Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

Khaleda Zia, the immediate past prime minister of Bangladesh, is about to be arrested. News reports suggest that a large contingent of police have showed up at her house and are preparing to take her away. Mrs. Zia has been under virtual house arrest for months now, so this move is not unexpected. Sheikh Hasina, another former Prime Minister, is already in jail and has been denied bail. This move comes on the heels of charges filed against Mrs. Zia late last night (Bangladesh time) accusing her of improperly influencing a government contract award in 2003. Also late last night, the government filed another case against Sheikh Hasina accusing her of receiving kickbacks to benefit a charity in her father’s name in return for influencing a government contract award in 1998.

In a telephone interview from her home as police surrounded her house, Khaleda Zia told BDNews24:

"I’m not afraid of arrest. People are with me. The case against me is false. Against the BNP, there was a conspiracy in the past. Still there is. I hope BNP leaders and workers stay united. I worked for people all my life. I’m passing the burden of justice to people as well. Please pray for me."

So now both former prime ministers, and leaders of the two biggest political parties in Bangladesh, are about to be jailed. The army is doing a bang-up job stamping out corruption. I have to wonder though if pursuing corruption cases without due process is itself corrupt.

UPDATE (9/2/2007 10:00 PM): BDNews24 confirms that Khaleda Zia has been arrested:

The police arrested Khaleda Zia and her son Arafat Rahman Coco at their cantonment home early Monday, security officials said.

She was arrested shortly after 7:30am along with Coco.

The embattled former prime minister and her son were led away at 7:39am, in a security bubble. The move came hours after the Anticorruption Commission filed a corruption case against 13 people, including the former prime minister and the younger son.

Police and RAB officers and intelligence agents swarmed the road to the Shaheed Mainul Road residence of the BNP chief.

Khaleda will be taken to the court of metropolitan magistrate Md Salehuddin. Security officers put in place a huge security arrangement on the road to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court for Dhaka.

UPDATE (9/2/2007 10:41 PM): BDNews24 reporting that "security officials are battling chaos" in front of the court as Khaleda Zia is being led in. A friend of mine tells me that live TV feeds have stopped from the scene.

UPDATE (9/2/2007 11:04 PM): BDNews24 is reporting:

Security officers put in place a huge security arrangement on the road to the CMM’s Court, but a huge crowd seemed to have stretched it.

Still no information on what the "chaos" relates to.

UPDATE (9/3/2007 1:50 AM): Khaleda Zia has been denied bail and sent to jail. Her son has been taken into remand (interrogation) for 7 days. BBC News is carrying the story on its front page:

Ms Zia and her younger son, Arafat Rahman Coco, were led to court amid tight security after being arrested at her home at 0730 (0130 GMT).

Hundreds of police surrounded the court and thousands of Zia supporters gathered outside.

Security forces had surrounded the home since midnight (1800 GMT Sunday).

Ms Zia - leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party - is facing charges of corruption and abuse of power for allegedly using her influence to determine the operators of two state container depots in 2003, during her second term as prime minister.

Mr Coco is accused of pushing his mother to approve the deal. He is still being questioned by police and will remain in custody for seven days, lawyer Rafiqul Islam Miah said.

CNN is leading its world news section with the story from the Associated Press:

Police arrested former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and one of her sons Monday on charges of corruption and misuse of power during her last term in office, news reports said.

The officials arrested Zia at her home in the Bangladeshi capital hours after a case was filed by an anti-corruption official against her and her son Arafat Rahman Coco, local television station Channel 1 and Channel I said.

Zia was led away from her home amid tight security to a court in another part of Dhaka, Channel I said.

Zia, who ended her five-year term in October, allegedly misused her power by awarding contracts to a local company, Global Agro Trade Company, when she was in office in 2003. Coco allegedly influenced his mother to approve the deal.

The complaint said Zia’s administration did not follow standard procedure in awarding the company work involving two cargo terminals, one in Dhaka’s Kamlapur Railway Station and another in the country’s main Chittagong seaport.

UPDATE (9/3/2007 2:50 AM): BBC News has a short video report on the arrest that is worth watching.

UPDATE (9/3/2007 5:45 PM): BBC News has a more detailed video report here. BBC also has some incisive commentary on the arrest and the future of Bangladesh:

There are worries that the anti-corruption drive may have become a weapon in the government’s reform plan, with which to get rid of troublesome leaders.

If this becomes evident, then public support for the anti-corruption drive itself could start to erode.

At the moment, the government retains enough credibility to pursue its agenda.

But many Bangladeshis are increasingly restless for the ban on political activities to be lifted.

