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Leading
News
FFs to campaign against electoral
entente with Jamaat
UNB, Dhaka
Sector Commanders of the
1971 Liberation War on Saturday announced that freedom
fighters along with the people would resist any electoral
alliance involving Jamaat-e-Islami or any anti-liberation
organization for that matter.
"Jamaat will not get a single seat if there be no
electoral alliance," Air Vice-Marshal (retd) AK Khandaker
said at an opinion- exchange meeting with the electronic
media at the Sector Commanders Forum’s office at Banani.
Demanding trial of war criminals, Khandaker said they
would hope political parties would make a pledge in their
election manifestos to try the war criminals if they
returned to power.
He said the Sector Commanders Forum would hold a national
convention on March 15 at Bangladesh-China Friendship
Conference Centre with the permission of the
administration.
After the meet, they would hold dialogue with
pro-liberation and democratic political parties to take a
clear stance against war criminals and anti-liberation
organizations.
Former Army Chief Maj Gen (retd) AKM Shafiullah said
political governments in the past could not hold trial of
the war criminals, but the incumbent neutral caretaker
government should not have any hesitation to initiate the
process of the trial.
He also suggested that it must be made sure that war
criminals can not participate in next general election.
Sector Commander Maj Gen (retd) C.R Dutta was present at
the meeting.
The meeting was told that a list of 37,000 war criminals
was prepared during the 1972-75 period, but later
"President Zia’s government pardoned some 26,000 war
criminals".
Meanwhile, speakers at a seminar at the Muktijoddha Museum
today joined their voice with the demanded for trial of
war criminals.
Former Chief Advisor of caretaker government Justice
Habibur Rahman said the government should make a move for
putting the war criminals to trial and a "clear law should
be enacted so the war criminals couldn’t contest
elections".
Chief Advisor Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed had earlier declined to
initiate the trial for the 1971 war crimes, saying that
his government has time constraints and is focused on
holding the elections by the December deadline.
Nine injured in BCL-JCD clash at DU
DU Correspondent
Centering a football match a
fierce clash between Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) at Jahurul Haque Hall on
Dhaka University campus left at least eight students and a
provost injured seriously on Saturday evening.
The injured are Provost of the hall Zahidul Islam, BCL
activists Ashraf, Mazhar, Rahat and Nayan and JCD
activists Rokon, Shohagh, Shahzada and Faisal. They were
rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital immediately.
As soon as the news spread, student fronts of both Awami
League and BNP have taken position at their respective
dormitories. On receipt of the information, heavy
contingents of law enforcers have been deployed in and
around the university campus.
According to witnesses when a friendly football match
between senior and junior leaders and activists of JCD was
on at the playground of the hall, a group of BCL activists
asked them to stop playing saying a student organisation
can not arrange such a match in a hall playground where
the residents of the dormitories play.
In reply, the JCD leaders told them that they are playing
taking prior permission from the hall authorities. At one
stage the two student wings of two major political parties
locked in a serious altercation and chased each other.
Within moments, the hall area turned into a
battle filed.
Being informed Zahidul Islam, provost of the hall rushed
to the spot and tried to control the situation requesting
both the BCL and JCD to cool down but they became furious
and did not respond to the provost request. After being
barred by the student activists, when the provost again
tried to refrain them, he was caught in the clash and was
injured. The police brought the situation under control.
All entry points leading to university campus were sealed
following the clash. A tense situation is prevailing in
the dormitories till the filing of this report at 8 pm as
activists of both the student organisations were taking
preparation for further fights, is learnt.
A five-member probe committee was formed to investigate
the matter and was asked to submit report within three
days.
DIG Prisons tells TBT
Jalil’s health condition deteriorates
Staff Correspondent
The health condition of detained Awami League General
Secretary Abdul Jalil further deteriorated and a five
member medical board may advise to send him abroad for
better treatment.
Talking to The Bangladesh Today, DIG Prisons Major Shamsul
Haider Siddique said, "AL leader Abdul Jalil is still
undergoing treatment at LabAid Cardiac Hospital in the
capital. His health condition is unstable."
"A six-member Medical Team, led by Chief Cardiologist Dr
Motiur Rahman, is examining his medical reports and
expected to submit their recommendations in this
connection at 8:30pm,"said Major Siddique to this
correspondent at 6pm yesterday.
The other members of the Medical Board are Cardiology
Specialist Prof Boren Chakraborty, Kidney Specialists -
Prof Rafiqul Islam, Prof Anisul Haque and Prof Abdus Samad-
and Orthopaedic Specialist Dr Gouranga Boiragi.
"I visited the Hospital at 11am today. The wife of the
former AL minister also met him," he added. Earlier, Dr
Motiur Rahman told the newsmen, "The health condition of
Abdul Jalil is critical. On Friday night, he suffered mild
heart failure as his kidneys were not functioning."
Asked about the present situation, he said, "After an
injection, his condition improved a little, but if it
happens further or two kidneys don’t function properly,
his condition will worsen anytime. He needs kidney
dialysis or kidney transplantation."
While attention was drawn to the health condition the
chief cardiologist said, "His heart cannot take any
pressure. On the other hand, he is also suffering from
pulmonary oedema that causes blood to gather in the
lungs."
Here it may be mentioned, Jalil underwent bypass surgery
and a pacemaker had been installed in his heart. As part
of the anti-corruption drive of the Army-backed Caretaker
Government, Jalil was arrested from his Motijheel
Mercantile Bank Office on May 29 last year. He was rushed
into LabAid Cardiac Hospital due to falling ill coincided
with various other complications on July 15.
According to sources, family members of Jalil and AL want
kidney transplantation and demanded of the government to
free the detained senior AL leader.
Roundtable
on Local Government
Staff Correspondent
Awami League presidium member Suranjit Sen Gupta urged the
Government to start the much-talked-about dialogue with
the political parties to pave the way for holding a free,
fair and credible election.
He was speaking at a roundtable discussion on, ‘Proposed
Local Government Commission Ordinance and Supplementary
Proposals’ organized by 27 organizations including
Governance Coalition at the CIRDAP auditorium on Saturday.
The veteran politician said, "Keeping the national
election under focus, there is no provision to hold the
local government elections before general election and if
the Government wants to strengthen the local Government to
decentralize the power, the parliament election is a
must."
About the proposed local Government commission ordinance,
Suranjit said, " if the Government had any good intention
before forming local Government commission, it would
discuss the issue with the political parties as the
Government should keep in mind that this commission will
have to be passed by the parliament."
The AL leader further added: "Before finalizing such
ordinance, it needs to be discussed in the parliament
where representatives from all section will give their
opinions. As this caretaker government is
unconstitutional, so this could be a big problem for them
to finalize such ordinance."
He said the local Government would not be effective
keeping the parliament under confinement and it would not
be able to work for the betterment of the people.
Suranjit said, "I think the caretaker government should
handover the power to the people’s representatives through
holding the next general election as early as possible and
the elected government will take necessary steps to
strengthen the local government system."
Speaking at the roundtable, BNP vice-president M K Anwar
said, "Two years are going to be passed but the EC is yet
to complete the work of voter lists with photographs and
it seems to me that they forgot their main task of holding
the stalled general
election."
Criticizing the caretaker Government, MK Anwar said, "Do
you think that the Election Commission has been
reconstituted? In the name of reforms, they invited some
people in to a tea party and exactly there is no change in
the EC and ACC, reform is a ongoing process and the
political leaders should learn from the past."
Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon said the
proposed local government commission would not be able to
play any role, without making recommendations.
