The New Nation - Internet Edition

Wali-ur Rehman

When I first read about Pablo Neruda the Nobel laureate for literature and later Yevgeny Yevtushenko, I found in both a similarity and contrast. I was enthralled with Neruda's poems of love - unparalled in its dept and rawness. He started his life as a communist - whose devotion to certain beliefs never wavered including his praise for Stalin and Lenin. Pablo Neruda also served as a diplomat; his assignment to Paris by Salvador Allende as Ambassador (1970-1972) was one of his finest moments in life. My cousin Syed Altaf Hossain also, a communist, used to hide in our village home to avoid being arrested by Ayub rigime. He was an h

onest man to the button - to the extend that upon his death, he left his wife and children without a home, and property. Only in his last days, he joined the cabinet of Bangabandhu as the Shipping Minister of State only to end with his assassination. He is the one who introduced me to some of famous Russian authors.

In 1966, Pablo Neruda was invited by the playright Arther Miller to the International PEN Conference in New York. Neruda read his poems to a packed hall and recorded some for the Library of Congress. Carlos Fuentes, the Mexican author suggested this PEN Conference heralded the "beginning of the end of the cold war". Neruda died soon after Agosto Pinochet took over in a military coup. He declared Martial Law so that nobody could go to his funeral - but millions went there disobeying the Pinochet curfew as a protest against his dictatorship.

Yevtushenko, on the contrary (July 18, 1933) was the first voice against Stalin's dictatorship - even before Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov. His first poem Staraya Zima (Zima Junction) 1956, was widely praised in the world including by Boris Pasternak and Robert Frost. But he was expelled from the Literary Institute of Russia for his extraordinary "individualism"!

In his Babi Yar, he denounced the Soviet distortion of historial fact about the jewish population by the Nazis at Kiev in September 1941 and the Soviet anti-Semitism. The Soviets discribed holocaust only about atrocitities against the Soviets - but it was really a genocide of the Jews. Yevtushenko was a poet who did not fear to speak the truth. He also protested against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968; while sympathizing with the helpless waiting of the Czech President Dubcek, he said he will break with the iron curtain. Though he supported Mikhail Gorbachev and later in 1991, Boris Yeltsin, he denounced him for sending tanks to Chechnya. He now (2007) teaches at the University of Tulsa (Oklahama) and at Queens College (City University, New York). He was a good friend of the Che Guevera, Salvador Allende and Pablo Neruda.

In the American history, the struggle between the evil and good, between democratic and non-democratic forces have even going on before and since Alexander Hamilton's peace negitiations between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson. In todays America, the battle is still on. No wonder, J.F Kennedy said, 'Democracy is never a final achivement it is an only effort to reach a goal'.

Alphonse Gabriel Al Capone (January 17, 1899 - January 25, 1947) is a household word. Many films have been shown on Al Capone brutalities and his lust for money, and how bad he operated in a mafia - ridden world, where witnesses were scared even to go to the court. His notoreity during the Prohibition Era, when in the Chicago underworld his Cause naustra friends made money by selling liquor, bootlegging, prostitution, moonshine operatious, illegal breweres and gambling, brought him media attention to whom his answer was "I am just a businessman', giving people what they want and all I do is to satisfy a public demand". Capone became a celebrity. Alcatraz brought the end of this Neapolitan. His notoreity brought him - fame and films and books, TV Series, Cartoons and fiction. Mario Puzo's 1969 'The Godfather' was the ultimate 'story' of the mafia leader. And the plot saw such actors as Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner and Sean Connery.

In Chicago, once his happy hunting ground, two former Governors are serving jail and the present one may go these soon. The same city also produced leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Barak Obama.

Who does not know the names of Bonnie Parker (October 1, 1910 - May 23, 1934) and Clyde Barrow (March 24, 1909 - May 23, 1934), known popularly for the film, Bonnie and Clyde or the song "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde". They were small - time thugs, but through the decades, many cultural historians have analysed Bonnie and Clyde's enduring appeal to the public imagination.

