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Leading News

HC rejects Khaleda Zia’s writ
Staff Correspondent

HC Verdict
Ending all speculations, the High Court on Thursday rejected the writ of Begum Khaleda Zia clearing the path of the EC to invite Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, acting Secretary General of pro-government splinter group of BNP led by Saifur-Mannan, for the much-awaited EC-BNP talks to finalise the electoral reforms.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice Mamnoon Rahman passed judgment holding that ‘the writ is not maintainable’ on three cardinal points that (a) which faction of BNP should be invited by the EC for dialogue is a disputed question of fact which cannot be adjudicated by the High Court, (b) the High Court can dispose of a political dispute but not a solely internal dispute of a political party and (c) as there is no law regulating the procedure of inviting a political party to dialogue, it cannot be said that the EC violated the law by inviting Hafiz Uddin.
The Election Commission on November 5 last year sent a letter inviting Hafiz Uddin to the EC-BNP dialogue which was scheduled for November 22 while Khaleda Zia filed a writ on November 17 challenging the letter alleging that the EC invited Hafiz Uddin instead of her nominated Secretary General Khondkar Delwar Hossain.
The High Court on November 18 stayed operation of EC’s letter and issued a Rule on EC and six standing committee members of BNP to explain as to why the letter to Hafiz Uddin shall not be declared illegal. The Court also asked why they shall not be directed to invite Delwar Hossain who is nominated secretary general by BNP’s chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Replying to the Rule, four standing committee members RA Ghani, Khondkar Mahbubuddin, Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui and M Shamsul Islam told through affidavit that they were bound under ‘threat and pressure’ to sign the decision of the standing committee meeting in which Hafiz Uddin was declared Acting Secretary General of BNP.
Talking to The Bangladesh Today, Dr Shahdin Malik, counsel of Hafiz Uddin, told whenever four standing committee members alleged that force and intimidation were applied on them, the matter became triable by the Lower Court, not the High Court.
He further said although as per law allegation of applying threat or force to anybody requires supporting evidence and witness to prove that but four standing committee members failed to produce such evidence.
"It was another reason for rejection of Khaleda Zia’s writ by the High Court as the matter fell under the jurisdiction of the lower court", he pointed out.
In reaction to the judgment, a pro-Khaleda group of BNP’s 50 lawyers and activists led by former MPs Helen Zarin Khan and Sirin Sultana shouted slogans against Mannan Bhuiyan, Saifur Rahman and Hafiz Uddin in front of the office of the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Later, police dispersed them.
After the verdict, EC’s counsel Dr Kamal Hossain said in its constitutional jurisdiction under Article 102, the High Court cannot deal with disputed question of facts involving internal dispute between political factions. He also referred to a long settled principle of law that the High Court in its constitutional jurisdiction should exercise restraint involving policy issues particularly when there is lack of judicially manageable standards. Therefore there was no reason for the Court to interfere in exercise of jurisdiction by the EC under the constitution, he explained.

Reaction of Delwar & Hafiz
The mainstream BNP has rejected the High Court verdict saying, "they have been deprived of justice", while the pro-government splinter of BNP has hailed the verdict saying, "it is an victory for BNP."
However, Khaleda Zia-appointed BNP Secretary General Khandoker Delwar Hossain said, "the political affairs cannot be determined by the litigation. Politics depends on the popular support."
"So far I understand the party Constitution and the laws of the land, it seems to me that we have been deprived of justice," Khanoder Delwar Hossain told newsmen at his Nam residence in his primary reaction.
Asked what would be next course of action of his whether they will go for further legal battle, Delwar said, "the writ was filed by Begum Khaleda Zia and she will decide what should be done consulting her counsels, who fought for this writ."
When reporters arrested his attention to his rival’s statement that they would go for any dialogue along with Khandoker Delwar Hossain and his followers, the BNP Secretary General said, "We do politics on nobody’s compassion. We do politics on the basis of political ideology of BNP, on the basis of the party Constitution and overall on the basis of support of the millions of party rank and file as well as support of populace of the country."
Responding to another reporter, Delwar said, "We have all along claimed that there is a conspiracy underway against BNP and the country. Whatever is happening now is being done in line of that conspiracy and blueprint."
Delwar continued saying, "Conspiracy can never be successful. Millions of people of the country will foil any conspiracy as they are very conscious and politically sensitive and the people of the country know that this government has a hidden agenda although it has announced a roadmap. People do not want to see an un-elected government for long." Asked whether they will go for movement against this government, Delwar said, "We are devising plan to give tactical programmes first for the movement."
The pro-government splinter celebrated the HC verdict distributing sweets among the media people as well as among the party workers at the Banani residence of Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed. "It is a victory of BNP. From now onwards I am the legitimate Secretary General of BNP," Hafiz told newsmen with a voice of victory.
In reply to a question, he said, "We will go for dialogue taking the leaders of the rival faction along with us as there is no alternative to unity aiming at winning the next general election and to this end, our leader M Saifur Rahman has already communicated with the key figures of the rival camp."
Referring to EC’s decision to invite both the factions of BNP, Hafiz retorted, "There no question of inviting two factions of BNP. We are the mainstream and we hope the EC will follow the constitutions as well as rules and regulations."

CEC’s comments on HC verdict
The Chief Election Commi-ssioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, on Thursday said the election commission will informally request both factions of BNP to jointly participate in the dialogue with the EC forgetting their differences.
The CEC in his reaction to the journalists over the High Court verdict said, "We were in a problem, this verdict will help us to overcome it, now we will be able to complete our stagnant works which were postponed due to the case filed against the EC."
He said, "The court in its verdict did not say anything regarding legality of the EC’s letter, but it said that the holding dialogue with the political parties is not a matter of jurisdiction, it is EC’s internal affair."
Asked the possible date of starting the long-stalled dialogue with BNP, the CEC said, "We are hoping that forgetting the differentiations both faction of BNP will participate in the dialogue jointly, but the date of holding talks will be fixed after reviewing the verdict delivered by the High Court Today (Thursday). The EC dialogue with the BNP might be held before starting the dialogue between political parties and government."
Replying to another query, the CEC said, "If any appeal is filed by anybody in the Supreme Court against the verdict of High Court, the EC will take its decision in this regard after discussing the matter with its lawyer."
He said, "In this verdict, no one is winner or loser , Everybody has a win and win situation, in a word, everybody should forget their differences to resolve the present crisis to hold a general election as per the road map, we should work together to establish real democracy."

