Restrictions imposed on two former Prime Ministers of Bangladesh, Begum (lady) Khaleda Zia and Begum Sheikh Hasina Wazed, have been removed, says The Independent.
“Last weekend, Sheikh Hasina, who ran Bangladesh as prime minister between 1996-2001, found herself marooned in London after the caretaker government issued a note to all airlines forbidding them from allowing her onto any flights to Dhaka.
“Ms Zia, who stepped down as prime minister last year, was placed under house arrest and many said she would be forced to go into exile in Saudi Arabia.
“The military-backed government, which took power in January and suspended the coming elections, argued the measures were needed to clean up Bangladeshi politics, after months of violent protests between supporters of Sheikh Hasina and Ms Zia’s parties left more than 45 dead and brought the country to a standstill.
“But suggestions the military were hoping to completely remove the two leaders from Bangladeshi politics met strong domestic and international criticism, and yesterday restrictions against Sheikh Hasina and Ms Zia were lifted…
“Speaking during a temporary exile in London, Sheikh Hasina warned that unless the military-backed caretaker government holds fair elections soon, the patience of the Bangladeshi people could run out.
” ‘At the moment, there is no democracy in Bangladesh at all,’ she said. ‘They have gagged the press and have yet to hold elections. I don’t know what will happen but the people will not wait forever. Once the people come out on to the street, I don’t know how long their patience will last.’
“Her remarks came as the military-backed government was forced this week to make an embarrassing climb-down and abandon its plans to exile Sheikh Hasina and her rival, Ms Zia.”
An excellent background material on Bangladesh appears in the April issue of Himal, a leading magazine of South Asia published from Nepal.
For my earlier post on Bangladesh please click here…
For a BBC country profile of Bangladesh please click here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.