo-American allies to taint Bangladesh, absolve Hasina/AL of their crimes and sins, and enable Army/CTG to hang on to power indefinitely in connivance with the AL and serve the global. regional and sub-regional designs and schemes of the Indo-American concordat. Wait for the last episode in this melodrama before reaching immature conclusions. Mintoo is another pawn dancing to the tune of the global play-makers like a puppet on a string. There is much more to it than meets the eye in NYT interview and report. Don’t be misled by the surface details. That is all hogwash and eyewash. Watch out for the Trojan Horse: AWAMI LAEGUE.

I think Ms. Leela and I are debating on the same point actually, but I think she believes that I am defending an individual rather than ideas and points of views.

In response to what Ms. Leela wrote:
1) I will not deny that Mr. Mintoo got along with many politicians well or ‘hobnobbed’, but that is the name of the game in Bangladesh, if you live here and work here, it must be done. Hopefully the current movement will limit this practice, as it cannot be eradicated. It happens in EVERY country.
2) I did not say that only after you brought it up because I still haven’t said that he did steal land or he was part of the frigate case. You googled him because you made accusations based on hearsay and only then realized you needed support to back your claim. I am speaking from my time living and doing business in Bangladesh and speaking with the people I know here, especially within the business community (and some politicians, army/government officials). Some people I talked to do not like his attitude, but I still have not heard any solid negative information about him when it comes to business. I will not accuse him, nor anyone (including you) of anything until and unless he is fairly convicted or unless solid evidence is presented.
3)I do admire him (which does not mean I have admirable faith in him), because I know exactly what entrepreneurs/industrialists are going through at the moment, and a few select, are feeling the brunt of it. Some may be bad, some may be good, but that is for the court to decide, not a bunch of generals (because I could name you a few businessmen who have hurt this nation far more than most of the ones in jail, who are still roaming free because the generals have allowed it). The Generals SHOULD set up the system to try everyone in question, but that should be their limit. And they should not interfere as they have recently done with Mr. Babul of the Jamuna Group.

But Mr. Selim, you have pointed out what can be an underlying theory. I am actually quite intrigued by what you have written. I am with you that there are ‘outside’ forces at work here (although the idea of foreign forces following a playbook and pulling ALL the strings sounds a bit too far-fetched). But I do believe that 1/11 was led to by these forces. I want to add the use of General Ershad. He was instrumental (he was played I believe) in the rising tension between both the parties that led to 1/11.

However, I think it is still up in the air about who comes into power next. BNP has been smashed and because of the talk about War Criminals going on now, they alliance with Jamaat will not be strong (if there is an alliance at all in the end). Therefore, it is almost unthinkable that BNP comes into power so AL is the obvious choice. But talking to the people I know in the military, they will NEVER trust Sheikh Hasina so I wouldn’t be so sure of AL making a return, at least with Hasina. I’m 50/50, but I think if it’s not AL and if it is BNP, then the Army risks losing serious face. That is the real dilemma being faced by the Army at the moment. It will be interesting to see how they proceed to get themselves out of this mess they’re in.

Hasina’s volte face, breaching on promises made and somesaulting at every turn does make her unreliable, indeed! Army/CTG did initially bank on her and made her the prima donna in the political arena after the vacuum of 1/11. It didn’t work at all. Remember, while Khaleda and her sons, and BNP, were strngulated through Anti-corruption drives and accusations and allegations of graft through ‘Hawa Bhaban’, Hasina and AL were left unscathed, with Hasina and the AL basking in the glory and limelight of their “Andoloner fashal”.

To the dismay of the Army/CTG, Hasina stole their thunder and started claiming victory for herself and AL after arriving from USA/UK. She/AL claimed the prerogative of forming the next Government in the promised “Elections” of 2008 and committed endorsing the actions of the Army/CTG to allow them ‘immunity’. That did not suit the plans and designs of the powers that be. So, now Sheikh Hasina is also languishing in jail. Recall Amir Hossain Amu returning from Singapore for a brief visit and declaring that Sheikh Hasina’s utternaces, and acts and deeds against the Army/CTG had put the Awami League on the wrong foot/backfoot!