As long the ban exists, the country’s politics remains in a limbo - unreformed, unbowed, but unable to re-assert itself, leading to more frustration and pent-up anger.

The same kind of frustration and anger that led to August’s violent protests.

photo: Farjana K Godhuly, AFP

The Bangladesh military, which took power in a coup on January 11th this year, today in a pre-dawn raid arrested former Prime Minister and the leader of one of the two major political parties (the Awami League) in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, on unspecified "corruption" charges. Hasina is the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding president and independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Thirty-two years ago Sheikh Mujib and most of his family were gunned down by members of the Bangladesh military in a bloody coup that plunged the country into 16 years of military rule. Hasina and her younger sister were the only members of the family who survived the massacre because they were out of the country at the time. Three decades later it is the daughter that is now in the military’s hands.

Since taking power on January 11th, the military has been steadily consolidating its control over the country by locking up senior leaders of the two major political parties in Bangladesh on charges of "corruption". Today they have gone for the jugular by trying to decapitate the Awami League by arresting its leader. Sheikh Hasina had been increasingly vocal in recent weeks in her criticism of the military. The Bangladesh military does not take criticism well.

The situation in Bangladesh is fluid. Reports are still sketchy. There are reports of rioting in parts of the country. It is likely to get bloody from here.

Blogs covering the story:

• Drishtipat
• Dhaka Shohor
• Addafication

Update (7/16/2007 2:53am): There are unconfirmed reports that Khaleda Zia, the immediate past Prime Minister and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the other major political party in Bangladesh, either has been arrested or will be arrested in the very near future. There has been violence in Dhaka University where protesters have clashed with police. Police have reportedly fired rubber bullets and there are reports of people being taken to the hospital.

Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh today to cheering crowds after, under intense international and domestic pressure, the military reversed course in their attempt to exile her by banning her from the country.

The Associated Press reports:

Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had been barred from returning to Bangladesh after she was accused of speaking against its military-backed interim government, arrived in the capital Monday, and thousands of supporters cheered, beat drums and sprinkled her with rosebuds.

"It’s my country; it’s my home. I’m so excited to be able to return to my country," Hasina said at Dhaka’s Zia International Airport after arriving from London. 

The government lifted a ban on Hasina’s return on April 25, seven days after it barred her homecoming amid media reports that the government wanted to exile her.

 Asked if she feared arrest, Hasina said the authorities "made a mistake in imposing the ban on my return. I don’t think they are going to repeat that mistake."

Senior aides of Hasina greeted her at the tightly guarded airport with flowers.

Thousands of other supporters, many of them beating drums, lined the streets as a bulletproof jeep drive Hasina to her residence in downtown Dhaka. 

 Hasina waved to the cheering crowd, which sprinkled her with rosebuds along the 10-mile journey.

The military had earlier tried to restrict people from meeting the returning ex-prime minister at the airport. The military had granted permission for only 10 people to meet her at the airport. However, people appeared to ignore the state of emergency by coming out onto the streets to greet her.

The stage is now set for a confrontation between the military and the political parties. The military has failed in its gambit to exile the two leaders of the country’s leading political parties. But I think it is unlikely that the military will now quietly return to the barracks. It is also not clear who is in control of the military. The general who was widely believed to have engineered the coup, General Moeen U Ahmed, has receded from public view - a sudden turn from his earlier very public statements claiming Bangladesh did not need "elective democracy". In another possible sign of confusion within the military, General Moeen’s anticipated official trip to India has apparently been called off - the army now denies any such trip was ever scheduled.

The situation in Bangladesh looks and feels like the period of coups and counter-coups in 1975. It has been widely reported that junior officers in the Bangladesh army, majors and colonels, had been intimidating the press recently - that in itself has echoes of 1975. However, the press in Bangladesh has begun to openly challenge this military government. The situation is ostensibly calm but highly unstable and fluid. As pressure builds on the military government to hold early elections and return the country to democracy, there is certain to be pushback from some quarters within the military.

The army now lacks an exit strategy. The results could be bloody.

 Update (via Schuchinta):

Below is Sheikh Hasina’s recent interview with Sir David Frost. Frost had interviewed her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in 1972 after Bangladesh became independent. Take a look at the woman that the Bangladesh military had declared a threat to national security.

Before her return, Sheikh Hasina was also interviewed by the Bangladeshi newspaper, New Age.

Update 2:

The Washington Post weighs in with an article on Hasina’s return to Bangladesh. The article also takes a skeptical view of the military’s "anti-corruption" drive and its promise to hold elections at the end of 2008.