Govt-AL informal talks not held
AL refuses dialogue without official invitation: Zillur

Staff Correspondent

Awami League on Thursday refused to sit with the representatives of the Caretaker Government for an informal talk - scheduled to be held at State Guest House Padma on Thursday –as per the earlier decision of AL Presidium members meeting on Wednesday saying without an invitation letter, AL will not hold any dialogue. Replying to a query of newsmen, acting AL president Zillur Rahman stated this yesterday afternoon.
Zillur Rahman said, "Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman phoned me at 2pm requesting us to take part in the unofficial dialogue but I refused mentioning the decision of Wednesday’s AL Presidium meeting."
"We would like to hold discussion with the Government to resolve the prevailing crises across the country but it must follow the proper courtesies. Only after receiving a formal letter from the authorities concerned, will we join the talks," he added.
The senior most AL leader further reiterated his party’s demand to ensure the former Prime Minister’s proper treatment abroad as per the recommendation of her doctors.
Asked about Thursday’s High Court verdict on BNP’s writ petition, AL presidium member Tofael Ahmed said, "AL hopes, the Election Commission will take a realistic decision with regards to the BNP’s over joining the electoral reform talks."
"The EC must announce the date of the next general election as per the stipulated timeframe or roadmap," he added.
Earlier, detained Awami League President Sheikh Hasina called upon the party leaders and activists to work unitedly and not to create any confusion in the party.
"Don’t create any disarray in party; the unity among the partymen is badly needed in this changed political circumstance," the former Prime Minister stated on Thursday while talking to her counsels after the hearing of the barge-mounted power plant scam cases at the Special Judge Court in the Parliament Complex.
"With a view to serve a narrow political interest, false and fabricated cases have been lodged against me," her counsel Advocate Quamrul Islam quoted Hasina as saying.
AL Chief Sheikh Hasina, who has been in the makeshift jail since her arrest on July 16, 2007 - expressed her doubt about getting proper justice regarding her cases.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina was taken to the capitals’ Square Hospital yesterday afternoon as she claimed severe pain in her badly damaged ear, said Deputy Inspector General (prisons) Major Shamsul Haider Siddiqui while talking to The Bangladesh Today over telephone.

 Poor streaming to cities for food, livelihood
Amena Khatun Urmee

Poor and distressed people have started moving to different metropolitan cities and towns including the capital Dhaka in search of work and livelihood.
As the poor and the destitute groups who depend on daily earning, are facing a dire situation following price hike of essential, serious food crisis and want of work at their respective villages across the country, are now heading for large urban areas.
"We want to do work. Like in the past, we do not get any work. So we are facing severe financial hardships and struggling to sustain every moment. But at one stage we are failing to cope with this suffocating situation. For what, shall we stay in our villages where we don’t get food and work?" said three youths while talking to The Bangladesh Today in front Dhaka New Market on Thursday.
Earlier, two spells of flood and a severe cyclonic storm had destroyed hopes and aspirations breaking the economic backbones of the people, specially the poor farmers, fishermen and small traders. Now the prevailing situation has intensified their sufferings. "That is why many such poor people are streaming to cities and towns in search of work and livelihood," they added.
This correspondent while visiting different places in Dhaka, found poor people with baskets and spades gathering specially in front of Dhaka New Market and Karwan Bazar in search of work and livelihood. The city’s bus and launch terminals are regularly witnessing huge rush of poor people everyday.
On the other hand, a section of poor people instead of searching work, are now running after the BDR-run fair price markets. "There is no available work for livelihood in Rangpur in recent days but after one month when the harvesting of IRRI is started we will able to engage ourselves as day labourers. I am compelled to come here in search of work as our family members depend on me," replying to a query Rickshaw puller Manwarul, 32, who came Dhaka 15 days ago told this correspondent at Motijheel Commercial area.Another Rickshaw puller named Dulal hailing from Kishorganj echoing the same argument said there is no scope for creating any work in the district. "So I came to Dhaka for work and now I am pulling rickshaw," he added.

 Finance Adviser brushes aside country’s ability to prepare budget sans foreign aid

UNB, Dhaka

Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam has brushed aside the country’s ability right now to prepare a national budget without foreign aid, saying 40-50 percent of the development budget still depend on external financing.
"It’s not possible, if we can’t increase revenue earnings and if we’ ve to widen and deepen the social safety net programmes," he told a pre-budget meeting with Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) at the Finance Ministry on Thursday.
"We’re yet to reach that economic situation… but we can have an objective to come out of the external assistance in the long run," said the Finance Adviser.
He also rejected a notion that there would have no conditions against foreign aid, but one could have a look at the conditions whether they were harmful on a broader macro level. In many cases, he added, a condition should not be considered as harmful when it will be attached on an agreed situation by both the lending agencies and the country.
"Harmful conditions do not come if we can convince the lending agencies," Dr Aziz said, speaking of his experience that Bangladesh could convince the IMF about the contractionery monetary policy as well as adjustment of fuel oil, gas and electricity. "This will be a year of record highest disbursement of subsidy against utility prices (fuel oil, electricity and gas)," he said.
About rationing of essential items, he said non-price distribution is bound to create price corruption and massive misuse while there is a lack of delivery mechanism for rationing at this moment.
The Finance Adviser said the government has announced the new employment guarantee scheme, but is yet to design the scope of the programme. Replying to a question, he said the amount of diesel subsidy, which could not be disbursed this fiscal year, would be carried over to next fiscal year. He explained that the authorities took time to identify the beneficiaries of the subsidy while card system could not be introduced yet, making disbursement difficult. Reportedly, the government has so far distributed Tk 250 crore from the Tk 750 crore allocated.
Supplementing the Adviser, Finance secretary Dr Mohammed Tareq said the subsidy only for the agriculture sector would be more than double this fiscal year. It will stand at around Tk 4,000 crore against an allocation of Tk 2,250 crore, he added.

 Opinions of Bangladesh missions in India, Pakistan sought on Cape Town

UNB, Dhaka

The government has asked Bangladesh missions in India and Pakistan to send their diplomatic opinions on the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol, an international treaty that will cut the cost of international borrowing for the country’s airline industry.
Before taking any major decision, the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry in an inter-ministerial meeting on April 7 asked the two high commissions to send their diplomatic opinions on the convention as India is at the final stage to sign it while Pakistan have already did that.
Earlier, the government in principle decided to ratify the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol. A 5-member committee, headed by the deputy secretary of the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, was formed in this regard. The committee formed another 4-member working committee to have clearer idea on the Convention. A senior official in the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry said it is true that there are some good sides in the Convention, "but there are also some tough sides too in it."
"We’re trying to find out what type of benefits can we get from the Cape Town Convention and that’s why we asked the missions in India and Pakistan to give their opinions on that," he added.
Signing the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol came in the limelight when Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited, the national flag carrier, decided to procure eight new-generation aircraft from US Boeing company at a cost of US$ 1.265 billion.
US-based Exim Bank will provide 85 percent of the rest of the amount as loan at a six-percent interest rate while a consortium, comprising different local banks, will provide the rest 15 percent of the money as loan. Biman will have to repay it over 12 years.
However, the interest rate will be reduced by 1 percent if Bangladesh ratifies the Cape Town convention. On March 10 at a press briefing, CA’s special assistant Mahbub Jamil said Bangladesh is going to ratify the Cape Town Convention soon.
"We’re going to sign the Cape Town Convention soon. The signing of the convention will help local airlines purchase aircraft at reduced costs," he said.

