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The plight of Bangladesh’s children has regularly been talked about over the years. At the international level, important figures have drawn attention to what they have seen as clear instances of child labour in the country. On our part, there have been many among us who have sought to inform the global community, even as they have been careful not to dismiss the child labour issue out of hand, that it has been part of tradition in Bangladesh for children to complement the family income through doing small or part time jobs, largely in the interior of the country. In essence, the problem for Bangladesh has been one where a fine balance needs to be struck between economic necessity and child labour. It will not do for people abroad to judge realities here through a reference to what happens in the West or elsewhere. The extreme poverty which has always defined our society makes it clear that any drastic move to separate a young boy from his economic activity only because child labour laws do not permit him to waste his best years away from education may not be a good solution to the issue.
   There is thus much room for academic debate on the issue. Meanwhile, one cannot but be appalled by the details of a significant report from our correspondent in Panchagarh in yesterday’s issue of this newspaper. There are as many as 10,000 children who happen to be employed in dangerous and extremely ill-paid jobs in five upazilas of Panchagarh. Altogether, the number of children engaged in labour in Panchagarh stands at 1,37,000. That is indication enough of just how powerful poverty as a factor is in the district. One could extend the image to the rest of the country and come up with concrete figures about what actually the situation is in Bangladesh as a whole. For now, though, it is Panchagarh which stands as a symbol of what could be happening elsewhere. These 10,000 children our report speaks of are engaged in the job of lifting boulders or breaking them all day long as a way of earning income for their impoverished families. If that comes as a shock to people, there is worse in store: having worked an entire day, a child goes home with something between Tk.20 and 25 in hand. If that is reflective of man’s inhumanity to children, it is a hint of how callous as a society we have become in the last many years. If now the outside world comes forth to protest that this is indeed child labour, we as a society cannot really defend ourselves. When a boy is forced to work in a shop twelve hours a day only because he hopes to have, at the end of it, Tk.20 to take home, it is a deep sense of shame that comes over us. But does a corresponding sense of shame descend on those guilty of exploiting the poverty of these children who should really have been in school had it not been for the helplessness their families have been living in? And consider this as well: a boy who earns Tk. 20 at the end of the day may be the only one in his family doing such grinding work. But is that paltry amount, in these days of price rises and growing poverty, enough to take care of a family?
   It all boils down to a question of whether anything at all is being done to deal with poverty. In the years since the concept of the free market was introduced in the country, the impression has been one of rapid strides in progress being made everywhere. But everywhere has by and large meant the urban centres of Bangladesh. In the villages, the darkness of deprivation has in a very unprecedented way only got deeper. Panchagarh is a sad metaphor for all of us. It should be putting our policy planners and entrepreneurs to shame.

21 August, a year on

A year ago today, the country was rocked by a series of bombs which exploded at a rally of the opposition Awami League in Dhaka. More than twenty people, including the eminent politician Ivy Rahman, were done to death and hundreds of others were left maimed, many for the rest of their lives. In all these twelve months, to the intense regret of the nation, no headway has been made in the investigations relating to the carnage. Foreign investigators too have come and gone and yet we have heard nothing about what they did here. The government appointed a one-man commission to inquire into the tragedy. The commission submitted its report to the authorities long ago and yet, to this day, the nation has not been informed if any action has been taken on the basis of the report.
   In brief, what we have witnessed in the year gone by is a lack of will on the part of the authorities to delve into the roots of the crime. It ought to have been possible for politicians, especially on the treasury benches, to initiate a wholesale discussion on the tragedy in the Jatiyo Sangsad. It should have been for the government to take all those steps which could have led to an unearthing of the conspiracy behind the explosions. But because nothing was done, because the country has simply no clue till now as to who or what band of men could have been behind the conspiracy, we as a people have only stumbled upon newer tragedies. The murder of former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria was a direct consequence of the failure to deal resolutely with 21 August. And now we have before us the horror of the countrywide bomb blasts of 17 August.
