Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

"In unprecedented scenes, soldiers in uniform were seen being chased out of the Dhaka university campus by students. In two days, the myth of the army’s omnipotence was all but laid to rest. " – BBC News

[Via Rezwan] Shahidul Alam, critically acclaimed Bangladeshi photo-journalist, has posted some powerful images of the protests and the curfew in Bangladesh and has penned a blogging tour de force:

Rahnuma and I talked of the events over the last two days, of the army camp in Dhaka University. Of a soldier slapping a student. Of the vice chancellor (acting) being beaten up by police. This had never happened before, not even during the Ayub or Ershad military regimes.

Despite their claims, this government had never been called in by the people. We had no say in who the advisers would be. It was not military rule the people had welcomed, but the cessation of violence and the fear of further anarchy if the rigged elections were held. Banana trees would have made equally good replacements. However, banana trees would not have sold national interests. Closed down environmentally-friendly jute mills. Made slum dwellers homeless, or tortured and killed adibashis protesting the military acquisition of their ancestral lands. So while there was initial relief, as the price of essentials soared, news of nepotism and the partisan manner in which Jamaat -e-Islami was being shielded soon made people realise this banana tree would never bear fruit, let alone run a government.

As Bangladeshis realise that a democratically elected autocratic government has simply been replaced by an unelected autocratic one, the tune in the streets is changing.

Multiple demands of students and teachers have been whittled down to one – withdraw emergency rule. Underground pamphlets are spreading like wildfire. With the Internet down, text messages are filling up the ether. The information adviser’s suave statements to the media faltered as he snapped, “why such a fuss about a slap or two?”

The US has declared support for the chief adviser’s statement. What he lacks is the support of the people.

The military government’s response to the protests will be brutal and swift. Already many students have been detained and beaten. Five prominent university professors have been taken away in the middle of the night. The newspaper run by the Information and Law Advisor urges some Orwellian measures today. However, the ground has shifted in Bangladesh. The picture above will become iconic – the military will not rule Bangladesh. That realization, if it comes, by the military government can and should begin its smooth exit and give way to early elections.

[Cross posted at E-Bangladesh]

Today Bangladesh’s military turned its guns and its boots against the very people who it is entrusted to protect. Today when the frustrations of the Bangladeshi people boiled over the army responded with beatings and killings. They beat students. They beat reporters. They beat our brothers and they beat our sisters.

A government that mercilessly attacks its own people in the name of "public safety" is itself a danger to public safety. Bangladesh’s military government who came to power with a dubious mandate is fast losing any perceived legitimacy it claimed. Seven months of the suppression of fundamental rights and spiraling prices of essentials have brought misery to the people of the land. The flooding across the country added to the misery of the masses. While the military government pushed ahead with its "anti-corruption" drive and its political purges it neglected the deteriorating conditions in the country. Instead it blamed everyone from the politicians to the bankers to the NGOs for its own mismanagement of government functions. While the military government was looking for scapegoats, ordinary people – who barely get by on a good day – bore the brunt of the government’s neglect.

The military government created a climate of fear where the rule of the gun ruled the day. With freedom of expression and criticism of the government outlawed, perhaps it was inevitable that an act of humiliation by the military upon a student would be the spark that would unleash the frustrations of a nation. So what will be the punishment meted out by the military upon the Bangladeshi people? Will it be beatings? Will it be torture? Will it be murder?

What will the unelected rulers of Bangladesh do to the people? Already the Chief Advisor has pointed his finger at the "evil forces" for the unrest. The Chief Advisor needs to reassess the situation – his government is running out of scapegoats.

Today I stand with the brave people of Bangladesh. I stand against a government that would rather beat its own people then provide for their welfare. Today we must demand that this government restrain its forces from unleashing thuggery against its own people. To be silent is to be complicit.

UPDATES BELOW AS EVENTS UNFOLD

It started yesterday when army men who rule now by the gun in Bangladesh behaved as is their nature:

The initial cause of the demonstrations was an incident around 3.30pm yesterday when army personnel mercilessly beat three DU [Dhaka University] students and humiliated a teacher over a petty dispute concerning comments passed by spectators watching a soccer match on the university gymnasium ground where an army camp is situated.