Back Page

Farmers expecting bumper
production of Boro in 10 districts

UNB, Benapole

Farmers of 10 districts of the country's southwestern region are expecting a bumper production this season as they have cultivated Boro paddy exceeding their target.
Agriculture Department said farmers have cultivated Boro on 5.64 lakh hectares of land against the target of 5.21 lakh hectares in Jhenidah, Jessore, Magura, Narail, Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Kushtia, Chuadanga and Meherpur.
Of the total, hybrid Boro was cultivated on two lakh hectares of land, high yielding variety on 3.15 lakh hectares while local variety on the rest lands.
But standing Boro crops on 10,312 hectares land have been infested with bacterial leaf streak (BLS) and bacterial leaf blight (BLB), locally known as 'pata pora' and 'pata lalche' diseases this season. Sharsha Agriculture officer Ratan Kumar Sarkar, however, said despite bacterial diseases, farmers are going to achieve a bumper production of Boro this season.
Additional Director of Khulna Divisional Agriculture office said farmers have cultivated Boro this year breaking all the previous records.

 Regional discrimination serious concern: Finance Adviser
Staff Correspondent

Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam on Thursday said regional discrimination has increased in the country due to lack of proper development policy.
"I and Chief Adviser are very much concerned about the regional discrimination. In a bid to reduce discrimination, the government has formed five regional working groups. Government is also thinking to give incentive for eradicating the discrimination. The incentive will be included in the next budget." Aziz said while speaking at a function on "Importance of local and regional planning to achieve goal of PRSP."
Teachers and experts were also present in the function. They said if the government fails to formulate proper and comprehensive policy regarding urbanization the country will have face a disastrous situation.
"Indiscriminate and rapid growth of urbanization have been destroying the country's crop land. If this trend continues production of food grains will decline further," they observed.
They said Government's plans for developing various programmes are not being implemented as it's concerned ministries are failing to take proper decision for the work.
"A balanced plan is needed to build up a balanced economy. Different ministries of the government are taking various development programme but many of the projects are yet see the light of the day as there is no balanced and comprehensive planning," they added.

Dhaka-Kolkata Train Service begins on Apr 14
UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh and India on Thursday signed an agreement clearing the way for cross-border run of trains on the Dhaka-Kolkata route from April 14, the Bengali New Year Day on Pahela Baishakh, after the lapse of 43 years.
Communications Secretary Dr Mahbubur Rahman and Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarti inked the deal on behalf their respective governments at the Communications Ministry in the afternoon. After the signing of the agreement, Dr Mahbubur Rahman said the train services are going to start from April 14 following this accord. He hoped the cross-border train run would not only improve the communications network between the two countries but also make it possible to establish communications networks connecting other countries in the region.
Replying to a question, Dr Rahman said the first train would leave Dhaka Cantonment station on Pahela Baishakh at about 8: 00am and another train from Kolkata arrive at the Cantonment station at about 8:00pm the same day. The Indian High Commissioner lauded the accord as a big history as he said it would connect the two countries closely. "I think it is the beginning of a new chapter," Pinak said. The train communications between Dhaka and Kolkata were suspended in March 1965 following the war between India and Pakistan when Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) was a part of Pakistan.
Initially, two trains will run on Saturdays and Sundays every week. Each train will have accommodation of 418 passengers in seven compartments.
Train fares will be between $8 and $20 depending on the classes for the 538km journey- 418km in Bangladesh and 120km in India. Fares for each sleeping berth is $20, AC$12 and non-AC $8 Darshana in Chuadanga district will be the immigration checkpoint for passengers from India, while Dhaka for the outbound passengers.

Sidr victims receive housing grants
BSS, Dhaka

Food and Disaster Management Adviser Dr AMM Shawkat Ali on Thursday said more than five lakh people, affected by the cyclone Sidr in the country's southwestern region, have received house building grants.
Nearly Taka 200 crore has been spent for housing purpose and the government is channeling more money from donor countries to provide assistance to rest of the homeless cyclone affected people, he said while addressing a discussion as chief guest here. Oxfam Bangladesh organized the discussion for lunching one of its studies titled 'Rethinking Disaster -Why Death and Destruction is not Nature's Fault, but Human Failure' at the CIRDAP auditorium.
The discussion was told that the government has already finalized the design of multipurpose cyclone shelters and sent a proposal to the planning commission for constructing 1400 such shelters in the coastal areas. It also said that the Islamic Development Bank gave commitment to build more 700 cyclone shelters while Japan government will provide assistance to build 40 shelters.

Crime

DMP opens ELS Cell Apr 15
UNB, Dhaka
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will start the Expatriates Legal Service Cell on April 15 to provide legal service to the Bangladeshi expatriates.
"All of us know that the expatriates are being cheated and harassed in many ways. That's why we're going to introduce the new service cell to remove their problems," DMP commissioner Nayeem Ahmed told reporters after a monthly review meeting on crime.
Terming the expatriates as a major source of foreign exchange earner, he said almost seven million (70 lakh) Bangladeshis are now working in many countries. "Unfortunately, they sometimes fall prey to frauds while sending money home."
The DMP commissioner said the newly introduced 8-member cell would scrutinise the allegations to be dropped at the DMP headquarters. In case of allegations found genuine, the cell would advise the police station concerned to file cases.
The law and order situation in the capital city is under control, he said, adding that the figures of criminal activities in March were slightly lower than in February.
There were 24 killings in the city in March as against 24 in February having 29 days.
Besides, 2049 cases were lodged with 33 police stations in the city in March while the number was 1782 in February, the Police Commissioner said.
"If the month of February were of 31 days, the figure in March would be much bigger, as on average some 60-65 cases were filed daily. This indicates law and order is showing slight improvement," he said.

Extend cooperation
for curbing militants RAB DG
UNB, Rajshahi
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Director General Hasan Mahmud Khandokar Thursday sought cooperation from all for curbing militants.
Militants would be curbed with the cooperation of all, including social leaders and public representatives, he said talking to reporters at RAB-5 office at Science and Industrial Research Centre at noon.
He said there is no reason of self-satisfaction about the ongoing successful operations of RAB against militants, because the militants have not yet been uprooted.
Referring to the activities of RAB, the elite force chief said its performances are satisfactory till now.
He said efforts are being taken to make the elite force more effective. "Efforts are underway to collect necessary vehicles and training for RAB's operation in water and air ways".
Rajshahi Range DIG Mokhlesur Rahman, Rajshahi Police Commissioner Mahbub Mohsin, Major Rashid of RAB and other senior police and RAB officials were present on the occasion.

Girl threatens to commit suicide
A Correspondent, Barisal
A college girl tortured for dowry threatened to commit suicide at a press conference at Barisal Reporters Unity on Thursday after police submitted final report of her case.
The representatives of different non-government and human rights organizations and activists attending the press conference. They would launch a social movement within a short time demanding punishment of the accused criminals and protesting harassment of the law enforcers.
Syeda Taslima Shanti, daughter of Syed Abul Kalam of Lakutia area of city burst into tears while narrating her ordeal to the news men. Shanti said that while she was a student at the Govt. Barisal College she, married her classmate Faizul Alam Rony. Shanti leaving her family with 42,000 taka cash and 6 tola gold ornaments registered their marriage at South Alekanda Kazi office on August 10, 2006 and started living with her husband Rony at the house of her father in law in Rupatali Shere Bangla Road area of the city.
Within a short time her in-laws taking all cash and ornaments from Shanti started torture on her demanding Tk one lakh dowry. Shanti expressed her inability to fulfil their demand, as she has no relationship with her parents after marrying Ronny.
Shanti alleged that later she was tortured and injured by the in-laws but the law enforcers did not come forward to save her.