About the local Government election, he said, "the
Government decision to hold the local Government polls
before general election has a political ploy and such
unelected Government often does it as we have seen it
earlier."
BNP Acting office Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed said,"
If we can ensure autonomy of the local Government, it
would be effective for empowering the local leaders
involved in the Government."
CPB General Secretary Mujahidul Islam Salim said, "The
local Government must be free from political intervention
if we want an effective strong local Government."
President of Progressive Democratic Party Ferdous Ahmed
Qureshi said, "We have seen that such commissions formed
earlier were controlled by the Government and it worked as
a political institution of a particular party. So the
Government should form a local Government commission
considering these matters."
Water
pollution takes serious turn
Firoz Mamun back from Narayanganj
Water pollution in the rivers Buriganga, Shitalakkha, Balu
and Turag has taken a serious turn due to dumping of
industrial chemicals, flesh and blood of tanneries, human
wastages and indiscriminate grabbing of the rivers’ banks,
threatening millions of people living on the banks with
serious health hazard and a loss of their livelihood.
This was observed when a group of journalists from print
and electronic media went to the rivers Buriganga,
Shitalakkha, Balu and Turag for covering report on the
spot. Save Environment Movement, an environment
organisation, arranged the site visit on Saturday. SEM
member Tofael Ahmed, expert Quamrul Islam and Nagorbashi
Sangathan’s President Ansar Ali were also in the
delegation of environmentalists.
After three hours long field visit, expressing grave
concern over the water pollution, they called upon the
government to take necessary measures to free the river
water from pollution and encroachment immediately. They
observed chemical wastes from different industries and
factories, human wastages from sewerage lines are pouring
into the river all the time causing serious pollution and
contamination of water.
This correspondent visiting the spot found poor people
living along the riversides taking bath and washing
clothes and utensils in the water of the Shitalakkha,
Buriganga, Balu and Turag.
The experts told newsmen that Dhaka Water and Sewerage
Authority (WASA) is supplying 2.2 million liters of water
daily to the city dwellers from this river after treatment
at Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant.
"As the water of these rivers including Shitalakkha are
totally contaminated and polluted so it is impossible to
treat properly this type of water in our country. So
contamination of Shitalakkha water might be one of the
reasons for stink in WASA water in the city," SEM
President Abu Naser Khan told newsmen during the visit.
He cautioned that the pollution in rivers water, the
ground water in Dhaka City will also be contaminated in
future if the pollution continues. The scenario is even
bleaker in the villages along the rivers as hundreds of
thousands of families living in Zinzira, Modhyerchar,
Wasspur, Basila, Looterchar, Sadarghat, Demra, Sharulia
and Kanchpur are suffering from bad smell, breathing
polluted air and using polluted water of the rivers which
have become the dumping zones of industries and Dhaka City
Corporation.
Talking to The Bangladesh Today, Maleka, a housewife at
Kanchpur area, said, "We are bound to take bath and clean
household materials in the polluted water of Shitalakkha
as we get very little of water from deep tube well. The
thick black poisonous water from BICIC industrial area and
other industries pours into this river. The river water is
so poisonous that we are instantly affected with various
skin diseases after taking bath in it."
Pollution in the rivers has rendered totally barren
hundreds of acres of agricultural land and also destroyed
the river water’s ecosystem. Once famous for variety of
local fishes, the rivers have no aquatic life right now.
Sources said the Dhaka industries are major polluters of
rivers and wetlands in and around the city, both by
emissions and effluents. The industries at Tejgaon,
Hazaribagh, Tongi, Shyampur, Demra and Kanchpur being
located adjacent to the city centre are causing major harm
to its environment. Tannery, cement, pulp, paper, sugar,
textile, food processing, engineering and chemical
industries as well as fertilizer and pesticides factories
are mostly contributing to this pollution.
Environment experts warned the people of Dhaka would be
the worst victims of river pollutions as the capital is
surrounded by the Balu and Shitalakkha on the east, Tongi
Khal on the north, Turag and Buriganga on the west and the
WASA is supplying water to the city dwellers everyday from
these rivers. They said dredging of silts and eviction of
land grabbers from both banks are needed for augmentation
of these rivers to increase water flow because this will
reduce water quality deterioration in and around Dhaka,
improve navigation and recreation, help groundwater
recharge and check the wetlands from being dried up.
"Construction of more water treatment plants and sewerage
treatments plants at Narayanganj, Badda, Uttara and Mirpur
and control over dumping of industrial effluents into the
rivers are necessary to save the city dwellers from water
pollution.
Moeen terms India visit
fruitful
Bdnews24, Dhaka
Army chief Moeen U Ahmed termed his India visit fruitful
on Saturday, saying the visit would intensify friendly
relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Moeen spoke to reporters as he visited Shantiniketan, the
famous university founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath
Tagore. The army chief arrived at Shantiniketan from
Kolkata by helicopter at 12 noon, with university
officials according him a warm reception, bdnews24.com’s
Kolkata correspondent told bdnews24.com by phone. As Moeen
was shown round the international university, he told
reporters: "I feel very proud and happy to be able to come
to this place which bears the memory of the great poet
Rabindranath Tagore."
He also said Bangladesh police had placed great importance
on the investigation into the theft of the Bengali poet’s
Nobel medal. The army chief is scheduled to return home at
the conclusion of his India visit after his return to
Kolkata in the afternoon.
Back Page
RMG Sector
Broad-based strategy needed
to strengthen competitiveness
Staff Correspondent
To promote export in the USA
by taking the full advantage of the 'New Partnership for
Development Act' (NPDA), Bangladesh needs to pursue a
broad-based strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of
the garment industry as well as diversify production to
other labour intensive products.
Sources said, in October 2007, the NPDA was introduced in
the US House of Representatives with the goal of providing
an additional trade preference programme for the
least-developed countries (LDCs) under a market access
initiative.
The NPDA stipulates duty-free access to the US market for
all products from the least-developed countries and
low-income sub-Saharan African countries.
It may mentioned that the ministerial session of the World
Trade Organisation (WTO) decided to offer preference for
97 percent of LDC products in 2005 excluding major garment
items.
As a result of the WTO ministerial decision, garment
products from Bangladesh do not receive any preferential
treatment in the United States, and have to enter the US
market by paying taxes.
If the NPDA is materialized, it will provide duty-free
access to garments, creating a great opportunity for
Bangladesh to boost readymade garment export to the US,
sources in the Export Promotion Bureau said.
In the midst of fierce competition and withdrawal of quota
restriction on the products of China and duty-free access
could provide an important boost for the ready-made
garment industry of Bangladesh.
Currently, 33 percent of the country's total apparel
exports go to the US market. The average tariff on
Bangladesh garments was 15 percent in 2006, which meant
that around 500 million US dollars of import duties were
imposed at customs entry points.
According to a recent study conducted by the Centre for
Policy Dialogue(CPD), duty-free access could result in
export promotion to the US increasing by 500 million US
dollars to 1,000 million US dollars.
But to obtain potential benefits from the NPDA, Bangladesh
must meet some eligibility criteria including enforcement
of core labour rights, acceptable conditions of work,
health and safety, elimination of barriers to trade and
investment by creating a conducive environment for
domestic and foreign investment, an established system to
combat corruption, enforcement of laws to manage natural
resources in an environment-friendly manner, relevant
sources said.
There is growing apprehension that Bangladesh will lose
the great opportunity to diversify exports to the US
market by fully exploiting the duty-free excess if it
confines itself only to garments.
