Opinion
Diplomatic double standards: The Bangladesh case
Bangladesh’s win in the election for membership of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a sure enough pointer of its global standing as a nation, regardless of what a small cabal of Western nations would have others believe.
Bangladesh won the seat for the term 2023-25, by securing 160 out of 189 votes. Bangladesh received the highest votes in the Asia Pacific Group – ahead of Maldives (154 votes), Vietnam (145 votes) and Kyrgyzstan (126 votes). Bahrain withdrew their candidature few days ago. Republic of Korea (123 votes) and Afghanistan (12 votes) lost the election.
This would be the fifth term for Bangladesh as member of the 47-strong UNHRC.
The Bangladesh government has rightly claimed in a press statement that “this is a clear manifestation of the recognition by the international community of Bangladesh’s continued endeavour and commitment for the promotion and protection of human rights… This also nullifies the ongoing smear campaign with falsified and fabricated information, by some politically motivated vested corners at home and abroad, aimed at negatively portraying the human rights situation of Bangladesh.”
This also comes at a time when the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances stands exposed for significant errors in its list for Bangladesh. The inclusion of two insurgents from India’s Manipur state, who have been released from jail or are locked up in India to face charges of armed separatism, was unbelievable. How could an UN group miss on the well reported trial of UNLF chairman Rajkumar Meghen and include him as victim of enforced disappearance? The only explanation seems they took the data supplied by local rights NGOs too seriously and didn’t run a double check.
So, while there are documented cases of human rights violations in Bangladesh, as in any other country including the US, the UN Report should have been error-free.
Several western diplomats based in Dhaka miss no opportunity to lecture Bangladesh government on improving the human rights situation and on the need for inclusive elections. But do they advise the opposition on the need to avoid violence?
Opposition parties like the BNP have ruled out participation in the next national polls and called for a violent ouster of the government. And what are the western diplomats doing? Lecturing the government in Dhaka to be “nice and kind” to those who are openly threatening that BNP’s Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman would run the government after December 10 and are calling for extensive road and bridge blockades to bring down the government – clearly a recipe to ruin the national economy. The lack of western resolve to resist the Taliban led to a cataclysmic disaster in Afghanistan, the impact of which is now borne by the Afghan people, especially the women.
And now these preachers of modernity tell Bangladesh and its long-serving woman Prime Minister, who has presided over an incredible decade of economic growth and human development, to go soft on bus-burning and bridge blocking?
Western diplomats have always considered capitals like Dhaka to be their playground. BBC Bangla ran a piece by Akbar Hossain (on January 11, 2022) on the diplomatic manoeuvres in an uncertain Dhaka landscape after the BNP-Jamaat coalition government ended its term in 2006 and was replaced by a caretaker administration.
Hossain has detailed the diplomatic maneuverers of the US, British envoys and the one representing the UN. According to the article, they were all operating to correct the country's many deficits — the trust deficit between the two major parties, the BNP and the Awami League, and their top leaders; the democracy deficit that was leading to situations in which the opposition parties were reluctant to contest in the polls; and the faith deficit in the army which had become a key player, but which BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia felt would largely back her.
Be that as it may, the BBC story offers a few pointers on western diplomats playing their “democracy game”. The extra-constitutional or unconstitutional role played by the unelected caretaker government, which turned Bangladesh into a playground of foreign maneuverers and severely undermined its sovereignty, must have influenced the subsequent Awami League decision to use its majority and scrap the caretaker arrangement.
If the leading democracies in the west and neighbouring India can do without a caretaker, so went the logic, Bangladesh jolly well can.
If the west is serious about inclusive elections in Bangladesh, its diplomats must ask the opposition to give away the “oust government” violent agitation and join the elections. It is fair of them to send observers to monitor the poll process – but it is also incumbent that observers from other countries are allowed. If the west expects Hasina to shackle her security forces while opposition activists run riot and bring the national economy to a standstill, I would only recall the title of Charles Dickens’ novel “Great Expectations”. Dear Sirs, no government worth its salt will abandon its responsibility of governance and maintenance of law and order. And Sheikh Hasina, who lost almost her entire family and still braved military dictators to bring democracy back to Bangladesh and then bring her party back to power surviving twenty assassination attempts including the deadly August 2004 grenade attack, is no western stooge like Afghanistan’s Ashraf Ghani who will pack bags to flee at the first sight of trouble.
Sukharanjan Dasgupta is a Kolkata-based commentator and author of “Midnight Massacre” on the 15 August 1975 coup.
Where does smartphone use start getting problematic?
No, it isn’t the USA as some may have thought but China. Researchers at McGill University used data on smartphone use between 2014 and 2020 from nearly 34,000 participants in 24 countries around the world. And who comes next after China? Saudi Arabia and Malaysia had the highest rates of smartphone use after that. It seems being Muslims is no protection against its high usage and being European doesn’t mean higher smartphone use. Both Germany and France had the lowest among the 24.
