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Leading News

Food Adviser denies famine but concedes "Hidden Hunger"
Staff Correspondent

Food Adviser AMM Shawkat Ali on Thursday said hidden hunger is on the rise across the country following the abnormal price hike of rice and other essential commodities.
"A section of people are trying to label the current food crisis as silent famine but it is not true at all. It is not a silent famine. During a famine many people die from starvation. But 'hidden hunger' is on the rise," the food adviser told journalist at a press conference.
The country witnessed this type of 'hidden hunger in the past too, he said adding government has increased the number of OMS shops and extending Vulnerable Group Feeding programmes in April in bid to cover more people under the scheme.
BDNEWS24 adds: On meeting domestic food needs, import of rice from India and controlling local markets, the food adviser told reporters that an agreement for importing four lakh tonnes of rice would be executed Thursday in New Delhi with four rice exporting concerns in India.
The Bangladesh trade councillor in Delhi was expected to sign the deal, under which rice will reach Bangladesh within 60 days of opening L/Cs, Shawkat Ali said.
He said rice has also already started arriving from traders in West Bengal under an agreement for import of one lakh tonnes of rice. "Of this, a consignment of 4,500 tonnes has already been stored in our warehouses," he said. Another agreement has been signed with a private concern for importing 50,000 tonnes of rice at the rate of $397 per tonne. "A ship carrying 20,500 tonnes of rice is due to arrive in Bangladesh on April 7. Some 70 trucks have made it to Benapole and Hili land ports, which should reach Bangladesh warehouses by Saturday," the adviser added. "Five railway units each carrying 2,400 tonnes are also scheduled to cross over to Bangladesh. In total, one lakh tonnes of rice will reach Bangladesh within April," said Ali.
The adviser said USAID has committed to supplying Bangladesh with 90,000 tonnes of rice as food aid, which will be distributed through the NGO Care International.
Asked about India's stringent export curbs of late and its effects on Bangladesh, the adviser said it was not only India, but all major rice growing nations—including Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia—that had adopted strict export policies to ensure that their domestic markets were adequately stocked.
On the rice procurement target of the government after the boro harvest, the adviser said the government is providing Tk 100 crore as cash aid to help generate employment and income for the hardcore poor, which has already reached the district-level deputy commissioners.

Nazmul Huda gets a further 12 years of RI
Staff Correspondent

A Special Court, Dhaka, has sentenced former Communica-tions Minister and BNP’s influential leader Barrister Nazmul Huda to 12 years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined him Tk one crore for amassing wealth beyond known sources of income and submitting false information in his wealth statement to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Judge Md Ashraf Hossain of the Special Court -5 situated at the Parliament Complex delivered yesterday the order awarding punishment to Nazmul Huda and acquitting his wife Advocate Sigma Huda. She was accused of abetment of the offence committed by her husband.
The Court of the Special Judge appointed under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1958 ordered that if Nazmul Huda fails to pay the fine, he will have to serve one year more in jail.
According to the verdict, the punishment is that Nazmul Huda has been sentenced to 10 years’ RI for possessing illegal wealth and two years’ RI for suppressing information in his wealth statement. Meanwhile, the Court forfeited his wealth of Tk 1,18, 35, 289.
The court’s verdict came upon a case lodged by the Anti-Corruption Commission with Dhanmondi Police Station on July 11, 2007 accusing Nazmul Huda and his wife of concealing information in their wealth statements. Earlier, the Court framed charges against the accused on December 9 last year and examined 92 witnesses in the case. After hearing closing arguments on March 20 by the Court, April 3 was scheduled for delivering judgment in the case.
As a plaintiff of the case, ACC’s Assistant Director Talebur Rahman alleged, "Nazmul Huda and Sigma Huda amassed illegal wealth of Tk 8.3 crore beyond their valid sources income. They concealed wealth of Tk 2.19 crore in their wealth statements."
He said later when the ACC held investigation, it scanned another volume of illegal wealth of Tk 6.85 crore belonging to this couple.
It may be mentioned that Nazmul Huda has been sentenced to jail for the second time as the Special Court sentenced him to seven years in prison and his wife to three years in jail in a graft case on August 27, 2007. Huda was arrested on February 3, 2007 from when his sentence will be counted.

 OMS unable to fulfill demands
Staff Correspondent

Hundreds of people are returning home failing to buy rice from the Open Markets Sale centers after waiting for hours in a long queue despite opening of 189 more OMS shops in the city to mitigate the sufferings of the middle income groups due to abnormal rice price hike.
Earlier around 487 dealers were appointed to sell rice from OMS shops in the capital. To meet the growing demand for food grains 189 more OMS shops were opened on Wednesday. On the other hand, dealers who are appointed for selling rice, were announcing to the people that stocks of rice finish before noon.
While this correspondent on Thursday visited different OMS in the city saw an anarchic situation prevailing in those areas. "I am waiting in the queue since morning for buying rice but I am yet to get any. I do not know when I will be able buy rice from the OMS shop at Tk 25 per kg," an elderly woman alleged.
Meanwhile, a section of people especially young and children from various classes are thronging the OMS shops for buying rice. After buying rice, these groups are going to different kitchen markets and selling the food grain at Tk between 32 and 33. As a result, the worst hit people are failing to buy rice, according to competent sources.
On the other hand, a large number of people from middle class group are also rushing to the OMS markets for getting rice at fair price but they are being harassed in many ways.
Talking to this correspondent an employee of a private organisation said, "I don’t know how I along with my family members will sustain with my little earning. If I can buy five kg rice from OMS shop I can save minimum Tk 75. So I have come here."
The prices of rice at different city markets still remained abnormally high. On Friday fine variety of rice was sold at Tk 41-45 per kg at different markets in the city and its suburbs. The price of coarse varieties also shot up and was selling at between Tk 35 and Tk 38 per kg. Yesterday Elachi Lal was selling at Tk 34 per kg, Mompalish at 34, Mala, Tk 36, Pariza at Tk 36, Minicate at Tk 38 and Parija new at Tk 35.
On the other, BDR, RAB and intelligence agencies have been continuously visiting country’s different wholesale markets especially in the northern and western regions following allegation of hoarding.

 Accused will not get benefit of Truth Commission: Mashhud
BSS, Dhaka

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Lt. Gen. (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury said a person accused by the commission would not get the benefit of Truth Commission.
The ACC chairman said this while talking to reporters as part of his monthly meeting with the Press in the conference room of the commission in Dhaka on Thursday.
"We have prepared the draft to inform the government about our ‘no objection’ to constitute the Truth Commission as the government wanted to know our opinion," he said.
However, he said, "We expect equal rights for every individual or group to enjoy the benefit of the proposed commission so that none nobody get impunity through the
commission"
The ACC chairman laid importance on a clear legal process so that the ACC and the Truth Commission do not involve in ‘act of dragging’ with a person.
Replying to a question he said, the ACC did not get any allegation on corruption in the military. If we get any such complaint which are eligible to deal under ACC Act, we will certainly look into those cases, he said. Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury said, the ACC has so far filed 174 cases against different persons and out of those 41 cases were disposed of in the special courts.
Sixty cases are now under trial and charge sheets were submitted in 22 cases. Ninety cases are now under investigation and 90 more cases are at inquiry stage, he said.
The ACC chairman said the commission would not publish any more new list of corrupts. However, the drive against corruption would continue as usual.

