[Image inspired by and post via ShadaKalo]
Bangladesh’s military ruler, General Moeen U Ahmed, has dropped out of sight since returning to Bangladesh on October 28th. However, today the Harvard Crimson once again reported on him. This time the Crimson wrote about Senator Kennedy’s letter to the Bangladeshi military government protesting the detention of leading academics:
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ’54-’56 protested the arrests of 12 Bangladeshi academics in a letter to the nation’s government last Friday, just days after the chief of Bangladesh’s military spoke at Harvard and drew criticism for his regime’s crackdown on academic freedom.
Gen. Moeen U Ahmed, who participated in a Kennedy School of Government executive education course in 2002, has sent troops to quell protests and arrest professors at Rajshahi University and at the country’s flagship institution, the University of Dhaka. A military-backed provisional government has led Bangladesh since January 2007.
“I’m writing to express my deep concern about twelve prominent intellectuals from Dhaka and Rajshahi University who have been detained without charges,” Kennedy wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Bangladesh’s ambassador to the United States.
“I’m especially troubled by accusations that they have been tortured,” Kennedy added. “Holding these twelve men without charge for political reasons is a major assault on the integrity and independence of the academic community of your nation and calls into question your government’s commitment to human rights and the law.”
Moeen spoke at the Kennedy School—an institution named after the senator’s older brother—in a two-day session last week.
It is safe to say that General Moeen’s recent trip to Harvard did not result in positive propaganda value for the military government. Instead it has focused attention at Harvard and in the United States Senate on the human rights abuses of the military government.
I love the photo, Mash.
Mash you need to cross post this at DKos
Mash
In my understanding, who is telling what about my country from outside is not at all important. To me important is who is playing what role for this country.
To whom u r referring as honorable teacher, as a student I don’t agree.
In this connection u may visit
http://abul-khanna.blogspot.com/2007/08/shame-for-us_27.html
Khanna, excellent. I am glad its not important to you. Beause its not important to you what people outside Bangladesh say, you should tell Bangladeshi generals and envoys like Farook Sobhan to stop coming to Washington and Harvard and try to engage with foreigners because their opinion doesnt matter.
For that matter, you should stop wasting your time here because I am writing about Bangladesh from outside Bangladesh.
Mariachi Mom, I will get this up on DKos shortly 🙂
Khanna, one more thing. Senator Kennedy has unique moral authority when he speaks about Bangladesh. If you dont know the history, I advise you do some reading.
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Mash I am starting to get worried about your absence
mash:
who (besides your country men and women) care?
soon you wil have to rename this little blog.
have a nice day!
ed, good question. Given the topic of this post, we can include the Harvard Crimson and Senator Edward Kennedy in the list of those who care. And thank you for caring enough to comment on this post as well.
mariachi, I am working on a new DKos post. Real like is getting in the way. :-b
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Yes Mash, I’m with ed. It’s completely foolish of you to think that Americans (or anybody else other than Bangladeshis) care about a country whose population may not understand the extremely obscure references to Hollywood movies in the title of your blog.
Americans certainly don’t care about a country with no oil and a population that’s half of their own 300 million and ~85% Muslim. Not until and unless there’s a concert in Madison Square Gardens and an ex-Beatles guy headlining it with Norah Jones’ dad (you know, that Indian man with the crazy Indian guitar).
Sarcasm and more sarcasm. God bless Ted!
If we were bordering Afghanistan…or had a plant producing enriched uranium…then that would have been a different story.
Condi would have visited Hasina and Khaleda in confinement by now, and Bangladesh would have been in national news.
Military Institute of Science and technology is the high end academic institute of Bangladesh Armed Forces. There annual program is usually attended by the chiefs of three forces and the science technology minister. This years program was held today and was attended by, according the press report, ” Navy Chief, Air Force Chief and the rep of Army chief QMG Lt General Jahangir Alam”.
Is he ill?
Rumi, that makes two public occasions were Moeen has been absent. He was also absent at the airport when President Iajuddin left the country (the other service chiefs were present).
Maybe he’s still unpacking from his trip abroad. Perhaps he’s jet-lagged.
Now I’m really starting to worry about him.
CTG can excuse with the conditions.Profesors are the honorable men for the nation & the students are the future of the country. The honorable Professors must change their character. They will not divide between them as black, white or a blue party in the Universities. They must think they are the technician to make a good nation. They will identity by their activities, now they must think they become heroes of the nation or like politicians they will be zeros. Politics for the politician but the teachers can make the good politicians for the good nation.
This caretaker government not takes power for rule the country. They are trying to give the nation a free & fair election. I wish they (CTG) will not involve with politics of Bangladesh. But must give a lesson to the politicians of Bangladesh. In this forum there is not good comment for the nation but we are quarrel each-other while we get a change. Must we change, we are one nation we are talk in one language but we can’t stay in one place? The nation was divided by our polititions, they don’t talk each other, they can’t stay with each-other in the parlament.For why that parliaments house they forget. The parliament house is place of problem solver of the nation but the political leaders create the problem from that parliament house. Publics are hopeless, they except those leaders. All leaders must live together work together for the publics & country. Our hope there will not corruption again in the country .Now those leaders must change their character or they must quiet from the politics. That is the vision of this caretaker government. This caretaker government is work for the publics & country of Bangladesh, please don’t abuse them, and don’t swing against them. That is a temporary government, our armies are support them for our good future. So why we are not supporting them?