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Leading News
People
confused by political development
Uncertainty over polls by Dec
Staff Correspondent
Latest development in the country's political arena,
arising out of different steps and moves taken by the
interim government and Election Commission's activities
have created confusion, uncertainty and unrest among the
common people.
People as well as leaders of different political parties
and professional bodies are waiting to listen to the Chief
Adviser's address to the nation. It is expected that,
Chief Adviser's address will make clear the caretaker
government's position about lifting of emergency, schedule
of formal dialogue and the fate of the two former Prime
Ministers Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia.
But while talking to The Bangladesh Today on Saturday
political analysts apprehended that national election
would not be held in due time as the present caretaker
government wants to cling to power by holding a farcical
election in bid to legitimate their steps taken since
January 11 last year till date. So there is no possibility
of holding election within December this year.
"The country is running like a boat without a rudder.
Echoing the same argument, the EC and the government are
always telling everything will be done as per road map.
But practically, they are not following their commitment.
As a result distance has developed between the government
and the political parties. So how can we believe, election
will be held as per roadmap with the participation of all
political parties'," expressing concern the political
analyst said.
"On the other hand, common people and workers don't like
to see the government in power anymore. It is very
necessary to lift the state of emergency instead of
holding dialogue in bid to hold election. If the state of
emergency is not lifted, all dialogues centering election,
would be meaningless and worthless. It is not possible to
hold a free, fair, credible and acceptable election amid
state of emergency. The present crisis will not be
resolved until the holding of the parliament election
immediately," analysts opined.
During the last few days, two major political parties
Awami League and BNP have been saying categorically that
no formal dialogue between the government and the
political parties would be meaningful keeping the two
former prime ministers Awami League President Sheikh
Hasina and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia behind the
bars.
On the other hand, Election Commission's move to
re-demarcate 133 constituencies, has fueled mistrust and
confusion among the political leaders who have already
termed it a conspiracy against democracy and constitution.
Meanwhile, five advisers assigned to hold pre-dialogue
talks with the political parties expressed their hopes
that the formal dialogue would be fruitful and meaningful.
Even, they are saying that election would be held as per
schedule. But when asked about whether Hasina or Khaleda
would be freed or involved in the formal dialogue, the
advisers try to avoid the queries and refrain from making
government stand clear on the issue. As a result people
from all walks of life are totally confused about what
would happen in the coming days over election and other
issues.
There is no democracy in Bangladesh: Akbar Ali
UNB, Dhaka
Regularity Reforms
Commission (RRC) chairman Dr Akbar Ali Khan on Saturday
said Bangladesh is still far away from real democracy.
"There is no democracy in the country, we're much behind
compared to the scale of world democracy," he told a
discussion meeting titled 'Press Freedom and Safety of
Journalists'.
National Association of UNESCO Clubs in Bangladesh
organised the discussion meeting marking World Press
Freedom Day. Prof Muzaffer Ahmad presided over the
meeting. About press freedom, Akbar Ali said the country's
media are not enjoying full freedom. "What they're
enjoying that's partial. Without meaningful press freedom,
democracy will fall in the hands of miscreants," the
former adviser to the caretaker government said.
Prof Muzaffer Ahmad alleged that the owners of newspapers
and media, and ad-providers in Bangladesh force the
newspapers and media not to publish truth.
"We're talking about right to information of the public
sector corruption, but it's not true that corruption only
exists in the public sector, it is also widespread in the
private sector," he said. About the recent "slow-moving"
anti-corruption drive by the Anti-corruption Commission
(ACC), he said the past and recent speeches of the ACC
chairman prove that his organisation's drive against
corruption is not moving with the expected pace.
President of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ)
Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul said World Press Freedom Day is
being observed here at a time when the Article 39 of the
Constitution that ensures the freedom of speech and
thoughts remained suspended.
President of Jatiya Press Club Shawkat Mahmud described
the restrictions on press by the government after the 1/11
as 'peculiar'.
