Bangladesh editor admits bogus stories fed by military
new delhi — An editor of one of Bangladesh’s most respected newspapers has sparked an uproar by admitting that eight years ago, he published unsubstantiated reports alleging corruption by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then in the opposition. He says the military fed him the information and pressured him to print it, but it’s the journalist who is feeling the heat more than the country’s longpowerful armed forces.
The admission by Editor Mahfuz Anam of the English-language Dai
ly Star raises questions of whether the impoverished and politically fractious South Asian nation can escape the influence of its long-powerful military, which has taken over the country twice since Bangladesh gained independence in 1971.
The military is always powerful in Bangladesh, as they always have a role to play to decide the political course”
Retired Maj. Gen. Abdur Rashid
The revelation “is significant to understand Bangladesh’s inner weaknesses in the governance system,” retired Maj. Gen. Abdur Rashid, now a political analyst, said. “The military is always powerful in Bangladesh, as they always have a role to play to decide the political course. Such important organs of the state are not always free from influence.”
Though Bangladesh is a democ- racy, the influence of its military is felt far and wide. It’s routinely utilised for big projects, including building bridges, expanding highways and preparing national identity cards and passports. It has frequently contributed to UN peacekeeping missions, raising its stature among Bangladeshis, many of whom believe that soldiers could fix even Dhaka’s notorious traffic congestion. Any public insult to the military is considered unthinkable.
The military has loomed large over Bangladeshi politics, and over the lives of both Hasina and her main rival, Khaleda Zia. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s first democratically elected leader, was killed in a military coup along with many of his family members in 1975. —