Contributed by Maj Zillur, Bangladesh Army
The BDR killing and the poor handling of it by the government and the Army has left the latter as the greatest casualty of the incident insofar as the morale of the organisation has been shattered making it virtually ineffective, at least for the time being. We cannot turn back the clock, and as such, a thorough analysis of what went wrong and what should be done is the only thing left before us at this time if any attempt to restore the organisation back to its previous state is to be contemplated. As this write-up is prepared in a short time, the various lists therein have not been maintained in a chronological order.
What went wrong?
Everything:
· A military situation, mishandled by the politicians under the cloak of political negotiation/settlement/handling, messing it up totally.
· Indifference, gross irresponsibility, apathy, and abuse of trust by the top brass of the military towards the sufferings of their victim officers and their families, rendering them mere spectators of the scene of the carnage.
· Utter failure of the generals to win over the political government to force the right decision.
· No feeling of guilt, no taking of responsibility, no steeping down, no resignation by a single general. They didn’t blame the government either, implying that the victims themselves were to blame for the killings and molestations.
· The generals praised the government for its actions. That implies that, a kind of hostage crisis of this sort has found a new tactics of handling, hitherto unknown and unprecedented in the history of civilisation. As the show was a total fiasco, no general criticised it, corroborating their vested interests and servility.
· The political game of arranging the escape of the killers under the protection of the army and thereafter employing the same army to hunt them down, making the officers and men homeless for months for yet another operation and hampering their professionalism by cancelling their courses and keeping them away from their core jobs.
· Complete intelligence failure. No intelligence chief took any responsibility yet, let alone resigning or stepping down. Either of these must be true: they knew the plot; they failed to know, but didn’t take responsibility for this failure, indicating their shamelessness and vested interests.
· Failure of the intelligence chiefs to warn the government about the fallout of holding back military action immediately after the commencement of the crisis, before it could be too late.
· Failure to arrange reception of the freed officers and their families at the BDR gate.
· Failure of the Army to encircle the BDR Headquarters, even with heavy presence around it.
· The role of ISPR and failure to react before mass media could damage Army’s reputation.
· Declaration of unconditional amnesty to killers by the PM, unconcerned about the fate of so many officers and their families.
· Failure to take responsibility of the dead bodies of brigadiers and colonels getting dumped at Kamrangirchar through sewerage lines. Even after identification, their names didn’t appear at the scrolls. No press briefing at AHQ.
· Use of tanks as barricades at the BDR gate to prevent spontaneous actions by a group or groups in response to the calls of their dying comrades. The generals should not blame the politicians for employment of such tactics.
· Making Army the cheapest commodity in the country, unaffected by inflation, employing Army for EVERYTHING: water supply, national ID card project, traffic control, VGF, monitoring power generation, anti-corruption drive, supervising and monitoring government officials/offices, farming, seed and fertiliser distribution monitoring, road construction, trial of political leaders, etc. and etc.
What we lost?
Many things:
· The criminals and, perhaps, many of the traces of their wrongdoings.
· Some invaluable lives. The survivors, particularly the families of the deceased, might prove to be no better than the dead.
· Trust of the junior officers on the superiors. The true nature of the damage can only be ascertained through another crisis, paying a heavier price.
· Credibility of the army as a viable force that is capable to dictate terms, and not to be dictated by corrupt political systems.
· Value of the military profession as an honourable job. A pervading sense of uncertainty and insecurity about this profession among general mass would inevitably make it the last choice for potential candidates. The actual loss, in the long run, is too enormous to ascertain. Total loss of market share in the ‘Marriage Market’.
· The force of the definition of ‘unquestionable loyalty’, the attribute central to the making of an army an effective and efficient fighting machine – an inevitable consequence of the generals’ abuse of trust placed on them and misuse of power, position, and authority.
· Some brilliant officers, who were made out of huge investment of money and effort. The vacuum can never be filled up readily. If attempted, quality must be compromised, weakening the army further, especially in the long run.
· The morale of the army – the sum total of every other thing.
What we can/should do?
Something:
· Rehabilitation of the Families.
o Settlement abroad. Many might want to settle outside to do away with the social stigma. Embassies of some friendly countries may be interested to shelter them with good jobs and education for the children.
o No long-term monetary package (it will leave scope for their harassment). Whatever is promised, those must be paid now in cash, so as to enable them to invest in the most appropriate manner.
o An army level initiative to urge all officers to donate Tk. 1,000.00 or more may be undertaken. Retired officers who are interested may also be requested to participate. Officers of sister services can also be encouraged to participate. A handsome fund can be raised through this.
o Husbands’ pensions must be paid at once, not in instalments.
o Jobs in Trust Banks as per educational qualifications.