 Khaleda must be allowed to be in dialogue: Goyeshwar
We want her to be released thru' legal process: Hafiz

Staff Correspondent

BNP joint Secretary General Goyeshwar Chandro Roy urged the government to ensure the presence of Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina in the proposed national dialogue to make it meaningful.
Meanwhile Acting Secretary General of the government-backed reformist faction of BNP Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed welcomed the government for its plan to hold dialogue by this month and urged the government to take necessary steps to ensure holding a quality election free from muscle power and black money.
"The people of the country are now inflicted in manifold problems. They are passing their days miserably due to the abnormal price-spiral of the essentials," Hafiz observed adding, "The people of Bangladesh have become accustomed with the democratic system. They have fought for democracy. So the country should return to democratic system through holding the stalled general election without any further delay."
In response to a question whether the detained BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia should be allowed to be present in the dialogue, Hafiz said, "It would be better if she wants. However, we want her to be released through a legal process." Goyeshwar, who is believed to be loyal to Begum Khaleda Zia, at a press conference at the residence of party Organising Secretary Mohammad Shahjahan, asked the government to have dialogues with political parties immediately for regaining people’s trust on holding next polls and "the dialogue has to be held in presence of Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina".
"Dialogues with political parties would bring no result if Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina cannot participate in it," said Goyeshwar Roy adding, "Both Khaleda and Hasina were awarded bail from the Supreme Court and the government appealed against the verdict with the appellate division and the stayed the bail. The two leaders can easily be released if the government withdraws its appeal from the appellate division." He alleged, "It is simply violation of human rights keeping them in jail when no charge against them was proved."

 City AL demands movement to free Hasina
‘Mass-Signature Programme’ begins tomorrow
Staff Correspondent

Leaders of Dhaka city Awami League and its other front organisations further demanded of party central committee to announce a tough agitation to release detained AL president Sheikh Hasina.
"It will never be possible to free our party chief through only the legal battle against the ‘false and fabricated’ cases lodged against her; there is no alternative way to proceed in this connection," they opined adding, "Collecting Mass Signature programme of Dhaka city AL, scheduled to be held tomorrow (Saturday), is not sufficient to press home our demands - including sending the former Prime Minister abroad after unconditional release, lifting of the Emergency Rules and announcing the date of general election as early as possible."
They raised these voices at a ‘Views-Exchange-Meeting’ of Dhaka city AL with presidents and secretaries of both central and city committees of some 11 front organizations at Bangabandhu Avenue AL office on Thursday.
Chaired by Dhaka city acting AL president M A Aziz, leaders of AL expressed their dissatisfaction as the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) did not give permission holding the inaugural ceremony for ‘Mass-Signature Programme’ in the Diploma Engineers’ Institution till date. According to AL sources, if the DMP doesn’t allow arranging the programme there, they will organise it at the AL Central office at 11am on Saturday.
As a target of collecting some 10 lakh signatures within 15 days, the rank and file of AL is taking preparation to gear up their organisational activities in the capital ahead of the uncoming movement, said a city unit AL leader while talking to The Bangladesh Today. After collecting the signatures, they will submit it to the Chief Adviser to press home their demands, he added.

Back Page

NGOs for rationing instead of dearness allowance
Raising gas, fertiliser prices; close attention to
agriculture in next budget suggested

UNB, Dhaka

Non-government organisations (NGOs) at a pre-budget meeting in Dhaka on Thursday suggested the government to introduce rationing of essential items instead of announcing dearness allowance for the government officials and employees.
They also recommended bringing the vulnerable groups and the industrial workers under the rationing coverage.
"Dearness allowance will help stimulate inflation while rationing will ensure farmers a better price for their produces and increase the contributions of agriculture sector to GDP," Dr Jafarullah Chowdhury of Gono Shasthya Kendra told reporters after the meeting with Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam at Finance Ministry.
He said the government would have to take the responsibility of the current price situation since it is the outcome of failure in management. "The budget should give closer attention to the agriculture sector," the Adviser told reporters, as the NGOs focussed on the sector. He said they (NGOs) gave importance on bringing fallow lands under farming, imposing tax on the fallow land owners, reducing import duty on agriculture equipment and animal feeds, and raising fertiliser prices after ensuring adequate supply. "They suggested increasing the fertiliser price by reducing the subsidy as the agri-input is being smuggled out due to lower price in Bangladesh than India," he said, adding that an increase in the fertiliser price is unlikely to affect the farmers as the prices of farm produces have increased. "They need proper supply of the fertiliser," he said. Dr Aziz said the NGOs also recommended increasing the prices of gas as the affluent section of the society were getting the benefit of its lower price.
He said they also emphasised developing skilled human resources through government-NGO partnership.
Their other suggestions included imposing tax on profits of Tk 1 crore or above by micro-credit operators, increasing import duty on drug that stimulate addiction, luxury items and pharmaceutical raw materials, and raising fees and charges of public educational institutions and hospitals.

 Maintain austerity in power, gas consumption: Govt urges people

UNB, Dhaka

Government authorities urged the people to maintain austerity in consuming electricity and gas in view of the prevailing crises, failing which the situation could aggravate further.
Chief Advisor's Special Assistant for Power and Energy Dr. M Tamim made the request at a press briefing held at Power Ministry on Thursday. Power Secretary M Fausal Kabir Khan and Energy Secretary M Mohsin were also present. "It seems most terrible days are coming, but yet I'm optimistic," he told reporters.
He, however, blamed the immediate-past government for the country's present power and gas crises. "Present crises in power and gas are the result of the last (BNP-led alliance) government's failure and inaction in taking timely decision," said the BUET professor-turned functionary of the caretaker government.
When asked why he should blame the "last government" for the present crises, which sounds like previous political governments who always used to blame the past for the present problem, Dr Tamim said, "I'm just trying to present a situation which we inherited from the previous government."
He was found conservative in giving any credit to the previous government, but said the present government maintained continuity.
The CA's special assistant said the country is generating between 3,300 and 3,400 megawatts of power against a demand for 4,500 MWs. The generation leaves a 200MW shortage due to gas crisis.
But when his attention was drawn to the official websites of PDB and Petrobangla where the power-generation shortage was shown 728 MW and the gas shortage 211 million cubic feet (mmcfd), he said the gas and power crises in Chittagong were not included in his statement.
"Alone Chittagong area is facing a 420MW power shortage due to shortage of gas." He requested the power consumers to keep shut half of their air-conditioners and the bulk industrial consumers to keep off their operation during peak hours or use captive power to make do with the short supply.
"If one family keeps off one of their lights, it saves 50MW electricity in the city," said the specialist.
Simultaneously, Tamim urged the gas consumers to refrain from irrational use of gas in their houses in view of the national exigencies.
He said the present government has already added 100MW electricity in to the national grid and also would add another 1000 MWs by this yearend. "We'll sign agreements for another 1000MW projects for the next government." He said the present government has taken steps to enhance gas production by 250 MMCFD within next two years.
Tamim vented serious concern over the increasing subsidy on power, gas and petroleum from the state coffers.
He mentioned that this year the government has to spend about US$ 4.5 billion on imports of liquid petroleum fuel in the current fiscal against $ 3 billion spent last year.
The subsidy was $ 1 billion in the last fiscal and it is likely to cross $ 1.2 billion in the current fiscal, he added. Similarly, the gas and power sectors are also getting huge subsidies. He said the subsidy should be reduced through readjustment of their prices. "Otherwise, a time will come when all will collapse," warned the Petroleum Engineering Professor-turned functionary of the post-1/11 caretaker government.
He said that, at present, the government has no plans to increase the price of diesel or any petroleum.

