|
Leading News
Reformist faction of BNP sits with
EC for dialogue today
Mainstream rejects reformist’s proposal,
terms splinter group
M Waliullah
Saifur-led reformists faction of BNP will sit with the
Election Commission (EC) today (Sunday) for dialogue on
reform of the election laws.
Earlier on Tuesday, April 22, the EC invited reformist
faction of acting secretary general Major Hafiz Uddin
Ahmed ((Rtd) for dialogue.
"We do hope a fruitful dialogue will take place between us
and the EC. This dialogue will help to establish a
democratic environment in the country. We will talk about
election's strategy with the EC. We all know that we are
passing a crisis moment right now. So we want to overcome
such suffocating situation. And it can only be possible by
holding dialogue with the EC," Lieutenant General Mahbubur
Rahman, a standing committee member of reformist faction
of BNP, told The Bangladesh Today on Saturday.
Replying to a query, he said they would go to the EC for
dialogue along with the leaders of Khaleda led faction of
BNP. "We tried our best to bring our other leaders united
for holding dialogue. We are still communicating with them
and requesting them to come with us for tomorrow's
dialogue. We want to represent the whole BNP. We are
hopeful that our other leaders will join with us," Mahbub
added.
Meanwhile, the mainstream BNP rejected the reformist
proposal. On Saturday, terming the reformist as splinter
group, loyalist BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan said this
faction is not part of a mainstream BNP.
"Those who will go to the EC tomorrow (Sunday) are not the
mainstream BNP. They don't want to good for the party.
Even they don't think how the BNP can be made more strong
in the future," after an exchange of views meeting with
Sramik Dal held at NAM flat, he told journalists.
The Commission selected 17 political parties on its own
criteria for dialogue on electoral reforms in the interim
period. The dialogue with parties was held in
November-December last year, excepting BNP, the
immediate-past ruling party that suffers disunity due to
its internal conflict over the leadership.
The BNP leadership controversy surfaced when on November 5
last year the EC, ignoring Khaleda-appointed BNP secretary
general Khandker Delwar Hossain, sent a letter to the
reformist faction of Major Hafizuddin Ahmed (Retd) to
participate in the dialogue.
As the immediate-past ruling party fell in trouble in the
interim period following the EC decision, detained BNP
Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia filed a writ petition before
the High Court challenging validity of the Commission's
letter inviting the reformist faction for the dialogue.
Pending the High Court ruling, the EC could not complete
its dialogue programme with the political parties on
electoral reforms.
The Election Commission's pre-dialogue parleys with the
two BNP factions apparently produced puzzles as Delwar
group insisted on formal invitation to them for dialogue
while the EC asked them to come united with their
dissident colleagues soon.
Apparently skipping the EC's ultimatum for unity, the
Khaleda-loyalists on April 20 submitted a letter of five
members of the National Standing Committee of BNP
apprising the EC that Khandaker Delwar Hossain is the
legitimate secretary general of the party according to its
constitution.
Later on April 21, a 12-mmeber delegation of the reformist
faction of BNP submitted a letter signed by 54 former
Members of Parliament to the EC with a strong plea that
the Commission should send letter to interim secretary
general Maj (retd) Hafizuddin to sit for the stalled
dialogue.
Restore people’s confidence by announcing JS
polls date: AL
Staff Correspondent
Awami League leaders on Saturday called upon the Caretaker
Government to restore the people's confidence by
announcing a firm date of next General Election within the
stipulated roadmap of Election Commission.
Reiterating the demand for immediate release of the
detained AL president and former Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, key AL leaders said, "There is no alternative way
but to free Hasina to resolve the prevailing
socio-economic and political crises, especially price
spiral of essentials. Any election with party President
Sheikh Hasina behind bars will not be allowed in the
country."
They were addressing a 'Mass-Signature Papers handing over
ceremony' of Mohammadpur thana unit of AL at a community
centre in capital yesterday noon with Sadeque Khan Murad
in the chair.
Addressing on the occasion as the chief guest, AL
presidium member Amir Hossain Amu said, "Demand for
Hasina's release has become a national issue now-a-days.
The AL has already started its movement to press home
their demands through observing 'Hunger Strike' as well as
'Mass Signature Campaign' in Dhaka. And after observing
the 'Countrywide Mass Hunger Strike' on April 29
(Tuesday), the next course of action will be announced
soon."
Referring to the trial of war criminals and
anti-liberation forces, the former AL minister said, "The
incumbent government has in principle decided to declare
the war criminals illegible for the next local government
polls, but they didn't specify whether they would be able
to participate in upcoming general election or not.
"The law should be enacted that no war criminals can take
part in any election in Bangladesh," Amu added urging the
partymen to remain united for the upcoming movement. AL
presidium member Abdur Razaaque said, "Any attempt to
arrange Local Government's election prior to the
Parliamentary Polls will be resisted any how. People will
not allow it at all."
About the next dialogue between the Caretaker Government
and political parties, the former Water Resources Minister
said, "Mass people are very much confused about the
general election. Announce the date of general election as
early as possible to restore the faith of the people;
otherwise no tangible outcome would come from the
dialogue."
Terming the soaring of prices as an international
conspiracy as per the prescription of World Bank to
destroy the middle-class people in the country, Razzaque
urged the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to
arrest the price hike of the necessary commodities as an
urgent basis.
Another presidium member Suranjit Sengupta said, "Without
the release of detained AL chief Hasina, the upcoming
dialogue will be valueless. And if the dialogue fails for
any unavoidable circumstance, the nation will fall into a
deep crisis." Referring to the recent visit of Cherie
Blair in Bangladesh, he said, "The world famous lawyer
expressed her grave concern over the government's
activities regarding the arrest of Sheikh Hasina and
termed it as a human rights violation. She underscored the
need for her treatment as per the recommendation of her
physicians."
AL presidium member Motia Chowdhury accused the government
of ignoring the fundamental rights of people through
promulgating the State of Emergency across the country.
"They (Govt) forcibly confined our leader Hasina, daughter
of the Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
in the makeshift jail by filing different false cases. Her
health condition is deteriorating day by day and she is
moving towards death," she claimed adding, "If something
happens with Hasina; you (Govt) will have to face a dire
consequence in future." Moita threatened to launch tough
street agitation if Hasina is not released immediately.
She further said that no election will be held in the
country with Hasina behind bars.
AL joint general secretary Mukul Bose observed, "Only
legal remedy is not enough to free Hasina. There is no
alterative but to wage movement to ensure her release.
"All the activities of AL and its front organisations
stand by the demand of Hasina's release. We will proceed
towards the movement unitedly and very carefully," he
opined.
BB Governor urges social responsibility for financial
organisation
Staff correspondent
Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed on Saturday
called upon the big financial organisations and corporate
houses to come forward for helping the poor people so that
they have an unhindered access to education and health
services.
Urging the financial organization and corporate houses to
begin social work along with their scheduled activities in
the interest of the helpless and the poor, the central
bank governor said, the banks should play an important
role in mitigating the sufferings of the poor specially
Monga- affected people in the northern region through
providing agricultural loans and setting up small local
markets.
Insisting on the corporate social responsibility, the
Bangladesh Bank governor said these banks and corporate
companies should take steps to help the people who are
deprived of medical facilities.
He also called upon the corporate enterprise authorities
to give preference to the public interest instead of
profit-making attitude. He also said, "We should use our
excess money in nation building activities."
He was speaking at "Corporate Social Responsibility Award
Giving Ceremony for the year 2006 and 2007" given by
Bankers' Forum at the CIRDAP in the city on Saturday.
Dhaka Bank, Islamia Eye Hospital and Standard Chartered
Bank were awarded for the year 2006, while Dutch-Bangla
Bank, Ahsania Mission and Pubali Bank for 2007.
