USCIRF meeting on Bangladesh

Washington , D.C.
Oct 17, 2006

=====================================================================

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) meeting on ‘Bangladesh: USCIRF Forum on Bangladesh's Upcoming National Elections' was held in a congenial atmosphere on 17th Oct at Gold Room, Rayburn House Office building from 3-5PM in U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. The room was packed with observers mainly from various think tanks and non-governmental and human rights organizations as well as Bangladeshi people, speakers and panelists along with the USCIRF stuffs and commissioners. The meeting started with opening remarks by commission's current chair Hon. Felice D. Gaer.

Ms. Gaer initially laid out the format of the meeting and opened the floor saying that, Bangladesh is a functional democracy with a vibrant civil society and a constitution but those are in jeopardy as a result of violence, minority torture and growing Islamic militancy. She told that there is a vigorous press in the country, yet journalists can't write freely. She then referred to Mr. Soheb Chowdhury, a journalist who is facing sedation charge for calling on the government to recognize the state of Israel . She also talked about election and stressed about election & anti minority violence. Ms. Gaer mentioned about commission's recommendations included in the Policy Paper distributed among the members of the audience beforehand.

Vice chair Michael Chromartie then talked vividly about election. He told that a lot of minorities were not enlisted in the voter list. Describing others drawbacks he stressed that those factors damage the credibility of democracy. He told that, among commission's recommendations one is: the commission calls on the US government to urge the government of Bangladesh to make every effort to prevent violence before & after the election. He mentioned that, care taker government needs to have authority & power over defense ministry & law enforcement agencies.

Preeta Bansal, a former chairperson in the commissioner clarified commission's position more clearly and formally presented the recommendations. She told that Bangladesh has a well functioning democracy, a strong civil society but all those are in stake due to three trouble developments: (1). Violence to community. Here she talked about violence against Hindus, Ahmedias & Christians (2). Islamization of government, and (3) Islamization of society.  Ms. Bansal mentioned about Hindu population decrease, violence against non-Muslims, Hindu property take over etc. She stressed that those need to be stopped. To point out how the government is being Islamized, she mentioned her meeting about with Mr. Motiur Rahman Nizami during her recent visit to Bangladesh when she asked Mr. Nizami of his view about Jihad. Laughter broke out in the room when Ms. Bansal narrated Mr. Nizami's response that, Jihad, according to Mr. Nizami, was to utilize the government apparatus and political will to establish Bangladesh as an Islamic state.

Featured speakers, starting with former ambassador A. Tariq Karim, then address the meeting. Mr. Karim tried to be balanced in his speech. He started saying that, not everything is bad in Bangladesh . He referred to the peace prize awarded to Dr. Yunus as an example of Bangladeshi effort to try to upheld peace. He told that Bangladesh is a secular Muslim country and it's a democracy is in transition. He told that in 1971 we were united irrespective of religion but now it is starkly divided country along the lines of religion & politics. He also opined that after 1975 political Islam was thrust into the country either deliberately or unknowingly without thinking of the consequence. He told if the 14-party demands were not met then the country will have a lot problem. He said if Islamization continues in Bangladesh , it must have repurcation in India . He set some recommendation for free & fair election but said if 2 main political parties don't come to a consensus it will not come to fruition.

Mr. Selig S. Harrison, director of Asia program at the center of International policy & a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International center for scholars told in his speech that he had gone to Bangladesh several times since 1951. He told that ISI helped the Islamic groups of Bangladesh including Jamaat which is a coalition partner in the government. He said, care taker government is supposed to be neutral but the government changed the constitution to change the dynamics in its favor. Referring to NDI, he said there were 13 millions more new voters than the number of people found in the census report. He also mentioned former Senate majority leader Tom Dashle's analysis that EC was biased and incompetent. Referring to the EC he finally said said: Confidence has to be raised so that AL has no reason to boycott the election. He also stressed that, Hasan should step down and  US government should press for that. He talked about police torture and refers Saber H. Chowdhury & Mohammed Nasim. He said Jaamat has politicized Islam. Journalist can't play their role and added that, we are concern by the growing pattern of intimidation of journalist by the Islamists. He ended his speech saying that, Bangladesh is a problem in South Asia which in turn will be global problem.

