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Leading News
AL cadres unleash attack on BNP
demo at Jurain
Police refrain from taking action against attackers
UNB, Dhaka
A group of unruly Awami League cadres Thursday afternoon
unleashed an attack on a BNP demonstration at Alam Market
premises in the city's Jurain area, vandalizing the dais
and driving out demonstrators.
At around 4:50 pm, soon after a speech by BNP standing
committee member Dr Khandaker Moshrraf Hossain at the
pre-procession rally, a group of ruling AL activists
numbering about 50 appeared at the venue and swooped on
the rally chanting 'Joy Bangla' slogans and chased the BNP
leaders and workers.
The incident took place in the presence of huge numbers of
police but it was found that the police did not take any
steps to contain the attackers.
It was seen that some of the attackers threw bricks
towards the gathering, but till the filing of this report
at 5 pm, no injuries had been reported. Following the
attack, the demonstrators left the venue. A panic
situation was created during the incident and shops were
shut down while people were running to and fro.
Later, AL activists brought out a procession in the area
chanting slogans in favour of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
As part of the ongoing demonstrations in different parts
of the capital organized by BNP that begun on Wednesday,
demonstrations were held at 10 points in the city today
demanding a resolution to the crisis of electricity, gas
and water.
Addressing that rally in front of Alam Market under
Shyampur thana before it came under attack, BNP front
ranking leader Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said any
government which cannot provide electricity, water and gas
has no right to stay in power.
He said people of the entire country are now aggrieved
following the failures of the government.
Mosharraf criticized and refuted the Prime Minister's
recent statement blaming the last BNP led four-party
alliance government for the present crisis of electricity,
water and gas.
He said the BNP alliance government had added 1500 MW new
electricity to the national grid during the 2001-06
period. And a number of projects were undertaken and the
tender process was also finalized for generation of
another 2500 MW of electricity. But the last
military-backed caretaker government abandoned those
projects.
Addressing another demonstration at Khilgaon crossing, BNP
standing committee member Mirza Abbas said there is no
alternative to waging a movement under the leadership of
Khaleda Zia against the AL government, which has failed in
all sectors.
BNP vice-chairman and city Mayor Sadeq Hossain Khoka,
speaking in front of Motsha Bhaban under Ramna thana said
the ongoing demonstration against the government's
failures to resolve the crisis of utility services is the
prelude to the anti-government movement.
USA
to invest in power, gas sectors: Steinberg
Issues like trial of war criminals have to be decided
through political process
UNB, Dhaka
US Deputy Secretary of State James B Steinberg has heaped
high praise on Bangladesh 's progress in human
development, strengthening democracy and preserving human
rights under the present government.
The praise flowed when the visiting US State Department
official paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina at the Prime Minister's Officer (PMO) on Thursday
morning. Steinberg also assured the Prime Minister of
continuing US support and assistance in Bangladesh's
development sectors, including making investments in the
power and gas sectors.
The Prime Minister and Steinberg, the highest-ranked
member of the Obama administration to visit Bangladesh so
far, stressed the need for closer ties and more concerted
efforts between the two countries in various development
sectors for their mutual benefit.
The Prime Minister during the meeting urged the US
government and entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh's
development sectors, especially electricity and gas saying
that a congenial atmosphere is prevailing in the
investment sector in Bangladesh.
The US official eulogized Sheikh Hasina's leadership in
leading Bangladesh towards achieving food security for the
population, and protecting them from the disastrous
impacts of climate change.
Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg on
Thursday said some questions like trial of war criminals
have to be decided through political process in
Bangladesh.
Steinberg, who arrived here on a two-day visit, told a
crowded press conference that it is important to have
accountability and fairness in any proceeding or process
but how it would be carried out in a specific circumstance
is to be decided by the people of this country.
On political differences between the two major parties, he
said it is important that all political parties work
together and create an environment for open and tolerant
debates on issues for common good.
Steinberg said the general election held in 2008 was an
extremely positive step forward to strengthen democracy in
the country and it is important to recognize the 'give and
take' among the parties and find out a common ground
through healthy debates.
He said the US would continue support to strengthening
democracy and the capacity of the institutions to provide
services to the people and create environment so democracy
here can take a deep root.
Asked if he feels Bangladesh and India need closer
cooperation in countering terrorism, Steinberg who came
here from India said Bangladesh and India have cooperation
in many sectors and obviously, the issue of
counter-terrorism is critical for India.
Nor’wester
kills three, damages dwelling houses in Rangamati
BSS, Rangamati
Three persons were killed and at least 150 others injured
while 1,700 dwelling houses were badly damaged as the
season's second nor'wester swept over Barkal and
Baghaichhari upazila of Rangamati and Dighinala upazila of
Khagrachari districts in the early hours of on Thursday.
The deceased were identified as Suman Chakma, 22, Mohammed
Eshaq Molla, 65 and Doyal Chandra Chakma, 32, police said.
Crops on a vast tract of land, domestic and horticulture
plants and electric poles were also damaged during the
natural disaster that continued for about an hour, said
the Barkal Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammed Saifuddin
Ahmed.
About 700 houses of three villages of Baghaichari upazila
including the camp of the 10th battalion of Ansar at
Marishya, Jahangirtilla Ansar camp, Kachalong High School
were also badly damaged during the seasonal havoc.
The nor'wester caused massive damage at Dighinala upazila
while at least 1,000 dwellings in three villages were
badly damaged during the nor'wester, said Baghaichari
Upazila Chairman Sudarshan Chakma.
The electricity supply remain disrupted since the
nor'wester stroke, he also said adding nearly 50 percent
houses, trees and crops were damaged this time by the
storm.
Earlier, two person were killed by the season's first
nor'wester weeks ago.
HC quashes
Meghnaghat power plant graft case against Hasina
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been cleared of another
graft case filed during the past BNP-Jamaat regime, as the
High Court on Thursday quashed all proceedings against her
in the Meghnaghat Power Plant case.
After hearing the long-pending petition, an HC division
bench comprising Justice M Shamsul Huda and Justice Abu
Bakar Siddiquee delivered the judgment.
Quashing the case proceedings, the High Court said that
there was no element of offence against Hasina in the
case. Hasina was not named in the First Information Report
(FIR), the court order said, adding that she was
implicated in the chargesheet as a means of political
harassment aimed at ruining her public image.
The trial was initiated at a metropolitan special court on
October 17 in 2002. On December 2 of the same year, Hasina,
then the leader of the opposition in Parliament, filed the
petition with the HC for the case to be dropped.
On October 14 in 2002, the investigation officer in the
case submitted a charge sheet accusing Hasina, former
state minister for power and energy Prof Rafiqul Islam,
former state minister Syed Abul Hossain, and manager of
SAKO International KM Islam of corruption in the process
of setting up the Meghnaghat power plant.
Earlier, on December 11 in 2001, Gulam Mostafa, a director
of the now defunct Bureau of Anti-corruption, had filed
the case with Ramna police Station accusing Prof Rafiqul
Islam of misappropriating Tk 17.89 crore during the
process of installing the power plant.
Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapash appeared for Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina, while Khurshid Alam Khan stood for
the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Bhola-3
by-election
52 polling centres risky
UNB, Bhola
Fifty-two polling centres out of 86 in Bhola-3
by-elections set for April 24 are being considered risky,
Returning Officer Nuruzzaman says.
Talking to reporters at the DC office Thursday evening, he
says the Election Commission has identified 37 polling
centers as risky but BNP candidate Hafiz gave a list of 46
risky centers while Awami League candidate Shaon
identified another six. "So, we consider total 52 risky
centers," says Nuruzzaman.
Total number of voters is 2, 36,922 of which more than 50
percent are female voters.
Eighty-six presiding officers have been appointed from
outside Bhola-3 constituency. Nuruzzaman says all steps
have been taken to conduct the voting peacefully.
A five-member striking force will be posted at each
polling center while two EC officials will also be on duty
in every Union Parishad as observers.
Besides, five judicial magistrates will be on patrol for
summary trial on charge of violating election rules.
Alongside police and ansar, 250 RAB members will be
deployed in Lalmohan and Tajumuddin upazilas on the
election day.
JS body for realizing
money due from Khaleda’s Gulshan house
UNB, Dhaka
The parliamentary standing committee on Housing and Public
Works Ministry on Thursday recommended sending letter
demanding the money so far due as principal amount and
interest from the Gulshan house allotted to former Prime
Minister Khaleda Zia.
The standing committee made the recommendation at its 12th
meeting at the Sangsad Bhaban as the process under which
the house was transferred to Khaleda Zia waiving other
fees and installment money was not prescribed under the
law.
The meeting, chaired by the committee president ABM Fazle
Karim Chowdhury, also recommended immediate steps for the
implementation of the decision on amendments to the
Building Construction Rule-2008 to allow construction of
buildings on lands up to three kathas for public interest.
The committee advised to recast, if necessary, the Urban
Development Committee.
It also recommended speedy implementation of the Uttara
Project of RAJUK on building 22,000 flats and 11,264 flats
at Mirpur by the National Housing Authority for the
middle-income people.
Committee members State Minister for Housing and Public
Works Abdul Mannan Khan, Whip Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury, Md.
Abdus Sattar, Asaduz-zaman Khan, Zahirul Haq Bhuiyan Mohon,
Enamul Haque and Safia Khatun attended the meeting.
Back Page
Hectic preparations at Thimphu for
16th SAARC Summit
BSS, Thimphu
The Bhutanese capital of Thimphu witnesses hectic
preparatory works as the kingdom hosts for the first time
the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
summit after skipping thrice its turn to host the event
for want of infrastructural facilities.
The hilly country at the Himalayan foothills hosts the
summit coinciding with the silver jubilee of the of the
SAARC, an event which was signified further with the
careful selection of "climate change" as theme of the high
profile meeting of the South Asian heads of governments.
Officials here said they nearly completed the preparatory
works for the April 28-29 summit. But officials from
member countries started arriving in Thimphu as the SAARC
programming committee of senior officers start from April
24 to be followed by meetings of the standing committee
comprising foreign secretaries and council of ministers
comprising foreign ministers of the eight nations ahead of
the heads of state meet.
"Over 230 foreign journalists have already arrived while
dozens more were expected in Thimphu in next few days
apart from the official delegations from member countries
and nine observer nations," a spokesman of the Bhutan's
Information Ministry told BSS. As policemen are staging
the ceremonial and security rehearsals for the motorcades
of the SAARC heads of governments in decorated Thimphu
streets, the foreign ministry and information ministry
officials were busy in concentrating on other finer works.
A Bhutanese foreign ministry official said heads of the
governments of each of the member countries including
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikih Hasina would be provided
with two luxury villas at the SAARC Village in Thimphu
during their stay but most officials and delegates would
be accommodated in hotels in the city.
With "towards a green and happy South Asia" being the
theme of the summit, the concerns for the climate change
issue were largely reflected in the preparatory works.
Bhutan will host a SAARC Artists Camp on the sidelines of
the summit to highlight the theme while the member
countries are expected to portray various complexities of
the phenomenon to provide an insight to the issue through
artworks.
The SAARC members earlier welcomed Bhutan's proposal to
adopt Climate Change as the theme for its 16th summit.
"South Asia shares a common problem in various ways . . .
whether its melting glaciers in the Himalayas, rising sea
level or losing under groundwater, the effect of climate
change affects all SAARC countries," Bhutanese Foreign
Minister Lyonpo Uggyen earlier said.
Khaleda seeks US
economic cooperation for Bangladesh
UNB, Dhaka
BNP chairperson and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia
Thursday sought US cooperation for the Ban-gladesh
economy, emp-hasizing duty free access for Bangladeshi
products into the American market.
Khaleda made the request when visiting US deputy Secretary
of State James B Steinberg called on her at her Gulshan
office in the evening, according to BNP Vice-Chairman
Sha-mser Mubin Chowdhury, who was at the meeting and
briefed reporters afterwards.
The US official appreciated former Prime Minister Khaleda
Zia's role in improving bilateral relations between Dhaka
and Washington.
He also praised the success of the previous BNP government
led by Khaleda Zia in various sectors including women's
education and empowerment, health and agriculture. The
most senior member of the Obama administration to visit
Bangladesh so far hoped that bilateral relations in
various sectors between the two countries would be further
enhanced in the days ahead.
Steinberg observed that opportunities for development
through regional cooperation in South Asia had been
created by Saarc, which is said to have been BNP founder
Zia ur Rahman's brainchild. BNP chairperson's advisers
Reaz Rahman and Sabihuddin Ahmed were also present at the
meeting.
BNP will stay in
Bhola-3 by-poll unless ‘kicked out’: Delwar
UNB, Dhaka
BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain revealed
the party will not withdraw from the Bhola by-election and
stay in the election unless they are 'given out, kicked
out and shot out.'
He made the remarks at a press briefing at the BNP's
Nayapaltan central office on Thursday, as reporters asked
about the party's stance following BNP candidate Maj (Retd)
Hafizuddin Ahmed's request to defer the by-election by a
week.
Delwar, however, termed Hafiz's demand logical as there
still remained illegal arms in Bhola-3 constituency (Lalmohan-Tojumuddin)
which need to be recovered for a free, fair and peaceful
election. The BNP secretary general again warned that
consequences will 'not be good' if the Election
Com-mission resorted to stage-managing the election.
In this regard, Delwar reminded newsmen that the
consequences might then resemble those following the
Magura by-election in 1994.
He said the circumstances surrounding the Magura
by-election had not come to pass quite like the Bhola-3
election scheduled for Saturday, (he said it was a fair
election) but still the then-opposition Awami League had
boycotted the Parliament and waged their anti-government
movement. Terming the Election Commission as an agent of
the government, he said the EC is busy implementing the
blueprint of the government in Bhola-3 to ensure a win for
the ruling party candidate.
Delwar said people are concerned that ballots papers will
have been filled up and put in ballot boxes already on
polling day.
He said the AL is trying to prove some level of popularity
by snatching the election through terrorism, rigging and
using the administration, as well as creating panic in the
constituency to prevent voters from casting their vote.
Delwar alleged that a group of journalists have formed a
'syndicate' and are making reports in favour of a party
(ruling party). A more serious allegation from him was
that many criminals and activists of the ruling party had
disguised themselves as journalists and become election
observer.
‘Secularism does not
preclude religion’: PM
UNB, Dhaka
The Prime Minister has expressed her and her government's
strong commitment to ensuring religious freedoms and the
dignity of each and every person, asserting her present
government's belief in secularism does not preclude
religion. "Secularism does not mean not believing in
religion," the Prime Minister said, while chairing the
first meeting of the National Council for Women and
Children Development (NCWCD) at the Prime Mini-ster's
Office on Thursday.