The study was/is one of the first global data based comparative analysis using smartphone ownership and screen time use. It found linkages with phone addiction too. “Researchers assigned each nation a score for problematic smartphone use, ranging from 10 to 60. China ranked highest, with a score of 36 out of 60”, says the report. It used the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS).
The study was conducted by researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
'Problematic smartphone use increased across the world between 2014 and 2020, and we expect this trend to continue.'
So where are the South Asian countries? It’s amazing which two made the list. India? Yes but at the 17th spot. But the top spot went to Nepal at number 10. Nobody would think that tucked far away among the mountains, young people were turning away from watching the Everest to look at the phone screen.
SCIENTISTS RANK CHINA HIGHEST FOR SMARTPHONE ADDICTION
For each nation, problematic smartphone use scores (which can range from 10 to 60) is also listed.
1. China (36.18)
2. Saudi Arabia (35.73)
3. Malaysia (35.43)
4. Brazil (32)
5. South Korea (31.62)
6. Iran (31.52)
7. Canada (31.11)
8. Turkey (30.92)
9. Egypt (29.54)
10. Nepal (29.41)
11. Italy (28.82)
12. Australia (28.61)
13. Israel (28.29)
14. Serbia (28.16)
15. Japan (27.71)
16. United Kingdom (27.69)
17. India (27.2)
18. United States (26.68)
19. Romania (25.52)
20. Nigeria (24.73)
21. Belgium (24.24)
22. Switzerland (23.45)
23. France (20.29)
24. Germany (18.44)
How did the Europe + US do?
Canada, where McGill University is located was ranked at seventh and well ahead of its fellow North American state, the US who sat at 18. France is 23rd and Germany 24th , the two least users. Europe doesn’t use it as much as brown and yellow Asians. Interestingly, Nepal and India are both Hindu majority states. But then Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran , Malaysia are all Muslims majority. So religion is no protection from addiction to phones.
The researchers think that it’s possible that “traditional” societies need to keep in touch so they use phones more but this seemed like a very speculative answer. Israel was at 13.
HOW SEVERE IS SMARTPHONE ADDICTION?
Researchers from mobile connectivity firm iPass surveyed more than 1,700 people in the US and Europe about their connectivity habits, preferences and expectations.
The survey revealed some of the most inappropriate situations in which people have felt the need to check their phone – during sex (seven per cent), on the toilet (72 per cent) and even during a funeral (11 per cent).
Sixty-one per cent of respondents said that Wi-Fi was impossible to give up – more than for sex (58 per cent), junk food (42 per cent), smoking (41 per cent), alcohol (33 per cent), or drugs (31 per cent).
A quarter of respondents even went so far as to say that they'd choose Wi-Fi over a bath or shower, and 19 per cent said they'd choose Wi-Fi over human contact.
A Tangled Web of Conspiracy against Bangladesh
Conspiracies against Bangladesh are not a new phenomenon. Myriad plots and intrigues have taken place since its birth. The ulterior motive was to prevent Bangladesh from developing as a non-communal state imbued with the spirit of the Liberation War. And the character of the conspirators is clearly perceptible. The communalist forces that opposed the birth of the Bangladesh, have repeatedly tried to change its socio-cultural and political character. The organized clique of communalists with their domestic and international allies has been constantly conspiring against the country. And the level of this conspiracy increased manifold after the trial of the war criminals had started, especially after the execution of their judgments one by one. Despite investing a huge amount of money in employing international lobbyists, when they failed to save the notorious war criminals like Quader Molla, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Ali Ahsan Mujahid, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Motiur Rahman Nizami, they started weaving a web of intrigue against the judges and trial arrangers in particular and the country in general.
The conspirators' links have a multi-dimensional trajectory. In their camp can be found people directly aggrieved by the execution of war crimes, the lunatic fringe involved in their communalist and violent politics, and the people and parties, who were wolves in sheep’s clothing. It was the nation’s biggest irony that, they were in power, and still are trying to grab it. The conspirators have reached such an extent that their collaboration with Israel's central intelligence agency called 'Mossad' is now common knowledge. As part of the conspiracy to overthrow the ruling Sheikh Hasina government, they met the high-ranking officials of ‘Mossad’ in Kolkata, Delhi and London. Intelligence sources have preserved the pictorial record of the meetings which first appeared on a website called Jerusalem Online.com. Several other reports published in the newspapers also mentioned the date and time of the meeting of two influential leaders of BNP and Jamaat with the influential Israeli leader and Mossad agent Mendi N Safadi. A video conference with a BNP leader of Bangladesh has been in the limelight. The video footage of the conference has reportedly come to the hands of the detectives on the basis of which an initiative to arrest the person concerned had been taken. Above all, Safadi's assurance of total funding to the government has also been public knowledge. The news of the inclusion of Safadi in the conspiracy is certainly not a light matter to be dismissed.