It would therefore surmise that an AL sans Sheikh Hasina is the desire of the Army/CTG, and the likes of Amir Hossain Amu, Tofayel and Razzak are prepared to don the mantle of AL leadership in alliance with the Army/CTG. This theory is reinforced by the actions of the Election Commission, Election Commissioners and the Chief Elections Commissioner when they had collectively worked to create fractious division within BNP, and put BNP in a legal quandary through the High Court writ on the issue of which of the BNP divisions merited and warranted “Letter of Invitation” from the Election Commission that disbaled any of the factions of BNP to dialogue with the EC on the “Elections” of 2008. Not only that, please do recall the Chief Election Commissioner telling the AL delegates to the EC that “the AL deserved to form the next Government”! The end game of the Army/CTG is perhaps clear from the actions of the DGFI, EC, Election Commissioners, Chief Election Commissioner and the ACC.

The present fiasco and furore over “Anti-Liberation forces” and “Jammat-i-Islami” are arguably ploys to create a clear field for the Awami League in the proposed “Elections” of 2008. On the other hand, there is also a likelihood that the created furore and fiasco may eventually be used as subterfuges to call off the “National Elections” on the plea and pretext of “anarchy”! One can’t write off such a dire prognosis either.

As I have written earlier, I tend to believe that Mr. Mintoo and the NYT report are diversions only from the larger picture. Mr. Mintoo couldn’t have been released without a green signal from the Army/CTG and nor his journey back to the USA divested of endorsement and approval from the Army/CTG. The CAS/Army and his/their Indo-US/EU allies must have some scheme up their sleeves to have allowed the Zionist NYT report. As the drama unfolds we may come to understand the meaning and measure of the NYT report.

For the moment though, I feel it in my bones that the Army/CTG is playing the “Divide and Rule” card. Showing the carrot to AL and using the stick with BNP-Jamaat alliance. And, if my hunch is right, at the last moment they will also debunk AL and hold on to power themselves in some form or other. The rumour that CAS wants to lead the AL as its President lends some air of credibility to the theory that AL sans Sheikh Hasina is acceptable to the Army/CTG, while Khaleda Zia’s intransigence and “Bangladeshi Nationalism” remain unacceptable to India in particular.

Do please remember that 1/11 is not the outcome of the BNP-AL rivalry; it is the incontrovertible offspring of the Indo-American design, vis-a-vis the Asia-Pacific region and the rise of yellow peril, polka - the People’s Republic of China - that requires a bulwark of defense that hedges in PRC both economically and militarily by the economic and military might of India, while Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Japan fend for the other ends to build a defense-ring in the rest of the Asia-Pacific.

Mr. Abdul Awal Mintoo and his NYT report/interview, “Corruption”, or “Anti-Corruption Drives”, are just small parts of the jig-saw puzzle which we shall see fit in when the “Bush Doctrine” is put into place in Bangladesh. Don’t fret too much about small pawns whebn big-game hunting is already on,- lay to waste the country of Bangladesh and bring it down on its knees to serve the agendas of the lone global super power as a supine and subservient vassal state of “Akhyanda Bharata”. “Joy Bangla” and “Bande Mataram” shall probably be our next slogans in the near future!

On second thoughts, I am persuaded to add some more comments on the matter. Most analyses that I have come across in the printed media in Bangladesh point out that one of the major regional agendas that the Army/CTG and its cohorts in the so-called “Shushil Samaj”/Civil Society - Debopriyo, Professor Rehman Sobhan, Dr. Kamal Hossain, Mahfuz Anam, Matiur Rahman, et al. - were required to achieve for the Indo-American/EU masters/lobby had been, among others: (1) Scare entrepreneurs and dent enterprise development/investments, and, therefore, as a matter of strategy, put the captains of industry behind bars and persecute them, (2) Put NRB employment and remittances into jeopardy, (3) Put export-oriented industries and export-earnings into jeopardy, (4) Put FDI into a scare and discourage FDI.