She also said everyone in the country is fully free to
practice his or her religion with dignity, adding that her
government will try its best to maintain freedom of
expression and the freedom to practice whatever faith one
chooses. Focusing on the core theme of the meeting, Hasina
directed the Women and Children's Welfare Ministry, as
well as other ministries and departments concerned to form
a committee and chalk out a holistic plan for
rehabilitating all the street children.
She mentioned the last Awami League government (1996-2001)
had taken various steps for the welfare of women and
children, but subsequent governments did not continue the
programmes. Hasina also said the working women of the
country will have to be provided with safe accommodation,
while day-care centers need to be set up in all offices to
facilitate a tension-free working environment for them.
The Prime Minister called strongly for the eradication of
trafficking in women and children, and the use of children
in peddling drugs. The Prime Minister stressed the need
for setting up offices of the Jatiya Mahila Sangstha
(National Women Organization) at every upazila of the
country for the betterment of women around the country, as
it now has branches in 50 upazilas only. Hasina laid
special emphasis on helping the country's disabled women
and children.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Planning Minister AK
Khandaker, Law Minister Barrister Shaifue Ahmed, Home
Minister Sahara Khatun, Information Minister Abul Kalam
Azad, Social Welfare Minister Enamul Haque Mostafa Shaheed,
Health Minister AFM Ruhal Huq, Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister MA Karim, Prime Minister's Office Secretary
Mollah Waheeduz-zaman and Press Secretary to the Prime
Minister Abul Kalam Azad, as well as other secretaries
concerned were present during the meeting.
Suranjit’s
remarks over oath-controversy of two HC judges ‘not
correct’: SCBA President
UNB, Dhaka
Supreme Court Bar Asso-ciation (SCBA) president Khandker
Mahbub Hossain has termed "not correct" the statement by
chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on Law
Ministry that Chief Justice would breach his
constitutional oath if he does not swear in the two
judges. At an impromptu press briefing Thursday, Khandker
Mahbub told the reporters that the lawyer-lawmaker
Suranjit Sengupta would not make such a statement if "he
exchanged views with us and thoroughly reviewed the
controversy over the oath of two controversial judges."
On Wednesday, Suranjit Sengupta MP, also a top ranking
leader of ruling Awami League, said the CJ would breach
his constitutional oath if he does not swear in the two
judges. Referring to article 148, he also said the
constitution does not authorize the CJ to evaluate judges'
appointments.
Refuting Suranjit's remarks, the SCBA president said there
is nothing in the constitution that the CJ would commit a
breach if he does not administer oath to judges after
their appointment. Reiterating his earlier statement,
Khandker Maubub said the Chief Justice had played a
significant role in protecting the image of the highest
judiciary by not administering oath to the two
controversial judges of the High Court.
On April 11, President Zillur Rahman appointed 17
additional judges to the High Court for two years in
consultation with the Supreme Court.
But a day before the oath taking, Chief Justice M Fazlul
Karim declined to administer oath to the two new
appointees - advocates M Ruhul Quddus and M Khasruzzaman -
due to unavoidable circumstances.
Trader, student,
grocer injured by muggers
UNB, Dhaka
Muggers snatched away Tk 4.20 lakh from a trader after
injuring him with gunshots in Dhaka's Shah Ali thana area
on Thursday afternoon.
In another incident on Thursday, a college student
sustained bullet injuries as muggers shot at him while
fleeing a scene in the capital' s West Monipur area.
Police quoting witnesses said the gangsters fired gunshots
and snatched away the money from Abdus Samad when he was
going to his Nobaberbagh residence under Shah Alibagh
thana on a rickshaw after drawing Tk 4.20 lakh from the
Mirpur-1 branch of City Bank. Samad sustained bullet
injuries to his left thigh. He was rushed to Dhaka Medical
College Hospital.
Meanwhile, the college student identified as Walid Ibne
Siddique alias Shawon, 23, a second year student of the
Marketing Department of Tejgaon College, was playing a
cricket match beside Mikewala masjid at West Monipur under
Mirpur police station at noon. He sustained bullet
injuries.
A grocery shop owner was shot and wounded by known
extortionists at Mirpur Benarashi palli in the city on
Wednesday night. The victim was identified as Lal Mia, 26,
son of Siraj Bepary of Vashantek.
Police and hospital sources said a group of extortionists
including Akter, Milon and Kadir fired at Lal Mia at about
10pm for refusing tolls.
Editorial
Spread of illegal
firearms
Spread
of illegal firearms among the terrorists and criminals has
created an alarming situation in the country. A report
published in a national daily on Thursday quoted some human
rights organizations as saying that there are only 25,000
legal firearms in the country while the number of illegal
firearms is almost 400,000. The number of illegal firearms
users in the country is about 600,000. The cadres of different
political parties in the country use most of these illegal
firearms. Besides, 124 criminal gangs use illegal arms. There
are around 60,000 members of different terrorist groups across
the country with around four lakh illegal firearms.
The report further said, as part of their activities, around
40 mafia groups are engaged in criminal activities at 60
different spots in and around the capital, including Demra,
Shyampur, Sutrapur, Motijheel, Lalbagh, Mohammadpur, Mirpur,
Pallabi, Tejgaon, Khilgaon, Sabugbagh and Kamrangirchar areas.
Besides, the country's west and south-west areas have already
become a route for firearms smuggling.
It goes without saying that due to unchecked spread of
firearms among the terrorists and criminals the law and order
situation in the country continued to deteriorate over the
recent days and reached an alarming stage. The deterioration
in the law and order situation is being caused in more than
one way- by violence on the campuses of educational
institutions in the name of student politics and by criminal
activities of the hardened criminals. In most of the incidents
of crimes, however, illegal firearms are being used. And in
the words of the DMP Commissioner, a good number of illegal
small firearms have made their way into the country from
across the border and those are being used in criminal acts.
According to media reports, influx of illegal firearms into
the country from across the borders has been posing a serious
threat to the country's law and order situation since long.
Although the law enforcers are continuing their drives and
recovering illegal arms on a regular basis, the situation is
not improving as huge illegal firearms, specially small
firearms are entering the country everyday. The continued
inflow of smuggled firearms has been frustrating the efforts
to reduce the number of illegal arms in the hands of criminals
through recovery.
The criminals are reportedly engaging floating women and
children in carrying the illegal arms from one place to
another. A recent newspaper report said, three rebel groups of
Myanmar are selling arms to the terrorists of Bangladesh in
the border areas of Cox's Bazar and Bandarban. The report is
alarming as the vast coastline in the Bay and the border
points between Bangladesh and Myanmar have become a sanctuary
for the arms smugglers who are bringing sophisticated firearms
including AK-47, M-16 rifles, long-range pistols, revolvers,
grenades etc to Bangladesh. Huge arms, ammunition and
explosives are coming to the country from across not only
Bangladesh-Myanmar borders but also from India and the
continued inflow of illegal firearms and ammunition has been
contributing largely to the deterioration of the country's law
and order situation. Hundreds of murders are being committed
in the country every year. The latest of such killing was that
of police officer Gautam Sarker in the capital on Tuesday.
And, according to reports, the arms used in most of these
killings are illegal and part of those smuggled from across
the border.
Under these circumstances, the government should immediately
take stringent and effective measures to check smuggling of
firearms into the country from across the border and step up
drives to recover illegal firearms and nab the illegal arms
holders. Besides, steps should also be taken to take into task
the police officials and political godfathers who allegedly
patronize and protect the criminals and terrorists holding
illegal firearms.
Campus violence
and BCL
An
end to the incidents of violence on campuses appears to be a
distant goal as different educational institutions continue to
be restive. In the three weeks of the month of April the
campuses of at least five educational institutions were rocked
by violence involving different student groups specially those
belonging to Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). Four activists
of Bangladesh Chhatra League were injured in a factional clash
at Rajshahi University Engineering and Technology early
Thursday. There has been a longstanding conflict between the
two groups over establishing supremacy on the campus.
Additional police have been deployed on the campus to avoid
any untoward incident.
The academic activities in Chittagong University (CU) remained
suspended for the fifth consecutive day Wednesday following
indefinite strike, enforced on the campus by Bangladesh
Chhatra League (BCL). The presence of the students on the
campus was very thin, as the university shuttle train remained
almost empty and could not ply due to obstruction by the
agitating students. BCL enforced the indefinite strike to
press home its six- point demand, including trial of Asad's
killers and resignation of the Vice-Chancellor and Students'
Adviser of the university.
In the first week of April there were troubles in three
educational institutions. Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL)
activists kept the Vice-Chancellor of Chittagong Veterinary
and Animal Sciences University confined at his residence on
April 3 and 4 having locked up his office demanding his
resignation. In another incident, BCL activists confined the
Principal of Kushtia Govt College to his room as he refused to
give a recommendation letter for an arrested BCL leader.The
Khulna University was closed sine die as violence broke out on
the campus over a trifling matter. These incidents show that
BCL is mainly involved in most of the violent incidents on the
campus. And hence, to put an end to violence on the campus the
ruling party and the government have to bring the unruly BCL
activists under control first.
Analysis
Redefining nationalism
South Asia is the only region in the world
shaped by all the great religions. This is not for the first
time that South Asia is trying to re-emerge from a period of
decline. It has done it before, time and again.
Dr Mubashir Hasan
South Asia is a
very special region. Mighty empires have risen and fallen on
its soil. It has seen eras of great prosperity and poverty and
epochs of profound knowledge and ignorance. Over thousands of
years, the peoples of this land have been assimilating
knowledge and technology from outside, always choosing their
own particular way of learning. The accumulated experience has
helped it to discern what to accept and what not to accept
from other civilisations.
South Asia is the only region in the world shaped by all the
great religions. This is not for the first time that South
Asia is trying to re-emerge from a period of decline. It has
done it before, time and again.
Sixty years after independence, it is obvious that the peoples
of South Asia have not collaborated with the efforts made for
their "progress and development" by the proponents of the
modern Western civilisation.
The difficulties in discerning a new vision for South Asia are
most challenging. Our way of looking at ourselves is deeply
infested with the ethos of the Western civilisation, a
non-South-Asian entity. We tend to view South Asia through
Western eyes, in terms of concepts associated with the
civilisation of the modern industrialised West. For example,
"peace among nations" in the contemporary sense of the phrase
would mean "peace among the nations which are armed and
positioned to go to war" with each other.
The concept of "shanti among nations" sounds anachronistic.
What it ought to mean today is the articulation of a new
vision. Similarly, the words "progress" and "prosperity,"
which have well-defined meanings in the West, present problems
of understanding in the South Asian ethos. Unfortunately, most
of us are hardly equipped to look at South Asia through South
Asian eyes. A Persian couplet says:
Darmian-e-qaar-e-darya takhta bandam karda-ee
Baz mee goi keh daman tar-makun, hoshiar bash
(You have tied me to a plank in the bottom of the river
and then you ask me not to let my clothes get wet.)
The analogy of the Greek legend of the rape of Leda by Zeus,
the god from Mount Olympus who descended upon the bathing
beauty in the form of a swan, is applicable, as analogies can
be, to the rape of South Asia by imperial Britain. Leda's rape
resulted in the birth of Helen who was kidnapped by Paris. A
war followed, Troy was burnt and King Agamemnon killed. The
rape of South Asia over several hundred years resulted in its
political enslavement, economic exploitation, social
disintegration and cultural mutilation resulting in the birth
of imperialised states. The question posed by the great Irish
poet W B Yeats, a nationalist himself
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?
was answered in the affirmative. The great encounter in South
Asia resulted in the birth of new state powers, deeply
scarred, impressed and imbued with the rapists' worldview. As
a result, many Troys were burnt and many Agamemnons lay dead
-- Mujibur Rehman and Ziaur Rehman in Bangladesh; Gandhi,
Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi in India; Liaquat Ali Khan,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Zia-ul-Haq in
Pakistan; Solomon Bandarnaike, Jayawardene, and Premadasa in
Sri Lanka. South Asia developed its own internal imperial
structure.
The newly emerged states of the region adopted the ideology
and politics of nationalism that had evolved in the leading
industrialising, expansionist and imperialist nations. Their
choice of a capitalist, socialist or mixed
capitalist-socialist mode of production had little impact on
their nationalist and political agenda. Although based on
different philosophical approaches, idealist and materialist,
both converged insofar as the aims which were overwhelmingly
materialist in content: Produce more, consume more, and the
rest will take care of itself.
The agenda of nationalism meant inculcation of these
doctrines:
(a) The nation-state constitutes a kind of holy unit. Each
nation was sovereign. It is law unto itself. It can do no
wrong. Its superiority over other nations is a matter of
faith. Each nation has a destiny. Its population is superior
to that living across the border.
(b) An individual conferred with the title of "citizen" owes
his or her highest loyalty to the nation. Any infringement can
be tantamount to treason. He or she must live for the nation,
and be prepared to sacrifice all for the nation.
(c) Each nation has its distinctive culture; indeed, for
larger nations a distinct civilisation superior to all others.
(d) A nation's territory is sacred. It has to be defended at
all costs with all the armed might that the national economy
can scrounge the money for.
(e) The nations lying across the border are considered
potential enemies.
(f) Each nation must covet more territory and extend its
political and economic influence over territories in other
national boundaries.
(g) Each national economy constitutes a separate entity.
Perhaps the most profound negative impact of adopting the
ideology of nationalism is the sanctification of preparing for
and perpetrating violence on a massive scale to achieve
political ends. The new South Asian states adopted the Western
axiom about war considered as "politics by other means."
Massive violence to be inflicted by one nation-state on
another, not only upon other states but also upon its own
people in the name of the nation-state was accepted as a holy
doctrine.
The ideology of nationalism sanctifies violence of several
kinds:
(a) Imperial violence -- violence against other nation-states,
and against nationalistic aspirations within the federation or
union,
(b) Violence that is concomitant with governance,
(c) Violence committed against each other by communities,
ethnic groups and castes.
Nationalism of the imperial kind permits a nation to commit
violence on another nation without any sense of guilt.
Conquest through war legitimises all. Wars there had always
been. But before the era of nationalism, kings with
professional armies fought wars between states. The
professional soldier could fight for a king today and against
him the next day. The people were not party to a war.
In the era of nationalism, wars have become national wars. The
people of one country are supposed to fight those of another.
Violence is inflicted by an entire nation over another. Acts
of violence beget heroes as well as martyrs. To kill in the
name of the nation is sacred. Zbigniew Brzezinski estimated
187 million deaths to have taken place due to wars and strife
between nations in the last century. On a BBC programme last
month, Tony Benn spoke of four million deaths in Africa during
the last four years. The ideology of nationalism has claimed a
horrendous toll, indeed.
The ideology of nationalism does not answer the question of
what constitutes a nation. Masses of people claim to be a
nation on the basis of race, religion, language, ethnicity,
tribal identity or territory. They are willing to use violence
to further their national aspirations. The nationalist
ideology justifies this for them. They may want increased
representation, increased financial allocation, autonomy, or
secession, all in the name of national self-determination.