The soccer match was between the departments of public administration and journalism. During a penalty shoot Mehedi Mohammad, a student of the public administration department stood up in front of a group of army personnel, obscuring their view.

Army members allegedly abused him verbally and asked him to move before beginning to beat Mehedi and his friends.

Mehedi along with Shafiq and Lucas all MSS students of public administration, and Dipu, a third year student of the same department, were taken to DMCH for treatment.

As Mubashsher Munayem, a teacher of public administration tried to stop the incident, the army personnel humiliated him too.

Events escalated from there as Dhaka University turned into a battlefield as police with rubber bullets fought running street battles with unarmed university students as frustration and anger with Bangladesh’s current military regime started to boil over. The students demanded the removal of an army camp set up within the Dhaka University campus, like many other places around the capital, since the army takeover of Bangladesh. Over 150 students were injured during the running street battles. Just before midnight an army Brigedier General arrived on campus to speak to the students. He pretended to be a professor as he approached the students.  When the students recognized him they chased him off campus. Army generals do not take well to being humiliated.

Today the violence and protests have spread to at least four other universities around the country. There are reports of students burning effigies of Moeen U Ahmed, the army general who heads the military regime in Bangladesh.

Whether these protests are contained or spread into a fullscale protest against military rule remains to be seen. The situation is extremely fluid and changes hour to hour. Bangladesh has been on the brink as the military has been steadily consolidating control over the country in the last seven months. There is potential for more draconian measures by the Bangladesh military in response to open defiance by the students. There is also a potential of a counter-coup as enterprising junior officers of the military decide they are better megalomaniacs than the general in charge now.

There are bloody days ahead for Bangladesh as democracy continues to be strangled.

UPDATE (8/22/2007 6:53 AM): The situation has gone from bad to worse. Protests and rioting apparently have spread throughout the country and is not limited to university campuses. The government will apparently impose an indefinite curfew at 8Pm Bangladesh time today. I am still trying to confirm this. Bangladeshi blogger ShadaKalo ominously reports the following:

The 3 service chiefs met with US and UK embassy officials and UN officials for an all-nighter. The martial-law question came up, and was put on hold for the time being but that option is not off the table.

News reports are sketchy and not all information coming out of Bangladesh is accurate. I will update as more details are confirmed.

UPDATE (8/22/2007 7:43 AM): According to news reports, government has imposed a curfew beginning at 8PM. The government has ordered all universities closed and dormitories vacated by 8PM but Dhaka University Vice Chancellor is resisting the order. BDNews24 reports the following:

 

Dhaka, Aug 22 (bdnews24.com) – The government Wednesday ordered all universities across the country and colleges in divisional towns to shut indefinitely.

Students have been asked to vacate dormitories by 8:00pm Wednesday.

But Dhaka University acting vice chanecellor AFM Yusuf Haider said the DU did not take any decision for dormitory vacation.

"Any decision asking students to leave dormitories has to be made by the university administration," he said.

Meantime, students took to the streets proetsting the order for a curfew and hall vacation.

Secretary of DU Teachers Association Anwar Hossain said the government cannot make such a decision. "Dhaka University is an autonomous body," he said.

All decisions must be made by the DU syndicate, he asserted.

Commenter on E-Bangladesh is reporting that Mainul Hossein, outspoken Law Advisor to the government, was humiliated on air by CSB television:

The female newsreader made a fool of Moinul.

He was on live news with her. He said all the students from the dorms asked to leave their rooms. She asked is it practical to ask them to leave now when it’s almost 5pm and a curfew’s being declared from 8pm? How will all the students from very far able to go home? He just went silent and cut off the lines. Then a claps heard in CSB news studio!

CTG is plotting to arrest students tonight. Since most of them will not be able to leave their dorms, police may attack them later at night. They are planning to switch off power of DU area from 8pm.