The arrest of 27 expatriate Bangladeshi nationals by Singaporean law enforcement agencies in 2016 for their alleged involvement in militancy-related activities can also be considered as an expression of the conspiracy against Bangladesh. Out of those 27 people arrested in Singapore on charges of terrorism, 26 were forcibly deported back to Bangladesh. The main goal of the radicalized Bangladeshis receiving training in Singapore was to be involved in the armed Jihad ideology of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but in reality, when it became a bit too complicated, these brainwashed people planned to carry out Jihad activities in their own country. And they are engaged in the conspiracy to topple the pro-liberation government with Sheikh Hasina at the helm.
Read: Aspirations for non-communal Bangladesh not materialized yet: Fakhrul
The main objective of the conspirators is to prove Bangladesh as a failed state. If the conspiracy is successful, the western world including the liberal democratic countries and the donors will turn their backs on Bangladesh. India also will turn its back. America will look for a way to establish military dominance in the name of curbing militancy. And Sheikh Hasina's government, being unable to bear so much pressure, may step down. Then, once again, the unexpected course of events will happen. The trial of war criminals will come to a grinding halt. The defeated forces of 1971 and their allies will seize power once again. This is the possible scenario if the conspiracy comes true.
The incidents of the killings of the noted bloggers and writers Abhijit Roy, Ananta Vijay Das, Niladri Chattopadhyay and publisher Deepan, Italian citizen Cesar Tabela, Japanese citizen Kunio Hoshi, Shia mosque muezzin in Bogra, the killing in the Tajia procession at Hosseini Dalan, and the killing of the Rajshahi University progressive intellectual – Professor Rezaul Karim Siddiqui – and two gay activists are harrowing examples of plots hatched by the rabid wright-wing fanatics to assert their existence in the country. There is no particular reason to think of this serial killing spree as isolated incidents, even if there are differences in time and place. The killing of progressive people also points to the unbridled dominance of the reactionaries. Islamabad's unsolicited advocacy for the impunity of convicted war criminals can also be regarded as a conspiracy against the sovereignty of Bangladesh. By interfering in the internal affairs of Bangladesh, Pakistan proved that the country, once enemy of Bangladesh, is still an enemy even in the fast-changing world order.
Conspiracies are still being hatched up to discredit Sheikh Hasina Government. The World Bank’s cancellation of Padma Bridge loan, US sanctions on the elite anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and the publication of US State Department’s report on alleged human rights violations in Bangladesh without any prior discussion with the government smack of a conspiracy theory. Indian analysts are also of the opinion that the sequence of events leading to violence during Durga Puja celebrations is part of a larger conspiracy to destabilize Sheikh Hasina government. Besides, the creation of so-called 1/11, Professor Yunus’ all-out effort to form a political party, quite unbecoming to a Nobel Laureate, the British Jewish journalist David Bergman’s nose poking into Bangladesh’s internal affairs, the organized smear campaign by hired hands are acts of criminal conspiracy.
Read: Safe Digital Space: AUW, UNDP to promote intercommunal, religious harmony
If not properly countered, these conspiracies can pose serious threats to the very existence of our secular Bangladesh. The government should identify the crux of the problem and realize the urgency of the matter. There is no question about Sheikh Hasina’s success in the politics of development. Now it's time to see how successful she becomes in suppressing the conspiracy against the country.
Dr. Rashid Askari: Bilingual writer, academic, translator and former vice chancellor, Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh. Email: [email protected]
The Rise and Rise of Xi Jinping
Twice every decade delegates from every nook and corner of country representing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) gather in Beijing’s ‘Great Hall of the People’ not only to choose their leaders, but also their policies. This year two and a half thousand such persons, selected by the membership of the CCP currently numbering nearly a hundred million, will gather in Beijing for this purpose. The 16th of October (today) has been selected as the date for the 20th National Congress. While announcing the schedule last August, the official Xinhua news agency described it as “new journey to build a modern socialist country in an all-round way and marching towards the goal of a second century of struggle”. To many such language may appear characteristically platitudinous. But to any serious student of China’s politics, each expression should be read as what it really is, packed with meaning.
For instance, “a new journey” signals a deviation from the past which was marked by nearly untrammeled continuity of Deng Xiaoping’s pro-market policies; “a modern socialist country” implies a return to socialist values, but within a contemporary paradigm; “all round way” means the upcoming initiatives will be comprehensive; and “the goal of a second century of struggle” puts paid to any idea of the perception of a China pampered into passivity by domestic prosperity. So, while appearing to be circumlocutory and rambling the language of the Xinhua announcement was in reality terse and laconic. It was of a kind that would have done ancient Sparta proud. Mastering the substance and style of China’s messaging is in itself an art of politics the world is beginning to recognize, and take deep interest in.
Read:China’s Communist Party conference starts: Xi expected to receive a third term
For a variety of reasons there are many who would see these times as some of the more challenging for China in recent history. First there is the issue of Covid, which had its origin in that country, and the manner in which the authorities have chosen to address it, that is the ‘zero covid policy’. While it may have yielded desired results, the price is high. Local government budgets have come under enormous, and at times unsustainable, strain. There is a modicum of risk that it may provoke social discontent, and there already have been some evidence of it in some cities, including Shanghai.