Violence dominates the scene, weakening the nation-state in
the domestic and international spheres. All the South Asian
states face this problem in one form or the other.
The concept of nationalism must be redefined in such a way
that national loyalties no longer breed parochialism,
arrogance, bigotry, hatred and violence. The citizens' love
for their state, its armed might, honour, destiny, its unique
personality, its superiority over other nations must be
replaced by a patriotism that serves as a vehicle for peace
and humanism.
The writer, a former federal minister of Pakistan, is among
the Indian and Pakistani delegates meeting to discuss 'A
Common Destiny', the first of a series of seminars on
strategic issues organised by Aman ki Asha, Apr 22-23, Lahore.
Email: mh1@ lhr.comsats.net.pk
Human rights:
US goes its own way
To give
Obama his due he has ordered that there will be no torture
during his presidency and the White House doesn't rule out
the possibility of one day signing up to the ICC.
Jonathan Power
One
of the troubles with all the current emphasis on health
care and nuclear weapons in American politics is that
other issues are being given less attention. Human rights,
supposedly one of President Barack Obama's copper-
bottomed commitments, has taken if not a back seat at
least one far from the front. And don't ask the Europeans
to take over the show. In the current general election
campaign in Britain human rights abroad rarely gets a
mention, even though the country is the birthplace of
Amnesty International.
Quite a few European countries got badly compromised by
the Bush administration's policy of rendition - sending a
terrorist suspect off to a country that didn't have
scruples about harsh interrogation techniques. Even today,
when you think they might be hanging their heads in shame
for this outrage, there is not much effort to respond to
Obama's plea to take in released detainees from Guantanamo.
Although US Attorney General Eric Holder has initiated a
"preliminary review" of interrogators who exceeded orders
he has done nothing about prosecuting those whom it is
known used torture or, higher up the pole, wrote briefs
advising the government that it could be justified. We
have overwhelming evidence that torture was used and
ex-Vice President Dick Cheney continues to justify it. So
what are Holder and Obama waiting for if there is no
dispute about the facts? If the Watergate cover-up could
end in prison terms for senior White House appointees why
not for the far more serious crimes of the Bush
administration?
If the US were a ratified member of the International
Criminal Court, given the lack of prosecutions by domestic
courts, it would by now have been investigated and its
suspects prosecuted, just as war criminals from Rwanda,
Serbia and the Congo have been. (Their governments were
brave enough to sign up to the ICC and open themselves to
taking the rap.) But the US has refused to belong and even
if it had signed up, being a member of the UN Security
Council, it could have squashed a prosecution.
America under Obama goes its own way, ignoring its own
laws and treaties it has accepted on human rights. Most
seriously it has ignored its membership of the UN
Convention Against Torture whose ratification President
Ronald Reagan pushed through the Senate and whose
commitments about outlawing torture were as explicit as
any document can be. People forget that at the time there
was a malicious Cold War where prizing secrets out of
enemy agents was a full-time job, but the US did not stoop
so low as to use torture. (However, it did under
presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson order the
CIA to assassinate a handful of foreign potentates
including Fidel Castro.)
To give Obama his due he has ordered that there will be no
torture during his presidency and the White House doesn't
rule out the possibility of one day signing up to the ICC.
It now backs the court up when it decides to issue an
arrest warrant and prosecute. (It should be said that the
Bush administration while publicly so hostile to the court
quietly did the same.)
How long will the name Guantanamo ring in our ears?
Congress has run rings round Obama's one-year deadline and
the overcomplex way it has set about initiating bone fide
prosecutions instead of indefinite detention without
charge or trial. The most obvious way through the thicket
would be to set up a regular civilian-run federal court on
the Guantanamo base. Once Obama made the decision not to
accept statements obtained by coercion and abuse the way
should have been open to this.
Compared with all this, Obama's other human rights
activities seem relatively insignificant, but they remain
important. Serious pressure on China is crucial, even if
sensibly under President Bill Clinton the previous policy
of using sanctions to change policy was dropped.
China is too powerful to be bludgeoned by Washington
whether it be on the use of torture or the exchange rate.
But pressure can be wielded by standing up for the
autonomy of Hong Kong and making sure that companies like
Google don't sell their soul.
The same point can be made about Russia. Publicly
embarrass Russia before the world by all means when it
steps over the line but don't expect a policy of sanctions
or noncooperation would help.
A final point: Obama could push Congress to ratify some UN
treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. The US is one of only two countries that haven't
ratified it.
Jonathan Power is a foreign affairs commentator and
analyst
based in London.
Bhopal film
fuels anger
Shot
largely in India, it portrays the events around the
world's worst industrial accident, in which clouds of
toxic gas escaped from a chemical plant run by a
part-owned subsidiary of American company Union Carbide.
Jason Burke
A
film starring top Hollywood actors that dramatises the
Bhopal gas disaster has been criticised by campaigners and
those caught up in the tragedy for misrepresenting
individuals and the facts. Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is
due for release this autumn with Mischa Barton and Martin
Sheen in leading roles.
Shot largely in India, it portrays the events around the
world's worst industrial accident, in which clouds of
toxic gas escaped from a chemical plant run by a
part-owned subsidiary of American company Union Carbide.
More than 8,000 people, mainly living in slums around the
plant, died immediately when the gas leaked shortly after
midnight on December 3, 1984. At least 25,000 others are
estimated to have died over subsequent years and many more
continue to suffer today.
Ravi Kumar, the writer and director, said the film was "a
dramatisation, inspired by real events.
There are 18- and 19-year-olds across India and across the
world who have never heard of Bhopal. I could have made a
four-hour documentary that no one would have seen."
"This way a whole new generation will learn about what
happened and a whole series of very important and relevant
questions can be discussed," said Kumar, a London-based
paediatrician who has raised more than $5m from Indian
private backers for the project.
Sheen plays Warren Anderson, the chief executive of Union
Carbide, headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut. Barton
plays Eva Gascon, a fictitious reporter from Paris-Match
who learns of the problems at the plant from a local
journalist but decides not to publish a story.
The film ends with an imagined present-day meeting between
Anderson and Gascon in the former's country club in
America. The journalist is racked with remorse. Anderson
is unrepentant. Earlier versions of the script, obtained
by the Guardian and Bhopal campaigners, have angered many.
"There is not a single Bhopali with upright moral
standards in the script. Of course the people of the city
are going to be angry. They are made to look comic,
corrupt or passive victims," said Satinath Sarangi,
managing trustee of the Sambhavna Clinic which helps the
estimated 150,000 suffering health problems due to the
disaster.
The film is also likely to reopen debate over who was
responsible for the disaster.
Union Carbide denies any safety issues at the plant before
the leak.
Viewpoints
Life and death issue of water
We need
India to be large-hearted and generous towards us on many
issues that are of vital concern to us. We cannot
expect this as long as a state of confrontation persists.
Munir Attaullah
My
concern for the past few weeks has been to explain why peace
with India is not a luxury but a necessity for us. Must I
tediously so harp on a theme the overwhelming majority of us
agree with 'in principle'?
I feel I must, for a number of reasons that themselves bear
repetition. Yes, most of us want peace, and vaguely
understand, in a general way, the dividends that may follow in
its wake. But few of us are given to undertaking the detailed
and rigorous cost/benefit analysis of peace and confrontation
that might crystallise our views out of suspension from an
otherwise turbid solution. Doing my little bit (why have none
of our economic scholars written a book on this subject?) may
just tip the scales - or so I hope - in favour of a rational,
rather than our usual emotional, response to this mighty
conundrum we face.
Then there is the mental bunker of the 'it takes two to tango'
mindset, where, in lazy fashion, we are all too ready to take
shelter at the first hint of a little local difficulty. How
often have you heard it said, "It is not us but unjustified
Indian intransigence that is the real obstacle to the 'honourable'
(Ah! there is a loaded word if there ever was one) peace we
seek?"
Now I do not deny there is much substance in that lament. But
why should that surprise us? After all, everyone desires a
settlement on his own terms. And just as our 'terms' are
unacceptable to India, it should not surprise us that their
'terms' are unacceptable to us. Why do we forget that the acts
of countries (us included) are usually based on self-interest
rather than 'justice'?
But what concerns me most is our complete reluctance to follow
this argument through to arrive at some commonsense
conclusions from the consequent impasse. In particular, we
refuse to accept the proven reality that we lack - and cannot
hope to have - the means to force a far more powerful
neighbour to amend its possibly errant and unjust ways.
Instead, we continue to pride ourselves as a protagonist of at
least equal stature, when clearly we are not, and continue to
stubbornly bash our head against a brick wall.
Yes, there is some damage to the wall in the process but, in
the main, it is us we who are grievously hurt. India can
comfortably resist, and afford, confrontation. We cannot,
except at an unbearably high cost.
It certainly takes two to tango. But are we sure we know the
steps of that particular sophisticated dance? Is it realistic
to invite a potential partner to tango when all you know is
how to rock? We need to recognise the onus is firmly on us to
- somehow - break the deadlock.
If ever there was a perfect illustration of all what I have
said above, it is the life and death issue for us of water.
How many of us, vaguely aware though we may be of its
importance, have thought through this matter carefully? How
many of us have actually read the Indus Water Treaty and
considered its implications?
If readers cannot be bothered reading up the treaty (courtesy
the internet), they should - at the very least - read and
digest John Briscoe's absolutely wonderful article on the
subject, published in a national daily on April 3. Here is a
man who knows what he is talking about, being an expert on the
subject. And he makes my case better than I could ever hope to
do. It should be a compulsory reading for all our politicians
and those media personalities keen to talk about our water
problem. (Incidentally, his article is also interesting for
his comments on the relative independence of the media in
India and Pakistan.)
But what I can do here is to stress again some inescapable
realities that we would do well not to ignore. The first is
that the upper riparian states the world over naturally hold
all the cards (think of the habitual complaints of Sindh
against Punjab regarding its share of water). Possession, as
they say, is nine-tenths of the law. Thus, the goodwill of the
upper riparian towards the lower riparian is of immense real
value.
To drive home this reality, consider the second point. India
can easily, staying well within the technical ambit of the
Indus Water Treaty, inflict a great deal of damage upon us
should it choose to do so (and what does this say about that
much trumpeted theory that our threat perceptions should be
'based on capability rather than intentions'?). The recent
shortage in Chenab waters, as a consequence of India filling
the Baglihar Dam, is a painful example of what I mean here.
And here is the third point. We cannot do without the treaty.
We cannot just repudiate and scrap it. And it takes two to
even amend it. Are we, therefore, again going to ask the
international community to pressure India and address our
every concern under the treaty? That would be a futile hope,
quite apart from being an impractical one.
The only real choice we have is to create an environment where
India will go out of its way to respect the spirit of a treaty
rather than always insist on applying the strict letter of the
law. For, the treaty, though perfectly reasonable from our
point of view when signed decades ago, has, in today's then
unforeseen circumstances, significant practical lacunae that
have the potential to do us great harm should India insist on
extracting its full pound of flesh.
To sum up: we need India to be large-hearted and generous
towards us on many issues that are of vital concern to us. We
cannot expect this as long as a state of confrontation
persists. And confrontation is something India can comfortably
live with while we cannot without paying an inordinately high
price. Of course it remains a possibility that what we seek
from peace may still not be forthcoming should India choose to
act in niggardly fashion. But do we have any other option
except to take that risk?
Man does not live by bread alone, I know; and, yes, there are
more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in my
philosophy. Nevertheless, in my naïve and simple-minded way, I
continue to hope that rational commonsense will eventually
prevail, and that those who aspire to lead us will understand
that the welfare of the people is the supreme political
virtue.
The writer is a businessman. A selection of his columns is
now available in book form. Visit munirattaullah.com
Jampacked
nuclear club
The threat of
uncontrolled expansion of the nuclear club is one of the
most serious problems of the 21st century. Unless the
international community shows political will, the process
of proliferation of nuclear-weapon states can become
completely irreversible, with all consequences thereof.
Noursultan Nazarbayev
In
one month, the anniversary of the end of World War II will
be marked. There are millions in the world who took part
in the fighting in the middle of last century. The
difference between history and modernity, though, is that,
as Walter Mondale wittily said, "there would be no
veterans of World War III."
The threat of uncontrolled expansion of the nuclear club
is one of the most serious problems of the 21st century.
Unless the international community shows political will,
the process of proliferation of nuclear-weapon states can
become completely irreversible, with all consequences
thereof.
I believe the situation with nonproliferation is far from
ideal. The Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
is not living up to the hopes pinned on it, as it is
asymmetric and provides sanctions only for
non-nuclear-weapon states. It does not have clear schemes
of reaction from the IAEA and the UN to countries' failure
to allow international inspectors access to nuclear
facilities. Last but not least, the NPT allows its
participants to leave the treaty without consequences. All
these circumstances reduce the effectiveness of the
treaty.
That's why, working to strengthen the NPT and the ensuring
of its universality, Kazakhstan has also put forward an
idea of developing a new universal Treaty on comprehensive
horizontal and vertical non-proliferation of nuclear
weapons. Such a document should guarantee the non-use of
double standards, while at the same time outlining clear
obligations of its parties and mechanisms of sanctions to
its detractors. Moreover, we are convinced in the need of
the soonest adoption of a fissile material cut-off treaty,
which could become an important step toward strengthening
the non-proliferation regime.
For the people of Kazakhstan, who have come to know the
horrors of nuclear tests, the issue of their complete ban
is especially important. During 40 years 450 nuclear tests
were conducted at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site,
causing suffering to 1.5 million people. That is why, on
August 29, 1991, I did not waver to issue a decree
shutting down the Semipalatinsk test site. It is deeply
symbolic that years later the day of August 29, at
Kazakhstan's initiative, was declared the International
Day against Nuclear Tests. We regret that some rather
influential countries still refrain from signing and
ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Such
a situation allows recognised nuclear states to continue
with testing nuclear weapons, and allows threshold states
to pursue their own missile and nuclear programme without
punishment.
In this situation, special responsibility lies on
recognised nuclear weapon states. They should understand a
simple truth, it is impossible to modernise nuclear
weapons while at the same times trying to convince
developing states to renounce WMD development programmes.
A reasonable balance is needed between global efforts in
fighting nuclear terrorism and nuclear programmes, which
are legitimate in the eyes of the international law.
I believe that just sanctions, however effective, will not
be enough. Whole countries and nations should not be
driven into the corner, deprived of their legal rights for
peaceful atom and having their national dignity affected.
In these complex issues, positive stimulant encouragement
are needed. The states should find it more economically
profitable to remain within international legal realm and
develop exclusively peaceful nuclear programs.