[Via Drishtipat]

The military government in Bangladesh has given up trying to exile two former prime ministers due to pressure from within the country and from the international community.

There is breaking news from bdnews24.com and the Daily Star from Bangladesh:

Dhaka, April 25 (bdnews24.com) – The military-backed government Wednesday lifted the ban on Sheikh Hasina’s homecoming and said there were no restrictions on Khaleda Zia’s movement.

In a statement, the home ministry said the ban on Hasina’s return was temporary and the authorities have decided to lift it because of "views from the media and other quarters".

In another statement, the ministry said the government had never put pressure on Khaleda to leave the country.

This comes on the heels of the Bangladeshi press and courts showing some backbone and on the heels of this exchange at the State Department Press Briefing yesterday:

QUESTION: Sean, two questions on Bangladesh, please. The (inaudible) in Bangladesh has cancelled elections and also is trying to establish dictatorship just similar to in Pakistan by General Musharraf. And a Vice Prime Minister is under house arrest in Bangladesh, second one fled to London and she has not been allowed and she has been told you cannot return to Bangladesh. What’s the Secretary feel now as their human rights and dictatorships and also democracy that we’re talking about around the globe?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, the situation in Bangladesh is one that we’re watching quite closely. There is a caretaker government in place and we have urged that caretaker government to move as expeditiously as possible to elections so the Bangladeshis can exercise their right to vote and choose who is going to lead them in the future and hopefully be able to put these past incidents behind them. It is a case where if not handled properly and if the caretaker government doesn’t take the right decisions, then this — there is a real possibility that this can threaten Bangladeshi democracy and nobody wants to see that.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: I’m sorry.

MR. MCCORMACK: No, that’s it.

QUESTION: Anybody from the U.S. Government in touch with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in London?

MR. MCCORMACK: I know our embassy has been in close contact with them and several months ago, Nick Burns talked to them.

The Daily Press Briefing is currently featured in the State Department web site under the title "Daily Press Briefing: Bangladeshi Democracy at Risk?"

How do you spell P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E"?

There is reason for optimism today for Bangladesh and the future of democracy there.

Update (4/25/2007 5:30 pm):

• BBC News and the International Herald Tribune report on the military government’s U-turn.
• Sheikh Hasina was just interviewed [interview starts at 19:50 minutes into the audio] by the BBC World Service Newshour radio program. In the interview Hasina sounds exhausted but thanks the Bangladeshi and foreign press, Bangladeshis at home and abroad, foreign leaders for putting pressure on the military government. IBN live has more.
• The Daily Star has more on the pressure put upon the military government.
• The Daily Star also has the following editorial (a bold act from a newspaper that only last week was all but cowed):

The ban on Sheikh Hasina’s entry into the country and the apparent fetters on Khaleda Zia’s movements have been withdrawn.

We welcome this change in the direction of the government’s policy; for it is the fundamental right of the two leaders to live in their own country. Exile holds no answer to the political problems facing us. On the contrary, it can exacerbate them.

We have been observing with concern over the last several days government being enmeshed in a nontransparent, shortsighted, confusing, and boomerang of a policy exercise pertaining to consigning of the two political leaders — Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia — to exile. A chronology of events will prove our point.

Closely on the heels of two advisers to the government denying that any force was being applied on the two ladies to leave the country when Sheikh Hasina set off from the USA to return to Bangladesh earlier than scheduled to face extortion and murder charges levelled against her she was requested by an adviser to stay back for a few more days. Then a press note was issued by the government debarring her entry into Bangladesh and instructing the airlines not to carry her home. She was in effect not given a boarding pass to travel to Dhaka by British Airways. Then in a tell-tale sequence a warrant of arrest was issued by the metropolitan magistrate a few hours before the BA flight from London. Once it came to be known she was not flying home the warrant was withdrawn for six months to carry out further investigation. It was injudicious and farcical, making a mockery of the legal system.

As for Begum Khaleda Zia the government faced a ruling by the High Court in a Habeas Corpus writ to produce her in court by April 27 to prove that she is not confined to her home.

Bangladesh’s image abroad took a drubbing in the way the two ladies have been handled. Credibility of the government has also taken a tumble on the issue.

With the change of policy a great amount of uncertainty would have ended. We think now the government should move full speed ahead about preparation for election. We think the only durable solution to our problems can come through transfer of power to an elected government, but one that comes through a genuinely free and fair election. Let us now concentrate fully on that.

