EAST PAKISTAN TRAGEDY: A DAILY DIARY

     Pakistan held General Elections in Dec. 1970, its first and fair since Independence under the scrutiny of military government of General Yahya Khan.

Total turnout of voting was 63.1% the highest turnout ever.

Awami League headed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won 160 seats (74.9%) in East Pakistan out of total allocation of 162 seats for East Pakistan.

Pakistan People Party headed by Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto won 81 seats (27%) out of total seats of 138 for West Pakistan.

PPP failed to win any seat in East Pakistan.

AL failed to get any seat from West Pakistan.

All leaders from West Pakistan, including PPP leaders, strongly resisted the notion of an East Pakistani-led government.

Bhutto voiced his infamous phrase, “Udhar tum, idhar hum” (there you, here me) – thus dividing Pakistan verbally. The same attitudes and emotions were expressed in East Pakistan.

Gen. Yahya convened National Assembly first session in Dacca on March 3, 1971.  Z.A.Bhutto and some rightist leaders denied to attend the N.A session in Dacca.

On 12 Jan. 1971, General Yahya Khan held a decisive meeting with Sheikh Mujib.  Sheikh Mujib was not prepared to concede an inch on any ground and the President closed the meeting in digust. He left Dhaka in anger and went straight to Larkana where he was hosted by Bhutto for two days. There they were joined by Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan. During the next two days, momentous decisions were taken about the fate of the country. A lot has been written about this meeting but it is all guess work. None is alive now and nothing on official records of their meeting proceedings.

During Jan. and Feb. 1971, Gen. Yahya had visualized the possibility of a military crackdown accompanied by the suspension of all political activity.  He therefore prepared a plan called Operation Blitz. It meant the suspension of all political activities in the country and a reversion of Martial Law rule in East Pakistan.  

Gen. Yahya backed up from convening National Assembly session in Dhaka and on 6^th March he blamed Sheikh Mujib for the crisis by not allowing any concessions in his six points manifesto.

On 7^th March the army was put on full alert to go into action in the event of Mujib’s declaration of Independence in his public speech.

On March 7, Mujib successfully contained in his public speech the pressure of the extremist wing of his party to announce Independence, and left the room of negotiations with Pakistan army open within the framework of united Paksitan (Stranger in My Own Country, by Lt. Gen. Khadim Hussein Raja).

Tikka Khan sent out to put down the unrest swelling in East Pakistan.

On 25^th March Tikka Khan diected the brutal military crackdown (Operation Searchlight) with the help of Major Gen. Rao Farman Ali and other Army Generals that stunned the Bengalis with gross violence, atrocities and massive human rights abuses.

Lt. General Yaqub Khan, the then commander of East Command insisted that Gen. Yahya must not postpone the session of the National Assembly elected after the 1970 Elections. He insisted that the President should visit Dhaka in person at the earliest, and take decisions that only he could take.  Yaqub sent several messages, via telephone and in writing but President was not convinced tht his presence would help. Gen. Yaqub informed to Peerzada, the personal secretary of the President, that since the President’s visit did not materialize, he was unable to carry on with his responsibilities; he was resigning from his post, and that the written resignation would be communicated on the morning of 5^th March, 1971.[1]

Gen. Niazi was sent to Dhaka to replace Gen. Yaqub Khan and he took the command of East Pakistan. 

Hartal and boycott started countrywide March 7, countrywide on call from Awami League. Mujib house in Dhanmandi, Dhaka, became the focal point of all political activities and Awami League high command went into round-the-clock session there. Responsibilities were delegated for all functions of the government including the public utility services, banks, transportation and the information media.  Even the buses and railway trains were left at wayside stations where they were deserted by their staff.  The Dhaka airport staff also went on strike and disappeared.  The unity of action and purpose demonstrated by the entire province was surprisingly complete.  The Martial Law Administrator, at this stage, was left with no one to answer his commands, except his troops.  In fact, it seemed obvious that on a clarion call from Sheikh Mujib, they would even take up arms in his support.

However, with every passing day Awami Leave tightened its grip on the administration in East Pakistan.  All organs fo the government reported to Sheikh Mujib's headquarters for instructions.  Even Inspector General of Police stopped coming to Martial Law headquarters, but started reporting to Sheikh Mujib’s residence.  Sheikh Mujib had, in the meantime, announced that he would address a public rally at the Ramna Race Course on 7 March 1971 at 4 p.m.

Tikka Khan had settled down for barely a weekwhen President Yahya Khan arrived on 15 March  He called fact finding conference the evening he arrived.  He was explained the details of the prevailing situation.  On 16 March, he went into negotiations with Sheikh Mujib.

“At about 10 p.m. on 17 March, Tikka Khan informed Maj. Gen. Ferman, Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan and me that the negotiations with Sheikh Mujib were not proceeding satisfactory and the President, therefore, wanted us to be ready for military action and to prepare a plan accordingly.  No further verbal or written directions were issued.