Kazakhstan has been and remains a firm proponent of the
principle of equal access of all countries to the peaceful
atom. That is why we understand and support the idea of an
international nuclear fuel bank under IAEA auspices. I
would reiterate with full responsibility that Kazakhstan
is not only ready to host such a bank on its territory,
but to ensure proper storage of nuclear fuel. I can
reassure that Kazakhstan will never cross the line
separating peaceful nuclear programme from a military one.
Kazakhstan pins special hopes on efforts by President
Obama and Medvedev to conclude a new treaty dealing with
reductions in strategic weapons.
At the same time, I believe that successes either already
reached and expected in the area of reduction of strategic
nuclear weapons should not lead to complacency, let alone
to unjustified euphoria.
I believe the time has come to consider the experience of
regional nuclear weapons free zones, in Latin America,
South Pacific, South-East Asia and Africa, and Central
Asia. This may sound improbable but the participants of
nuclear weapons free zones have to wait for years for
their recognition by recognised nuclear states and signing
of appropriate protocols.
The prospects of reaching a nuclear weapon free world
depend, to the great extent, on how the emerging
international order would look like. I am convinced that
true multi-polarity is possible only in democracy, as an
instrument of taking into account the interests of
different sides, will be spread into the realm of
international affairs as well. Only then will small and
medium-sized countries stop viewing nuclear weapons as
their main security guarantee and will 'beat their swords
?into plowshares."
Real progress toward ideals of nuclear weapon free world
depends, primarily, on recognised nuclear weapon states.
It is they who should serve as examples for other
countries on issues of nonproliferation and disarmament,
without the use of double standards. I believe that a
nuclear weapon free world can become a reality only
through joint efforts of all countries and nations,
regardless of the fact whether they have or don't have
nuclear technologies.
Kazakhstan, having voluntarily renounced the world's
fourth largest nuclear arsenal, has been and will continue
to be a reliable partner for the international community
in issues of nonproliferation, disarmament and peaceful
use of atomic energy.
The world today is not an arena of nuclear conflicts. Yet,
the world is an arena of serious contradictions. The
solution to those contradictions is in the hands of a few
decision makers. In the hands of the leaders of states,
each of which carries a share of burden of responsibility
for making sure a destroyed atom does not destroy us all.
Noursultan Nazarbayev is President of the Republic of
Kazakhstan.
Coup in Thailand not on the cards for
now
Blood has been spilled. Armed troops are guarding the
streets of the capital. Protests pushing for new elections
have
spiraled into anarchy, and the government is all at sea.
Martin Petty
Blood
has been spilled. Armed troops are guarding the streets of
the capital. Protests pushing for new elections have
spiraled into anarchy, and the government is all at sea.
The climate is ripe for yet another military intervention
in coup-prone Thailand, except for one thing - the army
actually wants to keep the prime minister in power.
Despite potentially dangerous splits within the military's
ranks, and a bloody but futile attempt to put down a
stubborn and provocative anti-government movement, most
analysts say a putsch is not on the horizon, at least not
yet.
They say the army might be lukewarm about Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva, who came to power in December 2008
after the army brokered a deal in Parliament, but as long
as he stands firm against the red-shirted supporters of
ousted Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a coup will not be
necessary. "If Abhisit started to think about dissolving
Parliament now, then we'll see a coup," said a
Bangkok-based security analyst and expert on Thailand's
military. He asked not to be named.
"There are questions about his leadership, but no signs
he'll give up and, as it stands, the military is still in
control." The bone of contention is an annual reshuffle of
the powerful military due in September, when the royalist
top brass will hand power to proteges groomed to maintain
a status quo that favors Thailand's influential business
and establishment elites.
If a government allied to Thaksin - a wily,
graft-convicted tycoon the generals thought they had
disposed of in a 2006 coup - came to power, it would
almost certainly lead to an overhaul in the military's
chain of command.
An army purged of royalists and loyal to Thaksin would be
a doomsday scenario for a military that believes the
country's revered monarchy is under attack from Thaksin
and the "red shirts" - a claim the protesters vehemently
deny. That threat, insiders say, is why a coup cannot be
dismissed. "They're talking about it and weighing up pros
and cons, probably more cons than pros, but it can't be
ruled out," said a retired four-star general, who
requested anonymity. "But the one thing they think a coup
could achieve is to protect the monarchy," he added.
"International pressure would be a concern, but that would
be on the bottom of their list." In an interview with
Reuters this week, Thaksin said a coup d'etat was
possible, but warned of a backlash by a Thai public
growing tired of military intervention after 18 coups or
attempted power grabs in 77 years of on-off democracy. The
prospect of another junta in power would also upset
investors in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy,
given how maladroit the last army-appointed government
was. Among its economic bungles were capital control
measures that panicked investors and led to a near 15
percent plunge in the stock market.
Clashes last week snapped six weeks of gains in the
market.
Adding to tensions, a challenge to the army comparable to
that of the "red shirts" is now coming from within its own
ranks.
The army leadership fears it has spies in the ranks,
leaking information to "red shirts" in a bid to bring
about a snap election and usher in a return of pro-Thaksin
generals who were demoted when the billionaire was
toppled.
One dangerous scenario being talked about and floated by
some "red shirt" leaders is how political splits that have
emerged in the military might see troops take up arms
independently, side with protesters, and face off with
their fellow soldiers.
Underlining the fissures was the presence of shadowy
black-clad gunmen who appeared among the protesters during
last week's crackdown. They fired on troops, killing five
soldiers, among them the commanding officer and a former
bodyguard of Queen Sirikit, in what is being seen as a
well-planned assassination.
The mysterious assailants, dubbed "terrorists" by the
government, may have been recruited and armed by hawkish
retired generals close to Thaksin, some of whom serve in
the opposition Puea Thai Party he backs from exile,
experts say.
"It's likely these fighters were put together by red
shirts or military people to escalate the situation, cause
bloodshed and force an election," the Bangkok-based
security analyst said.
"There's a split in the military more dangerous than I
have ever seen. There's deep distrust and no secrets can
be kept." Attitudes have hardened after last week's
clashes and another, perhaps bigger, crackdown appears
likely, with neither the army nor the protesters willing
to back down.
Danny Richards, an analyst with the Economist Intelligence
Unit, said an imminent coup was unlikely, but that could
all change with a major intensification of the crisis.
"It's a stalemate and something has to give," he said.
"A coup doesn't seem likely at this stage, but things are
unpredictable now and given Thailand's history of military
intervention, it's impossible to rule it out.
International
‘Malik, Awan
involved in Benazir's assassination’
Dawn Online, Islamabad
Terming Benazir Bhutto's death as murder, the Legal
advisor to Benazir's chief protocol officer has alleged
that the present Interior Minister Rehman Malik and
current Law Minister Babar Awan were involved in Benazir's
assassination.
However, he said that as the case is sub judice before the
Lahore High court Rawalpindi bench for lodging second FIR
in the case, "so we are not going to elaborate on every
aspect of this case."
Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Asad Rajput alleged
that the UN has established the fact that former president
Musharraf was head of the entire assasination plot.
He maintained that the ex-chief minister of Punjab Pervaiz
Elahi, Rehman Malik, Babar Awan, the head of the
Intelligence Bureau, the FIA and the Rawalpindi police
were all clearly involved in Benazir Bhutto's murder.
Aslam Chaudhry who is the chief protocol officer of
Benazir alleged that both Rehman Malik and Babar Awan
broke protocol and also sabotaged security during
Benazir's rally at Liaquat Park in which she was
assassinated. Chaudhry stressed that it is obligatory for
the government to initiate a crminial investigation into
Benazir's assassination following the UN report.
Meanwhile, Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam has urged the
government to form a joint investigation team comprising
personnel of all law-enforcement agencies to unveil the
conspiracy behind her murder.
Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club
here on Wednesday, he said that Federal Minister for
Interior Rehman Malik and Minister for Parliamentary
Affairs Babar Awan should step down and present themselves
before the investigation team and provide all information
about the assassination of the former prime minister.
"They (Rehman Malik and Babar Awan) consider themselves to
be stalwarts of the PPP and it is their duty to provide
all information to a joint investigation team to help them
arrest perpetrators of the crime," he said.
Chaudhry Aslam said he had already mentioned in his
petition that the back-up Mercedez-Benz car had left
earlier than Ms Bhutto's convoy.
He said that after receiving the UN Commission report, it
was the duty of the government to start an investigation.
He was accompanied by Advocate Asad Rajput who said he had
already filed a petition before the Lahore High Court
seeking registration of a second FIR against former
president Pervez Musharraf, former Punjab chief minister
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, former IB chief Syed Ijaz Hussain
Shah, two serving ministers and eight high-ranking police
and administration officers for their alleged involvement
in the assassination.
Chaudhry Aslam accused the then interior minister Lt-Gen (retd)
Hamid Nawaz, Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema, then Rawalpindi DCO
Irfan Ellahi, CPO Saud Aziz, SSP (Operation) Yaseen Farooq
and Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad, of being directly or
indirectly involved in the conspiracy against Ms Bhutto.
Advocate Asad Rajput said the government could arrest
former president Pervez Musharraf through Interpol or
under extradition treaties with different countries.
He said that Chaudhry Aslam, being a victim of the
incident, could lodge an FIR of the incident, because it
was not necessary for a legal heir to do it.
Army to stay in Swat,
Bajaur till all militants eliminated: Kayani
ANI, Islamabad
Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has said
that security forces would remain in the Swat Valley and
Bajaur agency until each and every militant in the region
is eliminated and sustainable peace is established.
Addressing a small gathering of people during his visit to
the Valley, he said that the military has gained
'unprecedented' success in Swat by flushing out militants,
and added that it was made possible because of the support
of the people of the region.
"Terrorists had challenged the government's writ and tried
to establish a parallel government, but our brave forces,
along with the local people, destroyed their nefarious
designs," The Daily Times quoted Kayani, as saying.
He said that the extremists, who were nabbed during the
military's offensive, would be tried in courts in
accordance with the country's law.
During his visit to the war-ravaged region, Kayani was
also briefed over latest security situation and relief
work being carried out in the area by the army.
SCBA plans movement against
18th Amendment
Dawn Online, Islamabad
The Supreme Court Bar Association said on Thursday that
its members will come out on the streets against the 18th
Amendment as it undermined the independence of the
judiciary.
Talking to the media in Lahore, the General Secretary of
SCBA Raja Zulqarnain said they were trying to build a
consensus among the lawyers to start a movement against
the 18th Amendment and would very soon announce their
future course of action.
He added that the 18th Amendment had limited the power of
the judicial commission to make recommendations only,
while the greater power had been given to the
parliamentary commission.
Zulqarnain said that the present government was not
working for the welfare of the country and like Musharraf,
President Zardari would also be forced to resign.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) which
has made the 18th Constitutional Amendment a hot issue
became on Wednesday the fourth party from the lawyers'
community to challenge the provision in the act relating
to constitution of a judicial commission for appointment
of superior court judges.
Similar petitions have been filed by Advocate Nadeem Ahmed
from Karachi, the Rawalpindi District Bar Association and
Watan Party chairman Barrister Zafarullah Khan from
Lahore.
Mohammad Ijazul Haq will be the first politician to
challenge the 18th Amendment. He plans to file on Thursday
a petition which will not challenge the mechanism for
appointment of superior court judges, but violation of
certain fundamental rights, like the linguistic and ethnic
divide in the national polity and dictatorial tendencies
in political parties.
Karzai to visit India ahead
of Bhutan SAARC summit
ANI, New Delhi
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai will be paying a short
visit to India ahead of the Bhutan SAARC summit, which
starts on in Thimpu on April 28.
Karzai will be arriving in India on April 25 to hold
bilateral discussions with the Indian Prime Minister, Dr.
Manmohan Singh and other leaders.
This would be Karzai"s first visit to India after his
re-election as President. It assumes importance as it is
taking place just before Karzai holds a Grand Jirga to
reconcile with the so-called "Good Taliban. New Delhi is
seeing this move with skepticism.
According to diplomatic sources, Karzai is likely to allay
New Delhi's fears on reconciliation with the Taliban and
growing edge of Pakistan in the process.
Karzai is also expected to ensure and update India about
the safety and security of Indians working in Afghanistan
and the measures taken by Kabul for the safety of Indian
projects in his country.
The progress of investigations into the attack on the
Indian embassy and the growing net of Pakistan based
terror outfits like the Lashkar, is also likely to be
discussed.
SKorea warned of NKorean
submarine attack
AP, Seoul, South Korea
Military intelligence officers warned earlier this year
that North Korea was preparing a suicide submarine attack
on a South Korean vessel in retaliation for an earlier
defeat in a sea battle, a newspaper said Thursday.
There has been growing speculation that North Korea was
behind the March 26 explosion that split the 1,200-ton
Cheonan in two and sank it, killing at least 39 people and
leaving seven missing.
Seoul has not directly blamed Pyongyang for the blast, and
the North has denied involvement, but suspicion remains
given the country's history of provocation and attacks on
the South.
On Thursday, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper
reported the Korea Defense Intelligence Command alerted
the navy weeks ahead of the ship sinking that North Korea
was preparing underwater suicide teams in mini-submarines
to attack the South.
These "human torpedo" squads were said to involve small
submarines navigated so close to the target that their
torpedoes or explosives blow up both target and the
attackers, or are timed to explode while the attackers
escape from the vehicle, the report said.
The attack preparations were aimed at retaliating against
the South over its defeat in a naval skirmish in November,
the paper said. The site of the sinking is near where the
rival Koreas fought three times since 1999, most recently
a November clash that left one North Korean soldier dead
and three others wounded. South Korea is investigating the
wreck of the Cheonan and investigators say preliminary
indications are the blast was external, not on board the
ship. Some experts say the investigation could take
several years. The two Koreas have never signed a peace
treaty since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce.
The Chosun Ilbo said the military was investigating
whether the navy and Joint Chiefs of Staff had been
properly braced for a North Korean attack following the
intelligence warning, though it's not clear whether the
Cheonan sank because of an attack.
More foreign missions warn
of terror threat to Delhi
IANS, New Delhi
A day after the United States embassy warned of possible
terror attacks in Delhi, more western foreign missions
Thursday advised their citizens to keep away from crowded
and popular markets in the Indian capital. There is
'specific and credible information' for probable terror
strikes, they asserted.
The Australian High Commission has increased its alert
level to 'high degree of caution' - the third highest
level, echoing the warning of the US embassy.
'According to these warnings, specific and credible
information suggests that markets, including Chandni Chowk,
Connaught Place, Greater Kailash, Karol Bagh, Mehrauli,
and Sarojini Nagar could be targeted by terrorists in the
coming days or weeks,' the advisory issued Thursday said.
'We strongly advise Australians to minimise their presence
in market areas of New Delhi,' it added.
The British High Commission noted there are 'increased
indications that terrorists are planning attacks in New
Delhi'.
The advisory also reminded British citizens that
terrorists had targeted places visited by Westerners.
