Latest news with #Mujib
News18
5 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Visa-Free Deal Exposes Bangladesh's Slide Into Pakistani Orbit
The symbolism is unmistakable: post-Hasina Bangladesh is behaving like a Pakistani client state, seduced back into the orbit of the regime it broke free from five decades ago. And this isn't without precedent. Mujib's Dangerous Playbook What we are witnessing today echoes a disheartening chapter in Bangladesh's formative years. Just two years after leading a bloody struggle for independence, 'Bangabandhu" Sheikh Mujibur Rahman began realigning with Islamabad—a move that stunned Dhaka and Delhi alike. In 1974, Mujib gave a state welcome to Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, offering him more honours than were extended to Bharat's President, VV Giri, who had visited Dhaka only days earlier. President Giri's reception was deliberately subdued—overshadowed by preparations for Bhutto's visit—leaving even Bangladeshis puzzled. This contrast wasn't merely accidental. It was a shift in the ideological direction of the state. Mujib's fiery Bengali nationalism began to give way to pan-Islamic overtones. Post-independence, his speeches, once invoking unity among Bengalis, started leaning heavily on Bangladesh's Muslim identity. The man who had once declared, 'I am a human being first, then a Bengali, and then a Muslim," had reversed that order—signalling a fundamental redefinition of the country's soul. The Aeroplane That Said It All Nothing illustrated Mujib's post-liberation hypocrisy better than the aircraft controversy surrounding his return from Pakistani captivity. Bharat had fought a brutal war and negotiated his release. It had even arranged its own aircraft to fly him home. Yet Mujib chose a British Royal Air Force (RAF) Comet instead. The British celebrated it as a diplomatic coup, with Rae Britten, the British deputy high commissioner in Dhaka, terming it a 'considerable prestige". New Delhi was deeply slighted. The row exposed Mujib's desire to downplay Bharat's foundational role in Bangladesh's freedom—and to elevate the West and Islamic powers as future allies. The disregard didn't stop there. At a strategically important railway bridge inauguration shortly afterwards—an infrastructure project executed in record time by Bharat's engineers with liberal assistance from New Delhi—Mujib thanked the British for financial support but made no mention of his neighbouring country. He then left by helicopter, inviting only British High Commissioner Sir Arthur Gold aboard. Subimal Dutt, Bharat's distinguished former foreign secretary and ambassador, was left to travel back in a crowded, non-VIP carriage, without food or official courtesy. Author Manash Ghosh, who was then reporting from Dhaka for The Statesman, writes about Subimal Dutt's plight in Mujib's Blunders, one of the best books to come out in recent times. 'No food or water was served to him during the four-hour return journey. He (Dutt) was seen frequently dozing off and his head falling and resting on the shoulders of his co-passengers, who repeatedly woke him up, and he, with folded hands, sought their forgiveness. 'I go to bed early, hence the problem,' he had gone on to explain embarrassingly," Ghosh adds. Mujib's actions were seen as a calculated distancing from Bharat. After all, Subimal Dutt had played a great role in the reconstruction of Bangladesh post-liberation. Today's visa-free agreement with Pakistan carries the same symbolic weight—a statement of ideological realignment. The Return of US-Pakistan Influence Since Sheikh Hasina's ouster, Bangladesh's new administration has moved swiftly to rehabilitate pro-Pakistani forces, many of them linked historically to Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamist outfits banned by the previous dispensation. While this is being spun as 'democratic pluralism", it is, in reality, a deliberate erasure of the 1971 war consensus that built Bangladesh as a secular, pluralistic republic. The rollback has been quietly orchestrated by Washington, which had long viewed Hasina as an obstacle to its Indo-Pacific strategy. Her refusal to lease St Martin's Island for a US naval base in the Bay of Bengal infuriated American policymakers. Enter Donald Lu, a US State Department official with a dubious reputation for regime change, and Ambassador Peter Haas, whose fingerprints are all over Dhaka's recent political recalibration. Just as the CIA played a silent role in the events leading to Mujib's assassination in 1975, today's developments bear the mark of Washington-Islamabad collusion. advetisement Lessons from Mujib's Fall History offers a chilling warning. Mujib's appeasement of Pakistan and alienation of Bharat didn't save him—they isolated him. And now Muhammad