The military in Bangladesh has suffered a setback in its systematic plan to dismantle democracy in what was the world’s 5th most populous democracy. There have been a number of fast breaking developments in the last 48 hours. Early yesterday the military was poised to forcibly send one former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, into exile while preventing another former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, from returning to Bangladesh. Over the weekend the military had also secured an arrest warrant against Sheikh Hasina on "murder charges". Simultaneously the military accused Hasina of being a "fugitive" while banning her from returning to the country.

But the military may have overreached. The drama over the weekend unfolded on three continents.

The first crack in the military’s plan occurred when the Bangladesh High Court responded to a Habeas Corpus petition filed on behalf of Khaleda Zia protesting the military government’s action restricting her to her house without charge. The High Court has ordered the military government to explain in writing within five days why the court should not order the government to produce Khaleda Zia in court to prove that she is not under house arrest. This apparent challenge to the military rulers by the Bangladeshi judiciary effectively postponed Zia’s forcible removal from Bangladesh. To make matters worse for the military, while a chartered plane hired to fly Zia out of the country and into exile in Saudi Arabia waited on the tarmac at the international airport in Dhaka, the Saudi Arabian government refused to grant Khaleda Zia a visa unless she was brought to the Saudi embassy in Dhaka and affirmed that she was leaving Bangladesh on her own free will. Sensing the shifting winds, Khaleda Zia is now refusing to leave Bangladesh and be exiled.

Meanwhile in London, Sheikh Hasina was denied passage on a British Airways flight back to Bangladesh on orders of the Bangladesh military. The drama at Heathrow finally resulted in widespread press coverage in the western media and around the world. Following the lead of the Bangladesh High Court, a lower court in Bangladesh suspended the warrant against Hasina citing lack of evidence and an incomplete investigation.

In London the British Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, raised the issue of the banning of Sheikh Hasina with the Bangladesh military government’s foreign affairs advisor. US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns was reportedly a little more blunt with the Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States. He said, "The interim government in Bangladesh has become occupied with unnecessary issues although its prime business is holding a free and fair election…It is unacceptable to the international community."

Suddenly, with mounting international and domestic pressure, the military finds itself back on its heels. Today the Bangladesh Election Commission, now led in part by a retired military officer, unexpectedly struck a conciliatory tone. Speaking for the Commission, Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat  declared that the ban on politics may be lifted on May 8th.

Two government advisors, who earlier had been quite vocal about their zest for "fixing" Bangladesh with army muscle, have suddenly gone silent:

Two influential advisers of the interim government, Barrister Mainul Hosein and MA Matin, yesterday did not speak to the media about politics, unlike they usually do.

They declined to say anything about the prevailing political situation despite repeated requests from the journalists. Earlier on a number of occasions the two had talked about different political issues including reforms of the parties and the role of the past governments.

Reporters waited for Communications Adviser MA Matin for several hours on the corridor to the shipping ministry conference room yesterday. But when they got hold of him, he refused to talk about the fate of Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia or about the other political developments.

He, however, briefed them about a meeting on various development projects in the shipping sector.

Meanwhile, Law Adviser Mainul Hosein met a scrum of newspaper and TV reporters as he came out of a meeting at the information ministry.

"We are a non-political caretaker government and so I should say nothing about politics," he said when the newsmen wanted to know the latest about the probability of Khaleda going into exile and the arrest warrant against Hasina.

"I don’t know," he replied curtly when asked if the government had requested the British Airways not to carry Hasina home.

As to whether Khaleda Zia would be produced before the court, the law adviser said, "The court will decide on the matter."

"The political situation is difficult and I do not have answers of all the questions," he observed when a journalist wanted to know how come the government seeks Interpol’s help to get back crime suspects or convicts from abroad while on the other hand, bars another accused from returning to the country.

The two men, who had only recently spoke with such disdain about the politicians, are now more concerned with their own uncertain futures.

Fourteen leading intellectuals of Bangladesh have signed a statement calling the military’s purge of the political parties and the plan to exile the two main political leaders "shortsighted and injudicious". The press in Bangladesh, which had been under threat of banning from the military, have suddenly found their voice again. They are now openly defying the military’s orders to not report on Sheikh Hasina’s views. They are also suddenly writing articles critical of the military government. The leading English newspaper of Bangladesh, The Daily Star, having relocated to new servers, is now freely reporting on the events in Bangladesh.

Overnight the supposed "popularity" of the military regime seems to have collapsed.