The overall Indo-America/EU strategy for “REGIME CHANGE” had been literally to put Bangladesh’s economic indicators for growth and GDP into reverse gear. The one year since 1/11 2006 has seen all economic indicators plummet to their lowest-ever nadir; the crisis created over agricultural fertilizers for production has also seen Agriculture, the mainstay of Bangladesh’s economy and the largest employer and provider, go downhill! Bangladesh is now going through a crisis of even essential commodities and food items like Rice, Onions, Green Chilli, Wheat Flour, et cetera.

In one year of Army/CTG, “Shushil Samaj” and Emergency in governance, there has been more lack of governance than any ever before. SIDR and the “Rangs Bhaban” episode have lais bare the lack of commitment and absence of social responsibility by the powers that be.

Mr. Abdul Awwal Mintoo and his case have made poignant how the Army/CTG and its cohorts in the “Shushil Samaj” want local and foreign investments to shy away from Bangladesh, as India desires that its neighbour must not reflect the success story of a small Nation-State on its own; indeed, India wouldn’t like to see its recalcitrant and rebellious “Seven Sisters” vie for Nation-States of their own breaking away from the Indian super State. That is also the dream-child of the USA for seeing the bulwark of India against PRC, dominating the region both militarily and economically.

Mr. Mintoo and his NYT interview/Report is just the propaganda piece the Indo-American/EU lobby would love to see serving their regional agenda, vis-a-vis Bangladesh. Investors and investments shall become a far cry, and invasion would become a fair possibility. The likes of Mr. Mintoo, Debopriyo Bhattacharya, Professor Rehman Sobhan, Dr. Kamal Hossain, Mahfuz Anam and Matiur Rahman are just there to serve their masters to see the denouement of a Bangladesh damned.

Hmmm….I agree with most of what you have said, including the global superpowers and the game they are playing. But I’m not writing off Bangladesh just yet. That is because there are also other superpowers at play here. There are those in whose best interest it won’t be to see Bangladesh be a ’servant’ to America and India. In fact, although I agree with your comment to stop China, America won’t risk giving India that much power over Bangladesh (but maybe for the time being) in case after China, India becomes the next potential superpower.

It seems that you give Mr. Mintoo a lot more political credit that I thought he deserved, even if he is a ‘pawn’. I never thought that Mr. Mintoo had that much political pull to aid the military to take their plan forward. Seems you are indicating that the man is vital to the future of Bangladesh and recognized internationally enough to make such a statement that the military thinks will strike a chord with people abroad. I only know him as an industrialist/entrepreneur and a man that likes to speak out publicly on the politics of Bangladesh and degrade both parties in the media. But I guess what you’re saying may have some sort of analytical logic to it, but I believe I would need a far-fetched imagination to believe that the army would bank on one man (and not ever even an influential politician in any party) and his statement to proceed with their plan.

Judging from your writing it seems that you are a true BNP supporter. Am I mistaken?

No, I don’t give much credit to Mr. Mintoo either as a politically-wise person or as a politically indispensable person. His stature as an ex-President of FBCCI shall understandably carry some weight in the context of the NYT report; if I am not wrong, three ex-FBCCI Presidents have been put behind the bars by the Army/CTG, and only Mr. Mintoo must arguably have struck a deal with the powers that be to put Bangladesh in an uncharitable light as far as FDI prospects are concerned! Should this theory prove to be right, then he is of course an ally of the Army/CTG! He has been used to discourage FDI, and I believe that is the only purpose of the ‘deal’; I don’t see him being all too important to the Army/CTG beyond that.

Tagore had written” “Rekkhecho Bangali kore, manush koroni”. And, Nirad C. Chaudhuri had written a copulet in his Autobiography of an Unknown Indian: “The Bengali of the East is like a monkey
Swinging from tree to tree.”

So, I am averse to calling myself a ‘Bengali’ - an “amaunsh” or a “monkey”.