· Reorganisation of BDR.
o Complete abolition of its entity with new name.
o Relocation of headquarters.
o New uniform.
o Five army officers per battalion – CO, 2IC, Ops Officer, Adjutant, and QM.
o No AD/DD class. Only up to JCO as company commander/2IC.
o New identification of all the battalions with mutinous battalions disbanded.
o Those involved in mutiny at the periphery, directly, indirectly, or by virtue of appointment, are laid off immediately, without any monetary benefit. Rest of the old BDRs are laid off in phases through the execution of a plan that ensures that there is no BDR element in the newly raised force after 2015.
o RSU restructured to include a section of MI/DGFI.
· Rehabilitation of the Army
o The top brass of the army involved in the decision-making process, must quit, accepting their responsibility in the fiasco.
o The DGs of DGFI and NSI must also quit, along with those people responsible for detecting the plot of the miscreants.
o The morale of the junior and mid-level officers was at the lowest ebb even before this incident and it has reached at a dangerous level following the incident. This will consequently result in a huge number of officers becoming either disinterested in service or desirous to quit prematurely. Arresting its spread will become a major challenge that would warrant more than conventional approach of our military leadership in which they usually resort to violation of officers’ legal rights either by not accepting application or, if accepted, denying their authorised pension. Our ‘intelligent’ generals failed to take note of the fact that serving officers are the best ambassadors of the organisation and if they are not interested so will be the potential candidates for this profession. The result is an obvious sharp decline in the intake of brilliant students in the army, a loss that has a far-reaching consequence perhaps the present generals will not face. Following immediate actions are to be taken:
§ Officers’ legal rights must be respected and institutional mechanisms must be developed to take measures when those are violated.
§ There should be study periods and seminars on legal rights of officers where action plans are to be recommended for implementation.
§ There should be regular/periodic address of junior officers by senior officers where the former are to be allowed to put forward their views and suggestions.
§ Officers must be allowed to lead a ‘normal’ life in which they can spend time with their families or for personal studies for self development.
§ Government holidays must be observed as holidays unless there is a serious emergency demanding immediate attention. Routine conferences, coordination, firing, and other commitments cannot be categorised as ‘serious emergency’.
§ It is a basic right of any officer to educate himself/herself on any subject of their own interests with their own cost and time, without taking any privilege from the service. It must be respected.
§ Authorised amenities and privileges, such as housing, receipt of TA/DA and other bills in time, resale-to-officers etc. must be ensured.
o The generals have used the army for non-military activities for earning ‘points’ from their civilian masters, even when not asked for. Army must not be made a cheap commodity through its involvement in non-military activities in aid of civil powers, except disaster management. The army must live by the principle – less involvement, less stigma.
o Promotion must purely be based on one’s military records only. One’s inherited affiliation with a political party must not be treated as disqualification. Political masters and DGFI must not have a hand in this affair.
o The report of the army Court of Inquiry must be made public even if it contradicts with that of the national board of inquiry.
o ISPR must be reformed with a more dynamic structure that will use media intelligence to enhance the image of the army through manipulation of mass media.
o Ceremonialism must be shunned. A thorough analysis to that effect must be made through a board so as to reduce ceremonialism and give the army a professional outlook. Senior officers like to see that their under commands losing self-control upon seeing them during visits or inspections. These must be diminished.
o Grievance handling mechanism must be geared up at all levels of hierarchy of the military. Justice and judgement must be upheld and people must be made accountable for their actions irrespective of position, rank, status, or influence. Numerous instances prove that the JAG Department does nothing to ensure that officers get justice. They are ever reluctant to go against the desire of the generals, even if those stand contrary to laws/rules. This situation must improve.
o There should be a forum where officers can express their views and suggestions for improvement of systems and processes involving life in the army. After 38 years of independence, the FC Army could not be managed to ensure that we get our dues in time, without bribing the corrupt officials, or without harassment. This must change.
o DGFI should be reformed to make it a purely inter-service intelligence organisation that would focus only on national security, and not on politics. As the leadership of this organisation is provided by the army, army’s top brass should take initiative for this reform.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
BDR Mutiny
Subject: BDR Tragedy
From an Army Officer:
Our beloved People of Bangladesh:
Take the salute of Bangladesh Army. We know that you feel now how much you were bluffed at Pilkhana by the so-called "cause" of the BDR jawans on 25th February 2009. You at first thought that they were right...they were deprived. But you see, we are the army, given birth, trained and fed by the people's money. we can never betray our people, our nation. if we wanted, we could bring martial law in the country on 1/11 or anytime after that.