Meeting NPDA eligibility criteria and diversifying across
product lines will require an improved business climate,
adequate incentives for local entrepreneurship development
and proper appraisal fo foreign investment proposals. To
boos the investment climate, policy reforms, institutional
changes and development of infrastructure are needed
immediately, sources said.
Bangladesh will face a huge challenge to stay competitive
in the global market with the expiry of the European Union
and United States quota restriction on China which has
much larger and modern capacity in ready-made garment
sector.
Bangladesh economy relies mostly on the RMG sector for
employment, income generation and foreign exchange
earnings. So, the country cannot afford to lose its
present position abroad regarding ready-market garment
export.
The key advantage of Bangladesh over other Asian producers
is still confined to low labour cost. But this is
gradually eroding with differences in other cost, quality,
design, delivery times and other non-price factors.
So, the Bangladesh RMG industry needs joint public and
private initiatives to improve its international image and
market orientation in the fast-changing environment. Image
building and branding products can help achieve high value
addition and strengthen the industry's reputation
internationally.
Increase in overseas employment
Staff Correspondent
When attention was drawn to
a news-item in a section of the media that the Bangladeshi
manpower market abroad is shrinking, a spokesman of the
Ministry of Expatriate's Welfare and Overseas Employment
said that the statistics prove this to be incorrect.
On the contrary there has been a phenomenal expansion of
the market, he said. In the past year i.e., 2007 January -
December 2007, the number of workers who have been cleared
to go abroad is 8,32,000. This is compared to 3,81,000 of
the previous year i.e., January 2006 to December 2006,
said a Foreign Ministry release issued to the press on
Saturday.
In fact in January and February this year a total of
1,59,000 have gone compared to 78,000 at the same time in
2007. Obviously, these are record numbers.
Recently, despite some reports to the contrary, workers
have continued to be employed in Saudi Arabia and
Malaysia. To Saudi Arabia in February alone, 20,200 have
already gone, and the flow continues. To Malaysia the
figure for February has been 10,9,56 and the flow is also
continuing.
As to reports of problems faced by Bangladeshis in Saudi
Arabia, the spokesman said Saudi authorities have denied
that any particular community has been targeted for legal
action, or alleged harassment. The Saudis have
categorically stated that Saudi authorities have not been
influenced by propaganda by any community against another.
The Ministry in Dhaka has been making appeals to all
members of the Bangladeshi community in Saudi Arabia to
continue to abide by Saudi laws so that the majority do
not suffer for the mistakes of a few.
The Ambassador in Riyadh has been making contacts with the
Saudi government and high level visits to that country and
discussions with their authorities are being planned. "We
must work together in a way that the host government is
not unduly embarrassed," the spokesman stressed.
In fact at this very moment a Saudi Company from Dallah
Group is recruiting a large number of technical and
professional workers in Dhaka.
As to Malaysia, several measures have already been
undertaken to reduce difficulties faced by Bangladeshi
labour. These have been released to the media. The Adviser
in charge, Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, in a recent brief
visit to that country has held discussions with senior
Malaysian officials. Formal bilateral consultations are on
the cards soon between Bangladesh and Malaysia.
New markets in other countries, including in Europe, are
being identified. All Bangladeshi Missions abroad have
been instructed to accord the highest priority to the
welfare of Bangladeshis. Efforts are also underway to
upgrade skills and quality of Bangladeshi manpower for
better jobs. A multi-pronged programme in this regard has
been undertaken by the Ministry and its agencies.
The Government acknowledges the huge contribution of the
expatriate community to the nation's development, and will
make every effort to advance the welfare of expatriate
Bangladeshis, the spokesman added. This sector requires
careful planning, and the Ministry is doing that, the
spokesman underscored.
Rebel charged over Benazir murder
AFP, Islamabad
A top Pakistani Taliban commander has been formally
charged with plotting the murder of former premier Benazir
Bhutto and declared an absconder Saturday, police said.
Baitullah Mehsud, an Al-Qaeda-linked militant commander
based in the tribal area of South Waziristan, is accused
by the Pakistan government and the United States CIA of
masterminding the assassination.
"We have submitted preliminary charges against Baitullah
Mehsud in connection with Benazir Bhutto's murder in an
anti-terrorism court Rawalpindi," a senior police official
told AFP.
"The court has declared Mehsud and four other suspects
absconders in the case and issued non-bailable warrants
for their arrest," the official said but declined to give
further details. Five other people have already been
arrested in connection with the gun and suicide attack in
Rawalpindi on December 27.
Bhutto was the target of militants because she had backed
the government's action against terrorists and was seen as
pro-Western, according to investigators. Her Pakistan
People's Party has demanded a UN probe rejecting the
findings by British police that a lone assassin shot her
but missed and then detonated explosives, which made her
fatally smash her skull against her car.
Crime Watch
Six terrors
arrested in city
Staff Correspondent
At least six terrorists were arrested from different
places in the city and firearms and ammunition were
recovered from their possession on Saturday.
According to sources, acting on a tip-off, a patrol team
of RAB-2 led by assistant superintendent of police Ali
Hossain went science laboratory staff quarter under New
Market police station at about 2.45 pm and arrested Kamal,
Rahim, Babu, Shahidul while they were preparing for commit
crime.
Two foreign made pistols with 40 rounds of bullets were
recovered after searching their bodies. RAB also seized
two motorbikes from their possession. The arrestees were
accused in several cases including murder and they also
used to collect tolls from innocent people showing
firearms, RAB sources said.
Besides, on the basis of secret information, a team of
RAB-4 led by assistant superintendent of police, Nazmul
Hasan went Mirpur Miabari area at about 12:30 noon and
arrested Aiub Ali and Mosharaf. RAB members recovered 70
fake note of Tk 500. RAB sources said the arrestees are
the member of an organised fake money trading group.
Meanwhile, a team of RAB-4 led by lieutenant, Nafiz Ahmed
went to Dipnagar of Mirpur area at about 9 pm on Friday
and arrested Alam, 23 a close accomplice of top terror Taj.
A revolver, a pipe gun and bullets were recovered from
their possession.
Husband kills wife for dowry
A Correspondent, Sirajganj
A housewife was killed by her husband for dowry in
Sirajganj on Thursday and police recovered the deceased on
Friday noon.
Police said the husband, Md Mostafa, a weaver of Amtali
village in Bohuli union under sadar upazila killed his
wife, Morium Khatoon (22), by suffocating and then hanged
the body with the ceiling at midnight following a feud
over dowry.
Later, he and his parents fled off. After getting the
information, police recovered the dead and sent to
Sirajganj general hospital morgue for post mortem.
However, police recorded a case in this matter against
Mostafa and his parents. Md Mahabub Hossain, the police
officer-in-charge of sadar police station acknowledged the
incident, but no one was arrested till writing this
report.
Law enforcers show caused
A Correspondent, Barisal
A court in Barisal noticed district jail and police
officials to show cause on Thursday night for handing over
a prisoner from jail custody to police for interrogation
under remand without any court order.
Court sources said, Ebad Ali, sub-inspector of Hizla
police station under of the district and investigation
officer of Basir Rari murder case prayed before additional
chief judicial magistrate court of Barisal on Thursday for
granting seven days remand of Zamal Matubbar, living under
Barisal central jail custody as a suspected accused of
that case.
At that time the accused and his advocate claimed police
already interrogated Zamal under three days remand from
February 20-23 and shown signs of physical torture on his
body before the court. Md. Khademul Kayes, additional
chief judicial magistrate found no order of granting
remand on order sheet of the court and the investigation
officer denied fact. However Saidur Rahman Lincoln,
advocate of the accused, placed jail custody documents
that proved that Zamal was handed over to police from jail
on February 20, 2008 and backed to jail on February 23.
