US: A Refurbished Global Leader

by M. Quaid Uddin    1 July 2023

The United States, under President Joe Biden, realized that to tackle Chinese increasing influence around the world, it needs to build a coalition of countries with similar values, e.g., countries that practice Democracy and Human Rights as their core values. It was Mr. Biden’s election pledge. He therefore, after being elected, expressed his desire to address and resolve the conflicts around the world not by US military involvement but rather by vigorous diplomatic means. President Biden’s approach to international relations was adopted upon the realization after paying a very high price for the recent Iraq and Afghan wars, where the US spent several hundreds of billions of dollars on the false pretension of a “war on terror” and loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent human lives causing the devastating geopolitical impact on US interest around the world as a result.

President Biden came into office during the midst of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The whole world was experiencing with major social and financial crisis’s which was never been experienced in several earlier generation’s.

During such a global state, the Russian mad headed invasion of a smaller neighbouring country Ukraine pushed the global security and stability at its brink. We, as members of the international community, always have opposed such Russian aggression with our strongest possible manner. The rationale behind was, we believe, a country like my country of birth Bangladesh is also a smaller vulnerable nation state like Ukraine that borders a big expansionist neighbour India, which historically, often was never truly friendly towards us, rather has been aggressive towards its all smaller neighbours including Bangladesh. Indian extreme selfish attitude, resembles exactly as Russia’s dominance and likes to treat smaller neighbours as it’s satellite states or at best its little short of an annexed part. This is the principle source of all regional tensions in our South Asian neighbourhood. The rules based world order, that was agreed upon after WW2 by the nations of the world would be on jeopardy, should Ukraine looses its sovereignty to Russia and there would be no sovereign aspiration and protection for a smaller proud nation like Bangladesh in global community ultimately.

India proudly proclaims itself as the world’s largest democracy, while on the contrary the country is supporting and protecting a fascist, unelected and unpopular autocratic regime for last fourteen years for just to keep its interest of dominance over Bangladesh through its imposed puppet regime. India is thus the main obstacle of independent democratic practice of Bangladesh population. We laughingly find, WHAT A HYPOCRITICAL FACE OF INDIA when PM Modi shamelessly uttered “Democracy is in our DNA” during his recent US visit standing just beside US President.

Recently, former President Barak Obama in an interview suggested that without protection for muslim minorities there was “a strong possibility that India at some point starts pulling apart“. The statement madly angered the entire indian establishment. They historically polarized the whole Hindu majority Indian nation with extreme form of “Hindutba” and so, would not even like to hear honest opinion about their insane ideals with open mind and would rather counter with rejection. In reality, “Racism is in DNA of today’s Modi’s India”. Even on another recent occasion The Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui had been harassed by Indian politicians for simply asking a question to PM Modi about the protection of minority rights in White House press conference. For a Muslim Indian decent asking such question is almost impossible in India now a days. Now, they are attempting to shut such critical question even on the soil of America.

Is such attitude not enough to understand as to

•why our founding fathers joined with Mr. M. A.Jinnah for Pakistan movement? and

•why Mr. M.C. Gandhi (mahatma) failed to convince Mr. Jinnah and his associates from struggling for secession from united India?

Richard Attenborough and Ben Kingsley’s “Gandhi” was not the depiction of real history of the partition of India. We (today’s Bangladeshi population) didn’t find our future in united India when we realized that there would not be any space within that state. later after the independence in 1947 we again quickly realized that we didn’t get our cherished nationhood within the nation of Pakistan, we decided to fight for our independence and got that in 1971. Our farsighted founders knew at some point we would be in no where in united India and therefore, paved the way for us to achieve independent Bangladesh on later historical event. Therefore, Bangladeshi nation is indeed proud of its sovereignty. I believe, the basis of President Obama’s suggestive forecast was on that historical failure of 1947.

Hence, I would like to reiterate the fact that unfortunately, Bangladesh is presently ruled by Indian installed unelected fascist puppet government for many years which has been continuously violating “human rights and democracy”, the two values that are specifically stated ideals of any US administration. India is active once again, like earlier occasions to poison upcoming Bangladesh electoral process against the will of Bangladesh people’s right and thus, attempts to prolong present puppet Awami fascist régime’s repressive grip on country’s population by staging of another mere bogus sham election like 2014 and 2018.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relationship with China, Bangladesh maintains a sound bilateral ties with China based upon mutual national interests of both people. During last 20-25 years time along with the trend of globalization, the Chinese economy has made some unbelievable cyclonic progress and achieved the “second largest economy’s position” that is now only behind USA. The country is now the workshop of the world. The humongous economic, technological and infrastructural progress brought China into the centre stage of global leadership competition with USA. It is now extending its financial borrowing strength around the poorer countries of the world on its own conditions. Many poorer Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean countries were lured by highly expensive and unprotected lending of Chinese money for spending on various development projects without too many oversight. China knows it very well that these loans were vulnerable to default. Yet their strategy may be in such cases of defaulting it would gain control over the borrowing country that would fail to repay principle with interest. Most of the times the corrupt regime’s which has no mandate from their own population and thus, no commitment towards the country that they rule, get the countries hooked up with such shady deals with China to gain their own financial corrupt purposes. Sri Lanka, Pakistan, some African and Central Asian countries are the examples of such traps. Bangladesh unfortunately, was also got stuck into this trap. Although India strategically cannot support it but it allows its installed “highly corrupt and fascist” (both together which is an unique type in modern world’s history) regime to go for Chinese money as it cannot meet this regime’s corrupt financial demands. That’s how the two enemies India and China are working for their common mutual interest at the expense of Bangladesh and its population. Bangladeshi people did never believe one party dictatorial Chinese system nor did submit to expansionist Indian hegemony as well.

So, the whole situation leads towards the concluding fact that on one hand India is suppressing the sovereignty of Bangladesh and on the other hand it is, although being an US ally, working against US geopolitical interests in this region. A government duly elected by the people of Bangladesh would surely be accountable to its citizens and would never dare to do anything close to do as corrupt as present corrupt fascist regime is doing for last fourteen years. In fact, Democracy is rather in the DNA of Bangladeshi population.

Democracy is not India’s or any country’s monopoly and it continues to be nurtured and experimented. It is obvious though, the democratic practice is the best “imperfect” political system amongst all that human society has ever developed for any healthy society. In spite of many differences that exist between American and Bangladeshi societies, our most common and enduring ideal that broadly bonds our both people together is our respect for justice based democratic values.

Moreover, we awe love and respect of US’s partnership when we find it as Bangladesh’s most important international trade and financial partner. The US extends supports and assists through opening its market for Bangladesh’s exports compassionately which has undoubtedly been helpful for the country’s economy and its growth for the betterment of its citizens. We must not forget too the US’s supply of free vaccines that we received during COVID-19 pandemic while we were denied the supply of even lower category of vaccine from India even after making payments for which.

I, as a Bangladeshi-Canadian, would like to conclude with a praiseworthy note for Biden administration for bracketing () India-US bilateral relationship on the basis of “Human rights and Democracy” which, I believe, would definitely diminish PM Modi’s India’s conspiring efforts against democratic restoration of neighbouring Bangladesh this time.