Here is the true story of BDR:
1. Before 2002, only very average army officers were posted to BDR. Those officers used to pass time and wait for retirement. The scenario was changed in late 2002, when army started to pump in outstanding officers to BDR to shape up the national border and curb cross-border crime and smuggling. If you plz recall, Phencidil was introduced by India in Bangladesh across benapole in the mid 1980s at the cost of Tk 2 per bottle. Once they captured our young brains, they raised the price gradually and now they have phency factories all along Bangladesh border only to supply to Bangladesh. This is just an example of cross-border crime. So, to guard our beloved land, army started pumping very good officers into BDR. Before 2002, the BDR jawans were very rich through the earning of smuggling. Their sepoys and naiks and havilders had buildings and house that even officers can only dream of. After 2002, smuggling and its sharing by BDR jawans started coming down. Capture of smuggling figures, if you can manage, will rightly prove that. Therefore the young BDR jawans that were pictured from pilkhana were the young ppl with 5-10 years of service who couldn't earn from smuggling. Their seniors told them, "You see, we have made house when we were sepoy, but you can't have now because army officers are making money and not sharing with you." this is theme they used to motivate the young jawans.
2. Whenever there is an encounter with BSF, always we are the winner. Plz remember the incidents of Roumari, Padua etc.. But all that appear in media is about our casualty only, rightly for the purpose of diplomacy principle. as long as army officers lead BDR, BSF will never win any single battle, they will always be in the loser's end and India will not be able to pump in drugs, fake currency and other harmful things into Bangladesh. The DADs of BDR are the worst losers. They are educated officers but can't do anything because of army officers.
3. If you take another glance of Point 1 and 2 above, you will realize that if you were the enemy of Bangladesh, you would surely do the following:
• Capitalize on point 1 to motivate DADs and young BDR jawans against the army officers
• if BCS officers are posted, the shrewd DADs would be able to easily bluff the innocent and educated BCS officers, threat them, and earn money.
4. This is the point on which our enemy used to motivate and raise the point of "nirjaton and bonchona" by army officers. If there were any such "bonchona and nirjaton" in this new millennium, could it be kept hidden from your eyes and from the eyes of international media and also from the people of Bangladesh? IMPOSSIBLE!
5. Now come to 25th February:
• RAB arrives at Pilkhana gate at about 10am and ready to move in. Home Ministry said a stubborn "No".
• Troops of Mirpur Cantt and Dhaka Cantt arrives at Pilkhana by 11:30am. They seek permission to go in. Again a big "No"
• Innocent Media people, bluffed by the BDR jawans, focus to the nation the good side or the "right cause" of rebellion BDR. They ask for BCS officers.... !!!
• Govt sends nanok and others and they enter courageously into BDR Pilkhana and safely come back and they are not held hostage.
• At 4:30pm, army tanks are ready to go in, briefing done, again a big "No". The army is told to go 3 km away from Pilkhana.
• Night comes. sahara and nanok enter BDR and all lights are off. sahara visits families of army officers without nanok as seen on TV channels through BTV footage. She does not, we repeat DOES NOT meet any army officer of BDR.
• Media people telecast live sound of firing from inside Pilkhana when sahara is inside.
• Sahara comes out and faces the media. Some channel representative asks her "Apni jokhon vitorey chilen, amra goolir shobdo shunlam, apni shunen ni?" she say "No. I did not hear any firing". sahara did not mention anything about the 168 officers inside, nor the media asked her where were the officers.
• THIS WAS BECAUSE AT THAT TIME BDR WAS COMPLETING THE TOTAL KILLING OF ALIVE OFFICERS AND THIER FAMILIES UNDER THE EYES OF NANOK AND MASS GRAVES WERE BEING PREPARED. Please refer to the Ntv exclusive with major Mokarram on 28th evening. He said that he heard the voice of home minister entering into the kote when he was surrounded by BDR gunmen.
• IG police freely moved in because his daughter and son in law capt haider was inside. he ensured the rescue of his daughter, married 82 days earlier.
• Only police is allowed to enter pilkhana and throughout the night they find only 7 dead bodies and suggest that search could not be done due to darkness.
• NON-MILITARY AMBULANCES ENTER AND LEAVE PILKHANA A NUMBER OF TIMES AND TAKES AWAY SO MANY DEAD BODIES...BUT THE TOTAL STILL REMAINS 7. Only 5-7 other bodies appear from canal behind BDR naturally floating. IT WAS BECAUSE ABOUT 32 KILLERS WERE TAKEN AWAY BY THOSE AMBULANCES.
• Next morning there is no sign of bodies. Bodies and mass graves are discovered after army and fire brigade (fire brigade boss is a brigadier of army) enter into pilkhana late in the morning.