Still these are dangerous times. As the Economist pointed out last week, the military has no exit strategy in Bangladesh. If the military does go back to the barracks, the general who had taken the reigns of power, General Moeen U Ahmed, is likely to lose his job and perhaps his freedom. The fear of prosecution might force the generals in charge to shed the thin veneer of "civilian rule" and impose full-bore martial law on Bangladesh. There is no easy way back to civilian rule if the current army rulers were to lose control. The situation is ripe for another coup in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is now at a crossroads. The courts, the press, and leading voices in Bangladesh have begun to challenge the military. They will need international support and protection to avoid a possible crushing blow from the military. There are still one hundred and fifty thousand people behind bars and held without charge or bail. Human rights abuses are common. Torture and mysterious death in army custody is still the norm. The move to exile the political leaders may have finally exposed the army to international scrutiny; however, that has not yet translated into what should be the goal of all defenders of freedom and democracy - that is, the right of the people to live in freedom and without fear of persecution. That goal remains still elusive. The army is still not back to the barracks.

The democratic spirit in Bangladesh is strong. May it survive this assault upon it.

Late Updates:

BDNews24 reports that a petition has been filed with the High Court challenging the ban on Sheikh Hasina:

A writ petition was filed with the High Court (HC) Tuesday challenging the validity of the government press note that barred former prime minister Sheikh Hasina from returning home. The petition asked the government to remove hurdles from her return path. The petition moved by Hasina’s lawyers said stopping her from returning to her country was unconstitutional. The hearing was set for Sunday. Justice Abu Nayeem Md Mominur Rahman and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury notified Hasina’s lawyers that the hearing of the petition will be held Sunday.

International Herald Tribune reports that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar have refused to accept Khaleda Zia into forced exile:

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar have refused to allow Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia into their countries, complicating a plan by Bangladesh’s government to exile her, news reports said Tuesday.

The New Age and the News Today newspapers reported that the Saudi embassy in Dhaka has refused to grant her a visa because the embassy was not convinced that Zia was leaving the country of her own volition.

The embassy did not accept Zia’s signature in the visa application form, saying it does not prove that she wants to go to the kingdom, the News Today said.

Saudi embassy and Bangladeshi officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The government also tried to convince Kuwait and Qatar to take Zia but those attempts also have failed, the News Today report said.

An op-ed in The Guardian comments on the military regime:

Bangladesh is rapidly moving from being the world’s fifth largest democratic state, to the world’s largest state of total uncertainty. Since January 11, when the military stepped in to avert certain chaos and cancelled January’s scheduled but highly contentious general election, imposing a caretaker government under a state of emergency, the caretaker government, whilst initially very popular here, is beginning to look less military-backed and more military-run.

…

But in spite of the highly extra-constitutional nature of the caretaker government, the 150,000 people estimated to have been detained, the 60 or so people who have died in military custody, the suspension of fundamental rights, the abandonment of due process and the gagging of the media from making any serious criticism, it is the erasure of all signs of democracy that is beginning to cause alarm amongst Bangladesh’s civil society.

The honeymoon is over. To suspend the political process and attempt to lock out or away political leaders without currently offering any alternative is dangerous. Elections are hoped for by the end of 2008 but there is no set timeline and Lieutenant General Moeen Ahmed, who led the coup and is being seen as de facto leader of the country, has stated that he doesn’t want Bangladesh to revert to an elective democracy that might lead to the same problems as before. Increasingly it is feared that any election will be designed to achieve a pre-set goals.

…

Yet, currently the electoral commission isn’t even allowed to communicate with parties; they have operationally ceased to exist. The longer true politics is banned and the democratic past is denied, the greater the opportunity for Islamic extremists, who are already prospering in rural areas, to take advantage of the vacuum. This is the worst-case scenario for western governments who currently have maintained "satisfaction" with the caretaker regime.

With all politics banned until it will suit the style desired by the military, one wonders when Bangladesh’s civil society might have the courage to publicly speak out of turn. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Charter 77, and although the situation in Dhaka today is radically different to Prague in the 70s, the actions of the Chartists, which they maintained was not organised political opposition and therefore legitimate, offers an interesting precedent.

Something must be done to arrest the attempted "normalisation" of a highly abnormal environment. The Chartists were able to ostensibly highlight their government’s denial of the Helsinki Accords, but this caretaker regime hasn’t committed to anything other than elections when they feel the time is right. Nearly 150 million people have no power, no means, let alone right of protest, and currently no political alternative to go back to, no matter how much maligned. If Bangladesh, a country that’s history is characterised by fighting for freedom, slips back under military dictatorship yet again, then it will be more than its own people made to feel morally bankrupt.

From BBC News:

Bangladesh’s ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been prevented from boarding a flight home from London after the Dhaka government barred her return.

The military-backed interim government has asked all international airlines not to carry her.

It says she will be arrested over the deaths of four protesters during a riot last October if she returns home.

Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return to Bangladesh to clear her name and participate in elections.

Speaking on leaving Heathrow airport in London, Sheikh Hasina said the Bangladeshi authorities had sent a letter to British Airways, telling them not to carry her or they would not be allowed to land in Dhaka.

"I am ready to go to jail if necessary but I want to go back to my country," she said, adding that she would now consider her next moves.

Sheikh Hasina, who leads the opposition Awami League, left Bangladesh in late March, a few weeks after the interim government declared a state of emergency.

Update (4/22/2007 8:45 PM):

Item 1: A court in Bangladesh has issued an arrest warrant against Sheikh Hasina on the charge of murder, conveniently on the same day she attempted to fly back. They have branded her a "fugitive". This will allow the government to confiscate her property and assets in Bangladesh. If you are as confused as I am that the military government should brand her as a "fugitive" while at the same time barring her from returning to the country to face the charges, then you have now tasted a little bit of the doublspeak that military dictatorships are capable of.

British Labour Party MP Emily Thornberry accompanied Sheikh Hasina to Heathrow Airport earlier today when she was denied passage on British Airways. She negotiated unsuccessfully with British Airways at Heathrow. She has also said that she will raise the issue of Hasina’s banning with British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and also in the British parliament.

Item 2: The High Court in Bangladesh has responded to a Habeas Corpus petition filed on behalf of Khaleda Zia protesting the military government’s action restricting her to her house without charge. The High Court has ordered the military government to explain in writing within five days why the court should not order the government to produce Khaleda Zia in court to prove that she is not under house arrest. This has thrown a wrench into the military’s plans to send Zia into exile - Zia remains in Bangladesh and plans to ship her to Saudi Arabia have at least for the moment been postponed. It appears that, while the lower courts appear to have already buckled, the High Court is challenging the military at least at some level. This could get real ugly real soon.

At this moment, according to sources from Bangladesh, the immediate past prime minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, is being forcibly expelled from Bangladesh by the military. News reports from Bangladesh suggest that reporters are amassed at the international airport in Dhaka awaiting the former prime minister. Sources from Bangladesh tell me that three cars with tinted windows have arrived at the airport carrying the former prime minister, her youngest son, and two daughters-in-law. They are to be forcibly deported to Saudi Arabia. This is the latest sign that the army in Bangladesh is systematically dismantling democracy and the major political parties in the country. Still, there is radio silence from Washington and words of encouragement to the army from the American Embassy in Bangladesh.

Khaleda Zia is poised to leave Bangladesh after the army blackmailed her by arresting her youngest son. Another former prime minister and leader of the other major political party in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, is being prevented from entering Bangladesh. She is currently in London and trying to enter Bangladesh. Already British Airways has refused to fly her to Bangladesh after the Bangladesh army told all airlines that they would not be allowed to land in Bangladesh if she were on board.

Meanwhile protests have broken out in a number of cities in Bangladesh as the economic and political situation continues to deteriorate. News reports, currently under the watchful eyes of the military, indicate a major clash has taken place between the armed forces and jute mill workers who took to the streets demanding back pay.

The future of Bangladesh hangs in the balance this weekend. Will Bangladesh, which was the world’s fifth largest democracy and one of the world’s most populous Muslim majority nations, be able to repel the onslaught of the military on its democratic system and its constitution? The military, until now, has been able to consolidate its grip on power, under the guise of fighting "corruption", with the tacit support of the United States and the United Kingdom. Will the US and the UK continue to back the military as it openly destroys an important Muslim democracy, one that only recently the United States highlighted as a model for democracy in Muslim countries?

There are signs of movement, at least in the United Kingdom. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has met with Lord Avebury, the Vice Chair of Parliamentary Human Rights group at the House of Lords in the UK. He expressed concern about the ongoing human rights violations in Bangladesh and the plan to exile the political leadership of the country. The British High Commission in Bangladesh has sought clarification from the Bangladesh government regarding the exile attempts. No such clarification has been sought by the Bush Administration.

In the event Sheikh Hasina attempts to return by air to Bangladesh, the Bangladesh military reportedly has drafted the following plan of action:

Phase 1

Two BAF F-7BG AC will escort out the aircraft from the BD airspace to further south towards the Bay of Bengal.

Phase 2

If the Phase 1 fails,the DAC air traffic control will not give clearance to the aircraft carrying Hasina to land and following Phase 1.

But it is important that the aircraft does not land at the first place. The whole action can be performed legally under all international laws and charters.

It is allowed under international law to deny entry to any aircraft to one’s airspace. Iran has recently denied entry of an aircraft carrying Iraqi PM. US homeland security regularly excercise this option to prevent people from coming to the US who it believes to threaten us national security.