One gets life-term RI
A Correspondent, Madaripur
A court in Madaripur sentenced life-term Rigorous
Imprisonment (RI) to a man in a murder case on Wednesday.
The court also fined the convict Tk 3000 in default, to
suffer another one year RI more.
Court said sources said, the convict, Salam Akon (40), son
of Rashid Akon, of village Dhurail under Madaripur Sadar
Upazila of the district. Md. Habibur Rahman, the
additional and sessions judge pronounced the verdict.
According to the case story, Salam Akon hit his wife, Anna
Begum (25), by a mugur and she died instantly.
Later, Jahangir, brother of the victim logged a murder
case aganist Salam Akon with the Madaripur thana.
Extremist held at Meherpur
A Correspondent, Meherpur
Meherpur DB Police arrested an extremist on Thursday night
from the city's Chulkani Crossing area .
The arrested person has been identified as Zia son of late
Ummot of village Shibpur under Mujibnagar Upazila of the
district and an associate of notorious Hamid who died in a
gun battle with police a few months back. Acting on a
tip-off, OC, DB Hasan Hafizur Rahman raided the city's
Chulkani Crossing on Thursday night and managed to round
him up. Thana sources said he is an accused of a dozen of
cases including murder.
6 criminals busted
A Correspondent, Faridpur
Police in separate drives arrested six criminals three
mobile phone snatchers from different places under Bhanga
thana in Faridpur district.
Police source said, an organized hijacker group was being
active hijacking mobiles. On such an incident, the high
way police arrested Md Wahidul Islam (25), Md. Shohidul
Islam (28), and Md Mehadi (23). The arrestees are from
Telsara village under Kashiany upazilla of Gopalgonj
district. In another incident, Bhanga Thana police in a
drive at Choudhuri Kanda under Bhanga Municipality;
arrested three wanted criminals, Md. Sobhan (43), Md. Soro
(34) and Md. Harun (40).
4 drug peddlers arrested
UNB, Bagerhat
Police arrested four suspected drug peddlers and recovered
various types of drugs from them in the district on
Thursday.
Sources said Salma Begum, 32, Mafuza Begum, 31, and
Hossain Ali Gazi, 30, were arrested by police from
Katakhali bus stand on the Khulna-Mongla Highway in the
district at about noon. After searching them, police
recovered 85 bottles of Indian phensidyl from their
possessions.
In another drive, police arrested Mofijul Islam Mojgur,
27, from Muniganj area in the district town and recovered
10 small packs of heroin and six small packs of hemp.
BSS from Chapainawabganj adds: Nachole police arrested one
person and recovered 200 bottles of phensidyl from Rajbari
under Nachole upazila in the district on Thursday. The
arrested was identified as Yusuf, 30, of the North Uzirpur
under Shibganj upazila of the district. A case was filed
with concerned police in this connection.
2 drug traffickers held
BSS, Rangpur
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested two members of a
gang of cross border drug traffickers and seized huge
quantity of phensidyl in the outskirts of the city on
Thursday, police said.
Another one of the gang managed to flee sensing presence
of the elite force. Being tipped off, a special RAB team
challenged a Rangpur bound van-cart from Dinajpur at
Hajirhat point on the Dinajpur-Rangpur highway under
Rangpur Sadar upazila.
They arrested Mostak Hossain, 30, of Dhap area in Rangpur
city and Kalam, 32, of Shomsa Nagar village in Parbotipur
upazila of Dinajpur and seized 205 bottles of phensidyl
from their possessions. A case was filed with Kotwali
police station in this connection.
Editorial
Militants
Reorganizing
Historically,
Bangladesh has never provided fertile grounds for radicalism,
extremism and militancy of any hue, proclivity or ideology and
indeed radicals had often inveighed against the seeming
passivity and scepticism of the ‘masses’ in accepting and
supporting their agendas for political, social and economic
changes. Nevertheless, in some 500 years of active Bengali
nationalism, there were radical movements and even armed
revolts which now form a part of our folk-lore such as that of
‘Titu Mir’ (1830-31) or of Masterda Surja Sen (1930) but these
were always issue based and the movements and revolts did not
survive the repression of the British nor did they bring about
any radical changes in the socio-economic or political
conditions prevailing at that time.
Our entire history of struggle for our state-hood starting
from our Language Movement in 1948 to the start of our
Liberation War on 25 March 1971 is a testament to our
reticence and reluctance to take the extreme, militant path to
solving our social, economic or political problems. The
violence of the Liberation War was forced upon us by a
repressive and genocidal Pakistan; we would have much
preferred to part ways without conflict, violence and armed
strife. The ghosts of that violent upheaval of 1971 are still
chasing us in the form of collaborators and war criminals,
whom we are unable to bring to Justice 37 years after the
event.
In a post–independent Bangladesh, the communists in their
various manifestations were the only radical extremists ready
to take up arms to get their points of view across and their
role has been rather murky. They claim to have initiated the
“Sepahi-Janata Biplob” in 1975 but they were unable to either
control it or see it to its end. On the contrary that “Biplob”
put in train a chain of events which pulled the military into
politics and created conditions for the re-emergence of the
“Right” in Bangladeshi politics. The intentions of the 1975
“Biplob” was revolutionary but the outcome was entirely
reactionary. The “Left” was totally discredited in the eyes of
the “Masses” and it lost whatever little legitimacy it had,
breaking up into fringe armed groups operating in the
extremities of Bangladesh and fully engaged in criminal
activities.
The rise of the extreme “Right” is a rather strange phenomenon
in Bangladesh. With little education, ideology, organization,
material wherewithal and no mass support, these were the
extreme fringe of islamic fanatics who were used by the
religion-based political parties such as the Jamaat-e-Islami
to discredit secular politics and democracy. They had their
say too for a period from 1995 to 2007 in terms of bombings,
mayhem and murder but ultimately the State reacted by hanging
a few of them.
Radicalism, extremism and militancy whether of the Left or the
Right has no roots in Bangladesh; all they have been able to
do so far is to create a para-normal ‘law and order’
situation. The recent TBT report of the militants reorganizing
in various parts of the Country is alarming in the sense that
they portend a period of, at best, worsening “law and order”
at a time when the Nation is gearing up to go for elections in
a bid to get back on the road to democracy. The Emergency
Government, however ought not to disregard or ignore this
“de-stabilizing” factor and must infact carryout one of these
“drives” to net these criminals masquerading as
revolutionaries.
Scarcity of Safe Water
Bangladesh
is a land of rivers and naturally it is bestowed with water
resources. But unfortunately the country is facing scarcity of
safe drinking water. The crisis is acute in both urban and
rural areas as the rivers, canals, and ponds are drying up and
supply of water in the towns and cities is inadequate. Worse
still, in most areas the available water is contaminated and
risky for human consumption.
According to a newspaper report, experts have identified
different types of constraints in ensuring safe water in the
country, specially in the coastal belt, hilly region and city
slums. About 30 million people face health hazard due to
arsenic contamination while 55 million others are denied the
use of water from tubewells due to fall in the ground water
level during the dry season. Yet another 14 million in coastal
areas are badly affected due to excessive salinity.
Even in Capital Dhaka, only 45 percent of the dwellers have
access to safe drinking water as the city needs 2000 million
liters of water per day, but gets 1400 million liters only and
the deficit stands at 600 million liters. The shortfall is
attributed to deficiency in production, system loss, theft,
wastage and misuse of water. The water crisis becomes grave in
the dry season every year forcing the administration to deploy
army at WASA water centres to ensure smooth supply of water as
far as possible to ease the crisis. Yet, long queues of people
striving to fetch water are seen at different places of the
city as water shortage worsens with the advent of dry season.
