As if one Pervez Musharraf is not enough. If things go as planned, the world is now set to watch another general taking over a presidential palace in South Asia, sometime in 2008. Religiously following the blueprint by his Pakistani mentor, the Bangladeshi army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed, also plans to edit the country’s constitution in order to establish total military control over the parliament and the government.
Tag Archive for 'Military'
In Bangladesh, amid the mindless ado about Professor Yunus and his new adventures and the interim government’s angelic mission aimed at rooting out corruption, the least reported aspect of the story is of the martial law that in now calling the shots from the Dhaka cantonment. As usual you are not going to read anything substantial on this in Dhaka newspapers, people are too busy hyping up Professor Y and the so-called “cleansing” drive ongoing.
Arnold Zeitlin — Visiting Professor, Department of Journalism, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies — recently circulated an email detailing his recent visit to Dhaka, that summarizes and analyzes a lot for many of the uninitiated in the Bangladesh story. Republished in a slightly edited form, with permission from the author.
Since its birth, Pakistan has been said to be ruled by triple A: “Allah,” “Army” and “America.” Even today, years after the independence of “East Pakistan,” endless sectarian riots in Karachi confirm the murky influence of religion in Pakistani politics. And when Condoleezza Rice — the American Secretary of State — flies in from Washington to Islamabad to meet the President, she is greeted by a man in khaki. Policies that govern the modern day Pakistan are, one way or the other, observers argue, set by the adherents of mullahism or imperialism, and accordingly enforced by the military junta. That is Pakistan in 2005 and that was Pakistan in 1971. Little has changed, that too in a negative direction.
Enemy of the state
Continue reading ‘Enemy of the state’