Further, Delhi markets like Greater Kailash, Ghaffar
market and Sarojini Nagar were hit by bomb blasts in 2005
and 2008, it pointed out.
The Canadian High Commission had also issued a separate,
but similar security alert.
All the foreign travel advisories gave guidelines to be
extra cautious in crowded and public places.
In Washington, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley
Wednesday called the warden message issued by the US
embassy in New Delhi 'a prudent warning' but would give
few details. 'There are some specific concerns we have but
I'm not going to go into them from the podium,' Crowley
said. 'It (the warden message) was just a caution to our
citizens within the American community that we have
growing concerns about terrorism and it might affect both
Indian citizens and American citizens.'
Sri Lanka's ex-army chief
says his detention 'unlawful'
DPA, Colombo
Sri Lanka's former army commander General Sarath Fonseka
who was elected to parliament on an opposition ticket said
Thursday he was a victim of unlawful detention and called
for safeguards in democracy. Fonseka, who is under
military custody on allegations of conspiracy against the
government and is facing two court martial trials, said at
the inaugural session of parliament that it 'should ensure
freedom from unlawful detention'.
'Parliament also should ensure that democracy is
safeguarded, human rights are protected and the freedom of
movement is ensured,' said Fonseka who was elected as
candidate of the Marxist-backed Democratic National
Alliance said.
'I have been subject to injustice,' Fonseka said before
being escorted back to detention at the navy headquarters.
The ex-army chief was arrested Feb 8, less than two weeks
after he unsuccessfully challenged President Mahinda
Rajapaksa in the presidential elections.
Earlier Thursday one of Rajapaksa's brothers was selected
as the new speaker of parliament, a day after official
results confirmed a solid victory of the ruling United
People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA). Chamal Rajapaksa, 67,
the president's older brother and a former minister of
ports and aviation, was unanimously elected in the
inaugural session.
The president's younger brother, Basil, his son Namal and
cousin Nirupama Rajapaksa are also among the 144 UPFA
parliamentarians in the 225-seat assembly.
The elections were held April 8, but due to a re-poll in
two districts following allegations of malpractices the
final results were released only Wednesday.
Hillary
reaffirms US commitment to defense Europe
AP, Tallinn, Estonia
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reaffirmed
America's defense commitment to Europe Thursday as she
joined NATO representatives to discuss the future of U.S.
nuclear weapons on the continent.
Clinton was expected to spell out at a private dinner the
Obama administration's view of how NATO should pursue the
nuclear policy debate, which formally begins in this
Baltic seaside capital and is due to climax in November
when President Barack Obama and other NATO government
leaders gather in Lisbon, Portugal, to endorse a rewriting
of the alliance's basic defense doctrine.
At a news conference with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas
Paet, Clinton said no one should doubt U.S. defense links
to its allies. "Let me be clear," she said. "Our
commitment to Estonia and our other allies is a bedrock
principle of the United States and we will never waver
from it."
Clinton and her aides declined to preview her remarks on
nuclear policy, but they pointed to the latest statement
of U.S. views on the subject: a Nuclear Posture Review
published earlier this month that said nuclear weapons
remain a vital part of NATO strategy for deterring attack.
That statement also said the presence of U.S. nuclear arms
in Europe contributes to alliance cohesion and confidence.
The nuclear element of the U.S. defense commitment to
Europe takes several forms: the potential use of
U.S.-based long-range nuclear missiles; the capability to
quickly move U.S.-based short-range nuclear weapons to
Europe in a time of crisis, and the storage of an
estimated 200 nuclear bombs, designed to be dropped b y
short-range attack jets, in five European countries. Some
Europeans have called for the forward-based bombs to be
removed.
Jordan repeats protest against
Israeli military order
DPA, Amman
The Jordanian government on Wednesday once again condemned
a week-old Israeli military order that could lead to the
expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the
West Bank.
Minister of State Nabil Sharif told reporters during a
weekly press conference that the Jordanian government
would "not allow ... under any pretext" the deportation of
Palestinians to Jordan.
"The Jordanian government reserves all diplomatic,
political and legal choices in dealing with this decision,
which we consider as null and void and illegal," he added.
An Israeli military order, which classifies people living
in the West Bank without the proper documents as
"infiltrators," came into effect on April 13.
Arab and Israeli media have predicted that more than
70,000 Palestinians, mostly Gazans, would be deported from
the West Bank as a result of the new ordinance.
The move has been met with protests from Jordanian
politicians and columnists, who are also concerned that
their country, which is already home to 1.9 million
Palestinians, would be affected negatively if it had to
absorb more refugees.
Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai, who accompanied King
Abdullah II on a visit to the United States last week,
raised Amman's concerns during meetings with US Middle
East peace envoy George Mitchell and other American
officials, Sharif said. The Jordanian foreign ministry had
previously handed the Israeli ambassador in Amman a
"strongly worded protest."
Georgia confirms highly
enriched uranium seizure
AP, New York
The president of Georgia confirmed Wednesday that his
country seized a shipment of highly enriched uranium, and
blamedRussia for creating the instability that allows
nuclear smugglers to operate in the region.
In an interview with The Associated Press, President
Mikhail Saakashvili declined to divulge details of the
seizure but said the uranium was intercepted last month
coming into his country in the Caucasus region of
southeast Europe.
The Georgian interior ministry said authorities had
detained a group offoreign nationals and seized a small
amount of uranium, which is now in a secure location.
Saakashvili's government no longer controls two breakaway
sections ofGeorgia, separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
which declared independence after the 2008 Russia-Georgia
war, and the president said the smuggling is evidence of a
security black hole in the area. Such seizures have come
"mostly from the direction of Russia," Saakashvili said.
The two countries have had tense relations for years, with
their leaders routinely trading barbs.
During the brief August 2008 war, Russia destroyed much of
Georgia's military infrastructure and occupied the two
territories. Georgia has protested fiercely, claiming that
Russia is trying to annex the regions.
Only Venezuela, Nicara-gua and the South Pacific island
nation of Nauru have followed Russia's example and
recognized both regions as independent states, while the
rest of the world considers them part of Georgia.
Iran's Ahmadinejad heads to
Zimbabwe, Uganda
AFP
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Thursday for a two-day
visit to Zimbabwe and to UN Security Council member
Uganda, with whom he will discuss Iran's nuclear programme,
state television reported.
Ahmadinejad's visit to Uganda gains significance as world
powers have stepped up pressure for a new round of UN
sanctions against Iran for pursuing its nuclear programme.
The report gave no details of the Zimbabwe leg of the trip
but said the Iranian hardliner would hold talks on Friday
with Ugandan officials, including President Yoweri
Museveni, in Kampala. Uganda currently holds one of the
rotating Security Council seats.
"Obviously as a member of the Security Council we are
going to discuss the issue of nuclear energy," the
permanent secretary of Uganda's foreign ministry James
Mugume said on Tuesday. "We've have been engaging Iran on
this issue for some time."
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Sunday
that Tehran planned to open talks with all 15 Security
Council members in an effort to break a deadlock on a
nuclear fuel supply deal that has put it at odds with
Western powers.
France wants to apply burqa
ban to tourists
Reuters, Paris
France's government on Thursday announced it would apply a
proposed ban on face-covering Islamic veils to visiting
tourists as well as residents, even as skepticism mounted
over the legality of the plan.
Junior family minister Nadine Morano said visitors would
have to "respect the law" and uncover their faces,
prompting critics to speculate whether Saudi luxury
shoppers would be forced to unveil themselves on the
glitzy Champs-Elysees.
"When you arrive in a country you have to respect the laws
of that country," Morano said on France Info radio. "If I
go to certain countries I'm also forced to respect the
law."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday backed a
strict public ban of the veil, commonly referred to in
France as the burqa, eschewing more moderate proposals
that focused on limits in state institutions such as
schools and town halls.
The draft bill will be presented to the cabinet next
month. "Why should we accept (the veil) on the bus and not
in the town hall?" Morano said. She repeated Sarkozy's
line that the veil hurts the dignity of women and equality
between the sexes. Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on
Wednesday he was ready to take on a "legal risk" by
supporting the ban, which could be challenged in the
European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that it
violates freedom of religion.
France's highest court has already warned the government
that a complete ban could be unlawful.
STRIPPING ON THE CHAMPS-ELYSEES?
If the European Court or domestic courts strike it down,
Sarkozy would suffer his second constitutional defeat in
the space of a few months -- late last year, his plan for
a carbon tax was rejected because its many loopholes
violated the principle of equality.
US military jury clears
SEAL in Iraq abuse case
AP, Baghdad
A U.S. military jury cleared a Navy SEAL Thursday of
failing to prevent the beating of an Iraqi prisoner
suspected of masterminding a 2004 attack that killed four
American security contractors.
The contractors' burned bodies were dragged through the
streets and two were hanged from a bridge over the
Euphrates river in the former insurgent hotbed of Fallujah,
in what became a turning point in the Iraq war. The trial
of three SEALs, the Navy's elite special forces unit, in
the abuse case has outraged many Americans who see it as
coddling terrorists.
A six-man jury found Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas,
29, of Blue Island, Illinois, not guilty of charges of
dereliction of duty and attempting to influence the
testimony of another service member. The jury spent two
hours deliberating the verdict. "It's a big weight off my
shoulders," a smiling and composed Huertas said as he left
the courthouse at the U.S. military's Camp Victory on
Baghdad's western outskirts. "Compared to all the physical
activity we go through, this has been mentally more
challenging."
Huertas said he plans now to continue with his military
career and "to go home and kiss my wife."
Huertas was the first of three SEALS to face a
court-martial for charges related to the abuse incident
and the verdict was a major blow to the government's case.
All three SEALs could have received only a disciplinary
reprimand, but insisted on a military trial to clear their
names and save their careers.
Netanyahu rejects freeze
Agency, Jerusalem
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu rejected White House
requests for a freeze on Jewish construction in east
Jeru-salem, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Over the weekend, Netanyahu's government gave the Obama
administration a response to the demands made in a March
23 meeting between the two heads of state. Although the
exact details of the meeting were not made public, it has
been widely reported that Obama's main request was to
freeze all construction in the Jewish neighborhoods of
east Jerusalem, which Netanyahu has refused.
Netanyahu's reaction echoes a statement made in an
interview with ABC News on Sunday, that the idea of a
building freeze in east Jerusalem "is totally, totally a
nonstarter."
US officials said that Netanyahu agreed to nearly a dozen
other steps towards renewed negotiations, such as
releasing some Palestinian prisoners from jail and
removing more roadblocks in the West Bank, according to
The Wall Street Journal. Israel would also expand the
responsibilities of the Palestinian security forces, and
discuss borders and the status of Jerusalem in detail.
S officials said that Netanyahu agreed to nearly a dozen
other steps towards renewed negotiations, such as
releasing some Palestinian prisoners from jail and
removing more roadblocks in the West Bank, according to
The Wall Street Journal.
Israel would also expand the responsibilities of the
Palestinian security forces, and discuss borders and the
status of Jerusalem in detail.
Business/Economy
Remittance plays vital role in moving economy: Barua
BSS, Dhaka
Industries Minister Dilip Barua on Thursday said
remittance plays an important role in moving cycle of
economy of the country.
He was inaugurating a three-day fair on banking and
housing organized by Dhaka International Exhibition
Company Limited (DIECL) at Samurai Convention Center in
the city.
Deputy Commissioner of Bangladesh Bank Murshid Kuli Khan,
Managing Director of Pubali Bank Helal Ahmed Chowdhury and
CEO of Dhaka Bank Khandaker Fazle Rashid, among others,
were present.
Emphasising the need for reducing rate of interest of bank
loan up to a single digit for the industrial sector, he
said the financial institutions should change their
mindset for the sake of industrialisation.
Dilip urged the commercial banks to be sincere in sending
money to the beneficiaries in time.
Referring to liberal policy of the government for banking
sector, the industries minister said the whole country
would come under banking services network within next two
to three years.
He urged the owners of the housing industries to take
steps against the dishonest businessmen of the sector.
Murshid Kuli Khan said remittance is working as lifeblood
in the national economy.
WB
to provide $250m for infrastructure development : BB
Governor
UNB, Dhaka
The World Bank will provide $ 250 million (approximately
Tk 1750 crore) for the country's infrastructure
development, Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Atiur Rahman
revealed Thursday.
Dr Atiur said a large portion of the assistance will be
invested in the power sector under the Public-Private
Partnership (PPP).
The BB Governor was addressing a seminar styled "Sovereign
Credit Ratings: Global Recognition & Benefits for
Bangladesh Economy," jointly organized by the Dhaka
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Citibank
Bangladesh at the DCCI auditorium in Motijheel.
Earlier this month, the world's two top credit rating
agencies-Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Moody's Investors
Services- assigned Bangladesh ratings of BB- and Ba3
respectively.
The agencies termed the country's macroeconomic outlook
stable, putting Bangladesh on a par with the Philippines,
Vietnam and Turkey. Bangladesh's position is higher than
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but below India amongst South
Asian countries.
Dr Atiur said confidence has gone up in the country's
business community due to the recent recognition by the
credit rating agencies. The business community including
banks can take advantage of the ratings in negotiating
lower interest rates on foreign borrowings and credit
confirmation lines, as well as opening LCs with reduced
risk charges and attracting foreign investment.
"These ratings are a vote of confidence for Bangladesh as
a promising investment destination…I would urge our
business community to take full advantage of these
opportunities, where necessary in joint ventures with
foreign investors reassured by the favourable sovereign
credit rating."
The BB governor informed the seminar that so far this
year, 80 lakh farmers have opened bank accounts, which is
a milestone for the country.
Business leaders for steps in budget to help
domestic industries
UNB, Dhaka
Leaders of different business institutions on Thursday
called for taking necessary steps in the ensuing budget
for ensuring the growth of local industries.
They made the remarks at the 20th meeting of parliamentary
standing committee on Finance Ministry held at Sangsad
Bhaban on Thursday.
Committee chairman AHM Mustafa Kamal chaired the meeting.
The meeting held discussion with the leaders of Cold
Storage Association of Bangladesh, Real Estate and Housing
Association of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Insurance
Association, Association of Non-banking Institutions and
Bangladesh Association of Banks about the outline of
ensuing budget for 2010-11. The association leaders placed
different proposals for taking necessary steps in the
budget for growth of domestic industries.
They called for eradicating tax discrimination and
formulating investment-friendly budget for ensuring the
growth of local industries.
The meeting held discussion on different proposals and
recommendations placed by association leaders and decided
to recommend the concerned authorities to take necessary
steps for growth of those industries by attaching top
priority to national interest.
Committee members Prof. Mohammad Ali Ashraf, AKM Maidul
Islam, MA Mannan and Golam Dastagir Gazi attended the
meeting.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman and others were
also present.
