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Welcome to Nuraldeen.com

Well yet another blog enters the foray. So why we need a blog? Powerful social media tools
like facebook is there so is twitter and instagram. Facebook has done amazing things in
Bangladesh millions and millions of people from all ages and all walks of life are using
facebook to connect socially and politically and promote the ideology they believe in. And
most social and political commentators have moved away from online public weblogs also
known as blogs to facebook and resorted to express their opinion in the form of status
updates. However despite all the amazing things facebook has done to online activism in
Bangladesh it may also have pushed online activism into small self congratulatory
clusters of echo chambers. Some facebook activists of Bangladesh have become so
intolerant to opposing views/ opinions they have started purging persons with
non-identical views from their list of friends/ followers. In addition, when an activist writes
a status, this status remains visible only for a certain number of hours. Then these
expressed opinions becomes untraceable.

In this backdrop, one cannot overemphasize the role of blogs as records/ testaments of the
passing time. It is very important that online activists/ blogger remain accountable to
history. A reader should be able search/ dig out what one specific blogger had to say about
an event that took place 3 months or 10 years ago.

Yes facebook can help in opinion making but in some cases facebook preaches to the
choir. In this decade of online activism, bloggers or netizens in Bangladesh should use the
blogs as pressure groups.Act as opinion makers and pressure groups to influence decisions
/ policies of mainstream political parties. We need Bangladesh version of Daily Kos,
Huffington Post or Drudge Report. It is important Bangladesh has online institutes which
will influence policy making the way Daily Kos influences major policy decision of the
democratic party leadership or event the president. Shahbag movement might have been
touted as a success story of online activism but Shahbag also is a lesson learnt for us let
online activists remain online and let the street forces evolve in its own natural evolution

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for a cause. Shahbag also showed the exaggerated feeling of power that comes from
remaining in an echo chamber. Let each street force and online force complement each
other.

In the above back drop we launch this new group blog site Nuraldeen.com The site is
named after Nuraldeen. Nuraldeen was a peasant in northern part of east Bengal. While
protesting the injustices committed by agents of British interest in east Bengal, Nuraldeen
became one of our first nationalistic leaders. The life of Nuraldeen has been immortalized
in bengali folk songs, scripts and he was brought back to our present day urban readers
through Syed Haqs blockbuster drama / The life of Nuraldeen.

Named after nuraldeen, this blog definitely will have a nationalistic pull. While there will be
authors representing both center right and center left interpretations of Bangladeshi
nationalism, this blog will strive to steer the helm in a centrist direction. While some
veteran bloggers, well known online commentators will be blogging for Nuraldeen.com, the
readers will see a significant number of new authors too.

As the political landscape of Bangladesh is warming up for either an unforeseen

confrontation or a very interesting election Nuraldeen.com will serve, simultaneously, as
an alternative media, retrievable chronicle of national and political events, live
commentary of unfolding of political dramas. In a nutshell, Nuraldeen.com will give the
readers something that the mainstream or embedded online media will not be able to give
it will be the place to vent, learn and get hopeful about the future.

Welcome readers. Please check Nuraldeen.com daily.

Contributions are welcome from all. Our only requirement is civil language.

[A professionally design format for the blog is being prepared and will be launched within
days]

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5 thoughts on Welcome to Nuraldeen.com

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foolcopy
October 29, 2013 at 3:25 am

, iTheme '< r, k ' ' c

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December 25, 2013 at 12:57 pm

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Tajul Islam Sohail

January 22, 2014 at 8:53 am

Games India plays with neighbours

The Milli Gazette

Published Online: Jan 20, 2014
Print Issue: 16-31 December 2011
Book: The India Doctrine (1947-2007)
Author: MBI Munshi
Publisher: The Bookworm, Twin Peaks Complex, Old Airport, Tejgaon, Dhaka
Bangladesh. Tel: 9120387. Fax: 880-2-8828595. E-Mail vietbhai@gmail.com
Year: 2009
Price: Tk. 1200/US$17 Free Online Edition can be downloaded

https://www.academia.edu/5690262/The_India_Doctrine_1947-2007

Pages: 636

A. K. Zaman

It is almost two years since the first edition of The India Doctrine appeared on
Bangladesh bookshelves to wide acclaim and appreciation. The newly revised
edition now titled The India Doctrine (1947-2007) is an astonishing work of
exceptional depth and analysis and is probably the first book of its kind not only in
Bangladesh but also in South Asia as a whole. It is indeed a stupendous effort by
Barrister MBI Munshi. While I had a few words of criticism for the original version
of the book which appeared to me to be fragmentary and a little disjointed, this

