The US ambassador and a Moshrefa Mishu

by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

(January 01, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) A leading news agency in Bangladesh has catered a news item on Professor Anu Mahmud demanding release of detained garment workers leader Moshrefa Mishu. This is not only alarming but very much disturbing news indeed, as Mishu’s name came as the top instigators behind series of anarchies at various ready made garment factories in Bangladesh.

According to the news, a so-called citizen's platform has called for removal of US ambassador to Bangladesh, James F Moriarty. It also urged the government to declare him 'unwanted'. The group claimed that the ambassador was a lobbyist of foreign companies eyeing the country's oil and gas sector.

The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports made the demand at a press conference in Dhaka.

The committee secretary Anu Mohammad said, as disclosed in WikiLeaks cables, the US ambassador was pressurising prime minister's energy advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury to permit Asia Energy for open-pit coal mining in Phulbari.

The Phulbari open-pit excavation was halted following a violent protest in 2006 that killed three people.

The cables also revealed Moriarty held talks with Chowdhury in 2009 and urged him to approve British company Global Coal Management [GCM] to begin open-cast coal mining, the Guardian newspaper of UK reported based on WikiLeaks cables.

"He repeatedly put pressure on Bangladesh government to give the lease of the gas blocks to ConocoPhillips Company through export oriented agreement. He also put pressure to permit Chevron to buy old compressor machines and instruments in a high price. These US companies have been given advantages as per his directives.”

Anu Mohammad called those, who were involved in controversial oil-gas agreement, etc. as oil-gas-coal criminals. He suggested trying them as criminals.

Moshrefa Mishu, president of the Garments Sramik Oikya Forum [garment workers unity forum] is actively involved in series of notorious activities aimed at sabotaging country’s textile and readymade garment sectors. It is important to mention here that, Bangladesh annually earns a few billion dollars of foreign exchange from the export of textile products. It is alleged that, Mishu is serving the purpose of vested interest groups with the aim of damaging Bangladesh’s prospective export market thus creating opportunity for those competing nations in ultimately grabbing Bangladesh’s stake in the international market. With such heinous agenda, Mishu has been actively involved in giving instigation as well as hiring hooligans in staging anarchism at various readymade garment factories with various lame excuses. Due such activities of Mishu, Bangladeshi textile and readymade garment exporters have lost at least a few hundred million dollars already due to rampage at various factories as well as delay and cancellation of export orders.

There is approximately 4,000 garment factories operating in Bangladesh. Factory owners mentioned in the media a number of times that in most cases, groups of outsiders [in the name of workers], vandalised the factories - sometimes in the presence of law enforcers. Due to such anarchism and vandalism, a large number of factories have even been forced to shut down due to huge financial losses.

Interestingly, following the arrest of Moshrefa Mishu, anarchism and vandalism in the textile and readymade garment sectors by unruly workers have totally stopped. This certainly proves that, Mishu was behind each of those notorious activities. It is quite interesting to see that Anu Mahmud has become very vocal in favor of this female hooligan.

On the other hand, Professor Mahmud has called for expulsion of the US ambassador in Bangladesh, James F Moriarty and demanded him to be declared Personna Non Grata [unwanted in his words]. He [Mahmud] sees US ambassador’s efforts in favor of American companies as ‘illegal’. Professor Anu Mahmud has shown the reason behind such demand stating the US ambassador is actively lobbying in favor of Asia Energy, a company already infamous in Bangladesh following the fatal shooting and murder of civilians at coal mining project at Phulbari area.

Asia Energy plc AIM: GCM is a new company, without any history of previous mining experience, quoted in the London Alternative Investment Market, set up to exploit open cast coal mining opportunities in the Phulbari region of Bangladesh. Asia Energy now trades under the name Global Coal Management. Asia Energy was incorporated in London in September 2003 and acquired 100% of Asia Energy Corporation Pty Ltd, which held the licenses to explore and mine the Phulbari Coal Project. Asia Energy Corporation Pty Ltd entered the coal mining scenario in 1998 by buying the mining contract originally awarded to international coal giant BHP on August 20, 1994. BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance [BMA] is Australia's largest coal producer and a leader in the international coal industry.

On the 29th August 2006 six protesters had been shot dead at Phulbari area, by paramilitary forces, when a crowd of 30,000 people stormed the local offices of Asia Energy. On the 30st August 2006 further unrest the day after the shootings when widespread half day strikes were organized. The Bangladesh government imposed a ban on further protests at the mine site. Gary Lye, chief executive of Asia Energy Corporation [Bangladesh] Pty Ltd, was quoted as saying "It is up to the authorities to determine exactly what happened, but it would appear that the unforgivable events and the needless loss of life and suffering that took place yesterday in Phulbari are entirely the fault of the organizers [of the protest]. Asia Energy has since had its right to mine in Bangladesh withdrawn.

On news of the withdrawal of mining rights, shares in Asia Energy PLC crashed, falling from 284p to 117.5p in a single day. The company requested trading be suspended, on 31 August 2006, saying "Asia Energy PLC became aware this morning of press reports quoting a junior minister in Bangladesh stating that the Bangladesh Government is canceling all existing agreements with Asia Energy. The Company had not received any communication from the Government to this effect. In view of this the shares of Asia Energy were suspended from trading on the AIM Market at 08:40 hrs [BST] this morning."

After the fatal shootings, on 11 January 2007 Asia Energy changed its name to Global Coal Management PLC at the same time as maintaining that it was 'fully committed to the Phulbari Coal Project in Bangladesh'.

I personally do not see any crime in Moriarty’s efforts in favor of Asia Energy, because, in today’s world, diplomacy is more related to economic issues. James F Moriarty is also trying his best in upholding the interests of American companies. It is also important to note that the ambassador is not lobbying in favor of Asia Energy without any signal from administration in Washington under the leadership of President Barack Hussain Obama. Here the ambassador has not personal interest. What he is doing is definitively aimed at protecting the interest of US companies.

If Bangladeshi government will pay any heed to what Professor Anu Mahmud demanded, it will certainly put Dhaka-Washington relations into the worst ever crisis. And of course, in that case, the worst sufferers will be textile and readymade garments exporters of Bangladesh, who earns billions by exporting products to US market. Do we see any similarity between Mishu and Professor Mahmud’s agenda?