Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia no more.
Khaleda presided over the transition from presidential to parliamentary government, a structural change.
"She was not groomed for the jagged edges of politics. Yet, she became a defining figure of Bangladesh's democratic struggle, navigating the transition from a domestic life in the shadows to the very centre of power," -- says 'The Daily Star' newspaper.
Khaleda Zia sided with Islamic radicals. Corruption was another bane. Unlike her political rival Sheikh Hasina; Khaleda would have never said - "yeh keman musalman (How they claim to be Muslims)." The ousted Bangladesh PM and the Awami League chief had made the remarks after radicalised terrorists took control of a hotel and killed innocents in 2016.
One should not be writing these on a day she expired; but it is a fact in her death; Indian insurgent groups have lost their former patron.
Khaleda was born on August 15, 1946, in Dinajpur – then part of British India’s East Bengal, now northern Bangladesh.
Her father, Iskandar Majumder, originally from Feni region in the country’s southeast, had previously run a tea business in Jalpaiguri (in present-day India/northern part of West Bengal near sensitive Siliguri) before relocating with his family to East Bengal.
Khaleda spent her early years in Dinajpur, where she studied at the Dinajpur Government Girls’ High School before enrolling at Surendranath College.
Sept 3, 2007 - Khaleda Zia seen waving to supporters after she was arrested
Khaleda Zia had been suffering from multiple age-related ailments, including advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, and complications related to her chest and heart.
In a Facebook post, the BNP said that doctors declared the former Prime Minister dead at around 6 am, December 30th.
"Her condition had deteriorated since late Monday night. A special aircraft from Qatar had been kept on standby to airlift her to London for further treatment, but a medical board did not grant clearance for her transfer from Evercare Hospital to Dhaka airport," the post read.
Zia served two terms as Prime Minister—from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was not only Bangladesh’s first woman Prime Minister but also the second woman, after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, to lead a democratic government in a Muslim country.
Zia was married to Ziaur Rahman, the country's sixth President and one of the most influential figures in the 1971 Liberation War. Rahman formed the BNP in 1977, just four years before he was assassinated in May 1981.
In 1984, Khaleeda Zia was elected as the BNP chairperson and under her leadership, the party intensified its movement against the autocratic regime of HM Ershad, who came to power after overthrowing the government in 1982.
While Sheikh Hasina and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan inherited political legacy from their fathers; in Khaleeda's case it was through her husband Ziaur Rahman - a former military chief. Her political rise must have been much difficult in an Islamic country.
It was Ziaur Rahman who deviated from Dhaka's pro-India foreign policy and the west and China were cultivated.
Even as Khaleeda and Sheikh Hasina - both - fought against military ruler Ershad; Khaleeda's pursued her husband's anti-India policies. She befriended radicals and thus also Pakistan.
But in a rare moment of unity that altered the course of Bangladesh's history, Khaleda made one of her most significant political compromises by joining forces with her arch-rival, Sheikh Hasina, in 1990.
They agreed to a strategic liaison to oust Ershad and the two women --in public life due to personal tragedies - formulated a joint declaration against H M Ershad.
The secret military service DGFI was provided with funds and authorities and several Indian insurgency outfits from the north east including ULFA, NSCN and PLA of Manipur were encouraged. In fact around 2005 - it came to light that ULFA leaders had all the logistic support and freedom to aid and finance these militants.
There was another feature of Khaleeda rule --- of course she fought to 'restore democracy' after military takeover in the 1980s, corruption claims were also her past.
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| Sheikh Hasina - ousted and now in India |
Islamic Fundamentalism
In fact, emergence of Islamic fundamentalism had given a totally new twist to the security scenario in Assam and a few other states with a large number of disgruntled Muslim population being lured by over a dozen Muslim militant groups.
During 2001 visit to Guwahati, Shillong and other places in the region, we (a group of journalists from Delhi) were told that there are approximately 16 Muslim fundamentalist organisations active in the region, especially in Assam and Manipur, aided and abetted by ISI and some other Islamic organisations in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
These groups were committed to promoting "pan Islamisation" in the northeast.
Ironically, the Muslim organisations became "hyperactive", to quote an Assam government official, only after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992. It is the sense of insecurity among the Muslims generated after the demolition that instigated the Muslim youth, the Assamese and the Bengalis, to unify socially and arm them.
They also started getting training in the handling of arms and explosives with the assistance of ISI and their sympathisers in Bangladesh.
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| A cultural group from Assam performing in Allahabad in 2019 |
2001: Lynching of BSF jawans
India need not forgive Khaleeda for 2001 lynching of BSF jawans.
Early 2001 sought to redefine the Indo-Bangladesh relations in all its negative connotation. A company commander of the Border Security Force (BSF) and 18 of his jawans were picked up by intruding Bangladeshi soldiers and held them to stay in "captivity" for two consecutive nights in the Dawki sector of the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border.
Two days later, reports poured in that at least 16 Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed by Bangladeshi troops in a forward village in Assam. There were also claims that in neighbouring Meghalaya, the Bangladesh Rifles continued to occupy Pyrduwah village for more than three days escalating tension on the border.
The then Union Home Secretary Kamal Pande, quoting reports from the BSF border camp said in New Delhi, that the BSF personnel were killed when the Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Rifle (BDR) personnel resorted to "unprovoked firing and shelling" in Boraibari in Assam targeting a BSF post and civilian areas.
With the support of Khaleeda Zia regime and radical Islamists --
The NSCN (IM) maintained a sizable presence in various camps in Bangladesh such as - Thanchi Bazar, Mowdok, Tendu, Kaitong, Murong, Rezupara, Baidyapara and Sumsong. In addition, the group had its offices in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.
The NSCN (IM) and NLFT of Tripura also had a number of joint transit camps for facilitating their movements towards Bangladesh-Tripura border.
Arabinda Rajkhowa, ULFA chairman and Sashadhar Choudhury, foreign secretary of ULFA, were two eminent and frequent visitors to Tarabon village in Panchari police station locality in Khagrachari district.
The ULFA had its "foreign headquarters" at Tarabon.
The group also had good 'havens' or hideouts and training camps in Bhutan. The ULFA also has transit camps at Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Ramgarh, Rangamati and Moulvi Bazar.
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| Old file snap |
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