Most of the city dwellers do not get water adequately while in
many areas water supplied by WASA is allegedly contaminated.
With rapid increase in the population of the ever expanding
capital, the water crisis continues to aggravate. But the
authorities are hardly being able to combat the situation. As
a result, the sufferings of even the city dwellers, not to
speak of the people of whole country, are intensifying day by
day. In view of this, the government should undertake
short-term and long-term programmes and projects to solve the
crisis in order to ensure supply of safe water to the people.
The issue deserves serious attention of the government as it
is rightly said, 'water is synonymous with life'.
Analysis
Obama’s Foreign Policy will
Win the World’s Respect
Nuclear disarmament between the U.S. and Russia which has
gathered dust during the Clinton/Bush years will be renewed,
partly as a way of decreasing growing tension between the West
and Russia.
Jonathan Power
Richard
Haas, the former high State department official in Republican
governments observes in his recent book, “The Opportunity”,
that the time has never been better for an organization of
great powers to bring peace and stability to the world. For
the first time in several hundred years the major nations are
not engaged in a struggle for dominance. “It is difficult to
exaggerate the significance of this development”, he writes.
This could also have been written at the end of the tenure of
President G.W. Bush and the onset of the presidency of Bill
Clinton. But Clinton lacked initiative and let the ball drop.
George W. Bush, who had even less experience, picked the ball
up but kicked it all over the field. Now fortune perhaps
smiles for second time. A Barack Obama presidency could do
what should have been done seventeen years ago at the end of
Cold War and secure a grand peace on major issues between the
major- and not so major- powers.
America has its problems of self-identity. Richard Hofstater
summed it up: “It has been our fate as a nation not to have
ideologies but to be one.” As Rabbit Angstrom, the main
character in many John Updike novels, said, “Without the Cold
War, what’s the point of being American?” America, committed
to its principals of liberty, democracy, individualism and
private property, has the weakness of seeming to need an “evil
empire” out there to feel fulfilled.
George Bush felt this viscerally and 9/11 gave him his cause-
Islamic militancy, which, by sleight of hand, he also turned
into a war on Iraq.
Fortunately there has always been a good 40% of Americans who
don’t think like Rabbit and never have. Now, I would guess,
another 20%, having experienced the depredations of Clinton
and Bush, are ready for a different read of what Gunnar Myrdal
called the ‘American Creed’. Instead of being motivated to be
involved in the outside world by security threats it is time
to be involved because of moral challenge. This is certainly
not the time to be isolationist and everything indicates that
if Obama becomes president he will not want to be, although
clearly a first item of business will be to withdraw from Iraq
and reconfigure the Western involvement in Afghanistan
(although he has yet to be as thorough in his thinking on
Afghanistan as he has been on Iraq).
But this will be, as the French say, the time “to withdraw so
as to better advance”. The contours of an Obama foreign
presidency already are becoming clear, partly through his own
statements and partly through those of his foreign policy
advisors, some of whom I’ve talked to.
There will be an end to the rhetoric of “the global war on
terrorism”. There will be a shift from dealing with Al Qaeda
by military might to one that depends more on intelligence and
police work (as with the latest Spanish arrests of a terrorist
cell). There will be an almighty push to secure a two state
solution to the Israeli/Palestinian dispute even though it
will mean profoundly upsetting the Israel lobby in Washington
(though probably not most rank and file American Jews). There
will be an end to unnecessary confrontation with Iran and,
although there will be no let up in the effort to make Iran
come clean on its bomb making activities, there will be a
preparedness, as is finally being done with North Korea, to
reach out and offer American cooperation on ending Iran’s
diplomatic and economic isolation.
There will be more of an effort to persuade the European Union
to stop Turkey feeling like an outcast and having no choice
but to become more Islamic. As for Europe itself, Washington
will no longer play at divide and rule, but will work to unite
Europe even more tightly. On one side this will mean no longer
encouraging London to distance itself from Brussels and the
Euro currency and on the other joining with Brussels to speed
up Ukraine’s economic and political development to enable
Ukraine to become an important member. It will also not look
askance at those who quietly are working to improve relations
between the West and Russia so that within a generation Russia
could join the EU too.
Nuclear disarmament between the U.S. and Russia which has
gathered dust during the Clinton/Bush years will be renewed,
partly as a way of decreasing growing tension between the West
and Russia, partly to eradicate the chance of an accidental
launch, partly to demonstrate to the world that if a country
is no longer an enemy then there is no reason to point rockets
at it and, not least, to honour past promises made in the
signing on the Non-Proliferation Treaty to show consistency
with the pursuit of persuading other countries not to develop
nuclear arms.
With China, links will grow and paranoia about its growing
military strength will subside.
The push for human rights observance will be more consistent.
No one will be allowed off the hook because they are a
‘useful’ ally. The turn around in African economic fortunes
will continue be supported, as it has usefully been by Bush.
In Kenya, his father’s land, Obama will personally bang the
leaders’ heads together.
An agenda like this will certainly compel the world to re
think its present scornful attitude towards America. It may
not decide to love America but it will make it respect it.
(Jonathan Power is an internationally renowned freelance
columnist. Copyright Jonathan Power. Dateline Madrid, Feb 29th
2008. E-mail: JonatPower@aol.com or phone: +46 706510879)
Indonesia:
Jemaah Islamiyah’s Publishing Industry
The publishing venture demonstrates JI’s resilience and the
extent to which radical ideology has developed roots in
Indonesia.
A
handful of members and persons close to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI),
Indonesia’s most prominent extremist organization, have
developed a profitable publishing consortium in and around the
pesantren (religious school) founded by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and
Abdullah Sungkar in Solo, Central Java. The consortium has
become an important vehicle for the dissemination of jihadi
thought, getting cheap and attractively printed books into
mosques, bookstores and discussion groups. The publishing
venture demonstrates JI’s resilience and the extent to which
radical ideology has developed roots in Indonesia. The
Indonesian government should monitor these enterprises more
closely, but they may be playing a useful role by channeling
JI energies into waging jihad through the printed page rather
than acts of violence.
Examining the titles printed permits tracking of a lively
internal debate within JI over the desirability of al-Qaeda
tactics. That debate seems to be taking place spontaneously,
without any assistance from the government “deradicalisation”
program, and it is important that it continue. Banning the
publishers or their books would be counterproductive. But more
scrutiny of the publishing activities would be desirable for
several reasons:
l
Publishing has increased as JI has weakened, likely reflecting
a decision from the top to focus on religious outreach and
recruitment as a way of rebuilding the organization. The books
produced may be part of that effort.
l
From translator to distributor, the publishing web is an
example of the social network that holds JI together,
particularly at a time of weakness. JI has proven itself
extraordinarily able to rebound from setbacks, and the
networks underpinning it may help explain why.
l
Although the publishing houses are owned by individuals, not
JI per se, some revenues are almost certainly being ploughed
back into JI activities.
l
Individual members close to Noordin Mohammed Top, perhaps the
region’s most dangerous at-large terrorist, may be working as
translators for JI publishers, despite the ideological gulf
between Noordin and the JI mainstream.
The best way to ensure adequate scrutiny would be for the
Indonesian government to enforce its own laws with respect to
publishing, labor, corporate registration and taxation. Such
enforcement would not only offer a means of monitoring these
enterprises, but it could also yield valuable information
about the size and status of the JI organization.