Govt
could not create environment for reforms: BBC Sanglap
Staff Correspondent
Leaders of both Awami League and BNP on Saturday blasted
government for not cooperating with the political parties
for holding a successful dialogue to pave the way for
holding the stalled ninth parliamentary elections as per
the road map.
Participating in the BBC Sanglap jointly organized by BBC
Bangla Service in collaboration with the BBC World Service
at Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre
yesterday, Commerce and Industry and Commerce Secretary of
AL and Former MP Faruk Khan and BNP Acting Office
Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also blasted the government
for imposing the political parties to carry out the reform
activities.
Former adviser of the caretaker government ASM Shajahan
and Supreme Court Lawyer Sarah Hossain were the other two
panelists.
Farukh Khan said, "In the last 15 months tenure, this
government did not create a congenial atmosphere for
continuing the reforms of the political parties, rather
the government along with the EC is impeding the political
parties to carry out the reforms of the political parties.
Any reforms cannot be done under emergency."
Rizvi Ahmed said, "The government has no right to impose
on political parties to carry out its reforms. It is the
internal matter of the political parties. It is an ongoing
process. Our party cannot be run as per the dictation of
any bureaucrats."
Replying to a query regarding CNG price hike, Rizvi said,
"The government has no constitutional rights to formulate
any policy. The main duty of the CG is to hold a free,
fair and credible election to handover the power to an
elected government. The current CNG price hike would hit
the poor people as due to its impact, the price of daily
commodities would further go up. So it was a wrong
decision to double the CNG price at a time."
Differing with the BNP leader, Faruk Khan said,
"Considering the present situation, the government doubled
the CNG price, but it would be better to hike the CNG
price phase by Phase."
Barrister Sarah Hossain said the CNG price hike would
increase the sufferings of the low and middle income
groups to a large extent.
Asked by a audience about a ordinance passed by the
government banning the convicted war criminals from
participating the polls, Faruk Khan said, " Not only in
the local government elections, war criminals should be
banned from participating in all types of polls including
the parliamentary one."
He also said a free and fair election is not possible
without bringing the war criminals to justice. About the
power shortage, All the panelists urged the government to
take some specific plans to generate power for ensuring
the country's smooth development.
CNG-run
auto-rickshaw, taxi cab charge re-fixed
UNB, Dhaka
The government on Saturday re-fixed the fare of CNG-run
auto-rickshaws, AC taxi cab and economy tax cab in the
wake of raising price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
Re-fixed fare for CNG-run public transports follows:
Fare for first 2-km or lowest charge of auto-rickshaws is
Tk 18 while subsequent each km charge is Tk 6. Per minute
waiting charge of auto-rickshaw is Tk one.
Fare for first 2-kms of AC taxi cab or lowest charge is Tk
40 and subsequent per km charge is Tk 10. Fare for first
2-km or lowest charge of economy taxi cab is Tk 30 and
subsequent per km charge is Tk 8.
The re-fixed fare of the CNG-run public transports will
come into effect from Saturday night, a government handout
said
The re-fixation of charges of CNG-run vehicles was made as
the government doubled the price of CNG to Tk 16.75 per
cubic metre from Tk 8.50 per cubic metre from Friday.
The decision was taken at a meeting held at the
Communications Ministry chaired by Communications
Secretary Dr Mohammad Mahbubr Rahman. The fare of taxi cab
was last fixed in 1998 while the fare of CNG-run auto
rickshaw was re-fixed in 2007.
Back Page
Int’l donor
projects against national interests
Staff Correspondent
The economists called for
transparency in the donor agency-funded projects in the
greater interest of the nation.
They made the demand at the national consultation titled
"A Reality Check on the ADB's Operations in Bangladesh:
Impacts of Policies and Projects on People's Life and
National Economy" organized by 'Voice', an NGO, at the
National Press Club on Saturday.
The country should not indiscriminately accept the
prescriptions of the World Bank (WB), International
Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO) and
Asian Development Bank (ADB) as these international
agencies are working together with one another in order to
create a propitious atmosphere throughout the world so
that the powerful states and their multi-national
companies can achieve their goals without any obstruction
anywhere.
The ADB has been working in Bangladesh in the name of
implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to
alleviate poverty. But the agency is continuously
interfering into the country's policy formulation
activities in the interest of some powerful states and
multi-national organizations though it has no jurisdiction
to do this, they observed.
The international lending agency frequently putting
pressure on Bangladesh to denationalize the service
sectors, ensure rule of law and build up an
import-dependent economy to ensure free access of the
multi-national companies to the local markets, they said.
Criticizing the ADB's move to compel the government to
privatize the Bangladesh Railway, they said, the agency
along with the WB, IMF and WTO made the then BNP-Jamaat
government to denationalize the Adamjee Jute Mills to
destroy the country huge potential jute industry in a bid
to help flourish the jute sector of other countries.
Now this agency is trying to brand the country's railway
sector as a corruption-gripped and loss-making sector in
many ways in a bid to pave the way for denationalizing the
environment-friendly public transportation so that the
multi-national companies can invest in this industry, they
said calling upon the government to take immediate steps
to develop the country's railways and water ways, to stop
environment pollution and save huge foreign currency.
But the international agencies prefer the road
transportation development in Bangladesh though the road
transport system consumes huge hard-earned foreign
exchanges and vast areas of cultivable lands of the
country, they said.
Opening
up of import unlikely to bring down MS rod prices
UNB, Dhaka
The government move to cool down the overheated the market
of MS rods and other steel products through allowing their
frequent imports are unlikely to be successful due to
counter-measures taken by neighboring countries.
According to industry insiders, India has already imposed
ban on export of MS rods and withdrawn all import duties
to facilitate the import of steel products to cool down
its domestic market. Local steel millers said after the
Indian government's such move, it will be very difficult
for Bangladeshi traders to import MS rods or other steel
products at cheaper rates than local products.
The country's steel products' market has been volatile for
the last few months, as the prices continued to go up
abnormally.
The prices of MS rods have doubled in the last six months
on the domestic market for various reasons. The 40-grade
MS rod is now selling at between Tk 65,000 and 66,800 per
ton against Tk 40,000 six months ago, while the 60-grade
MS rod is now selling at Tk 72,000 per ton against its
previous rate of Tk 52,000. In the wake of the steep rise
in the prices of steel products, the major elements of
construction works, the government has taken a move to
regulate the market. As part of the government efforts,
the Army-led Joint Forces launched drives at different
steel mills and ship-scrap breaking depots, and finally
fixed the prices of MS rods. But the government steps did
not work.
Later, the Commerce Ministry convened a meeting of the
stakeholders to discuss the issue and formed a
high-powered committee to find out the reasons why the
prices of steel products kept rising.
The committee is still working and kept holding meetings
with different stakeholders, including ship-scarp
breakers, scarp importers and steel and re-rolling
millers. The Commerce Ministry meeting also took a
decision to consider the opening up of import of MS rods
through slashing down the existing high import duty.
But the market players are in doubt about the success of
the move, as India has already imposed ban on export of MS
rods. Even the Indian government has withdrawn all import
duties to facilitate the import of steel products to cool
down its own market.
The local steel millers said after the Indian government's
such move, it will be very difficult for Bangladeshi
traders to import MS rods or other steel products at
cheaper rates than local products. They said the prices of
steel products have gone up due to the booming economies
of the BRIC countries like Brazil, Russia, India and
China.
They said Bangladeshi producers can always provide
competitive rates because of cheaper gas and labour in the
country. "But Indian producers don't have these
advantages," said Abul Quasem Majumder, Vice President of
Steel Mill Owners' Association.