Yunus, the economist-turned-administrator propped up by Western and Pakistani interests, is repeating the same fatal mistakes. Yunus weaponised anti-Bharat rhetoric, aided by the Pakistani ISI and the American deep state, to unseat Hasina. But nearly a year later, his administration is floundering amid economic chaos and rising insecurity. Minorities are being terrorised. And the middle class is losing hope amid a declining economy and rising joblessness. Having nothing to show, Yunus is now resorting to Islamist appeasement: invoking jihadist nostalgia, deepening ties with Islamabad, and empowering religious extremists. But as Mujib's downfall proves, this path leads to disaster. Sooner or later, he too will be consumed by the very fire he has ignited. Conclusion Bangladesh stands at a perilous juncture. It can choose ideological amnesia—forgetting war crimes, surrendering to foreign meddling, and embracing Islamist reactionism. Or, it can choose memory, justice, and sovereignty, rooted in the blood sacrifice of 1971 and anchored by Bharat's principled friendship. advetisement The choice now lies with the people of Bangladesh. They must confront the Islamist virus that re-emerges with intermittent regularity. This ideology returned for the first time just a couple of years after independence. And now, half a century later, it once again threatens to devour the republic from within.
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First Post
5 days ago
- Business
- First Post
Yunus's Bangladesh has become a Pakistani client state
Bangladesh and Pakistan have agreed to implement visa-free travel for each other's diplomats and official passport holders—an unprecedented policy shift that marks the most explicit sign yet of Dhaka's growing closeness to Islamabad read more In a move that has raised alarm across Bharat, Bangladesh and Pakistan have agreed to implement visa-free travel for each other's diplomats and official passport holders. This policy shift marks the most explicit sign yet of Dhaka's growing closeness to Islamabad, following the sudden and opaque ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Framed officially as a gesture of 'Muslim brotherhood' and 'regional solidarity', this development has far deeper—and darker—implications, especially for Bharat. To those familiar with Bangladesh's liberation struggle, the deal reeks of strategic capitulation and ideological drift. After all, this is the same Pakistan whose military committed unspeakable atrocities in 1971, the very trauma that gave birth to Bangladesh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The symbolism is unmistakable: Post-Hasina Bangladesh is behaving like a Pakistani client state, seduced back into the orbit of the regime it broke free from five decades ago. And this isn't without precedent. Mujib's Dangerous Playbook What we are witnessing today echoes a disheartening chapter in Bangladesh's formative years. Just two years after leading a bloody struggle for independence, 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman began realigning with Islamabad—a move that stunned Dhaka and Delhi alike. In 1974, Mujib gave a state welcome to Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, offering him more honours than were extended to Bharat's President, VV Giri, who had visited Dhaka only days earlier. President Giri's reception was deliberately subdued—overshadowed by preparations for Bhutto's visit—leaving even Bangladeshis puzzled. This contrast wasn't merely accidental. It was a shift in the ideological direction of the state. Mujib's fiery Bengali nationalism began to give way to pan-Islamic overtones. Post-independence, his speeches, once invoking unity among Bengalis, started leaning heavily on Bangladesh's Muslim identity. The man who had once declared, 'I am a human being first, then a Bengali, and then a Muslim,' had reversed that order—signalling a fundamental redefinition of the country's soul. The Aeroplane That Said It All Nothing illustrated Mujib's post-liberation hypocrisy better than the aircraft controversy surrounding his return from Pakistani captivity. Bharat had fought a brutal war and negotiated his release. It had even arranged its own aircraft to fly him home. Yet Mujib chose a British Royal Air Force (RAF) Comet instead. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The British celebrated it as a diplomatic coup, with Rae Britten, the British deputy high commissioner in Dhaka, terming it a 'considerable prestige'. New Delhi was deeply slighted. The row exposed Mujib's desire to downplay Bharat's foundational role in Bangladesh's freedom—and to elevate the West and Islamic powers as future allies. The disregard didn't stop there. At a strategically important railway bridge inauguration shortly afterward—an infrastructure project executed in record time by Bharat's engineers with liberal assistance from New Delhi—Mujib thanked the British for financial support but made no mention of its neighbouring country. He then left by helicopter, inviting only British High Commissioner Sir Arthur Gold aboard. Subimal Dutt, Bharat's distinguished former foreign secretary and ambassador, was left to travel back in a crowded, non-VIP carriage, without food or official courtesy. Author Manash Ghosh, who was then reporting from Dhaka for The Statesman, writes about Subimal Dutt's plight in Mujib's Blunders, one of the best books to come out in recent times. 'No food or water was served to him during the four-hour return journey. He (Dutt) was seen frequently dozing off and his head falling and resting on the shoulders of his co-passengers, who repeatedly woke him up, and he with folded hands sought their forgiveness. 'I go to bed early, hence the problem,' he had gone on to explain embarrassingly,' Ghosh adds. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mujib's actions were seen as a calculated distancing from Bharat. After all, Subimal Dutt had played a great role in the reconstruction of Bangladesh post-liberation. Today's visa-free agreement with Pakistan carries the same symbolic weight—a statement of ideological realignment. The Return of US-Pakistan Influence Since Sheikh Hasina's ouster, Bangladesh's new administration has moved swiftly to rehabilitate pro-Pakistani forces, many of them linked historically to Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamist outfits banned by the previous dispensation. While this is being spun as 'democratic pluralism', it is, in reality, a deliberate erasure of the 1971 war consensus that built Bangladesh as a secular, pluralistic republic. The rollback has been quietly orchestrated by Washington, which had long viewed Hasina as an obstacle to its Indo-Pacific strategy. Her refusal to lease St Martin's Island for a US naval base in the Bay of Bengal infuriated American policymakers. Enter Donald Lu, a US State Department official with a dubious reputation for regime change, and Ambassador Peter Haas, whose fingerprints are all over Dhaka's recent political recalibration. Just as the CIA played a silent role in the events leading to Mujib's assassination in 1975, today's developments bear the mark of Washington-Islamabad collusion. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Lessons from Mujib's Fall History offers a chilling warning. Mujib's appeasement of Pakistan and alienation of Bharat didn't save him—they isolated him. And now Mohammed Yunus, the economist-turned-administrator propped up by Western and Pakistani interests, is repeating the same fatal mistakes. Yunus weaponised anti-Bharat rhetoric, aided by the Pakistani ISI and the American deep state, to unseat Hasina. But nearly a year later, his administration is floundering amid economic chaos and rising insecurity. Minorities are being terrorised. And the middle class is losing hope amid a declining economy and rising joblessness. Having nothing to show, Yunus is now resorting to Islamist appeasement: invoking jihadist nostalgia, deepening ties with Islamabad, and empowering religious extremists. But as Mujib's downfall proves, this path leads to disaster. Sooner or later, he too will be consumed by the very fire he has ignited. Conclusion Bangladesh stands at a perilous juncture. It can choose ideological amnesia—forgetting war crimes, surrendering to foreign meddling, and embracing Islamist reactionism. Or, it can choose memory, justice, and sovereignty, rooted in the blood sacrifice of 1971 and anchored by Bharat's principled friendship. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The choice now lies with the people of Bangladesh. They must confront the Islamist virus that re-emerges with intermittent regularity. This ideology returned for the first time just a couple of years after independence. And now, half a century later, it once again threatens to devour the republic from within. One hopes this is only a passing cloud. If not, Bangladesh risks walking the path to perdition—abandoning its secular foundations, its democratic promise, and the very spirit of its liberation war. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
The Hindu
24-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
A father and a daughter, and the political volatility of Bangladesh
