The mystery of flawed logic

For example, Michael Walzer in a speech at Harvard criticised the Pakistan military for carrying out repression in Bangladesh to the displeasure of Ms. Benazir Bhutto, a student at that time. Pundit Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, Ali Akbar Khan, Alla Rakha Khan, Bob Dylan, et al organised the famous Concert for Bangladesh in Madison Square Garden, New York and not in Boise, Idaho.

What did it prove? Only New England states and liberal New York were interested in Bangladesh or were outraged by the brutality of Pakistani repression? Was that a mystery as well? Yes, if we follow the logic of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed from Princeton. What has geography or number of people got to do with the expression of moral outrage?

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Bangladeshi lobbyists in the US during the liberation war, namely, Rehman Sobhan, late Dr. Enayet Rahim, et al were visiting college campuses and influencing public opinion including the politicians. Who knows? But it is not the geography but the substance of the issue at hand that is important. The geography of support or opposition can be successfully manipulated by the present US administration to justify its illegal and immoral war in Iraq by saying that a large number of intellectuals opposing the war are from the elite universities which are geographically located in and around New England. For example late Edward Said was from Columbia University, New York; Noam Chomsky is from MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Paul Krugman and Richard Falk are from Princeton University, New Jersey; Immanuel Wallerstein is from Yale University, etc. Surely, they are not geographically well represented. But so what?

Why was the letter to Secretary Rice not published in the American press? The point is simple. Bangladesh does not loom large on the horizon of US interest contrary to perceptions in sections of left-intellectuals and naive politicians in Bangladesh. Why was there no meeting between George W and our honourable Prime Minister? The same reason: Bangladesh is not a key partner of the US nor are we a client state. And on publishing news related to Bangladesh in The New York Times, or other print media in the US, we have not done well. The US media is interested in representing our disasters and only in rare occasions our blips of success stories such as Grameen Bank of Professor Yunus.

To impute that the letter does not exist or the US congressmen did not sign the letter is cynical, if not preposterous. However, what is preposterous is to compare the US judiciary with that of Bangladesh. US judiciary has its shortcomings like many other judicial systems. And in recent years, it has come under criticism. But the stance of the US judiciary with regards to Guantanamo Bay deserves respect. Anyone interested to pursue this point should refer to two court cases: Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld and Shafiq Rasul et al vs. George Walker Bush et al". I have reasons to believe that there are many men and women of impeccable integrity in the Bangladesh judiciary, but because of our political culture, we are still behind the US and other advanced democracies in separating the judiciary from the executive branch of the government. In the USA, you are innocent until proven guilty (this principle has been somewhat overshadowed only recently by Homeland Security Act); in Bangladesh you are basically guilty until proven innocent. At least, that's what it appears when I read in the newspapers of arrests on suspicion (and later "shown" to be arrested on this or that charge) and extra-judicial killings.

Taking a critical stance of US foreign and military policies does not mean that we should part company with our sense of objectivity.

It is true that the US is not even-handed in her criticisms of political violence in the world. US policies of looking the other way when it comes to Israel's violent behaviour is well-known, but that cannot be used as an excuse for overlooking our own political violence. With regard to communal riots in India, especially Gujarat, I am not aware of the reactions of the US government, but at a future date the infamous Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi was refused visa to visit the US. That does not look like a position of indifference to me. One of the most memorable pieces on Gujarat in an American paper (The New York Review of Books, August 2002) by Mr. Pankaj Misra did play a role in shaping the opinion of the intellectuals and the discerning sections of the American public.

What taxes my credulity is when I read Dr. Ahmed saying: "I cannot believe that the US legislators would quote TI and would be so mean-spirited to take such a swipe at Bangladesh. They are far too decent and classy to be so crass." The question is: is corruption rife in Bangladesh or not? And the unequivocal answer is: yes. To question the seriousness of the problem of corruption in Bangladesh is crass.

Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, a regular contributor to The Daily Star whose writings are well-liked by many readers, does recognise the problem of political violence in Bangladesh and suggests some thoughtful measures. He makes a good point by referring to another commentator as to why US lawmakers did not take an equal interest in the attempt on the life of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Again, the US government was not indifferent to that dastardly act that led to the death of 21 people. Secretary Rice did call the Leader of the Opposition to express her concern. But trying to hunt for mysteries and conspiracies only obfuscates issues that are of great importance for Bangladesh as a nation. Corruption, political violence, and the rise of religious extremism are issues that need to be dealt with by all, regardless of political position, no matter whether US lawmakers take interest in these issues or not. These are our problems and if we do not deal with them now they will paralyse us and haunt our posterity. It is reassuring to read that our security forces, especially the much maligned police force, has shown glimmers of success by arresting some of the suspects in recent weeks. They deserve praise and support.

Habibul Haque Khondker teaches sociology at the National University of Singapore.