Housewife brutally murdered
UNB, Benapole
A housewife was chopped to death after rape at Kharidanga village here early Thursday.
Police said miscreants abducted Nurunnahar Begum, 17, from her house at 4:50 am when she was asleep. They take her to a nearby garden and chopped her to death after rape.
Local people said Nurunnahar was killed after a day she logged a complaint with local thana against one Alam of the village who used to disturb her.
Police arrested a youth, Rafiq, in this connection. A case was filed.

3 get life-term, another 5-yr RI
A Correspondent, Sirajganj
A court in Sirajganj sentenced life-term to three men with Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) in a murder case on Thursday.
The court also fined the convicts Tk10, 000 each.
The convicts are Md. Nantu Seikh, 18, son of Shahadat Pramanik, Md. Hamidul Islam, 19, son of Md. Shahajahan Ali, of village Chak Sialkole and Eliach Pramanik, 20, son of Saman Ali, of village Selundha under sadar upazila of the district.
A.B.M. Nizamul Hoque, the additional and session judge-2, pronounced the verdict in a jam-packed room.
According to the prosecution, the convicts lynched their friend, Md. Israil Hossain, 17, son of Shahanur Ali, of village Chak Sialkole, with sharp weapons at an old-iron shop of municipal road of the town on July 18, 2001 following a previous enmity.
Later on the next day, deceased's elder brother, Zinhir Ali lodged a case with sadar police station accusing three in this connection.
The correspondent also adds: A court in Sirajganj sentenced a man 5 years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) in a drugs-selling case on Thursday.
The court also fined the convict Tk 5, 000, in default to suffer another one year in jail.
The convict is Mantu Pramanik, 35, son of late Rashed Ali Pramanik, of Mukunda Ganti village under Belkuchi upazila of the district.
Biplab Goshwami, the district and session judge, pronounced the verdict.
According to the prosecution, acting on tip-off, the members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-12 arrested the convict with at least 66-litres of liquor on 22 September2006.
Later he was handed over with a case to sadar police station.

SI dismissed for taking bribe
UNB, Thakurgaon
Police sub-inspector Shamsuzzaman of Ruhiya outpost under Kotwali thana has been dismissed from service for extorting bribe.
Confirming the dismissal, Police Super AKM Iqbal Hossain said the action against Shamsuzzaman was taken under the police ordinance.
Joint forces arrested Shamsuzzaman on Feb 15 while taking Tk 5,000 as bribe from shopkeeper Shaherul with promise of favouring him in a case he was accused.
He was suspended and closed to the police lines the same day.
Receiving the order of dismiss today Shamsuzzaman left for his home in Rangpur.

Editorial

On the Way back to Square One

We are on our way back to square one, that is to conditions and situations that prevailed prior to the declaration of Emergency and that makes some happy while most people view such a possibility with trepidations and even horror. This trend at getting back to "square one" is evident from various incidents and events happening in the Country, but more particularly in Dhaka.
BCL and JCD students and teachers of DU, having stopped a planned visit of the CA to the DU are claiming a victory for themselves in their "movements" against the Emergency Government, which they insist has carried out "oppression" on them. Student wings of political parties have targeted the CA as a symbol of that oppression although at least one teacher conceded that the CA is welcome to visit the DU for a view exchange meeting but not for inaugurating the Senate building, already under construction for the last two years. This charge of oppression is nothing new; during various governments, one or the other student political wings have always started their journey to agitations and then mass public violence citing "oppression" by the prevailing government.
Both the BNP and AL are threatening mass agitations to firstly, free their leaders jailed for corruption and then secondly, to ensure the holding of the stalled national elections. The BNP, in the process of breaking up, may not be taken as seriously as the AL which is getting more and more truculent and aggressive in its demands. Now that the Emergency Government has conceded a "dialogue" with the political parties, the AL has immediately upped the stakes by demanding a relaxation of the Emergency and for allowing indoor politics throughout the Country. The AL will continue upping the stakes till a crescendo is reached through what it terms as a "mass upsurge"; already senior AL leaders are citing examples of 1969. That too is nothing new; the AL is a political party attuned to "agitations and movements" but only once has it achieved state power through such means. More often than not, in an independent Bangladesh, periods of political instability have always been followed by authoritarian military regimes.
On 09 April 2008, a few hundred students of DU had taken to the streets to protest in front of the Indian Embassy against what they term to be " planned Indian attempts at creating famine in Bangladesh and instigating the Emergency Government in keeping Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina in jails". Such tactics are also not new; often political parties in trouble "direct" some of their agitational activities against foreign powers in order to "create" situations which will put extra pressure on the government , to test the government's resolve in "sticking to its guns" and to disperse and overwhelm government efforts at tackling the situation.
Foreign powers such as the USA and UK are again getting active, meeting politicians, visiting ministers and government officials and holding forth to the media on what is and what is not important for Bangladesh and what we ought or ought not to do with our politics. Typically, for Bangladesh this too is a signal that all is not well with the incumbent government, that things might turn for the worse or that a "return" to democracy, a la Pakistan, is necessary.
All of the above are but a small selection of the many activities happening in Bangladesh over the last couple of months which portend a return to the conditions which have been prevailing in the Country for the last few years. The rather sad part of it is that the Emergency Government, which came with so much of hope, promise and expectations of changes for the better for the people of Bangladesh, has been largely unable to bring about those changes to any substantial and sustainable extent. In the end the people and the Nation are left with even more limited options then they had before the Emergency - economically, socially and certainly politically. Also in the end, the Emergency is forcing us to take a step backwards, when we were so much hoping to step forward - that would be the unenviable legacy and perhaps the epitaph of this ill-fated Emergency Government.

Analysis

Government & Organized Crime, A History of Co-existence

Throughout history crime walked alongside governments, it was present in every known society, including dynasties, imperialism, colonialism, monarchism, communism, socialism, and modern democracy.