UPDATE (8/22/2007 8:00 AM): Translating from Somewhere in… (in Bengali), Rezwan reporting that cell phone networks are being shut down from 6pm to 9pm (Bangladesh time) in Bangladesh. This is an ominous sign of an impending military crackdown.

UPDATE (8/22/2007 8:37 AM): BBC now reporting on the indefinite curfew and the spreading protests and violence. One person reported dead in the rioting so far:

Correspondents say the protests are growing, with non-students now joining in.

The BBC’s Qadir Kallol in Dhaka says slum dwellers, shop keepers, rickshaw pullers and businessmen joined stone-throwing students in violent and bloody demonstrations.

They confronted police who baton charged them and fired tear gas.

Our correspondent says the protests appear to be growing more violent across the country, and are turning into a popular movement demanding the immediate restoration of democracy.

The first casualty of the unrest was a rickshaw puller killed during rioting on Wednesday in the north-western town of Rajshahi, officials said.

Police are accused of using tear gas indiscriminately, at one point on Tuesday even firing it into a female students’ dormitory at Dhaka University to prevent them from joining the protests.

The epicenter of the protests appears to be Dhaka University where the students are set to defy a government order to vacate the dormitories by 8 PM tonight. There is history here. On the night of March 25, 1971 the Pakistan army slaughtered students in Dhaka University dormitories in the opening salvo of the war that led to Bangladesh’s independence. If the government chooses to crack down on Dhaka University the symbolism will not be lost on anyone. The military government now stands at a cross-roads. All signs are that it will crack down on the students and impose martial law. It may choose to backpadel and look for a face-saving exit strategy. However, given that it has decimated the political parties any deal it cuts to secure its exit may not hold. That prospect probably makes the odds of a severe crackdown or a counter-coup within the military more likely.

UPDATE (8/22/2007 12:25 PM): Cell phone lines remain down. International Herald Tribune is now reporting on the cell phone blackout. Television and press have been ordered to not report on the protests. The streets of Dhaka are empty as the indefinite curfew has taken hold. Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed, the civilian face of this military government, addresses the nation at 9:30PM in a short speech. He called for calm and gave no indication of what was to come next.  There is widespread fear of a military crackdown and martial law.

UPDATE (8/22/2007 3:00 PM): BDNews24 is reporting that journalists were arrested and released by the military after curfew was imposed, presumably for reporting about the protests against the government. Some of the journalists were beaten up:

 

Dhaka, Aug 22 (bdnews24.com)—The police have released up to 12 journalists, two hours after their arrest during the curfew Wednesday night, police and reporters said.

Asif Ahmed Rommo, senior sub-editor of bdnews24.com, who was arrested along with two colleagues, phoned the office from home after his release.

"I walked home. We were kept at Mohammadpur Police Station for two hours," Rommo said.

Mohammadpur police sub-inspector Muktar Hossain told bdnews24.com that all the journalists were freed.

Scores of journalists were arrested or beaten by the army during the first few hours of the curfew.

Army officers arrested three journalists—Liton Haider, Biplob Rahman and Rommo—as they were heading home after work.

They were stopped at a checkpoint, 200 metres from the bdnews24.com office in Dhanmondi.

After the arrest, the driver of the autorickshaw they were travelling in returned to break the news that the three were taken away by uniformed officers even after they showed their press ID cards.

Earlier, a group of army personnel beat two bdnews24.com journalists as they were standing outside their office with colleagues.

The army also severely beat Sanaul Haque, a New Age photographer, the newspaper’s acting chief reporter Shahiduzzaman told bdnews24.com.

Anis Alamgir, head of news for private TV station Baishakhi, was also arrested and taken to Mohammadpur Police Station.

Abdul Majid, a journalist of Samokal, was also arrested and taken to Mohammadpur Police Station. It was not clear where he was arrested.

 

 

Reports from Dhaka indicate that the army is moving through the city, presumably toward Dhaka University.

UPDATE  (8/22/2007 8:09 PM): Via blogger Dhaka Shohor, the BBC reports from on the ground in Dhaka before the curfew went into effect. The BBC video shows Bangladeshis hurrying home before the curfew with their hands above their heads to show security forces that they are not involved in protests. It is a very sad state of affairs.