The Bangladesh army is carrying out its plan to dismantle democracy in Bangladesh with brutal precision: fundamental rights have been suspended; 150,000 people have been arrested and many are being tortured; political activity has been banned; freedom of the press has been taken away; and, the political leadership is being exiled.

Democracy in Bangladesh is dying. It is time for the United States to either stand with democracy or stand with dictators. If there is any hope of sending the army in Bangladesh back to the barracks peacefully, it is the United States who must exert some pressure. The United States holds enormous sway over Bangladesh, both economic and political. Without such pressure it will be left up to the people of Bangladesh to fight the men with the guns. The Bangladeshi people have in the past and will continue to fight for their right to live in a free and democratic country. They have succeeded twice before in dislodging military dictators. The first time it was at a cost of 3 million lives, the second time it took 16 years. This time the people of Bangladesh could use a helping hand from the beacon of freedom and democracy in the world, the United States.

Overnight the new military rulers of Bangladesh took decisive steps to consolidate their hold on power. On the heels of charging the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, with murder, the military declared today that she will not be allowed into the country.

In a official press note barring Hasina from returning to Bangladesh from the United States, the megalomaniacs who have taken over what was the world’s fifth largest democracy announced:

Some reliable sources have informed the government that Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, now on a personal visit to the United States, might return to the country on April 23, 2007. It should be mentioned here that in the recent past, the law and order had been disrupted while national security and the economic climate had been jeopardized in a period of anarchy brought on by non-stop and irresponsible agitation and disorderly acts of Awami League and other political parties under her leadership. Inevitably, it all led to declaration of the state of emergency.

Besides, she has made provocative and malicious statements against the present caretaker government and law enforcement agencies at different meetings and in national and international media while staying overseas.

Under the circumstances, if Sheikh Hasina returns, she might seek to make provocative remarks like she did before, and create further hatred and confusion among the people. This might deteriorate the country’s law and order, disturb the prevailing stability and threaten public safety and economy. Also to be noted, Sheikh Hasina herself is concerned about her security and has pleaded with the government through her party for special security arrangements. For the above-mentioned reasons, the government has decided to take some cautionary steps regarding her return. However, those measures are temporary.

Immigration at air and land ports, different airlines and the other authorities concerned have been informed to that end. The foreign, civil aviation and tourism ministries, civil aviation authority and the inspector general of police too have been requested to take necessary steps.

The military also ordered the press in Bangladesh not to report on any comments made by the former Prime Minister:

The government through its Press Information Department and other agencies has instructed all newspapers not to carry any comment of Sheikh Hasina. An SMS received from an army major said: "You are requested not to telecast/print any views/comments of Sheikh Hasina from today till further order." It may be mentioned that Hasina’s comment on the government’s ban on her return was aired by BBC Bangla Service which has been heard by the radio’s audiences in Bangladesh.

Earlier in the week the military arrested the son of the immediate past Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, on charges of graft. The very next day they released him after extracting a promise from Mrs. Zia that she would leave the country with her sons for exile in Saudi Arabia.

This latest thuggery comes after the arrest of over 150,000 people in an "anti-corruption" drive since last January. All those arrested are being held without bail and without due process under emergency powers the military government has granted itself.

Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return to Bangladesh in spite of the orders barring her entry. It remains to be seen if she will be successful.

The military strongman who has taken control of Bangladesh, Lt. General Moeen U Ahmed, is systematically purging the two most popular political parties in Bangladesh. Together these two parties enjoy overwhelming support in Bangladesh and have both held power after close elections during the past 16 years of democratic rule in Bangladesh.

The Economist weighed in earlier this week on the purge taking place in Bangladesh:

In the latest dramatic twist to the political crisis in Bangladesh, authorities have charged Sheikh Hasina Wajed, a former prime minister, with murder and have also severely restricted the movements of her arch-rival, Khaleda Zia. The moves come amid an intensifying campaign by the military-backed interim government to sideline the country’s two main political parties and their leaders. Although such efforts, combined as they are with a massive crackdown on corruption, seem likely to prove popular initially, the self-styled "caretaker" administration also appears to be entrenching itself to a degree that suggests it has designs on more permanent power. The probability of a return to outright military rule—rather than the stealth version arguably in effect already—is therefore increasing. Simultaneously, the chances of democracy being restored any time soon are declining.