Vacant posts of headmasters to be filled up
BSS, Dhaka

The government has decided to fill up the posts of headmaster in private secondary and under secondary schools which remained vacant for a long time.
The authorities, in a circular, issued in Dhaka on Thursday said the government has taken the decision to recruit the headmasters for different schools considering the importance of the post at an institution. As many as 3,371 secondary and under secondary schools out of 17,905 in the country have vacancy in the position of headmasters.
According to the official circular, the posts of the headmaster remained vacant for long, as excess teachers were appointed under monthly payment order (MPO) in those schools in 1995 violating the officials rules.
From now the secondary and under secondary schools, having surplus MPO teachers but without headmaster, may fill up the vacant post of the headmaster as per the government rules, the circular said.
Newly appointed headmaster would get the government portion of their salary and allowances, it added.

Crime

Hundi traders held in city
Staff Correspondent
At least three alleged hundi traders were arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and huge amount of money worth about Tk 24 lakh including Euro and US dollars were recovered from their possession from city's Segunbacha on Wednesday night.
The arrestees were identified as Zakir Hossain, Alamgir and Monir Hossain sons of Younus Khan of Kumilla district. They are the members of an organised hundi trading gang, according to RAB sources.
According to sources, acting on a tip-off, a patrol team of RAB-10 led major Sazzad Hossain raided a house no 6/4 at Segunbacha at bout 9:00 pm and arrested them. The law enforcers also recovered around Tk 1661500, Euro 4500 and US dollars 1500 from their possession.
Earlier, a team of RAB-2 went to Banani area at about 1:00 pm and arrested Mejbaul Alam, Masud, Anwar Hossain Mukul and Shanwar and recovered around 500 yaba tablets while they were trying to sell the tablets near Banani Market. Cases were lodged in this connection.

One to die, 4 get life for killing retired army person
BSS, Rajshahi
A trial tribunal here on Thursday sentenced one person to death and four others to life imprisonment for killing a retired army person in Bogra in 2006.
Special Judge of the Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal ATM Mesbauddoula found the convicts guilty under section 302/34 of BPC and pronounced the verdict in a crowded courtroom.
The capital punishment awarded convict is Alif Islam alias Milu, 35, while Abdul Hadi, 49, Asiquzzaman alias Sajib, 24, Bappi, 35, and Alam alias Nul Alam, 30 got life imprisonment.
Of them, Nur Alam has been absconding since the beginning of trial. All are residents of Chalklokman village under Shajahanpur upazila of the Bogra district. The life term convicts were also fined Taka 3,000 each, in default, to suffer six months more imprisonment. Three other accused of the case were acquitted, as the charges brought against them could not be proved.
According to the prosecution story, in brief, is that the convicts had been demanding toll from the retired army person Saiful Islam, a resident of the same locality.
The miscreants became furious following his repeated refusal to pay the toll and resorted to a sudden armed-attack on him on October 30, 2006. He succumbed to his injuries at Bogra Muhammad Ali Hospital on the same day. Wife of the victim Anjuara had lodged a case with Shajahanpur Police Station on the following morning. On completion of investigation, police pressed charges against eight persons.
The tribunal examined 21 prosecution witnesses and other relevant evidence and finally handed down the verdict.
Special Public Prosecutor Jahangir Alam Selim conducted the case on behalf of the state while Advocates Abdus Sattar and Abul Kalam defended the accused.

Fake army captain held in city
UNB, Dhaka
A fake army captain was arrested on the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) premises in the city recently.
The arrested person was identified as Jahirul Islam alias Arif, 23, of Moujebali village in Sadar upazila of Netrakona district, according to an ISPR release.
It said military police challenged Arif while trying to enter the CMH claiming himself as an army captain and arrested him after ascertaining his false identity.
"A woman-and-children repression case was already pending with Netrakona judge court against Arif who had been cheating people disguising as army personnel," the release said.
He was handed over to Kafrul police station after his arrest on March 24.

One gets life for abducting child
BSS, Joypurhat
One person was sentenced to life term rigorous imprisonment for abducting a child in 2004. The convict was identified as Afsar Ali.
Judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Ansar Ali delivered the judgment on Wednesday. The court also fined the convict Taka 10,000, in default to suffer one month more in prison. The prosecution story in brief, is that, Afsar Ali abducted Swapan, two and a half years old son of Atiar Rahman, Uchna village under Panchbibi in the district on September 17 in 2004 and took him to the bordering area for trafficking him to India.
Members of Bangladesh Rifles detained Afsar Ali and handed him to police.

BCIC buffer godown incharge arrested
BSS, Gaibandha
Buffer godown incharge of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) Gaibandha has been arrested on Tuesday on charge of corruption in fertiliser
distribution.
Sources said M. Abul Hossain distributed fertilisers to the BCIC dealers of the district from buffer godown during the current Boro season but there were allegations against him regarding fertiliser distribution.
The members of the joint forces went to the godown at Dhanghara of the town on Monday last and found irregularities after checking the distribution register on the following day and arrested him. Deputy commissioner Abu Mohammad Yousuf, police super Mollah Nazrul Islam were present.
The arrested was handed over to police.

Man slaughtered by snatchers
UNB, Dinajpur
A man was slaughtered and another injured by some snatchers near Shimultola hat in Bochaganj upazila Tuesday.
The dead was identified as Ataur Rahman, 32, son of Azimuddin of Mashkuria village in Pirganj upazila of Thakurgaon district.
Source said when Ataur and his co-villager Liakat Ali, 35, were returning home from Shimultola hat in a motorbike at night a gang hijackers intercepted them at gunpoint. They slaughtered Atuar with sharp weapon and injured Liakat grievously and fled away with their motorbike and cash money.
A case was filed.

Husband to die for killing wife
BSS, Dinajpur
One person was sentenced to death by a court here on Wednesday for murdering his wife in 2004.
The convict was identified as Shamsul Arefin, son of Shah Mofizuddin of Uttar balubari of Dinajpur town.
Judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Badshah Alamgir delivered the judgment in a crowded court. The prosecution story in brief, is that, Shamsul Arefin married Gulshan Ara, daughter of Nazrul Islam of Bara Hashimpur village of Chirirbandar upazila on December 11, 2003.
Shamsul used to torture his wife for dowry after marriage. On March 16, 2004 Gulshan Ara was critically injured as her husband beat her mercilessly. She was rushed to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital whee doctors declared him dead.
Gulshan's father filed a murder case with Kotwali police station accusing three persons including Shamsul Arefin.
The judge after examining 13 witnesses and relevant evidence pronounced the verdict on Wednesday. Two other accused were acquitted as charges against them could not proved.

Body of a minor girl exhumed
BSS, Jamalpur
Police exhumed the body of a minor girl after three months of her burial at Kanderpara village in Sarishabari upazila in the district on Wednesday.
Police said, Sathi, 9, daughter of Mozammel Haque who died on December 27 last year was exhumed following a case mother of the girl Asma Begum on March 8 last.
Asma Begum in her case made allegation that Sathi's grandfather Ayub Ali, uncles Belal and Tofazzal, and aunt Rina Begum killed her to grab her property.
Executive magistrate Asadul Haq and civil surgeon Dr Nurul Islam were present at that time.