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revised edition is an exceptional work and its various parts have been finely
consolidated and is also far better written and organized. As the author reminds us,
he spent almost two years to write this revised edition and it was certainly time
well-spent as the language and style are now much easier to follow and effortless to
comprehend.
The Bangladesh Defence Journal (BDJ) has published this 636 page book at a price of
Tk. 1200 or roughly $17. Of those pages one third consists of end notes and
references which number in their thousands demonstrating the strong evidentiary
grounds on which Barrister Munshis thesis is based. The book also contains a
useful foreword by the editor of BDJ, Mr. Abu Rushd, who earlier wrote the ground-
breaking RAW in Bangladesh. Mr. Rushd in his foreword contrasts the original
version of The India Doctrine and the present edition stating that, The first
edition was a turning point in political and historical writing in Bangladesh. The
second edition continues this trend with further elaboration of issues covered in
the earlier book but on very recent events such as the causes behind the
cancellation of elections in 2007 and new material on the 1971 liberation war and
Indias motivations in assisting [an] emergent Bangladesh.
Mr. Rushd further elaborates on the importance of the book in the context of South
Asias geo-strategic realities, The book is certainly a must read for those interested
in South Asian affairs, geo-strategy, intelligence, and the political, diplomatic and
economic influences of an increasingly important region of the world which
contains almost a sixth of the world[s] population, two nuclear powers and several
more in the near vicinity. The book will hopefully inspire others to explore the
subject of Indian hegemony and expansionism and also allow policy-makers in the
West to better comprehend the risks of permitting an unrestrained India to
dominate the region. The last remark seems particularly relevant in light of the
Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 and the increasingly hostile attitude
taken by India towards its neighbour Pakistan who it accuses of having direct
involvement in the incident although only a few weeks earlier a Col. Srikant Purohit
had been apprehended for supplying explosives to Hindu fanatics to carry out
similar outrages.
Mr. Rushd concludes that the book should hopefully, educate the policy-makers
and military planners in Bangladesh about possible threats emanating from our
neighbour and the consequences of New Delhis influence in our internal affairs as
well as the principal cause of instability. This is probably even more pertinent after
the overwhelming victory of the Awami League (AL) party in the 2008 national
elections. The AL has often aligned itself with the interests of New Delhi in both
foreign and internal matters and this has aggravated tensions within the country. It
would be wise for the AL leaders to take some lessons from this book and adopt a
more cautious attitude to New Delhi since our own history shows that a two-thirds
majority in parliament is no guarantee of longevity or permanence in power
especially when deeply held views about our national interest are constantly and
arrogantly offended.
The obvious reason for publishing this new edition is that the original book had

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many gaps and overlooked many significant issues principally due to the time
limitations placed on the author. Barrister Munshi states in his opening remarks in
the preface that, By all accounts the first edition of The India Doctrine was a book
incomplete. While it covered the essentials of the periods 1947 and 1971 fairly well it
managed to convey only a fraction of the notable events and incidents that were to
take place during 2006 and which were to reach a climax in 2007. The years
2006-2007 had much less of the cruelty, violence and bloodshed associated with
1947 and 1971 but nevertheless represent a significant period of transition that
witnessed a revival of great power politics in South Asia that was to significantly
affect the terms of the India Doctrine. This short period indeed witnessed immense
and often tragic and horrendous events that will undoubtedly have lasting effects
on the South Asian perspective and psyche.
The author next deals quite comprehensively with the internal struggles within
India and its new alliance with the United States built upon the tenuous foundations
of the nuclear agreement passed amidst intense opposition, particularly in India.
The author explores how this new strategic relationship affects the regional balance
and includes reference to China and Russia and the wider geo-strategic imperatives
of the United States and India. The author then surveys the influence of the India
doctrine and Forward Policy on the South Asian neighbourhood and the internal
conflicts this incited in many countries of the region (i. e., Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan,
Pakistan and Bangladesh). The next few chapters on the liberation war and Indian
propaganda have been completely redone and large segments rearranged to fit
more logically the shape, context and logic of the book. New material and
information is incorporated into chapters 4-8 and recent developments on the CHT
insurgency and peace agreement is rendered in the last of these chapters.
From a Bangladesh perspective, the most controversial sections of the book will
probably be Chapters 9 and 10 that deal with Indias project to have Bangladesh
declared a failed state. The chosen method to achieve this objective has been
through propaganda with the labelling of Bangladesh as a hotbed of Islamist
terrorism. The media campaign orchestrated by India has been so successful that
many voters in the 2008 elections actually believed this nonsense not realizing that
such malicious canards were being propagated by Indian intelligence (i. e. RAW) via
local media in Bangladesh. Another method favoured by India to have Bangladesh
rendered a failed state is through economic sabotage and as Barrister Munshi
explains, For India to secure its political and military supremacy and control over
the South Asian region it has become necessary for it to continuously maintain and
protect her lead over other economies even by unfair means such as sabotage,
fomenting and encouraging political instability in neighbouring countries and most
obviously through propaganda. However, it is interference in the political sphere
that India has been most successful in undermining Bangladeshs democratic
institutions and Barrister Munshi traces the chaotic events surrounding the
transfer of power to a caretaker government in 2006 to the release of Sheikh Hasina
from custody in June 2008 with each event being heavily influenced by external
actors and in particular India. Barrister Munshi provides a convincing argument

