Key policymakers occupying cozy chairs in Washington DC – be it the White House, State Department of anywhere in the US Capitol are modern day’s Al Capones. To them, human rights, democracy and rule of law are just mockery. For example, while Biden administration is continuing screaming and lecturing various countries in the world, including Bangladesh on human rights and rule of law, it remain absolutely tight-lipped when Pakistan’s military-controlled caretaker government is pushing forward its agenda of trying former Prime Minister Imran Khan by establishing a kangaroo court inside prison with pre-set agenda of hanging Khan on allegation of leaking state secret. Those with knowledge of notoriety of Pakistani military establishment and its fearsome spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) would easily understand – allegations, trial and possible execution of Imran Khan actually is the result of his remarks against American policymakers and his allegations against Victoria Nuland of secretly plotting of toppling Khan from power. Pakistan although publicly pretends to be a sovereign nation, it actually is a failed state and an unconditional slave of the United States. For decades, America has been using Pakistan as a breeding ground of jihadism and terrorism, wherefrom dangerous terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, Haqqani Network and the Taliban were created.
Back in 1971, on December 25, when Pakistani occupation forces launched unimaginable atrocities on Bengalis and slaughtered a large number of innocent people just in a night – which led to Bangladesh’s war of independence, United States stood in defense of Pakistan and not only ignored Pakistan’s crime against humanity that continued for nine months, killing three million people – American President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were busy in sabotaging Bangladesh’s war of independence and force Bengalis in remaining under Pakistan’s vicious slavery. As India and former Soviet Union stood in defense of Bengali freedom fighters and subsequently joined the war with the goal of defeating Pakistanis, talking about then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, America’s disgraced president Richard Nixon referred her as “old witch” while Henry Kissinger called her a “bitch” and even went further by saying – “Indians are bastards anyway”. Nixon termed Indian women as “most sexless” and “pathetic”.
The reason behind the United States supported Pakistan and vehemently opposed Bangladesh’s war of independence was because Nixon administration was “concerned about the spread of Soviet influence in the Indian subcontinent, particularly amid India’s growing ties with USSR. To counter this, the US started reaching out to China, which had tensions with India and USSR. This outreach was launched through Pakistan and the US feared that responding to the atrocities in East Pakistan would block this outreach”.
Kissinger, in an interview to The Atlantic in 2016, said that by the time the Bangladeshi crisis began, the US and China were on the verge of a breakthrough.
“These exchanges were conducted through Pakistan, which emerged as the interlocutor most acceptable to Beijing and Washington. The Bangladesh crisis, in its essence, was an attempt of the Bengali part of Pakistan to achieve independence. Pakistan resisted with extreme violence and gross human-rights violations. To condemn these violations publicly would have destroyed the Pakistani channel, which would be needed for months to complete the opening to China, which indeed was launched from Pakistan”, Kissinger said.
Henry Kissinger even said, although America put emphasis on human rights and considers is essential, for the sake of “national security” Washington can turn a blind eye on human rights violations and focus on its interests.
It may be mentioned here that, following independence of Bangladesh, Henry Kissinger termed the newly-born nation as “bottomless basket”, while in 1974, America imposed sanction on Bangladesh stopped supply of food grain.
After more than five decades of Bangladesh’s independence, when the country has been witnessing progress and prosperity under the magnanimous leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, American vultures have returned with newer blueprint of turning the country into a neo-Taliban state by bringing ultra-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its ideological ally Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) into power. This time again, Bangladesh and India need to confront such vicious conspiracy in unison. In 1971, America’s nefarious attempts of foiling Bangladesh’s war of independence fell flat and this time again – Biden administration dangerous conspiracy against Bangladesh should be foiled.