Editorial

What is to Happen to Anti-corruption?

The first thing that the Emergency Government did was to put in jails a large number of alleged corrupted politicians and businessmen, thus making a public statement that none was above the law and that one of its main agenda was to curb corruption from politics and business even though many more of the alleged corrupted have somehow escaped out of the Country, weeks after the Emergency was declared. Changing top personnel at the Anti-corruption Commission, providing it with infrastructural, financial and legal support further enhanced the public's perception that it was indeed possible to at least curb large-scale corruption, if not to root it out. Meanwhile the ACC with the support of such NGOs as the Transparency International went directly to the people in an effort to build up public awareness and resistance to corruption in the society, in politics, in business, in government and in governance. The ACCs public programs might or might not bear fruit depending on which direction politics takes a turn in the very near future.
The ACCs fixation with public awareness has led it away from its main task of building up cases and prosecuting the dozens of jailed individuals with scores of allegations of corruption against them. Not that some have not been prosecuted by special tribunals under various EPRs and even sentenced to lengthy prison terms but a few of those so sentenced are absconding while the vast majority are languishing in jails making life miserable for the jail authorities and for the various high class city hospitals to which these people take refuge from time to time on the plea of treatment of their myriad diseases; the ACC however has, upto now, been unable to cure them of their main disease of corruption.
The landmark case of Sheikh Hasina ran up against the hard wall of the High Court forcing the Government and the ACC to pause and take stock of the situation by sorting out the procedural lacunas in the corruption cases. Two systems of laws and justice came into conflict at the apex judicial level of the High Court - that of the EPRs and the laws of the land and the High Court sided with the laws of the land while the Appellate Division laid aside every judgment, injunction or stay order of the High Court. This ping pong between the Appellate Division and the High Court did not serve the cause of anti-corruption, neither has Justice been served by the hurried and over-night change of responsibilities of the various Benches.
While the ACC is out leading processions of citizenry all over the Country, the politicians have mounted a counter-attack claiming that corruption cases against their leaders are "false, fabricated and politically motivated" and are preparing or at least threatening to organize their own processions against the Government. If and when those political processions materialize, they are sure to swamp the ACCs processions. However, much more is at stake here then the fate of ACC: politicians and parties believe that their existence as political entities are at stake; the civil society believes democracy is being endangered and the populace believes their lives and living are at stake with shortages of food, lack of employments, high inflation and even higher prices. Something or someone has to give way.
The Emergency Government has in principle decided to hold dialogues with the political parties and the civil society, perhaps as early as this month. Whether the Government sets any agenda or not the political parties specially the AL and the BNP will most certainly come to the discussion table with specific agendas, chief amongst which will be the question of release of the two jailed chairpersons. If that happens, it will greatly weaken the Emergency Government's anti-corruption drive; without it the Government will face mass agitations and the possibility of any elections will be jeopardized. Whatever the situation before elections, for sure the anti-corruption drive will cease within a month after the elected representatives take over the reigns of government - the politicians in jails now, are waiting for that time.

Analysis

The Question of Israel

The Israeli tendency to stave things off to make them go away doesn't make them go away. It's a collection of issues.