On the morning of 18 March, Farman and I assembled in my office to work on the plan.  Short of time, we agreed on the broad details of the plan. The President had his own plan—to flee from Dhaka prior to the military action.”[2]   

“On 21 March Mr. Bhutto arrived with his party advisers and lieutenants and joined negotiations with Sheikh Mujib which reportedly failed.  On failure of negotiations, he returned to West Pakistan safely.

The new plan, prepared by Farman Ali and me was named ‘Searchlight’.  I was instructed to put Operation Searchlight into action on the night between 25 and 26 of March 1971.  This was a momentous decision and I was very sad for the country.  The President had apparently decided to dump East Pakistan and let it go its own way. He seemed to be concerned about his personal safety only. Therefore, he left Dhaka under some sort of a cover plan at about 7 p.m. on 25^th March, which fooled nobody except, probably, himself.”[3]

After disarming of almost all centers of the East Pakistan Rifles, elements of the East Bengal Regiment and the Reserve Police, the Pakistan Army, in collusion with religious extremist razakars of Al-Badr and Al-Shams, engaged in the systematic genocide and atrocities of Bengali civilians, particularly nationalists, youth and religious minorities.[4]  Neighboring India provided economic, military and diplomatic support to Bengali nationalists.  Bangladesh government-in-exile was set up in Calcutta.  Mujib was arrested and flown to West Pakistan.  Most of the Awami League leaders fled and set up a government-in-exile in Calcutta, declaring Bangladesh an independent state.

The civil was created a widespread displacement of civilians in East Pakistan and widespread violations of human rights – carried out by the Pakistan Army with support from political and religious militias, beginning with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25^th March 1971.  Independent researchers put the toll at 300,000 to 500,000.  A further eight to ten million people fled the country to seek safety in India.[5]  Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000 women raped, giving birth to thousands of war babies.[6]

Wary of the growing involvement of India, the Pakistan Air Force launched a pre-emptive strike, called Operation Chengiz Khan,  on Indian Air Force planes on the ground.  The strike was seen by India as an open act of unprovoked aggression.  This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistan War.  Three Indian corps was involved in the liberation of East Pakistan.  They were supported by nearly three brigades of Mukti Bahini fighting alongside them, and many more fighting irregularly.

This was far superior to the Pakistani army of three divisions.  The Indians quickly overran the country selectively engaging or bypassing heavily defended strongholds.  Pakistani forces were unable to effectively counter the Indian attack, as they had been deployed in small units around the border to counter guerrilla attacks by the Mukti Bahini.  Unable to defend Dhaka, the Pakistanis surrendered on 16 December 1971.[7]

On 16 Dec. Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi, CO of Pakistan Army forces located in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of Surrender.  Over 93000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian forces, making it the largest surrender since World War II.

To ensure a smooth transition, the Simla Agreement was signed in 1972, between India and Pakistan.  The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognized the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani 93000 PoWs.[8]

For full episodes of Army actions, failure of political negotiations, faulty political decisions of the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party, and for fact finding search, it is highly recommended to read through the pages of Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report.

ISRAR HASAN

14 Dec. 2014

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[1] Lt. Gen. Khadim Hussein Raja; “Stranger in My Own Country”; p.57

[2] Ibid. Khadim Hussein Raja; p.71.

[3] Ibid. p.79.

[4] “Leading News Resource of Pakistan”, Daily Times, May 17, 2010; and GenocideBangladesh.org.       Retrieved Dec. 14 2014.

[5] Rummel, Rudolph J., “Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900” Chap.8, Table 8.2 Pakistan Genocide in Bangladesh Estimates, Sources, and Calculations.

[6] Menen, Aubrey (23 Jul.1972). “The Rapes of Bangladesh”, The New York Times.

[7] Encyclopedia Wikipedia, Chap. Bangladesh Liberation War 1971.

[8] Ibid.

Bangladesh: Post-Uprising

Appending two letters from my friend, Dr. Enayet Rahim. They are self-explanatory. They tell the eye-witness story not to be found in history pages: How the freedom fights were hijacked by masked enemies of Bangladesh? Send yr.feedback to Dr. Enayet thru this blog. Thanks. Israr Hasan

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August 15th: a day of Destiny

enayet rahim		Oct 31 (2 days ago)
to Emran, Syed, Muhammad, Aquila, Jamil, me, Faiz, A.B.M., Shamim

Dear Friends :

August 15, 1975 was a crisp, pleasant morning...the summer heat and humidity of the rainy months had subsided. I was up at 4am in the morning studying. I was in the 3rd year of medical school, and I always liked to study for an hour or so in the morning, before going to my classes. Wrapping up my studies at about 5:30, I got out to have a morning sprint ( would run for about 20 minutes ) before showering and eating breakfast. Daylight was breaking, people were returning from their Fajr prayers from the mosques. As I reached the gates of our home in Ispahani Colony, gunfire broke out. Rapid bursts of automatic rifles , coming from the Mintoo road area. I ran back home. Found my father agitated and up. He had received a phone call from Bangabandhu himself yelling on the phone, somebody is shooting in my house, and the lines went dead.