UPDATE (8/23/2007 2:20 PM): Bangladesh was virtually cut off from the rest of the world as the nation’s main data link to the outside world was mysteriously "sabotaged" at about the same time the curfew went into effect. During the curfew government forces detained and beat up a number of journalists. The government has also threatened two television stations for broadcasting "provocative" news items. The military raided several universities and residences in Dhaka and elsewhere – they have beat up students and university staff, and there are reports that some students have been beaten to death. All this is a likely response to picture no. 5 above. Look closely, its a picture of a student chasing a military man. As I had written earlier, Bangladesh military does not like being humiliated, so they use the boot and the butt of the rifle to make their point. Anyone that expects this bunch of thugs to usher in democracy in Bangladesh is kidding themselves.

The BBC reports from on the ground in Bangladesh about the fight between the government and the people:

After violent demonstrations in Bangladesh, the country’s military-backed caretaker government has apparently decided to confront and possibly suppress various sections of the population growing more restless by the day.

The caretaker government appears to have come to the conclusion that the demonstrations represented a real challenge to its authority – if not its continued existence.

In unprecedented scenes, soldiers in uniform were seen being chased out of the Dhaka university campus by students. In two days, the myth of the army’s omnipotence was all but laid to rest.

In response the government has done what military-led governments in Bangladesh have done in the past: it slapped a curfew on Dhaka and other cities, closed down all major public universities and colleges, and ordered all resident students to leave their dormitories.

Challenges to unelected governments in Bangladesh always originate on campuses, particularly the 86-year-old Dhaka University, often fondly called the Oxford of the East. Such governments always feel getting the students out of the campus is a must to restore peace.

The Economist sees the military government unraveling.

The following post was published today at E-Bangladesh, a group blog and news and analysis site focusing on Bangladesh. From time to time, I will cross-post my posts on Bangladesh there. The site promises to feature a diverse group of voices from around the globe. Other than me, the initial group of authors at E-Bangladesh are some very familiar names:

• Tasneem Khalil is the Consulting Editor of E-Bangladesh. Tasneem Khalil was a reporter for The Daily Star and has reported for CNN from Bangladesh. He has also consulted for Human Rights Watch. Many of you will recall that his experiences with the military government in Bangladesh caused quite a stir earlier this year. Tasneem now writes from Sweden.
• Rezwan is the dean of Bangladeshi bloggers. He has been blogging since 2003 and keeps the pulse of the Bangladeshi blogosphere. He is also an author at Global Voices Online where he highlights Bangladeshi blog posts for the world. Rezwan blogs from Germany.
• Saleem Samad is a well-known Bangladeshi investigative journalist who writes about human rights and about Islamist militancy in South Asia. He was arrested and tortured by Bangladesh’s military intelligence (DGFI) in 2002 and released after an international outcry. He writes from Canada where he is currently living in exile.

I am in some good company at E-Bangladesh.

On a Friday evening more than three decades ago a man named Khondker Mushtaque Ahmed, with blood on his hands, addressed the nation of Bangladesh over television and radio. He declared that he was now President of Bangladesh. He said the Bangladesh military had taken over power under his leadership in the "greater national interest" in response to "the historical necessity". It was August 15, 1975.

Earlier in the day the founding leader of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was brutally murdered along with nearly his entire family by junior officers of the Bangladesh military. Bangladesh had committed fratricide and has been struggling since to come to terms with the crime.

The Bangladesh Observer, the leading English language newspaper in Bangladesh at the time, editorialized the day after the carnage:

Corruption and nepotism inevitably led to continuously increasing prices and the economic misery of the masses that left no alternative for them but to languish and perish. In this suffocating situation the Armed Forces could not be true to their conscience and the nation except by coming forward to bring about a change in the corrupt and oppressive government.

…

From all accounts the people are convinced of the government’s crusading determination to obliterate the last traces of corruption, nepotism, and all other social vices and therefore they are ready to co-operate with the government in facing the great challenge thrown by history.  With the infinite mercy of Allah the Government and the nation will overcome all obstacles and resolutely march towards the cherished goal.