Ms. Cynthia R. Bunton, regional program director for Asia at the IRI (International Republican Institute) described IRI activities to vitalize the democratic institutions in Bangladesh . She expressed concern about election, voter Registration and continuation of political deadlock in Bangladesh .

Last featured speaker was Patrick Merloe a senior associate at the NDI (National Democratic Institute) said that surely NDI's report undermine the reputation of Bangladesh but violence, money, mussel, police brutality nothing is new in Bangladesh.

He said: hostility between two main political parties is the main obstacle for democracy in Bangladesh .  BNP/AL during their tenure did not help establish a vigorous and responsible opposing party. Radicals are taking the opportunities of the gulf of difference of two main political parties. He referred all the bombings, grenade attacks and said political parties need conduct responsibly. He told, caretaker government, EC everything must be done constitutionally and by discussion.

Ms. Felice Gaer then opened the house for the panelist to ask questions. Ramesh Rao of Hindu American Foundation asked if there were any attempt by any political parties to set aside parliamentary seats particularly for the minorities.  Ms. Gaer told that, quota system did not bring good effect in Pakistan and ….. Preeta Bansal then asked Mr. Harrison about the influence of Wahabism in Bangladesh . Mr. Harrison referred ‘al-Rabita', a Saudi charitable group which has relationship with the small Islamic groups in Bangladesh .  In reply to a question by a former ambassador about commission's recommendation to US government Preeta Bansal & commission's deputy executive director Ted Stanky took the floor and explains that it is just an urge.  Mr. Radhnon of -----------------------then tried to explain Sharia & Islam and said that, secular groups in Bangladesh must be secular & religious. He said, nobody mentioned that Bangladesh is a champion in corruption for several years and hinted that may have been a reason of the rise of Jamaat or militant Islam. Ms. Felice then give the microphone to Mr. Benkin and introduced him as the brother of Salauddin Soheb Chowdhury who told that he was refused to give visa thrice in last six month to visit Bangladesh. He told that, both Bangladeshi ambassador in Washington and the home minister assured him that there would be no charge against Soheb but they breached the trust and as a result his brother is now facing sedation charge just for trying to visit Israel and for calling upon the government to establish diplomatic relation with Israel . He demanded the dismissal of all the charges against his brother. Before that, Mr. T. Kumar of Amnesty International asked Mr. Harrison what role he saw RAW was playing in Bangladesh as Mr. Harrison suggested an ISI role in the country, earlier. Mr. Harrison replied that, RAW is busy to figure out what the ISI was doing. The whole house bursted in laughter.   Mr. Brian Joseph, Moneeza Hossain & Ms. Eshanee also talked briefly. Ms. Moneeza of Hudson Institute asked the commission, if the commission had thought over the role of army during election, the chair Ms. Gaer told that they heard something about shake up in the army but they did not explore anything on that regard, and promised to focus on that. After 5pm Ms. Gayer open the house to observers when Pradip Das of BHBCUC , USA told that, several speakers in the panel attributed to various political party's efforts to promote and preserve democracy in Bangladesh . He disagreed with the panel saying that BNP and its allies did not qualify for such attributes for they were not interested in democracy rather they promoted islamocracy and terrorism. He pointed out that when the country was besieged by Bangla Bhai, the BNP govt dismissed it as a myth created by the media. He also countered that Bangladesh can not be referred to as a Muslim democracy as the United States is not called a Christian democracy. He said that he wanted to be known as a Bangladeshi and not as a Hindu citizen of a Muslim country, as a country should never have a label. Abdul Latif Samrat, President of US BNP took the floor and told that he was unhappy that nobody talked about the immense success of the government of Begum Khaleda Zia particularly in the area of fighting terrorism and preserving communal harmony. He mentioned that Bangladesh is an example of communal harmony in South Asia . He condemned Mr. Karim's speech as one sided. Ms. Gaer concluded the session with thanks to everybody.