Visibly shaken, my dad called the Rakkhi Bahini ( paramilitary guards) headquarters; no reply. Then he called Brigadier Mash-hurul Huq, the military secretary to the President. Luckily he answered. My dad told him what happened. Mashhurul said, "I am going" and hung up. My dad also quickly got dressed. As the Principal Secretary to the President, he deemed his duty to rush there too. He also called the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Shafiullah. Again , no answer. I saw my dad, pick up his revolver and put it in his pocket. He had not done this since he left the police service a couple of years earlier. He told me to call the driver to bring the car. As luck would have it, the driver couldnot be found.

The firing had stopped by then. My father was about to get out of the house, when my mom suddenly came and grabbed my dad " Don't go", she said. I guess, women have a sixth sense, which we men don't. My dad stopped in his tracks and sat down.

A few minutes later, Mr Taheruddin Thakur, one of Bangabandhu's cabinet ministers called :" Rahim Saheb, he said, listen to the Radio."

We turned on the Radio to hear , a certain Major Dalim declaring that the military has seized power, Shaikh Mujib has been removed, and a new government will be announced soon. Martial law was proclaimed. Very brief announcement and no further explanations.

We all sat around dumb-founded and in shock. About 30 minutes or so later, Mr Mesbahauddin, who was a neighbor and Director of the National Security Intelligence at the time walked to our house in his Lungi and with a shawl covering his head and face so nobody might recognize him, and told us that the whole Shaikh family has been killed. Another hour or two passed, and then the Radio became alive again , announcing that Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmad, another Cabinet minister has been proclaimed the new President and soon a new government would be announced. One by one , the Chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Police and the Rakkhi Bahini came on the Radio and announced their allegiance to the new government . Their voices betrayed their shock. Evidently none of them knew what had happened and what was going to happen.

Poor Brigadier Mashhurul Huq rushed to the Presdents house on Rd #32, Dhannmondi. He was stopped by the soldiers there, roughed up, and one of the guys cocked his gun and was about to shoot him. Luckily another military jeep arrived, and the driver jumped out and shouted, keep this "bastard " for me, I will kill him myself. Saying so, he pulled Brig. Huq into his jeep and sped away. On the way, he told him to take off his shirt and dropped him off in front of New Market, and said, I am sorry Sir, please run away and hide. Brigadier Huq survived to tell us the story later.

Anyways, a couple of hours later, Khandaker Mushtaq went on the Radio Bangladesh and announced his new cabinet. Most of Mujib's companions were in the new cabinet....many of them were already vying for their posts and couldnot wait to start their new jobs.

This was while their leader's dead body lay on the staircase, and the whole family remained dead and rotting on the floors. It was 3 days before anybody even thought about doing something with these stinking dead bodies.

I went out into the streets at about noon. Dhaka seemed to be in a festive mood. Loud music played, restaurants were open and doing brisk business. I heard, I did not see, people were distributing sweets on the occasion of the leaders' death. Going toward the Medical College , I noted commotion near the morgue. Peeking thru, I saw dead bodies lying all over, which I heard were , Shaikh Fazlul Huq (Moni), Mujib's nephew, and his wife, and Abdur Rab Sarniabat, Mujib' s brother in law and his family; both members of his cabinet. One Major Noor, his uniform soaked in blood, had brought these bodies in a military truck.

Will continue

Caesar

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A day of Destiny : Continue

enayet rahim	9:59 pm (2 days ago)
to Emran, Syed, Muhammad, Nizam, A.B.M., Moazzem, Alam, Enam, Mohammad, Faiz, me, Jamil, Golam, Shamim, Jewell, Sha, Ziaulmujib, Lotus, Leena

Dear Bro. Israr:

The happenings of 15th Aug 1975 has remained a mystery.  The killings and the coup d' etat was carried out by a handful of soldiers and officers, and strangest part of it was, many of the soldiers were really ex-soldiers having been retired or fired from the services. The commissioned officers included only one who was in active duty : Col. Farook Rahman of the Bengal Lancers. His comrades, Col Rashid,  Major Noor, Major Dalim were all forcibly retired several months ago. How they commanded the small platoon of  soldiers is strange to say the least.

Who really fired the shots and killed all these people is also a mystery. Major Dalim who made the announcements on the Radio and became infamous denied any responsibility. In interviews given to reporters, he denied any plans to kill. He said, their plan was to force Mujib out of power, but not to kill him. That seems too naïve; all who knew Shaikh Mujib , knew also that he couldnot be threatened to give up power; he needed to be killed. But who killed or gave orders to murder all the women and children, and kill his other relatives in Serniabat's or Moni's house is not known.

Col.Farook, Col Rashid, Major Noor all gave interviews to Libyan TV and declined any involvement in the killing of women and children. They also denied any knowledge of who did the killings. A certain Lieutenant Muslemuddin ( who was commissioned from a Junior commissioned officer) is said to have done the killings at Mujib's house. But this person was never seen in public and disappeared into the thin air. Nobody heard of him again. But who did the killings in the other houses ?