Second is the state of the economy, in which some sectors appear beleaguered. An example is the real state, which comprises 29 per cent of the GDP, and which is obviously struggling. Around US $ 1 trillion has been lost to value of companies due to consumer-tech crackdown, resulting in investor nervousness. The many wealthy beneficiaries of liberalism are now unsurprisingly weary of the policy of ‘common prosperity’ and allied redistribution.
Read 'Taiwan question must be resolved by the Chinese': Xi says at 20th CPC Congress
The third is an external reason, having to do with the Ukraine War. Many were questioning the wisdom of the proximity to Russia, whose plans seemed to be going awry. Indeed, President Vladimir Putin’s plans seem to be unravelling in the battlefield, and there is no telling what he might do if pushed back really hard against the wall!
The above provide sufficient grist to the rumor mill. A story went around both in foreign mainstream and social media that a power struggle was on-going in China, and that a coup d’etat was on the cards. The rumour gained strength as Xi was indeed away from public view for a few days. But then he made an appearance to prove that the news of his political demise was most assuredly premature. On the contrary what is about to happen in the imminent National Congress is a massive endorsement of his policies. At a pre-session event, a senior functionary announced that the nation was looking to being led by “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era”. Xi’s grip over state power seems unshakeable.
Read China says Ukraine crisis has sounded alarm for humanity
This has come about due to a number of clear achievements that can be credited to Xi. At the very outset he set for himself the target of lifting 100 million people out of poverty by 2021, and he succeeded in doing it. He went after corruption in a ruthless manner and did not spare friend or foe. He prioritized tackling severe air and water pollution which were the result of decades of unfettered development. His ‘three antis’ notched up notable successes: ‘anti-poverty’, ‘anti-corruption’, and ‘anti-pollution’. He sought to discipline China’s behemoth bureaucracy and better equip it to focus on the new policy-guidelines. He modernized the military, making it leaner and more agile. He used skill and authority, often adroitly combined, to discourage opponents, or even eliminate them from the political arena. In the end it is now all but certain that the National Congress will give him what he seeks, a third extension in office, unprecedented in recent Chinese history.
But the Chairman alone does not the Party make. To facilitate governance there is the Central Committee that the National Congress elects, which comprises around 370 members. At its top is the 25-member Politburo, at whose apex are 7 of them, called the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). It is the SC that is at the pinnacle of power. In many parts of the world, age for politicians is just a number, but in China it is very often a tool for weeding out inconvenient ones. This is achieved through the so-called principle of “7 Up and 8 -Down”, a rule that has never been codified, but is universally respected. It runs as follows: at the start of a National Congress, officials who are aged less than 67 can be promoted, while those who are 68 or above are expected to be retired. This time we are likely to see some exceptions. There are at least two to whom the age- bar will not apply. Xi himself, and possibly the competent trade czar, Liu He. Premier Li Keqiang, who has not reached 68, will remain in the Standing Committee, but may leave Premiership next year to become head of Parliament. The number ‘7’ for the PSC membership is not sacrosanct. It can be altered in response to perceived needs. There is already some talk of the possible addition of an Army General this time round. Could it signal a preparatory step towards possible conflict on Taiwan?
Read: China's Xi expected to get third five-year term
Most certainly, Xi will emerge stronger with his endorsement for the third term after the 20th Congress. He will then be the President of the State, General Secretary of the Party, and the Chief of the armed Forces. The moniker “Chairman of Everything” is undoubtedly an exaggeration, but it is also suggestive. It is possible, though not necessarily probable, that such consolidation of power will allow him the confidence required to be more accommodative towards perceived adversaries, like India and the United States; or the scope to rein in the protagonists in the Ukraine War from plunging the world into a nuclear Armageddon; or the wherewithal to urge calm upon North Korea, restraining it from the relentless, and dangerous, pursuit of missile testing. But for this he will require a degree of international empathy for him that would have to be sufficiently encouraging.
He is likely to continue his domestic course-correction to curb the excesses of the post-Deng Xiaoping’s policies that have widened the rich-poor gulf. Through the “dual circulation” strategy attempts will be made to stimulate domestic economy and try reducing external dependence. Growth will be adjusted downwards in favor of redistribution, and the creation of more equitable society. To achieve those goals a more powerful State is likely.
Read China looks to learn from Russian failures in Ukraine
But Xi Jinping will need to be careful as so as not to take control to the point of snuffing out initiative. The challenge will be to find the appropriate equilibrium if his Zhang Guomeng or ‘China dream’ is to find fruition, and he is to leave behind a worthwhile historical legacy.
Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is the Honorary Fellow at the Institute of South Asia Studies, NUS. He is a former Foreign Advisor (Foreign Minister) of Bangladesh and President & Distinguished Fellow of Cosmos Foundation. The views addressed in the article are his own. He can be reached at: isasiac @nus.edu.sg
From the Editor-in-Chief: Understanding changing dynamics in Myanmar’s Rakhine
Bangladeshis living along the short international border with Myanmar have been forced to endure regular disturbances to the peace of their daily lives, particularly in Bandarban where the northern edge of Rakhine nudges it - an area known as Ghumdhum. Mortar shells have landed in Bangladesh territory and not exploded, and there have been calls for a military response commensurate to what are being viewed as ‘acts of provocation’. We may be getting the wrong impression. In order to understand what exactly we’re dealing with, we need to delve into some of the changing dynamics on the ground in Rakhine.
As is well-known, since independence in 1948, the Myanmar state has never been in full control of all the territory within its borders. We have noted in these pages before, particularly since August 2017, that Rakhine has been an outlier in this regard. There, insurgency largely failed to take root and the state was firmly entrenched. Unlike most other minorities, the ethnic Rakhine attained high-ranking positions in both the military and the civil service, alongside the majority Burmans. But they also harboured deep historical grievances toward the Burmans.
A group of young Rakhine exiles established the Arakan Army in 2009, with the support of the Kachin Independence Army, and quietly built up their forces in northern Myanmar. A brutal war erupted in December 2018. By the time the two sides reached a surprise ceasefire in November 2020, state control had dissipated in much of the centre and north (towards Bangladesh), according to the International Crisis Group, leaving a vacuum that the Arakan Army set out to fill. Over the past year, it has established both a judiciary and police force that are separate from its armed wing, falling under the Arakan People’s Authority. The judicial system, in particular, has seen high uptake among Rakhine State residents.
The Arakan Army leadership has sought to build more positive relations with the Rohingya. In particular, its leadership has reframed the Rakhine struggle as a fight with the Burmans, Myanmar’s largest ethnic group, and explicitly said the state’s Rohingya population should not be seen as the enemy. Arakan Army figures have also articulated a “nation-building” agenda that includes the creation of a more tolerant, inclusive “Arakan” identity that encompasses all groups living in the state, including Muslims. Although they have stopped short of officially endorsing the term “Rohingya”, their top leader, Twan Mrat Naing, has used it in interviews.
The Arakan Army’s objective of confederacy, if not independence, is anathema to the junta, which has sought to maintain control of the country’s border areas. Although the military has largely tolerated the Arakan Army’s state-building agenda since the coup, the scale of the undertaking is beginning to provoke stronger pushback from the regime, particularly as the Arakan Army seeks to expand into areas that the military deems strategic, such as the international border. This may well be the key to the spillovers into Bangladesh.
Given the extent of Arakan Army influence in Rakhine, its explicit or tacit approval will likely be required to enable any large-scale organised repatriation of the Rohingya to proceed. In line with its efforts to appeal to the Rohingya and improve its image abroad, Twan Mrat Naing has insisted his group does not oppose repatriation, saying it is “only natural”. In early June the Arakan Army rebuffed a junta invitation to peace talks in Naypyidaw, and Tatmadaw began reinforcing its troops throughout Rakhine, leading to the present tensions, according to the US Institutes of Peace.
The emergence of the Arakan Army as a governance actor raises important questions for Bangladesh. The group has long sought to build relations with the Bangladesh government, but Dhaka has rebuffed the overtures. Yet with the armed group in partial or full control of much of the territory the Rohingya refugees on its soil originated from, Dhaka may wish to reconsider that approach.
Identifying gross discrepancies is not a ‘hate campaign’
The UN recently published a report on enforced disappearance, including a list of names that has gained considerable attention and stirred debate both nationally and globally. The debate continued when reputed human rights activist Advocate Sultana Kamal pointed out the errors in the UN report. This was followed by demeaning remarks from the BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, who questioned Sultana Kamal’s credibility and impartiality. The debate finally reached its peak when Asian Human Rights Commission accused Bangladesh of launching “hate campaign” against the UN experts as renowned intellectuals identified the discrepancy of the UN report.
Asian Human Rights Commission in its vague statement alleged that the media in Bangladesh, which they referred to as “pro-government”, and allies of the government are engaging in a campaign to tarnish the UN working group’s reputation and question their sincerity on a grave issue like enforced disappearance. What the Commission has, however, failed to consider is that it was not an attempt to vilify any human rights body, rather the intention was to simply pinpoint the inconsistency and inaccuracy of the data coming from an institution like the UN which has always been at the forefront of defending human rights across the globe.
To give voice to human rights – a world that is full of complexity, the institution has not limited itself to mere campaigning but instead has adopted mechanisms to ensure the accountability of perpetrators where necessary through its wide range of mechanisms. This endeavor to secure human rights, that even globally, in one sense, also means that the UN is bestowed with the sheer responsibility of “being sedulous and attentive” while dealing with a serious matter like human rights violation. What we have, however, seen in the recent UN report is a slip from what is expected from the institution. The report, while calling on Bangladesh to stop enforced disappearances, heavily relies on information provided by a single source which in turn leads to question its credibility and loss of public faith. The glaring inconsistency in the report owing to its over-reliance on local sources, especially from an NGO with dubious track-record that itself has been accused of publishing a “distorted report” in the past, is unfortunate and unexpected.