Palden Jenkins

This concerns a small land with a big obstructing influence on the world. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has dragged on for sixty years, and previous ways of resolving it, either by the victory of one side or by peace process, have not worked. So we must do some new thinking. It's fitting to look at some of the underlying longterm factors affecting this conflict. This is a global issue not just because Jerusalem is a holy place to three faiths: the 'Holy Land' is a microcosm of the world, into which many global issues are compressed.
In the 1990s I ran a peace conference in which a Nigerian Muslim said an interesting thing. People were agreeing that Nelson Mandela was a great man, for stopping a bloodbath in South Africa. But Mahmoud had an interesting insight. He said that the hero of the day was really President de Klerk, the white Afrikaner who prepared the way for Mandela and the ANC to gain power. Why was he a hero? Because Mandela had remained consistent throughout his life, while de Klerk had had the courage to change. This silenced everyone at the conference - most were whites, and here was a black man praising a right-wing, nationalist Afrikaner.
Some Israelis call me anti-Semitic because I work mainly with Palestinians and empathise with Hamas. Some Palestinians get upset with me because I talk with Israelis, many of whom are fine people. Working with both is not easy - there's a physical and psychological gulf between them that is difficult to bridge. Here comes the bit where I risk being misunderstood: I empathise with Israelis. Not because I support Israel, but because I support people, all people. Looking at the longterm, Israel is in trouble - ultimately, perhaps in deeper trouble than the Palestinians.
Israel's momentum is sagging, and a difficult time of truth is coming. Palestinians are already accustomed to hard truth and tough times - things can only get better, and if they get do get worse, sad to say, it's 'more of the same'. But for Israelis, who have had a more comfortable and successful life, things could get a lot worse, and they would notice the difference, big-time.
Certain factual issues can no longer be ignored or avoided in Israel and Palestine. The Israeli tendency to stave things off to make them go away doesn't make them go away. It's a collection of issues.
First, aliyah, the migration of Jews to Israel, has slowed to a trickle. Israel is not the safe haven Jews initially sought, back in the shadow of WW2 and the Holocaust. The majority of Jews are happier outside Israel, and those who wished to move have already migrated there. In addition, some people are trickling away from Israel, to get a job, get a better life for their families, or alienated after doing military service. They're not decisively emigrating, but they're leaving until things get better - perhaps a vain hope. These are signs of deflation of Israel's national project.
Second, Israelis are a disparate and argumentative lot. Many outsiders find difficulty figuring out how these people stick together as a nation. They are united by their nationalism but, beyond that, 'for every two Israelis there are three opinions', strongly held too, and national unity is a troublesome factor. This is partially ethnic - Israelis originate from so many countries. Disparities between rich and poor are amongst the world's highest, and these cleave along ethnic lines, with European and American Ashkenazim at the top of the pile.
At the founding of the nation in 1948, the Israeli Knesset couldn't even agree on a constitution, so contradictory were the competing views. Today, though Israel is democratic, its governments are usually made up of coalitions in which small, diverse, fringe parties gain disproportionate influence. The nation's prime ministers are frequently retired military men, as if defence, not social wellbeing, were the highest priority.
This political unclarity has long bugged the nation, allowing military and minority agendas and calculations to dominate. Anticipation of the threat of annihilation of the Jewish people causes the nation to lock step against its enemies and suppresses its internal differences, at least while the heat is up. This belief has its foundation in history, but it also acts as a prophecy seeking fulfilment. It is growing outdated as the older generation dies off - and what would happen if peace actually came and the threat evaporated? The 'iron wall' mentality has become a comfort-zone, less threatening than dropping the idea that goyim, non-Jews, are anti-Semitic and not to be trusted. But it presents an enormous moral dilemma too - it causes Israelis to act against their own longterm interests.
In a context of peacemaking, the Zionist tendency, which has long influenced the national agenda, must give way to a more reasonable tendency, willing to make deals and concessions with the neighbours. This would be an historic, emotional shift, involving dropping an old historic fear and reformulating the nation's purpose. Yet achieving genuine peace would give Israeli Jews the safety they seek - after a generation of calming and bridge-building, that is.
At least half of the Israeli public is conflict-weary. But the 'iron wall' mindset is strong as a national survival strategy and most toe the line when under pressure, close their eyes, stay 'in the bubble' and hope the problem of conflict will go away. Which repeatedly it doesn't. Peace is inevitable - it's simply a matter of how long it takes and what it involves. Israelis have to face this sometime, and facts on the ground are nowadays pushing things forward.
Third, Israelis pay an enormous price for war, military preparedness and the insecurity of conflict. This is psychological, multi-generational, and it harms society and the economy. West Bank settlements are claustrophobic, the Israeli security wall isolates Israelis as well as Palestinians, domestic violence is escalating, and many Israeli adults are damaged by military service. Tourism and pilgrimage have collapsed, Israel is regarded by some as a pariah state, taxation is high, conflict and uncertainty keep returning, and poverty hits some people hard. This price cannot be borne indefinitely.
Fourth, USA is Israel's only serious supporter. USA's capacity to continue supporting Israel is decreasing, yet Israel depends on it. Without this support, Israel will need to fully acknowledge its position in the Middle East, by necessity making friends with its neighbours. Not only because Israel is surrounded, but also because time simply moves on, and new and different things need to happen. Time indeed is moving on - its defeat by Hezbollah in 2006, and USA's failure in Iraq, show that the impassioned feelings of fighters can overwhelm mighty military machines.
Fifth, it's those Palestinians. Despite losing their conflict with the Israelis again and again, the Palestinians have two factual advantages. One is their high birth rate. Whatever their status, they are becoming a majority of the joint population of Israel and Palestine - even the proportion of Arabs living in 'Israel proper' has increased, currently around 20% of the population. In the end, numbers count. The Palestinians haven't gone away.
The other advantage is that, despite Palestinians' misery, their society is in a strange way socially healthier than Israeli society. Palestinians have been so thoroughly deprived and have lived without proper governance for so long that they have adapted in ways that make their society quite resilient. A mixed blessing, this spirited accommodation to hardship and tragedy represents a valuable and rare community resource.
Despite the tendency of young Palestinian men to squabble and fight when they get worked up, and the recent schism between Fatah and Hamas, Palestinian social bonds are strength. They're economically poor and socially relatively rich - meanwhile developed countries are rich materially and poor socially. Israelis know little of this: most never meet Palestinians or see their living areas. When Israeli soldiers serve in the Palestinian Territories, it often takes them a year of national service to realise that what they have been taught about Palestinians does not reflect what they see - and many soldiers land up angry, disorientated or go into exile as a result.
There are further issues. One is environmental: Israel is a toxic mess and Palestine too. Military and economic priorities have prevailed over the 'luxury' of environmental cleanup, except now it is no longer a luxury. Palestine's hardships, shortages and weak infrastructure render it into a health and pollution risk for itself and for Israel - Palestinians are not in a position to attend to environmental and public health issues. There is a massive water resource problem for both countries, and paradoxically Palestinians, Syrians and Shi'ite Lebanese, 'the enemy', live on top of Israel's main water-sources. Environmental issues are like a time-bomb waiting to go off, and they could be determining factors in the future.
Another matter is the wider world, where things are moving on, and to an extent Israel and Palestine are being left behind. In the longterm, this could benefit Palestine more than Israel. Palestine, especially Gaza, being walled off from the world, suffers great hardship, yet this insulates it from some of the development-related problems experienced in other countries. Martin Bell, a veteran BBC war correspondent, once wrote, "Peace and freedom can be defined as the peace that makes traffic jams possible and the freedom to be stuck in them".
In the longterm, Palestinian sufferings could have some advantages. Hamas, despite the economic embargo imposed by Israel and the West after its election to government in early 2006, is still more popular than Fatah. If its project of building a society based on the principles of the umma eventually succeeds, its tough stance of resisting Israeli and foreign pressure might pay off in the longterm - though this is currently an open question. Palestine could become a seedbed for a new kind of society in a generation's time, under different global conditions.
Meanwhile, Israel, rather self-preoccupied, and defying the world on matters of international law and decent behaviour, is missing out on important developments. A small and crowded country, it cannot forever live within walls. The course Israel has followed since its founding sixty years ago is changing. This 'whither next?' feeling eats away at the Israeli heart. Israel was a land of hope and promise for Jews, and things have gone strangely sour.
As an immigrant land, the nation needs a clear sense of purpose to define itself, and Israel is faced with finding a new one. Currently it is reluctant, clueless and divided, stuck in a loop of blocking progress in peace, behaving badly and denying it. The fear is that if its defensive aggression stops, the nation will lose out and fall apart. Still, the wider agenda surrounding Israel is changing, in the Arab world and globally, the Israeli army is not as strong as it once was, and sooner or later Israel will need to square up with emergent facts. It's a matter of how easy or painful this is to be.
This is scary for Israelis, perhaps more scary than the threat of Palestinians or Arabs. It involves building a new national consensus based not on a post-Holocaust mentality but on the demands of the future. Historically, Jews have had a legitimate fear of persecution and annihilation, but new generations are growing up for whom the Holocaust is their grandparents' history. In the 21st Century Israelis are in a position to make peace with the world and to end this cycle.
The main problem is not the fact of being Jewish, or anti-Semitism, but the current behaviour and perceived behaviour of Israel. Its settlement- and wall-building, its oppression of Palestinians and Lebanese and its international intransigence are simply unsustainable, if Israel wants friends. Given time to cool down, many Arabs and Palestinians would be willing to accept a friendly, fair and neighbourly Israel: but first, crucial matters of justice and correction have to be worked out.
This involves Israelis and Arabs making a profound choice to get on with each other. Here lies the basis of Hamas' proposal that a final peace settlement cannot be achieved in this generation. They propose making a longterm truce and interim agreement, allowing time to cool tempers, leaving a final settlement to a later generation. This is a mature viewpoint, recognising the depth of the damage done on both sides. But it rather confronts Israelis' hidden fears too: Israel's many 'tribes' will then have to come to an accommodation between themselves - the Ashkenazim and Sephardim, the seculars and the religious, the different nationalities and interest groups who jostle together for influence in Israel. For they have come to rely on having an enemy to keep them united.
Israelis yet need to clarify whether they wish to live in a state reserved for Jews, or a multi-ethnic state with significant Palestinian, Bedouin, Druze and foreign populations. Current Israeli delaying tactics are eroding the possibility of a two-state solution, so Israel will have to square with this question and the Palestinians in another way. This is emotionally and politically difficult for them. But it's easier than the alternative - continued conflict.
Palestinians have already seen downfall and hardship. Israelis fear the worst - and this prospect eats at their belief in themselves. Though Palestinians suffer immensely, their agenda is relatively simple: they need a better life. How to get there divides them but, while significant, this is a manageable issue. Meanwhile Israelis are deeply confused, their government fails to represent their needs, and they resort to digging in, repeating past errors, for want of another strategy. For them, a lot of soul-searching, social and emotional reorientation lies ahead. Israelis will ultimately gain from this. It leads toward the building of a safer, happier society, at peace with its neighbours, no longer surrounded by walls, watchtowers and barbed wire, openly playing a part in the wider Middle East and the world.
Meanwhile, the Middle East is moving surreptitiously toward a reuniting process - whether in the form of a common market as proposed by the sheikhs and magnates of the Gulf States, or a caliphate as proposed by Islamists. However this process unfolds, the Middle East is likely, within fifty years, to be relatively unified, very different from today. This would re-contextualise Israel's position, especially since the Middle East might by that time be more central and in charge of its fate than it has been.
For millennia, Jews have been spread around the Middle East, integral to its societies. Returning to this might be anathema to some Muslims, but let's remember that Jews and Muslims coexisted well enough for centuries until the arrival of Israel in the mid-20th Century. Events in Europe set the founding of Israel and its militant stance in motion, and many Middle Eastern Jews had grave reservations over it. The reuniting of the Middle East implies a weakening of the national borders drawn by Britain and France in the 1920s and a gradual reintegration of its diverse societies. Whatever anyone's feelings are today, the linking of ethnic security with territorial control is likely to be superseded by bigger regional and global priorities in the coming time. We're all in this rather threatened world together, and we sink or swim together.
We can thus imagine a time when Jews form a grouping within a larger Middle East, in which the different peoples of the region define themselves not by territory but by their social niche and role. Over the centuries, Jews lived in Sumer, Babylon and Baghdad, in Damascus and Alexandria and from Spain to Central Asia. The future has a place for Jews, just as South Africa has remained a place for whites, living together with blacks. The big issue of the future is ecological survival and international cooperation, not narrow national interest or ethnic or religious strife. This massive shift of global priorities is coming.
But such a fundamental change requires an act of trust, a getting-real process in the Middle East. This is easier when it's behind you than in front of you. Israelis have a big choice ahead. If they fail to make that choice, their nation might be doomed - not by being driven into the sea by Arabs, but because Israelis lose hope and a sense of future. For this reason, Israelis deserve some understanding. But to deserve it fully, the behaviour of the nation of Israel needs to change.

