Opinion
Bangladesh on US terror-risk list
BANGLADESH has now been incorporated among the infamous and marked group of mostly Muslim majority terror-risk countries by a paranoid, suspicious, nervous, terrorist in every bush and under every bed mindset good old Uncle Sam. This, in effect, is a rudimentary case of blacklisting. The assertion is both untrue and manifestly unfair. This nation, however, will have to wear this insidious badge of disgrace in the foreseeable future.
The unwarranted US action is a slap in the collective face of peace-loving, tolerant, moderate and accommodating citizenry. It is also a pariah and vacuous victory for politicians of the rival party.
Among other untenable and flawed raison d'être, the inclusion in the terror-risk list is a desired outcome of fallacious, phony and elaborate propaganda and word-peddling by a group of columnists and intellectuals. Our big brotherly big neighbour, with the strident and incessant but unfounded allegation of Bangladesh as a fundamentalist country and a safe sanctuary for Taliban and Al-quida, played a major role. The Indian media joined in the disingenuous cacophonous chorus. Of all the countries of the world, India is perhaps least qualified to accuse any body else of intolerance and communalism. A harsh and indoctrinated party in collaboration with extremist fringe front groups rules the country. If the recent hateful, frenzied, divisive and insufferable campaigning by BJP in the Indian state of Gujarat is any indication of things as they are and things that are yet to come, India has no moral authority to lecture others on morality and ethics.
The unmerited US action will have deleterious impact on trade and commerce, in visa and travel barriers, in student admission in the US for higher study but none more harmful than for young male students, employees and especially a hundred thousand undocumented Bangladeshi workers (polite synonym for illegal aliens) in the US. And none of them deserve it. The magnitude of harassment, hassle, infringement, anxiety and aggravation that the expatriate Bangladeshis in the US will have to face is enormous, unenviable and unjustified.
The only remaining superpower has been totally unfair. But we cannot forget and forgive the local minions and purveyors for this turn of events. And special mention has to be made of the major opposition party.
So what if in the name of opposition to the government this action has resulted in tremendously detrimental effect on the whole nation? So what if in an effort to disparage the current regime they have painted, with a broad brush, a contemptible label on the metaphoric and collective forehead of all citizens? They are least bothered and they could not care less.
The government cannot shun and shirk its responsibility either. Inept diplomacy, ineptitude of the embassy in Washington, D.C., incompetence of the Foreign Ministry and a general lackadaisical, plodding ho-hum approach must cumulatively share the blame. After the event, and after the cow has already bolted the barn, the government has suddenly become active, vigorous and busy. But it may be a bit too late. One can blame the government for not being proactive, efficient, effective or prudent.
In the early 1980s the police in the US state of Florida indulged in racial profiling where the cops would stop and search all vehicles driven by young, black male on suspicion of drugs and possible contraband materials. This was eventually deemed an unwarranted breach of civil and human rights and declared illegal and unconstitutional by the courts. What US government is now involved in by embarking on this grotesque and gratuitous terror-risk list of mostly Muslim majority countries is a clear case of ethnic and religious profiling. It would be fascinating to see if any US civil rights group will have the guts to challenge this in the courts and if any US court will have the gumption and integrity to declare it unconstitutional.
Omar Khasru is Special Assistant to Vice Chancellor at a private university.
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