Unmasking Jamaat's chief international propagandist
Dr. Jaffor Ullah
There is this person by the name MBI Munshi (Mohammad Munshi) who is at it again now that 'Bangla Spring' is in full swing and the movement is gathering steam allover Bangladesh. Mr. Munshi spent time in England and got educated there to become a barrister but he then returned to Bangladesh. How often a person who grows up in the west and become educated there returns to his or her motherland? He had settled in Dhaka in late 1990s or early 2000 probably to join the bar and be a good barrister. But that did not happen, did it? Now it looks like he came with an agendum to bring sharia law into this land inhabited by millions of people. Without wasting any time, he started posting comments in various e-forums notably in NFB, Mukto mona, and a few other Bengali discussion sites. Needless to say, he rapidly became a controversial person.
From the tenor of Mr. Munshi's posting it became increasingly clear to cyber readers that he had myriads of axe to grind. Through his postings he made it abundantly clear that he did not like the secularist political party, Awami League. Nor did he like the country's founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He also wrote furiously anti-Indian articles. Anytime a manmade disaster would strike Bangladesh, this person who became a 'blogger' maintaing a blog named 'Blog - DeshCalling', would peddle the idea that India was behind the disasters. For example, the spate of bombing during mid-1990s to early 2000 that rocked Bangladesh's cultural festivals, church, cinema halls, etc. according to this propagandist was the handiwork of India. In August 2004 when attempt was made to kill Sheikh Hasina, the Awami chief, as her party staged an open meeting in Dhaka, we all wrote articles denouncing the incident blaming fundamentalists and non-secular forces that were engaged in bombing throughout Bangladesh. However, Mr. Munshi would propagate his pet theory that Indian assassins have infiltrated Bangladesh and they tried to kill Sheikh Hasina with the help of local goons. In fact, that was the conclusion of a one- judge commission appointed by Khaleda Zia, who was the prime minister of Bangladesh at the time.
From various articles that he penned for a multitude of e-forums one thing is very clear, he hates the secular forces of Bangladesh and try very hard to portray that they are all agent of India, RAW and what not! For example, he wrote one book in 2006 entitled "Indian Doctrine - A Contemporary Study on Indian Hegemony and Geo-Strategic Perspectives on South Asia". From a plethora of Mr. Munshi's posts in the Internet, one could surmise that he has a myopic vision vis-à-vis south Asia. At one point, MBI Munshi and his ISI/Pakistan defense connection was also revealed. MBI Munshi joined as a member of Pakistan Defense Forum gradually became a 'SENIOR MEMBER'[Till Mar 31, 2009 he wrote 2,550 (Two Thousand Five Hundred and Fifty) posts, i.e., on average 3.52 per day in a 'Pakisani defense' forum.], he was also a member of 'Pakistan Affiars' and various other Pakistani forums (evidences are here, here, here and here). Many activists at that time figured that Mr. MBI Munshi was a sleeping cell activist of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and had a connection with Pakistan.
And many of us thought how come? Why on earth a Bangladeshi citizen would write in a Pakistani forum and seek their sympathy? Now it is again becoming very clear :
Mr. Munshi is an avowed critic of what is going on in Shahbag, Dhaka starting from the first week of February 2013. Tens and thousands of people of all occupation have assimilated in Shahbag area of Dhaka to protest against the lenient punishment one Qader Mollah, a Jamaat leader, had received for the heinous crime he committed against many citizens of Bangladesh throughout 1971's freedom fight. Many Jamaat leaders and workers became Razakar (helper) and eagerly sided with marauding Pakistani military to start a full-scale genocide in which an estimated 3 million folks have perished. These murderers received impunity and thanks to the military leader Ziaur Rahman and his wife, Khaleda Zia who became the prime minister not once but twice through adult suffrage. In the second term of her tenure, Mrs. Zia ran the election with Jamaat-i-Islami in 2001 as a political ally. When Sheikh Hasina's party, Awami League, came to power in late 2000s, she made an election promise to the folks of Bangladesh that she would appoint a tribunal to try all the Razakars who committed crime against humanity during 1971.
As the tribunal to judge the culpability of alleged killers was being formed, the Jamaati propaganda machinery became very active to gain supporters from the government of European and North American nations. I am confident that Mr. Munshi vociferously protested the action of Hasina administration to try the alleged Jamaati leaders.