(Contents of this report are made on the basis of what the participants said in the meeting, what we had heard and noted down. The writer does not claim 100% accuracy of the description of the event as it is humanely impossible to divine completely the tone and intentions of each speakers).

2 other meetings

On the same day in the morning BHBCUC , USA attended two separate meetings with the State Department officials Deputy Director for Bangladesh & Pakistan Mr. Ricahrd Sacks & Desk Officer for Bangladesh Mr. Brent Christensen and the DRL (An office inside State Department deal with Human Rights) officials Ms. Catherine Berglund and Dr. Joannella Morales. The focus was on three issues: (i) Why/How the minorities ought to be politically empowered for their short and long term protection; full implementation of the CHT treaty; and preservation Ramna Kalibari/Ma Anadamoyee Ashram, Repealing the Enemy Property Act by adding new provisions, and the recent listing of 69 minority properties in Sunamgonj and elsewhere. Both the State Department and the DRL officials told that, All the branches of the U. S. government are extremely concerned about the protection/security of the minorities in the next election; Specific funds have been made available to Bangladesh to sensitize election officers to the issue of the minorities right to vote and their security; and that They are planning to place observers in the country prior to the election and keep them for a while after the election is over so the minorities are not intimidated.  

Special Notes:

After holding an on-the record hearing on April 30, 2004 in which 2001 Caretaker Government Chief Justice Latifur Rahman was brought to New York and accused of failing to stop atrocities against the minorities and then including Bangladesh on its Watch list in 2005 and 2006 and sending three commissioners to examine the situation first hand (in February-March 2006 they held 23 meetings with senior government officials, political leaders, human rights monitors, members of various religious communities, civil society representatives and journalists) organizations.

Please visit: www.uscirf.gov for their two press releases on Bangladesh

Meeting with Sheikh Hasina

BHBCUC , USA group later in the evening met with Honorable Sheikh Hasina at the resident of Awami league president Khalid Hasan in Verginia , Washington . This was an informal and unscheduled meeting. Sajeeb Wajed Joy was present there.

USCIRF meeting on Bangladesh

Washington , D.C.
Oct 17, 2006

=====================================================================

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) meeting on ‘Bangladesh: USCIRF Forum on Bangladesh's Upcoming National Elections' was held in a congenial atmosphere on 17th Oct at Gold Room, Rayburn House Office building from 3-5PM in U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. The room was packed with observers mainly from various think tanks and non-governmental and human rights organizations as well as Bangladeshi people, speakers and panelists along with the USCIRF stuffs and commissioners. The meeting started with opening remarks by commission's current chair Hon. Felice D. Gaer.

Ms. Gaer initially laid out the format of the meeting and opened the floor saying that, Bangladesh is a functional democracy with a vibrant civil society and a constitution but those are in jeopardy as a result of violence, minority torture and growing Islamic militancy. She told that there is a vigorous press in the country, yet journalists can't write freely. She then referred to Mr. Soheb Chowdhury, a journalist who is facing sedation charge for calling on the government to recognize the state of Israel . She also talked about election and stressed about election & anti minority violence. Ms. Gaer mentioned about commission's recommendations included in the Policy Paper distributed among the members of the audience beforehand.

Vice chair Michael Chromartie then talked vividly about election. He told that a lot of minorities were not enlisted in the voter list. Describing others drawbacks he stressed that those factors damage the credibility of democracy. He told that, among commission's recommendations one is: the commission calls on the US government to urge the government of Bangladesh to make every effort to prevent violence before & after the election. He mentioned that, care taker government needs to have authority & power over defense ministry & law enforcement agencies.

Preeta Bansal, a former chairperson in the commissioner clarified commission's position more clearly and formally presented the recommendations. She told that Bangladesh has a well functioning democracy, a strong civil society but all those are in stake due to three trouble developments: (1). Violence to community. Here she talked about violence against Hindus, Ahmedias & Christians (2). Islamization of government, and (3) Islamization of society.  Ms. Bansal mentioned about Hindu population decrease, violence against non-Muslims, Hindu property take over etc. She stressed that those need to be stopped. To point out how the government is being Islamized, she mentioned her meeting about with Mr. Motiur Rahman Nizami during her recent visit to Bangladesh when she asked Mr. Nizami of his view about Jihad. Laughter broke out in the room when Ms. Bansal narrated Mr. Nizami's response that, Jihad, according to Mr. Nizami, was to utilize the government apparatus and political will to establish Bangladesh as an Islamic state.