Four of Mujib's closest associates ( Cabinet Ministers) : Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Capt. Mansour Ali, Quamruzzaman were picked up from their homes in Mintoo road by a detachment of soldiers and put in Dhaka Central Jail. All others of his cabinet joined the new government under Khandaker Mushtaq immediately. Two months later in Novemeber 1975, 3 or 4 armed men in military uniform arrived in Dhaka Jail in the middle of the night and forced themselves into the Warden's office and demanded to see the above prisoners. The Warden woke up the IG Prisons, who refused the demand. The armed men forced him on gun-point to call the President's office . Reportedly, the then President Khandaker Mushtaq himself spoke and told the IG Prisons to let these people in. The IG vainly protested that it was against all regulations dating back from British times. But apparently the President over-rode his protests, and the gun-toting soldiers forced their way in. They went to the prison cells and shot the above four point-blank and killed them.

Again, nobody knows who did all this. I have talked to several people. My father who still worked as Secretary to the President was shocked by news next morning  like the rest of the country.

A couple of days after this incident, another group of Army officers under Gen Khaled Musharraf staged a coup. But the officers and soldiers of the August incidents managed to negotiate with Gen Khaled and obtain a airplane and fly out of the country to Libya. They have forever disappeared, except Col.Farook ( the only active duty soldier), who returned to the country. he was arrested and sentenced to death by the present regime, and was hanged two years ago.

Call it Divine Providence or the Decree of Allah...call it what you will, but the fact remains that strange things did happen. Col Farouk drove 3 tanks out of the cantonement and went to the Rakkhi Bahini Headquarters in PeelKhana. The Rakkhi Bahini was the National Guards , raised by Mjib , as a counter balance to the army, basically for his protection. The tanks had no ammunition. But it didn't matter.....not one soul came out of the barracks of Rakkhi Bahini. The Army, Navy,Air-force did not move, despite Shaikh Mujib's desperate phone calls to all the Chiefs. Mujib did make several phone calls that morning as per records of the phone company. Nobody responded.

What do you call this?

Please comment

Caesar

CONFESSION OF A CRIMINAL

Latin America and the Caribbean have been cited by numerous sources to be the most dangerous regions in the world.   Studies have shown that Latin America contains the majority of the world's most dangerous cities.  Analysts attribute the reason to why the region has such an alarming crime rate and criminal culture is largely due to social and income inequality within the region. Many agree that the prison crisis will not be resolved until the gap between the rich and the poor is addressed.  But it belies the truth when we crimes are more rampant in rich commercial and industrial societies than the agricultural society of village peasants and community labors.

Presenting here a classical example of an individual’s crimes and violence of a born American of born American parents.  

Panzram, one of the worst mass murderers in American criminal history was awaiting trial for house breaking. He revealed his confession in one of his prison terms.  Panzram became a writer in prison, but in 1928 his autobiography was regarded as too horrifying to publish and had to wait more than forty years before it finally appeared in print.  The odd thing is that most of his murders were ‘motiveless’.  He used to kill out of resentment, a desire for revenge on society.  Panzram’s basic philosophy was that life is a bad joke and that most human beings are too stupid or corrupt to live.

His father, a Minnesota farmer, had deserted the family when Carl Panzram was a child.  At eleven, Carl burgled the house of a well-to-do neighbor and was sent to a reform school.  There he was a rebellious boy and was violently beaten.  The beatings only deepened the desire to avenge the injustice.  Travelling around the country on freight trains, the young Panzram was sexually violated by four vagabonds.  The experience suggested a new method of expressing his aggression.  “Whenever I met a homeless I would make him raise his hands and drop his pants.”  Panzram lived by burglary, mugging and robbing churches.  He spent a great deal of time in prison, but became a skilled escapist.

In various prisons, he became known as one of the toughest troublemakers ever encountered.  What drove him to his most violent frenzies was a sense of injustice.  Every time he was put in jail, he managed his escape by his skill of breaking the jail. He aided other prisoners to escape and sometime warden was shot dead or the jail was put on fire.

So far Panzram had been against the world, but not against himself.

One night Panzram got drunk with a pretty nurse and decided to abscond.  Recaptured after a gun battle, he was thrown into the punishment cell.  He escaped from prison again, stole a yacht, hired some sailor, took them to the stolen yacht, robbed them, committed sodomy, killed them and threw their bodies into the sea.  He then went to West Africa to work for an oil company, where he soon lost his job for committing sodomy on the table waiter.  The US Consul declined to help him and he sat down in a park ‘to think things over’.

Back in America he raped and killed three more boys, bringing his murders up to twenty.  After five years of rape, robbery and arson, Panzram was caught again in New York and sent to one of America’s toughest prisons, Dannemora.  ‘I hated everybody I saw.’ Like a stubborn child, he had decided to turn his life into a competition.  He spent his days brooding on schemes of revenge against the whole human race: how to blow up a railway tunnel with a train in it, how to poison a whole city by putting arsenic into the water supply, even how to cause a war between England and America by blowing up a British battleship in American waters.

