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1971 was neither a resistance movement nor a transient political turmoil in then East Pakistan. It was a bloody struggle for liberation of an oppressed people who were being systematically denied their legitimate political rights and economic entitlement; a heavy price was extracted in blood and wanton destruction. Indeed it was genocide deliberate and wicked. If World War II produced a ‘holocaust’ for the Jews in Germany (and occupied lands), 1971 produced its near equivalent in occupied Bangladesh.
   These are not words of acrimony and malignant anger; these are facts of history. And facts have to be confronted and accepted because any attempt to sweep facts under the carpet for the sake of good relations is flawed. Mature relationships are not built upon emotion and sentiment alone. They are strong and secure if based upon objective realities and interests. Forgive and forget is fine and generous but first one needs to define clearly and without ambiguity what is there to forgive and what to forgive.
   Nadeem Qadir (Confronting 1971), July 14, means well and writes to give the impression there is abundant goodwill for Bangladesh in Pakistan. No doubt there is, especially among the ordinary people of Pakistan. The hospitality and good grace of Pakistanis are legendary and second to none. But the official line by Pakistan thus far (after nearly thirty four years) glosses over 1971 in no stronger terms than ‘regret’ or as some would say ‘unfortunate’ and thus eminently forgettable as a mere spat in relationship within a family. If Japan is required to offer apology for wartime atrocities in Manchuria (China), if the German people continue to be guilt ridden, remorseful, and were made to pay huge reparations to the Jews for incarceration and murder, why Pakistan with all the brotherly goodwill, cannot even offer ‘apologies’?
   One is tempted to take Pakistan Information Minister at his word as quoted by Nadeem Qadir: ‘You are our brothers. This is your country. Just consider you are at home’ Then why does Pakistan still refuse to repatriate the stranded Pakistanis (a few hundred maybe) who avowed their loyalty and remained Pakistani citizens during 1971 and are languishing in camps to return home?
   Normal bilateral relations are built upon reciprocity of interests and concerns tempered with practical realities rather than sentimental clichés. And ‘realpolitik’ suggests that it is in the best interest of Pakistan to build strong relationships with India just as it is for Bangladesh with India. In fact, after India, Bangladesh has more historical, geographical, and future term economic and trade interest to ‘look East’ to build long forgotten bridges with close South East Asian neighbours- Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos - besides of course Malaysia and Indonesia. Relations with Pakistan do not have to be at the cost of those with either India or our eastern neighbours. For Bangladesh, better India-Pakistan relations are very good; the past animosity between the two has kept the SAARC severely handicapped.
   Time heals; but time also hardens and lost opportunities need not be lost forever. A time to apologise and repair is never too late nor should it be impossible. Even within a family, a sincere apology, a deep contrition, and a showing of remorse do much more than gestures and pleasant greetings.
   Zakir Husain
   Dhaka

The recently concluded Iran presidential election is now a most hyped issue in political circles. It was a real cliff-hanger at the first round of the race and it was presumed Rafsanjani would have the last laugh. But astoundingly, Ahmadinejad stood in the second round to stake his claim to forming the government. The political mandarins were awestruck by the result as it betrayed that Iran would be slipping back to the Islamic values.
   Historically, Iran was under the dynasty of the Shah. America and its allies backed the Shah regime, which was armed to the teeth by the Western world to consolidate its power. The country was being oriented towards oligarchy and repression was ubiquitous. The Iranians were weaving a dream to break free of their shackles and usher in a new era. The discontentment heated up and the people rose in revolutionary fervour under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomenei to throw off the yoke. Khomenei was banished to France and he continued to add fuel to fire from his exile. The tumultuous participation of commoners against the political omnipotence managed to overthrow the regime and heralded a new era in the history of Iran.
   The success in freeing the people from social and economic doldrums put Ayatollah Khomenei at pinnacle of glory and he became the central figure of the political edifice of Iran. The dream of the long deprived people revolved around him and he graduated from the position of political leader to sect of deity. The towering faith in him made Khomenei the spiritual leader of a predominantly Persian state. Ayatollah Khomenei was a firebrand Islamist. After coming to power he declared Iran as an Islamic State and expressed his cradle to grave desire to polarise Iranian society on Islamic norms. In all Islamic countries it is the women who bear the brunt of obscurantism as they come under barrage of social taboos. Iran was not an exception to this. The first step towards wholesale Islamisation from Khomenei was clamping a ‘Code of Conduct’ on women’s dress code. He did not confine his dogma in his own backyard but urged the other countries of the Middle East to establish a strong Muslim hegemony. His innuendos against America strained the relation between the two countries to great extent.
   After the death of Khomenei a wind of change occurred under the successive governments while Rafshanzani being the most maverick. He had been in constant attempt to turn Iran into a pseudo Islamic country with improving the relation with USA. His outright defeat posed a new threat to this war-ridden peninsula. The apple of discord between America and Iran is latter’s apprehended nuclear weapon. Iran had never called a spade a spade on this issue and their evasiveness made the only one superpower more sceptical. The newly elected Ahmadinejad is in the furnace, still to meet his waterloo. The Iranians have flippancy to the orthodoxy although it is the society which is deeply wedded into conservative mooring. The new president has to strike the medium, difficult path to walk on, no doubt.
   Imran Ahmed
   On e-mail