(Palden Jenkins is an internationally renowned freelance columnist. This article is part of a series by Palden Jenkins looking at global issues and the 21st Century.)

Comment

A vehicle of change

A HUNG parliament is a blessing. We know from experience what havoc parties with 'a heavy mandate' can play. The prime minister can utilise the present situation to make parliament the vehicle of change - an instrument for seeking the approval of his policies and involving the parliamentarians in a meaningful way in policymaking. The beginning has been satisfying, because Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani very appropriately announced the 'package' in the National Assembly after the House reposed unanimous confidence in him. Now that the prime minister is to craft a new law and order policy, we hope it will be unveiled in the Assembly, for it is likely to concern such issues as suicide bombings and the militant insurgency. Along with the deteriorating economic conditions, especially food inflation, nothing is of greater importance for the coalition government than to tackle the monster of terrorism. The issue has grave foreign policy implications, too, and it remains to be seen how the Gilani government is able to meet the challenge. The prime minister has said that he will negotiate with those militants who lay down arms, and similar declarations have come from the ANP leadership, which is in a better position to talk to the Taliban for obvious reasons. However, before talking to the militants the coalition partners must themselves agree on policy outlines. What better way is there for doing that than going to the National Assembly? Obviously, a 342-member body cannot deliberate effectively and formulate policy. Hence this process must take place through parliamentary committees, which unfortunately have not been developed adequately in Pakistan. This is not strange considering that democracy itself has eluded us. The elected leadership must use parliamentary committees as a powerful institution for scrutinising and honing state policies. This does not call for deliberations only among the committee members themselves. They must listen to non-parliamentary actors as well. In recognised democracies, parliamentary committees hold public hearings and invite experts in related fields to know their views. This gives the committees an insight into a given issue and helps them discover flaws in legislation and policy and recommend amendments to the government. The committee system is serious business, for those associated with a parliamentary panel must have the necessary qualifications to be there. For instance, committees on defence, foreign affairs, education, environment, women, minorities, etc must have parliamentarians who are well-versed in these subjects and can conduct meaningful hearings. Now that talks with the militants are in the air, an NA committee must devote itself to examining the pros and cons of the issue and invite members of the public, especially those involved in Fata affairs, to give their views on the issue. The prime minister's faux pas about the Frontier Crimes Regulation shows the disadvantage of not having specialised parliamentary committees. Strengthening the committee system will not only help the government seek a consensus on all issues of vital concern to the nation, it will give all lawmakers, even those in the opposition, a sense of participation in governance.

Source: www.dawn.com

Viewpoints

Return of the Prodigals

The acid test for the returning prodigals in governance will be whether they will perform, and whether for themselves or for the country?