President for resuming Dhaka-Colombo direct
flight
BSS, Dhaka
President Zillur Rahman on Thursday urged Sri Lanka to
resume its Dhaka Colombo direct flight for increasing
trade and commerce volume between the two countries.
The President made the call while newly appointed Sri
Lankan High Commissioner to Bangladesh W A Sarath Kumara
Weragoda presented his credentials to him at Bangabhaban
here.
In reply, the new Sri Lankan envoy apprised the President
that his government has taken decision to restart Dhaka
Colombo direct flight soon, which was suspended from 2001,
as they are looking forward to further strengthening the
trade and commerce relations with Bangladesh. During the
meeting, President Zillur Rahman said there remains
adequate potentials for expansion of trade between the two
countries and Sri Lanka may grant zero- tariff access to
Bangladeshi jute and jute products.
The President hoped that Sri Lankan businessmen would be
encouraged to import more world standard Bangladeshi
products like pharmaceuticals, ceramics, plastic and
toiletries considering their very competitive prices.
Zillur Rahman also laid emphasis on increasing regional
cooperation among the South Asian countries to attain the
desired development goals of the region.
Through the new envoy, President Zillur Rahman invited his
Sri Lankan counterpart to visit Bangladesh at a time
convenient to him.
The Sri Lankan High Commissioner Sarath Kumara assured the
President that he would do his level best to push the
trade and commerce relations between the two countries to
a new height during his tenure here.
Earlier, on his arrival at Bangabhaban, the High
Commissioner was given a guard of honour by a smart
contingent of President's Guard Regiment.
G20 underscores need for job growth
AFP, Washington
G20 nations on Thursday stressed the need for further
measures to tackle unemployment as the global economy
emerges from a crippling recession that has cost millions
of jobs worldwide.
Labor ministers from the world's twenty most important
economies met for the first time in Washington in an
attempt to coordinate jobs policy and work up joint
recommendations for G20 leaders to discuss later this
year.
"We looked at ways to help G20 leaders put employment at
the center of economic policy coordination," said Hilda
Solis, US Labor Secretary.
"At the same time we developed a list of recommendations
that will help to achieve this ambitious but necessary
goal."
In recommendations that will be taken up when leaders meet
in Toronto in June, the G20 said that "as some countries
begin to experience economic recovery, continued attention
must be paid to job creation and job preservation."
Governments should embark on "vigorous implementation of
existing policies and consideration of additional
employment measures," the ministers added.
Eying entrenched levels of long-term unemployment, the G20
also recommended that social protection systems be
strengthened.
"Significant numbers of people, including the most
disadvantaged, will remain unemployed even after recovery
takes hold, and others will need help to adjust to
structural changes in our economies."
Pakistan asked to grant India ‘Most Favoured
Nation’ status
PTI, Islamabad
Pakistan government should consider granting India the
'Most Favoured Nation' status to exploit the huge trade
potential as free trade relations with it will enable the
country to achieve higher and more equitable GDP growth,
an official panel has recommended.
The recommendation was made by the Panel of Economists,
constituted by the Planning Commission, in its final
report.
The report said as a first step, trade relations between
the two countries should be normalised by trading on the
Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status.
As a second step, policymakers should address problems
related to information exchange, trade facilitation,
banking, non-tariff barriers, visas and communication.
The third step is to enable environment for investment has
to be created so that India and Pakistan can enter into
joint ventures, the Business Recorder daily reported on
Thursday.
The panel asked the government to allow the import from
India of raw materials not available locally.
"It is essential to move from a positive list approach to
a negative list approach. It is important for the two
countries to have a common Harmonised System of Codes and
greater transparency," the panel's report said.
"The current DTRE scheme whereby quotas are fixed for raw
material imports from India meant specifically for exports
suffers from red-tapism and graft. A better solution is to
open up raw material imports across the board," the report
added.
The panel also recommended the opening the Attari-Wagah
border to allow transportation of goods by road at the
earliest as this link is already operational for movement
of passengers and asked the government to consider
allowing India-Pakistan joint ventures.
"Currently, there are no India-Pakistan joint ventures. As
several Indian companies are showing interest in having
joint ventures in Pakistan, it is important to understand
the nature of such investments and provide timely
facilitation," the report said.
The report noted that payments through formal channels
assume a greater role as there is evidence of anonymous
transactions between trading partners. Currently, the
payments system is formalised through the Asian Clearing
Union, which is inefficient as payments are often delayed.
Papua New Guinea might hire 8000 Bangladeshi
workers
UNB, Dhaka
The country's export of manpower in 2009 was not hampered
by politics, rather it was the global economic meltdown
that saw a temporary dip in the number of people leaving
to work abroad. Labour, Employment and Expatriates'
Welfare Minister Khandaker Mosharraf said this while
addressing a press briefing after a meeting with Industry
Minister of Papua New Guinea, Mark Maipakai, at his office
on Thursday afternoon.
"Most workers are hired aboard by the private sectors. The
private sectors abroad suffered a dip in demand because of
the global economic recession, not politics," he said.
The minister informed newsmen that the Papua New Guinea
minister has shown an interest in recruiting at least
eight thousand Bangladeshi workers. "As Papua New Guinea
is a new country, they need a large number of skilled and
unskilled workers to start their economic activities," he
said. Maipakai, who led a seven-member delegation, made an
informal proposal to the Labour, Employment and
Expatriates' Welfare Minister to recruit Bangladeshi
workers for Papua New Guinea's infrastructure and gas
sectors. At present, only about 500 Bangladeshis work in
Papua New Guinea, whereas over 1 million Chinese, 300,000
Sri Lankans and 200,000 Indians work there. The population
of Papua New Guinea is only six million.
Obama to host Muslim business leaders
AFP, Washington
President Barack Obama will lay a key plank of his
strategy to mend ties with the Islamic world next week
when he hosts a summit to boost economic development in
Muslim nations.
In a step the White House hopes will help shift relations
beyond decades of talk about terrorism and conflict, a
senior official said Obama will bring entrepreneurs from
50 countries to Washington on Monday and Tuesday to spur
economic ties.
The president pledged to host the summit in a landmark
speech in Cairo last June, when he also called for a "new
beginning" to relations between the United States and the
Islamic world.
"One of the principal goals of that vision was to broaden
our relationship, which has been dominated by a few
different issues, a small set of issues, for at least the
last decade, and going back further than that," the
official told AFP.
"We don't see this as a replacement for our work on things
like Middle East peace or work on counter-terrorism, our
work on Iran. We see this as part of establishing a more
multifaceted set of relationships. It is yet another
pillar."
Around 250 entrepreneurs will attended the summit from
countries across the Muslim world-where America's image is
tarnished by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Abu Ghraib
prisoner abuse scandal and the Guantanamo Bay detention
camp.
Obama is expected to discuss ways of improving access to
capital, funding for technology innovation and exchange
programs, as the United States tries to better its image
in the eyes of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims.
The delegates will vary from 20-year-old entrepreneurs to
established figures like Bangladeshi economist Muhammad
Yunus, who won a Nobel prize for his work on small-scale
lending.
As part of Obama's plan the United States is poised to
award contracts through its multi-million-dollar Global
Technology and Innovation Fund, designed to spur
investments in the Muslim world.
The government-backed Overseas Private Investment
Corporation, which is running the competition, has
received a deluge of applications, which officials say is
itself a sign of improving ties.
Each chunk of funding awarded by OPIC is expected to be
worth between 25 and 150 million dollars.
Polls show Obama has won plaudits across the globe since
taking office in January 2009. But nearly a year on from
his Cairo speech, Muslims remain deeply suspicious of the
United States.
Eurozone recovery clouded by debt: IMF
AFP, Washington
The eurozone is heading for one percent growth this year,
limping out of recession under the threat of a sovereign
debt crisis, the IMF said on Thursday.
France and Germany will enjoy "moderate" growth but
smaller economies such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal and
Spain face a longer road out of recession due to big
public deficits and current account imbalances, the IMF
said.
The most immediate danger comes from the Greek debt
crisis, which could spread to other weak economies inside
the 16-nation eurozone, the International Monetary Fund
said in its semi-annual World Economic Outlook.
"In the near term, the main risk is that, if unchecked,
market concerns about sovereign liquidity and solvency in
Greece could turn into a full-blown sovereign debt crisis,
leading to some contagion," the IMF said.
"This reinforces the importance of efforts by the Greek
authorities to reestablish the credibility of their fiscal
policy," it said.
The report came as Greek officials met on Wednesday with
experts from the European Union, European Central Bank and
IMF to discuss details of a financial safety net for the
heavily indebted country.
The IMF said the contingency aid plan was a "welcome and
important step to ensure that jitters about Greece do not
lead to financial instability or create significant
adverse effects on balance sheets and banking systems in
Europe."
The Greek Socialist government has implemented austerity
measures but it is struggling to bring down its borrowing
costs and remains mired in a debt drama that has shaken
the European single currency.
The IMF said the eurozone faced a second risk from large
fiscal and current account deficits in other "peripheral"
economies, making it crucial for these countries to cut
their spending at the cost of growth.
Kuwaiti oil reserves higher than announced
AFP, Kuwait City
Oil reserves in Kuwait's largest oilfield, Burgan, are
higher than have been published and new figures for all
reservoirs are to be announced soon, a minister said on
Thursday.
"Reserves in Burgan oilfield are much higher than what is
being circulated," deputy premier for economic affairs
Sheikh Ahmad Fahad al-Sabah was cited as saying by the
official KUNA news agency.
Greater Burgan oilfield is the world's second largest
field after Ghawar in Saudi Arabia, with reserves
previously estimated at around 70 billion barrels.
It has been producing about three-quarters of Kuwait's
output of 2.2 million bpd. "New figures for the reserves
in all Kuwaiti oil reservoirs will be made public soon,"
KUNA quoted Sheikh Ahmad as telling an oil conference.
Al-Qabas daily quoted the minister as telling the same
conference that "we will announce good news for the
Kuwaiti people" about the oil reserves which have been
disputed in the past few years.
OPEC member Kuwait has maintained that its crude reserves
are around 100 billion barrels, without saying how much of
it is proven.
Industry newsletter Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW)
said in January 2006 that Kuwait's oil reserves stood at
48 billion barrels, based on internal records seen by the
newsletter.
The PIW report also claimed that Kuwait's fully proven
reserves amounted to only 24.2 billion barrels.
At the time, Kuwaiti oil officials said the report was
inaccurate and that it failed to take into account
undeveloped reservoirs.
Kuwait's claimed 100 billion barrels mark the world's
fifth largest deposits after those of Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.
ADB assistance up 42 pc in 2009
Xinhua, Manila
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a record 16.1
billion U.S. dollars in financial assistance to developing
member countries in 2009, an increase of 42 percent over
the amount approved in the previous year, according to ADB
annual report on Thursday.
The increase was the biggest in ADB history. While
economic recovery is under way, ADB has estimated that
about 71 million people living on less than 2 U.S. dollars
a day could have escaped poverty if growth rates had
stayed at the 2007 level.
"The capital increase enabled ADB to respond quickly to
the needs of developing member countries by significantly
scaling up our assistance," ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda
said in the report.
"The global economic crisis presented developing Asia and
the Pacific with one of the most challenging years since
the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis."
National
PM calls for preventing
child trafficking
BSS, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday called upon all
concerned to take necessary steps to prevent trafficking
in children and using them in illicit drug trade.
Presiding over the maiden meeting of the National Council
for Women and Children Development (NCWCD) at her officer,
she asked the authorities concerned to expand activities
of Jatiya Mahila Sangstha to all upazilas for the welfare
of the country's womenfolk.
About the street children, Sheikh Hasina said a committee
involving the ministries concerned would have to be
constituted for rehabilitating the street children and
taking care of them.
In this context, she mentioned that her previous
government had taken various pragmatic steps for
rehabilitating the street children and for the welfare of
the womenfolk.
Referring to housing problems of the working women, the
Prime Minister underlined the need for constructing more
dormitories for them to solve their problems and set up
day-care centers at all government offices so that they
could take care of their kids besides office work.
The Prime Minister asked the authorities concerned to take
steps for imparting training to the distressed women and
physically challenged children to make them self-reliant
and rehabilitate them.
She said her government believes in secularism, as
secularism does not mean devoid of religion. One belonging
to a religion should not disturb others who have separate
religious faiths in practising their religious rituals,
she added.
Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, Planning
Minister Air Vice Marshal (Rtd) A K Khandokar, Law
Minister Barrister Shafiq Ahmed, Home Minister Advocate
Sahara Khatun, Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad,
Social Welfare Minister Enamul Huq Mostafa Shaheed, Health
Minister Prof (Dr) Ruhal Haque, State Minister for Science
and ICT Architect Yeafez Osman and State Minister for
Environment and Forest Dr Hasan Mahmud attended the
meeting.
Govt urged to take effective steps
for combating drop-out rate in schools
UNB, Dhaka
Discussants at a roundtable on Thursday urged the
government to take comprehensive measures in ensuring
primary education for the children, by combating the
drop-out rate of school-going children.
They said that 55 percent of children, mostly from ethnic
or marginalized communities, drop out of primary education
every year because of gender discrimination, poverty,
disability and geographical remoteness. Only 5 percent of
the children actually gain any mastery of the subjects
taught.
Save the Children and The Daily Star, a leading English
newspaper, jointly organized the roundtable titled 'A
National Priority for Education for All: Reaching
Vulnerable Children' at the National Press Club in
Thursday morning.
Chaired by Dr. Monjur Ahmed, the roundtable was addressed,
among others, by State Minister for Primary and Mass
Education Motahar Hossain, The Daily Star editor Mahfuz
Anam, former advisor to the caretaker government Rasheda K
Chowdhury and Education Sector Director of Save the
Children M Habibur Rahman.
State Minister Motahar Hossain said the government is
working hard to ensure primary education for all by
providing books and other technical assistance to the
primacy education sector.
"We will be able to bring all children under primary
education by 2011, eliminating all sorts of complications.
We have to identify which are the more marginal and
vulnerable groups," he said.
Referring to the government's initiatives in ensuring
quality education, Motahar Hossain said they have already
submitted the draft education policy, which may be
implemented by 2011.
He also sought cooperation from civil society to enhance
the education sector.
Rasheda K Chowdhury said drop-out rates of the children
will continue to rise unless the government does something
to rein in eve-teasing.
She also emphasized the importance of according more
attention to the children of marginal groups, like
indigenous communities, sex workers and the rural poor.
Mahfuz Anam stressed the need for the media to play a
positive role in ensuring quality primary education.
‘Ansar-VDP play vital roles in
maintaining peace’
BSS, Naogaon
Speakers at a rally here Thursday said that the members of
Ansar and VDP have been playing vital roles in rooting out
terrorism, militancy and social crimes to ensure a
peaceful and developed society in the country.