Mohammad Gani

A government is the organization which is the governing authority of a political unit, also the ruling power in a political society, and the apparatus through which a governing body functions and exercises authority. Governments have the authority to make laws, to arbitrate disputes, to issue administrative decisions, and a monopoly in authorizing force.
A State, depending on size can have local, regional and national government. There are many types of governments, such as: Monarchy, Despotism, Dictatorship, Oligarchy, Plutocracy, Democracy, Theocracy, and Anarchy. A Government depending on type can by headed by politicians, monarchs, dictators, group of people (families), wealthy class, and religious elite. History does not have the exact date of the formation of the first governments, though; it holds some records of formation of very first governments 3000 years ago.
Organized crime or criminal organizations are groups or operations run by controversial individuals most commonly for the purpose of generating a financial profit and social power (influence). Organized crime, however defined, is characterized by a few basic qualities including durability over time, diversified interests, hierarchical structure, capital accumulation, reinvestment, access to political protection and the use of violence to protect interests. The best known criminal organizations are: Cosa Nostra commonly known as Mafia, the Russian Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, the Chinese Triads, the Colombian and the Mexican drug cartel, the Chechen Mafia, and young Mara Salvatrucha, among others. History has it, that the first sign of organized crime was seen 3000 years ago.
It is important to make a distinction between organized crime (criminal organizations) and terrorist organizations, military organizations, political and paramilitary organizations, such as: Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, IRA, Irgun, among others. In relation, we should not forget the Nuremberg Trials in Germany, famous for prosecution of leadership of Nazi Germany. The best known was the Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in 1945. On this trial following were indicted as criminal organizations:
The Nationalsozialismus Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDP), the Nazi party - National Socialist German Workers Party.
The Schutzstaffel (SS), Protective Squadron - military organization.
The Sicherheitsdienst (SD), Security Service - intelligence service of SS and NSDP.
The Gestapo, secret state police.
The Sturmabteilung (SA), Storm Division - paramilitary organization.
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), Supreme Command of the Armed Forces.
This concept of criminal organizations was, and still continues to be controversial, and it was not used in International Human Rights Law since then.
Throughout history there have been constant struggles, but also connection between governments and organized crime. In addition, many world famous political and military leaders have been accused of running their countries like criminal organizations, for instance: Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Nicolae Ceausescu, Idi Amin Dada, Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno, Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, among others. For many top government politicians is believed to grow enormous wealth by running a kleptocracy, a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class at the expense of the population.
Few years ago an unofficial list has been released of the people for who is believed to be the most self-enriching political leaders, top of which are: Suharto (former President of Indonesia/$15-$35 billion USD), Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralín Marcos (former President of the Philippines/$5-$10 billion USD), Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga (former President of Zaire/$5 billion USD), among many others.
What make governments and organized crime to be so connected?
Governments have Head of States, Leaders, military, laws, taxes, customs, punishments; governments control States and go into wars, among others. On the other side criminal organizations (organized crime) has bosses, dons, families, soldiers, gangs, codes and outs, a protection racket and extortion, punishments, they also control territories and small cities, and they also go into wars with other criminal organizations, and governments, among others.
Looking at these examples we can see that there is many similarities in structure of government and organized crime. Many governments have been involved in criminal activities trough politicians, such as: weapons sales, narcotics, international loans, confiscation of private property, and corruption. A socio-political phenomenon called "Political corruption" is visible in all forms of governments, and includes extortion, nepotism, bribery, cronyism, patronage, graft and embezzlement. Global corruption is estimated at one trillion US Dollars, which is equal to what organized crime makes per year around the world.
According to history, ancient civilizations like Summer, Indus Valley Civilization, Babylon, Maya Civilization, Yellow River, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome had governments, military, Laws, and crimes. The Summer Civilization had the first ever written code of Law, and it was written by the ruler Urukagina who was best known for his reforms to combat corruption. Later King Ur-Nammu wrote "the Code of Ur-Nammu", which is oldest surviving code of Law in the world. His code of Law is considered remarkably advanced, and the capital crimes of murder, robbery, adultery and rape were punished with death.
Many people mostly historians believe that organized crime emerged from piracy and banditry in 17th century or from some famous warriors and conquers earlier, however, if we look at this ancient Laws, we can see that organized crime and crime generally existed long before piracy and banditry period, even Julius Cesar was kidnapped and held prisoner in 75BC by Cilician pirates, he was later released when requested ransom was paid. Afterwards, Cesar raised a fleet and captured the pirates, pirates was first imprisoned and later crucified on his authority.
Pertinent historical question: so, what was formed first and what did set up the model for others; a government or organized crime?
It is evident that crime and organized crime existed long before the formation of the first government. Governments implemented Laws because of the criminal activities that were visible in their society, in relation to that; we can say that crime is older than the first Law and government. If three of more individuals organize them self's to commit a crime, that crime is characterized as organized crime.
It was very hard, for example, in Twenty-fourth Century BC to distinguish between what was right and what was wrong, however, people held something deep inside of themselves for centuries of human evolution, and that is the sense for righteousness on which civilizations were able to build their respective society.
Did governments learn from organized crime or did organized crime learn from governments?
They learned from each other, government's establishers applied some of the main principles of criminal organization's structure for the greater cause. In fact, many Laws and Government bodies were made because of crime activities. Criminal organizations followed the evolution of governments and learned to be more effective in criminal activities.
Throughout history crime walked alongside governments, it was present in every known society, including dynasties, imperialism, colonialism, monarchism, communism, socialism, and modern democracy. In the contemporary world criminal organizations are still successful in their business. Some governments, on the other hand, cannot be distinguished from organized crime because of their inherent corruption and lawlessness in their activities.
Today, many world governments, the United Nations and various law enforcement agencies are fighting criminal organizations and corruption, but as long as we have politicians and government official behaving like criminals and taking bribes, criminal organizations will continue to grow.

(Ivan Simic is a freelance columnist writing from Belgrade, Serbia. Address: Paloticeva 12, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Tel: +381/63/7508500)

Demolition of national heritages is suicidal for our identity

"The killing of a person destroys an individual memory. The destruction of cultural heritage erases the memory of a people. It is as if they were never there."

Abdul Kabir

Measly appreciations for the iconic values of numerous historical sites and edifices, insufficient resources and inadequate expertise for their maintenance have left many such precious heritages in a state of neglect across the country. We are not giving them the attention they deserve. We are neglectful of their crucial functions as a symbol of cultural triumphs and political accomplishments of the past. We seem to regard them as no more than ancient ruins not worthy enough for an interest, let alone preservation. This is regrettable. To add up to this nonchalance to the attrition of ancient heritages, there has been a blatant attempt to wipe out one such edifice in Faridpur. The resident of Durlav Shaha, an evidence marking the zenith of personal and political achievement of the sovereign who ruled the area 600 years ago, was being demolished by a group claiming it as an inheritance and the administrative actions, as may be inferred from the report of Prothom Alo published on April 4, 2008, to prevent the demolition are nothing but a farce. This is deplorable.
We seem to forget that a civilized society must know its origin to be able to understand and appreciate its being and to chart its course into the future. We also seem to be unmindful of the fact that the knowledge of the origin is possible only if there are solid evidences of the accumulated wisdom from the past. Contrary to our outlooks on them, the unquestionable truth about the ancient edifices and historical sites is that they provide the said evidences that speak for ancestral aspirations and their persistence as a cohesive course of life.
We have many valuable inheritances that could serve us in the quests, which we have barely started, for what that course of life used to be. They are living icons of our estimable features as Bangladeshi. They evince that we as a people have not come to being out of nowhere: we had a cherished past that has brought us to this promising present and this will lead to a luminous future. This is what our identity is. This is how our civilization continues.
Unfortunately, the vehicle of this continuity happens to experience obstructions of our own making, as in the indifference we show to the gradual extinction of the worthy legacies of our ancestors, as when we feel unmoved even if there is a shocking attempt to exterminate them. This is what may lead to an identity crisis. In the end, in the absence of our ancestral footprints we may be rendered unable to distinguish ourselves in the context of time and space.
"The killing of a person destroys an individual memory. The destruction of cultural heritage erases the memory of a people. It is as if they were never there." Mindful of this essential component of the cultural identity of communities, groups and individuals, and of social cohesion, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization adopts the UNESCO Declaration, 2003, concerning the intentional destruction of cultural heritage. Moreover, one of the fundamental principles of the Preamble of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property provides that "damage to cultural property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind, since each people makes its contribution to the culture of the world."
As far as we are concerned with this issue, there seems to be a dearth of reflection on how the traces of history link our genesis with our existence, how they dictate our ancestral conscience. As a civilized society, we cannot afford being that casual. We must recognize the importance of cultural and political heritages, enacting necessary laws for their protection. Complying with the conventions agreed upon by the international community, we must affirm our commitment to fight against any intentional destruction in any form so that they may be transmitted to the succeeding generations.
For the time being, we urge the authorities to stop the attempt of demolishing the resident of Durlav Shaha in Faridpur or its ilk anywhere else in the country. The learned community must exert itself in this regard. They cannot shed their responsibilities of stimulate awareness among the ordinary people and press on the government to pay sufficient attentions to the restoration and maintenance of national heritages. After all, it is our moral obligation to preserve our inheritance and pass them on to the future.

