Interference in internal affairs

By Kabir Mia, New York
17 October 2004, 18:00 PM
I do not mean to be rude, but it seems to me that the retired bureaucrats who write for The Daily Star are timid in their opinions, and are quick to apologise, compromise and surrender even if Bangladesh is kicked in the teeth by another nation! That is why it was so refreshing to hear the former Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Justice Mustafa Kamal, rebuke the German and French Ambassadors for lecturing Bangladesh. As Justice Kamal accurately points out, the reason these ambassadors dare to criticise Bangladesh is their perception that Bangladesh is too weak . Justice Kamal is absolutely correct in reminding the honourable ambassadors that the reason they are afraid to criticise India for the carnage in Gujrat in February 2002 is fear of retaliation.

As Justice Kamal correctly pointed out, the so-called Turkish "guest workers" in Germany helped rebuild the war-torn Germany for fifty years, but were denied German citizenship. Eight percent of French population is Muslim; yet, earlier this year France banned Muslim girls from wearing the Hijab in school. America gives 100% support to Israel which has continued to murder thousands of Palestinian men, women and children over the last fifty years. America is now bombing and destroying two more Muslim nations, Afghanistan and Iraq, although they occupy those nations. Yet, all the western diplomats in Dhaka want to talk about is, "Religious Militancy and Inter-State Relations in South Asia"! A more appropriate title of the seminar would be, "Western state-sponsored terrorism against Muslim nations!"