I am a Bangladeshi first, a Bangladeshi second, and nothing but a Bangladeshi,- to reverberate in the spirit and tradition of Maulana Mohammed Ali when he had addressed the House of Commons as an Indian subject of the Raj.

I don’t vote, and the last time I had voted was in 1970. The political culture of ‘Banga’, ‘Vanga’, or Bangladesh, and especially the ethos of ‘Nationalism’ is derived from the Bara Bhuiyas, Shaheed Titumir, Haji Shariatullah, Peer Dudu Miah, Sher-E-Bangla, et al, going back to some 800 years as the chrysalis of the aspirations of a people who had begun to think of themselves as a separate and distinct nation. On the other hand, ‘Bengali Nationalism’ is an offshoot of the “Agartala Conspiracy” in the mid-60s, hardly 40 years in the making through exogenous influence and drummed-up propaganda.

I am quite aware of the historicity of Bangladeshi Nationalism, while, in the same breath, and simultaneously, I am cognizant about the modern-day superimposition of ‘Bengali Nationalism’. The Partition of Bengal in 1906 and its Annulment in 1913 following the terrorism unleashed by the Bengal Congress (remember Khudiram, Surya Sen and Pritilata Wahdedar?) after Surendra Nath Bannerjee had vowed that they shall make the Partition an ‘unsettled fact’, and the same Bengal Congress opting for Partition of Bengal rather than settling for a Federation under the Cabinet Mission Plan where Calcutta (Kolkata) was proposed to be the Capital of “A” constituting the undivided Bengal (Bengal Presidency- Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Assam) throws up the hollowness of ‘Bengali Nationalism’. Interestingly the reasons for this dichotomous stance are quite obvious: In 1906 the Poulation Census shows the Muslims as a minority in undivided Bengal - Bengal Presidency -, and, wherefore, ‘Banga Vanga’ is unacceptable. By 1935, the Muslims had become a majority in undivided Bengal, reflected in the Legislataive Assembly Elections where A.K. Fazlul Huq’s Krishak Praja Party swept to a majority to form the Government in the province of Bengal, beating both the Bengal Congress and the Bengal Muslim League! It was an eye opener for the Hindus, and now they wanted a divided Bengal under Mountbatten’s Cabinet Mission Plan, rather than share power and governance with a Muslim majority population/electorate! The rest is history. And, that is why I AM A BANGLADESHI, and prefer to remain as such.

From this historical and nationalistic perspective, you could perhaps label me as a BNP supporter, though I personally feel that I am apolitical and have never ever subscribed to the notion of politicking as an avocation (remeber the old adage “Politics is the last refuge of rascals”?).

Please do also recall that when Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh had gone to Kolkata to receive the so-called ‘Mother Teresa Award’, she had beeen addressed as the ‘Chief Minister of Bangladesh’ and she had happily obliged as one of the chief proponents of ‘Bengali Nationalism’! Ample reasons for me to reject ‘Bengali Nationalism’ as this would logically appear to be an appendage of the ‘Akhaynda Bharata’ syndrome.

I firmly believe in the political culture of Bangladeshi Nationalism as opposed to that of ‘Bengali Nationalism’. And, since BNP is an advocate of Bangladeshi Nationalism, one has a Hobson’s choice regarding political affinity.

Hope I have been able to clear the air?

Corrigendum: Please read Nirad C. Chaudhuri had written a couplet, NOT copulet.

Mr. Selim,

I do see good logic in Mr. Selim’s analysis. But I do believe super-super power [supreme power of the heavens]. It says ‘ Men possess, God dispossesses’. Sometimes people schemes but they seems to be very smart though, many a times the schemes fail. Look at the election of Thailand. Now the pro-Thaksin party has won the election. What the army planned didn’t work at all. This CTG what I love to call PIG[Paramilitary Interim Government] have measurably failed by all indicators. Even though hundreds of so called political Roi-Katla have been busted, they, according to last TIB report, failed to score any better in transparency scale. During the four-party jote our score was 2.0 and it remained the same after 7 months of thier rule despite all-out jehad against corruption. About taking down the killers/terrorist/sontrashi groups BNP-led government had been doing far better. RAB drive against the criminals had been working superb-way; most sontrashies were either fled to India or arrested or cross-fired, I don’t whole-heartedly endorse cross-fire though. After 1/11 I didn’t know of any of the listed sontrashi has been taken down or arrested. Just today,
there is the news, in Dhaka sub-urb on man was killed and his body was burned by Sontrashi. It’s shame on the military-backed CTG.

