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Bangladesh

Bangladesh violence

2013-03-04

[Dawn] BANGLADESH seems to be headed towards a major political crisis as the fatality toll in three days of violence, following Thursday's sentencing to death of a Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
leader, has crossed 50. The widespread violence resulted from festivities not only between the police and Jamaat workers but also between the latter and supporters of the ruling Awami League. A disturbing development for the government is the decision by the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, to join the protests. Reacting to the death sentence passed on Jamaat vice president Delwar Hossain Sayeedi
...Islamic orator and politician. He was a former Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2008, and is one of the most prominent leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami...
and using strong language, BNP leader Khaleda Zia

Posted by:Fred

#7 1971 was Cold War era. Since India went the non-aligned-but-sleeping-with-the-Soviets route, Pakistan by default won the Miss US Cold War Ally-Indian Penninsula title.

Base any actions taken, rightly or wrongly, in that context.

Posted by: Pappy 2013-03-04 12:18

#6 "Did our media run cover for State even back then?"

No Mr. Bill, they were too invested in making us lose Vietnam at the time (not that we hadn't already).

Posted by: Mullah Richard 2013-03-04 10:48

#5 Holy cow.

I thought I was a pretty good history/international affairs wonk but the genocide in East Pak/Bangladesh is new ground for me.

Did our media run cover for State even back then?

Posted by: Bill Clinton 2013-03-04 10:08

#4 I'd call it a confirmation of the singular brutality of Pakistain. The scale of the murders puts them up there with the Nazis. The collaborators of 1971 are the same people hacking cops to death and burning down Hindu houses now.

Posted by: Fred 2013-03-04 09:10

#3 Thanks John. Interesting bit of history, and confirmation of the hopelessness of the Islam.

Posted by: Beseoeker 2013-03-04 07:52

#2 The Blood Telegram

The Blood telegram (April 6, 1971) was seen as one of the most strongly worded Dissent Channel[4] messages ever written by Foreign Service Officers to the State Department.[5] It was signed by 29 Americans. The telegram stated:

Our government has failed to denounce the suppression of democracy. Our government has failed to denounce atrocities. Our government has failed to take forceful measures to protect its citizens while at the same time bending over backwards to placate the West Pak[istan] dominated government and to lessen any deservedly negative international public relations impact against them. Our government has evidenced what many will consider moral bankruptcy,(...) But we have chosen not to intervene, even morally, on the grounds that the Awami conflict, in which unfortunately the overworked term genocide is applicable, is purely an internal matter of a sovereign state. Private Americans have expressed disgust. We, as professional civil servants, express our dissent with current policy and fervently hope that our true and lasting interests here can be defined and our policies redirected.

(U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Dissent from U.S. Policy Toward East Pakistan, April 6, 1971, Confidential, 5 pp. Includes Signatures from the Department of State. Source: RG 59, SN 70-73 Pol and Def. From: Pol Pak-U.S. To: Pol 17-1 Pak-U.S. Box 2535;)[6]

In an earlier telegram (March 27, 1971), Blood wrote about American observations at Dhaka under the subject heading "Selective genocide":

1. Here in Decca we are mute and horrified witnesses to a reign of terror by the Pak[istani] Military. Evidence continues to mount that the MLA authorities have list of AWAMI League supporters whom they are systematically eliminating by seeking them out in their homes and shooting them down
2. Among those marked for extinction in addition to the A.L. hierarchy are student leaders and university faculty. In this second category we have reports that Fazlur Rahman head of the philosophy department and a Hindu, M. Abedin, head of the department of history, have been killed. Razzak of the political science department is rumored dead. Also on the list are the bulk of MNA's elect and number of MPA's.
3. Moreover, with the support of the Pak[istani] Military. non-Bengali Muslims are systematically attacking poor people's quarters and murdering Bengalis and Hindus.
(U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Selective genocide, March 27, 1971)[7]

Posted by: john frum 2013-03-04 07:39

#1 Yep. Move on. Nothing to see here. Mass murder and rape. All is forgiven.

Statistics Of Pakistan's Democide
Estimates, Calculations, And Sources

After a well organized military buildup in East Pakistan the military launched its campaign. No more than 267 days later they had succeeded in killing perhaps 1,500,000 people, created 10,000,000 refugees who had fled to India, provoked a war with India, incited a counter-genocide of 150,000 non-Bengalis, and lost East Pakistan.

Posted by: john frum 2013-03-04 07:36

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