 When a bar was discovered in his cell, Panzram received another brutal beating—perhaps the hundredth of his life.  In the basement of the jail he was subjected to a most brutal torture. It was  during this period in jail that Panzram met a young Jewish guard named Henry Lesser.  Lesser was struck by Panzram’s curious immobility and cold detachment.  Lesser was so shocked by this treatment that he sent Panzram a dollar by a trusty while he was tortured.  At first, Panzram thought it was a joke.  When he realized that it was a gesture of sympathy, his eyes filled with tears.  He told Lesser if he could get him some papers and a pencil, he would write him his life story.  This is how Panzram’s autobiography came to be written.  When Lesser read the opening pages, he was struck by the remarkable literacy and keen intelligence.  Panzram made no excuses for himself:

“If any man was a habitual criminal, I am the one.  In my lifetime I have broken every law that was ever made by both God and man. If either had made any more, I should very cheerfully have broken them also.  The mere fact that I have done these things is quite sufficient for the average person.  Very few people even consider it worthwhile to wonder why I am what I am and do what I do.  All that they think is necessary to do is to catch me, try me, convict me and send me to prison for a few years, make life miserable for me while in prison and turn me loose again.  It is like someone had a young tiger cub in a cage and then mistreated it until it got savage and bloodthirsty and then turned it loose to prey on the rest of the world … there would be a hell of a roar.  But if some people like me do the same thing to other people, then the world is surprised, shocked and offended because they get robbed, raped and killed.  They done it to me and then don’t like it when I give them the same dose they gave me.”  (An excerpt from “Killer: A Journal of Murder,” edited by Thomas E. Gaddis and James O. Long, Macmillan, 1970). 

Panzram’s confession is an attempt to justify himself to other human being.  Where others were concerned, he remained as savagely intractable as ever.

Transferred to Leavenworth Penitentiary, Panzram murdered the foreman of the working party with an iron bar and was sentenced to death.  When Panzram heard that Lesser and some other literary men, who were impressed by his autobiography, were trying to get him reprieved, he protested violently: ‘I would not reform even if the front gate was opened right now and I was given a million dollars when I stepped out.  I have no desire to do good or become good.’ In a separate letter to Henry Lesser he wrote: ‘I could not reform if I wanted to.  It has taken me all my life so far, thirty-eight years of it, to reach my present state of mind. In that time I have acquired some habits.  It took me a lifetime to form these habits, and I believe it would take more than another lifetime to break myself of these same habits even if I wanted to.’  When he stepped onto the scaffold on the morning of 11 Sept. 1930, the hangman asked him if he had anything to say.  ‘Yes, hurry it up, you bastard.  I could hang a dozen men while you’re fooling around.’  

Panzram became a writer in prison; but in 1928 his autobiography was regarded as too horrifying to publish and had to wait more than forty years before it finally appeared in print. 

ISRAR HASAN

17^TH AUG. 2014

Reference:  Edited “The Psychology of Self-Destruction.”  From ‘A Criminal History of Mankind’, by Colin Wilson, Pub. Granada Publishing, Great Britain, 1984.

CRIME AND CORRUPTION: CHALLENGES

  

No baby born criminal.  It is his/her surroundings—surroundings of parents and family, surroundings of neighbors, friends, schools and colleges, workplaces and marketplaces, churches and society  he/she is living in, make him/her a normal citizen or a criminal.

The “Encyclopedia of Murder”, appeared in 1961, has a section on ‘motiveless murder’.  In Nov. 1966, Robert Smith, an 18-year-old student walked into a beauty parlor in Mesa, Arizona, made five women and two children lie on the floor, and shot them all in the back of the head.  Smith was in no way a problem youngster; his relations with his parents were good and he was described as an excellent student.  He told the police: ‘I wanted to get known, to get myself a name.’   A woman walked into a California hotel room and killed a baseball player who was asleep there – and who was totally unknown to her. She explained to the police: ‘He was famous, and I knew that killing him would make me famous too.’ 

There is a basic desire in all human beings to ‘become known’ either by good deeds or evil deeds.  Every one, ordinary or extra-ordinary, feels that his/her thoughts are worthy of attention.  In fact, there is none in the world who does not secretly feel that he is worthy of attention?  One of the most basic urges in man is the urge of heroism.  And this is the human urge that we see in the pages of news media and nations’ history depicting heroic deeds of evil. We can see the urge when a child shouts his needs at the top of his voice. He does not disguise his feeling that he is the center of attention.  We can see this human trait in larger perspective when every adult indulges in endless daydreams of heroism. 

Religious scriptures and moral precepts ever since the dawn of human civilization could not reform this ugly trait of mankind.  It is beyond scope of this study to present the horrible events of the two world wars, Nanking and Rwanda massacres, Jewish holocaust in Germany, Palestinians massacres in Lebanon, Gaza and West Bank, and many many other such genocides.