(M Abdul Kabir; BSc.ETE; North South University. Email: kabir_nsu051@yahoo.com. Mobile: 01715078819)

Shadow on India rising

Barkha Dutt

AS A people, Indians today are self-assured, angry, passionate and articulately aggressive about what we believe is our due. Yet, for a country that is perennially protesting, why is it that we have barely bothered to react to the Mississippi horror story of 21st century slavery?
Readers of this newspaper - one of the few national newspapers to track and frontpage the report - are familiar with the gory details. Indian shipyard workers forced to live like 'pigs in a cage', 24 men crammed into single, squalid cupboard-sized rooms, paying Rs1,500 every day for frugal meals of rice and mortgaging their self-respect in return for green cards that never existed. And on days that there was no work, there was no pay.
Most of them had sold land, jewellery and pretty much everything they had, to cough up money for the recruiting agency that ferried them to the US. For more than a year, hundreds of these workers marched on the streets, waved banners and petitioned for help. When nothing worked, they walked out on their abusive employers in helpless despair. Now they were stuck in a foreign land as part of President George W Bush's much-hyped 'guest worker programme' but they had neither a green card nor a job. And yet, despite the ritual intervention by the government, as a nation, we still couldn't care less. The brutal truth is that the Barack Obama victory in Mississippi has led to more cocktail chatter in India than the livelihood battles of welders and pipe-fitters from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
Now imagine if the Governor of Mississippi was not a man called Haley Barbour but let's say Harminder Dua. 'Harry' would wear spiffy suits, he would play baseball and talk in a perfectly cultivated Punjabi-American twang. His Thanksgiving Day dinners would be famous for Ms Dua's (let's call her Maya) incomparable cranberry sauce. His campaign managers would hand out glossy pictures of him posing behind a gleaming white picket fence with two adorable children and a wife who wears pastels and pearls. They would hold hands, chew gum and almost forget they once lived in Ludhiana. They may even be Republican and support tougher laws against new immigrants.
But back home, we would fall over ourselves in juvenile excitement over yet another 'Indian success story'. We would dutifully send our cameras and journalists to 'Harry's' native village and manufacture picture postcard images of the land his grandfather had once tilled. We would file breathlessly romantic reports about how he had dared to dream. So, why is it that we have no affinity or empathy for the Indian workers who also had the audacity and recklessness to dream? We insist that Bobby Jindal and Sunita Williams are cut from Indian cloth, though both are self-avowedly and aggressively American. But as far as we are concerned, a shipyard worker from Mumbai or Calicut may as well be from Africa or Iraq or one of those countries our elite couldn't be bothered to notice. The fact is that a ghastly class prejudice defines our response to the Indian Diaspora.
We salute Indian women who head Pepsi and Motorola and often impose an unwanted national claim to them, but we couldn't be bothered about the thousands of other Indian women who end up as poorly paid maids in New York. Give us a British Indian who prefixes his name with a 'Sir' or 'Lord' and we will duly bow and scrape in supplication. So what if he hasn't been back 'home' in a decade? Show us a glamorous model who is the toast of New York Fashion week, but once lived in Tamil Nadu, and we will pretend like she never left. We will even take stinging abuse from a Trinidad-born author and pretend he is Indian, if only because we like pretending that the Nobel Prize went to one of our guys. Take our response to the plight of the Indian minority in Malaysia. We have explained away our indifference by saying that these workers, shipped out of the country by the British decades ago to work in the rubber plantations, are now citizens of another land; the Indian government can no longer be the arbiter of their fates.
It's a strange, undemocratic and unjust response for a country that has positioned itself as the world's future. India's middle-class knows better than most how hard and lonely the struggle of an ordinary man can be. It cannot now look the other way. Aspiration cannot become a substitute for neglect.

Celebrated Indian television star and host Barkha Dutt is Managing Editor of NDTV 24x7.

Viewpoints

Black will remain Black

The “Bangladesh model” can always be improved upon and applied in Pakistan.