ER Milner, a historian and writer and authority on Bonnie and Clyde put the duo's enduring appeal to the public, during the depression of 1930's into historical and cultural perspective. Bonnie and Clyde "represent the ultimate outsides, revolting against an uncaring system". To them the unregulated capitalist system had been abused by big business and government officials". What an irony, we hear the same songs today in Washington D.C and the Wall Street. It is not the industrial revolution nor is it the discovery that created Dr. Jackyel and Hyde: it is Everyman.

Even earlier on, Butch Cassidy and Sun Dance Kid brought a similar emotional feeling amongst many of us. A great country, a great society only can accept those aberrations and still move on to become the greatest power on earth.

Contrast the above with the history of Bangladesh, thirty-seven summers gone, with the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib brutally assassinated, and another military President murdered, the struggle goes on to rediscover our glorious history, our identity. President Ershad was only a hiatus. He gained the sobriquet of an autocrat, but he never claimed to be a democrat either. President Zia brought back Maulana Moududi. He repeal off the Collaborators Act. As a result, today, we have the rise of Political Islam with the Holy Quran and Sunnah distorted rationalizing the killing of Muslims in the name of God. Zia inculcated personal simplicity, he understood the depth of bureaucratic corruption and that's why he could manipulate the referendum. He called the Secretariat including the Foreign Ministry a snakepit, but at the same time he said, "Money is no problem, I shall make politics difficult for the politicians". His lived so simply that he did not hesitate to go Havana for the non-aligned summit with a multicolored pair of shoes wearing a dark suit and met Fidel Castro, with me as his note taker. He took me with him leaving my senior colleague behind to undo the injustice done to me following the murder of Bangabandhu. I was made the first OSD of Bangladesh, because I protested the murder of Sheikh Mujib. Zia disagreed with the then Foreign Secretary. Another colleague years later, as Foreign Secretary, took it upon me and - he had me dismissed from the service under a black law by framing a false charge against me. My crime was that I resigned from the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1971. But I won the case in Begum Zia's own court of law on her watch! Her Attorney General termed the Begum as a vindictive woman. He warned me to be careful. He even wanted my nameplate to be removed from the gate of our house.

Ershad brought in the Eight amendment. He antagonized the entire robed fraternity on both sides of the aisle. He sent senior members of the Bar to goal. It was a grievous blunder. He should have shown respect to them for the contribution they made in the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign Nation-State. Ershad was too early for his time. In the unitary state he wanted to have a second chamber, he wanted High courts in the six Divisions to bring justice to the doorsteps of the poor. He perhaps had an ulterior motive also to remove pressures from the most vocal and active leadership of the legal fraternity. Only future can tell whether he was right or wrong. We are still too near history. In Ranke's words - at last 50-100 years have to pass before the true history of a country can be written.

The British has a second chamber-but so did they have Henry the VIII and Anne Bollen or Reverend Sir Thomas More whose muffled cries can still be heard from the silent chambers of the Tower of London.

Ershad's undemocratic rule coupled with the cries of Milon and Noor Hossain is perhaps eclipsed by the elected autocracy of Begum Zia (2001-2006) with the cries of thousands of men and women killed in the South by her goons with rape and loot, arson and tortures particularly on the minority Community all were considered to be crimes against humanity by the International Conference held in Dhaka on February 13 and 14, 2002. Unfortunately the organizers miserably failed to drive home the gravity of the crimes - to the Human Rights groups, at home and abroad. It was a missed opportunity which will never come back.

Never again since the liberation war had such atrocities been inflicted on our opposition: add to that the brutal murder of Shah SMS Kibria MP and Ahsanullah Master MP and the best journalists of the country including Shamsur Rahman of Jessore and the attempt on Sheikh Hasina on August 21, 2004 which she barely escaped, with her ears and eyes permanently damaged, with 24 people dead, including the opposition woman leader Ivy Rahman. Hundreds are still carrying shrapnels in their brains and bodies. Mayor Hanif breathed his last sigh with those shrapnels in his brain.

