NYT flays Bush over Bangladesh developments

-

http://www.indiaenews.com/america/20070416/47538.htm

NYT flays Bush over Bangladesh developments

From correspondents in Washington, United States, 02:31 PM IST

The Bush administration has come under media attack for the first time for 'ignoring' the emergence of military rule in Bangladesh.

Suggesting that the mass arrests of political activists in Bangladesh and the hounding of its two top politicians could lead to a creeping authoritarianism, the New York Times said military rules offers no answers to grievances that can fuel Islamic radicalism.

Pakistan, it said, was a clear example of this.

Commenting on the situation in Bangladesh, which is now virtually under army rule, the newspaper faults the Bush administration for raising 'little protest'.

'Washington is being dangerously short-sighted. Democracy can be messy, and in Bangladesh it was extraordinarily so. But military rule offers no answers to the grievances that fuel Islamic radicalism, as can be seen from nearby Pakistan.

'By stifling authentically popular mainstream parties and their leaders, military regimes often magnify the political influence of religious extremists,' the editorial argued.

Last week, the newspaper pointed out, Sheikh Hasina Wajed and leaders of her 14-party alliance were charged with murder in connection with violent pre-election protests.

Her rival, Khaleda Zia, is now under virtual house arrest. More than 150 other senior politicians have been detained on corruption charges 'and the timetable for new elections keeps receding'.

'This concept of a militarily guided democracy without democrats is familiar in South Asia. Pervez Musharraf has followed the same script in Pakistan and his countrymen are still waiting, with increasing impatience, for the real democracy he promised them nearly eight years ago,' NYT said.

Both former Bangladeshi prime ministers have much to answer for, including tolerance for corruption and a bitter personal rivalry that has kept the country in permanent turmoil.

But the answer cannot lay in an unaccountable military dictatorship, it said. 'And President Bush, if he truly cares about democracy in the Islamic world, needs to say so.'

(Staff Writer, © IANS)

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Smugglers-BDR Affair on Barendra Express

-
Monday, December 7, 2009 Passengers halted an intercity train for three hours at Panchbibi station in Joypurhat yesterday protesting carrying of smuggled goods in trains and alleged harassment by border troops in the name of raids. Hundreds of passengers got down from Barendra Express that runs between Nilphamari and Rajshahi when it arrived at Panchbibi station at around 10:00am and staged demonstration for three hours until 1:00pm. They sat on the rail track just in front of the locomotive of the express train and held a rally, said sources in the headquarters of Bangladesh Railway's west zone in Rajshahi. The agitators said the smugglers were carrying Indian fertiliser at different compartments of Barendra Express since it started from Nilphamari. Half an hour before the train reached Panchbibi, some members of Bangladesh Rifles challenged the smugglers, they said. At this stage, the smugglers spread the fertiliser inside the compartments by cutting sacks and t
Read more

Hijbut holds meeting under police protection

-
Image
Published On: 2008-11-16 Hizbut Tahrir leader Muniruzzaman Masud addressing a discussion at Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries auditorium yesterday. Photo: STAR H izbut Tahrir leaders who were released after arrest earlier as militant-suspects held a discussion amid police protection in the city yesterday.They threatened to launch a movement against the government branding them as brokers of capitalist powers.Hijbut joint coordinator Kazi Morshedul Haque, senior member Ahmed Zamal Iqbal, members Moniruzzaman Masud and Masud Kausar addressed the meeting, among others.Some 10 Hijbut men including Iqbal, Moniruzzaman and Kausar were arrested on September 18 but released two weeks later as police said they did not find anything to sue them.Police were deployed at Rajshahi Chambers of Commerce and Industries auditorium where the discussion was held.Around 50 Hijbut members and their supporters took part in the discussion.The speakers said launching movement against the 'presen
Read more