Members of the well-organised and reputed organisation
could contribute the maximum in building a better society
through creating social awareness, eliminating social
discriminations and superstitions by disseminating right
knowledge, they said.
They said the Ansar-VDP members should work with more
responsibilities for making the governments' development
programmes successful in building a Sonar Bangla as dreamt
by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
They said this while addressing the 'Annual District Rally
of Ansar-VDP of Naogaon' at Ansar Hall auditorium at
Ukilpara in Naogaon district town with Acting Deputy
Commissioner of Naogaon Shajahan Ali in the chair.
Deputy Director General (Operations) of Ansar-VDP AKM
Mizanur Rahman was present as the chief guest while it's
Director of Rajshahi Range Nurun Nabi Chowdhury and
Principal of Naogaon Government College Prof Shariful
Islam Khan attended as the special guests.
District Commander of Ansar-VDP Swapan Kumar Debnath,
District Fisheries Officer Mahbubul Alam, Raninagar
Upazila Ansar-VDP Commander Dhanonjoy Chandra Barman and
union Ansar-VDP leaders Abul Quashem and Selina Begum,
addressed.
A total of 400 members of Ansar-VDP including all 11
upazila and 99 union commanders, male and female group
leaders from all unions, government officials,
professionals and elite were present.
The speakers said that the Ansar-VDP with its about 45
lakh members at the grassroots and have been playing the
most vital roles in rooting out the anti- social elements,
militants, terrorists, dacoits, thieves and smugglers
involving the local people.
They are also playing important roles in overcoming the
threat of spreading HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted
diseases and disseminating proper knowledge about family
planning, reproductive health and gender discriminations
at the grassroots, they said.
They urged them to conduct social campaign on issues like
child marriage, dowry, polygamy, human trafficking,
repression on women and children, drug trafficking and
addictions, corruption and gender discriminations for
building a crime-free society.
Villagers fearing landslides
following huge soil cracks in Barind villages
BSS, Naogaon
Hundreds of villagers in three villages of Naogaon and
C'Nawabganj districts in the Barind region have been
fearing landslides following formation of sudden massive
soil cracks and lowering of ground levels in the recent
days.
The natural phenomenon, which is almost like that of the
landslides, has created huge fear among the villagers in
Shimuldanga and Ramasram under Sapahar upazila in Naogaon
and Alidanga Tottipur in Shibganj upazila of C'Nawabganj.
According to the villagers, they observed that a half
kilometer long huge crack with 6 to 18 inches gap in
between the edges and 25 to 30 feet depth was formed and
more than 100 deeper places with 20 to 25 feet depths were
created in the two Naogaon villages.
Besides, normal ground level of huge area in the two
frontier Naogaon villages, about 80 km West of Naogaon,
has been lowered and huge cracks have been formed in the
floors and walls of several houses, they said.
Hundreds of people from the surrounding areas are rushing
o the villages to have a glimpse of the expanding huge
cracks and lowering of the ground levels there since last
Friday. Vice-chairman of Sapahar upazila Alhaj Jalal Uddin
and Sapahar Upazila Agriculture Officer (UAO) Rahela
Parveen visited the villages and told BSS on Tuesday that
the phenomenon has created huge fear among the villagers.
The UAO said the incident might have taken place following
huge vacuum created in the underground soil layers
following lifting of enormous quantities of underground
waters for irrigation purposes in the Barind area.
'Engineers have vital role to
build digital Bangladesh'
BSS, Rajshahi
The Engineering and technological graduates and students
have a vital role in building digital Bangladesh by 2021
announced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Especially, the computer engineers should have to play a
pioneering role to attain the cherished goal.
Vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University of Engineering and
Technology (RUET) Prof Dr Sirajul Karim Chowdhury made the
call while addressing a fresher-reception and farewell
ceremony of its Computer Science and Engineering
Department here Wednesday afternoon as the chief guest.
"We have no way but to build the nation based on knowledge
and technology to take it forward after facing the
challenges of the 21st century," Prof Chowdhury said.
He added that the engineering graduates should have to
supplement the government efforts to build Bangladesh as a
poverty and hunger free nation.
Training on poverty eradication
held at Chilmari
BSS, Rangpur
Speakers at a training course held at Chilmari in Kurigram
have stressed ensuring mass awareness, preparedness and
education for the common people to reduce risks of natural
disasters in eradicating poverty.
Coordinated efforts of all including the government and
non- government bodies and public representatives are A
must for faster socio-economic development of the people
living in the backward and disaster-prone char areas, they
said.
Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) organized the
training for the members of union disaster management
committee under the assistance of the European Union and
Dan- Church Aid at Thanahat Union Parishad at Chilmari
Wednesday.
Members of the 35-member Thanahat disaster management
committee, teachers, community leaders, youths, public
representatives, professionals, and char people and local
elite took part. The training course was organised under
the auspices of the 'Poverty Eradication Project through
Reducing Disaster Risks in North-West Bangladesh to
alleviate poverty by reducing disaster risks in the
poverty-prone char areas.
Chaired by Thanahat Union Parishad Chairman Alhaj Abdul
Jalil Sarker, the course was attended by Technical Officer
of the Disaster Risk Reduction project of RDRS from
Kurigram Harunur Rashid as the chief guest.
Administrative Officer of the project Raghbeer Chandra
Barman, its Social Animator Jayonti Rani, representatives
of the ADPRR and Char Livelihood Projects and Upazila
level RDRS officials and experts addressed.
PM greets new Sri Lankan PM
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina congratulated the newly
appointed Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dissanayake
Mudiyanselage Jayaratne on his assumption of the office of
the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
In a message of felicitation to her counterpart, the
Bangladesh Prime Minister hoped that the government and
the people of Sri Lanka will be greatly benefited by his
wisdom, experience and knowledge.
Bangladesh attaches high importance to its relations with
Sri Lanka. Our two countries share close bonds of
friendship and enjoy excellent bilateral relations based
on shared history, culture and traditions, she said.
The Bangladesh leader said she is looking forward to
working closely with the new Sri Lankan Prime Minister to
further strengthen and expand the relationship for mutual
benefits of people of two countries.
Sheikh Hasina wished Sri Lankan PM good health, happiness
and continued peace, progress and prosperity of the people
of Sri Lanka.
Corrupt upazila settlement officer
caught red-handed
in Barisal
UNB, Barisal
An upazila settlement officer was arrested on the orders
of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) while he was
taking a bribe on Thursday morning at his office in
Wazirpur upazila.
The arrested is Habibur Rahman, acting settlement officer
of Wazirpur upazila.
Nazrul Islam, Deputy Director of Barisal ACC filed a case
with Wazirpur police against Habibur. Later, he was sent
to Barguna jail in the afternoon.
ACC sources said on being tipped off, a plain-clothes team
of the ACC trapped and nabbed the settlement officer red
handed while he was taking a bribe at 11:00 am.
AKM Amirul Alam, ACC Divisional Director, said Habibur was
under surveillance as he demanded Tk 5000 from Sumanta
Kumar Biswas of Karfa village of the upazila to settle his
land property.
BNP to accept Bhola-3 result if
election 'fair, transparent and peaceful'
UNB, Dhaka
The BNP has said it will accept the results of the Bhola-3
by-election, as long as it is held in a fair, transparent
and peaceful manner.
"We will accept the result if the election is free,
transparent and peaceful, in which case we expect that the
BNP will win," BNP leader Nazrul Islam told reporters
after calling on election commissioners at the Election
Commission Secretariat on Thursday afternoon.
He cast doubt over the motives behind the large-scale
arrests of BNP activists and leaders in Bhola-3
constituency recently. "Why so many arrests ahead of the
by-election?" he questioned.
During the visit to the EC Secretariat, a BNP delegation
led by Islam met all three election commissioners,
including Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission in a notification asked
the police not to nab local government representatives,
political workers and leaders, and voters in Bhola-3 in
the name of protection ahead of polling day on Saturday.
On the other hand, another BNP delegation on Wednesday
handed over a letter to the EC on behalf of the party,
demanding that a 20-member BNP team comprising MPs and
senior leaders be allowed to visit the constituency to
observe polling.
PCP will enforce demonstration in
Khagrachari today
UNB, Dhaka
Greater Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students' Council
(PCP) will organize a fresh demonstration in Khagrachari
district on April 23 protesting the imposition of an
'undeclared state of emergency' in the region.
Leaders of the PCP in a joint statement said that the
deputy commissioner of the district has imposed a ban on
rallies, processions and gatherings in the district, which
they equate to an 'undeclared state of emergency'.
They allege the deputy commissioner is violating the
people's political rights and supporting the February
violence by imposing the ban. Leaders also urged the
government to withdraw the 'undeclared state of emergency'
and to stop repression of the hilly people in the name of
army drills.
Police recover headless body; BNP
activist hacked to death in Chuadanga
UNB, Chuadanga
A BNP activist was hacked to death allegedly by AL men out
of enmity at a remote village of Damurhuda upazila while
police recovered a slaughtered body from the field in
sadar upazila Thursday.
Yusuf Ali, 38, BNP activist of Badanpur village died
shortly after admitted to Chuadanga Sadar Hospital with
multiple and deep cut wounds in his body.
His wife Jahanara Begum said Santu Member of the same
village and his associates Asadaul, Moamen, Kaosar, Titu,
Khoka and Rezaul called her husband out of home at about 8
pm Wednesday. Raihan, a farmer of the village, informed
them at midnight that Yusuf was lying fatally wounded in
the field. He was rushed to the hospital where he died
soon after admission.
Yusuf was earlier convicted and jailed for 3 years for
hacking and wounding Santu Member, brother of upazila AL
president.
Sirajul Islam Jantu. He came out of prison barely a
fortnight ago. Villagers said Yusuf and Santu had long
enmity which is rooted in Santu's illicit relationship
with sister of Yusuf. For this Santu was fined Tk 10,000
in village arbitration in 2007.
Sports
Villa moves up EPL table as Hull
suffers
BSS/AFP, London
Aston Villa climbed into sixth place in the English Premier
League and in sight of a spot amongst Europe's elite next
season as they edged Hull nearer relegation with a 2-0 away
win on Wednesday.
Gabriel Agbonlahor's first-half goal and James Milner's
penalty 14 minutes from time saw Villa to a win that left the
Midlands club just three points behind Tottenham Hotspur, who
currently occupy fourth place and the last spot on offer to
English clubs for next season's Champions League, with three
games to play.
Victory saw Villa leapfrog Liverpool and continued their
revival after losing 7-1 to Premier League leaders Chelsea,
who also knocked them out of the FA Cup, last month
"We're in the mix," Villa manager Martin O'Neill told Sky
Sports. "We're going for everything and guaranteed nothing.
We're not even guaranteed to finish eighth in the league at
this minute. "We've gone above Liverpool with three games to
go and that's pretty exceptional.
But where I've been pleased with the team is they've responded
fantastically to the defeat at Stamford Bridge. "We've come
back and taken 10 out of the last 12 points. I think the team
has shown a great deal of character all season and I think
that was epitomised tonight."
Defeat left cash-strapped Hull three points from safety and on
course for a return to the second-tier Championship.
And the loss was made worse by the sight of striker Jan
Vennegoor of Hesselink being carried off on a stretcher after
a clash of heads with Villa's David Dunne.
Hull manager Iain Dowie, whose side are at home to Sunderland
on Saturday, was left bemoaning the only "statistic that
matters" after his team failed to take their chances.
"The stats say we're better. We had more shots, crosses, more
on target and 66 percent more corners," Dowie said. "They all
add up but the one that doesn't is goals and that's been the
problem all year. Villa got the stat that matters."
He added: "There were some excellent passing moves and I can't
fault the commitment or effort of the players against an
excellent side. "This result makes it much more difficult but
we've got nine more points to play for. We've got to make sure
come Sunderland we put three points on the board - no question
about that."
Hull gifted Villa their opener when Ibrahima Sonko and then
Paul McShane saw attempted clearances charged down and
Agbonlahor curled a shot into the top corner from a tight
angle. Stilyan Petrov then twice went close to doubling
Villa's lead before Hull missed an excellent chance in the
24th minute.
Vennegoor of Hesselink, played in by Kevin Kilbane, saw Villa
goalkeeper Brad Friedel block from eight yards out.
Kilbane then had a shot saved on the follow-up by the American
and then, with only James Collins to beat on the line, saw his
second attempt deflected over the bar by the Villa defender's
arm.
Early in the second half, Hull had another great chance to
equalise but defender Steven Mouyokolo, right in front of
goal, scuffed his shot and Friedel turned the ball over the
bar. There was then a lengthy stoppage after Dunne clashed
heads with Vennegoor of Hesselink from the subsequent corner.
"Jan was out (unconscious) for three or four minutes," Dowie
said. "He has gone for a CT scan so it's very concerning."
Villa punished Hull's wastefulness when Milner, after being
fouled by George Boateng, scored from the penalty spot in the
76th minute.
Partex
Beverage becomes beverage partner of BHF
UNB, Dhaka
Partex Beverage Limited, one of the leading soft drink
bottlers in the country, has become the beverage partner of
Bangladesh Hockey Federation for the next three years - both
for domestic and international events.
An agreement to this effect was signed between Bangladesh
Hockey Federation and Partex Beverage Limited this on Thursday
at the Federation conference room.
Partex Beverage deputy general manager M Aktaruzzaman signed
the agreement on behalf of his company.
Under the agreement, Partex Beverage will provide bottled
drinking water and soft drinks during the events to be
organized by the Hockey Federation over the next three years.
The agreement will become effective with the Asian Games
Qualifying Round Hockey to be held on May 7-17 in the city.
Hockey Federation general secretary Khondaker Jamil Uddin said
the three-year contract is, however, renewable each year.
The sponsors will also consider providing financial
cooperation to the Hockey Federation in holding the hockey
events, he informed.
Alamgir named
observer of Bangladesh cricket team
TBT Report
Director of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the General
Secretary of Chittagong Divisional Sports Association
Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir has been named as the observer
of the Bangladesh National Cricket Team for the
forthcoming ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, to be held
held in West Indies next month.
BCB took the decision at an emergency meeting on Thursday.
Bangladesh will play Pakistan and Australia in the group
stage competitions of the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup.
Sports Minister inaugurates
DRU Sports
TBT Report
State Minister for Youth and Sports Ahad Ali Sarkar
formally inaugurated the annual sports competitions of
Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) at its office on Thursday.
This time DRU annual sports competitions include nine
events - chess, bridge, carrom, table tennis, badminton,
swimming, shooting, archery and mini marathon.
The Blazer BD is sponsoring the competition. State
Minister for Youth and Sports Ahad Ali Sarkar announced an
allocation of Taka two lakh to make the event a success.
Director of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Dewan Shafiul
Arefin Tutul, the Chief Executive Officer of The Blazer BD
Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapal, President of DRU Shamim
Ahmed and General Secretary Pathik Shaha were also present
on the occasion.