General Secretary of Re-Rolling Mills' Association Sheikh
Masadul Alam Masud echoed the same view and said the
prices of raw materials particularly that of the melting
crap, has doubled in the last six months on the
international market which led to the price hike back
home.
He said now they have to import melting crap at US$ 650
per ton, which was just below US$ 350 barely six months
back.
Similarly, he said, short supply of ship-scrap, which is
also used to produce MS rods, is another major reason
behind the recent price hike.
He said only a limited number of traders are allowed to
import ship-scrap and they have had a monopoly on the
market. "This sort of monopoly should go and ship-scrap
import should be opened up for steel millers too," he said
adding that this could effectively cool down the market.
He also demanded steps like withdrawal of import duty as
the Indian government has taken to cool its domestic
market.
Water shortage adds to misery amid heat, power failure
Bdnews24, Dhaka
Ongoing water shortages in the capital are causing misery
for thousands as WASA struggles to meet increased seasonal
demand in the face of irregular power supplies.
Residents from widespread areas of Dhaka have been facing
enormous difficulties in maintaining their regular
routines.
Kazi Azimul Haque, a resident of Badda, said things had
got so bad that his family was forced to recycle bath
water.
"When we manage to collect a little water we pour it into
a big bowl which we stand in to bathe. We use a mug to
pour the water over ourselves, so that none is wasted.
"After finishing our bath we wash our clothes in the same
water, finally using the water to pour down the toilet."
Haque said WASA had not provided any water to his area for
the last 15 days, adding that the family's entire daily
routine had been affected.
"Our sleep, our eating and many other activities have
become disrupted. Sometimes collecting water from
far-flung places means we miss work."
According to WASA, summer demand for water in Dhaka stands
at 200 crore litres every day, although supply falls 20
crore litres short of the target.
Midday Saturday bdnews24.com visited the tubewell located
by the Gulshan-Badda link road and talked to some of the
people gathered there. Nasima Haque, a Dhaka housewife,
said she had to brave the midday heat to collect water
despite suffering from high blood pressure. "I suffer from
high blood pressure, but I still have to walk half a
kilometre to collect water from here," said Nasima.
"If I don't do this I cant cook, wash up or clean myself,"
she added. WASA managing director Raihanul Abedin told
bdnews24.com that the primary cause of the water crises
was a power shortfall.
"There is at least three to four hours load-shedding a
day, in addition to periods when the voltage level does
not allow us to operate our pumps," said Abedin. "If their
was no power crisis there would be no water crisis," he
added.
There are 482 WASA deep tubewells in Dhaka city and 274
generators dedicated to running the pumps, according to
WASA.
Crime
Man
gets life for killing stepdaughter
UNB, Sirajganj
A court here on Thursday convicted a man and
sentenced him to life term imprisonment for killing his
stepdaughter in 2007.
The court also fined the convict Abdul Hannan of
Hatshira village in Kazipur upazila Tk 10,000, in
default, to suffer 2 years more RI.
According to the prosecution, the convict on February
12, 2007 strangulated to death Rani Khatun, 4, daughter
of his second wife's earlier marriage to another person.
Later, a murder case was filed with the police.
After examining the records and witnesses, District and
Sessions
Judge Biplob Goshwami pronounced the verdict in the
crowded courtroom.
4 killed in separate incidents
UNB, Sylhet
Four people were killed in separate incidents in the
district, police said. Of them, police recovered the
slaughtered body of a schoolgirl from Tukerbazar area in
Sadar upazila on Thursday, three days after her missing.
Police said Bushra Begum, 9, daughter of Rahim Uddin of
Najirergaon village, went missing on Apr 20.
Later, local people found Bushra's body inside a
boundary wall and on information police recovered the
body at about 8pm and sent it to hospital morgue for
autopsy.
Victim's family alleged that their rivals killed Bushra
after abduction. In another incident, police recovered
the body of a missing boat passenger from Surma river in
Sadar upazila at about 10:30pm on Thursday.
Witnesses said only Nizam, 36, son of Sunahar Ali of
Lamakazi
village, went missing when a boat carrying 80 people
sank in the river on Wednesday.
The victim was returning home after watching a football
match at Lalkha playground. Besides, the body of a
worker was recovered from a water-body at Ghunghadia
village in Bianibazar upazila on Thursday morning after
two days of his missing.
The deceased was identified as Sagir Ahmed, 30, son of
Aftab Hossain of Noyagaon village in Kanaighat upazila.
Family sources said Sagir went to work as labourer at
the house of Kutubuddin of nearby Ghunghadia village on
Monday. Later, he went missing on Tuesday.
The maidservant of Kutub's house found Sagir's body in
the water body. Later, on information police recovered
the body and sent it to hospital morgue for autopsy.
In yet another incident, a day-labourer was killed in
wall collapse while demolishing the old tin-shed house
of Azizur Rahman in Chalibandar area of the city
Thursday noon.
The deceased was identified as Khurshid Mia, 50. He
hailed from Bajitpur upazila of Kishoreganj district.
3 students stabbed
UNB, Jhenidah
Three students, including two SSC examinees, were
stabbed by local terrorists following a previous enmity
at BD Hall crossing in the town on Friday evening.
Police said a gang of youths stabbed Abhra, 16, Shobhon,
17, and Sohan, 16, when they were gossiping beside the
road at about 6.30pm.
The injured were admitted to Sadar Hospital from where
Sohan was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Of them, Abhra and Shobhon are examinees of this year's
SSC exam while Sohan is a student of class-X.
Abhra, Shobhon, and Sohan came under the attack as they
recently rebuked the wayward youths when they were
taking drug and teasing girls near stadium area, police
said.
3 held, phensidyl recovered
BSS, Gaibandha
The DB police in a raid nabbed three persons and
recovered 82 bottles of phensidyl and ganja from their
possession in the town on Friday.
Being tipped off, a team of DB police recovered 82
bottles of Indian phensidyl worth about Taka 42,000
searching a bag of two rickshaw passengers at a check
post at Pulbandi area yesterday morning.
Police held them on charge of carrying the phensidyl.
The arrested were Shafiqul Islam, 32, of Lalbagh of
Dhaka and Matiul Islam, 22, of south Samash Sarkerpara
under Sundarganj upazila of the district.
Besides, the DB police also recovered two kgs of ganja
worth about Taka 10,000 from a man in the town.
He was identified as Mojaffar of char Fulbari under
Roumari upazila of Kurigram district.
Two cases were filed with Sadar thana in this
connection.
BSS from Satkhira adds: Members of Rapid Action
Battalion (RAB) recovered 300 bottles of phensidyl at
Kuthirpul area under Kalaroa upazila of the district on
Wednesday.
RAB sources said, getting on secret information a
special team raided the area and recovered the phensidyl.
A case was filed with Kalaroa police station in this
connection.
36 arrested
BSS, Gaibandha
Police arrested 36 people, including alleged criminals,
on different charges from various places of seven
upazilas in the district on Wednesday.
Of them, Sadar thana police picked up 7 persons,
Sundarganj thana 4, Sadullapur thana 5, Palashbari thana
9, Gobindaganj thana 4, Shaghata thana 4 and Fulchhari
1.
Police said the arrested people included listed
terrorists, drag smugglers, gamblers, extortionists and
other elements.
Besides, RAB arrested a man - Iltutmis-- from a courier
service shop at Sadullapur upazila town on Tuesday noon
and recovered some fake 7 notes denomination of Taka 500
and 53 notes of Taka 100 from their possession.
The arrested were sent to jail after producing them
before different courts of the district.
27 including alleged criminals held
BSS, Rangpur
Police arrested a total of 27 persons from various
places of the district during the last 24 hours ending
this morning.