The adage "A leopard cannot change its spots" is very much applicable to Mr. Munshi. Now that Bangladesh's very own 'Bangla Spring' had blossomed in Shahbag, all the leaders of anti-liberation force (read Jamaat and BNP) became scare stiff. Soon, propaganda got underway from Jamaat and BNP. This was engineered by none other than Mr. Munshi.
A few of our cyber friends who are blog writer by their own rights have received a document (and me too!) which had exposed Mr. Munshi a big time.
Click this link for larger view
And here is the screenshot of complete email chain
As our young generation started to occupy Shahbag for a week nonstop, it caught the Jamaat and BNP leaders by surprise. The student-led movement gathered steam and there is telltale sign that the entire nation was backing them up in their demand that the convicted killers of 1971 genocide should receive the maximum punishment. The students were receiving accolades from all walks of life in Bangladesh. And this was a scary development for the anti-liberation force throughout Bangladesh.
Mr. Munshi was probably having a sleepless night in Gulshan. He started to communicate with like-minded Jamaatis and BNP propaganda machine. In fact, he was the one who tried to put a label to the student-led movement by calling it "fascistic" in nature. He smelled "fascistic tendencies" among students' activities in Shahbag. The game of vilification got started by him in earnest. In the communication received by many secularists (is it by accident or by design?) containing Mr. Munshi's message he identified himself as "BJI International Relations".
BJI probably stands for 'Bangladesh Jamaati Islami' and the content of his message is outright alarming. He writes as follows:
The Shahbag movement is apparently based on folk culture and pagan myths and also interestingly coincides with the rise of Narendra Modi in India. The Shahbag movement has certain anti-democratic tendencies and is also opposed to the rule of law and will eventually compromise with the sovereignty of Bangladesh."
I will let the readers draw their conclusion. However, suffice it to say that the anti-liberation force is terrified by the unfolding story of Bangladesh's student led movement.
During 1971, the powerful Muslim League of Bangladesh ignored the speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman given on March 7, 1971, which was very close to Shahbag. And we know what happened to that political party. Is history going to repeat this time again? The BNP now knows that they missed the proverbial bus. I will not be surprised if Bangladesh's war crime tribunal gives death sentences to the deserving Razakars, then BNP and Jamaat will face the same ignominy as Muslim League, the party which is non-existent now. And what will happen to Mr. Munshi then? Let the erudite readers draw their conclusion.
Update (Feb 15, 2013 1:42 am):
This morning (February 14, 2013), I received via e-mail a reply from MBI Munshi through the courtesy of E-Bangladesh. Mr. Munshi claims that he has no connection to Jamaat whatsoever. He also wrote that I am doing a nasty campaign against him and he called me a RAW (India) Agent. Mr. Munshi is dead wrong on several accounts. First, he identified with the organization BJI International Relations in the e-mail that he sent to 2 other persons namely ASM Hannan and Shamser Mobin Chowdhury who is very much involved in BNP. Munshi came up with the idea that there is a "Fascistic Tendency" in student-led Shahbag Movement. Some newspapers in Dhaka came up with the exact same phrase, which was uttered by BNP. I wonder, what is the probability that 2 persons coming up with the exact same phrase? Mr. Munshi should know the English adage - "You Cannot FOOL ALL the PEOPLE ALL the TIME."
Next, Mr. Munshi said that I am a RAW agent. Lest he knows, I am a U.S. citizen. The U.S.laws clearly states that if an American citizen becomes the agent of a foreign government, he or she should register with the U.S. State Department as an agent for a foreign government or else, there will be legal consequences. I thought Munshi is a barrister. But his way of writings remind me that he has no legal training. Does it make sense that this person who received all his education in England including his legal training had to return to Bangladesh to eke out a living?
Mr. Munshi was caught red-handed exchanging mail in which he expressed a deep concern for the student-led movement in Shahbag. Finally, his identity was unearthed by secularists as he was not careful with who he was exchanging e-mails. I think some of his friends do not like him that much or else, why did secularist writers receive these damaging e-mails. You see, he has no shame whatsoever. He is in big denial now. He thinks after reading my piece, readers are going to trust him as an independent political commentator. That is his wishful thinking. The cat is out of the bag.