Accordingly, it runs counter to the values and principles of the UN in collecting data, that is, ensuring transparency, impartiality, and high quality. Instead of following its ethical obligation in assessing data, the UN working group has counted on an NGO that promotes, as is evident in the present case, tendentious remarks, bias and inflammatory claims and resultantly fed the report with data that are inconsistent, lack adequate cross reference and apparently not verified at all.
For instance, in the list of involuntary disappearances of the UN report, it contained an expelled army officer named Hasinur Rahman who in fact came back home in 2019 and has been active on different social media platforms since his return. Hasinur was court-martialed for violating Army service conduct rules. Moreover, among the 76 enforced disappearance cases listed by the UN, at least 10 appear to be living with their families in Bangladesh. On top of that, there are at least 28 names against whom criminal charges have been brought. This indicates a possibility that they might be absconding to evade arrest. Apart from that, the UN report on enforced disappearances has included a person with the charges of arson, narcotics trafficking and murder who is at his home now and trying to get bail from the courts. These are just some examples among the plethora of other questionable data and reporting in the UN report. For a serious issue like enforced disappearance, such lack of rigor and diligence towards data can create confusion and division among the general public.
Intellectuals and activists like Sultana Kamal, who have worked for decades on the issues of enforced disappearance are well aware of the ramifications of unreliable reporting of these serious human rights issues, and they have correctly pointed out the errors that UN report published. Asian Human Rights Commission translating these justified concerns into the language of hatred is slanderous and disrespectful, at best. Furthermore, summarily calling Bangladeshi media as “pro-government” also calls into question AHRC’s own intentions and impairs the values of freedom of the press.
It should be remembered that Bangladesh was born on the precipice of grave violations of human rights. A nine month-long bloody war was fought for equality, human dignity and social justice for all. Of course, everything is not perfect here, and we have to go a long way to be recognized as a fully human rights compliant state. However, murderers of Bangabandhu and his family members were brought to book, and crimes against humanity committed during 1971 war of liberation have been tried. These examples go to show that Bangladesh is going back to the track of basic human and constitutional rights of due process and rule of law. With regards to the initiatives adopted by the government on enforced disappearance, Bangladesh has been praised by the UN Working Group for its contribution towards crucial cases concerning involuntary disappearances. Human rights defenders should not shy away from acknowledging the positive undertaking done by the government.
Unfortunately, identifying inaccurate information has been labeled as a “hate campaign”. In this era of information technology, sensitive data could be manipulated and misused. The AHRC should be aware of these serious consequences, but their allegations of the “hate campaign” against Bangladesh itself seem to be a conspiratorial campaign against a sovereign state. There are many examples all around the world where the so-called human rights violations have been weaponized. It would not be unreasonable to think that human rights defenders like the AHRC have a hidden agenda to malign the government and are also trying to incite violence and put the law-and-order situation in danger.
We believe that, not a single incident of human rights violation should go unpunished. The government must investigate it and bring the offenders to book. We dream of a Bangladesh where the rule of law and human rights that have been enshrined in our constitution shall be respected fully by all the stakeholders. For this, it might be necessary at times to put pressure on the government, but verily, not in the slanderous manner the AHRC has chosen.
In search of roots in Bangladesh, I discovered leaves
Maniruddin Chowdhury and Ratan Bhowmick were close friends. During the turbulence of 1970, Ratan moved to India with his family. Maniruddin, meanwhile, fought in the Liberation war of Bangladesh. Ratan’s family lived in Uttarpara of West Bengal. After many years, Maniruddin went to Uttarpara, sat on the verandah of Ratan’s house, and wanted to see his “mashima” (aunt). Ratan’s sister said that their mother had died. This made Maniruddin weep uncontrollably. Maniruddin and Ratan’s mother shared a mother-son like relationship. Ratan’s nephew Shekhar Bhowmick narrated this story when he came to know about my proposed tour to Bangladesh.
Despite our shared history and culture, we are divided by a border. Bangladesh is a foreign country on paper, despite the fact that I have often travelled here on the wings of stories heard in my childhood. The lullaby tales of my East Bengali grandparents were not just imagined stories. They were tales of communal riots and harmony, unbridled hatred and love. I had grown up with the mental landscapes of Jashore, Noakhali, Cumilla, Dhaka and many such places of today’s Bangladesh. My first in-person trip to these places took me to my roots. And in search of my roots, I discovered so many unseen leaves.