Criticising the role of the UN secretary general just
before the declaration of emergency, he said it is not
justifiable that the UN will have a role in expediting the
declaration of emergency in a country through a letter.
"The UN needs to play a role in lifting the emergency and
restoration of democracy," he said.
Re-demarcation of electoral seats may hinder polls: AL
7-hour Hunger Strike tomorrow in city demanding Hasina's
release
Staff Correspondent
Awami League leaders at a discussion meeting on Saturday
observed that Election Commission's decision to
re-demarcate 133 electoral constituencies is absolutely
politically-motivated that may hinder the holding of a
free, fair and credible election in the country.
"EC's main and only task is to arrange the Parliamentary
Election after creating a congenial atmosphere. The move
of the Caretaker Government and the EC has already created
confusion among the mass-people. Reinstate democracy
across the country by handing over the state-power to the
elected representatives through a fair and credible
election," they said.
Demanding an unconditional release of detained AL
president and former premier Sheikh Hasina, Key AL leaders
vowed to take part in the ensuing dialogue with the
Government under her leadership. They reiterated their
demand for arranging general election prior to that of
local government and lifting of EPR as early as possible.
"The whole world observed the International May Day amid
various programme; but unfortunately we are observing the
day where the Emergency Power Rules is in effect. Nation
is facing a critical juncture at present; there is no
alternative to the leadership of Hasina to overcome the
prevailing problems," said AL presidium member Toafel
Ahmed adding, "No tangible dialogue can be held keeping
former Prime Minister in jail."
Referring to tomorrow's (Monday) Mass Hunger Strike to
press home their a five-point demand - including immediate
release of Hasina, polls' date, lifting of the State of
Emergency and trial of war criminals - he asserted saying,
"We want a peaceful programme; but if it is resisted, it
will be faced with strong hands."
Another presidium member Suranjit Sengupta said, "The
election commission should not have re-demarcated the 133
electoral constituencies at this moment. During the EC-AL
talks last year, we discussed about 50 seats, but the
recent decision will create widespread controversy over
their activities."
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner's office
gave AL the permission to observe the Hunger Strike
programme in a limited scale due to existing State of
Emergency. Earlier, a team of AL central committee
submitted an application to the DMP seeking official order
in this regard yesterday noon.
No
blue-print election to be accepted: Delwar
Staff correspondent
BNP Secretary General Khandoker Delwar Hosain on Saturday
said people of the country would never accept the farcical
and blue-print election.
"People will never accept any election keeping their
Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in jail. In a bid to prevent
our leaders including Begum Khaleda Zia from participating
in the general election, the government in a planned way,
is hatching conspiracy against them and lodging false
cases one after another," said Khaleda-appointed BNP
Secretary General Khandoker Delwar Hosain while exchanging
views with the leaders and activists of Pabna district
unit of BNP at his residence
yesterday. He said the caretaker government is responsible
for holding of the national election within 90 days but 16
months have already been elapsed and the government is yet
to hold the national election.
"The incumbent caretaker government is not well-aware of
the interest of the country and its people; rather it
signed treaties with different countries in respective
issues overlooking the demands of the mass-people, "he
claimed adding, "Through the promulgation of the Emergency
Power Rules across the country, the army-backed interim
government has violated the constitution. People are
deprived of their fundamental rights in the changed
circumstances where they cannot express their opinions at
all." Delwar said.
BB
governor urges reduction of bank interests
Staff
Correspondent
Bangladesh Bank governor Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said the
central bank is expecting that the commercial banks will
reduce their high rates of interest soon in compliance
with their commitment.
He said this while talking to newsmen after inaugurating a
three day-long international workshop on "Corporate
governance" organized jointly by Bangladesh Enterprise
Institute (BEI) and Global Corporate Governance Forum (GCGF)
at BEI auditorium in the city on Saturday.