About other areas worthy of note like controlling the price of essential commodities, economic growth potential, foreign investment etc all,
as Mr. Selim alluded, dropped down to the lowest ever nadir. Despite our proverty, I believe communication-wise we are not so far. Peoples’ eyes and ears are wide open than before. They far more conscious about their affairs. They get the every information and I believe, able to understand
and compare what’s happening. If they can cast their vote freely, given the election is there as scheduled, the ambitious plotters may see their dooms in the election result.

Until then we hav to wait and see how far the scheme stretches to.

Thanks.

Interesting what Mr. Selim and bitterboy wrote.

Mr. Selim: You have been able to clear the air, thanks. And I do agree that AL is pro India and BNP, although pro Pakistan (to a certain extent), is more nationalistic to Bangladesh.

I am confused however, one on point. You write that Mr. Mintoo cut a deal and is an ally to CTG (arguably). Then how and why would he be alienating FDI in Bangladesh? That doesn’t make sense. If he is an ally then shouldn’t he be promoting FDI. And if he is attacking the present government, wouldn’t the present military government re-arrest him? I mean they would have grounds to through the Emergency Rules. Maybe I have misunderstood you so kindly clarify if so.

Also, I think Salman Rahman is the only other ex-President of FBCCI that is in jail. I believe there were only 2 ex-Presidents, not 3.

First, your correction about two ex-FBCCI Presidents is noted; my apologies for the error.

Secondly, on the matter of the end-game theory and the tactics being employed by the current CTG, my hypothesis, albeit subject to further debates, is as under:

Presumption/Hypothesis 1:

India and USA want Bangladesh to play sedcond fiddle to India both economically and militarily, and expect Bangladesh to be dependent on India. They don’t want to see a strong and vibrant Bangladesh economy and a sovereign and strong Government in Bangladesh that is able to follow its own Policies independent of exogenous influence.

Presumption/Hypothesis 2:

Indo-American axis/alliance does not want Bangladesh’s strong economy and sovereign and independent Government as a small Nation-State to encourage a fall-out among the disparate Indian nationalities, particularly among the “Seven Sisters” on the Northern borders of India and close to China, and vie for separatist movements and independence struggles from the Indian Union.

Presumption/Hypothesis 3:

The Indo-American axis/alliance wants to see India strong both economically and militarily to create a bulwark of defense that is mighty enough to hedge in the People’s Republic of China, and without any irritations and distractions from both India’s neigbours and its own separatist elements. This axis also does not want China to have strong economic or market and defense links to India’s neighbours, particularly Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Presumption/Hypothesis 4:

The axis wants Bangladesh to feed India’s growing economic and military needs by (a) opening its doors, roads, Ports, Harbours and economy to India, especially as India and US industrial investments in India need both energy and a corridor or passage through Bangladesh for free movement of goods by use of the Chittagong Port/Harbour to feed in particular the “Seven Sisters” in India, and (b) the use of the Chittagong Port or a new Deep Sea Port in the territorial waters of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal to adequately serve and service the eventuality of any military mobilization up to the Indo-China border in the North.