“These publishers are disseminating a radical message, but
they also may be playing a positive role by channeling JI
energies into jihad through the printed word rather than
through acts of violence,” says Sidney Jones, Crisis Group’s
Senior Adviser.
The importance of the JI publishers goes beyond the material
they publish. The network of printers, translators, designers,
marketers, and distributing agents is one of many webs binding
the organization together. If JI has shown extraordinary
resilience, the personal ties binding individuals involved in
the publishing industry helps explain why.
Publishing also provides a meeting ground between leading
figures in the JI mainstream, opposed to al-Qaeda-style
bombings on Indonesian soil, and a few men more associated
with fugitive terrorist Noordin Mohammed Top, who act as
translators of Arabic texts. While some of the books published
are simply downloads from al-Qaeda websites, others are tracts
by well-known Middle Eastern radicals who have rejected
terrorist tactics. These jihadi texts appear to be subsidized
by the sale of vastly more popular books on Islamic lifestyle
and worship.
“These publishing houses should not be closed down or their
books banned,” says John Virgoe, Crisis Group’s South East
Asia Project Director. “But by enforcing existing laws on
labor, trade, publishing and taxation, the government could
exert closer scrutiny than it is doing now and gain valuable
information at the same time.”
(The above is a press release by the International Crisis
Group; dateline: Jakarta/Brussels, 28 February 2008.
Source: www. Crisisgroup.org)
The
good within us could stop another Abu Ghraib
A situation that inflames evil in some people
can inspire heroism in others.
Philip Zimbardo
Evil is more
than words; it is ugly and has horrific consequences for
humanity. The photographic images taken by U.S. military
police playing the role of prison guards in Abu Ghraib prison,
some of which had remained unseen until I showed them recently
during a lecture at a Californian media conference, are a case
study of evil in action. They are vivid examples of digitally
documented depravity and dehumanisation. Of the thousands of
images from the cameras of these army reserve soldiers, which
I had reviewed as part of my task as an expert witness for one
of the accused guards, I arranged several dozen in a dramatic
sequence adding sound and movement to maximise the emotional
impact on the audience.
Over the last three decades, my research and that of my
colleagues has demonstrated the relative ease with which
ordinary people can be led to behave in ways that qualify as
evil. We have put research participants in experiments where
powerful situational forces - anonymity, group pressures or
diffusion of personal responsibility - led them blindly to
obey authority and to aggress against innocent others after
dehumanising them.
My recent book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good
People Turn Evil (Random House), describes the radical
transformations that took place among college students playing
randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards in a mock
prison created at Stanford University. In 1971, I wanted to
understand better what happens when you put good people in a
bad place, like prison. To do so, it was necessary to conduct
a controlled experiment, to select a group of volunteers who
were ordinary young men with no history of crime or violence,
and then assign them to play the roles of prisoner or guard in
a two-week experiment in which we could observe and record
everything that happened.
Those assigned to be prisoners lived in their cells and on the
prison yard all the time; the guards worked eight-hour shifts.
The experiment had to be terminated after only six days
because nearly half the prisoners had emotional breakdowns in
response to the extreme stress and psychological torments
sadistically invented by their guards. The situational forces
had overwhelmed many of these good, intelligent college
students.
Fast forward next to April 2004. Horror images flash across
our screens of humiliating abuses of Iraqi prisoners by young
American soldiers, men and women, in Abu Ghraib prison. The
military commanders condemn these criminal actions of a "few
bad apples," asserting that such abuses are not systematic in
our military prisons. The images were shocking to me, and to
others when I showed them in my slide show, but they were also
familiar because they were so similar to what I had seen in
our mock Stanford prison - prisoners naked, bags over their
heads, forced into sexually humiliating poses. To what extent
was their behaviour shaped by the same social psychological
forces that operated in the Stanford experiment, such as
dehumanisation? My conclusion, after having become an expert
witness for one of those military policemen, and reviewing all
the evidence of the many investigations into these abuses, was
that the parallels were palpable.
This body of work challenges the traditional focus on the
individual's inner nature and personality traits as the
primary - and often sole - factors in understanding human
failings. Instead, I argue that while most people are good
most of the time, they can readily be led to act antisocially,
because most are rarely solitary figures improvising
soliloquies on the empty stage of life. On the contrary,
people are often in an ensemble of different players, on a
stage with various props, scripts and stage directions.
Together, they comprise situations that can dramatically
influence behaviour.
Most institutions invested in an individualistic orientation
hold up the person as sinner, culpable, afflicted, insane or
irrational. Programmes of change follow a medical model of
rehabilitation - therapy, re-education, and treatment - or a
punitive model of incarceration and execution. But all such
programmes are doomed to fail if the main causal agent is the
situation or system, not the person.
We need not be slaves to situational forces. In experiments we
have conducted, we find that although most conform, yield and
succumb to the power of the situation, there are always some
who refuse and resist. They do so in part because they are
more sensitive to these situational pressures and are able to
engage effective mental strategies of resistance against
unwanted social forces.
In this sense, my book is a celebration of the human capacity
to choose kindness over cruelty, caring over indifference,
creativity over destructiveness, and heroism over villainy.
Considering fundamental strategies of resisting and
challenging unwanted social influences, I have introduced the
notion of "the banality of heroism." Most heroes are ordinary
people who engage in extraordinary moral actions. The idea
debunks the myth of the "heroic elect," which reinforces the
false notion of ascribing very rare personal characteristics
to people who do something special - to see them as
superhuman.
Source:
www.hindu.com
Viewpoints
Towards
True Dialogue
America’s next leader will have a chance to
alter the tone and substance of US foreign policy in ways that
could enhance mutual confidence between my country and the
people of this region.
Madeleine K. Albright
Doha
- To act wisely, we need to know as much as possible about
others and also about ourselves; one path to such knowledge is
dialogue.
In that quest, we convene this year at a moment of great
anticipation. Arab-Israeli peace talks have recommenced. In
Iraq, signs of hope are visible amid ongoing strife. And in
November, the United States will choose a new president.
America’s next leader will have a chance to alter the tone and
substance of US foreign policy in ways that could enhance
mutual confidence between my country and the people of this
region. If I were in a position to advise the new president, I
would point out the following:
First, it is a mistake to conceive of this region or the world
as divided between people who do no wrong and those who do no
right; between moderates and extremists, secular and
religious, evil and good.
Second, America’s enemy is not Islam, nor any subset of Islam.
In the fight against Al Qaeda, Americans of every faith and
faithful Muslims of every description are on the same side.
Third, neither America nor any other country can be considered
above the law. Power unhinged from law lacks legitimacy and
will inevitably be opposed.
Finally, America must pursue peace in a determined and
even-handed way. No US president will waver in supporting the
survival and security of Israel. Every US president should
respect the dignity and legitimate aspirations of the
Palestinian people.
As an observer of world affairs, I readily acknowledge that
the United States must think more deeply than it has in the
past about why its intentions have been misunderstood. True
dialogue is not incompatible with ignorance, hypocrisy, and
condescension, nor can it be based on the premise that one
people or civilization is superior to another. America has a
responsibility to learn more and lecture less.
Dialogue, however, is not a solo act.
Americans are blamed for perpetuating stereotypes, and this
criticism has validity. But the image of the United States
that is widespread in many Muslim societies is also grossly
distorted.
Though America has made mistakes, it is hardly the sole (or
even primary) source of violence, injustice, inequality, and
suffering in this region. It may be convenient for some
leaders to deflect popular frustration caused by their own
insecurities and selfishness, but it is not honest.
In this context, it is not sufficient simply to restate old
positions; peace requires new modes of thinking and the
courage to make history.