Call it providence or whatever, veteran journalist, editor, author Manash Ghosh's fortuitous introduction to politics was to go a long way in helping him understand the crests and troughs of political leaders and ideologies in Bangladesh, India's eastern neighbour. As a cub reporter, he had gone to cover the Second Asian Highway Car Rally organised by a UN body, from Tehran to Dhaka. Instead, he ended up talking to a few locals. Years later, he wrote in his book, Bangladesh War: Report from Ground Zero, 'I got talking to three Bengali strangers. Great talkers, as most Bengalis are, they chronicled for me the events on their own — from Field Marshal Ayub Khan's downfall to General Yahya Khan's rise to power, and Sheikh Mujib's six-point autonomy movement....I asked them point blank whether they were from Sheikh Mujib's Awami League. Their immediate riposte was, 'Every Bengali today, whether Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist, in East Pakistan, is a committed follower of Sheikh Mujib and his Awami League.' That was in November 1970, barely months before the Liberation War. The cost of arrogance But why did the Liberation War take place? Among many reasons, was the supposed arrogance of West Pakistan's military and civil leadership. As expressed by Muntassir Mamoon who went to Pakistan some 25 years ago for his book The Vanquished Generals and the Liberation War of Bangladesh, 'The general assumption was that the people in East Pakistan, because they were Bengalis, were pro-Hindu. Rao Farman Ali, the person responsible for the murder of the intellectuals in 1971, said that the Hindus were influencing the East Pakistanis. Major General Umar, who was the Secretary of the Security Council of Pakistan in 1971, expressed the same opinion. By pro-Hindu, they actually meant pro-India.' Incidentally, Mamoon was asked, 'After the creation of Pakistan, why did Jinnah first go to Karachi instead of Dhaka? He should have first gone to Dhaka because 56 per cent of the population of Pakistan were in the East.' Probably, there lay the germ of the conflict. Cut to August 2024 when Sheikh Mujib's elder daughter Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power and banished from the country. Hasina's ouster was a little under 50 years after Mujib, once said to have had the support of every Bangladeshi, was killed on August 15, 1975. Ghosh, widely respected as an expert on Bangladesh politics, clears the cobwebs in his new book. As he writes in the epilogue of Blunders: The Power and the Plot Behind his Killing, 'There are striking similarities between what happened preceding 15 August 1975 — when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with 18 of his family members was killed — and that which occurred almost 50 years later on 5 August 2024 again in Dhaka when Mujib's elder daughter Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power in a bloodless coup. While in the case of Mujib, the CIA station chief in Dacca was the specific actor, in his daughter's case, there were two actors — Peter Haas, the U.S. envoy in Dhaka, and an American Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu — who had already earned tremendous notoriety of being a past master in covert regime change operations having toppled, in the recent past, governments in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.' Power games It might appear surprising to a layman who bought into the claims of a student revolution in the country, but in Ghosh's view in the book, it was far from it. He writes, 'Hasina was anathema to Dhaka-based American diplomats who did not forgive her for rejecting out of hand their government's request to hand over the offshore St. Martin's island in the Bay of Bengal on a long lease to the Americans. The latter wanted to build a U.S. naval base for keeping an eye on Chinese and Indian naval build-up in the region. Washington wanted to have a regime led by someone who would be beholden to it and enjoyed its full trust and confidence.' It's quite possible that students and the people of Bangladesh did not understand the politics behind Hasina's removal. But what of Mujib's blunders after he had everything going for him? The picture is cleared by Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, who writes in the foreword of Ghosh's book, 'Mujib failed to punish the collaborators of Pakistan out of failed to foresee that these pro-Pakistan elements would take full advantage of his magnanimity and impede his policies for the benefit of Pakistan. One such example was the 1972 India-Bangladesh Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation. The treaty was being an instrument of India's hegemonistic and Pakistan conveyed their disapproval to had not recognised Bangladesh and this was used as an excuse to decry the treaty.' Incidentally, China recognised Bangladesh only after Mujib's assassination during the dictatorship of Gen Ziaur Rehman who was known for his anti-India stance. During the decade-long rule of Major Zia's widow, Begum Khaleda Zia, the Liberation War was dubbed an 'India-inspired controversy which robbed Muslim Bengalis of their religious