There are many faces of crime and violence that vary from country to country and ages to ages. Crime and violence in developed societies, like France, Italy, Germany, England and the United States are different in nature comparing to the developing societies of Asia, Africa, Middle East, Far East and Latin America. Conduct that is lawful in one country may be criminal in another.  Abortion, once prohibited has become lawful in many countries, as has homosexual behavior  and prostitution.  Suicide and attempted suicide, once criminal, have also been removed from the scope of the criminal law in many countries. The trend generally is to increase the scope of the criminal law rather than to reduce it.   New technologies give rise to new opportunities for their abuse, which in turn give rise to legal restrictions.  The widening use of computers and cellular telephones has created the need to legislate against a variety of new abuses and frauds.  However, the crimes of murder, rape, arson and theft,  burglary and robbery are taken as crimes in most of the legal systems.

However, this study does not relate to organized crimes, like state crimes of Germany, Italy, China and Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and the sub-continent. This study relates to the exploration of the nature of crimes in the heart and mind of a person and individual. 

One of the fountain heads of all comprehensive crime is ego or egoism.  The literal meaning of ego as Merriam Webster explains is, ‘the feeling or belief that one is better, more important, more talented, etc. than others’.  In applications and practices, it is varied and mostly damaging to human society.  The history of world organized religions furnish typical examples of egoism displayed in the tussles between churches and emperors, between ulama, fuqaha and theologians, between caliphs and their courtiers, between soldiers of sword and warriors of pen.

Lust for power, property and wealth is another human trait which is creating havocs throughout the passage of civilization.  Most of the squabbles found in the fields of political, economical, religious and social fights are destined to achieve power, property or wealth.

Street crimes and corruptions in metropolitan cities of Bangkok, Tokyo, New York, Chicago, Penang, Rangoon, Karachi, Delhi, Mumbai, and Dhaka are on rise with the rise of science and technology developments.   City police in almost all of the metropolitan cities is one of the founding sources of city crimes and corruptions.  Crimes of city police run like blood-vessels in the body of civic life.

Here is a personal experience. Sometime in the month of May 1965. As soon as I reached my office in Ministry of Education, Karachi, I received an emergency call from my home to go to Nazimabad Police Station to collect the dead-body of one of my relative-boys, age 15, who had migrated from India with his family only about six months before.  He was living with his mother and two elder brothers. The news was shocking for the whole family.  Instantly, I rushed to the Police Station with one of my neighbors, a senior and experienced person; collected the dead body, brought home, and buried him after necessary formalities.  The Police Station handed us a court judgment that the boy had committed suicide in the police lockup.  Later, after few days, one of the close friends of the deceased informed us that he and his friend with some more boys of the same age, were usually picked up by local police from their playground in the evening.  They were used to break into assigned houses in dark of the night, steal valuables and deposit in the police station. They were released from the police station only after their sexual molestation without any share of the loot. Those not ready for molestation were put into lockup.  He said his friend was tortured to death because he had revolted and declared to disclose the nightly affairs of the police station to media newspaper.

Tariq Malik, a Dawn News reporter, was killed a week ago as he grappled with one of the criminals during a robbery attempt in Lahore's Defense area. (Dawn, 30 March 2009).  The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee came up with their data showing that car theft and cellphone snatching had actually increased by 18 and 30 per cent respectively last year.

A Pakistani serial killer, Javed Iqbal, 40 years, Lahore, murdered some 100 boys. His case attracted international attention not only because he was one of the deadliest serial killers in history but because he was sentenced to die in a manner similar to that in which he had tortured and killed his victims. Iqbal surrendered to Pakistani authorities in 1999 after confessing to 100 murders during a six-month period. According to his confession, he had lured the boys, mostly beggars and street children between the ages of 6 and 16, to his home in Lahore, where he sexually assaulted them, strangled them to death, dismembered their bodies, and disposed of the pieces in a vat of acid. Iqbal was given 100 death sentences; the court also ordered that he be executed with the same chain he used to strangle his victims and that his body be cut into 100 pieces and dissolved in acid. Before the execution could take place, however, Iqbal and a young accomplice, who also had been convicted, were found dead in their prison cells. Despite indications of foul play, their deaths were officially ruled suicides.

 The sad fact is that people are resigned to living with a high rate of crime in our cities. Citizens devise their own private arrangements for security or take other protective measures. In fact, crime has come to be accepted as commonplace.  As for the underlying reasons, these are said to be growing poverty and unemployment.  But this does not tell the full story. The involvement of young people from affluent families in such criminal activity belies conventional arguments. There is additional factor of political and religious groups resorting to crime to fund their programs.

    With the police having become dysfunctional it is not surprising that street crime is on the rise. Inefficiency and corruption within their ranks has increased as the law-enforcers have come to be used by the government to further political parties' goals. The police reforms of Pakistan introduced in 2002 were watered down by subsequent amendments and never implemented in their true spirit. If the task of reforming the police were to be taken in hand earnestly and training improved, we could see a positive impact on the crime situation.

Once, the Police caught up four Taliban militants about 15 minutes after they robbed a local bank, shooting them dead on a bridge-crossing, while driving their loot to the safety of the border regions with Afghanistan.  There is a shift in militants funding inside Pakistan.  The Taliban, al-Qaida and associated groups now relying less on cash from abroad and more on inside-country crime to get money for equipment, weapons and the expenses associated with running an insurgency. (Dawn, , Oct. 12, 2011). 