About the central bank's responsibilities regarding
significant reduction in bank interest rates and other
bank charges, he said, "Bangladesh Bank cannot do anything
directly in this regard. The central bank authorities held
talks with the bankers to convince them of the need for
interest rate reduction to accelerate economic progress
and alleviate poverty in Bangladesh."
Regarding progress in interest rate reduction, Dr.
Salehuddin Ahmed said bank interest rates and various bank
charges will be reduced by the commercial banks soon as
the bankers made commitment to cut bank interest rates.
Some banks have already started cutting their high
interest rates and other charges. The Bangladesh Bank is
monitoring the developments in the banking sector to
evaluate the progress in this respect.
The central bank is trying its best so that the existing
bank interest rates and other charges are re-fixed at a
reasonable level. At the same it is also ensuring that
deposit interest rates are not reduced in the name of
lowering lending interest rates, he said.
About the importance of corporate governance, Dr.
Salehuddin said there is no option but to ensure
accountability and transparency in the country's financial
sector specially in the banking sector to accelerate
economic growth and reduce poverty in Bangladesh.
The BB has given priority to the private commercial banks
as rapid changes brought about by globalization,
deregulation and technological advances have posed risk
for the sector.
In a bid to ensure good governance and accountability in
the financial sector, the Bangladesh Bank has already
taken some measures to strengthen corporate governance in
different economic spheres including banking sector as the
sector have some additional reasons for good governance,
he said adding private sector banks with profit
maximization motives are prone to take excessive risks
with depositors' money. Among others, BEI president Farooq
Sobhan, senior project officer of GCGF Eugene A Spiro also
spoke at the inaugural session of the workshop.
Academics, directors and practitioners from Bangladesh,
India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka are taking part in the
international workshop.
BBC
Sanglap
Army should be included in the dialogue
Staff Correspondent
Participating in the BBC Sanglap, both AL and BNP leaders
said the army should be included in the much awaited
dialogue between the political parties and government to
pave the way for democracy as army is directly involved in
this caretaker government.
The BBC Sanglap jointly organized by BBC Bangla Service in
collaboration with the BBC World Service at Bangladesh
China Friendship Conference Centre yesterday where AL
presidium member Suranjit Sengupta and BNP chairperson's
adviser ASM Hannan Shah demanded the presence of army in
the dialogue as they think the dialogue would not be
successful without participation of the army.
Hannan Shah said, " the present caretaker government was
established by the direct intervention of army and they
have selected the advisers of the caretaker government. So
if dialogue could be held with the presence of army, I
think it would be easy for this government to reach a
final decision."
Suronjit Sengupta, who demanded the presence of army in
the dialogue, said, " Army is the first quarter of the
government . They were involved in the change of 1/11 and
they can participate in the much anticipated dialogue to
pave the way for democracy through holding the national
election as per the road map. Army would participate as a
part of the government."
Opposing the politicians, eminent journalist Kamal Lohani
said, " it is impossible to establish a democracy with the
intervention of army, So army should not be included in
the dialogue."
About the Army's role, Hannan said, "This government
cannot take a single decision independently. They are
being dictated from a certain quarter, so it would be
better to hold the dialogue with that quarter directly.
The government is controlled by special forces."
All the panelists including two political leaders also
blasted the election commission for deciding to delimit
the parliamentary constituencies as they said this could
delay the election process.
Suranjit said, " It is a matter of regret that the AL had
confidence on the EC but by taking such initiative, the EC
is trying to hamper the election process. Such large scale
delimitation of parliamentary seats is nothing but
delaying the election within the stipulated time."
Hannan also said, " Even no political party demanded the
EC for delimiting the constituencies, but suddenly the EC
took such controversial decision. I can say that cases
will be filed against the EC decision and it will derail
the election."
NADPO
places 8-point demand for ensuring rights of disabled
people
BSS, Dhaka
National Alliance of Disabled Peoples Organizations (NADPO)
on Friday put forward an 8-point demands including call
for ensuring the fundamental rights and equal
participation of the persons with disabilities (PWDs).