I was somewhat disgruntled with what happened in Bangladesh during Durga Puja last year. This was certainly not what Bangabandhu’s Bangladesh was meant to be. This certainly didn’t look like the country which sang in 1971 – “Bir Bangali Austro Dhoro, Bangladesh Shadhin koro…”. Last year’s violence looked alien for Bangladesh, which formed a constitution in 1972 on the principles of nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism. Last year looked alien for a Bangladesh where valiant women like Ashalota Sen, Begum Sufia Kamal, Sanjeeda Khatun, Nilima Ibrahim and Motia Chowdhury didn’t hesitate to put their lives in peril for a secular nation. However, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh had witnessed some tumultuous political regimes intermittently. Whether it is the military-civil regime under Ziaur Rahman from 1975 to 1981 or the post-poll violence on minority Hindus in 2001, Mujib’s dream has been attacked time and again.
A week-long stay in Bangladesh has enriched me as a researcher because it has taught me to explore beyond mere data. This trip has shown me that once a great soul and leader of a nation plants the seed of secularism, it will keep germinating time and again. As I travelled through districts like Dhaka, Noakhali, Gopalganj, Chattogram and Barishal, I have often seen glimmers of hope. I have seen hope in the form of young Muslim college students visiting Ramana Kalibari of Dhaka. I have seen hope when local Awami League councilor assured the Dhakeshwari Puja Committee of a Durga Puja free from the shadows of 2021 violence.
What surprised me most during the entire trip is how a little village of Barishal has remembered the dalit leader and the first law minister of Pakistan, Jogendranath Mondal. Jogendranath resigned from office in 1950 because of the repression of minority Hindus in Pakistan. But his village still remembers him. The villagers have formed a committee in memory of Jogen Mondal. The committee, mostly comprised of Muslim members, still believes in the teachings of Jogendranath and hopes to nurture Hindu-Muslim unity. My visit to Orakandi in Gopalganj has shown me another Bangladesh where thousands visit during Baruni Mela.
But, miles to go before Bangladesh feels content. I have also felt a sense of fundamentalism hovering around the secular air of the country. The evil forces that killed Bangabandhu along with most of his family members on that ominous night in 1975 is still trying to raise its head. The country has to take up the unfinished task of ensuring a homeland for Hindus where they feel safe, irrespective of the politics. Today’s Bangladesh wants to spread the message, ‘Dharma jaar jaar, utshab shobar”. And only by spreading this message, Bangladesh can fearlessly resonate Tagore’s song, “Amar shonar Bangla, ami tomaye bhalobasi”, which was selected by the government-in-exile in 1971.
Dr. Avishek Biswas is Assistant Professor at Vidyasagar College (Affiliated to the University of Calcutta) and a researcher of oral history.
Social media disinformation wreaking havoc in real world: What can journalism do?
Violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Leicester – that takes pride in being one of UK’s most diverse cities – were reported at the end of August. Media reports and local communities say that the magnitude of the violence between the South Asian diaspora was never seen before.
It started with India beating Pakistan in the Asia Cup on August 28. In the following days, allegations started circulating in WhatsApp groups that Muslim rioters were attacking homes in Leicester’s Hindu neighbourhoods, DW reported. There were also unfounded claims of Hindu fanatics abducting Muslim children.
Here’s where things get really interesting, shocking even. The social media frenzy engulfing the real-world communal tension in UK was apparently being ignited a continent away. According to a Reuters report that quoted experts, majority of the provocative tweets, rumours, and lies originated in India. This demonstrates the ability of unmanaged social media to spread misinformation and disinformation – causing very real unrest and violence.
Leicester Mayor Peter Soulsby told BBC radio: “I’ve seen quite a selection of the social media stuff which is very, very, very distorting now and some of it just completely lying about what had been happening between different communities.”
Is this the first case of fake news, hate speech and disinformation on social media causing irreparable real-world damage? Far from it.
On September 29, Amnesty International said Facebook owner Meta owes displaced and persecuted Rohingyas reparations for the social media platform’s role in “inciting violence” against Myanmar’s Muslim minority community.
According to an Amnesty report, repeated warnings – starting as early as 2012 – from campaigners on the dangers of anti-Rohingya hate speech on Facebook were ignored. We know what happened next.
Let’s now shift focus to our own home. During Durga Puja last year, inciting videos on the Cumilla mandap incident circulated on Facebook at a lightning speed – after a group of people shared them without checking the content.
Individuals used the social media platform to mobilise support and disseminate hate speech, false information, and provocative videos – resulting in violence that spilled over into other districts.
Can journalism fight this onslaught of misinformation?
According to Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2022, “the connection between journalism and the public may be fraying”. If journalists and media in general want to fight fake news, first they need to address this trust issue.
Let’s face it: There is an information inequality. Age, gender, income, and education factor in when it comes to access to information and how one consumes news. The traditional legacy media approach of expecting the readers and audiences to come to news has become outdated. Traditional media now must figure out how to better reach the “unreached” audience.
One approach disinformers use, and with considerable success, is circulating content that is hyperlocal. Traditional media must consider getting involved in local communities and gradually build trust.
Understanding why people fall for fake news can also help. Employing compelling storytelling and using dramatic visuals produce share-worthy content.