Below is a brief from Times of India, New Delhi on Crimes and Corruption.  

For the cops of south Delhi, Madangir is a hotspot for criminals. For many pickpockets, bag-lifters, bank robbers and extortionists—the resettlement colony in southeast of Delhi is both home and workstation.  Police sources say Madangir is now the playing field of at least six organized gangs. What makes them more disturbing, even sinister, is their regular use of teenagers for crime. "They are very organized. Before they are employed, the teenagers are screened by gang leaders. Many of them are on their payrolls. If someone goes to jail, the gang funds his bail, expenses in jail and also supports his family,"  says a police officer. 

The patterns of crime have changed over the years, says a well-informed inspector. "The crimes and the criminals in Madangir have evolved over the years.  Some gang leaders have moved to real estate, including settling property disputes. The lower ranks started roping in juveniles and teenagers to execute the crimes and remain "rich and relevant".  Jewelers dealing with stolen goods popped up in the area. By now, several criminals had developed links with weapons suppliers from Meerut. Sources in the crime branch say, the gangs of Madangir even have a "weapon on phone" facility where they deliver arms to any part of the city after receiving an order on phone. 

The shopkeepers in the area are fed up of these gangs. "They have become a threat to traders. A large number of street vendors shell out money to put up there stalls.

There are hundreds and thousands of such instances in the streets of Thailand, Malaysia, Kolkata, Dhaka, Delhi, Mumbai, Lahore, Karachi and many more, which replicate the scenario of crimes and corruption cited above.

Can anyone tell me how to remedy the evil-side of human character?

ISRAR HASAN

 13^TH AUG. 2014         

ISRAEL ATTACKS GAZA

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No sooner Hamas and Fatah signed a Palestinian unity government after a series of reconciliation talks between them than a set of lethal incidents between Hamas and Israel led to the Israeli military launching ‘Operation Protective Edge’ on July 8, 2014.

Those lethal incidents included the blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel Defense Forces, the collapse of American-sponsored peace talks, attempts by rival Palestinian factions to form a coalition government, the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, the subsequent kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager, and increased rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas militants in response to an extensive crackdown by Israeli troops on Hamas in the West Bank.[1] On 8 July 2014, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip.[2]

This operation follows a chain of events that began with the abduction of three Israeli teenagers Naftali Fraenkel (16); Gilad Shaer (16) and Eyal Yifrah (19) in the West Bank in June 2014, for which Israel blamed Hamas. No evidence of Hamas involvement has been offered by the Israeli authorities[3]   and Hamas have denied any involvement in the incident.[4]   The alleged murderers come from the Qawasameh clan which is notorious for acting against Hamas as well as Israel.[5] 

Since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, there have been periodic eruptions of violence between Israel and Hamas. Hamas launches volleys of rockets into Israel and Israeli warplanes strike targets in Gaza. This has escalated into an Israeli ground invasion twice in the past.

In July last month a series of rocket attacks from Gaza and in retaliation, airstrikes from Israel on Gaza has killed and devastated innumerable buildings and properties in both sides. There have been about one dozen tunnels in Gaza which were targets of Israel airstrikes. On 13 July, the Israeli military reported that more than 1300 Israeli attacks had taken place, while more than 800 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel.[6]  The next day, 14 July, Egypt announced a cease-fire initiative. The Israeli government declared acceptance for the proposal, and temporarily stopped hostilities in the morning of 15 July. However, Hamas rejected it in "its current form", as did other Palestinian factions.[7] On 16 July, Hamas and Islamic Jihad offered Israel a 10-year truce, with ten conditions, mostly centered on ending the blockade.[8]

The current conflict is the deadliest military operation to have taken place in Gaza since the Second Intifada although the exact number of deaths and percentage composed of civilians has been in dispute. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 1,499 Palestinians were killed and 8,300 were injured. Among the dead were 315 children, 166 women, and 50 elderly.[9]  According to UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 31 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 250,000 Palestinians have been displaced of which 236,375 are taking shelter in 88 UNRWA schools. 1.8 million People are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply,[10] 136 schools and 24 health facilities have been damaged, homes of 9,395 families have been totally destroyed or severely damaged. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. And more than 250,000 IDPs are in need of emergency food assistance.[11]

 It was the start of a three-day truce, the best hope yet to end a 25-day-old war that has taken an enormous toll on both Palestinians and Israelis; reports Washington Post correspondent from Gaza city, Aug. 1, 2014. Hamas and Israel are blaming each other for the collapse of a 72-hour cease-fire that lasted only 90 minutes. (Reuters). On Friday, Aug.1 morning, Israeli troops were in the southern Gaza Strip preparing to destroy a Hamas tunnel. Suddenly, Palestinian militants emerged from a shaft. They included a suicide bomber, who detonated his explosive device. In the chaos, two Israeli soldiers were killed. The militants grabbed 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, 23, and pushed him back through the tunnel, according to the Israeli account. Within minutes, the war was back.^[12]

No matter how and when the conflict between Hamas and Israel ends, two things are certain. The first is that Israel will be able to claim a tactical victory. The second is that it will have suffered a strategic defeat.  

