Guwahati, Saturday, April 8, 2006
EDITORIAL
Talibanisation of the East
H N Das
Over the years Jaideep Saikia has consolidated his position as one of the foremost security experts who have studied and unearthed lesser known facts about non-State actors, insurgents and terrorist organizations in different parts of the world. Acknowledged internationally, among others by Stephen Cohen, as South Asias leading strategist, Jaideeps particular area of excellence is his intimate knowledge of geo-strategy in South Asia. It is to his credit that he has been able to do so, not on the basis of theoretical studies alone, but by a sound comprehension of the ground situation. Jaideeps research takes him to remote insurgency afflicted areas in North East and Kashmir, as it does to think tanks in Beijing, Washington DC, Colombo, Paris, Brussels and Singapore for him experiencing first-hand is the dictum of serious
research.
Jaideep has provided a goldmine of information about Indias nearest neighbour within the covers of his fifth book entitled, Bangladesh : Treading The Taliban Trail, which is a compendium of brilliantly edited serious academic papers. Jaideeps reach and range, as also the respect he commands in the strategic community worldwide, is certified by the fact that he was able to bring together twelve extremely eminent personalities to contribute to his book.
The first premise on which Jaideep bases his conclusions is that while Bangladeshs broad anti-India station can be said to be the outcome of the survival dilemma that confronts rulers of Bangladesh, including pro-Indian leaders like Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the posture that Bangladesh presently adopts against India is one of outright belligenerence. Everyone who knows about Bangladeshs emergence as a nation will
have to agree with Jaideep that this attitude is less than charitable to the nation that helped in its liberation in 1971. Jaideep points out even the sacrifices of the Indian Army in the war of liberation have been consigned to the flames of anonymity. The same fact has been succincity brought out by Lt Gen B K Bopanna in his chapter titled, 1971 : A Sacrifice in Vain. Gen Bopanna saw two Bangladeshs : one as a young Indian Army Major and part of the forces that had liberated Bogra in 1971, and almost over three decades later as a three-star general visiting Dhaka. His paper showcases the differences.
Jaideep alludes to the writings of Bangladeshi and Indian leaders and writers. Among others he quotes the former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Deb Mukherjee.
What will perhaps always remain an enigma is the fact that even a pro-Indian leader like Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman had sought to gradually distance his country from India by taking steps to join the Organisation of Islamic Conference and by attempting to balance out the pro-liberation elements in his government by introducing anti-liberationist personnel. In noted Times of India journalist, Mahendra Veds chapter in Jaideeps book, titled India and Bangladesh : Distant Neigh-bours, Mujibs dilemma is paraphrased in the contributors opening sentences by stating, keeping away from India guides the basics of Bangladeshs foreign policy.
A significant fact that needs to be emphasised is Bangladeshs volte face on its secular stance when former president Ziaur Rahman inserted the words in the name of Allah, the beneficient, the Merciful in the Bangladesh Constitutions preamble, and when one of his successors, HM Ershad amended the constitution to introduce Islam as the State
religion.
Among the other contributors to this extraordinary book are D N Bezboruah and H K Deka. In their respective papers in Jaideeps book, they have adroitly discussed the nagging problem of illegal migration of Bangladeshis into Asom, which incidentally is no longer the case of a poverty-stricken people emigrating from the erstwhile East Pakistan in search of succour, but a systematic though silent invasion engineered by Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence and Bangladeshs Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI). It is to Jaideep Saikias credit that he boldly criticises the State for neglecting the illegal migration problem, and hails the efforts of the All Assam Students Union. He writes, The AASU (along with the North East Students Organisation) particularly has been vocal and active about the illegal influx and the ISI-DGFI agenda, and has sought to most
admirably keep the matter alive, even as other formations (including those that rode to power on the same issues) have compromised their stands.
Bertil Lintners paper on Islamist fundamentalism and its anti-Hindu agenda is revealing. He quotes statistics, which show that the Hindu population in the country has gone down from 28.3 per cent in 1941 to 9 per cent in 2001. Such data is evidence enough to prove what Taslima Nasreen brought out in her books about the systematic purging of Hindus in Bangladesh. And, for the publication of which Nasreen and many other secular minded Bangladeshis were targeted by the fundamentalists in Bangladesh. The same fact has been emphasised by the exiled Bangladesh writer, Salam Azad in the present book when he says, authors and opinion makers who have taken up the cause of the minorities have already been taken to task by the government of
Bangladesh and many have been forced to leave Bangladesh as a result (including Azad himself : Reviewer).
A number of writers have mentioned about Bangladesh giving shelter to Indian militants in its soil, a fact that has been repeatedly stressed by the Indian government and many organisations in India. Subir Bhaumik in his chapter in the book, Politics of Sanctuary : Indian Rebel Bases in Bangladesh, has warned that if Bangladesh does not move against these rebels in the manner Bhutan and Myanmar have done, Indian agencies are likely to draw up a sustained covert action programme against rebel leaders and bases inside Bangladesh. If that happens, the already tense bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh will worsen even further.
Interesting insights into the structure and activities of DGFI are available in former intelligence officer and IPS officer, Bibhuti
Bhusan Nandys chapter on Bangladeshs espionage agency. Nandy has shown the level of penetration, which the DGFI has been able to make into the world of journalism, politics and policy making in India. His chapter is a timely expose and should serve as a wake up call to those who continue to think that the ISI-DGFI threat to Asom, North East and India is an exaggeration.
The most important contribution to Jaideep Saikias book is probably that of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign don and think-tank leader, Matthew Aaron Rosenstein. Rosenstein has graphically described the political and socio-economic factors behind the rise of Islamist fundamentalism in Bangladesh, which he feels, is creating an environment that is ripe for further upsurge in violence, continued disintegration of law and order and the growth of radical extremism. He has quoted a New York Times article
of January 23, 2005 to state that the rising influence of fundamentalist Islamism could take advantage of the countrys ineffective governance potentially to bring about a Talibanisation of Bangladesh.
This is one book where the four Appendices are as important as the chapters. The first three give a mine of information about organisations and militant camps in Bangladesh. The last one titled, 17 August 2005 : Milestone of Terror by celebrated Bangladeshi freedom fighter and writer-journalist, Haroon Habib is a graphical account of the explosions of 17 August 2005, when 63 out the 64 districts in Bangladesh were bombed by Islamists. Habib writes for the book from Dhaka and States, If the suicidal state that Bangladesh is sliding into is still not taken seriously it has the potential to destroy the fabric of a traditionally liberal society and imperil not only Bangladesh,
but the region as well. Jaideep would do well to upgrade Habibs contribution into a full-fledged chapter in the book in the next edition.
It is suggested that Jaideep includes two more chapters in the next edition : one on Bangladeshs economy and the other on Bangladeshi migration to countries other than India. These will make the book even more widespread. But there is no doubt that Jaideep Saikias latest book, Bangladesh : Treading The Taliban Trail is the finest and most comprehensive reference book on Bangladesh yet. It is shorn of propaganda, is scholarly and well represented, accommodates contrary points of view (Jaideeps sense of professionalism has even led him to include and praise a paper which criticises him as well!) and possesses the unmistakable bearings of a masterly work. Having followed Jaideep Saikias growth and career as an expert on security, and
witnessed his integrity as a scholar, professional and human being, the marks that would be awarded to his latest work will not come as a surprise to those who are acquainted with him or his work. For the rest, this book will be a pleasant introduction.
(The writer is former Chief Secretary, Assam).
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