Ikram Sehgal

If one were to single out any one of Pervez Musharraf's achievements, perhaps the greatest would be the "mission impossible" of uniting, albeit against himself, two hereditary enemies that were politically tearing Pakistan apart, PPP and PML (N). The considered view of all and sundry is that the Coalition love-fest will not survive his departure, its continuity depending upon Musharraf staying as their bogey in the Army House-turned-Presidency. The US$ 64000 question is, if he manages to hang in there, will he survive them? Ironically, Pakistan's best hope in successfully coping with imminent challenges rests in friend and foe acting not only as check and balance but pulling together. Will PM Gilani's rhetoric in launching his 100-day action plan match the will to take and implement politically unpalatable decisions? Or is "go Musharraf go" a priority to everything else, notwithstanding impending miseries and privations for the masses?
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Quarterly Report debunks the sleight of hand "feel good" environment created by the Shaukat Aziz economic team. Key economic targets are now adrift, in fairness some of it is attributable to worsening world economics. Despite an outstanding effort by the US Federal Revenue (the Fed) to fend off recession, the "R" word is looming as a fact of life in a US Presidential Election Year. However most of our domestic problems stem from atrocious economic neglect and complacency riding the arrogance of success upto the year 2005.
Expected wheat production should be theoretically enough to meet domestic demand. Our problem lies in rampant smuggling to Afghanistan and some parts of Central Asia. Recommending (in a TV discussion) an "Operation Close Door" type action like in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1957, I was set upon for "Stalinist" thinking. Mind boggling! No country in the world allows smuggling, free market does not mean open borders. East Pakistan was not only the granary for the adjacent districts of West Bengal and Assam in 1957 but also provided almost all the raw jute for Calcutta's jute mills. The crackdown on hoarders and smugglers made rice available and within reach of the common man, Bangladesh's jute industry overwhelmed Calcutta after 1957. All exports of wheat and wheat flour must be discontinued, for millions "roti" is already getting out of reach. What good is a free market to the poor and hungry if they are starving? To its credit the govt has given anti-smuggling powers for a limited period to the Frontier Corps (FC) and Rangers, moving quickly to provide a good support price to the farmers. Timely payments must now be ensured.
Pakistan's present shortfall of about 2500 MW represents severe dereliction of responsibility in planning. Nothing symbolizes Pakistan's present electricity predicament better than KESC. Having an installed capacity of 1800 MW, the working capacity was 880 MW in March 2008. KESC imported 760 MW daily on the average, 410 MW from WAPDA and 350 from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), a shortfall of almost 200 MW. While privatization gave hope, the management put in place by the new owners has been nothing short of disaster. The CEO KESC Lt Gen (Retd) Mohammad Amjad is certainly an honest man, he must recognize his own corporate management limitations. Good intentions are no substitute for competence, moreover the crooked people Amjad has collected in KESC management means he is applying the same intellectually dishonest "set a thief to catch a thief" policy he followed in NAB. Barge-mounted options adopted by the Philippines in a similar situation almost two decades ago must be explored. Food and water shortages will be aggravated in the summer heat by the lack of electricity, Karachi will be a tinder box.
The PPP's voting to restore the superior judiciary will mean reneging on the quid pro quo for the NRO that has seen wholesale return of the prodigals. Intriguingly Rahman Malik as Advisor Ministry of Interior was at the President's request, so is another close Presidential confidante Maj Gen (Retd) Mahmud Durrani, presently Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, as National Security Advisor. This signals that Pervez Musharraf has no intention of leaving for Turkey and while no longer absolute master, he is still very much in the game. Nadim Taj is still in place in the ISI, one can never under-estimate the ISI's potential of being a State with a State. And even though Brig Asim Bajwa has been nominated for NDC, he still commands III Brigade. Pragmatically PML (N) did not boycott the cabinet oath-taking ceremony but made it a "black armband" affair. It is height of hypocrisy to maintain that you do not recognize the President and then make it a fait accompli by taking solemn oath of ministerial office from him. If the PPP abstains from voting for any resolution meant to restore the judiciary's status pre-Nov 3, will the PML (N) leave the Coalition, or will they simply wear black armbands? Given that the superior judiciary is restored, being personally affected by the Nov 3 action the restored judges cannot sit on any Bench hearing affecting Pervez Musharraf. Catch-22 does not really describe this anomaly, it is a Pakistani Catch-22.
When PML (N)'s Don Saifur Rahman Quixote went off on his wild goose chase, the Ehtesab Bureau's (succeeded by NAB) excesses caused a number of PPP elite to take off on self-imposed exile. Some were guilty of corruption but many innocent also went abroad to avoid persecution and humiliation. A virtual who's who of NAB's most wanted list is now back in Pakistan. While no innocent person must be adjudged guilty before he (or she) is so charged in a court of law and convicted on the basis of credible evidence, the public perception to the wholesale appointment of prodigals to public office is far from positive. From the drawing rooms of Karachi to the corridors of Islamabad there is skepticism about the credibility of the governance-to-be. While Asif Ali Zardari needed to reward loyalists, discretion required prudence on who to rehabilitate, and how and when to rehabilitate. Asif Zardari's moves were flawless till the PM announced NAB would be disbanded, that is also a major mistake. NAB was one of Musharraf's finest initiatives till misused for political purposes. On its own, and despite the awful plea-bargaining concept, NAB did tremendous work. Headed by a superior court judge instead of a general, NAB-like mechanisms are necessary to combat corruption.
With the appointment of some of the prodigals in governance the PPP has inadvertently given the masses a perception that corruption pays. Since Mian Nawaz Sharif's partymen remained mostly unscathed by NAB's dragnet, he is the major beneficiary and now smells roses. "Mr. Clean" will likely sweep national elections if held six months down the road.
The PM's media honeymoon period will last less than half the normal 90 days (ending during or soon after mid-May), a number of disparate issues hitting the fan almost simultaneously. Remember there may be no electricity to keep the fan operating.
The acid test for the returning prodigals in governance will be whether they will perform, and whether for themselves or for the country?

(Ikram Sehgal is an internationally renowned columnist and the Editor of the Pakistan Defense Journal)

 Dialogue of the Deaf

One side is talking the language of freedoms and rights. The other side is talking the language of respect for the sacred.

Jørgen S. Nielsen

Copenhagen, Denmark - Last week in Europe we waited with bated breath for reactions to the controversial public showing of a film attacking the Qur'an produced by the Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders. This comes on top of trouble already brewing over the re-publication in several Danish newspapers of the notorious Muhammad cartoons. Over two years after the original publication, it seems we are back where we started, with protests simmering and sometimes descending into violence in various parts of the Muslim world.
Underlying the myriad reasons for these events appears to be a fundamental inability of people holding varied positions to understand how the other side thinks and feels. We have here a dialogue of the deaf, although paradoxically both sides share the same motivation - fear.
European culture and public discourse has become so secularized in recent generations that there is little comprehension of people whose religion holds a central place in their lives and identity. European nation states were constructed through centuries of struggle and conflict in which religious differences and oppression were often explosive. People today fear that they are in danger of losing what was won with so much suffering: their freedoms and their collective sense of identity.
Behind these fears lie the rapid changes of globalization, increased powers of the European Union and the uncertainties of geopolitics and climate change. But in Europe the fears focus on immigrants and ethnic minorities, which in many places means Muslims.
Muslim demands to be taken seriously are interpreted as a threat to the hard-won rights of freedom of expression. Those feeling threatened fear not just the small minorities of Muslims in Europe - in most countries less than three percent of the population - but also the hundreds of millions of Muslims beyond their borders in the broader Muslim world, where the so-called "new enemy" is to be found.
Many parts of the Muslim world also fear uncertainties such as globalization, international instability, and closer to home, unemployment and arbitrary governments - not to mention random violence. But there the fear is focused on the heirs of the old imperial powers: the West, which is again seen as wishing to dominate, and consequently, undermine Islam. In response, respect for the religion and its symbols becomes a central focus.
One side is talking the language of freedoms and rights. The other side is talking the language of respect for the sacred.
At the end of last month, in response to the re-publication of the cartoons and the promised Dutch film, the ambassadors to the United Nations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) issued a statement against Islamophobia. In it they affirm their support for freedom of expression, balanced by respect for religious feelings. The question left unanswered is how that balance is to be achieved.
For its part, the Danish government responded to the initial controversy with major investments in cultural and political dialogue, as well as by expanding its efforts in support of development, especially among Palestinians in Jordan and the Occupied Territories. The Dutch government is reportedly considering a ban of the film, prompting the producer to say he will broadcast it on the internet. In Pakistan, YouTube was shut down in late February apparently for showing clips of the film, but it re-opened within a few hours.
The OIC emphasized the need for dialogue and education at its summit in December 2005. In light of the repeated incidents, the organization has now hardened its line and is demanding legislation, though minimally in the form of additions or amendments to international human rights statutes.
There is no way that European governments will accept any wording that crosses the line into legal commitments. Not only would it compromise those valued freedoms, it would also too closely resemble laws such as Turkey's notorious paragraph 301, which criminalizes "public denigration of Turkishness, the Republic, the parliament, the courts, the military or the security forces," or Pakistan's laws against insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Both of these have been widely and mischievously used to harass rivals and pursue personal vendettas.
But European governments could certainly do more to encourage dialogue and education, which would make the gratuitous issuing of insults against people's core beliefs unacceptable public behavior. And governments in the Muslim world could do more to show that their expressed respect for freedom of expression is more than empty rhetoric. Until then, the dialogue of the deaf is, sadly, set to continue.

(Jørgen S. Nielsen is professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Source: Common Ground News Service, 1 April 2008.Copyright permission is granted for publication.)