Ikram Sehgal

Pervez Musharraf's primary agenda on taking over absolute power was fighting corruption. Established a few days after Musharraf's coup in Oct 1999 there was skepticism about what National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would achieve. One fact cannot be refuted; it was universally welcomed by both the intelligentsia and the masses in Pakistan. Corruption and nepotism had been so pervasive many in our society had given up hope of curbing this evil, and despaired whether those who thrived because of these two twin-headed monsters would ever be brought to book. From a standing start NAB not only fought corruption fairly successfully, bringing credible evidence to bear to send a number of accused to prison and recover enormous amounts of looted money.
In the words of NAB's Brig (Retd) Farooq Hameed Khan, "Our major achievements include the recovery of Rs 223 billion, Rs 116 billion in bank default loans, Rs 25 billion recovered through voluntary return/plea bargain, Rs 9.2 billion through indirect recoveries, Rs 60 billion any re-structuring of bank loans and Rs 12 billion through court fines. Substantial recoveries have been made in respect of public fraud involving financial scams, Rs 8.6 billion re-paid to 234000 affectees of 102 infamous Cooperative Finance Companies scams, and dozens of public frauds are being presently investigated and many references filed in Accountability Courts. Many top executives, directors of forex companies and other private sector companies are in jail for having cheated the public at large." unquote.
Farooq Hameed further says, "for the first time we have established an institutionalized infrastructure for accountability in Pakistan. No organization is perfect; there is always room for improvement. Institutions are not made overnight, it takes years to build them. There is need to strengthen organizations like NAB whether you name them "Independent Commission against Corruption" or "Independent Commission for Accountability". Corruption is too deep-rooted and threatens the basic fabric of our society. It is linked to poverty, social injustice and unequal distribution of wealth. Terrorism thrives in a corrupt environment. If we do not eradicate corruption and its causes, it will have disastrous implications for the future." Unquote. The facts as stated cannot be contested.
The National Reconciliation Order (NRO), the blackest of black laws, negates the very basis of Pervez Musharraf presence with respect to his original agenda. The NRO has set the country back many years. There was certainly a need to compromise with major political forces in a country where political reconciliation remains a dire necessity; a blanket amnesty for corruption is unprecedented in world history. Since we applied accountability selectively maybe we could have applied amnesty also selectively.
Pakistan's existence depends upon democracy functioning to its full potential; many of us reluctantly conceded NRO was necessary for political reconciliation that without the involvement of the major political parties there was no credibility about governance in Pakistan. The imminent maturity of the cases abroad in Switzerland and UK put focus on Ms Benazir and Asif Zardari without fully realizing that amnesty would give many others, some of them profoundly guilty, a fresh lease of life within Pakistan. Now the chickens have come home to roost, dozens of people accused of nepotism and corruptions have come back or are in the process of doing so. The tragedy is that they are all being appointed to the portals of governance. Our society may enter the stage of what NAB's Farooq calls "chaotic corruption", a free for all without any accountability. What is the message here but that both nepotism and corruption pays? What is the message here but that we will now have more of the same?
Many returnees will be able to clear their name, indeed many went into self exile not because they were guilty but to escape NAB's prosecution and incarceration but the persecution and public humiliation that goes with it. NAB was not always right, some were victimized wrongly. Many lived lives in penury abroad, eking out a meager existence or living on someone's dole. Those who remained long years in self-exile need to be rehabilitated and it is right that Asif Zardari seeks to rehabilitate them. But it is wrong that those who were known to be corrupt be given high office, the perception to the hapless millions is their welfare and contentment is far less important than those being put into the governance structure to rule over their lives. Asif Zardari must put into balance this equation. For the last three months one has seen nothing but maturity par excellence from this man, nothing as important as bridging the ethnic Sindhi-new Sindhi gap and efforts for genuine national reconciliation. He should not throw all this away by becoming hostage to the loyalty factor and lose public perception about sincerity of his motives.
One wishes the PM well but his announcement about closing down NAB was extremely disappointing. If personnel of NAB are guilty of persecution for political and/or individual gain they must be persecuted. There must be (and have been) black sheep in NAB who were using the mechanism for political purpose and/or personal gain, they should be investigated and prosecuted; getting the same punishment they asked for those whom they targeted. However closing down NAB would have enormous repercussions, the dire consequences of which are unimaginable for our society and for the nation. Even as democracy has taken its first uneasy steps in Pakistan, one fears for its continued existence. While concerned citizens will fear about corruption becoming rampant again in society and will write and speak about it in the media, what about the frustration and anger of those who have the capacity and potential to reverse these abominations?
According to a recent survey more than 50% of the people of Pakistan are on the borderline of starvation, even when the new wheat crop comes in "atta" (flour) prices will go back up beyond Rs 24-25 per kg from the present Rs 17 per kg, moreover it will be in short supply. When the people start to get hungry, when the summer heat goes up and the electricity failures become more frequent, and there is shortage of water who do you think they will blame, whether fairly or unfairly it does not matter? How long before the masses are swayed against democracy because of the presence of this corrupt handful? Public opinion can be very fickle in the face of hunger and need. The "Bangladesh model" can always be improved upon and applied in Pakistan.
Asif Zardari needs to immediately replace those who cannot stand the acid test of integrity in public opinion. It is not only for his good but that of the nation. More important than recovering money is bringing people to justice, I have therefore never believed or accepted NAB's plea-bargaining. However NAB is a useful anti-corruption mechanism that must continue, albeit in different name and with more public confidence in its evenhandedness and purpose. What requires abolition is not NAB, it is the NRO. Accountability should not be lost to the people of Pakistan. White can become grey and then black, black may well be whitened to become grey, it cannot become white. Black will remain black!

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

 A deficit of leadership

The falling dollar has helped US exports but hurt other countries' exports to the US. It is the 21st century version of the “beggar thy neighbour” policies that predominated in the Depression.

Joseph Stiglitz

THE financial crisis being felt around the world will get worse - unless strong actions are taken by governments. The strongest action of all is required in the United States, where this global maelstrom originates.
Part of America's economic problem today is a crisis in confidence - in its central bank, the Federal Reserve, in the regulators, in the Bush administration, in the political process. The way the crisis arose, and the way it has been handled, has provided ample reason for that lack of confidence. Bravado statements that everything is fine, followed by unprecedented and non-transparent bailouts and precipitous decreases in interest rates, has led to confidence in the Fed and the administration plummeting, as has confidence in America's banks and their ability to manage risk.
The admission by Bush's treasury that there is a need for regulation may at first seem refreshing, coming after steadfast insistence that these markets are self-regulating and must not be tampered with. But the fact that a core feature of the plan is to give the Fed - the very agency responsible for many of these problems - more oversight is hardly reassuring. It didn't use what -powers it had to prevent the crisis; what -assurance is there that with more -"oversight" it will do any better? Underlying the US's financial woes are three distinct but related problems. First, a debt crisis, exemplified by sub-prime mortgages, with millions of Americans with mortgages greater than the value of their house.
Second, with so many bad debts, and such uncertainty about their magnitude, there is a credit crunch. Banks don't even know the extent of their own problems; how then can they have much confidence in lending to others? It is not, however, just a problem of illiquidity; it is deeper than that - balance sheets have been badly hurt, and will have to somehow be repaired.
The third problem is macro-economic. The US has been sustained by a housing bubble, leading to a consumer binge. Household savings rates have fallen to zero. The Iraq war - and the soaring oil prices accompanying it - has depressed the economy. Money spent on oil or on Nepalese contractors in Iraq is money that isn't being spent at home; these dollars don't provide much stimulation for the economy.
The Fed let forth a flood of liquidity, and the regulators looked the other way as bad loans were made and debt became excessive. In a sense, it had to, if the economy was to keep going, if the costs of the war were to remain hidden, if Americans were to be persuaded they could have a war for free. Hundreds of billions of dollars in mortgage equity withdrawals offset the war's adverse effects. But that game is over. The only reason things aren't worse is that the US has exported its problems, just as it did its toxic mortgages. The falling dollar has helped US exports but hurt other countries' exports to the US. It is the 21st century version of the "beggar thy neighbour" policies that predominated in the Depression.
Dealing with the crisis demands a multi-faceted approach. At the bottom, we need to help homeowners stay in their homes. Generous help is given to rich Americans, through tax deductions, government absorbs up to 50 per cent of the cost of owning a home for those in the upper-income bracket. But it provides little assistance to poor Americans striving to buy homes. Many of the foreclosures are concentrated in particular neighbourhoods; public programmes are needed to prevent that blight from spreading and deepening.
At the other end, government rescues will be necessary, as witnessed in Bear Stearns or Northern Rock. But they have to be done better. The US government didn't charge a dime in insurance premiums, and yet Bear Sterns shareholders are walking away with more than a quarter of a billion dollars. It is outrageous for the government to say it is worried about moral hazard when it comes to poor homeowners, many of whom were taken advantage of by predatory lenders and are losing not only their houses but their life savings - and yet somehow to be unconcerned when it comes to the investment banks.
We should be clear, however, that monetary policy and these last-minute rescues can only prevent a meltdown of the economy; it can't resuscitate it. As Keynes pointed out, it's like pushing on a string - and even more so in this era of globalisation. With housing prices falling, new liquidity won't make homeowners borrow more or banks lend more. The money will look for safer and higher returns elsewhere, like China, which is now worried about US irresponsibility showing up in asset-bubbles in its own economy.
Even the Fed recognises there is a need for fiscal policy. But what is needed is not the kind of stimulus that has been passed to date - too little, too late, and badly designed. With soaring deficits likely to hit a new record it's important to maximise the amount of stimulus for each dollar of spending. Election-year politics may force the administration to do something, or at least not to stand in the way of Congress doing something.
Given where we are, the downturn is likely to be the worst in at least the last quarter century, probably since the Depression. But the US has more than just a trade and fiscal deficit; it has a leadership deficit. The result is likely to be a downturn longer and deeper than need be. And the whole world will suffer.