And lastly, since the onslaught of misinformation and disinformation on social media is a global issue, journalists and media houses should find ways to collaborate more. To find real solutions, media organizations must put together their resources.
From the Editor-in-Chief: Despite naysayers, good journalism remains essential
According to the American Press Institute, asking who is a journalist is the wrong question, because journalism can be produced by anyone. At the same time, it makes the distinction that merely engaging in journalistic-like activity – snapping a cell-phone picture at the scene of a fire or creating a blog site for news and comment – does not by itself produce a journalistic product.
The journalist, it goes on to say, places the public good above all else and uses certain methods – the foundation of which is a discipline of verification – to gather and assess what he or she finds.
It is this commitment to the public good that truly distinguishes journalists, and makes them essential agents of social progress. As such, the discouraging conclusion of Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, that the public’s trust and interest in news is falling, with an alarming number of people deciding to avoid news altogether, must alarm us.
Read: What PM said on Russia-Ukraine war, Rohingya issue, climate action, terrorism at 77th UNGA
That is why we must embrace World News Day, which fell on September 28, a global campaign to highlight the value of fact-based journalism and its power to change lives and support freedom and democracy. It is organised by The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and WAN-IFRA's World Editors Forum, and sponsored by the Google News Initiative. It is above all an opportunity to remind ourselves, as well as society at large, of the important role that journalism plays in preserving those important ideals. Of why journalism matters.
We have just been through a highly disruptive global event in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Right from the beginning, journalists recognised the sheer unprecedented nature of the event, at least in their own lifetimes, in terms of its sheer impact and reach. The relentless news cycle, an ‘infodemic’ of misinformation, and its effects on the personal lives of each and every one of us, made it one of the most unique stories, at the same time one of the biggest challenges, we are ever likely to face.
The pandemic was characterised as a potential "extinction event" for journalism as hundreds of news outlets closed and journalists were laid off around the world, advertising budgets were slashed, and many were forced to rethink how to do their jobs amid restrictions on movement and limited access to information or public officials. Yet the same event is adequate to show that journalism, “at its best” - as Kathy English, chair of The Canadian Journalism Foundation is keen to add - matters more than ever before.
Read: UNGA lauds Bangladesh’s leadership in promoting culture of peace
Good journalists have shown that by doing stories that provide reliable information, alongside relevant context, perspectives, and potential solutions, they are also the best antidote for the said infodemic. Access to information is a human right - it is also the best cure for disinformation, or even misinformation.
To that end, World News Day is an initiative to uphold how lives are improved when journalists, at their best, and mindful of their responsibility, tell a story. To showcase the importance of even small newsrooms in fostering a sense of community. And to renew our commitment to work with the belief that we have a special duty towards society, and it must be fulfilled each and every day.
Overconfident Bangladesh Women “crushed” by a very competent Pakistan
The kind of hype which surrounded the Bangladesh Women cricket was very much deflated when they lost to Pakistan by 9 wickets in the Women Asia Cup. Pakistan was very spot on while Bangladesh looked very out of place.
Bangladesh had beaten Thailand and expected to win against Pakistan after their World cup Qualifiers cup victory but basically flopped. Its true Pakistan is a strong team but as defenders of the Cup , they were expected to do much better. As cricket site Cricbuzz said in their live commentary rather frankly, “Bangladesh have been awful with the bat and then with the ball as well” It’s obviously a malady we only know oh-so –well when it comes to cricket in Bangladesh.
Woeful batting
Bangladesh lost the toss and were put to bat and scored 70 for the loss of 8 wickets. Salma Khatun top scored with 24 and only two other players reached double digits. It speaks volumes about the “awful” batting. Almost everyone who saw the match has said the team lacked intent and purpose. Either they took the match lightly or don’t know how to take it seriously.
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana provided the usual excuses but they sounded hollow. “ The top-order collapsed and the wicket being slow, we couldn't execute our plans. We thought it was a good pitch to bat on. But the wicket was damp. The bowlers were not able to bowl in the right areas. I think we need to work on some issues and come back stronger.”
Of course the wicket was damp, that’s part of cricket life but how one bats on a sticky wicket is part of the growing up process. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that Bangladesh has shown that trend or intent in this match.
Pakistan was brutal
Pakistan played on the same wicket and their spinners bowed very smartly and tamed Bangladesh batters in a way that made the girls look rather inept. The wicket improved a bit when Pakistan began to bat but the team was clearly more confident and intent on winning and did so in only 12 overs. Bangladesh never managed to look like the champions they still are in the entire match.
Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof had this to say about the Pakistan team performance. “Very clinical from the bowlers. The early wickets put them under pressure. We are working on our spin. We executed our plans well. They are a good side. We need to give the opposition respect. Today's performance was good.” It was a very polite response from a team which had basically “crushed” – BD media’s favourite term to describe defeat- the defending champions rather resoundingly and moved to the top of the table.
The rumour that is going around that the team was jinxed after BCB chief Papon watched them win and praised their performance has no basis, we can confirm.
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