Presumption/Hypothesis 5:

Democratically elected Political Parties, and especially BNP, are not keen and interested to put into place the Indo-Amercian axis’ blue print as they are accountable to the public and are, therefore, averse to trade on public interest. Although the Awami League is amenable to play along the Indo-American game by damaging and destroying Bangladesh’s economy through “Hartals”, “Aborodhs”, “Jalao-Porao”, “Loggi and Baitha Michhil” and “Shara Desh Achal kore Dibo” programmes, including the Share Market Scam of 1996, denting and damaging Bangladesh’s Civil Service and Military through pervasive politicization such as the “Janatar Mancha” and the abortive Coup attempt of Al-supported General Nasim in 1996, “Laathi Micchil” in the High Court by AL Home Minister Md. Nasim in 1997 and attacks on the Offices of the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner in September/October 2006 and vandalism of the Chamber of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by AL-supported Supreme Court Bar Association members led by Association President Barrister Amirrul Islam, Barrister Roknuddin Mahmood (AL MP Candidate in Dhaka) and Dr. Kamal Hossain (Ex-AL Foreign MInister and 14-Party Alliance Member with the Awami League) in September/October 2006, Awami League seems to lack the courage to do the other biddings, if for nothing else but for the fear of probably public wrath.

On the other hand, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) not only remains/remained averse to “Jalao-Porao”, “Aborodhs” and “Shara Desh Achal kore Dibo” programmes that damage and destroy Bangladesh’s economy, BNP rather historically proves/proved to have forged Bangladesh’s economy on a stronger footing, with a vibrant economy, high GDP and increased FOREX reserves. BNP also had or seems to have had strong economic and military leanings towards the People’s Republic of China, including a “LOOK EAST” Foreign Policy.

Therefore, BNP being antithetical to the Indo-American design, and Awami League partially serving the Indo-American design, there has/had to be a “Third Party” (”alternative political force”, a coinage of some EU Diplomats in Dhaka) to serve the Indo-American “Design”,- for long an articulation by the EU/pro-USA foreign Diplomats based in Dhaka.

Presumption/Hypothesis 6:

The Indo-American axis ought to use the Awami League and its supporters and political allies (14-Party Alliance?) to destabilize Bangladesh both economically and administratively (October 2006 showdown of “Jalao-Porao”, “Loggi & Baitha Michhil”, et cetera), and use this pretext and opportunity to bring in the “Third Party” - THE ARMY/ARMED FORCES - to jockey into power and Government, duly supported by a lackey “Shushil Samaj” or so-called “Civil Society” (CPD/Dr. Debopriyo Bhattacharya and Professor Rehman Sobhan, Dr. Kamal Hossain, Mahfuz Anam of the Daily Star, Matiur Rahman of Prothom Alo, et al).

Presumption/Hypothesis 7:

Bangladesh’s surging economy must be arrested and its GDP brought down by (a) putting the domestic/local captains of trade, commerce and industry into a frightful scare to discourage further/addtional capital investments and import of goods and commodities, including Capital Machinery and industrial raw materials, (b) putting the Agriculture Sector into a disarray, Agriculture being Bangladesh economy’s mainstay, (c) putting the Export-earning RMG Sector into slow growth through orchestrated attacks on industries, labour unrest and prohibitive Non-Tariff barriers, (d) denting the FOREX Income generation from the NRBs and expatriate labourers serving abroad by by creating anti-Bangladesh propaganda overseas, (e) putting into place a hardening, stiff and prohibitive Banking and Financial strictures/protocol regime to slow down business and economic transactions in the market place, and (f) discouraging the trend of increased FDI apparent from the statistical data of 2001-2006.

Findings from the Presumption/Hypothesis on Mr. Abdul Awwal Mintoo, Ex-President of FBCCI:

Mr. Abdul Awwal Mintoo is the subject/target of strategic and tactical ends on Presumption/Hypothesis 7, paragraph (a) and (f).

An Ex-President of FBCCI is first harrassed, castigatigated and then arrested on “Corruption” charges by the “THIRD PARTY” - Army/Armed Forces/CTG.

Fright and scare is put into him as a domestic/local Captain of Industry epitomizing an entrepreneur and an investor. He languishes in jail for long without any trial at all. THIS SENDS ALARM BELLS to the business community (like many other harrassments of the business community, including the “Rangs Bhaban” demolition).