Police sources said the arrested persons include
absconding convicts, warrantees and accused persons,
listed terrorists, smugglers, drug peddlers, thieves,
extortionists and other anti-social elements.
Police also recovered huge quantities of stolen goods,
phensidyl, ganja, fermented wine, other narcotic
substances and illegal goods during the drives.
Police arrested absconding convicts Johurul Haque, 32,
Abul Quasem, 28, Khokan Mian, 36, and Arif, 26, and drug
trafficker Ashikur Rahman, 28, with five bottles
phensidyl.
The police recovered 700 grams of ganja from various
places.
Of the arrested, Kotwali police nabbed five persons,
Badarganj one, Gangachara two, Mithapukur four, Pirganj
three, Pirgacha five, Kawnia three and DB police
arrested four persons during the period.
The arrested persons were sent to jail hajat when police
produced them before different Rangpur courts today, the
sources said.
Expired medicine seized
UNB, Jhenaidah
Rapid Action Battalion seized some date-expired and
sub-standard medicines, worth Tk 3 lakh, from a bus near
BISCIC industrial area in Sadar Upazila on Friday.
The RAB men searched a Dhaka-bound coach at their check
post on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway and seized the drugs.
They also held one Abdul Bari for possessing the drug.
The elite force also held two youths, Uzzal and Raju,
and recovered 300 bottles of phensidyl syrup from their
possessions.
Separate cases were filed with the police.
47 arrested
BSS, Rajshahi
Police, in anticrime drives, arrested 47 people on
various charges from different areas in the city and
nine upazilas of the district in last 24 hours till
yesterday evening.
Of them, 22 were picked up from different areas in the
metropolis, while 25 others from nine upazilas of the
district.
Police also seized 46 kilograms of copper and brass
scrap materials, which were supposed to be smuggled out
to India, during a sudden raid on a Chapainawabganj-bound
BRTC bus in Kazihat area under Rajpara Police Station in
the city. However,
none could be arrested in this connection.
Traffic police lodged 29 cases under the motor vehicles
ordinance and seized a motorbike and a truck during the
drives against non- registered motor vehicles and other
document-related malpractice in different parts of the
city during the time.
Editorial
Increasing Uncertainty about Polls
The
pre-dialogue Government-political parties' talks have stopped
short of the BNP, not that these talks were successful in
laying the groundwork for the proposed formal round of
dialogues. Soon after the first round of discussions were over
the AL announced that it would not hold any dialogue with the
Government unless Sheikh Hasina was sitting at the table, a
free person; the mainstream BNP followed suit with a similar
demand that a free Khaleda Zia was indispensable for any
dialogues with the government. Within a few days these two
main political parties went further and said that they would
not go for national elections with their two respective
leaders behind bars and that stayed put to any hopes for a
credible elections in the near future.
The political polarizations are now pretty clear. On the one
side the Emergency Government, the Army and the DGFI are
attempting to forge a "Grand Coalition" of alternative
political forces consisting of JP led by H.M. Ershad, the
Bikolpo Dhara led by Badruddoza Chowdhury, the PDP led by
Qureishi, the Kollyan Party led by Maj Gen (retd) Ibrahim and
the BNP faction led by Saifur-Hafiz with H.M. Ershad heading
this coalition. In order to provide some grass-root level
support and legitimacy to this disparate and probably
desperate conglomeration of individuals, the Emergency
Government is set on holding local-government elections before
the national polls, so that choice personnel can be placed at
the Thana and District levels who would then be able to
influence the national elections in favor of candidates from
the "Grand Coalition". As to how such a coalition will gain
more than a dozen seats in a Parliament of 300, is anybody's
guess but the powers that be are going ahead with it.
On the other side are the two main mass political parties of
AL and BNP who are determined not to go for any elections
without first seeing their respective leaders out of jails
facing a battery of charges and allegations of corruption. The
Emergency Government, the Army and the DGFI are determined, so
far at least, in not allowing Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia to
walk out free, on any excuse, to do politics or anything else.
Obviously, the Emergency Government is stuck in its own
closed-loop logic that if it allows the "corrupted" to escape
retribution and take control of politics again, it would be
denying the justification for its own existence. Moreover,
individuals who were key in bringing about the Emergency and
controlling it, have just begun to realize that in the
vengeful and violent politics of Bangladesh, they might well
be subjected to reprisals from those who ran afoul of the EPRs
and are now in jails. Therefore, many decisions will now
emanate which defy conventional logic but which cater to
personal predilections and need for personal physical
security.
The third factor in all these is the loose-gun of the Jamaat,
whose organization and key personnel have remained largely
untouched by the Emergency and who see the suppression of
secular politics as an opportunity to come to the main-stage
of national politics and perhaps even to the center of
political power - this is what the Jamaat has been working on
for the last 3 decades. The Emergency Government, the Army and
the DGFI might well consider the Jamaat a worthwhile partner
in sidelining the AL and BNP and in ending the monopoly of
political power of these two.
All in all, chances of a free, fair, credible election and
peaceful transition to a democratic dispensation are receding
fast. The Emergency Government egged on by the Army and DGFI
is intransigent in its position and so are the AL and BNP. Add
to that the massive economic and social dislocations caused by
inflation and rising prices of food commodities and one can
predict a conflict of proportions which might well tear apart
the Nation.
Corruption in Education Sector
Dealing with a
vital national issue Regulatory Reform Commission Chairman
Akbar Ali Khan has said that corruption in the education
sector fuels corruption in other sectors. Speaking as the
chief guest at a roundtable in the city he called for
introducing 'rating system' for evaluating performances of all
public and private universities in the country so that people
can know the quality of each of these educational
institutions. He sounded a note of caution that Bangladesh
would face a disaster if immediate steps are not taken to
eradicate corruption from the education sector.
There is no scope for disagreeing with him, because in our
country the quality of education is poor as corruption and
irregularities are rampant in this sector. Education is
considered as the backbone of a nation but unfortunately, in
our country the education sector largely works as the centre
of practicising and spreading corruption blocking the
progressive growth of the society. The education sector has
become a commercial proposition and most of the educational
institutions are carrying on silent trading instead of
imparting education. The quality of education in the country
is deteriorating day by day due to rampant corruption,
mismanagement and irregularities in education sector and brisk
business in the name of education by a section of teachers,
authorities of a section of private universities and some
coaching centre owners.
Only quality education can make a boy or a girl really
educated and a worthy citizen capable of making substantial
contribution to the progress of the country. And to ensure
quality education, corruption and irregularities must be
eliminated from the education sector. To this end, rating
system, as proposed by Dr, Akbar Ali Khan, should be
introduced in all private and public universities and urgent
measures must be taken to free the education sector from
corruption.
Analysis
Plucking Rural Savings to Safety
Poor people in the rural areas are not as
fortunate as rich people in the urban areas who buy government
bonds like 'savings certificates' at rates higher than the
inflation rate.
Maswood Alam Khan
Too
many bankers in Bangladesh have been chasing too few
prospective savers to build up their deposit portfolios, the
lifeblood of a bank for investment. Prime banks which used to
bask in their surplus liquidity of cash have of late started
feeling the crunch as they are finding it strenuous to
maintain their statutory requirement of minimum deposits for
smooth functioning of their banking business. Promoters of
banks have already been fielded for aggressive deposit hunting
with their innovative products to motivate depositors to save
their disposable income with them, but not with much success.
Small depositors are cashing their savings to meet rising
prices of their daily necessities. Clients who developed a
smooth saving habit by setting aside a small amount of their
disposable income every month to build their pension funds
through a variety of pension plans of different banks are
either going for premature encashment of those schemes or are
loath to start afresh the same scheme on maturity of the
previous ones. On the other hand, people belonging to big and
medium income groups are finding investments in stock market
or in real estate more lucrative than in any deposit product
of a bank---in an attempt to hide their black cash from the
glare of tax and anticorruption authorities.