If we are to build bridges that will truly narrow the divide
that confronts us, we must first recognize both our shared
interest in finding solutions and our shared responsibility
for resolving differences. Neither America nor any other
government can or should try to impose remedies. All can and
must pursue progress in a cooperative spirit.
By progress, I mean a genuinely viable two-state solution in
the Middle East; an Iraq that is united, stable and at peace
both with itself and its neighbors; an Iran — and a United
States — that respect the right to self-governance of other
lands; a region united against Al Qaeda and its offshoots and
allies; and a future where children of all backgrounds and
faiths can grow up without fear.
To these purposes, let us reason and act together, while also
heeding the lessons we have learned together. From the New
Testament: Blessed are the peacemakers. From the Hebrew Bible:
Swords into ploughshares. And from the noble Holy Qur’an:
Enter into peace one and all.
(This article was adapted from comments made by Madeleine K.
Albright, former US Secretary of State, at the US-Islamic
World Forum in Doha, 16-18 February 2008.
Source: Khaleej Times, 18 February 2008.Copyright permission
is granted for publication.)
State of Indian economy
India is rich but unequal.
Billionaires compete well with their counterparts in America.
Millionaires in India are cheaper by the dozen. Yet the common
man has made little progress.
Debbie Menon
IF
you want to assess a country's progress you should pick up the
poorest from among the people and see how far he has gone up
the ladder, so said Mahatma Gandhi. The budget session of
parliament, in progress, is a stock-taking exercise, not of
economy alone but of other fields as well.
With an array of 'liberal' measures, India has more than
doubled its growth rate which was once dubbed the Hindu growth
rate of four per cent.
If Gandhi's criterion is applied, India is rich but unequal.
Billionaires compete well with their counterparts in America.
Millionaires in India are cheaper by the dozen. Yet the common
man has made little progress.
Two reports emanating from official circles say that nearly 70
per cent of people live in dire, dismal conditions. The latest
national sample survey says that the people in the countryside
live on a daily earning of Rs8.00-Rs12.00.
The amount has lessened by half from the time the report was
published early last year. It is quite a steep fall in some 12
months.
This is apart from the suicide that farmers are committing all
over India, including rich Maharashtra and Punjab. The figure
is one every half an hour. (In 2006, the number of suicides
was 7,006). The villagers cannot clear the compound-interest
debt because they have got enmeshed in the cash crop economy
that cannot take the market's vagaries. The humiliation of not
paying the debt is too much for a respectable person to face.
In comparison, even a middle class sibling spends more in one
evening at a restaurant than what a villager's family earns in
365 days.
As for the government, it would prefer importing rotten food
grain to buying from the Indian farmers the same wheat at a
remunerative price which in any case is less than one fourth
of the world price. If Sharad Pawar is the food minister,
sordid deals cannot lag behind. The Central Vigilance
Commission is looking into the import of 2,300,000 tons of
wheat at a far higher cost than was necessitated.
After testing the quality of wheat, it has been found to
everyone's horror that the imported wheat failed all quality
tests.
Gandhi had promised that there would be no tear on anybody's
cheek in independent India. Sixty years later, tears of
helplessness and hunger do not stop trickling from the eyes of
a large majority of Indians. Jawaharlal Nehru's socialism and
Gandhi's self-sufficiency have clashed to give India a
hotchpotch of uneven urban progress and scotched rural
betterment. These signs are not that of a soft state but of a
confused state.
Neo-liberal economic policy of the Manmohan Singh government
has pushed aside the common man, whether engaged in small
industry or retail business.
Influenced by public opinion, the government has introduced
the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to give work or
dole to a villager a minimum of 100 days of work in a year.
The scheme has already been perforated by corruption. Rajiv
Gandhi, when he was prime minister, said that 85 per cent of
the money did not reach its intended target. However, the
rural employment scheme is said to have awakened people to
their needs.
The government can, however, take credit for the Right To
Information Act (RTI). This has opened many doors, although
the government, particularly in the states, continues to stall
the information sharing process. The Act has helped to have
information from official files at the asking and it has
exposed reluctance to take the right decisions. Here too the
arrears of applications are piling up making the RTI less
effective.
But it is not only the dearth of money or employment that is
tormenting the people in rural India. There is a long list of
denials. The public health does not cover them. Teachers do
not attend schools. Roads are few and they too are barely
passable. Land records are in a mess. The
politician-cum-police backed mafias have come to wield
authority at several places, with the connivance of the
bureaucrats.
Yet the fact remains that the middle class has expanded to
some 250 million people, more than the total population of
Europe. They have all the money to buy goodies.
But this class of consumers is still crazy about phoran
(foreign) goods. The malls are full of them. Even those who
want to buy Indians goods find it hard to get them.
A sad development is that the Indians are becoming traders and
increasingly quitting the field of manufacturing. Many among
them are outsourcing their production to China, a country of
bonded labour. India's economy is buoyant but the policies are
not chalked out in such a way whereby the surplus is diverted
to meet the basic needs of the population.
Concessions should be given to the lower half, but the current
strategy is to sustain the growth rate even though it is
making the rich richer and the poor poorer. The purpose of
growth should have been to spread gains wide so that even the
ordinary person could reap the benefit. Apparently, Manmohan
Singh, once a left-of-the-centre economist, has decided to
convert India into a capitalist society, not realizing that
capitalism, socialism or any ism is a means, not the end by
itself. The end is the betterment of the society on the whole,
not part of it.
What hurts one the most is that the rich do not even feel
embarrassed in flaunting their wealth. Some leaders of the
political parties have their birthday bashes in public,
spending crores of rupees.
The questions before India still are: State versus people,
urban versus rural, unbridled development versus human needs,
blind laws versus natural justice. If only some people gain at
the expense of a vast majority, it is a development of sorts.
But poverty stays.
India can have vast farms, large industrial houses, huge
laboratories and tall buildings. But if in the process the
country loses its soul or allows disparities to yawn, the
result is nowhere near the dream of freedom fighters. A state
with perpetual inequalities may find it difficult even to
retain democracy. People's involvement - and their confidence
- strengthens the system. Disparities weaken democracy and
make people desperate.
Frankly speaking, in a poorly developed country, the
capitalist methods offer no chance. The alternative that the
Manmohan Singh government is offering is no alternative. It is
sheer exploitation. It may be that we are not strong enough or
wise enough to face the real problem. We have again failed.
Another budget, another exercise of stock-taking has gone
awry. Why are we afraid to admit that our fight against the
haves lacks commitment?
Source: www.dawn.com
Putin’s Handover of Power
Is No Charade
There will be an election, and someone who is
not Putin will be elected in his place.
Mary Dejevsky
The
late February temperature in Moscow hovers around zero, and
something similar could be said of popular interest in the
presidential election.
There are posters everywhere: at the metro stations, in the
bus shelters and on banners across the streets. Proudly
formal, they have the eagle crest and the simple fact of the
March 2 election against the background of the red, white and
blue Russian flag.
But the unfortunate reality is that duty rather than interest
will take Russians to the polling stations this Sunday. They
voted in parliamentary elections in December; they don't have
much inclination to do so again. And they know who is going to
be their next president, because he has already been approved
and recommended by the hugely popular incumbent, Vladimir
Putin.
There is a broad consensus that with Dmitry Medvedev, who is
currently first deputy prime minister, they will be in good
hands. Just to reassure anyone who might have any doubts,
Putin has repeatedly made clear that he would be delighted to
serve as prime minister, if - if, he is careful to say -
Medvedev is elected on Sunday. Nothing has been left to
chance.