rights and identity'. Tragic twist Indeed, Mujib was too trusting of those not worthy of his trust. He paid the ultimate price. His country suffered too. Recalls Ghosh in his thoughtfully written book, 'Mujib, or Bangabandhu, as he was popularly known, even after witnessing acts of betrayal by his supposed 'very close' confidants, like Mushtaq and Taheruddin sought to ignore the clear warning signals. He had been warned by Tajuddin not to be blind to the misdeeds of the venous snakes in the grass that abounded in the party.' Interestingly, in a rare departure from the spotlight on Mujib, Ghosh seeks to give Tajuddin (prime minister in exile in India) credit for much of the early success, writing, 'Bangladesh would never have been liberated had Tajuddin not been the prime minister of the interim government. His unique leadership capability to bring people of different political hues, professions and religious faiths under the liberation war fold remains unparalleled.' In fact, Tajuddin went back to Dhaka only after getting the Bangladesh currency notes printed in Nashik Press. It didn't prove a wise decision for him then. From 1971 to 2025, Bangladesh has experienced political volatility. Warns Ghosh, 'Political turbulence will gather steam and instability will continue to haunt this eastern neighbour of India. Hasina's Awami League is no pushover and far from a vanquished force.'
Deccan Herald
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Deccan Herald
Awami League, Hasina can make a comeback, but she has to 'mend her ways': Author Manash Ghosh
During an interaction held here on the launch of his new book — Mujib's Blunders: The Power and the Plot Behind His Killing — on Monday evening, he also said his idea while writing it was to "not treat him (Mujibur Rahman) as a holy cow."
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Bangladesh plunges into crisis as Islamists attack Awami League in Mujib birthplace
Bangladesh plunges into a major political crisis with several killed in violence following Islamists rampage and shooting by Army in Sheikh Mujib's birthplace and burial ground in Gopalganj district. The Bangladesh Army launched a crackdown but a number of innocents were killed and Section 144 has been imposed with the situation spiraling out of control. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Others Finance Technology others MBA Artificial Intelligence Leadership Data Analytics CXO PGDM Digital Marketing Healthcare healthcare MCA Cybersecurity Data Science Data Science Degree Operations Management Product Management Public Policy Project Management Management Design Thinking Skills you'll gain: Duration: 7 Months S P Jain Institute of Management and Research CERT-SPJIMR Exec Cert Prog in AI for Biz India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 9 months IIM Lucknow SEPO - IIML CHRO India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 16 Weeks Indian School of Business CERT-ISB Transforming HR with Analytics & AI India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 28 Weeks MICA CERT-MICA SBMPR Async India Starts on undefined Get Details Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took over as interim head, said in a post on X that members of the National Citizen Party (NCP) [led by the students], police and media were attacked during a peaceful rally on Wednesday, with cars vandalised and individuals assaulted. Tensions had been brewing since Tuesday over the NCP's planned rally and march, fuelled by widespread campaigning on social media. The overall situation in the town remains extremely tense. Sources said Islamists had planned the attack against the Awami League coinciding with the July "uprising". "Amid total impunity, members of Bangladesh Army can be seen torturing and dragging down a civilian in Gopalganj, to instill a climate of fear across the nation. The ill-fated civilian was among thousands who took to the streets to protest against state-sponsored repression by Yunus regime, including extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrests, detention, rise in crime wave and the latest plot to wipe out symbols associated with the founding father of the country Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his birthplace Gopalganj," read a statement issued by the Awami League. Live Events "We condemn in strongest terms the continuous patronage by the armed forces against their total inaction in face crime wave perpetrated by Yunus-sponsored mob backed by Islamists when historic Dhanmondi 32, where the founding father was assassinated, was demolished by mob and people are killed on streets for refusal to pay extortion. We assert that by involving with this brutal crackdown, Bangladesh Army showed it has forsaken its neutrality," the Awami League stated.