The NADPO also demanded proper implementation and brisk
actualization of "UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities" which is going to be entry into force
from today.
The demands were made at a press conference held today at
VIP lounge of National Press Club. The written statement
was presented by NADPO secretary general Md Jahangir Alam.
The NADPO demanded to make sure the participation of there
representatives of disabled people's organizations (DPOs)
in the whole process of national development and poverty
alleviation.
Back Page
Reform in
press council act essential: Law Adviser
Staff Correspondent
To uphold the freedom of
press and professional bindings for newsmen, it is
necessary to reform and strengthen the press council act.
The press council has to grow up as a mirror of the
society.
In a democratic society, freedom of the press as well as
the journalists' social responsibility is very necessary.
But sometimes the newspapers are expressing very confusing
reports. In many cases, these reports proved unauthentic.
"It is very important to maintain social equality to
ensure people's right to information and the freedom of
the press. For this, it is necessary to change and reform
the press council act" said Law Adviser A. F. Hasan Ariff
at a meeting titled "Is the amendment of the Press Council
Act, 1974 inevitable to make the press council more
effective?" in the National Press Club on Saturday.
Jamil Osman, acting secretary of the Information Ministry
said various types of provisions should be added to the
press council act to ensure punishment for the guilty. The
existing press council act is not being implemented fully.
He stressed the need for a transparent press council act
in a bid to free the press from yellow journalism. Kazi
Ebadul Haque, Chairman of Bangladesh press council said at
the beginning, this act was very effective to serve
necessary purposes. But now the social, political and
economic conditions have changed. So, now it is essential
to change the existing press council act.
The keynote paper presented by Mizanur Rahman Shelly of
the Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh, called
for formulation of a code of conduct to ensure
accountability and transparency in the press and increase
of members of the press council in proportion with the
increased population and newspapers.
DMP
starts drive against pedestrians for not using foot over
bridge, under pass
Ainul Haque Royal
In a bid to reduce traffic jam, Dhaka Metropolitan Police
(DMP) has started drive against passers-by who do not
prefer to cross the roads through foot over bridges and
pedestrian underpass which have been constructed for
smooth and safe movement of the pedestrians. If any
pedestrian passes the road directly instead of using foot
over bridge or under pass, he or she will be fined, an
official of Traffic South told this correspondent on
Saturday.
The authorities have constructed a total of four
under-passes at Jatrabari, Gulistan, Kawran Bazar and
Gabtali and many foot-bridges at different busy and
strategic points in the capital particularly, Moghbazar,
Bangla Motor crossing, Kawran Bazar, Science Laboratory
and Farmgate crossing for smooth movement of passers-by.
But some passers-by do not cross the road through the
foot-bridges and under passes. This is the main cause of
traffic jam and accident, Kazi Murad Hossain, a traffic
inspector on duty of Tegjaon traffic zone said.
Besides, lack of traffic law is one of the main causes of
traffic jam as the passers-by do not follow the traffic
rules. If pedestrians don't use the foot over bridge
police can fine Tk 10 to 20 as per the traffic rules. To
make the mission a success, a good number of law enforcers
including traffic police and sergeants were deployed in
and around the capital recently. They are keeping close
watch at all the strategic points.
Saidur Rahman deputy commissioner of traffic of South said
at least 2400 law enforcers have been deployed at
different places in the city to intensify the drive and
build up awareness among the passer-bay for ensuring the
smooth traffic movement. "It is very difficult to maintain
traffic system under control with the small number of
manpower in the capital where around 1.50 crore people are
living," he added.
"Engineering, traffic related education and enforcement of
traffic law are the precondition for smooth traffic
movement. But these are not adequate against the huge
populated city. So we are facing several difficulties to
remove the traffic jam from the streets. If we fail to
find out any alternative way like under passes and
foot-bridges we will suffer in the long run," he said.