Source: www.dawn.com

 Opinion

Peacemaking becomes surreal

Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state told the Middle East Times a couple of weeks ago that she thought the problems in Iraq would be hard but not as hard as they turned out to be. Still Iraq's challenges must pale against those she faces in trying to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
After much urging from Rice, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas resumed meeting, after a six-week hiatus, and pledged to continue come what may in search of an "historic" framework agreement for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
This appears good news on the face of it, but scratch the surface and you enter the surreal world of Middle East peacemaking. Last week Rice was in Israel, and as well as trying to keep her interlocutors focused on the final issues in that historic agreement - borders, Jerusalem, and refugees - she also chivvied the Israelis into agreeing to reduce the number of roadblocks in the West Bank from 580 to 530. Armed with this victory she left, and the Israelis promptly turned around and announced plans to build 800 new homes in Betar Illit, a West Bank settlement.
The reason for this apparent snub was that the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a vital member of Olmert's coalition, insisted upon it and threatened to walk if it didn't happen. Shas provides 12 of the 67 seats in the governing coalition out of a total of 120.
Shas is also adamantly opposed to even discussing any division of Jerusalem with the Palestinians as part of a peace settlement. Yet a settlement is inconceivable without some arrangement that gives the Palestinians a formal presence in East Jerusalem. So the coalition pursuing the peace process includes members who reject an essential element of peace.
Abbas' position on the Palestinian side is no stronger. His Fatah party has been kicked out of Gaza by Hamas and his hold on the West Bank is tenuous. Hamas attacks him as a pawn or a patsy of Israel and the Americans and the support he receives from them is an internal liability. He has little room for maneuver. Any action by him that appears as weakness in the face of the Israelis could swing majority support to Hamas in the West Bank as well.
When the George W. Bush administration first took office it turned its back on Middle East peacemaking, saying the parties had to work it out for themselves. They were clearly incapable of that. Critics said the United States had to engage to pressure the parties to the negotiating table. Now the U.S. is doing that with the results we have described and critics are saying the peace process may spark another war.
It is hard to imagine a solution to this intractable problem that does involve significant transformations in the internal political groupings of both Israeli and Palestinian society. There is a limit to what outside pressure can achieve even when it comes from a superpower.
 
Source: www.middleeasttimes.com

International

Nepal goes to polls today
BBC Online

Across this dirt-poor Himalayan nation, millions of voters are expected to go to the polls Thursday in an election whose outcome will demonstrate, in large measure, whether they believe his promises-and, in turn, whether he keeps them.
He insists he will. The brutal, decade-long "People's War" waged by communist insurgents in which more than 13,000 died is a thing of the past, says Prachanda, the nom de guerre of Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Democracy and peaceful collaboration are the order of the day.
"Let there be no doubt," he declared in an interview after a recent election rally in this Maoist stronghold outside Katmandu, the capital. "We will not break the peace process even [if] we are in the minority. But we believe we will be in the majority."
Plenty of Nepalese view such pledges with mistrust, especially when the former guerrilla follows them with accusations of a conspiracy to undermine his party. Some of his deputies warn of a backlash if their party loses.
The balloting has already been postponed twice, partly because of alleged violations of the peace process by Maoist cadres.
Security for the election remains a serious concern: Several small bombs exploded in Katmandu over the weekend, and there have been numerous cases of campaign violence, including the reported fatal shooting of a communist candidate Tuesday in western Nepal.
Many analysts think the former rebel group will finish last out of the three main parties, though none of the formations will own an outright majority. Official results may not be known for up to three weeks.
Regardless of the outcome, the election is likely to change this backward country of 28 million people forever.
The 601 seats up for grabs are for a constituent assembly that will draw up a new constitution. Most of the assembly will be elected, but a few members will be appointed. Women, those of low caste and the long-oppressed people from the southern plains are among those angling for a say in how to reinvent their country.
It is a mark of how profoundly the Maoists have reshaped the political discourse here that the assembly's first order of business, by consent of all the major parties, will be to address the Maoists' most cherished dream: abolition of the monarchy.
Nepal has been a unified Hindu kingdom for 239 years, under the reign of monarchs believed to be earthly incarnations of the god Vishnu. But a disastrous, 15-month period of absolute rule by King Gyanendra, which ended in April 2006 after a popular revolt, has turned him into a figure of widespread odium. Onetime royalists have become fervent republicans.
"The monarchy has a long history," said Prakash Man Singh, a former government minister and an assembly candidate from the country's biggest and oldest party, the Nepali Congress. "But since the king couldn't abide by the constitutional-monarchy principle, and since the monarchy has been a destabilizing factor in Nepal, all the people have come to the conclusion that the monarchy should come to an end."
The three major parties promise to declare Nepal a republic. Over the last two years, the interim government has stripped Gyanendra of power, scrubbed his portrait from the currency, subjected him to taxes and excised the word "royal" from the army and the national airline. He rarely appears in public anymore.
For the Maoists, it is sweet revenge. The king zealously prosecuted the war against them, relying on a security apparatus that was accused by human rights groups of committing atrocities every bit as bloody as the Maoists' own record of killings, kidnappings, torture and intimidation.
 

Iran claims to install new, faster centrifuges
AP/UNB, Tehran

Iran is installing a new generation of nuclear centrifuges capable of enriching uranium five times more rapidly than the country's existing technology, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday.
He said 6,000 of the machines would be put into production "after two to three more months of testing," and vowed in a speech laden with bombast that "the nuclear victory of Iran is the start of the ever-increasing destruction of the imperialistic state."
Iran currently has 3,000 older centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium to a level that provides fuel for nuclear energy, Iranian leaders say. A February report by the International Atomic Energy Agency mentions the existence of new centrifuges but not in such large numbers.
The Bush administration said that it could not substantiate Ahmadinejad's claims but that the basics of Iran's capabilities have not changed.
"There are always multiple claims coming out of Iran about progress on this or progress on that. I don't think that the underlining situation has changed, which is that Iran faces three separate Security Council resolutions," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters Tuesday.
The United States and some other Western countries suspect that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, but a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate released in November concluded that Iran stopped working on an atomic bomb in 2003.
Since 2006, the U.N. Security Council has authorized three sets of sanctions against Iran, demanding a stop to all enrichment activities.
Rice urged Iranian officials to reconsider a long-standing offer put forward by the world's major powers under which the country would stop enriching uranium in exchange for major economic and diplomatic incentives, including talks with the United States and the European Union. Iran restarted its enrichment efforts in 2005 after a two-year voluntary suspension.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia, which is building Iran's first nuclear power plant, told Ekho Moskvy radio on Tuesday that "new positive proposals&quo