Featured speakers, starting with former ambassador A. Tariq Karim, then address the meeting. Mr. Karim tried to be balanced in his speech. He started saying that, not everything is bad in Bangladesh . He referred to the peace prize awarded to Dr. Yunus as an example of Bangladeshi effort to try to upheld peace. He told that Bangladesh is a secular Muslim country and it's a democracy is in transition. He told that in 1971 we were united irrespective of religion but now it is starkly divided country along the lines of religion & politics. He also opined that after 1975 political Islam was thrust into the country either deliberately or unknowingly without thinking of the consequence. He told if the 14-party demands were not met then the country will have a lot problem. He said if Islamization continues in Bangladesh , it must have repurcation in India . He set some recommendation for free & fair election but said if 2 main political parties don't come to a consensus it will not come to fruition.

Mr. Selig S. Harrison, director of Asia program at the center of International policy & a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International center for scholars told in his speech that he had gone to Bangladesh several times since 1951. He told that ISI helped the Islamic groups of Bangladesh including Jamaat which is a coalition partner in the government. He said, care taker government is supposed to be neutral but the government changed the constitution to change the dynamics in its favor. Referring to NDI, he said there were 13 millions more new voters than the number of people found in the census report. He also mentioned former Senate majority leader Tom Dashle's analysis that EC was biased and incompetent. Referring to the EC he finally said said: Confidence has to be raised so that AL has no reason to boycott the election. He also stressed that, Hasan should step down and  US government should press for that. He talked about police torture and refers Saber H. Chowdhury & Mohammed Nasim. He said Jaamat has politicized Islam. Journalist can't play their role and added that, we are concern by the growing pattern of intimidation of journalist by the Islamists. He ended his speech saying that, Bangladesh is a problem in South Asia which in turn will be global problem.

Ms. Cynthia R. Bunton, regional program director for Asia at the IRI (International Republican Institute) described IRI activities to vitalize the democratic institutions in Bangladesh . She expressed concern about election, voter Registration and continuation of political deadlock in Bangladesh .

Last featured speaker was Patrick Merloe a senior associate at the NDI (National Democratic Institute) said that surely NDI's report undermine the reputation of Bangladesh but violence, money, mussel, police brutality nothing is new in Bangladesh.

He said: hostility between two main political parties is the main obstacle for democracy in Bangladesh .  BNP/AL during their tenure did not help establish a vigorous and responsible opposing party. Radicals are taking the opportunities of the gulf of difference of two main political parties. He referred all the bombings, grenade attacks and said political parties need conduct responsibly. He told, caretaker government, EC everything must be done constitutionally and by discussion.