As inflation exceeds interest rates offered by our banks,
genuine holders of cash, especially wage earners with their
savings made out of their hard labour abroad, opt for buying
lands, shops or apartments with a view to protecting their
savings from being eroded by inflationary pressures.
But, a majority of intending buyers of real estate properties
in Bangladesh, land themselves in the traps of unscrupulous
estate dealers in the absence of any strict punishment against
manipulators and cheats who foist defective titles of real
estate upon naive buyers.
With an expectation of making quick money a number of people
belonging to small and medium income groups having no
expertise or experience on technical and fundamental analyses
on stock picking are of late blindly following in the
footsteps of their peers or a frequenter to the corridors of
stock markets to play with equities---landing themselves into
another booby trap if they don't know how to distribute
investment risks by not putting all their nest eggs in one
basket.
In short, people in general are distancing themselves from
banks for their investments if their disposable income or cash
savings exceeds a limit that is too glaring. They also
apprehend the bankers no more can guarantee maintaining strict
confidentiality of their transactions the banks once in the
distant past had a reputation to uphold, especially after
strict enforcement of Money Laundering Act.
'Saving' differs from 'savings'. 'Saving' connotes to an
increase in one's assets, an increase in net worth, whereas
'savings' refers to single part of one's assets, usually cash
deposits in his/her savings account with a bank. Saving refers
to an activity occurring over time, a flow variable, whereas
savings refers to something that exists at any one time, a
stock variable.
Saving is closely related to investment. By not using income
to buy consumer goods and services, if the resources are
instead invested as fixed capital to buy, for instance,
machinery, the saving thus derived contributes directly to
economic growth.
Savings with a bank is also not always a good sign for a
vibrant economy, especially when savings far exceeds
investments for a long time---foreboding a general glut and
recession. So, to discourage long term savings, interest rates
are adjusted with an abnormal rise in savings to divert idle
money out to stimulate investment in the market.
But, when depositors withdraw their savings from banks en
masse to stash the same under a mattress or to deploy the fund
in fixed and silent assets like land and apartments which are
not directly so much related to day-to-day business cycles
banks get dried up of their lifeblood---an ominous signature
of stagflation. Savings taken out from banks and kept hidden
elsewhere may mean no decrease in total savings, but may
result in a decrease in investment through banks in economic
activities causing a shortfall of demand rather than to
economic growth---a situation often termed as the 'paradox of
thrift'.
Given the poor health of most of the companies enlisted with
our stock markets the windfall gains and profits from the
shares changing hands are ephemeral in nature that may at one
stage hit a holder of a share with a real hard time at the end
of the day. Although experts report success in determining
future gains from a share through 'Technical Analysis' and
'Fundamental Analysis' of the companies concerned many
economists suggest that because of 'efficient market theory'
it is also unlikely that any amount of analysis can help an
investor make any gains above the stock market itself. In a
normal distribution of investors it is always ironically the
richest, the outliers, who in a game of chance have always
flipped the heads and the poorest the tails.
The poor people, especially the farmers who are permanently
living in rural areas, set aside and preserve in their
indigenous warehouses a part of their harvests for future use,
for personal consumption as well as for sale to meet their
future cash requirements. They are not really interested in
holding money in a bank's savings accounts for future needs as
interest rates offered by banks are not commensurate with the
gain they expect from future sale of their hoarded harvests,
though they incur a substantial amount of loss from pilferage
and wastage of their hoards due to unscientific way of
preservation and thievery.
They however save their disposable income with some NGOs who
offer them much higher rates of interests compared to
government-owned banks who offer only one percent more
interest than in urban areas. And the NGOs to cover their cost
of fund lend the savings to intending borrowers at abnormally
high rate, thereby making the poor in need of loans utterly
bereft. Moreover, exploiting the gullibility of the rural
people some mushrooming NGOs, as we often find in newspaper
reports, offer the lure of high return on deposits only to
flee away with the poor's money on a future date.
The rural people who toil in the fields to grow crops for our
survival will have to gradually leave their profession of
cultivation if their stay in the villages and engagement in
the fields are not made attractive and financially rewarding
and if the government fails to protect their savings from
losing their value. It is only the government-subsidized banks
that can help a cultivator shield his savings of hoarded crops
if the cultivator finds his sale proceeds not eroding in a
bank---a scenario possible, if the bank offers him insurance
against inflation.
There is already a disturbing symptom visible as we find women
working in the fields as cultivators and also in the
construction sites as haulers of heavy loads they are not at
all physically fit for instead of taking care of their
in-house chores and rural men pulling rickshaws and driving
locally fabricated 'nasiman' vans (a hotchpotch made of
unscientific parts perilously plying on roads and highways)
instead of working in the fields they are bodily fit for.
Such trend of women shunning their time-honored and feminine
roles inside homesteads and men shying away from their
traditional and masculine roles as cultivators does not really
augur well for our future.
Tons of money our government spends to subsidize fertilizer or
power for the poor pass a plethora of intermediaries who take
cuts to line their own pockets and only a minuscule amount of
the subsidy ultimately percolates to the pockets of the rural
poor. Stopping all kinds of present subsidies in cash or kind
if only savings and loans offered by banks for the rural poor
are heavily subsidized by the government---to the extent of
two percent above inflation for savings and two percent below
bank rate for credits---a broad base of national savings with
the banks could thus be developed easing the present crunch of
liquidity and a wider rural population could enjoy all kinds
of banking accommodation.
Such subsidy of savings in the rural areas will encourage our
cultivators to sell their produces immediately after harvest
instead of taking risks of hoarding their food grains in their
homesteads once they would learn that their savings with a
bank will always be guarded by an interest rate above
inflation which means a cultivator will enjoy 12 percent of
interest rate for his savings with a government-owned bank, if
the present rate of interest is 10 percent.
Poor people in the rural areas are not as fortunate as rich
people in the urban areas who buy government bonds like
'savings certificates' at rates higher than the inflation
rate. Because, village people cannot really accumulate enough
money to buy those certificates of high denominations and
there is no scheme floated by the government that may allow a
rural saver to save a small amount of money every month to
earn as high as 12 percent interest like that of a 'savings
certificate'.
Moreover, a cultivator does not also get much opportunity to
buy those 'savings certificates' of high denominations from a
rural outlet of a bank even if he can manage money by selling
their harvests, as bankers serving in rural areas feel loath
to sell those government-issued 'saving certificates' out of
fear that their banks would be deprived of their own deposits
they have garnered once the rural people get the taste of
high-interest bearing government-issued certificates.
Duel interest rates for savings---higher rates for
government-issued savings certificates and lower rates for
bank-issued fixed or savings deposits---have made bankers
dubious about counseling their clients with better ideas on
savings. If the banks were allowed to retain sale proceeds of
'savings certificates' for lending to cultivators---instead of
transferring the proceeds forthwith to the central bank---the
bankers would have been more encouraged to motivate the rural
people to buy those 'savings certificates', thereby also
enriching the deposit bases of the banks. And the banks cannot
afford to offer to the cultivators interest rates for their
own deposit products as high as that of 'savings certificates'
unless the government heavily subsidizes the deposit products
meant for rural poor.
The reason behind huge subsidization in agricultural sectors
in any developed country is not merely for currying favors
with the rural people to win votes. The amount of money
defrayed to cultivators in Japan or in any western country as
subsidies for agricultural produces is more than enough to
import many times the same quantity of the produces from
countries where cost of labour is too low.