In order to divert attention, one George Mia of Barisal was up as the real murderer! It was under Begum Zia's watch that 500 bombs exploded in 63 Districts - Begum Zia's Government suggested it was all media creation! Two judges, trainees of Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs, were victims of cold-blooded murder. The media continued to face the wrath of the Zia administration. So much for the rule of law during her rule.

The truth is now coming out under the Caretaker Government; Mufti Hannan of JMB, a banned terror group, trained by the Jihadist in Pakistan and Afghanistan, is relating the gruesome story of JMB and HUJI - 2 and Bangla Bhai, all masterminded by some BNP leaders including the elected MP Pintoo and Aminul Haq of the North Western Bangladesh. The question always comes to my mind why those murdered were all Freedom Fighters and not one non-freedom fighters?

Truth shall out. As the British Parliament ordered that Cromwell's body must exhumed and tried before the House of Parliament since he was guilty of regicide. The trial was held with the caracas in front of the House of Commons and the judgment was given against the murder of Charles I and found guilty and reburied.

Much is said about Justice Shahabuddin. He lost his credibility the day he demanded to get back to the Supreme Court after serving as the acting President of Bangladesh. When we jump to blame Bangabandhu about the 4th amendment, one finds equally the learned Justice having lost his credibility as the guardian of Judiciary. Similarly some learned Justices stand equally accountable to the people for justifying the Military takeovers citing the Doctrine of Necessity. No Doctrine ever can justify the taking over of power through illegal means and then get it legalized through a pliable judiciary! If the Judiciary wanted to uphold the constitution, the Supreme Court should have handed down a verdict that the speaker of the Parliament should take over as the acting President following Sheikh Mujb's murder. But that was not so. When over 300 accused are given bail in 300 minutes, when an NGO - leader - turned-adviser publicly said, not once but twice, "go to the court and you will get bail, where were the guardians of law on both the sides of the aisle"?

Justice Sandra O' Conners, while comparing law with poetry, also said that Judiciary is not above criticism. For every judgment they are accountable to the American tax-payers. In Bangladesh it is not so. Jeffrey Toobin would be horrified. The poet rightly said, ÒGgb †`kwU †Kv_vI Lyu‡R cv‡e bv †Mv Zzwg ttttÓ

Justice Shahabuddin's judgment demands scrutiny. A time may come when this small country with the worlds largest population per square kilometer may have to be divided into several provinces for better Justice delivery system and better administration.

Ershad will stand out as a human being with all his faults and foibles, but he will be remembered for his positive contribution too; he created the infrastructure in the country: East and West, North and South, Panthpath, the Vijoy Sharani, the Sena Kunja, the Osmani Bhaban, side by side, there is also a witness at Karwan Bazar famous trading the undemocratic of his rule. During his rule he encouraged cultivation of Rajanigandha; as a matter of fact the brought back the lost glory of flower culture in the country. We're exporting flowers abroad, though small in quantity but with a potential future. And Biman was flying in time. Today foreign remittance of $ 8 b. owes a lot to him - ten thousand illegal Bangladeshis in Italy was legalized though his efforts - today Italy has 1 lac 50 thousand Bangladeshis. In the tri-state New York, over 1 lac Bagalis are there largely due to his efforts. But the negative side of his rule cannot ever be overlooked. But he has asked for pardon for his mistaken and he is the only to pleader who several six years imprisonment. That is the Bangladesh we have today. BNP's corruption and misrule certainly places Ershad on a higher pedestal. His corruption is eclipsed with that of BNP. Omit rightly the London Economist said, "not one major all of power was added between 200`-2006. Bangladeshis are like bare pillars only standing as a symbol of corruption during her rule".

Thus I remember the American history of Bonnie and Clyde, of Butch Cassidy and Sun Dance Kid.

Let us now look to a brighter future. With 35% first time voters, this country cannot fail and shall not fail. The Golden Jubilee celebration will see this country as a mid-level developed one, and a Zero growth population. That's the true vision 2021.

(The author is a senior member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), He is working on a Book on South Asian Terrorism. The Brookings Institute and Center for International Policy will supervise portions of his Book. Email; shahrukr@ dhaka.net )