Recently in a press release, Justice Abu Sayeed Ahmad, chairman of Bangladesh Press Council, has called upon newspaper owners, editors and journalists to refrain from running even objective stories that may tarnish the country’s image. I am surprised to see such a statement and it seems to me that he is echoing the ruling alliance’s view about newspapers.
   Recently, the ruling party men and government have been at odds with the newspapers. In some recent reports newspapers have been exposing corruption of some ministers. I think that newspapers are playing the role that we common people expect from them. We need to know what the ministers are doing with public money. Some recent newspaper reports have hinted at the involvement of a ruling party MP in the widely publicised murder of Sagir Ahmed. Again we common people want to know whether our MPs are involved in criminal activities or not.
   In Bangladesh, we are caught in a helpless situation. The ruling alliance is doing whatever it wishes. RAB is killing people in the name of crossfire. Alliance’s men are found to be involved in the killing of opposition MPs. Our only hope lies in the newspapers. Newspapers can form public opinion against all sorts of misdeeds of the ruling alliance. They are exposing the truth and that makes the government unhappy. Probably, that is why the government is trying to take action against newspapers.
   Jewel Ahmed
   Basabo, Dhaka.

I read with great joy the report in New Age on July 10, ‘Fined for not switching off cell phone in court’. It seems the judge was so outraged that he fined the criminal Tk200 and made him stand in the corner for one hour.
   Wonderful! This is how we solve the poverty trap in Bangladesh!
   Have you had a conversation with a businessman, or a professional person, and you’re talking about something important, and there’s a buzzing in your friend’s pocket? He then has a blank look on his face, and suddenly treats you as if you’re stupid, and not worth talking to, and then he starts talking into his idiot box about picking up aloo, murgi and bhindi for dinner on his way home, or his secretary is telling him she’s wearing something really sexy today and would he like to take her out for lunch, or more?
   Well, dear friends, help is at hand.
   There’s a move to amend the constitution of Bangladesh to give every citizen the right to fine the person you’re talking to Tk200 if he picks up his mobile during your conversation! This is a breakthrough, and once again Bangladesh is leading the way.
   Work it out, this happens to me at least 20 times each day; at Tk200 each time, that’s Tk4,000 from me alone. Multiply this by the 50 million people who have this obnoxious habit (I’ve assumed women and children don’t have phones, women because they’re not allowed, and children because their dad’s have stolen them), and we have something like an unbelievable $30 crore each day!
   Now deduct the ‘commission’ taken by the collector wallahs and their chumchas in ministry of nothing much to do, where all this money has to be sent, and we have something like Tk563/- each and every day! That’s almost $3,500 every year!
   I just hope you’ll spend your newfound wealth, wisely. Good luck on this pioneering venture.
   Dr Richard Murphy
   Gulshan, Dhaka