Still, peasants in any developed country are guaranteed to
enjoy perpetual agricultural subsidization. One of the reasons
behind agricultural subsidy is to keep the community of
farmers engaged in their cultivating profession so that
people, in case of a war or any natural calamity when
importation of food from abroad may not be possible, don't die
from hunger due to lack of farmers on fields.
Once a farmer gets the taste of working in the comfort of
shades inside a factory or in an air-conditioned office---we
must remember---he won't go back to the fields under the
scorching sun to toil whatever the incentives offered. His
progeny too would be too used to sedentary professions in the
towns to hold ploughs in villages in a future emergency.
So, for our own interest we must keep our farmers happy and
content. Subsidizing their savings in a bank is a novel way to
help the cultivators feel pleased with their disposable income
kept in a rural bank branch the way government-owned banks
offer loans to farmers at a rate of interest lower than their
cost of fund. Of course, the government in that case have to
defray the banks with the cost of funds thus incurred for
subsidizing interests on both savings and loans for rural
people.
(Maswood Alam Khan; General Manager; Bangladesh Krishi
Bank.
E-mail: maswoodalamkhan@gmail.com)
Integrated multimode transport system
of
STP vs. Independent metro rail
STP has
made such a plan where people would be bound to use bus for
some portion & metro for some portion and that's why it is an
integrated transport system. But metro rail is operated as an
independent network all over the world (in most of the
cities).
Engineer
Shafiqul Alam
Various
remedial steps are taken to remove the severe traffic
congestion of Dhaka but all those measures are partial not a
complete thing. In this regard the processing of establishment
of "underground metro rail" was started back in 2002 to divert
the traffic load to the underground. After completion of the
various approvals including Ministry of Communications, PICOM
(private infra-structure committee) etc cabinet had approved
the project last January to go ahead for implementation. In
the meantime probably in 2004 a plan STP (strategic transport
plan) was created by a group.
Previously STP suggested 1100 buses to remove the congestion
here in Dhaka but the result was very negative. Then they made
a plan including: Expressway (for BRT), various link roads and
mass transit.
They suggested expressway (for bus rapid transit) in the first
phase, then some link roads and metro rail in the last phase.
But the Ministry was working with the metro rail. To cope with
this, STP modified their plan & brought metro rail in the
first phase in 2007 in their modified plan.
From 2004, STP has been studying their plan and still now the
study is incomplete but has already spent money of about 14
crore taka. They need another 500 crore taka to complete the
study. But the most interesting point is that they have
already declared the total package would cost 36500 crore
taka, where as they have still not completed the feasibility.
In STP's metro, they have three routes: Mohakhali to jatrabari;
Gabtoli to jatrabari and a ring road from Gulshan 1 to Gulshan
2.The total cost of the project is a fraction more than 21,000
(twenty one thousand) crore taka. They don't have number of
stations, details & prime factor "fare". If numbers of
stations is increased the cost would also be increased
subsequently then how is this cost justified? As the cost is
very high, the fare would be definitely high (in dollar) and a
regular subsidy would be required from the government, which
is absolutely impossible. In their plan, they have expressed
that they would ask the people whether they are poor or not,
that means finding out who needs subsidy & who doesn't, which
would be identified by interview. This is an obsolete method.
STP has made such a plan where people would be bound to use
bus for some portion & metro for some portion and that's why
it is an integrated transport system. But metro rail is
operated as an independent network all over the world (in most
of the cities).
On the other hand the proposed metro rail network of 52 km
including 50 stations & 6 routes of a local firm on BOT, which
the cabinet committee on economic affairs had approved last
January, is a complete one. 80% city dwellers would get a
metro station within 1 Km or less walking distance. Following
the Osaka subway of Japan & existing traffic flow pattern,
people would get a safe, secure, comfortable mode of
transport. The fare is just like the bus fare and hence the
system would run without subsidy from GOB. It would be
affordable to all class.
No need to look all over the world, we can see to the Indians.
In spite of being the manufacturer of buses, they have already
introduced metro rail in Calcutta & Delhi while the new one at
Bangalore is under construction. Even they would go beneath
the Ganga very soon to make the Calcutta network complete.
They have used Cut & Cover method for all the cases & kept
fare less than that of bus. At Calcutta they would use TBM for
the second metro at deep layer. The cost in Calcutta was about
140-150 crore per km in BDT.
Why should we follow the complex combination of STP and their
metro by TBM at deep layer by wasting the opportunity at
shallow depth? If we use TBM, we have to use Cut & Cover
method for the stations, which is very tedious for the first
network. In STP's plan the cost is about 700 crore taka per km
for metro without calculation of IRR, definitely which would
be a negative one. On the other hand by Cut & Cover at shallow
depth the cost would be taka 150-200 crore per km and IRR
would be in the limit of the private infrastructure project.
The population of Dhaka is increasing at an alarming rate and
would be about 25 million by 2015 and to cope with the
situation arising here in Dhaka out of ever growing population
we need metro rail of independent network at shallow depth by
Cut & Cover method for the mass people where all the entry
points would be inter-linked. After that in future we may need
some expressways with proper considerations. Buses would be
used for the communications with the sub-urban areas and hence
the number of buses would not be reduced. In this regard there
is no denying the fact that in future we have to go beneath
the first network to cope for the transportation needs of a
huge population and create a human friendly environment. Then
we may have to use TBM for some portion.
(Engineer Shafiqul Alam is a freelance columnist writing on
mass transportation systems.
E-mail: shafiqul0032@yahoo.com)
Viewpoints
How to Deal with Islamophobia
Moderates on the other side of the divide also
make a reasonable argument that freedom of speech and freedom
of expression is not absolute and should not be used as an
excuse to defame religions or religious symbols.
Dr. Terry Lacey
Last
month, Islamic leaders debated Islamophobia at the 57 nation
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which was held
in Senegal. On the agenda was the Jyllands Poster Cartoons,
published in Denmark and the proposal of Dutch
parliamentarian, Geert Wilders, to make an anti-Muslim film
depicting Islam as a fascist religion. The question arises, is
the reaction of the Muslim world towards perceived provocation
deserved, or should the Muslim world be making a greater
effort to reach out to secular and western societies?
The Danish cartoon controversy strikes at the root of the
problem, namely the dialogue between secular society and the
orthodox Muslim community. The reaction to the Jyllands Posten
affair has played into the hands of members of the Muslim
Community who use religious identity as a political weapon
against the west. But then again, the offense caused by the
cartoons has been defended by groups that are seeking to
create ethnic, racial and religious division, and drive a
wedge of discontent between all Muslims, moderate or
otherwise, and western society.
There is a valid argument made by secularists that being
constrained for fear of blasphemy is an assault on their
freedom of expression and a free press. However, this argument
has been spun and expanded by some sections that people of
faith, even moderates, are politically motivated and want to
take away secular society's civil freedoms, bring in religious
censorship and ultimately, though never implied by these
agitators, impose theocratic rule.
DEFAMATION
Moderates on the other side of the divide also make a
reasonable argument that freedom of speech and freedom of
expression is not absolute and should not be used as an excuse
to defame religions or religious symbols. After all, in a
number of secular and western countries, including Denmark,
flag burning is an offence, and where is the freedom of
expression in that?
The fallout from both extremist stances, as the Egyptian
ambassador to Indonesia pointed out in the Jakarta Post, is an
upsurge in racism, xenophobia and discrimination against
members of religious communities, and this is happening not
just to Muslims.
However, the OIC should certainly be concerned at the rise in
Islamophobia. The Muslim community needs to combat this
phenomenon by embarking on a public relations exercise to
dispel the image that all Muslims are militantly religious.