   It is time the nation had its confidence in its governing classes renewed. That can happen only when there are signs that government is purposeful and is willing to work in the interest of a nation which placed it at that height of political power.

It seems, for Bangladeshis, August is the cruelest month. It was on 15th August, 1975 that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brutally murdered along with most members of his extended family. The blood-thirsty assassins did not spare even those who were pregnant and of minor age. Not even the killing of Czar Nicholas and his family after the Russian Revolution came anywhere near the mayhem of 15th August in terns of barbarity and atrocity. On August 21st last year, terror, death and destruction were struck by grenades thrown by unknown assailants in broad day light in a public meeting at Bangabandhu Avenue. At least 21 men and women died and scores were injured in the ghastly attack. The leader of the opposition escaped by the skin of her teeth. On August 17, about 459 bombs were exploded within 30 minutes in 63 districts of the country. The bombs that took the country completely unawares killed 2 and injured 153. The terror spread by the explosions was widespread. People from all walks of life were seized with panic and normal life came to an abrupt halt as everyone suspended daily chores and took refuge in safe places. Nothing like the simultaneous bomb blasts of 17th August took place before. The sense of insecurity and danger has been overwhelming. To many the bomb blasts are seen as dark portends for the future and as such are ominous.
   Immediately after the bomb blasts the most common refrain of discussions in private and public, has been the failure of intelligence. It is evident that the intelligence agencies failed to discover the conspiracy beforehand and forestall the terrifying incidents. Their failure to unearth the mystery behind past bombings and grenade attacks and to nab the perpetrators of the heinous crimes has also been blamed for the recurrence of such crimes. According to many, the terror groups have been emboldened by impunity, and are continuing with their diabolical plans. All and sundry, are blaming intelligence agencies for failure to prevent bomb and grenade attacks and to arrest the criminals involved in past incidents.
   There is more then one intelligence agency in the country. Out of nine at least three are under civilian authorities and the rest are under the army. All of these are supposed to gather intelligence regarding individuals and their activities that pose threat to the state’s security and the stability of the Government. Timely information can prevent subversive activities that undermine the authority of the Govt. and thwart actions that may threaten the integrity of the state. The dangers, about which the intelligence agencies have to be aware, have their source both inside the country and outside it. Often conspiracies that spawn the danger involve both internal and external forces. Though there are time tested ways of collaborative conspiracies, development of technology has made these collusion very sophisticated. As a result traditional approach to intelligence gathering has proved inadequate. But more than updating the technique and form of intelligence gathering, it is the mindset of the intelligence gathering agencies that require change and a new orientation. They have to know where the danger lies, what are the sources and how subversion can take place. Above all, they must know the targets of attacks by local or foreign conspirators. An overview of last thirty four years show that intelligence agencies have more or less failed in respect of most of these. After the recent bomb blast a retired Major General who is also an expert in security matters described these as unprecedented. He was surprised that in spite of most of the sites of bomb blasts being under 24 hours surveillance of the Govt. agencies those were made to bear the brunt of the attack. According to him the failure of intelligence agencies should be given prominence in any discussion about the bomb blasts.
