Today Is the 45th Victory Day of Bangladesh

Jatiyo Smriti Shoudho (national war memorial) at Savar, Bangladesh

Artwork: Mary D'Costa (Toronto: Dec. 15, 2015)

Today is Bangladesh's 45th Victory Day. On this day we specially remember the dead, who, during Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971, gave their lives to make the deadly struggle for independence and freedom a reality. Due to the sacrifices of these departed souls, freedom fighters, sacrificing population of the country, and foreign support, Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation. 

The people of the then East Pakistan always had to struggle against the Pakistani ruling elite (big landlords or zamindars, government bureaucrats, and military leaders, mostly belonging to West Pakistan) since the independence of Muslim-majority Pakistan in 1947. The emergence of Pakistan itself was based on lies -- the populaltions of both the wings (East and West Pakistan) would live in freedom, prosperity and peace! The promises and actions of the ruling elite were always based on lies, and, even after independence of Bangladesh, the Pakistan government spews lies about the Liberation War. They are even using their money and material to influence some foreign governments and organizations as well as their local agents in Bangladesh to disrupt the war crimes trials in Dhaka. 

To understand the reality of the Bangladesh War of Independence (also called Liberation War) and the childish lies and hoodwinking efforts of Pakistan regarding the War, please read the following series of write-ups and videos published in the online edition of The Daily Star of Dhaka: 

• Genocide plot conceived at duck shooting trip
• Genocide coolly planned, carried out
• The blueprint for massacre
• Bangladesh's Liberation War: The night of horror 
• Pakistanis tried to keep foreign journos away
• Cables of genocide  
• Partners in genocide
• A living proof of Pak army's atrocities  
• It's Pak carnage with US supply (Declassified cables show how strongly America backed Pakistan)
  
• They did everything to block trial by Bangladesh 
• Shame they hid for 28 years (Non-publication of the Hamoodor Commission Report)
• Pakistan used Nazi Killer Eichmann's argument 
• Pakistan still in denial and self-deceit 
• Pakistan lying, still 
• 195 Pak soldiers can still be tried for genocide  
• The Diplomat monk (Venerable Sangharaja Jyotipal Mohathero)
  
• Opinion: Pakistani war criminals of 1971 still free [Brigadier R. P. Singh, VSM  (Retired) of India]
• Opinion: Demanding apology from a myopic establishment (Mohammad Nurul Huda, The Daily Star columnist)
• Opinion: Between Liberation and Freedom: Reflections on the Constituent Assembly Debate (Nazmul Sultan, Ph.D. student of Political Theory, University of Chicago, USA)
• Opinion: So we really remember? (Sushmita S. Preetha, activist and journalist)
• Opinion: It is important to remember 1971 (Julian Francis, former OXFAM official in India and Bangladesh and a recipient of the Friends of Liberation War Honour from the Government of Bangladesh)
  
• Opinion: BNP-Jamaat must explain what is Hanadar Bahini (occupation forces) (Sharier Khan)
• (Opinion) Atrocities by Pakistan Army: Why so shy to mention it? (The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islam party leaders use hanadar bahini (occupation forces), shying away from saying Pakistan occupation army, Razakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams) (Rashidul Hasan)
• [Video] Sector Commander Shafiullah (Part 1 & 2)
• [Video] 'Intellectual killings brainchild of Pak collaborators' (Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed)
• [Video] Pakistan lying about 1971 genocide  
• [Video] Gobinda Halder: 1971 war lyricist 
• [Video] War crimes researcher Shahriar [Kabir] (Part 1)  
• [Video] Guerrilla fighter Shahzaman [Mozumder] (Part 1 & 2)
  
• Freedom in the Air (Film and video footages of 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh) 

Archbishop Joseph Coutts’ Beard Named ‘Best Beard of the 2014 Synod'

Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi, Pakistan

Photo courtesy: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

The blog of the Catholic News Agency (CNA) recently in its “Who Wore It Best” in the 2014 Synod of Bishops named the beard of Pakistani Archbishop Joseph Coutts as the “Best Beard of the 2014 Synod.” The blog also said: ”We applaud Bishop Coutts for his very full yet nicely-kempt Santa Claus-esque beard. We also applaud his aviators fashion choice – we think Joe Biden [U.S. Vice President] would be proud.

In the second half of 1966, I came to know Archbishop Coutts, who was known as ‘Joe Coutts’ in the Christ the King Major Seminary of Karachi, in the then West Pakistan (present Pakistan then comprised of both East and West Pakistan and I was from Dhaka, East Pakistan, which in late 1971, became Bangladesh). At the time I was in the first year Philosophy and Joe Coutts in the second year. Some other seminarians (who later became priests) from East Pakistan, in various classes of Philosophy and Theology, were Francis Gomes, Abel Rozario, Bernard Palma, Julian Rozario, Marcus Marandi, Patrick D’Rozario (now archbishop of Dhaka), and Alexius Jyoti Gomes. Due to health reasons, I had to leave the seminary after six months.

In that short period, I knew Joe Coutts as a friendly, personable, ever-smiling and ready-to-help-others person. These qualities had made an impression on me. Now his beard became an additional qualification in his personality! Congratulations, Archbishop Coutts!

