More on Sunita Paul

Ref: http://www.newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=257944

Rimon Chowdhury's accusations follow a typical formula. He is irate about my questioning of Sunita Paul's true identity that is shrouded in mystery and deceit. He now discovers Awami-Baksali link. How wonderful! Should I likewise brand him as a blind supporter of the BNP?
As to his accusation of political bias, let me state that I am not linked with any political party – neither here in the USA nor there in Bangladesh. Unlike her newly found Madonna, my writing on political and international affairs have appeared in print media (and the Internet) since 1981. Those are sufficient to belie his unfound allegation. As an invited speaker, I have spoken in many school, college and university campuses. He can also inquire about those speeches made since 1978 to verify if there is any truth to his accusations.
To reiterate, far from being a partisan to any political party or ideology, in the last 31 years of my residence in North America, I have, much like many concerned expatriates, tried to act as a goodwill ambassador of our people -- a task that is not easy for a country where democracy has not yet taken firm roots. I have relentlessly fought against xenophobia, racism and bigotry, let alone false accusations, fear- and hate-mongering about Bangladesh. This does not mean that Bangladesh has a clean slate, or that its politicians are angels. Far from it, politics has truly failed Bangladesh and her people. Sadly, therefore, many bad guys have held important positions in Bangladesh, adding to miseries of our people.
During the BNP rule, I was even accused of being a BNP-supporter by some accusers who belonged to a hate group that had vowed to see the end of Islam, including banning of the Qur'an, in our world in the aftermath of 9/11. Obviously, my articles rebuking bigotry and promoting pluralism were too much for them to automatically assume something that I was not. They were puzzled to read my accusations against the number two man (currently the deputy leader in the Jatiya Sangshad) within the BNP for his land-grabbing crimes in 2005.
Mr. Chowdhury accuses Mr. M. Rahman (who wrote an article on Sunita Paul in the Daily Star) and me of character assassination of Ms. Sunita Paul. That accusation is untrue. I merely quoted what Sunita herself had said about Bangladesh and her people in the last two years, which showed her true negative feelings. I was also puzzled by her comments about Mr. Salah Uddin S. Choudhury. In her own blog http://www.sunitapaul.blogspot.com/ she accused him of molesting her, calling him a bastard (dt. Sept. 2, 2008). She wrote: “I am writing this blog out of frustration-- I have never been hoodwinked by any person in the world like I was, by a person no other than Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. I still can't believe that just about a couple of days ago, I wrote in favour of him in Global Politician. The same person, for whom I had launched an international crusade, tried to rape me this morning-- as a sign of his gratitude!” She goes on to write, “I had long believed that Shoaib really wanted to achieve something with his campaign for peace between the Jews and Muslims. Though his campaigns were only based in the Internet and did not have any outreach across Bangladesh, I am sure he was creating some impact somewhere. My friendship with him emerged from professional cooperation. But never had I thought he would attempt to sexually assault me. I went to Shoaib's residence today to take my update about his case. I was sitting in his murky drawing room when he entered there drunk. Upon some gibberish words, he suddenly grabbed me hard and tried to molest me. I tried to push him off and when I failed, I screamed. Some domestic help came to the spot and rescued me. I left his house immediately. I now know that behind the veil of his international fake image of peace lover, Shoaib is a true criminal. Hence I am withdrawing all the good things that I wrote about him. Death to that bastard!”
The above accusation by Ms. Paul and then her later endorsement of Mr. Choudhury for the coveted Nobel Peace Prize (see the links in the original article) opens the Pandora ’s Box. If the accusation against Mr. Choudhury is true, was she in Bangladesh at the time of the incident? Did she enter the country under her name or a false name? How was she communicating with him, when we are told that she is deaf and dumb by birth? How did she even conduct her interviews with others, esp. the Khilafat Andolon spokesman? What caused her to endorse the “bastard”? Why?
There are many who believe that Mr. Salah Uddin writes under Sunita's name and that her picture in the American Chronicle Internet site (http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/2950) is a fictitious one. Allah knows the best. I am, however, told that there was no visa issued against anyone named Sunita Paul from the Bangladesh Embassy in India last year. If this information is reliable, her mere presence in Bangladesh during the said molestation by Mr. Chowdhury raises serious doubt about her truthfulness, let alone her mere existence under that name.
My main argument has been that the writer - Ms. Paul - remains an anti-Muslim and anti-Bangladesh propagandist, who is being promoted by certain quarters that have clear agenda against our people. Can we detach her from her message? Should not we be all concerned about her true intent?
I don't doubt that in her writing about Peel Khana massacre, Sunita had raised some valid questions that beg answers from the ruling party. It is important that those questions be answered; otherwise people will believe in rumors that may not be true, thus, further polarizing our society into enemy camps, a sure recipe for national disaster. In these days of the Internet, the power of written words cannot be ignored. That is why Sunita Paul's message cannot be separated from her attitude about Bangladesh. While her writing today may please the BNP die-hards because of the ammo that such carries against the ruling party (rightly or wrongly) plus the nasty partisanship that permeates Bangladeshi society and among some expatriates here, they ought to know the harmful effect of poison ivy before getting drawn into it for its lustrous leaves.

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