Case filed against Shoaib, Sania for hurting Muslim
sentiments
BSS/PTI, Hyderabad
In fresh trouble for Shoaib Malik and his wife Indian
tennis star Sania Mirza, police have registered a case
against them and 12 others for allegedly hurting
sentiments of Muslims by violating religious traditions in
the Pakistani cricketer's divorce and marriage.
Based on a private complaint lodged by a city-based Muslim
organisation in south Indian city of Hyderabad, the court
of Third Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has
referred the matter to Station House Officer of Banjara
Hills Police here for investigation and asked for a report
on it by May 26. West Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police
Stephen Ravindra said on Thursday.
"After the court order, a case was registered last night.
We have to investigate and a status report will be filed
before the court," Ravindra told PTI.
The complainant Moullim Mohsin Bin Hussain Al-Kasary,
founder president of Mazlumeen-e-Ummatay Mohammediya
organisation, has accused the Pakistani cricketer, Sania
and her father as well as Shoaib's first wife Ayesha
Siddiqui and family friends of hurting religious
sentiments over matters relating to Shoaib's divorce to
Ayesha and his subsequent marriage to the tennis star
earlier this month.
According to the complainant, Shoaib had initially said he
never married Ayesha, a Hyderabadi girl, but had later
divorced her. "There is no official divorce, but the 14
accused declared that divorce proceedings are over and got
the public, particularly Muslims, confused and insulted
their religious feelings," Al-Kasary has alleged.
The case under section 295 A (hurting religious sentiments
of others) of IPC has been registered against the 14
persons, Ravindra said.
He said police would first verify whether any allegations
could be made out or not. "We should go a little deep into
the complaint. After going through the court order, the
SHO Banjara Hills will decide on questioning of the 14
persons," Ravindra said. "We will look into the whole
matter and then decide," he said.
Meanwhile, Shoaib and Sania reportedly left Hyderabad for
Pakistan on Wednesday night.
When asked if Shoaib and Sania had taken a flight from the
RGI Airport, an official said they might have left like
normal passengers as there was no specific information on
their departure with the protocol department. "We exactly
cannot say if the couple took a flight from RGI Airport,"
the official said.
Rogge leads global
tributes to Samaranch
BSS/AFP, Geneva
Political leaders and the cream of the world sport's
governing elite have paid tribute to Juan Antonio
Samaranch, the former International Olympic Committee
chief who died on Wednesday.
Samaranch, 89, displayed "extraordinary vision and talent"
in unifying the Olympic movement, his successor Jacques
Rogge said.
"I cannot find the words to express the distress of the
Olympic Family," said Rogge, who in 2001 took over after
the Spaniard has served 21 years at the helm of the most
powerful organisation in sport.
"I am personally deeply saddened by the death of the man
who built up the Olympic Games of the modern era, a man
who inspired me, and whose knowledge of sport was truly
exceptional."
He added: "We have lost a great man, a mentor and a friend
who dedicated his long and fulfilled life to the Olympic
movement."
Spain's King Juan Carlos and his wife Sofia sent a message
of condolence to the bereaved family acknowledging his
"vocation in the service of Spain, Catalonia and Olympism",
the royal household said.
The royal couple will attend his funeral in Barcelona
Thursday. Russia's leaders paid their own tributes.
"Juan Antonio Samaranch was a great friend of our country
and his death is a loss not only for those who were linked
to the Olympic movement but for all the residents of
Russia," President Dmitry Medvedev said in a telegram.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a telegram paid tribute
to a "brilliant, multi-talented, wonderfully good-humoured
and open person."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy lauded Samaranch's
attempts to reach out beyond national boundaries to make
the Olympics a truly global event. "A very big and very
important figure, Mr Samaranch facilitated the growth in
power of the Olympic movement by opening it up to every
athlete and every country," said a statement from Sarkozy.
Lamine Diack, president of world athletics governing body
the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)
also paid tribute.
"Samaranch worked with great energy, intelligence and the
skills of a natural diplomat to create a unified Olympic
movement and to ensure that the Olympic Games became the
world's most influential sporting event," said Diack.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter saluted Samaranch's "sense of
commitment" and efforts "to protect sport" during a
35-years acquaintance.
"I always held him in great esteem," said Blatter.
Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner said: "Juan
Antonio Samaranch was one of the great figures of the
Olympic movement and an exceptional ambassador for the
world of sport...
"The Olympic flame burns brighter today thanks to the
extraordinary leadership of Juan Antonio Samaranch."
Further tributes poured in from around the world, with Seb
Coe, chairman of the 2012 London Olympics organising
committee and a close friend of Samaranch, praising his
leadership qualities.
"I have lost a friend, one that moulded my path through
sport from my early 20s, and the world has lost an
inspirational man," said Coe, who won Olympic gold in the
1500m at the 1980 Games in Moscow and the 1984 Los Angeles
games.
"A man that challenged us all to fight for sport, its
primacy and its autonomy, a fight he led fearlessly from
the front, creating an extraordinary sporting movement
that reaches millions of people around the world."
Craig Reedie, the former British Olympic Association
chairman and an IOC member since 1994, credited Samaranch
with encouraging London to bid for the 2012 Games after
previous unsuccessful bids from Birmingham and Manchester.
"He was quite clear that the only British city that would
win was London," recalled Reedie.
"He used to give me a hard time over Wembley because it
wasn't designed like the Stade de France (in Paris) with a
running track as well."
Competitors at the ATP Barcelona Open tennis tournament,
which Samaranch often attended, remembered the Catalan
with a minute's silence prior to the second-round match
between Spaniards David Ferrer and Marcelo Granollers.
N’Zogbia arrested over suspected driving test
scam
AFP, London
Wigan's French winger Charles N'Zogbia has been arrested
on suspicion of getting someone else to sit part of his
driving test, police said on Thursday.
The 23-year-old, who lives near Manchester, was taken into
police custody on Wednesday at a driving test centre on
suspicion of fraud by false representation after turning
up to do the practical part of his examination.
It is understood officials called police after suspecting
he had got someone else to take the theory section of his
test.
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said: "At
about 8.30am on Wednesday April 21, 2010, police working
alongside the Driving Standards Agency arrested a
23-year-old man at Sale driving test centre on suspicion
of fraud by false representation.
"The man has been bailed until June 3 2010 pending further
inquiries."
N'Zogbia, who joined Wigan from Newcastle last year,
scored the winning goal for his side in the upset 3-2 win
over Arsenal on Sunday.
Nakamura urges Japanese to go abroad
AFP, Tokyo
Former Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura has criticised his
fellow countrymen as insular for staying at home and urged
them to play abroad for their own good and to boost
Japan's place in world football.
"Players really need to just get out of Japan and go and
play overseas. They are too pampered in the environment
they are in here," the midfield schemer told Kyodo news
agency in an interview published Thursday.
"It would be great for the national team if there were 20
players overseas and 13 of them were getting called up for
international duty," added the left-footed playmaker,
known for his pinpoint passing and free-kicks.
Nakamura, 31, returned to his old J-League home Yokohama
F. Marinos in February after completing only six months of
a two-year deal with Espanyol, where he struggled to get a
game, playing only 13 La Liga matches.
With the World Cup in South Africa fast approaching,
Junichi Inamoto quit Rennes to join Kawasaki Frontale in
January, while Shinji Ono signed with another J-League
outfit, Shimizu S-Pulse, after leaving Bochum.
There are about 10 Japanese still plying their trade in
Europe, including CSKA Moscow's Keisuke Honda, Makoto
Hasebe of Wolfsburg and Grenoble's Daisuke Matsui-all
midfielders who have regularly worn the Blue Samurai
shirt.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada has also started calling up
Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto as the Asian champions,
lacking firepower, face Cameroon, the Netherlands and
Denmark in a tough World Cup group.
Nakamura, who started his seven-and-a-half-year stint in
Europe at Italy's Reggiana and helped Celtic to the
Scottish Premier League title three times, admitted the
Spanish league was tough.
"I was only there for a short time but learned so many
things. When you are professional, results are
everything," he told Kyodo. "At the end of the day, I
didn't get playing time simply because I couldn't make the
cut."
But he said fear of not playing regularly should not stop
other Japanese players following in his footsteps.
"Of course players are scared that if they go abroad and
don't get picked then their national team chances will be
in jeopardy," he said, "but if you really want to improve
as a player then go and you will improve."
South Africa Academy team scores 371
UNB, Chittagong
Touring Standard Bank South Africa National Cricket
Academy team scored 371 runs for all in 77.2 overs in
first innings against GP-BCB National Cricket Academy side
on the
first day of the first four-day match at the Zahur Ahmed
Chowdhury Stadium here on Thursday.
Batting first after winning the toss, South Africa Academy
team posted the good total with skipper cum lower order
batsman Wiann Van Zyi scoring 84 runs off 74 balls that
featured eight fours and five sixes.
Y Valle (48), K Maharaj (47), M Mosehle (46), D Miller
(42) and K Zondo (39) were the other major contributors
for the visitors.
Mahmudul Hasan claimed three wickets for 62 runs while
Tanvir Haider and Saqlain Sajib took two wickets each for
26 and 88 runs respectively.
In reply, hosts GP-BCB National Cricket Academy team
scored 23 for 1 in 10 overs in the first innings when
bails were drawn for the day with skipper Mohammad Mithun
and Shuvagoto Hom batting with 5 and 6 runs respectively.
Earlier, Nadimuddin scored 9 runs off 21 balls with a
boundary for the home side. D Pienaar took the lone wicket
for 8 runs in 4 overs.
No Venus for US against Russia in Fed Cup
BSS/AFP, Birmingham
Venus Williams will not compete for the United States in
this weekend's Fed Cup semifinal tie against Russia
because of nagging leg injuries similar to those of sister
Serena.
"I waited until this moment in hopes that I would have an
opportunity to play, but I am being advised by my medical
support team that I will need more time to recover,"
Williams said in a statement Wednesday.
The elder Williams sister wore wrappings on both legs in a
finals loss to Kim Clijsters earlier this month at a
hardcourt event in Miami.
"She has been trying to get better," Fernandez said.
"Obviously I knew it was going to be tough for her because
she hurt herself at the end of the Miami tournament and
couldn't hit balls until the last week or so.
"I did everything I could do to give her as much time as
possible to see if she got better. She's not quite there."
Fernandez will send Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands
and Liezel Huber against the Russians and fill the spot
she was holding open for Venus with either Sloane Stephens
or Christina McHale.
Shoaib Akhtar dreams of Pakistan World Cup win
BSS/AFP, Karachi
Injury-plagued paceman Shoaib Akhtar said Thursday he
dreams of winning the World Cup for Pakistan next year,
despite a series of setbacks and scandals that have kept
him out of the game.
The 34-year-old paceman, who has not played for the
Pakistan national team since May last year, took 6-52 in a
domestic one-day match on Wednesday night, furthering his
comeback campaign.
"I am fit and bowling in rhythm," Akhtar told reporters.
"I know the problems I have faced in my career, but the
dream to feature in the final of the 2011 World Cup in
Mumbai is still alive and I want to help Pakistan win the
World Cup in a year's time."
India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will host the tenth World
Cup between February and April next year.
Akhtar's 13-year career has been plagued by injuries and
discipline problems, the latest of which ended in a record
fine of seven million rupees (83,000 dollars) in February.
He was originally banned for five years in April 2008 on
charges of violating the players' code of conduct. The ban
was reduced to 18 months by an appeals committee, which
levied the massive financial penalty.
Akhtar appealed against the ban and fine in the Lahore
High Court. The court suspended the ban, allowing him to
play again, but upheld the fine.
"I don't want to live in the past. Now I am fit and
playing and have proved my fitness. My performance has
never been in doubt, so it's now up to the selectors when
they give me a chance," said Akhtar.
Akhtar was left out of Pakistan's World Twenty20 squad
last month and was also expelled from the list of
contracted players.
"I have experience which is precious and my competition is
only with myself," said Akhtar, who is focusing on
Pakistan's six Test matches in England between July and
September this year.
"I know I have suffered fitness problems but all fast
bowlers suffer with that. I am still focused and want to
play for Pakistan and finish on a high."
Robben strike gives Bayern slim advantage over
Lyon
BSS/AFP, Munich
Dutch winger Arjen Robben's strike sealed Bayern Munich's
1-0 victory over Lyon on Wednesday to give the German
giants an advantage for the second-leg of the Champions
League semi-final.
The first-half dismissal of Bayern's Franck Ribery for a
dangerous challenge was cancelled out by Lyon's France
defender Jeremy Toulalan also getting sent off just after
the break for a second yellow card before Robben's winning
goal.
Since joining Bayern from Real Madrid in August 2009,
Robben has now scored 20 goals in all competitions, but
none so important as his 69th-minute strike which bounced
off the back of team-mate Thomas Mueller and into the net.
"It was tremendously important that we kept our composure,
even with ten men," said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm with
Mark van Bommel suspended.
"We played well and held the ball well.
"It will be hard to comfort Franck after his red card, he
is an excellent footballer who always wants to win.
"It is bitter for us that he is suspended for the second-
leg."
All the pre-match hype was around Ribery, who was
questioned by French police at the weekend after being
involved in the under-age call-girl scandal which has
rocked the French football team. Ribery kept a low profile
going into the game, but both he and Toulalan will now
miss the second-leg next week back in Lyon.
Having had his chances to score, Ribery was shown a
straight red by referee Roberto Rosetti on 37 minutes for
a dangerous foul on Lyon's striker Lisandro Lopez as he
body- checked the Argentinian while fighting for the ball.
Bayern's fans were braying for blood after Rosetti flashed
his red card, especially as Lopez was quickly on his feet
after initially writhing in agony.
The game's tempo dropped as Bayern Louis van Gaal
reorganised his team into a more offensive formation as it
stayed 0-0 at the break.
At the interval, Bayern's defensive midfielder Anatoliy
Tymoshchuk came on for striker Ivica Olic, but Lyon were
soon also reduced to ten men when France defender Toulalan
seemed to let the occasion get to him.
Having carelessly left his trailing leg to trip Robben, he
sent the Dutchman tumbling to the turf to earn himself a
yellow card on 51 minutes.
Then just three minutes later, he kicked away Bastian
Schweinsteiger's leg when challenging for a ball and
Rosetti was reaching for his red card before
Schweinsteiger landed on the pitch on 54 minutes.
Lyon coach Claude Puel immediately brought on Cameroon
midfielder Jean Makoun for Miralem Pjanic to bring on
fresh legs, while van Gaal brought in Germany striker
Mario Gomez for midfielder Danijel Pranjic on 63 minutes.
Gomez, who has struggled for confidence since his transfer
from Stuttgart more than 18 months ago, missed a clear
header created by Robben, but the pressure finally told
for Bayern.
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