My thoughts.
1. The Bangladeshi sub-forum is in a period of transition and change is always unwelcome by some and may be difficult. I think the fundamental problem is as @
WebMaster has said there are 2 groups in the forum. Group A seems to want to effectively silence group B and not allow them to participate in the sub-forum. Fundamentally both groups must accept that both groups have the right to express their views (as in the real world where different political parties are allowed, otherwise it is not a democracy) as long as it is done in a civilized manner. Group A in particular must accept that.
In a minute I will suggest who I think are suitable candidates but before that I propose the introduction of certain rules if they are not already here to help everyone.
1. Making wasting moderator time/frivolous complaints an infractional offence.
There are certain immature people here who see PDF as a playground where they can have different forms of "fun". One of these forms of "fun" is getting posters in to trouble or getting them banned. Reporting posters is fine as long as they are abusive or breaking rules but not when it is done for "entertainment".
In the real world if someone was to phone 999 (USA..911) and call the police and waste their time it could be a criminal offence. Moderators here should be respected and their time should not be wasted. Moderators are completely free of charge giving up their valuable time to help make a site more enjoyable for everyone. They may be married and have children and going online to read and discuss maybe an outlet in an otherwise busy day with work, wife, kids etc. The last thing they need on top of that in what is essentially a leisure activity is an immature moron wasting moderator time with frivolous complaints as a form of "fun" of "trolling" a poster (yesterday one immature poster admitted that he has been "trolling" me).
PDF is a very successful forum and moderators are very generous but some people are abusing moderator generosity by frivolous complaints. I suggest such an act be made an offence with a warning and then issued by an infraction.
2. Seeking to get members banned.
I believe seeking to get members banned should be made an infractional offence. The goal should not be to seek the cyber-elimination of a poster but merely to ensure he expresses himself in a civilized manner regardless of his ideology. I believe that there are certain people here who are trying to ban members whose opinions they disagree with. If a moderator feels that posters are targeting a campaign as part of an agenda to get him banned (as opposed to him just behaving himself) it should be an infractional offence.
3. Lying about posters
In the real world slander or defamation is an illegal offence. On this forum sometimes some people are falsely accused (knowingly) by others of
serious things they haven't done. When this is done the offender should be required to bring proof of his accusations. To make this clearer let me illustrate an example. A certain poster was:
- Accused of threatening to report other posters to the Bangladeshi authorities (a total lie).
- The same poster, member A, was later on accused of seeking to get a member B banned when in fact he had not even encouraged others to report but member B had been urging others to report other posters.
Those who made such lies should have been asked to provide the proof or otherwise issue an apology.
I believe this should be made an offence for serious accusations. What is "serious" is perhaps relative and for moderators to discuss. I admit this maybe problematic to enforce, so if admin want to totally disregard suggestion #3 they are more than welcome to since at the end of the day this is an online forum and not a London school of Economics discussion group for doctorate students.
All the 3 above are my humble suggestions which admin are totally free to completely disregard if they so wish to.
MODERATOR
I think that only a Bangladeshi or Chinese moderator should be accepted. Here is my suggestions for moderators.
a: Eastwatch
@
eastwatch does not belong to either group A or B and is probably respected by most. He has also urged Bangladeshis to limit their political differences.
i: He knows English, Bengali and Urdu/Hindi.
ii: He has lived in both the pre-71 united Pakistan and the post-71 People's Republic of Bangladesh and both are/were living realities for him which he personally experienced including the war (which for example he has said the numbers which we usually here are way exaggerated - an opinion I share too, but that's another discussion).
iii: He knows Bangladeshi politics well and knows the forum members and can see through people's tricks and their agenda.
The biggest problem is that eastwatch would probably not be interested in this role but I strongly urge him to accept my suggestion for the sake of the forum.
b: @PlanetSoldier
A neutral Bangladeshi who does not belong to group A or B and has criticized members of both groups. He also has a strong personality.
c: @apo_mEaTgRiNdEr
He is also neutral and has urged Bangladeshis not to engage in hostile political conflict with each other.
d: @CaPtAiN_pLaNeT
A poster not affiliated to any particular party. An old member with many posts and respected by many Bangladeshis. He has been critical of both major political parties. A strong personality who would ensure no-nonsense compliance with rules and civility.
e: @RiasatKhan
A moderate person who is able to discuss in a civilized manner.
f: A Chinese moderator such as the current one in the forum or maybe @Chinese-Dragon or someone else.
The Chinese are pro-Bangladesh and respected by all Bangladeshis. The current Chinese moderator - whose name with all due respect I can't recall right now - is very good and cracks down on troublemakers well and ensures a good, healthy and pleasant sub-forum.
Certain other members have been proposed here who I do not think are suitable e.g. they have stated things about other members that are not true. I will refrain from saying who they are however.
Thanks for listening to my humble suggestions.