The New Nation - Internet Edition

Publication of stories depicting a dark view of Bangladesh and its people in the western media is nothing new. Some interested quarters appear to be active in lending a helping hand to drum up propaganda against this nation of 150 million which is striving hard to secure good governance for itself so that people can enjoy rights while fighting poverty to achieve sustained economic development.

Something went seriously wrong otherwise so many years' efforts to build democratic governance could not fail as a result of bad politics and unconscionable spread of corruption. Bangladesh has too many foreign-aided NGOs to talk about human rights compared to any country. The question can be rightly asked what these people in such NGOs were doing in those days other than helping please their masters by supplying propaganda materials against Bangladesh.

Several weeks ago police hauled up a man whom they reportedly found active in fomenting trouble in some garment factories in Dhaka city. The person identified himself as representative of a foreign NGO. He managed his escape at the instance of influential foreign quarters.

A section of NGOs some time ago hosted visits of some foreign activists who, not in the distant past, tried to depict Bangladesh as a Taliban state. It was basically at their instance that even some development partners of the country had formed a very negative idea about Bangladesh and had a conference in Washington DC to decide their course of action. A couple of influential development partners luckily played a crucial role in that conference which ultimately ended on an optimistic note.

The latest campaign about reported torture and human rights abuses has been steered by one who is a NGO person but maintained journalistic connection also.

He claimed that he was arrested and tortured by army intelligence people and then because of foreign connection he could leave the country. Now he is enjoying hospitality in Sweden. He has published an article in a foreign daily complaining of abuse of power under the present state of emergency openly asking donor countries to do something about it. What is clear is he was interested not in improving the situation in the country but to stop donor countries from helping Bangladesh financially.

When the elected government fails in chaos and corruption, emergency rule cannot be easy anywhere. Nobody will deny Bangladesh is going through a very difficult time. Some excesses are unavoidable. Such excesses must not be condoned also. Because emergency rule is for improving the situation and making democracy work. All patriots are expected to do their bid to help achieve this end. But to criticise only for enjoying foreign hospitality and favour cannot be condoned.

The Washington DC conference of Bangladesh's development partners was told that the complaints made about the human rights and minority rights situation were not invented by them, but rather taken from reports of some activist groups and a section of newspapers published very much from Dhaka city. Such propaganda is aided by some vested quarters active against the interests of Bangladesh, based outside the country and run web sites on the Internet. Their representatives visit the country from time to time as guests of a section of NGOs.

In one such case of making fabricated stories against the interests of the country about four years ago, a foreign TV journalist was caught while recording a programme of a 'fanatic Islamist activist group' which together with others made Bangladesh, according to their analysis, 'a cocoon of terror'. The group members were carrying placards written in English that day although it was doubtful whether the members of the group themselves understood the messages. Many observers raised the question as to whether the whole episode was concocted or not.

An NGO activist accompanied the foreign journalist who was recording the dubious programme. Against this backdrop, the authorities concerned would probably do well if they properly scrutinise people hosted by a section of NGOs. Because people unfriendly to Bangladesh and its people use this cover to manufacture stories and continue their anti-Bangladesh propaganda.

The government should not be afraid to be hard on those foreign NGO elements in Bangladesh who are too eager to find faults with Bangladesh only to give Bangladesh a bad name internationally.