Recently, there was a conference of Muslims in Chicago and a participant demanded that those Muslims who live in a non-Muslim country should be allowed to perform jumma prayers on Sunday. In those countries where Sunday is a holiday, Muslims can’t participate in the jumma prayers on Fridays because they have to work on Friday and there is no provision for any mid-day prayers. We saw that if a Friday becomes a holiday for any reason the mosques can’t accommodate enthusiastic jumma prayer seekers and it looks like an Eid day.
   A participating cleric opined that if a Muslim can’t perform jumma prayers in a non-Muslim country Allah will forgive him. But the day can’t be changed to a Sunday. Most people did not accept this opinion and claimed that serious consideration must be given to this demand. It’s a genuine cause and there must be a provision for this as a special consideration. There must be some flexibility. Regarding this issue, I request comments from the readers.
   Akbar Hussain
   Toronto, Canada

Our outspoken finance minister has blasted his fellow countrymen for wasting precious gas to save a mere match stick, and also the practice that some people use it to dry clothes. He is certainly a wise man and he knows it is totally unwise to cast pearls before swine. Now he has come up with a plan to stop the supply of gas through pipelines to houses and instead supplying it in cylinders which will naturally be more expensive. What a way to teach a lesson to the general people!
   It is okay for him if Niko burns up an entire gas field and causes irreparable loss to ecology and the environment of the area, if his fellow minister forces Bapex to pay more to Niko.
   Our FM has a habit of saving the big guys and picking on the common people. He has imposed a new tax on mobile SIM cards. He could easily have charged the mobile companies. If he had the intention of slashing call rates, he could have taken steps to make the call charge of the state owned mobile TeleTalk some 0.30 or 0.50 taka per minute so that others were forced to follow suit.
   But no! He will find graft in everything and anything. He will call government employees thieves to get into the limelight and has no time to remedy any of the problems. All he knows is to take money from the pockets of the public. Long live our FM and of course his rhetoric!
   Saif
   Dhaka
   

Your paper on July 6 reported on Ershad’s news conference. Ershad claimed that he would take legal action against Bidisha’s sister Trisha if her GD about Ershad’s attack on her home is found false. Incidentally, the police reported that Trisha’s GD about Ershad’s attack on her house was false. I have the least trust in the Bangladesh police. The situation becomes worse when political influence is added. Most of the newspapers reported that Ershad along with his gangs attacked Trisha’s house. Now it seems that the victim Trisha will be punished for complaining against the attackers!
   These days, Ershad is obviously enjoying government blessings. I feel sorry for the poor family of Bidisha. They are fighting not only against Ershad but also against the mighty 4-party alliance. I hope common people will show sympathy towards this family.
   Wasim Haider
   Toronto, Canada

When Lord William Cavendish Bentinck arrived as Governor General of India in 1828, India was facing a security crisis of unprecedented proportions. A group belonging to the Indian religious cult of murderers and robbers was terrorising the length and breadth of India. These secretive groups, broadly called ‘thuggees,’ were in many ways forerunners of today’s Al Qaeda. The only difference was that the thuggees were members of a Hindu extremist cult whose one aim was to kill and drive out what they called ‘infidel’ Muslim minority of India (sound familiar).
   So pervasive was their terror that people were afraid to go out even in daylight. They were beheading, strangulating and kidnapping people with impunity and the government was totally helpless to prevent it (again sound familiar). So Lord William Bentinck made fighting the thuggees his top priority. He had about 10,000 English troops and 200,000 loyal Indian soldiers and policemen. He had the support of India’s Muslim minority and also moderate Hindu majority who were disgusted by the thuggees’ mindless acts of terror. With their help, Lord Bentinck created an intelligence network and infiltrated the thuggee cells which operated throughout India.
   Once infiltration was complete, Lord William Bentinck struck. All across India, the Thuggees were encircled and in pitched battles, they were wiped out. Those who headed for forests and hills were hunted down. Scores who were responsible for murder and mayhem were hanged, thousands were handed out stiff prison sentences, but most lesser Thuggees were allowed to go free with the promise not to harm anyone. It was a massive military and security operation which the world had never seen before. When the operation came to a close in 1835, the Thuggees disappeared, never to be heard again. India was saved from a great curse. Only the word ‘thug’ meaning a brutal person became a part of the English lexicon.
   Although by today’s standards, Lord Bentinck’s anti-terrorist operations might seem ruthless, he was able to wipe out a murderous group who were  terrorizing India for many years. Facing today’s ‘thuggees’ - Al Qaeda - Prime Minister Tony Blair can learn from his illustrious forebear. The key words are ‘infiltration’ and ‘ruthlessness.’ In 19th century India, Lord Bentinck wiped out a huge terrorist network in a far away country, without the help of modern transportation and communication. Surely, Mr. Blair can deal a similar blow to Al Qaeda if he could infiltrate their organization and show similar ruthlessness in dealing with the evil.
   Lord Bentinck remains an iconic figure in India today. Women of India will always remember that it was Bentinck who abolished the cruel practice of burning of the widows. He was first to introduce teaching of English to the Indians which had enormous implications for modernization of India. He also laid the foundation of the Indian railways which are among the most extensive in the world today. Lord Bentinck was in many ways the founder of modern India. He was the greatest governor general England had sent anywhere. And his greatest acheivement was the suppression of the thuggees which brought peace in India. In a world gripped by a new thuggee, Al qaeda, we may looked to Lord Bentinck for how to deal with this new terror.
   Mahmood Elahi
   Ottawa, Canada