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and analysis on all the above issues and his contribution to the book stands as an
extraordinary achievement that will set the standard for such works in Bangladesh
and probably elsewhere in South Asia.
The 557 pages written by Barrister Munshi will hopefully gain widespread
readership in Bangladesh and behond since the issues raised in the book are
incredibly important to the continued independence and integrity of the country
against the hegemonic and domineering tendencies of India. The chapters written
by the author will likely stand out as the most important to be written on South
Asian affairs for the last 60 years at least. It presents a completely new perspective
on South Asia rarely seen in writing from this region and hardly discussed in
western literature on the subject. The final two chapters of the book are authored by
two Pakistanis and this is a major development on the first edition which had no
chapters on Pakistan and this is probably the only collaboration between writers of
both countries on this type of subject matter. Chapter 11 of the book is titled The
Peace Charade and is written by Mr. Ahmed Quraishi who is a prominent media
personality in Pakistan and his background as an investigative journalist, columnist,
roving reporter and head of a private, independent think tank are all very
impressive and raise his credentials as a highly respected and informed writer.
According to Mr. Quraishi, India had by early 2008 been conducting a massive
intelligence operation with Pakistan as its target. Afghanistan was being used by
New Delhi as a springboard and the Islamists were the tools of this operation. Israel
is said to have provided help and the US position as Pakistans ally is described as
somewhat ambiguous. This brief summary sets the tone for a very interesting and
well researched chapter with its premise based on the discovery of a document that
reveals a conspiracy to break the stranglehold of the intelligence agencies, the
bureaucracy and the military in Pakistan as these are believed by India to be
responsible for keeping the Kashmir issue alive. Chapter 12 of the book is written by
Dr. Prevaiz Iqbal Cheema who has an outstanding academic career. He obtained a
MLitt in Strategic Studies from Aberdeen University and a PhD from Quaid-i-Azam
University in Pakistan. He has been a teacher for almost 28 years with posts held in
Pakistan, Australia, Singapore and the United States. His excellent and lucidly
argued chapter discusses the Kashmir dispute and Pakistan-India relations. His
chapter initially discusses the origin and nature of the Kashmir dispute highlighting
the policies of both India and Pakistan followed by a discussion on the
internationalization of the dispute. Finally the paper focuses on the new
developments that have impacted upon the dispute and the current status of
Indo-Pak relations. Dr. Cheema concludes his survey of the issues by commenting
that, Without the resolution of [the] Kashmir dispute, not only India and Pakistan
would never enjoy proper fruits of peace and cooperation but South Asia would also
be deprived of much desired peaceful environment. It is, therefore, unfortunate
that India has not shown the requisite sincerity in negotiations for this sensible and
desired outcome for regional peace and security. Overall, this book, The India
Doctrine (1947-2007), is an extraordinary and astounding effort requiring not only
immense dedication but also a significant amount of courage, boldness and

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resolution. Writing in the hostile and threatening atmosphere created by India in

Bangladesh and Pakistan the writers have shown admirable willpower and fortitude.
The book not only deserves success but also our respect.

http://www.milligazette.com/news/2952-games-india-plays-with-neighbours-
bangladesh

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Audacity of Hope

Towhid Hossain Mazumder

March 28, 2014 at 7:30 pm

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