The webinar involving the leading lights of Bangladesh’s Regime Change effort last week left unanswered a contradiction — how can US-funded civil society back Islamist radicals of Hifazat who had planned to attack US embassy in Dhaka ? Tareque Rahman asked the ‘ celebral elements’ of the regime change brigade to brainstorm and find an answer , without which the funding from Washington might suffer. Excerpts from intercepts of webinar2 of the regime change brigade:
David Bergman : Tasneem Khalil, you messed it up all. Who told you to reveal our funding source, National Endowment for Democracy. Now this Indian writer Dasgupta used authentic references to nail the NED as being an US intelligence front and the shit flew back on our face. Why do you have to reveal NED as our funding source to some worthless Dhaka academic ?
Tasneem Khalil : i did not know NED was an intel front ?
Bergman : If you dont know, just keep shut.
Khalil : A former Bangladesh intelligence boss, whose Dad and mine worked together and who actually built me up, told me recently it was good idea to let our people know we enjoy big backing .
Bergman : Oh no, who is this fool ? How can intelligence people be so stupid ? You guys are too garrulous for a British who believes in quietly operating .
Ali Riaz : David is right. You should be careful while revealing any sensitive detail. See how smartly how I couch my agenda of discrediting Hasina and Awami League by floating academically sound concepts like Hybrid Regime.
Khalil : But that Hybrid Regime concept you use to describe Awami League is more applicable to BNP or Jamaat. One party created in barracks and the latter is boosted by Pakistan to torpedo our freedom struggle.
Bergman : Oh no, Khalil is so naive . Riaz has done a splendid job ascribing to Awami league what is true of BNP and Jamaat . That is lovely academic googly.
Khalil : That googly did not work because a whole lot of media stories backed the AL narrative that Bangladesh has truly prospered under Sheikh Hasina. Riaz Bhai’s academic mumbo-jumbo didn’t quite work. He is overrated. How do you handle the central allegation that we are all part of an Islamist eco-system ?
Bergman : Shut up , you fool. Riaz is the only Bangladeshi to my knowledge who can work like a submarine. But Shahidul Alam (the photographer masquerading as a journalist) is a fool . He had no business to support Hifazat because BD intel just released interrogation reports of their leaders claiming plans to attack US and Indian embassy in Dhaka . That upset our friends in Langley ( CIA hqs) because some South Asian academic analyst there said how can we be seen as funding some who support our potential attackers.
Tasneem Khalil : That Shahidul is a fool, I am a fool , so who is delivering, you or Riaz bhai. Tareque bhai says you are too expensive and have hardly justified your fat cheques .
Bergman : Tareque should have used my father in law to slice off the Awami League rather than get too thick with these beardy radicals who sexually abuse kids and sleep with too many women. We need brains, virility is a liability in politics.
Riaz : Not quite. Ershad had a huge harem but look how he survived so long as a regular politician after being ousted from power. He had his brains where it should be. He suceeded where Suharto, Ngo Dien, Synh Man Rhee, Pervez Musharaff, Idi Amin and so many military dictators, even Tareque’s dad failed.
Bergman : Ershad’s real smart cookie. Managed India and Pakistan and China like managing so many women. But that is because he drank Scotch and wrote Bengali poetry. That is why my father in law would be better to project as national president and not these illiterate beardies. Bengalis dont love religion in politics. Look at what happened across the border. How this tiny Bengali woman crushed Modi and gang with all their Gujarati crony cash .
Riaz : Bengali women are tough and clever. Hasina, Mamata, Mahua.. I can go on.
Bergman : I agree in view of my own experience. But we need some rebuttal to this Islamist eco system thesis ..we cant be seen on the same boat as this fundos if we have to keep Langley in good humour.
Riaz : Let me try .