Growing hostility in both camps reflects the political fall
out 9/11 and the mishandling of the war on terrorism,
particularly by President Bush, but it also reflects more
fundamentally the growing social and cultural fall out of
globalization and migrations. This has provoked a
strengthening of right wing political parties in the EU and a
hardening of the neo-conservative stance in the US. However,
this phenomenon as been matched by rising solidarity between
EU liberals and leftists, and Muslim countries and communities
against US foreign policy.
The OIC is not seen as a particularly effective organization
in terms of global outreach, especially towards non-Muslim
countries, and it will be interesting to see how it follows up
the meeting to the growth of Islamapohobia.
DIPLOMACY
A thoughtful and diplomatic approach would be to build a
coalition with other faiths, especially Christianity and
Judaism, its monotheistic cousins. Islam should try to
identify common values and sensitivities about religious
symbol and make it clear that similar attacks on Christian or
Jewish symbols will also to be regarded as offensive. There
should be one rule for all, where Muslim rise to defend
attacks, such as the Indonesian magazine, Tempo's recent
satirical cartoon showing ex-president Suharto as Jesus Christ
at the Last Supper.
The OIC then should reach out to the secular society and
support press freedom and freedom of expression, but ask for
some understanding, tact and reasonable limits to its
exercise. However, to build this coalition, the OIC would need
to be prepared to open dialogue with secular groups and show a
high degree of diplomatic skill. Sadly, I predicted this would
not happen and we would be served the usual fare of rhetoric
and set-piece speeches.
TOLERANCE
The fundamental weakness of the Muslim call for tolerance
and understanding emanates from two sources. First, post 9/11,
in secular, western minds there has risen an association
between Islam, Muslim culture and terrorism. Those trying to
derive a wedge between the Muslims and the west have vastly
exaggerated and simplified the link. The media has lumped
under the definitions of terrorism everything from Al-Qaeda,
to political and tribal militias, to sectarian factions and
local separatist and resistance movements. True, some of these
conflicts occur in Muslim nations, but many of the
"terrorists" have spent more time fighting each other than the
west. It is lazy media and the fact that less than 10 percent
of Muslim felt any sympathy or empathy with Islamist
movements, militancy or terrorism that is grossly under
reported. The fact of the matter is that Muslim countries and
societies can be as progressive and democratic as secular and
western societies as illustrated by recent elections in
Pakistan and Malaysia, along with earlier elections in Turkey
and Indonesia confirming strong trends towards modernization,
and Muslim countries increasingly led by non-sectarian,
secular and multi cultural parties. However, secular media and
western politicians have been burying this in favour of
car-bombings and decapitations. The OIC must try to redress
this balance.
EDUCATION
Second, there is a more fundamental weakness which the OIC
and Muslim community must address. There is an explicit lack
of social and educational progress and modernization in many
Muslim countries, which leads Islam and Muslim culture to be
overtly linked to backwardness and underdevelopment. This
undermines the attempts of the Muslim community to be taken
seriously as a force for modernization and moderation at
global level.
Evidence of this argument was clear to see in Indonesia last
month, as the Southeast Asian nation hosted the seventh "E-9
Ministerial Review Meeting of Education For All" conference.
This meeting emphasized that 70 percent of all of the world
illiteracy can be found in just nine countries; Bangladesh,
Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, China, Brazil and
Mexico. The facts are plain to see. Four of the nine are large
Muslim countries and two of others have large Muslim
populations. The Muslim world remains disproportionately poor
and illiterate, despite the skyscrapers in parts of the GCC.
MODERNISING
It is not ritual conflict and Fatwas over cartoons that will
improve the world climate for Muslims. It will be its
assertion of countervailing power based on growing economic
and political strength, and increasing acceptance that being a
Muslim can mean being a moderate and modernizer at the same
time.
If the OIC wants supports from its own grass roots to help
attract more international respect for Islam and its symbols,
and for Muslim cultures and communities, then it has to
connect better with the economic and social aspirations of the
Muslim street. One way is to make better use of Islamic
finance to develop the Muslim community's social
infrastructure and reduce the gaps between the haves and have
nots. This will help provide the mainstream global Muslim
community with the leadership that has been sadly lacking and
help fill the gaps which are otherwise filled by radical
groups.
(Dr. Terry Lacey is a development economist based in
Jakarta, Indonesia. Dr. Lacey recently reported from the
Organization of the Islamic Conference meeting in Dakar,
Senegal, which discussed how to manage the relationship
between Muslim communities and the west. This article was
first published in the March Edition of International Business
and Finance. )
Escape of People of Burma
Through the Tunnels of Death
Everyday, the people of Burma have been escaping to the
neighboring countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh
in search of safety and food.
Ahmedur
Rahman Farooq
On
April 10, 2008, fifty-four Burmese migrants suffocated to
death in a cold storage container while being smuggled to
Thailand to escape appalling conditions in Burma. The tragic
deaths occurred in Ranong Province on the west coast of
Thailand when they were attempting to enter Thailand illegally
in a group of 121 migrants including fourteen children being
crammed into a sweltering container of 7 feet wide by 7 feet
high and 20 feet long. Among the victims, 36 were women and 17
men, all apparently in their late teens or early 20s, and an
eight-year-old child. Sixty-seven migrants survived the
ordeal. Twenty-one migrants were hospitalized while the rest
were detained by police for questioning.
Television reports showed police and volunteer rescue workers
remove the bodies from the back of the seafood van and images
of the cargo-like container empty except for a few pieces of
clothing. The dead migrants-many wearing little more than
T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops-were seen laid out on the
floor at the storage facility of a local charity. Most of the
bodies were buried in Hindad Graveyard in Ranong, while some
others were taken away by their relatives for the funeral
elsewhere.
Everyday, the people of Burma have been escaping to the
neighboring countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh
in search of safety and food. Fleeing the economic collapse at
home, many people come to Thailand in hope of finding work.
They take menial and dangerous but low-paid jobs in sectors
including construction, textiles and fisheries which are
shunned by Thais. There are about 2 million migrants from
Burma in Thailand. Out of them 141,000 refugees live in the
camps, about 500,000 are registered migrants and up to
1,350,000 are unregistered. In Thailand, the migrant workers,
legal or not, mostly earn about 3,000 baht ($100) a month
which is half the payment required by law for Thais.
However, in an effort to redress the shocks and grievances
over the death of so many people, the Thai police has beefed
up its border checks and started crackdown on the
human-trafficking gang who smuggle the people of Burma to
Thailand, while there is no voice of the Thai government
against the reign of hunger and terror which the military
regime has let loose in Burma and which has been forcing these
distressed people to flee to Thailand. So, the tightening
measures of the Thai Police to stop smuggling is like cutting
the head to remove the head ache - just closing the door for
the groaning people of Burma so that they can not see any
light of hope through the tunnel.
The Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is a staunch
supporter of Burma's military junta. Returning from a state
visit to Burma recently, the Thai Prime Minister said, " We
want electricity. Burma has allowed us to build a dam. We want
to sell goods there. Burma will build a port. Is that not good
for Thailand?" Scolding the Western nations for picking on
Burma's military regime, the Thai Prime Minister said that
Westerners are overly critical of Burma and he has new found
respect for the ruling junta after learning that they meditate
like good Buddhists should and also that the country lives in
peace, turning a blind eye to the series of atrocities that
the military regime has committed even against the revered
monks who are the dharma sons of Buddha. Such observations
made headlines in the world press and seriously shocked the
international peace loving community.
In fact, the unstinted support of the Thai government together
with China, India and Russia has strengthened the repressive
regime of Burma. The Thai government has been acting like a
marionette for the junta defending them at all costs in an
effort to boost ties and forge closer economic and development
cooperation with the regime.