Mr. Mintoo is suddenly released, and the NYT prints and reports his interview into global circulation that tells (a) that the current CTG had arrested him on flimsy pretexts, (b) that he would no longer consider Bangladesh as a safe place to do business in and (c) that he would stall all his future/further investments, and, in innuendo, if possible, he would recall and repatriate his investments.

MR. MINTOO’S MESSAGE WAS CLEAR, AND, INDEED, VERY CLEAR TO THE OVESEAS PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN INVESTORS:

1) Bangladesh is a place where there are no civilized “Rule of Law”
2) Both Local and Foreign Investments are unsafe
3) The business community is under threat of attack and harrassment by the current Government-CTG.

MR. ABDUL AWWAL MINTOO WAS ARGUABLY RELEASED BY THE CTG TO SERVE THE INDO-AMERICAN AGENDA UNDER PRESUMPTION/HYPOTHESIS 7 THROUGH INTERNATIONAL MEDIA PROPAGANDA (”Media Terrorism”?).

If it was not arguably a “deal” why was Mr. Mintoo, then, released?
If it was not arguably a “deal” why wasn’t Mr. Mintoo, then, re-arrested for violating the “Emergency” rules for speaking out against the CTG?
If it was not arguably a “deal” how come the US-based Zionist NYT print such an interesting Report on business and industry/FDI discouragement in Bangladesh, while the US Government goes on supporting CTG and its more than one-year of “Emergency” that has starngled Democracy in Bangladesh?

“Deals” are made and sealed between partners and allies on given and agreed terms and conditions. Although we aren’t aware about this arguably secret “deal”, it is abundantly clear that part of the deal for Mr. Mintoo’s public utterances/interview with NYT must have been that he will remain a free man, undisturbed by the THIRD PARTY/CTG as along as there are no breaches made by Mr. Mintoo to the conjectured “deal”.

LESSONS LEARNT:

1.00) If one makes make a “Deal” with the Indo-American axis/alliance and its THIRD PARTY (”alternative political force”, the use the coinage of some EU Diplomats in Dhaka), i.e. current CTG, one can burn, vandalize and loot and ransack the Chamber of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh (October 2006) that serves Presumption/Hypothesis 5 and 6, one can go scots-free even if this is a severe criminal offence, and go on centre-stage to sing songs of praise for the Army/CTG in the media, such as Dr. Kamal Hossain, Barrister Amirul Islam and Barrister Roknuddin Mahmood.

2.00) If one breaches on commitments made to the “deal” with the Indo-American axis, one may as an individual person rot in jail indefinitely, such as Sheikh Hasina, but the Party - Awami League- shall remain predictably unscathed with the faithfuls to the axis taking centre-stage on the merging political spectrum.

3.00) If one DOES NOT AGREE to the “deal”, one not only goes as an individual person to the jail to rot indefinitely, but one’s family members and kith and kin also go to jail to rot, the Party stalwarts are also placed behind bars, and the Party is made a scapegoat and subjected to the sword for wrangling and division, the Party Office is forcibly closed, et cetera, - such as BNP’s Khaleda Zia, her sons, family members, Minister and colleagues, and the BNP sent to the cleaners and BNP’s fortunes castigated into a political wilderness.

OK?

In today’s vernacular newspaper “NAYA DIGANTA” there is an interesting column by Farhad Mazhar. In brief, Farhad Mazhar identified the CTG and its lackey “Civil Society” implementing the Agenda of the superpower - imperialist/colonialist- on Bangladesh by design. I think this a MUST-READ analysis, as many of Farhad Mazhar’s columns are.

Imperialism or Colonialism’s latter-day syndrome is neo-Colonialism. Rule by proxy through “natives” or indigenous elements is the order of the day. Be it the Awami League, BNP, Jatiyo Party or CTG, if one succumbs to exogenous influence, one becomes alienated from the “Aspirations of the Nation”. Bangladesh today under the CTG does not reflect any semblance of our national dreams and aspirations.

One must delve deep to comprehend that the CTG is implementing agendas of its masters beyond the shores of Bangladesh. None in the CTG have therefore any linkages with the man on the street, and nor are they concerned about either public interest or public accountability.