…

As with all cases in which military or military-backed governments suspend democracy for the supposed good of a country, the latest purge of the political class raises all-too-evident concerns about what happens next. There is little doubt that corruption is prevalent in Bangladesh, and that rivalry between the AL and the BNP has not served the public interest. However, the implicit argument behind the current state of emergency—namely that corruption needs to be reduced before elections can be held—is flawed in that the intractability of the problem provides the interim government with a ready-made excuse to defer the restoration of democracy indefinitely. Also, there is no guarantee that the caretaker leaders and their allies will be any less corrupt than those they have replaced.

…

The prospect of a period of extended emergency rule raises all manner of concerns, however. If reports that the authorities have arrested more than 150,000 corruption suspects are accurate, then it is fair to worry whether human rights violations are not likely to occur on a large scale. Any delay in holding elections would also be unpopular with the public, which no doubt had its fill of authoritarian rule in the 1970s and 1980s. The government recently said it would try to hold elections by the end of 2008, but this timetable looks ambitious: the reforms needed to allow elections to go ahead are likely to take at least 12 months to complete, after which monsoonal weather may prevent polling taking place until the following year.

A further concern is that the current crackdown is likely, at some stage, to lead to a backlash against the interim government as some of those who have been detained—many of whom are politically influential—are released. This may take the shape simply of efforts to reverse the policies of the current administration, but there is also a strong chance that it could result in an increase in violence. Despite the interim administration’s claims that its objectives are honourable, the draconian measures it has taken in the name of improving stability could, like those of most such regimes, have just the opposite effect.

By trying to exile the leaders of the two biggest political parties in Bangladesh, General Moeen, who just today gave himself a promotion [link is in Bengali] for his fine work, has very clearly shown his hand. The stated goal of the military takeover was to cleanse the country of corruption. Now they have abandoned all such pretenses of a corruption drive in favor of open bullying of the political parties and the crushing of Bangladeshi democracy. There can now be no doubt that this is a takedown by force of one of the few shining examples of secular democracy in a Muslim majority country. The Bangladesh military, along with their Islamist allies, have orchestrated a coup d’etat with the tacit support of the United States government.

Before the military takeover, in a speech at Dhaka University on December 17 2006, the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, Patricia Butenis, publicly cautioned against a military takeover:

Any extra-constitutional arrangement imposed on the people of Bangladesh, such as military intervention, would not address the basic weaknesses afflicting the current political process, would likely lead to great turmoil and disappointment, and should be stoutly resisted by all defenders of democracy.

Well, I have taken up her call to "all defenders of democracy" to "stoutly resist" this military takeover. As I respond to her call, I look back to see silence from Mr. Bush and contradiction from Ambassador Butenis. Yesterday, the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star reported the following:

US Ambassador Patricia Butenis has appreciated Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed’s address to the nation, particularly for mentioning a timeframe for holding the general election, and said the US government is satisfied with the caretaker government’s performance.

…

She said the US government is observing the caretaker government’s activities positively.

…

Appreciating a number of pragmatic initiatives and actions, the US envoy said the caretaker government has attained a lot of achievements in a short time and is enjoying tremendous popular support.

Citing a survey carried out by the US Coast Guard, Butenis said the Chittagong seaport is now working properly as clockwise which is laudable.

Now, there is little doubt that the military government has put the press in Bangladesh on a short leash. So, it is possible that the Ambassador may have been misrepresented in the article. However, in the absence of any corrections from the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka or the State Department, its reasonable to assume that the Ambassador’s views have been fairly reported. The deafening silence from Washington as an Islamic country of 150 million people has its democracy gutted by the military, combined with words of encouragement from the Ambassador, can only help to embolden the Generals in Bangladesh.

So this is Mr. Bush’s freedom agenda. When a lone "journalist" named Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury was arrested in Bangladesh, then under civilian rule, on charges of sedition and then released on bail, free to publish to his heart’s content, the neocons persuaded the United States government to pressure the Bangladeshi government to drop all charges against the man and cancel his upcoming trial. Bangladesh was threatened with aid cut-off if it did not buckle to American pressure. The United States House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding that Bangladesh drop all charges against this man. The State Department highlighted this man’s cause. All because he was being given full due process by the democratically elected government of Bangladesh.

However, when the current military dictators arrest 150,000 people and lock them up without trial, force one former Prime Minister into exile, threaten to bar another from entering the country, engage in wholesale torture and killings, suspend all fundamental rights and due process, trample on the secular democracy that was Bangladesh, the United States State Department does not comment at all, the White House ignores the collapse of democracy, the U.S. Ambassador encourages the thuggery, and the United States Congress couldn’t be bothered by the whole episode.

No wonder the laughter is deafening when the United States preaches democracy to the Muslim and Third Worlds.