BANGLADESH

Strictly scrutinized 100 armed cadres of the ruling Awami League in Bangladesh, who received 6-month long extensive commando training at Dehradun in India under the direct supervision of Indian espionage agency the Research and Analysis Wing are continuing various types of activities, including secret killing, abduction etcetera since June of 2010 with the mission of “clearing” a large number of politicians, media personnel and members of the civil society in Bangladesh. The team codenamed “Crusader-100” went to India during end September 2009 and stayed there till mid June 2010, where brilliant commando trainers of Indian Army gave extensive training to these people under the disguise of “training few young commandos of Bangladesh Army”. The entire project of “Crusader-100” was originally conceived by Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the project was coordinated directly by the Bangladeshi Prime Minister and her defense advisor Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddiqui.
Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddiqui maintains special connection with Indian RAW and British MI6 for decades, since he was in army service. Such relations of RAW and MI6 with him was because of his family relations with Sheikh Hasina. When Bangladesh Awami League formed government in January 2009, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddiqui became extremely important in the government due to his official position as the defense advisor to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister as well as his personal identity of being the brother-in-law of Prime Minister’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana. The selection of the entire batch of ruling party cadres, who were sent to India for commando training were directly done by Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddiqui and a few of his loyal colleagues and retired army officers, while on return of the members of the “Crusader-100” team from India, they were provided a hit list comprising names of opposition politicians, members of Bangladeshi media and some members of the civil society. According to information, the list contains names of more than 83 people, who are planned to be “cleared” by the members of the “Crusader-100” gang. The members of these specially trained hitters are housed inside several buildings at Dhaka’s Gulshan and Baridhara areas. The Baridhara “bases” of the hitters is maintained directly by Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddiqui and each of such places are equipped with sophisticated surveillance equipments as well as entry of civilians are restricted within these premises. Leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, M Ilias Ali, who became victim of enforced disappearance recently, was also named in the list of Crusader-100 force. My New Delhi contacts disclosed few of the names of the hit list, which include, political leaders Amanullah Aman, Mirza Abbas, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, M Ilias Ali, Habibun Nabi Sohel, Abdullah Al Noman, Barrister Abdur Razzaque, Shafiul Alam Pradhan, ASM Abdur Rob, Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini and Moulana Fazlul Karim. Awami League and RAW have decided “clearing” the listed names latest by December 2013, which they consider to be “vital” for the ruling party in Bangladesh in returning into power.
The gang of Crusader-100 is equipped with sophisticated small and medium range weapons, mostly with silencers as well as bullet-proof jackets, gas bombs and vehicles for their operations. Some of the members of this gang use satellite phones to skip interception of any of the Bangladeshi intelligence agencies. Each of the members of this gang received healthy financial package alongside various types of extra benefits, including apartments in Dhaka city for the members of their families and small businesses. They are not allowed to show faces during the day-time and mostly required to stay inside their bases in Dhaka city. In case of emergency, when the members of the team are required to go on street during the day time, they are compulsorily required to wear black-tinted helmets, to hide their faces from the public. By rotation, members of the team are secretly taken to India for a break of 7-10 days for “amusement” purposes. In such cases, they are allowed to cross Bangladesh-India borders without any travel documents.

Founder-mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation Dr Selina Hayat Ivy was sworn in on Sunday morning at a high-profile ceremony at the PM office, completing her investiture following a memorable election win.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina administered the oath at her office to the mayor of the port city who clinched a landslide victory in a much-orchestrated election.

A Gallup Poll survey of 21 Asian heads of state ranks Sheikh Hasina seventh with 77 percent approval.

The Bangladesh prime minister received higher approval rating than her counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, Japan or India, according to the survey conducted in 2011.

The Washington-based Gallup Poll, specialising in public opinion surveys, found that just about a fifth of the people (19 percent) disapproved of Hasina and 4 percent would not answer.

The results of the survey conducted in the third year of her rule were published on Friday.

However, the survey showed majorities in more than half of the surveyed countries and regions approved of their chief executives, with leaders in Southeast and South Asia earning some of the highest marks in the region.

Results are based on face-to-face and telephone interviews with approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 and more, conducted between April 5 and Dec 4, 2011.

It showed New Zealand prime minister John Key ranked 9th with an approval rating of 72 percent while the Indian chief executive Manmohan Singh ranked 11th with 59 percent approval. Australian prime minister Julia Gillard came 14th with 45 percent and Japan's Yoshihiko Noda ranked 15th with 44 percent.

The survey found more leaders in Asia lost support than gained it between 2011 and 2010, despite more residents expressing approval for their leadership than disapproval in most of the countries surveyed.

According to the report, the 20 percent approval rating that Pakistanis gave their president was the lowest in the region, while Laos topped with 97 percent followed by Cambodia and Sri Lanka in second and third.

The report said, Laotians, Cambodians, and Sri Lankans were most likely to express support for their leaders, with more than nine in 10 saying they approve of their job performance.

"Economic stability and peace dividends may help explain some of the relatively high approval that leaders of Laos, Cambodia and Sri Lanka get from their constituents."

"Laos' 7 percent or better economic growth since 2008, for example, likely contributes to residents' approval of President Choummali Saignason," the report said.