Yet it is a pity that neither Russians nor those outside
Russia are paying more attention. For this is the first time
in Russian history that power will have changed hands as the
result of the ballot box. It is the first time, too, that a
Russian head of state will voluntarily surrender his position
in accordance with a constitutional requirement to do so.
Those are both positive and epoch-making, developments.
The election can certainly be criticized. This is not a
competitive election as we might understand it, because any
candidate recommended by Putin would be guaranteed a sweeping
majority. It could also be said that, if Putin becomes prime
minister, real power is not changing hands. At his end-of-term
press conference two weeks ago, he fudged a question about
whether the new president's portrait would hang in his office
if he became prime minister - and such symbols matter.
To conclude that the whole process is a charade, however,
would be wrong. There will be an election, and someone who is
not Putin will be elected in his place. Putin did not - as he
easily could have done - engineer a change in the constitution
that would have allowed him another term. He chose to observe
the letter of Russia's post-Communist constitution, which sets
a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms. And he made his
decision to show that no one, not even the head of state, is
above the law of the land.
A third novelty of this election is that the heir apparent, as
well as the other three candidates, was formally nominated by
an existing political party, not a vehicle created especially
for him. It can be objected that United Russia is nothing more
than the party of power, or Putin's party.
It can also be objected that there could, and should, have
been a real contest for the nomination. Medvedev's presumed
chief rival - his fellow first deputy prime minister, Sergei
Ivanov - wisely declined to throw his hat in the ring, once
Putin had given his approval to Medvedev. In form at least,
though, this election is being contested by four candidates
representing four parties.
And form, at least at this election, is significant. What
Putin has done is bequeath Russia a constitutional system and
structures that should be capable of functioning post-Putin,
that do not depend for their durability on the popularity of
one individual. That is something no Russian leader has either
done, or been able to do, before. It sets a precedent, and, as
such, makes it much more difficult for future Russian leaders
to bend or break the constitution to their advantage.
Nor should the potential for positive, democratic change under
a new president be dismissed too readily. Returning stability
to Russia after 20 years of tumultuous change has been the
overriding theme of Putin's eight years in the Kremlin. A
concern to keep the ship of state on an even keel through the
last, potentially fractious months of his presidency can be
divined in all of Putin's actions and statements of recent
months. Because, for all the complaints from banned or
disqualified opposition candidates, the only plausible
challenge could have come from within the Kremlin, and a power
struggle could have endangered the stability that has given
Russians a sense of the future for the first time in a
generation.
Nor should the prospect of serious change be dismissed, once
the transition has been completed smoothly. The language being
used by Medvedev - about such concepts as freedom, the middle
class, and private property - already sounds fresher and more
modern than that of Putin. But he has to be careful. The
outside world may hope that a new president brings change, but
the message most battered Russians want to hear before their
election is quite the opposite.
As I left a Moscow metro station last night, a loudspeaker was
blaring nonstop propaganda, not from election candidates, but
from a painting and decorating shop opposite. "Enjoy a fresh
look for the spring with our new colors."
More Russians than we realize on this election eve may find
themselves welcoming a new look that goes beyond the color of
their walls.
Source:www.arabnews.com
International
Israeli strikes
kill 22 in fierce Gaza clashes
AFP, Gaza City
Israel pressed its assault against the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with a series of strikes on
Saturday, killing at least 22 Palestinians, including
three children, medical officials said.
The fighting was concentrated in and around the crowded
Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, where Israeli
special forces crept in just after midnight followed by a
wider incursion involving tanks and helicopters.
Doctor Muawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza emergency medical
services, told AFP at least 20 people were, most of them
by a "great number of rockets fired by Israeli planes" in
and around the camp and the adjacent town of Jabaliya.
Witnesses also reported clashes in the nearby Tufah
neighbourhood in northern Gaza City.
The dead included at least seven civilians, medics said,
including a 12-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother,
who relatives said were killed by shrapnel as they slept
inside their home.
Five militants from the Islamist Hamas movement and
another two from Islamic Jihad were killed in the
operation, as warplanes and tanks pounded the camp with
missiles and fighters exchanged fire with Israeli
soldiers.
At least five Israeli soldiers were wounded in the
operation, the army said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said
troops had killed at least 15 Palestinian militants, "all
of them planting explosive devices or shooting."
Gaza militants meanwhile fired at least 30 rockets at
southern Israel, army radio reported.
The latest deaths came a day after tens of thousands of
Gazans poured into the streest of the Hamas-run territory
on Friday to protest against Israeli raids that have
killed 49 Palestinians since Wednesday. And it followed a
warning by Israeli officials of a major ground operation.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas expressed concern at
what he called the "dangers of an Israeli escalation" in
the Gaza Strip and urged both sides to halt their attacks,
a statement from his office said late on Friday.
But Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai warned
his country "will not shy away from any action" to halt
the near-daily rocket fire from Gaza.
"By intensifying the rocket fire and extending their reach
they are bringing onto themselves a worse catastrophe as
we will use all means to defend ourselves," Vilnai told
army radio.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said earlier Israel was
considering the possibility of launching a widescale
ground operation in Gaza.
Israel says its strikes target rocket-launching sites.
Gaza militants have fired more than 125 rockets at Israel
since Wednesday, according to the army.
The attacks from Gaza injured a handful of people and
killed a civilian on Wednesday, the first Israeli since
May to die from the near-daily rocket fire.
The violence has overshadowed the Israeli-Palestinian
peace process which was revived at a US-hosted conference
in late November but has made little progress since.
At least 35 killed in Pakistan suicide bombing: Officials
AFP, Islamabad
At least 35
people were killed and 50 wounded by a suicide bomber at a
funeral in northwest Pakistan Friday for a police official
killed earlier in the day, officials said.
Nearly 1,000 people were attending the funeral in the town
of Mingora in the Swat Valley, where troops are battling
Islamic militants, when the bomb went off, security
officials said.
"At least 35 people were killed and some 50 others were
injured in the suicide blast," a senior security official
told AFP.
"Three police officials and a son and a cousin of the
martyred police official were also among the dead," he
added.
"Nobody has claimed the responsibility for the attack, but
we suspect the involvement of miscreants (militants)
against whom the military operation was being carried
out," the official said.
Authorities had already imposed a nighttime curfew in Swat
district since early this year, he said.
The police official and three policemen were killed
earlier Friday when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle
in the northwestern town of Lakki Marwat.
President Pervez Musharraf "strongly condemned" the
suicide attack.
"Such cowardly acts of terrorists will not dent the
government's resolve to fight terrorism and extremism,"
Musharraf said.
North West Frontier Province health minister Syed Kamal
Shah earlier told AFP the local hospital was struggling to
cope with the wounded.
"We are facing difficulty in the relief operation because
the blast also damaged an electricity transformer in the
area," Shah said.
"We are still retrieving injured and dead from the blast
site and taking them to hospital," Shah said.
The hospital facilities could not cope and there were not
enough emergency supplies due to the ongoing military
operation against militants in the area, he said.
"People coming from the blast site say that human limbs
were scattered on blood-soaked ground," hospital official
Khaleeq Khan told AFP.
Khan said more than 33 bodies had been brought in to the
hospital and relatives of victims had thronged the
facility searching for their loved ones and in this chaos
they were not able to track and register every casualty.
Hezbollah slams US warship as ‘interference’ in Lebanon
AFP, Syria
Syrian
Hezbollah on Friday slammed Washington's dispatch of the
USS Cole to waters off Lebanon as military interference,
as the Western-backed government said it did not ask for
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