Bangladesh Headlines 02/11/2018

Headlines

• Bangladesh Paralyzed by Transport Strike

• Jatiya Oikya Front Dialogue with Hasina

• Four New Banks to Get License

• (Rohingya) Repatriation to begin in Mid-November

Details

Bangladesh Paralyzed by Transport Strike

Transport workers across Bangladesh enforced 48-hour strike, paralyzing the country on 28 and 29 November 2018. Raising an eight-point demand, including making all offences under the new Road Transport Act bailable and minimizing the fine of Tk 5 lakh for causing accidents, workers refrained from driving and protested on streets throughout the day, immense suffering for commuters across the nation. (Dhaka Tribune - 29.10.2018)

During the 48 hours long strike we witnessed a country-wide anarchy enforced by Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation led by Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan. And one of the consequences of this strike is the death of three children as they could not be taken to hospital. Also, in the media we noticed that some student groups, Jatri Kalyan Samity and Right activists, are expressing their anger and blaming transport workers for such inhuman picketing and also the police for failing to ensure citizen’s safety. Surprisingly, no is going to the root of this issue. Yes, it is confusing enough that a transport strike is called by a minister!! But everybody seemed to know it very well that it was ‘flexing the muscles’ show for Shajahan Khan.

Any aware person will realize that these sort of strikes are nothing but clash of interest amongst different vested groups which is actually a common phenomenon in democracy. Under democratic system legislators aim to enact laws through consulting all stakeholders. Verily, they can’t make everyone happy and in reality, they give away to the pressure groups who through either money or muscle power influence the lawmakers. Unfortunately, under democracy general people are victim while lawmakers are helpless because their ruling powers depend to a great extent on this vested interest group.

To put an end to these kind of unnecessary strike and inhuman suffering legislative power must be taken away from the Parliament and re-introduce the Islamic system that derives laws from Allah’s Quran and from His Messenger’s Sunnah. Justice is guaranteed only under Islam because neither any vested interest group nor the rulers can impact the laws.

Jatiya Oikya Front Dialogue with Hasina

The Jatiya Oikya Front alliance led by Dr Kamal Hossain met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other leaders of the ruling Awami League-led 14-Party coalition at the Ganabhaban on November 1, 2018. The key demand the Oikya Front placed in the talks was the release of jailed politicians, including BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and dissolution of parliament before the general elections to be overseen by a nonpartisan government. (bdnews24.com: November 1, 2018)

For the last few days, entire country has been kept anxious with this ‘media circus’ on the dialogue. Hype has been created as to the length that which food items would be there in the menu! The invitation for dialogue by the Oikko Front and PM Hasina’s prompt nod of acceptance were nothing but some cheap political maneuvering to create sensationalism and keep the entire nation busy with it, whereas any sane person expects no positive outcome from such dialogue because all these participants are the same old rotten politicians of the corrupt democratic system who never care people’s authority. And also the objective of this dialogue is wrong to the core because no side of this dialogue is really concerned about the wellbeing of the people other than seeking their share in the power for furthering their own interest.

Rather the key dialogue for our nation which is infested by corrupt politics should have been whether to run this country with the so-called democracy or not.

Four New Banks to Get License

Giving in to pressure from government high-ups, Bangladesh Bank has set in motion the process of giving licences to four proposed commercial banks. As part of the move, the central bank will place proposals at today's meeting of its board of directors. If the four new banks get approval, the number of banks in the country will be 62. The four proposed banks are: Community Bank Bangladesh, Bengal Bank, People's Bank and Citizen Bank. Community Bank Bangladesh, proposed to be set up by Bangladesh Police Welfare Trust (BPWT), is a concern of Bangladesh Police, while the sponsors of the other three have strong links with the ruling Awami League. (The Daily Star, October 29, 2018)

In a last moment drive, the ruling Awami League (AL) is desperate to secure the banks, the plundering machine of peoples’ wealth, in its control. The government has already usurped the wealth of the people by allowing its partisan thugs to occupy almost all major banks by forcefully ousting their previous owners including Islamic Bank Bangladesh Limited, the largest bank of the country. Besides, a number of new banks were also awarded during the last several years to the party loyalists, and majority of which are ailing from acute equity shortage due to their plundering of wealth by unscrupulous extension of loan. In this dire situation, the government is going to give licence to additional four banks not to meet the economic need of the people, but to satisfy its hungry capitalists.

Secondly, the ruling secular AL, which already has lost all credentials of the people, is clinging on power by the help of armed forces particularly of corrupt police force, which is a major collaborator of the crimes of the government. It is obvious that the government is heavily relying on the police force for securing their victory in the next election, and thus giving one license to the police force as reward for their previous services and a bribe to win their continued support particularly for the coming election. Earlier, government also awarded similar bank licence to Boarder Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

(Rohingya) Repatriation to begin in Mid-November

Myanmar would start taking Rohingyas back from mid-November, said Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque. Bangladesh and Myanmar had formed the JWG, with 15 members from each side, in December last year to oversee the repatriation of the refugees. (The Daily Star, October 31, 2018)

Since august, 2017, 700,000 Rohingya Muslims took shelter in Bangladesh due to the deliberate and systematic genocide of Myanmar terrorist army with moral support from international community (China, Russia, and India). We all know how Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina initially reacted – she inhumanely pushed back the Rohingyas into the sea, and then later, fearing the public discontent, was compelled to accept them. But being a cunning politician, she tried to portray the world her length of sacrifice and eventually received from her colonial masters the deceitful “Mother of Humanity” award to play politics with.

Now, after having the Rohingya issue fully exploited to her own political benefit, Hasina is in play with another devious trick in the name of repatriation which is nothing other than handing over the helpless Muslims to the hand of same Buddhist slaughterer. When the Rohingya Muslims had been tortured by these Myanmar terrorists for more than 25 years and the last exodus was an extreme consequence of that, what made the traitorous Bangladesh government suddenly confident to send them back away when Myanmar officials had rather justified the crackdown as a legitimate response to attacks by a Rohingya militant group! Moreover, Rohingya refugee leaders met with Myint Thu (L), permanent secretary of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh on Oct. 31, 2018 and placed their demands of repatriation which included giving Rohingyas civil rights and access to their old homes and some others, but the Myanmar authority did not respond to those demands. Thus, afterwards, Rohingya leaders expressed their concern that they were skeptical about Myanmar’s willingness to take them back as they never acted according to their promises.

We cannot expect the treacherous rulers of the nation-states imposed on us by the colonial West to be serious about removing the sufferings of the Ummah as they exist only to meet the interests of the Kuffar and their geopolitical agenda.