Interim Govt.'s actions come under a cloud

By Our Special Correspondent

DHAKA, AUG. 26. In an unprecedented move in the history of Bangladesh, a caretaker Government whose sole duty is to hold a free and fair election, has taken highly controversial steps one after another.

According to reports appearing in the mainstream Bengali newspapers, many of the actions taken by the Government were ``highly controversial and questionable''. Mass circulated dailies such as Janakantha, Sangbad and Bhorer Kagoj were critical of the mass transfers of top bureaucrats and the termination of contractual jobs given by the immediate past Government of Sheikh Hasina. They termed these moves as a ``a well-chalked-out conspiracy to destroy the caretaker Government's concept itself''.

Supporters of the secular democratic forces which are known as ``pro-Liberation'' in Bangladesh politics, have also expressed alarm at what they dubbed as a ``planned conspiracy to rehabilitate pro-Pakistani elements in key positions by replacing those senior professionals who fought in the nation's War of Liberation in 1971''.

On her return home from abroad three days ago, the Awami League leader and former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, publicly accused the Government of toeing ``an unfortunate partisan line'' and decried that respected freedom fighters in key positions were being replaced by ``either `Rajakars' - local collaborators of the Pakistani army in 1971 - or by `war criminals' of the nation's independence war against Pakistan''. It is hard to guess why such things are being done by a caretaker administration whose job is only to hold the election. The Awami League's general secretary, Mr. Zillur Rahman, has issued several statements meanwhile, saying, ``a subtle conspiracy'' was on to defeat his party in the October 1 election. Mr. Rahman also accused a ``Pakistani blueprint'' in the unprecedented transfers and appointments in the civil bureaucracy and police departments.

But these actions of the Government have been heartily welcomed by the Begum Khaleda Zia-led alliance in which the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami plays a key role. According to several Bengali newspapers and the English daily, Bangladesh Observer, the Government has created ``unnecessary controversies'' and suggested in their special commentaries and editorials that those actions must be reviewed and corrected in the interest of maintaining the neutrality of the administration.

However, Begum Khaleda Zia and her Jamaati allies alleged that the Awami League was not allowing the administration to run independently. They said the party was applying ``pressure tactics''.

The daily Prothom Alo, which had been critical of the Awami League government, has also questioned some recent postings and removals in the state-owned media organisation, BSS, and BTV. The Government has removed senior professionals with pro-Liberation backgrounds and replaced them by ``highly questionable persons with anti-Liberation backgrounds''.

``Agreed, the past government may have appointed its chosen persons in some selected positions, but can those persons be replaced by those who have strong links with another political party, and are also accused of being involved in activities like killing of Bengalis in the nation's war of Liberation?'', the daily questioned in an editorial while commenting on Mr. Haroon Habib's removal as the chief editor of BSS.

It is understandable that in the highly politicised Bangladesh society, the caretaker Government had to take steps most judiciously to ``depoliticise the administration'', if at all required, in the interest of holding the general election in a free and fair manner. But the question is how the Government would justify the removal of scores of chairmen in Bangladesh's sporting arena, including the chief of the Cricket Control Board, Mr. Saber Hossain Chowdhury, whose able leadership earned a name for the country in world cricket? How can Dr. Syed Mudasser Ali, a freedom fighter and Director General of the Bangladesh Health Services, who has been transferred out of the job, affect the free holding of the elections? And how will the Government justify its actions in removing the directors in nationalised banks?

At least 1,500 key officials have been removed and newspapers said most of them have been replaced by supporters of the anti- Liberation lobby. The chief of the national news agency BSS, Mr. Haroon Habib, a freedom fighter, has been replaced by Mr. Mofakkharul Anam, a non-Bengali and half the members of whose family still live in Pakistan.

Major dailies, freedom fighters and cultural and literary organisations have criticised the removal of Mr. Habib and alleged that Mr. Anam had played a key role in several massacres of Bengalis in Chittagong during the nation's War of Liberation.

In the face of serious allegations and investigative reports about the new boss of the BSS carried by the media, the Government has constituted an inquiry committee to investigate whether Mr. Habib's removal was done properly and whether his successor was a ``war criminal''.

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