• Size and depth of mass graves indicate that killers used the whole night to dig those and also to FLY AWAY from PILKHANA. Only about 200 fools of BDR were left at Pilkhana.
• Nanok in a media briefing in front of Pilkhana declares that "It was a big conspiracy" and lac lac crore taka were distributed in Pilkhana." DEAR MEDIA, HE WAS RIGHT. BECAUSE EACH DAD WORKING AT PILKHANA GOT TK 25 LAC between 22 and 24th February, distributed by nanok's men.
6. you see how brutally the representative of Bangladeshi people, elected just 50 days back-- sahara, nanok, mirza azam and jalil...all of them ensured that your officers and their familes, the officers of Bangladeshi people, are killed and molested. Only about 37 or 57 officers were killed in our War of Liberation 1971 by Pakistanis in 9 months. and our own ministers and MPs ensured that more than 140 officers and families are killed in about 24 hours!!! What an achievement of our nation!!
7. BCS officers in BDR, and no officer from army, would ensure that another Rakhkhi Bahini could be in the making.
8. Added fuel to the fire was the corruption of DG and other very few officials in 'operation daal vaat'. We regret that and we apologize to the nation.
9. It is now clear that nanak and DAD tauheed had been communicating each other for last 1 month plus. They are classmates.
Your home minister and nanak arranged the safe exit of all 13-14,000 BDR troops from Pilkhana throughout the night.
Bangladesh army was not allowed to fire on the plea that "peaceful negotiation' was going on. We are servant of govt. we can't but abide by orders.
If we were allowed to enter Pilkhana even at 4pm on 25th February, we could save many innocent lives. Ask the people from the area/village of the dead officers. They all will say that those were our golden sons of the soil.....truly so. They prove it in UN missions. That is why Bangladesh is the largest troops contributing country to UN. It is not India, Pakistan, US, Canada...it is poor Bangladesh! How strange..... ...!!!!!
We are not asking you to believe this email. We are requesting you to use your judgment.
Please let the People of Bangladesh know what your judgment say. Do something for the nation...in exchange of 140+ lives of your families.... your officers...your sisters...martyred at Pilkhana by .......
If your judgment concludes that what were said in this mail in the name of Allah are true, please forward to all possible contacts. Let the world know what you understand to be the truth.. It is your responsibility as a human being. is not it?
Thank you for patiently reading this.
From an Army Officer:
Our beloved People of Bangladesh:
Take the salute of Bangladesh Army. We know that you feel now how much you were bluffed at Pilkhana by the so-called "cause" of the BDR jawans on 25th February 2009. You at first thought that they were right...they were deprived. But you see, we are the army, given birth, trained and fed by the people's money. we can never betray our people, our nation. if we wanted, we could bring martial law in the country on 1/11 or anytime after that.
Here is the true story of BDR:
1. Before 2002, only very average army officers were posted to BDR. Those officers used to pass time and wait for retirement. The scenario was changed in late 2002, when army started to pump in outstanding officers to BDR to shape up the national border and curb cross-border crime and smuggling. If you plz recall, Phencidil was introduced by India in Bangladesh across benapole in the mid 1980s at the cost of Tk 2 per bottle. Once they captured our young brains, they raised the price gradually and now they have phency factories all along Bangladesh border only to supply to Bangladesh. This is just an example of cross-border crime. So, to guard our beloved land, army started pumping very good officers into BDR. Before 2002, the BDR jawans were very rich through the earning of smuggling. Their sepoys and naiks and havilders had buildings and house that even officers can only dream of. After 2002, smuggling and its sharing by BDR jawans started coming down. Capture of smuggling figures, if you can manage, will rightly prove that. Therefore the young BDR jawans that were pictured from pilkhana were the young ppl with 5-10 years of service who couldn't earn from smuggling. Their seniors told them, "You see, we have made house when we were sepoy, but you can't have now because army officers are making money and not sharing with you." this is theme they used to motivate the young jawans.
2. Whenever there is an encounter with BSF, always we are the winner. Plz remember the incidents of Roumari, Padua etc.. But all that appear in media is about our casualty only, rightly for the purpose of diplomacy principle. as long as army officers lead BDR, BSF will never win any single battle, they will always be in the loser's end and India will not be able to pump in drugs, fake currency and other harmful things into Bangladesh. The DADs of BDR are the worst losers. They are educated officers but can't do anything because of army officers.
3. If you take another glance of Point 1 and 2 above, you will realize that if you were the enemy of Bangladesh, you would surely do the following:
• Capitalize on point 1 to motivate DADs and young BDR jawans against the army officers
• if BCS officers are posted, the shrewd DADs would be able to easily bluff the innocent and educated BCS officers, threat them, and earn money.