According to the report, Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka may still be benefiting from residents' residual euphoria following the 2009 end of the country's 26-year civil war.

In contrast, political discord, internal strife, and geo-political complexities likely affected approval ratings for leaders in Hong Kong, Nepal and Pakistan.

"Pakistanis have never placed much confidence in President Asif Ali Zardari's leadership; throughout his tenure, the country has grappled with terrorism, challenging relations with the US and a struggling economy," the report said.

The report, however, did not elaborate on the Bangladeshi situation and why it finds itself among the top 10 in Asia despite its volatile politics, soaring food and fuel prices, and chronic utility crises including severe electricity and gas shortage.

It explained, recent government corruption scandals and economic troubles have likely tarnished the image of the Indian PM, who has seen a slight dip in his approvals.

Singapore's Lee Hsien Loong has maintained relatively high approval ratings compared with ratings that other leaders around the world received in 2011.

"Gradually declining approval ratings for Lee's People's Action Party may be contributing to the decline in his own rating," according to the Gallup report.

The leaders of Malaysia, Cambodia, and Taiwan saw marginal improvement in their already positive ratings.

The Gallup analysis says, compared with other global regions, there will be few elections in Asia and leadership will remain stable for the duration of 2012.

The findings suggest that those leaders without a majority of their constituents' support need to address the economic, social, and political concerns of their populations.

"Given the lack of support among residents in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and South Korea, these leaders in particular will continue to struggle in governing their respective countries."

South Korea's Lee Myung-bak will continue to grapple with engaging constituents concerned with corruption allegations and provocations involving North Korea, it said.

The survey has an error margin 2-4 percentage points, plus or minus.

The first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh is scheduled to rule on Jamaat guru Ghulam Azam's indictment on Sunday, already having deferred the date twice.

The International Crimes Tribunal–1, set up on Mar 25 of 2010, on the 39th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence, is trying crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

The prosecution's numerous charges against the former Jamaat-e-Islami chief mainly consist of incitement, conspiracy, complicity and command responsibility for crimes against humanity.

Ghulam Azam, a former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, arguably the largest Islamist organisation in the subcontinent, is allegedly among the key people who pioneered anti-liberation efforts in 1971 colluding with the Pakistani military junta of that time.

Azam is widely perceived to have been among core group of right-wing supporters of the Pakistani Army, who came out strongly in support of a united Pakistan.

Ghulam Azam, then chief of Jamaat, was instrumental in setting up the infamous Peace Committee at the national level. The Razakars, an auxiliary force set up mainly to actively thwart the liberation forces, are said to have been mobilised through the Peace Committees across Bangladesh.

Among the most notorious vigilante militia are the Al Badr, whose membership is said to have been mainly dominated by the Jamaat's student wing, called the Islami Chhatra Sangha at that time.

The Al Badr is alleged to have spearheaded execution of the intellectual elites of Bangladesh just days before Bangladesh's victory on Dec 16, 1971.

On Dec 12, 2011, the prosecution brought a 52-point charter of charges against Azam and appealed for his arrest. Later, following the tribunal order, charges were re-arranged and presented to the tribunal on Jan 5.

He was produced before the tribunal on Jan 11 and sent to jail the same day. Since that evening, Ghulam Azam has been kept at the prison cell of the Bangabandhu medical university for better treatment considering his delicate health.

Azam had allegedly led the infamous 'peace committees' and collaborated with the Pakistan Army during the Liberation War. He also spoke in favour of Pakistan to the Middle Eastern countries during the war, according to the prosecution.

He stayed in London for seven years after 1971 and returned to Bangladesh in 1978 during BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's rule. Having led Jamaat for long, Azam retired from active politics in 1999.

His party remains a key ally of the main opposition BNP. Two Jamaat leaders, also behind bars for war crimes charges, have even served as ministers during the BNP's last tenure in government between 2001 and 2006, when Azam's party was part of the ruling coalition.

Garment workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway protesting against the detention of a fellow worker for a second day on Sunday, a day after violence between police and workers had left at least 100 people injured.

One female worker died after being run over by a speeding bus during the violence on Saturday.

Ashulia Police Station officer-in-charge (investigation) Mustafa Kamal said on Sunday that the workers brought in tree trunks to block the highway near Narshinghapur and set them on fire around 9am. They also vandalised around 25 vehicles.

He said chases and counter-chases also took place between the workers and the police on Sunday and at the height of the clash around 10am had fired rubber bullets and tear shells.

Operations in about 100 factories remained suspended on Sunday amid fear of further violence.

On Saturday, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to bring the situation under control after the protesting workers blocked the road, smashed vehicles and attacked police. Some 100 people including 10 police officials were injured in the violence on Saturday.

The workers took to the street to protest against detention of a worker of Hameem Group's Artistic Design Limited who was detained on Thursday after he allegedly attacked an official of the group.

Thursday's detention of the worker followed an altercation with an official over talking on mobile phone during work. The authorities of Artistic Design handed over the worker to the police as he had allegedly beat up the official.

Opex Sweater worker 'Nahara', 30, died when she was run over by a bus while trying to flee police action.