However, the incident of the death of the migrants on their
way to seek a better life in Thailand, has drawn great
attention of the international community to the plight of the
people of Burma who have been continuously trying desperately
to escape the economic collapse at home risking their lives.
There is no denying the fact that the incident is not merely a
tragic accident but it is a consequence of the deepening
crisis of Burma which has stemmed from the multi-dimensional
disarray in the socio-economic and political fabric of Burma.
Since the takeover of Gen Ne Win in 1962, the military regime
has turned the land into a cauldron leading to the
monopolization of the state power and adopting a policy of
"total elimination" toward all non-Burmese ethnic groups and
the country's democratic opposition as a whole.
Resultantly, gross violation of human-rights, conflicts,
persecutions and genocidal operations against the ethnic
communities has forced several millions of people to migrate
within and outside Burma. The estimated number of internally
displaced people in eastern Burma in 2007 is at least 503,000;
the number could, however, be more than a million. Refugee
International estimated that there are 236,500 stateless
individuals and an estimated 200,000 refugees scattered
throughout the region. According to human-rights groups, there
are about 1,350 political prisoners in Burma.
The "four-cuts strategy" of the junta in the ethnic areas -
cutting off food, funds, intelligence and recruits to the
ethnic resistance armies, have caused a havoc to the life and
property of the ethnic communities pushing them to an inferno
through systematic rape, executions, forced labor, forced
relocation and the destruction of villages, crops and food
supplies as weapons to devastate and demoralize targeted
groups.
However, by unilaterally holding a referendum on the
pro-military constitution on May 10, 2008 defying the
international outcries to restore peace and democracy in
Burma, the military regime is going to push the country into
an endless quagmire of socio-economic and political crisis.
Now, in the wake of the failure and frustration of the Gambari
mission, it is important for the international community to
re-evaluate its approach to Burma's ruling generals and also
for the UN to review its Burma policy in order to put an end
to the crisis in Burma which can be a solution to stop the
people of Burma from their continuous escape through the
tunnels of death.
(Ahmedur Rahman Farooq, Chairman, Rohingya Human Rights
Council (RHRC). Address: 2975, Vang i Valdres, Norway.
Contact:+4797413036
Email: rohingyas.rhrc@ yahoo.com, rohingyas.rhrc@ gmail.com)
International Problem
There
are plenty of voices blaming biofuels for the world food
crisis. They all are right, and also are wrong. There is a
link between biofuels and food prices - the move to biofuels
to counter the high price of oil has taken massive amounts of
land out of food production, resulting in higher prices for
both cereals and animal feed. But biofuels are not the root
cause of the price hikes; they and the high price of oil are
simply the straw that broke the camel's back. The real villain
is the phasing out of subsidies in so many parts of the world
at the behest of the IMF and the World Bank. More land has
been taken out of food production as a result than any shift
to biofuels. It has hit poorer countries particularly hard
because they are the ones that have most needed IMF and World
Bank support. Without subsidies, farmers in countries such as
Ghana or Gabon - West Africa has been particularly affected -
could not compete against cheap imports from the big
producers, and gave up. But no one realized a crisis was
brewing because cheap food imports continued to arrive. It is
only now, with prices rocketing, that poorer countries find
they do not have enough local producers to fall back on.
Last week, France announced that it would double its emergency
food aid budget to counter the effects of the food crisis. But
something far more coordinated, far bigger than individual
government responses is needed if millions are not to starve
or political instability sweep over the poorer parts of the
world. Half a century ago, the precursor of the European
Union, the European Economic Community, chose to subsidize
farmers to ensure that Europe never went hungry again. The
policy was a brilliant success. Europe has been a net exporter
of food ever since. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, with the
fixation on free-market forces and the political victory of
capitalism over communism, subsidies became a dirty word, not
just in Europe but worldwide. They were associated with
socialism and state-controlled economies despite virtually all
developed economies operating subsidies of one type or
another. The result was a campaign against them, led by the
IMF and the World Bank. Inevitably the countries that had to
accept this were the poorest, the ones that needed IMF and
World Bank help the most. Europe's success with agricultural
subsidies, which continue despite repeated efforts by European
free- market ideologues and cost-cutting bureaucrats across
the continent to do away with them, should be a lesson to all.
They are the obvious answer to a food crisis that is only
going to get worse. But in today's interconnected global
economy, they cannot be left to individual governments to
operate, particularly given that the countries that most need
them are the ones least able to afford them. What is needed is
an international body to coordinate subsidies. Ironically, it
is an obvious role for the very bodies that have so vigorously
attacked them, the World Bank and the IMF. The food crisis is
an international problem and it requires an international
answer.
Source:
www.arabnews.com
International
Dalai Lama welcomes
Chinese offer for talks
AFP, New Delhi
The Dalai Lama on Friday welcomed China's offer to meet
his envoy for talks after weeks of protests over Tibet and
repeated calls from the exiled spiritual leader for
dialogue with Beijing.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that talks
would take place in the coming days, which the Dalai
Lama's spokesman described as "a step in the right
direction."
"Only face-to-face meetings can lead to a resolution of
the Tibetan issue," spokesman Tenzin Takla said by
telephone from Dharamshala.
"His holiness, since March 10 when the (anti-Chinese)
protests started, had been making all efforts to reach out
to China and the Chinese government and he hopes the
Tibetan issue can be resolved only through dialogue,"
Takla said.
China has come under sustained foreign pressure to hold
talks with the Dalai Lama since rioting erupted in the
Tibetan capital Lhasa. Six previous rounds of talks since
2002 have yielded little or no progress.
Exiled Tibetan leaders say the Chinese crackdown last
month left more than 150 people dead. Beijing insists it
acted with restraint, killing no one, and blames Tibetan
"rioters" for the deaths of 20 people.
Beijing, which will host the Olympics in August, had
previously resisted the foreign pressure to hold talks and
accused the Nobel peace price winner of instigating the
violence-an allegation he denies.
"It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the
Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities
aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting
violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing
Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks," an
unnamed Chinese official told Xinhua.
The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in the northern
Indian hill town of Dharamshala, welcomed the development.
"If (the Xinhua report is) accurate then this is something
we welcome as there is no alternative to dialogue to
resolve the Tibetan issue," spokesman Thubten Samphel told
AFP by telephone.
In a separate statement, Tibet's prime minister-in-exile
Samdhong Rinpoche said the community's leadership had been
in contact with China.
"We have maintained contact with the Chinese authorities,
not only to share our deepest concerns at their repressive
measures to deal with the development in different parts
of Tibet, but more importantly to provide suggestions to
resolve the crisis."
Rinpoche said the Dalai Lama had "sent a personal
communication" to Chinese President Hu Jintao as early as
March 19, offering to send representatives to help calm
the situation.
The 72-year-old Dalai Lama has lived in Dharamshala since
fleeing Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against
Chinese rule. He was due to return there Saturday from a
visit to the United States.
Indian officials greeted China's overture warmly, but an
analyst warned it could be a ploy to deflect international
criticism from the crackdown in Lhasa.
A senior foreign ministry official, asking not to be
named, said it was "a step forward."
Iran's conservatives head for massive poll win
AFP, Tehran
Iranian conservatives were on Saturday heading for a
crushing victory in parliamentary elections over
reformists who were sidelined by mass pre-vote
disqualifications, partial results showed.
Eighty-two seats in the 290 seat parliament were at stake
in the run-off voting on Saturday after the first round on
March 14 left conservatives assured of taking a majority
in the next parliament.
Conservatives were set to take 10 out of the 11 seats in
the capital Tehran, having already swept up all 19 of the
seats that were available in the first round, election
officials said.
Just one reformist, Ali Reza Mahjoub, was set to sit in
the new parliament for Tehran after squeezing into 11th
place in the second round.
|