4. This is the point on which our enemy used to motivate and raise the point of "nirjaton and bonchona" by army officers. If there were any such "bonchona and nirjaton" in this new millennium, could it be kept hidden from your eyes and from the eyes of international media and also from the people of Bangladesh? IMPOSSIBLE!
5. Now come to 25th February:
• RAB arrives at Pilkhana gate at about 10am and ready to move in. Home Ministry said a stubborn "No".
• Troops of Mirpur Cantt and Dhaka Cantt arrives at Pilkhana by 11:30am. They seek permission to go in. Again a big "No"
• Innocent Media people, bluffed by the BDR jawans, focus to the nation the good side or the "right cause" of rebellion BDR. They ask for BCS officers.... !!!
• Govt sends nanok and others and they enter courageously into BDR Pilkhana and safely come back and they are not held hostage.
• At 4:30pm, army tanks are ready to go in, briefing done, again a big "No". The army is told to go 3 km away from Pilkhana.
• Night comes. sahara and nanok enter BDR and all lights are off. sahara visits families of army officers without nanok as seen on TV channels through BTV footage. She does not, we repeat DOES NOT meet any army officer of BDR.
• Media people telecast live sound of firing from inside Pilkhana when sahara is inside.
• Sahara comes out and faces the media. Some channel representative asks her "Apni jokhon vitorey chilen, amra goolir shobdo shunlam, apni shunen ni?" she say "No. I did not hear any firing". sahara did not mention anything about the 168 officers inside, nor the media asked her where were the officers.
• THIS WAS BECAUSE AT THAT TIME BDR WAS COMPLETING THE TOTAL KILLING OF ALIVE OFFICERS AND THIER FAMILIES UNDER THE EYES OF NANOK AND MASS GRAVES WERE BEING PREPARED. Please refer to the Ntv exclusive with major Mokarram on 28th evening. He said that he heard the voice of home minister entering into the kote when he was surrounded by BDR gunmen.
• IG police freely moved in because his daughter and son in law capt haider was inside. he ensured the rescue of his daughter, married 82 days earlier.
• Only police is allowed to enter pilkhana and throughout the night they find only 7 dead bodies and suggest that search could not be done due to darkness.
• NON-MILITARY AMBULANCES ENTER AND LEAVE PILKHANA A NUMBER OF TIMES AND TAKES AWAY SO MANY DEAD BODIES...BUT THE TOTAL STILL REMAINS 7. Only 5-7 other bodies appear from canal behind BDR naturally floating. IT WAS BECAUSE ABOUT 32 KILLERS WERE TAKEN AWAY BY THOSE AMBULANCES.
• Next morning there is no sign of bodies. Bodies and mass graves are discovered after army and fire brigade (fire brigade boss is a brigadier of army) enter into pilkhana late in the morning.
• Size and depth of mass graves indicate that killers used the whole night to dig those and also to FLY AWAY from PILKHANA. Only about 200 fools of BDR were left at Pilkhana.
• Nanok in a media briefing in front of Pilkhana declares that "It was a big conspiracy" and lac lac crore taka were distributed in Pilkhana." DEAR MEDIA, HE WAS RIGHT. BECAUSE EACH DAD WORKING AT PILKHANA GOT TK 25 LAC between 22 and 24th February, distributed by nanok's men.
6. you see how brutally the representative of Bangladeshi people, elected just 50 days back-- sahara, nanok, mirza azam and jalil...all of them ensured that your officers and their familes, the officers of Bangladeshi people, are killed and molested. Only about 37 or 57 officers were killed in our War of Liberation 1971 by Pakistanis in 9 months. and our own ministers and MPs ensured that more than 140 officers and families are killed in about 24 hours!!! What an achievement of our nation!!
7. BCS officers in BDR, and no officer from army, would ensure that another Rakhkhi Bahini could be in the making.
8. Added fuel to the fire was the corruption of DG and other very few officials in 'operation daal vaat'. We regret that and we apologize to the nation.
9. It is now clear that nanak and DAD tauheed had been communicating each other for last 1 month plus. They are classmates.
Your home minister and nanak arranged the safe exit of all 13-14,000 BDR troops from Pilkhana throughout the night.
Bangladesh army was not allowed to fire on the plea that "peaceful negotiation' was going on. We are servant of govt. we can't but abide by orders.
If we were allowed to enter Pilkhana even at 4pm on 25th February, we could save many innocent lives. Ask the people from the area/village of the dead officers. They all will say that those were our golden sons of the soil.....truly so. They prove it in UN missions. That is why Bangladesh is the largest troops contributing country to UN. It is not India, Pakistan, US, Canada...it is poor Bangladesh! How strange..... ...!!!!!
We are not asking you to believe this email. We are requesting you to use your judgment.