Ms. Felice Gaer then opened the house for the panelist to ask questions. Ramesh Rao of Hindu American Foundation asked if there were any attempt by any political parties to set aside parliamentary seats particularly for the minorities.  Ms. Gaer told that, quota system did not bring good effect in Pakistan and ….. Preeta Bansal then asked Mr. Harrison about the influence of Wahabism in Bangladesh . Mr. Harrison referred ‘al-Rabita', a Saudi charitable group which has relationship with the small Islamic groups in Bangladesh .  In reply to a question by a former ambassador about commission's recommendation to US government Preeta Bansal & commission's deputy executive director Ted Stanky took the floor and explains that it is just an urge.  Mr. Radhnon of -----------------------then tried to explain Sharia & Islam and said that, secular groups in Bangladesh must be secular & religious. He said, nobody mentioned that Bangladesh is a champion in corruption for several years and hinted that may have been a reason of the rise of Jamaat or militant Islam. Ms. Felice then give the microphone to Mr. Benkin and introduced him as the brother of Salauddin Soheb Chowdhury who told that he was refused to give visa thrice in last six month to visit Bangladesh. He told that, both Bangladeshi ambassador in Washington and the home minister assured him that there would be no charge against Soheb but they breached the trust and as a result his brother is now facing sedation charge just for trying to visit Israel and for calling upon the government to establish diplomatic relation with Israel . He demanded the dismissal of all the charges against his brother. Before that, Mr. T. Kumar of Amnesty International asked Mr. Harrison what role he saw RAW was playing in Bangladesh as Mr. Harrison suggested an ISI role in the country, earlier. Mr. Harrison replied that, RAW is busy to figure out what the ISI was doing. The whole house bursted in laughter.   Mr. Brian Joseph, Moneeza Hossain & Ms. Eshanee also talked briefly. Ms. Moneeza of Hudson Institute asked the commission, if the commission had thought over the role of army during election, the chair Ms. Gaer told that they heard something about shake up in the army but they did not explore anything on that regard, and promised to focus on that. After 5pm Ms. Gayer open the house to observers when Pradip Das of BHBCUC , USA told that, several speakers in the panel attributed to various political party's efforts to promote and preserve democracy in Bangladesh . He disagreed with the panel saying that BNP and its allies did not qualify for such attributes for they were not interested in democracy rather they promoted islamocracy and terrorism. He pointed out that when the country was besieged by Bangla Bhai, the BNP govt dismissed it as a myth created by the media. He also countered that Bangladesh can not be referred to as a Muslim democracy as the United States is not called a Christian democracy. He said that he wanted to be known as a Bangladeshi and not as a Hindu citizen of a Muslim country, as a country should never have a label. Abdul Latif Samrat, President of US BNP took the floor and told that he was unhappy that nobody talked about the immense success of the government of Begum Khaleda Zia particularly in the area of fighting terrorism and preserving communal harmony. He mentioned that Bangladesh is an example of communal harmony in South Asia . He condemned Mr. Karim's speech as one sided. Ms. Gaer concluded the session with thanks to everybody.

(Contents of this report are made on the basis of what the participants said in the meeting, what we had heard and noted down. The writer does not claim 100% accuracy of the description of the event as it is humanely impossible to divine completely the tone and intentions of each speakers).

2 other meetings

On the same day in the morning BHBCUC , USA attended two separate meetings with the State Department officials Deputy Director for Bangladesh & Pakistan Mr. Ricahrd Sacks & Desk Officer for Bangladesh Mr. Brent Christensen and the DRL (An office inside State Department deal with Human Rights) officials Ms. Catherine Berglund and Dr. Joannella Morales. The focus was on three issues: (i) Why/How the minorities ought to be politically empowered for their short and long term protection; full implementation of the CHT treaty; and preservation Ramna Kalibari/Ma Anadamoyee Ashram, Repealing the Enemy Property Act by adding new provisions, and the recent listing of 69 minority properties in Sunamgonj and elsewhere. Both the State Department and the DRL officials told that, All the branches of the U. S. government are extremely concerned about the protection/security of the minorities in the next election; Specific funds have been made available to Bangladesh to sensitize election officers to the issue of the minorities right to vote and their security; and that They are planning to place observers in the country prior to the election and keep them for a while after the election is over so the minorities are not intimidated.  

Special Notes:

After holding an on-the record hearing on April 30, 2004 in which 2001 Caretaker Government Chief Justice Latifur Rahman was brought to New York and accused of failing to stop atrocities against the minorities and then including Bangladesh on its Watch list in 2005 and 2006 and sending three commissioners to examine the situation first hand (in February-March 2006 they held 23 meetings with senior government officials, political leaders, human rights monitors, members of various religious communities, civil society representatives and journalists) organizations.

Please visit: www.uscirf.gov for their two press releases on Bangladesh

Meeting with Sheikh Hasina

BHBCUC , USA group later in the evening met with Honorable Sheikh Hasina at the resident of Awami league president Khalid Hasan in Verginia , Washington . This was an informal and unscheduled meeting. Sajeeb Wajed Joy was present there.