Thus the doctrine of "historical necessity" entered the Bangladeshi lexicon and military intervention found its rationale.

Soon the figurehead civilian leader of the country, Khondker Mushtaque Ahmed, began to promulgate regulations and ordinances for the "greater good" of the country. On August 20, 1975 Ahmed promulgated martial law regulations providing for "penalty of death or transportation for life, rigorous imprisonment, fine and confiscation of property for offenses such as corruption, criminal misconduct, illegal possession of arms and ammunition and illegally acquired properties." The regulations he promulgated also provided for "setting up of Special Martial Law Courts, Summary Martial Law Courts and Appellate Tribunals for the trial and hearing of offenses specified by the regulations."

A few days later "life sketches" of three military officers appeared on the front page of the Bangladesh Observer. Two of the men, recently promoted Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army Major General Ziaur Rahman and the Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, would rule Bangladesh for the next sixteen years.

On August 30, 1975 Khondker Mushtaque Ahmed promulgated the "Political Parties (Prohibition) Ordinance, 1975" prohibiting the formation of political parties. The ordinance provided that "no person shall form, organize, set up or convene, or be a member or otherwise take part in the activities of, or in any way be associated with, any political party."

Having banned political activity and taken strong measures to fight "corruption" the figurehead civilian leader of Bangladesh addressed the nation over television on October 3, 1975. He declared that the military government would "withdraw restrictions on political parties with effect from August 15, 1976" and would "hold general elections to elect a new parliament under universal adult suffrage on February 28, 1977." Those promises did not bear fruit. Sixteen years of military rule followed until the people of Bangladesh finally overthrew the military dictator Hossain Mohammad Ershad to restore democracy.

Sixteen years after the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh the military again intervened for the "good of the nation". On January 11, 2007 the Bangladesh military took power in a bloodless coup. At the helm of this military government is yet another figurehead civilian leader, Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed.

The new Mr. Ahmed decried the corruption in Bangladesh and vowed to end it:

The chief adviser, also a former governor of Bangladesh Bank, deplored that pervasive corruption and plundering of national wealth by a handful of dishonest people pushed the national economy, society and politics backward, into a disastrous state. This has jeopardised country’s image in world forums.

"Such a situation cannot be allowed to continue," he said in his speech, informing the people that tough activities will be started soon in a methodical way to curb the vice of corruption.

Saying that the people want a stern action against the corrupt, he said the Anti-Corruption Commission and related government organisations would be restructured and activated to make them action-oriented, free from all sorts of influence.

Within hours of taking power the military began rounding up "corruptionists and godfathers of criminals". Thus began this military government’s "anti-corruption" drive.

The military government promulgated the "Emergency Powers Rules 2007" banning political activities and all fundamental rights in Bangladesh effective January 12, 2007. The Daily Star reported:

The government has banned political and trade union activities and restricted provocative news, including talk show, in print and electronic media under the Emergency Powers Rules 2007.

The government has restricted processions, demonstrations, hartals, strikes and lockouts across the country to ensure security of the state and people, and maintain discipline in public life.

It has also banned student-teacher politics and politics by government employees and professional bodies.

In case of violation of the restrictions, the offenders will have to suffer a maximum of five years or a minimum of two years rigorous imprisonment along with fines.

The military government also promulgated the "Anti-Terrorism Ordinance 2007" and set up special tribunals to try the "corrupt" and other criminals. The military government has also declared that elections will be held no later than December 2008.

More than three decades after the military first took power in Bangladesh the military intervention playbook remains the same. It consists of an "anti-corruption" drive coupled with a ban on political activities and a promise of distant elections for a return to democratic rule. This time the military aims to save the country from itself, just like the last time. This time another military strongman has emerged and his name is General Moeen U Ahmed. General Moeen believes that Bangladesh needs its "own brand of democracy".

Thirty two years after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brutally gunned down in his home Bangladesh once again is being ruled by the gun. The rhetoric and promises from those with all the bullets are the same. It remains to be seen if this new generation of Bangladeshis will submit to another long period of military rule.