Please let the People of Bangladesh know what your judgment say. Do something for the nation...in exchange of 140+ lives of your families.... your officers...your sisters...martyred at Pilkhana by .......
If your judgment concludes that what were said in this mail in the name of Allah are true, please forward to all possible contacts. Let the world know what you understand to be the truth.. It is your responsibility as a human being. is not it?
Thank you for patiently reading this.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Election of Obama and it's Significance to Bangladesh
The election of Barack Obama is a momentous achievement in US History. Matter of fact, this is a momentous achievement in World History. No where on earth has a member of a minority became the elected leader of a nation. Just a quick comparison – it is like an Algerian becoming the President of France or an Asian becoming the Prime Minister of United Kingdom. All the previous scenarios are achievable, but the 1st one to achieve was Barack Obama.
The Renegade-Celtic administration aka Obama-Biden administration has ushered in a new era of hope for the whole nation and was celebrated hugely in the whole world. By the way, Renegade and Celtic are the Secret Service Code names for Obama-Biden. People of the world are looking forward to a new direction. That includes Bangladesh. Today I am going to discuss how this monumental achievement was attained and what implications it has for Bangladesh and Bangladeshi’s here in US.
What motivated me to volunteer for Barack was his speech in 2004 Democratic National Convention. His speech really gave me goose bumps and I saw a leader who can unite this nation. He said on Republicans “Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.”. So I was really excited to see him declare his candidacy in the foot of the Old Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois. I was looking for ways to volunteer, but with my limited time spread between my 2 toddlers and a job, I needed something where I can be a message carrier. That moment arrived when he introduced mybarackobama.com where I enlisted. I sent emails to couple of hundred of my friends and relatives and started calling people across state lines. My focus was on Pennsylvania and other North-east primary states where I lived for 6 years. I called my friends and family, got more telephone numbers and called them as well to elect Barack as the Democratic nominee. But as Bangladeshi’s, we easily pledge our allegiance to a “name”, in this case Clinton. Hillary lost for only one reason and that was for not apologizing to democrats for her vote on Iraq. The journey was painful for all of us Democrats and left some scars which the McCain campaign prodded as vultures to make them campaign issues.
Once he received the nomination, the task was much easier. The ground force that Obama developed during the primaries helped him win the ground war against McCain. At the last weeks of the election, there were 200k volunteers in Miami area alone! From the get-go, it was clear that California will remain a solidly Blue State. So our focus was on Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado. We would get emails with the list of people to call and also invites to tag along with people visiting Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado to canvass Door-to-door. And that approach, where every individual put in genuine effort, paid off and Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of USA.
Now to it’s implication on Bangladesh. I don’t see any except that far Right Radicals, like Jamaat will be cornered and will have to give the insurmountable influence they garnered during this last 2 years, where BNP seemed to be a hostage to the whims and vagaries of these religious thugs. We will see the departure of some Visa Counselors in US Embassy in Dhaka, namely the Chief Consul, who is the Dhaka City Naib of Jamaati Islami. Apart from that, we will see Awami League coming to power.
Obama’s influence in this nation will be huge, and that means we Bangladeshis will be profoundly touched by this enormous personality. He forgave Senator Lieberman and kept him in Democratic caucus. It will not be politics as usual in Washington anymore. So we will see a lot things getting done and the way it is shaping up, if the Democrats can get that 60 vote filibuster-proof majority in the US Senate, we will see the passing of the following:
1. Universal Health Care for people who cannot afford them and Lower Premiums for all others. And existing conditions clauses will be wiped off the Insurance Dictionary.
2. Reduction of Tax rate for working middle class.
3. A green revolution starting with the Auto Industry, as most probably, Uncle Sam will own most of its shares.
4. A prosperous mid-east where new Green job will be created in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan.
5. College bound Students getting a break if they want to join Peace Corps or other Voluntary organizations. Previously, they only got financial assistance if they enlisted in the National Guard or the Military.
6. A Lasting Peace Agreement between Palestine and Israel.
7. Closing of Guantanamo Bay Prison and all CIA clandestine prisons across the globe.
So much for the rhetoric, is he living up to his promise? Look at his picks, Rahm Emanuel will be the go-getter for the new administration and he will make sure all these are executed. How? Well, Rep. Dingell was defeated by Rep. Waxman to head the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce. Those of us who have followed Waxman know he is an ardent environmental activist and a tough guy who will get to the bottom of things. Obama is thinking of picking of Arnold for EPA and Hillary Clinton for State Department. He has picked Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary who is a prodigy by his own rights. Incidentally, DOW moved up 500 points hearing this news at the last hour on Friday. He has picked Tom Dashle as the Health and Human Services secretary who is an ardent proponent of Universal Health Care. Even WSJ, another Rupert Murdoch fiefdom commented on the pick of Christina Romer as Chair of Council of Economic Advisors, that the Obama administration is going for the top minds in the field rather than those who adhere most closely to party lines.