At the tactical level, the success of the Iron Dome missile defense system has kept Israeli casualties near zero and significantly reduced the material damage from the rockets fired from Gaza. Israel’s ground invasion, launched on Thursday, Jul. 17, will also reap rewards. Indeed, it already has: Israeli forces have exposed and destroyed several Hamas tunnels, including some that were intended to allow cross-border activity into Israel and others that facilitated the movement of goods, ammunition, and militants within Gaza itself.

 But they do not equal a strategic victory. War is the continuation of politics by other means. Wars are fought to realign politics in a way that benefits the victor and is detrimental to the loser. The more the Israeli attacks on Gaza, the more the sympathy-scorings for Hamas and endangering the peace and security of Israel. Israel is winning tactically, but losing strategically.  Hamas’ strategic objective, it seems, is to shatter Israel’s sense of normalcy.   It is not possible for Israel to exist as a flourishing and prosperous democracy under the garrisoned conditions of persistent conflict.  Many possibilities can be foreseen in the aftermath of this war.

Being hopeless of the possibility of peace, a sizeable numbers of Israeli Jews may emigrate elsewhere. Disagreements over how to handle the Palestinian problem will definitely deepen, sowing discord within Israeli Knesset and ultimately within Israeli society.  Although this type of internal confusion will not bring Israel to its knees, any erosion of Israeli power, including the people’s reluctance, may prove to be a winning for Hamas.

This new round of violence, on the other hand, has caused enormous disruption. Rockets fired from Gaza have triggered warning sirens in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beer Sheba—all of Israel’s major cities. Those rockets, destroyed in the air by the Iron Dome missile defense system, did not kill any people thus far, but they have sent almost everyone scrambling for shelter several times a day and shattered the illusion of peace and comfort. And that is enough for Hamas.

Also, the disproportionate number of casualties in Israel and Gaza has made Israel appear, at least to many Western eyes, as the aggressor.  Israel’s retaliations, which are levelling Gaza’s unreinforced buildings and leave behind mangled bodies of kids and babies, draw media attention throughout the world. This war is not an exercise in fairness, but in the attainment of strategic objectives.

 

It has shown Israelis that, even if the Palestinians cannot kill them, they can extract a heavy strategic price. It has also raised the profile of the Palestinian cause and reinforced the perception that the Palestinians are weak victims standing against a powerful aggressor. It seems Hamas is fighting this war with Israel on a strategic U-turn by turning itself into a sacrificial lamb for the aggressor. Hamas’ infringement of the past two peace agreements and shooting their rockets from populous locations of Gaza cities translate their mind. Israel’s aggression is sure to be translated into pressure on Israel by in-house politicians and certainly by social movements in parts of the world whose objective is to isolate Israel politically and damage it through economic boycotts. 

There is not much that Israel can do to change Hamas’ behavior. What Israel can do to prevent Hamas and Palestinians from capitalizing on their strategic success is to review its tactical and strategic policy that can (i) ensure its peace inside and security on its borders, (ii) enhance its commercial viability for Western nations, and (iii) maintain its internal social cohesion over the long haul. This may seem difficult, but the first two decades of Israel’s national existence does not suggest otherwise.

ISRAR HASAN

 2nd AUGUST 2014

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[1] "Israel and Hamas Trade Attacks as Tension Rises". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2014 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israe_Gaza_conflict)

[2]  "IDF's Operation "Protective Edge" Begins Against Gaza". Jewish Press. Retrieved 8 July 2014.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israe_Gaza_conflict)

[3] Robert Tait. "Hamas kidnapping: Islamist group to blame for youths' 'kidnapping', Benjamin Netanyahu says", The Telegraph, 15 June 2014

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israe_Gaza_conflict

[4] "Israel rounds up senior Hamas men in West Bank sweep". The Times of Israel. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.

[5]Shlomi Eldar "Accused kidnappers are actually rogue Hamas branch", Al-Monitor, 29 June 2014.

[6]  "Thousands Flee Gaza Homes Under Israel Threat", Voice of America, 13 July 2014; accessed 22 July 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israe_Gaza_conflict

[7]  "Israel and Hamas to observe brief Gaza truce". Aljazeera.com. Retrieved 22 July 2014. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel_Gaza_conflict)

[8]  "Report: Hamas, Islamic Jihad offer 10-year truce". Ma'an News Agency. Retrieved 28 July 2014. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel_Gaza_conflict)

[9] LIVE UPDATES: IDF soldier wounded in Gaza; Palestinian death toll nears 1,400 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel_Gaza_conflict)

[10]  "Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza emergency: Humanitarian Snapshot (as of 22 July 2014)". UN OCHA. 22 July 2014. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israe_Gaza_conflict)

[11]  Gaza Emergency Situation Report. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Occupied Palestinian Territory. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel_Gaza_conflict)

[12] “Cease-fire collapses between Israel, Hamas; Israeli soldier captured.” The Washington Post, 1^st Aug. 2014,