It is understandable that those whose loved ones have been killed or injured in the London attack will want to react with fire and bullets in their determination to punish the perpetrators. And we agree, unconditionally, that these murderers must be punished. But as we have learnt from the mistakes of the mighty America (with misguided loyalty from Blair), and after murdering hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis, that the war against terror can’t be won by bombs and bullets alone. We will get some short-term security, but if we are serious about fighting terrorism then there are other important factors that can no longer be ignored.
   One of those factors is the corrupt leadership of the developing countries and the well-off, oil-rich Middle East countries. If we look carefully we will find that all those countries that are poor and lagging in education, health, security, etc, have one thing in common: their leaders are busy doing exactly the opposite of what their people need. Leaders of those countries spend precious public money in personal luxuries, laughable self-glorifying projects and suppressing freedom. It is nice to have condolences from leaders across the globe, but those leaders who hold their own people hostage to their corrupt demands should not be taken seriously. After all, these are the people who create economic, political and social conditions which directly contribute to global terrorism. They are the main terrorists. These despots and hostage-takers who are unfit for the important positions they hold should be dealt with. Like global warming, AIDS and other big issues, this is also a major issue that has been ignored for too long.
   The other major factor is the double standards of the West. When fifteen Israelis are killed both Bush and Blair come out in front of the cameras and condemn it. But when fifteen Palestinians are murdered in their own country by an occupying force, we get written condemnations read out by the spokespersons of the White House and Downing Street. This is insulting and it will help our fight against terror if these insults stopped. The world community turns a blind eye to Israel’s nuclear weapons and the US repeatedly uses its veto to protect Israel. A considerable size of the world population is Muslim and there are many countries with Muslim-majority population, yet not a single Muslim country has been given any veto power or permanent membership! Who are doing this and why? This must change. The pictures of Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay and desecration of Qur’an are not helping us either. Of course, now is not the time to argue over these injustices and these can’t be the excuse for anyone to murder innocent people. But the sad truth is these issues are being used to recruit new terrorists even from well-off and rich places like the UK. We must, therefore, admit that something is not quite right with the way we are fighting terrorism. Many American analysts, policymakers, diplomats and military men now admit that their gung-ho fight on terror has actually made things worse.
   A joint statement from the G8 leaders said: ‘We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism...’ They have my full support and my condolences to the families of the victims. The attackers targeted all innocent and unarmed people, irrespective of their religion or ethnic background. These lunatics must be brought to justice, and to do that force, surveillance and tight security measures are necessary. But it would be a tragedy indeed if our leaders, after making two awesome blunders in Afghanistan and Iraq, still think they can defeat terrorism while ignoring the major contributing factors.
   Azad Miah
   Oldham, UK