   The failure of intelligence agencies is not new in Bangladesh. The greatest failure took place during the coup on 15th August 1975 when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and almost all members of his family were brutally gunned down. The intelligence agencies had no inkling about such a major event. The conspirators involved Khandakar Mushtaque Ahmed and a few other political figures, a number of bureaucrats and some junior army officers. All of them had some grievances against Bangabandhu and his close associates and wanted to take revenge. They did not act alone and made contacts with foreign powers. The CIA station chief in American Embassy in Dhaka was directly involved in the plotting of the coup. Indirect involvement of Saudi Arabia and China has also been hinted at by some analysts. Pakistan’s role was highly probable, being the country most unhappy with the birth of Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi conspirators met with each other at Dhaka and Comilla over a period of time. Some of them met the CIA station chief in the American Embassy to discuss about the plot. They must have made many phone calls. It was surprising that all these activities over a considerable period of time went unnoticed. When a group is involved in hatching up a conspiracy of such a magnitude the behaviour and expressions of individual’s involved become visibly changed making them, if not immediately suspect, at least subject of curiosity. But there was no such reaction on the part of the intelligence agencies in the country. This lapse is all the more astonishing because it was well known that America had opposed the creation of Bangladesh as did China and Saudi Arabia, not to speak of Pakistan. Khandokar Mustaq’s tilt towards America became evident during the war of liberation when he was about to leave for Washington to discuss a compromise plan keeping his plan secret from his colleagues. He bore a grudge against Tajuddin and his Cabinet members and was unhappy with Bangabandhu for not making him the Foreign Minister. The junior army officers, with the blessing of a few senior ones as revealed by American Journalist Lifschultz in his investigative report, felt aggrieved against Bangabandhu on personal grounds. It was not difficult to find out who were the internal enemies of the state, of the Govt. and particularly of Bangabandhu and who were their foreign abetters. Yet, the greatest lapse in intelligence work took place resulting in the most gruesome and barbaric killing in recent memory. The assassination of the architect of Bangladesh state was a national tragedy and a disgrace for the nation.
   The second major failure of intelligence took place when President Ziaur Rahman was killed by a group of army officers in an abortive coup attempt. The scale and scope of the conspiracy this time was however, small and limited. Only army elements were involved and there was no role of foreign powers. The time over which the conspiracy was hatched also appears to have been short. But the fact about some army elements becoming unhappy over certain actions taken by President Ziaur Rahman was known even to outsiders. This should have made them subjects to be watched. In this case also, there must have been tell-tale signs of unusual behavior, changed expressions and abnormal activities on the part of the conspirators, giving them away to keen observers. But intelligence agencies, particularly the one closest to them, remained completely oblivious of these developments. As a result, President Ziaur Rahman was killed and there was a change of Govt. As regards the many cases of bomb blasts and grenade attacks that took place over the last few years killing 150 people, intelligence agencies neither had prior information, nor they have been able to identify the criminals leading to their arrest and trial. Similarly, the sensational cases of arms smuggling have remained shrouded in mystery.
   There may be many causes for the failure on the part of intelligence agencies. They may not have reliable sources engaged in collecting information at field level. It is alleged that fund meant for payment top sources are often misused. Their technique and method of intelligence gathering may have become outdated or inadequate. Their training and experience may not have equipped them to cope with their tasks. The strength of manpower, budget and logistics may not also be sufficient. But what appears to be more serious is the absence of a sense of emergency and priorities in activities undertaken. The basic assumption of intelligence should be that normalcy is not prevailing or it is under threat. This engenders a sense of urgency which is vital to keep ears and eyes open. This attitude and policy seem to be missing. Government is also responsible for diverting the attention of intelligence agencies. All governments in the history of Bangladesh have used intelligence agencies for dealing with their political opponents in one way or another. In an interview given to a Bengali daily and anonymous intelligence agent has pointed out that being accountable to the Govt. and not to the state, intelligence agencies tend to give such reports to authorities as will appear satisfactory to them. According to him, no Govt. in Bangladesh has allowed the intelligence agencies to work independently. There is also the problem of lack of co-ordination among the agencies as a result of which information gathered is not shared or cross-checked. There is also no established rules and procedures governing the intelligence agencies either. The absence of a high-powered National Security Council may also have thwarted the effective use of intelligence activities.
   The killing of heads of govt. and state in the past and the recent bomb and grenade attacks in which scores have died, including a former Finance Minister, point to massive failure of intelligence agencies. The simultaneous bomb blasts on 17th August has highlighted the urgent need to strengthen intelligence network and its activities. It is not enough to criticize the agencies for their failure. The government and the citizens must wake up to the looming crisis and help the intelligence agencies to become more active and effective. A nation cannot be held hostage by criminals, nor can the situation be allowed to deteriorate. It should be seen as a challenge to the nation, and not only to the government. The target of the terror group(s) is not the Government, but the people. This is not the time for blame game.