Blithering Idiot

In the aftermath of the BDR mutiny in Bangladesh that may have killed up to 170 people, Dean Nelson, the South Asia editor of the British newspaper Telegraph, thinks he has figured it out. He thinks himself clever because he has come up with a clever headline for his musings. He thinks that the Bangladesh government has lost its ability to rule because they “capitulated”. He says that Bangladesh has “lost its confidence”.

I have two words for this clown: Blithering Idiot.

You can go to the Telegraph website to read the tripe this clown has written. Here are a few excerpts:

When BDR rebels started shooting their army officers at their Dhaka HQ, the new prime minister Sheikh Hasina capitulated to their demands so quickly that it sent shockwaves around the region. Her apparent weakness raised fears that it might encourage the rebellion to spread.

Her desire to nip the revolt in the bud, even if it meant surrender, reveals a country which has lost its confidence.

It was not so long ago that Sheikh Hasina swaggered the country, persecuting her political rivals, mostly Khaleda Zia of the BNP, and then, in turn being persecuted by them.

Sheikh Hasina has been returned to power by the ballot-box, but she knows she is not the force she once was. The swagger has gone, and perhaps with it the ability to rule.

Really? Of all the lessons to draw from this tragedy, this is Nelson’s angle? Surely the Telegraph can do better than this prepackaged uninformed tripe. Blithering idiot.

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10 Responses to Blithering Idiot

  1. Kaiser Kabir says:

    The loss of confidence is a ridiculous proposition. Given that the rebellion was taking place in a major residential and commercial area the Government had no choice but to act fast.

    In fact, the criticism in Bangladesh is that by allowing the episode to drag the Government created precious time for rebel leaders to escape.

  2. Jyoti says:

    We can always speculate with the benefit of hinsight that X or Y could be better done, but I have to say, this has been handled extremely well so far. In fact, I cannot think of a more successful handling of crisis (thus far) in Bangladesh in my lifetime.

    I thought Hasina’s speech was very statesmanlike. A lot of sweet talk, one genuine note of empathy to refrain the army (shojon haranor betha amar cheye keu beshi jane na), and one message of steely resolve to the rebels (amake kothor hote baddho korben na). That last line had an unmistakable echo of dabaye rakhte parba na (I am not equating the two speech in anyway).

    Yes, blithering idiot is an appropriate description. You know what though, policymakers in the west all too often listen idiots like this. That’s why 1/11 was supported by the western powers. How do we change that?

  3. I have a gut feeling that people like Nelson doesn’t appreciate “Diplomacy” as a common practice in countries like Bangladesh. We could ask him as well, if the British were to be treated as a nation that capitulated during the WWII when the Nazis fired the shit out of London and people had to get in the tunnels to save their ass from getting blitzed off.

    This move was necessary to smoke the mutineers out with their guns down and without murdering any more of the hostages. Kudos to the cool heads in the Govt. And we know why Nelson doesn’t rule anywhere in the world, because he doesn’t bloody understand anything of it.

  4. If the army had its way, there would have been a bloodbath in a merciless counterattack but if the government truly “capitulated” to the rebel demands in the hopes of a peaceful resolution, then not only would ALL of the BDR officers have been murdered but the rebellion would have been much more spread out. We also would not have witnessed a retraction of the general amnesty, as instead the government has made it amply clear that the ringleaders of the mutiny and those who murdered their officers would face justice. I’m not a fan of either of the “Battling Begums” but in this case the government clearly did a great job in mediating between these two responses. Hence Nelson is an arrogant and ignorant fool.

    Among the genuine criticisms that I have heard from the BBC and others is that SH took far too long to deliver her address to the nation and the performance of the army (especially the various army special forces which get millions of dollars in funding annually). In fact unlike the RAB, response of the army to this crisis really has taken a public beating (not to mention culpability for creating the institution conditions within the BDR to provoke this mutiny in the first place).

  5. Akash says:

    A blithering idiot is he. Thanks to you for saying so in such clear terms. You might want to convey this to that blithering newspaper and its journalist.

  6. Akash says:

    Somebody should tell The Telegraph that they have in their employment a brainless dummy.

  7. This sort of lazy reasoning is pandemic in Western reporting on South Asia or Africa. They just never even entertain the idea that South Asian leaders may have good reasons for their actions.

  8. Hasib says:

    News reports from Indian press are running stories referring to sources involved in the interrogations of captured BDR rebels – implicating Salauddin Quader Chowdhury of BNP as involved in the plotting and financing of the massacre:

    http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dhaka-rebels-reveal-plot-to-provoke-army-topple-govt/429347/

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pak-footprint-behind-Bangladesh-mutiny/articleshow/4205848.cms

  9. Ehab says:

    That was really weak & clueless stuff by the Telegraph.

  10. Dr.shafinaz says:

    Tell the idiot neighter he is a bangladeshi, nor he is a representative choosen by us to talk about us, well its not surprising that he does this for his bread n butter.We can deal with our problems better than he thinks like we did in past ,egg; 1971, 1975 ,1/11 ,many more are on the list.He should have a better knowledge about us.Its only another sizzling news for them but a great loss for us. Makes clear why he is not in a rulling post, rather than making stupid comments.

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