Now to the opposition who would like to block so much of it. GOP has become a marginalized Southern Religious Party. I am amazed to see that they still believe in Trickle down Voodoo economics and abstinence program for teen-agers which does not even work for their own kids. They have a blow-horn Limbaugh and a FAUX news Channel called Fox News which spews nothing but hatred for anything logical. Barack once said that if he listens to Fox news, he would not vote for himself! Now conservatives are saying that Rush Limbaugh will spearhead the new Republican movement. Just to remind them that 66% of people under 40 voted for democrats this election. If republicans stick to their 19th Century ideologies, they will be extinct in 30 years or so. Their embrace of the ultra-right rhetoric against a black candidate did get noticed by the electorate, and until and unless they change their stance on so many wedge issues, they will dwindle to non-existence. The same party which talks of preservation of life does not think twice about killing innocent lives in Iraq, the same party which talks about limited government has ushered in the biggest government ever in US history, the same party which warrants responsibility from public servants like teachers did not warrant the same from President Bush on tripling the national deficit from 2000 and withering away the budget surplus that Clinton gave us. The Republican tent has become so tiny that I wrote to Kathleen parker, the conservative columnist in Washington Post that in spite of being a social conservative, I decided to become a Democrat as they are the only ones who will embrace me as I am – a Proud Muslim. By the way, she got death threats when she smacked down Palin’s candidacy after her interviews with the media.
For the last 8 years we have only heard Guantanamo, Iraq, Al-Qaeda and Domestic Spying. It is Time to take all these issues right out of this nation’s dictionary. How? Al-Qaeda is so un-happy that people of the world will now see United States as a true mediator and leader that Ayman Al Zawahiri called Obama a “House Negro” or “House Slave” in the latest Qaeda tape released last week. Obama will withdraw troops from Iraq by 2010 and will put all his energy to defeating Al-Qaeda. For the last 8 years, Cheney and his surrogates, which includes Bush, always had a mantra “Be Afraid, be very very afraid”. Well Americans are not a nation who will hide under a closet, we are a nation who fought the British off this land, who fought the Japanese and Italians and Germans all over the world in 2nd world war, who have sacrificed their sons and daughters and husbands and wives and fathers and mothers to fight off attackers off the coast of this great Nation. And proudly they can say “We shall overcome”. We will defeat any force who wants to take away our way of life and harm us, we will defeat any force that divides us, and we will defeat any force that put our freedom at jeopardy. May Allah, God, Jehovah, Vishnu, Buddha – Bless America.
The Renegade-Celtic administration aka Obama-Biden administration has ushered in a new era of hope for the whole nation and was celebrated hugely in the whole world. By the way, Renegade and Celtic are the Secret Service Code names for Obama-Biden. People of the world are looking forward to a new direction. That includes Bangladesh. Today I am going to discuss how this monumental achievement was attained and what implications it has for Bangladesh and Bangladeshi’s here in US.
What motivated me to volunteer for Barack was his speech in 2004 Democratic National Convention. His speech really gave me goose bumps and I saw a leader who can unite this nation. He said on Republicans “Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.”. So I was really excited to see him declare his candidacy in the foot of the Old Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois. I was looking for ways to volunteer, but with my limited time spread between my 2 toddlers and a job, I needed something where I can be a message carrier. That moment arrived when he introduced mybarackobama.com where I enlisted. I sent emails to couple of hundred of my friends and relatives and started calling people across state lines. My focus was on Pennsylvania and other North-east primary states where I lived for 6 years. I called my friends and family, got more telephone numbers and called them as well to elect Barack as the Democratic nominee. But as Bangladeshi’s, we easily pledge our allegiance to a “name”, in this case Clinton. Hillary lost for only one reason and that was for not apologizing to democrats for her vote on Iraq. The journey was painful for all of us Democrats and left some scars which the McCain campaign prodded as vultures to make them campaign issues.
Once he received the nomination, the task was much easier. The ground force that Obama developed during the primaries helped him win the ground war against McCain. At the last weeks of the election, there were 200k volunteers in Miami area alone! From the get-go, it was clear that California will remain a solidly Blue State. So our focus was on Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado. We would get emails with the list of people to call and also invites to tag along with people visiting Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado to canvass Door-to-door. And that approach, where every individual put in genuine effort, paid off and Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of USA.