 Firing blanks

You always need a bit of a push, especially to do the right thing. In a country that still recalls underhand snip-and-tuck tactics used during the Emergency, the word 'vasectomy' does not get the Indian menfolk queuing up in their knotted pyjamas with glee. Which is why Manish Shrivastava, the Collector of Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, deserves our unalloyed applause for making a vasa deferentia in our approach to sterilisation. For Mr Shrivastava - unlike Youth Congress leaders of the hoary 70s - understands the power of cajolement. And most importantly he is a master of localised knowledge.
The region of Chambal, where Mr Shrivastava has launched his radical project, has a relationship with guns the way Benares has a relationship with God. In other words, this legendary 'dacoit' territory sees guns not only as a utilitarian weapon against the 'bad guys' - or, for that matter, the 'not-so-bad guys' if you're a dacoit yourself - but as an extension of masculine pride, a trigger-attached sign of alpha malehood. Mr Shrivastava's genius was to connect the perceived 'shortcomings' of undergoing a vasectomy with the 'longcomings' of owning a gun. Thus, his brilliant gun licence-for-sterilisation project.
And it's already a great success in the district that boasts of 11,000 licensed arms in a population of 1.4 million. To take the fear out of vasectomy is a success story enough. But to make it an aspirational rite of passage by linking gun control to birth control is sheer genius. Now to blow the brains out of that nasty piece of work: our runaway population.

Source :www.hindustantimes.com

International

Suu Kyi’s party urges voters to reject army-backed constitution

AFP, Yangon

Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party Wednesday urged voters to reject an army-backed constitution, turning next month's referendum into Myanmar's first battle for ballots in nearly 20 years.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) issued a statement calling on the public "to clearly and bravely vote 'No' when you mark your ballots."
The party accused Myanmar's ruling junta of handpicking the drafters of the constitution, saying it was written without consulting any opposing voices.
The final version of the constitution has not been released to the public, but leaked copies show the basic law would give the military continued dominance over the government even after elections slated for 2010.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize winner who is under house arrest, would be barred from running for president because she married a Briton.
The military would also receive broad powers to declare a state of emergency, allowing the generals to take direct control of the government while granting them immunity from prosecution.
The NLD said the constitution would not bring democracy to Myanmar, the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma, which has been ruled by the military since 1962.
"It cannot give any guarantee for democracy and human rights, which are strongly needed by the people," the party said.
"It is not in accord with the basic democratic principle that the sovereign power of the state is derived from the people," it added.
The United States also accused the junta of creating a "climate of fear and repression" by continuing to arrest activists, saying 11 were detained over the weekend. A Thai group has counted 52 arrests since January.
"These blatant human rights abuses contribute to the climate of fear and repression in Burma as the regime prepares to conduct a referendum on its draft constitution," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.
The referendum in May will be the first balloting in Myanmar since 1990, when the NLD won a landslide victory that was never recognised by the junta.
The junta says the referendum will pave the way to multiparty elections in 2010, but analysts say the constitution leaves political parties with little room to campaign for the polls.
Many of Myanmar's 54 million people have never voted before, so the NLD also issued a one-page guide explaining exactly how ballots are cast-instructing people how to inspect the voter roll, tick the ballot, and then ensure it is kept secret as it goes into the box.
The statement was the party's official stand on the referendum, although the NLD's youth wing had last week joined other dissidents in campaigning against the charter.
Myanmar's secretive regime surprised the world by announcing its election timetable in February.
 

Heavy fighting kills 43 in Sri Lanka: Defence ministry
AFP, Colombo

Government troops Wednesday captured a strip of land from Tamil Tigers after heavy fighting across the island's north left 42 rebels and a soldier dead, the defence ministry said.
Security forces killed the guerrillas from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in separate clashes in the Mannar, Weli Oya and Jaffna district since Tuesday evening, the ministry said.
It said the air force carried out attacks against suspected Tamil Tiger targets on Tuesday, but did not give details of casualties or damage.
However, it said troops wrested control over an area known as Kallaiadanchan in the coastal Mannar district early Wednesday.
There was no immediate word from the Tigers.
In another development, two civilians were shot dead by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in the Wilpattu wildlife park on Wednesday, the ministry said. The motive for the killing was not clear.
The latest casualty claims brings to at least 2,562 the number of rebels said to have been killed by security forces since January, according to defence ministry data.
The ministry has reported losing 152 of its soldiers in the same period.
Casualty figures given by both sides in the decades-old ethnic conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives cannot be independently confirmed as journalists and rights groups are barred from front-line areas.

Iraqi security forces not yet strong enough: US
AFP, Baghdad

Iraqi forces need to be strengthened and some troops are "not up to the task", the US said Wednesday, after police and army units failed to crush Shiite militiamen despite a weeklong crackdown in Basra.
"There is still much more work to do in developing and strengthening the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces," US military spokesman General Kevin Bergner told a news conference in Baghdad.
"Overall, the majority of the Iraqi security forces performed their mission. Some were not up to the task and the government of Iraq is taking the necessary action in those cases," Bergner said.
His comments came as a top Iraqi military commander General Abdul Karim Khalaf asserted that Iraqi forces were in full control of Basra after intense battles since March 25 that killed hundreds of people.
"We are continuing to disarm (militiamen), our forces are deployed in all Basra's streets and regions," Khalaf said. "Basra is under the control of our forces."
The offensive against the militias in Basra, mostly from the Mahdi Army of powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, quickly set off a wave of clashes in other Shiite areas of Iraq in which at least 461 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded.
The clashes began subsiding on Sunday after Sadr pulled his fighters off the streets following a deal with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who had personally directed the crackdown.
The deal left the militiamen with their weapons intact, and with some analysts saying the assaults had strengthened Sadr's hand and left Maliki politically battered.
Maliki on Tuesday hailed the crackdown as a success which "achieved the aim of imposing law in the city and restoring normalcy."
Sheikh Ali al-Saedi, an official in the Sadr office in Basra, complained that assaults on Mahdi Army fighters were continuing despite assurances by Maliki that these would be halted.
Residents of the southern oil hub, however, said that in general the streets were calm but that they urgently needed basic services restored in the city of 1.6 million.
Bergner said the Iraqi authorities were now engaged in a "comprehensive effort" to meet humanitarian needs and to restore services.
"It will take some time for the dust to settle and many challenges remain," he said.

Afghan women burn Dutch, Danish flags
AFP, Kabul

Dozens of Afghan women burned Dutch and Danish flags in Kabul Wednesday to protest an anti-Islam film and the reprinting of cartoons showing the Prophet Mohammad, a government official said.
The demonstration was the latest in a series of protests in most major towns and cities in Afghanistan in the past weeks to condemn the film by a far-right Dutch politician and the Danish cartoons.
"The demonstrators, which numbered around 50 women, wanted to march towards Dutch and Danish embassies but police stopped them," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP.
"Instead they went to the centre of the city and burned the flags of The Netherlands and Denmark. They shouted slogans against those two countries," he said. He could not say which organisation they were from.
Some of the recent wave of demonstrations have seen calls for Kabul to expel Danish and Dutch troops in a 39-nation NATO-led military force that is helping Afghanistan fight an insurgency by the extremist Taliban group.

 US govt under fire over ‘torture’ memo
AFP, Washington

Lawmakers and rights groups on Wednesday blasted the US government's tactics in the "war on terror" saying a 2003 legal memo had given the military a green light to use torture in interrogations.
The Justice Department memo, dated March 14, 2003 and released on Wednesday, was sent to the Pentagon as it struggled to set guidelines for interrogators.
It argued the US president's wartime authority exempted them from US and international laws banning cruel treatment.
"Today's news that the Justice Department gave legal cover to the military to use torture and other cruel and inhuman interrogation techniques shocks the conscience," said Democratic Senator Joseph Biden.
"Th