“Jamaat does not have any right to do politics in Bangladesh,” Says the Son of Jamaat-e-Islami Party’s Founder

Syed Haider Farooq Maudoodi, son of Syed Abul A'la Maudoodi, founder of Jamaat-e-Islami Party

 Photo courtesy: DhakaTribune

Syed Haider Farooq Maudoodi (69) is the son of Syed Abul A’la Maudoodi (1903 - 1979), the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami Party . He is a columnist in Lahore, Pakistan, and a former airlines pilot. On October 6, the DhakaTribune published his interview that deals with Jamaat-e-Islami Party’s politics, state religion, Islam and politics, war crimes and War Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka and so on. 

To a question, Syed Haider Maudoodi replied, “Jamaat does not have any right to do politics in Bangladesh, particularly when they opposed the birth of it [Bangladesh]. They neither have the right, nor should they be allowed to do politics here…I think it is your leaders’ fault. Your leaders allowed them to do politics in this country after the independence. If you allow them, accept the fact that their politics is based on religion.”

He further added, “The question is who is behind this situation in Bangladesh? See, the constitution Sheikh Saheeb (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) left is no more in the country [Bangladesh]. How did that happen? Who changed it? One needs to think about these too…Sheikh Saheeb banned Jamaat, isn’t it? Then who allowed them to come back again? You were in this country, think about it. Until and unless you find out where the power lies, which is supporting Jamaat, you would not reach the root of the problem.”

To another question on Islam and politics, he replied, “Whenever religion was interpreted in a political way, it killed humans and it ruined humanity…The holy Quran does not talk about politics, it rather talks for the person so that one can become better.”

He adds, “Political interpretation of religion always brings destruction in the society. Nowhere in the holy Quran does it talk about administering others. The holy Quran talks about individuals. It is about a person, not about administration or a system….”

About war crimes and the War Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka he says, “Anywhere, if any people commit crimes against humanity, s/he needs to be punished. If those people have committed such crimes then they undoubtedly need to be punished. Locals (Bangladeshi) also had a duty to not let them do politics after independence. Who let them come back to politics here?”

For the long and detailed interview of Syed Haider Farooq Maudoodi, you may visit, “Religion based politics is the biggest threat,” published in the DhakaTribune.

The Practice of 'Girls' Marriage to the Quran' Is Still Prevalent in Pakistan

The provinces of Sind and the Punjab have certain areas where this type of marriage is still continuing

According to several websites, a traditional practice of giving one’s daughter or close female relatives in marriage to the Quran is still persistent in parts of the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan.

The Syeds (also written as Saiids or Sayyids) – a high-caste Muslims – who claim descent from Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam in Saudi Arabia and consider themselves superior to other Muslims, still continue this un-Islamic practice without impunity. These Muslims are rich and own large tracts of land in those two provinces of Pakistan. 

This exploitative custom is also known locally as haq bakhish, haq-baksh-wai or haq bakhashwain. In English, this is termed as ‘Quran brides’ or ‘brides of the Quran.’

When suitable husbands are not found according to the liking of the fathers or male guardians, they force the girls to commit the Quran, the holy book of Islam, to memory and hang parts of the Quranic verses around their waist with a cord before they are given in marriage to the holy book. 

This is done not because of the males’ love for religion but for their selfish ends: that is, preventing their lands to be subdivided by way of giving dowry to the outsider husbands of their girls. The undivided lands continue to give them profits.

These ‘Quran brides’ then serve as life-long slaves in their own families working as waitresses and child minders as well as doing all kinds of household chores.

This practice not only goes against the teaching of Islam but also is criminal in nature under Pakistan’s laws. If convicted, the perpetrators are liable to get a seven-year imprisonment. Those who commit this crime is so influential and powerful that none dares complain against them or punish them.

According to the Asharq Al Awsat, an international Arabic newspaper, there were about 10,000 Quran brides in Pakistan in 2007.

The honour killing of girls is another form of exploitation of and violence against women in Pakistan.

For further information, you may read the following:

• The life of slavery of Pakistani women who are forced to marry the Quran
• The lives of Pakistan's 'brides of the Quran'
•  Marriage with the Quran

The Toronto Sun Columnist Terms Pakistan the Ground Zero of International Terrorism

Tarek Fatah's June 26, 2013 column in the Toronto Sun

Image courtesy: Toronto Sun (Toronto, Canada)

Tarek Fatah, a Pakistan-born Canadian and a columnist for the Toronto Sun weekly, in a recent column terms Pakistan as the “ground zero of international terrorism.” 

He writes: “It seems Israel and America are blind beyond Iran. While Iran possesses no nuclear warheads, it is considered the primary threat to world peace. On the other hand, Pakistan, with an arsenal of more than 100 nukes, continues to be fed billions of American dollars while Israel seems oblivious to Islamabad’s threat."

He then enumerates with dates the acts of terrorism perpetrated by Pakistanis in different countries of the world from September, 1986 to May, 2010. 

He usually writes on issues related to Islam and Muslims. There are Muslims and others who support him for his moderate Islamic stance and there are other Muslims who denounce him for not supporting radical Islam.

His full column, “Pakistan: a bigger threat than Iran,” can be read by clicking on the image above and his other columns can be accessed at:Toronto Sun/Tarek Fatah.