Tag Archives: ICT

A Deadly Divide, But Not A Civil War

. Politics . , , ,

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In December I was discussing with friends whether the War Crime Trials would have an effect on voters. In spite of its being a central election promise, we doubted that they would. Issues such as corruption, nepotism, the energy crisis, the price of essentials, law and order or employment/education opportunities would be more likely to be important factors for voters in the next election. It’s evident now that the issue has emerged as ‘The Factor’ – who instigated, backed and helped develop it to its bloom is being debated fiercely. Continue reading →

ICT Tapes: Much ado about nothing

. Jamaat, judiciary, Politics, Speech . , , ,

Okay, by now, everyone has read about the controversy surrounding the War Crimes Tribunal.  Just for those who came in late: a) apparently the ICT chairman talked with Ziauddin Ahmed — a Brussels-based war crimes expert — about aspects of the trial; b) the chairman’s (office?) computer turns out to have been bugged/hacked; c) record of the conversation via skype somehow ended up with the Economist; d) the British magazine hasn’t published it yet; e) Amar Desh has published a transcript, f) and one tape of the conversation has appeared in youtube.

For more detail, including analysis, I refer to excellent David Bergman.

According to some, like our dear friend Fugstar, this quite convincingly proves that the trial is a farce.  Meanwhile, here is what Himu – Sachalayatan head honcho — has to say: বিচারপতি নিজামুল হক নাসিমের প্রতি শ্রদ্ধা বেড়ে গেলো বহুগুণ। কোনো সন্দেহ নেই, নিরপেক্ষ, সুচিন্তিত ও রাজনৈতিক প্রভাবমুক্ত রায় পেতে চলছি আমরা। স্যার, আপনাকে অভিবাদন জানাই।


Sonarbangladesh has posts echoing Fug, Amarblog has posts reflecting Himu.  It seems to me that these recordings are, for most people, a Rorshach test — you interprete them according to your own biases.

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