Now to it’s implication on Bangladesh. I don’t see any except that far Right Radicals, like Jamaat will be cornered and will have to give the insurmountable influence they garnered during this last 2 years, where BNP seemed to be a hostage to the whims and vagaries of these religious thugs. We will see the departure of some Visa Counselors in US Embassy in Dhaka, namely the Chief Consul, who is the Dhaka City Naib of Jamaati Islami. Apart from that, we will see Awami League coming to power.
Obama’s influence in this nation will be huge, and that means we Bangladeshis will be profoundly touched by this enormous personality. He forgave Senator Lieberman and kept him in Democratic caucus. It will not be politics as usual in Washington anymore. So we will see a lot things getting done and the way it is shaping up, if the Democrats can get that 60 vote filibuster-proof majority in the US Senate, we will see the passing of the following:
1. Universal Health Care for people who cannot afford them and Lower Premiums for all others. And existing conditions clauses will be wiped off the Insurance Dictionary.
2. Reduction of Tax rate for working middle class.
3. A green revolution starting with the Auto Industry, as most probably, Uncle Sam will own most of its shares.
4. A prosperous mid-east where new Green job will be created in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan.
5. College bound Students getting a break if they want to join Peace Corps or other Voluntary organizations. Previously, they only got financial assistance if they enlisted in the National Guard or the Military.
6. A Lasting Peace Agreement between Palestine and Israel.
7. Closing of Guantanamo Bay Prison and all CIA clandestine prisons across the globe.
So much for the rhetoric, is he living up to his promise? Look at his picks, Rahm Emanuel will be the go-getter for the new administration and he will make sure all these are executed. How? Well, Rep. Dingell was defeated by Rep. Waxman to head the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce. Those of us who have followed Waxman know he is an ardent environmental activist and a tough guy who will get to the bottom of things. Obama is thinking of picking of Arnold for EPA and Hillary Clinton for State Department. He has picked Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary who is a prodigy by his own rights. Incidentally, DOW moved up 500 points hearing this news at the last hour on Friday. He has picked Tom Dashle as the Health and Human Services secretary who is an ardent proponent of Universal Health Care. Even WSJ, another Rupert Murdoch fiefdom commented on the pick of Christina Romer as Chair of Council of Economic Advisors, that the Obama administration is going for the top minds in the field rather than those who adhere most closely to party lines.
Now to the opposition who would like to block so much of it. GOP has become a marginalized Southern Religious Party. I am amazed to see that they still believe in Trickle down Voodoo economics and abstinence program for teen-agers which does not even work for their own kids. They have a blow-horn Limbaugh and a FAUX news Channel called Fox News which spews nothing but hatred for anything logical. Barack once said that if he listens to Fox news, he would not vote for himself! Now conservatives are saying that Rush Limbaugh will spearhead the new Republican movement. Just to remind them that 66% of people under 40 voted for democrats this election. If republicans stick to their 19th Century ideologies, they will be extinct in 30 years or so. Their embrace of the ultra-right rhetoric against a black candidate did get noticed by the electorate, and until and unless they change their stance on so many wedge issues, they will dwindle to non-existence. The same party which talks of preservation of life does not think twice about killing innocent lives in Iraq, the same party which talks about limited government has ushered in the biggest government ever in US history, the same party which warrants responsibility from public servants like teachers did not warrant the same from President Bush on tripling the national deficit from 2000 and withering away the budget surplus that Clinton gave us. The Republican tent has become so tiny that I wrote to Kathleen parker, the conservative columnist in Washington Post that in spite of being a social conservative, I decided to become a Democrat as they are the only ones who will embrace me as I am – a Proud Muslim. By the way, she got death threats when she smacked down Palin’s candidacy after her interviews with the media.
For the last 8 years we have only heard Guantanamo, Iraq, Al-Qaeda and Domestic Spying. It is Time to take all these issues right out of this nation’s dictionary. How? Al-Qaeda is so un-happy that people of the world will now see United States as a true mediator and leader that Ayman Al Zawahiri called Obama a “House Negro” or “House Slave” in the latest Qaeda tape released last week. Obama will withdraw troops from Iraq by 2010 and will put all his energy to defeating Al-Qaeda. For the last 8 years, Cheney and his surrogates, which includes Bush, always had a mantra “Be Afraid, be very very afraid”. Well Americans are not a nation who will hide under a closet, we are a nation who fought the British off this land, who fought the Japanese and Italians and Germans all over the world in 2nd world war, who have sacrificed their sons and daughters and husbands and wives and fathers and mothers to fight off attackers off the coast of this great Nation. And proudly they can say “We shall overcome”. We will defeat any force who wants to take away our way of life and harm us, we will defeat any force that divides us, and we will defeat any force that put our freedom at jeopardy. May Allah, God, Jehovah, Vishnu, Buddha – Bless America.
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