There has been divisions in the OIC whether to appoint Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury from Bangladesh as Secretary General.
Abdullah Al Madani: OIC does not need a tarnished politician from Bangladesh
Since the creation of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in February 1970, the position of Secretary General has been filled by prominent figures from Malaysia, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, Pakistan, Niger and Morocco respectively. The latest of them is the current Secretary General Abdelouahed Belkeziz, a Moroccan whose term of office expires in 2004.
Last year, it was reportedly agreed in principle that the next OIC Secretary General would be from Bangladesh, the third largest Muslim country in terms of population, which has been marginalised for long in this respect.
Bangladesh, of course, has the right to nominate a candidate from among its many decent, respectable, dynamic, and qualified figures for the post. However, it has no right to impose upon the OIC member states someone who lacks credibility and integrity.
The startling news is that Bangladesh has nominated Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s Parliamentary Affairs Advisor, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, an alleged murderer and war criminal, to replace Belkeziz.
It has also been reported that certain major OIC member states support such a nomination, looking only at the fact that Chowdhury is an alumnus of Georgetown University, Washington, has an interest in international relations and contemporary issues concerning the Islamic world, and currently holds a high position in his country.
Turned a blind eye
In other words, they have turned a blind eye to the candidate’s character, his tarnished reputation, and his criminal record. They have not thought of the damaging effect of such an action on the OIC’s image and creditability, particularly at this critical moment when Muslims are trying hard to improve their international image and refute charges of terrorism, and at the time when they are pinning great hopes on Malaysia’s hosting of the forthcoming OIC summit conference.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed made it clear during his recent visits to a number of Islamic states that he wanted to see a change of mentality in the OIC and that the organisation must become a powerful tool with a bright image.
Should Dhaka succeed in its plan, the scene will be strange and disgusting. It will appear as if the Muslim countries are shooting themselves in the foot. It will serve as conclusive evidence of Muslims’ adoption of the policy of double standards that they often accuse the West of embracing.
How can they justify their demand to put such war criminals as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Chemical Ali on trial when they intentionally choose someone who has committed similar atrocities to chair their highest institution, to represent them at international fora and to speak on their behalf?
It is the duty of political parties, human rights organisations and all intellectuals in the Islamic world to appeal to the OIC member states to dump Chowdhury’s candidacy as their Bangladeshi counterparts have done. All major newspapers and opposition political parties of Bangladesh, irrespective of ideology, have demanded that Dhaka must withdraw the nomination of Chowdhury.
Additionally, hundreds of Bangladeshi intellectuals living across the five continents submitted an appeal to the OIC foreign ministers to reject him in order not to cause further damage to Muslims’ image in the world. One may ask what has Chowdhury precisely done to become so controversial?
The answer can be derived from Bangladesh’s leading dailies like the Daily Star, Prothom Alo, Janakantha, Shaptahik 2000, Juganthar, Aajker Kagaj, and Muslims Wake Up.
All these newspapers have talked about Chowdhury’s involvement during the last three decades in organised crime, killing, kidnapping, torture, theft, drug and arms trafficking, human rights abuses and vote rigging, supporting their claims with documents, testimonies, and victims’ reports to police stations.
However, all these charges against Chowdhury are insignificant when compared with his role in Bangladesh’s War of Liberation. During the nine-month crisis that ended with the disintegration of Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971, a small segment of Bengali Muslims sided with the Pakistani army in the latter’s ethnic cleansing , resulting in the killing of three million Bengalis and departure of 10 million to India.
Among those who collaborated with the Pakistanis and played a significant role in hunting down anti-Pakistan activists were Chowdhury and his father. They, according to a report published in January 1972 by the Dainik Bangla, a leading daily of Bangladesh, used to pick up and bring hundreds of young men to their residence in Chittagong and torture them brutally.
In his book Chronicle of Bengalis’ Freedom Fight, Mahbub-ul-Alam records in details how Chowdhury was involved in killing innocent people in 1971.
Shakawath Hussain Monju, the author of another book titled The Killing Fields and Torture Centre of Chittagong, reveals how the Chowdhury’s residence was turned into a death zone, telling stories of Bengalis being hung from the ceiling and beaten to death.
The National People’s Investigation Commission also declared him a “war criminal”. Some Bangladeshis blame the country’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for issuing a blanket amnesty for all war criminals. They argue that if it was not for this, people like Chowdhury would not have been able to walk around freely and climb up the political ladder within the state they initially opposed.
What these critics forgot, however, was that Sheikh Mujib’s decision came as a result of pressure exerted upon him by some OIC members in exchange for the recognition of his state. Criticism should be directed at the successive Bangladeshi regimes since Mujibur Rahman’s assassination in 1975, as they politically embraced Chowdhury rather than isolating him.
Became a star
Shortly after his arrest while trying to flee to neighbouring Burma in 1971, Chowdhury was released and the seizure of his family funds was lifted, allowing him to continue his business activities and rebuild his influence. Thus, Chowdhury became a rising star in General Ziaur Rahman’s regime and was supported by the latter to hold a parliamentary seat.
Following Ziaur Rahman’s assassination in 1981, he was welcomed by the new leader General Husain Mohammed Ershad, who gave him a ministerial post. With the escalation of popular protests against Ershad’s rule, he broke off, establishing his own party.
In the 1990s, Chowdhury pursued a clear opportunist policy by shifting between the two leading political parties, the Awami League and Bangladesh National Party.
The writer is a Bahrain-based Gulf researcher and writer in Asian affairs. He can be contacted at [email protected]
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