On the other hand, many beggars and hawkers are running
their business occupying the city's foot over bridges and
under passes. While visiting Farmgate foot over bridge,
this correspondent found that there are around 30 beggars
and 55 hawkers running their business occupying the
walkway of the bridge. During rush hours, specially school
and office hours, thousands of passers-by cross the
footbridge and some times they get locked into quarrel due
to collision with one another but they are compelled to
walk through the busy passage. As a result the incidents
of crime like snatching, pick pocketing and harassing of
pedestrians are going on in full swing under the very nose
of law enforcers.
Cabinet to discuss Plc plan for BTTB
Bdnews24, Dhaka
The cabinet is likely to discuss a proposal today (Sunday)
to turn Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board into a
public limited company, the chief adviser's special
assistant MA Malek said on Saturday.
Malek, who is in charge of the post and telecommunications
ministry, said at a BTTB meeting that the proposal on the
transformation of BTTB had been sent to the cabinet.
BTTB will be renamed Bangladesh Telecom Company Limited if
it is turned into a public limited company.
The board of directors of the BTCL would be able to take
any decision to ensure services of the company. "The
government won't intervene in it," Malek said.
He said the BTTB would cut call charges immediately to
compete with the private telephone operators.
The state-owned telephone operator would provide
connection within 24 hours of receiving an application for
connectivity, the CA's special assistant said.
BTTB sent a proposal to the telecoms ministry on its new
tariff plan.
According to the proposal, subscribers will have to pay Tk
0.20 per minute instead of Tk 1.5 for a unit in the same
district. Seven minutes make a unit in peak hours and 10
minutes in off-peak hours.
According to the proposal, the same rate will work round
the clock.
BTTB proposed to fix the call rate at Tk 0.25 per minute
within the same division.
Subscribers will have to pay Tk 1.00 per minute on calls
to mobile phones or private landline networks.
Subscribers will be able to use the internet through their
landline connections and BTTB will not charge any fee for
internet connections, he said.
BTTB used to charge Tk 300 for internet connections
before.
As many as 26,000 high-speed internet connections will be
provided by June.
Malek stressed campaigning for the BTTB offers as he said
the people of the country were not aware of BTTB services.
Telecoms secretary Iqbal Mahmood said legal action would
be taken against those who did not pay bills for months.
The BTTB would file cases against individuals or companies
found to have dodged bills, he added.
Thailand floats idea of
OPEC- style rice cartel
AP/UNB, Manila
Asian countries sought to
tame the spiraling rice market, with Thailand proposing an
OPEC-style cartel for exporters and the Philippines
shoring up supplies while aiming to end its status as the
world's largest importer.
Friday's moves came as prices for rice and other food
staples have been rising rapidly around the world,
sparking violent protests in Haiti and Egypt along with
concerns of unrest elsewhere amid profiteering and
hoarding.
The sudden crisis - the price of rice has more than
tripled since January - has experts calling for major
changes in food production to improve crop yields and cut
waste.
"The world has come together in the past," said Robert
Zeigler, director general of the International Rice
Research Institute in Los Banos, Philippines. "I think
they could come together again to make sure that humanity
has enough to eat. We just need the political will."
Zeigler's comments came as President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo visited the institute, underscoring the need to
show a grumbling public that the government was doing
something to deal with the rice prices and stock. Arroyo
has ordered a crackdown on speculators and angrily
demanded to know why more people haven't been arrested.
Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, said it wants
to form an OPEC-style cartel with Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia
and Vietnam to give them more control over international
rice prices.
‘Though we are the food center of the world, we have had
little influence on the price," Thai government spokesman
Vichienchot Sukchokrat said. "With the oil price rising so
much, we import expensive oil but sell rice very cheaply,
and that's unfair to us and hurts our trade balance.’
Laos Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanthalansy said his
country would "seriously consider" the idea, saying a
cartel would give the five countries "bargaining power."
The run-up in rice prices has come amid global food
inflation, poor weather in some rice-producing nations and
demand that has outstripped supply. Some Asian countries,
including India and Vietnam, have contributed to the
problem by curbing rice exports to guarantee their own
supplies.
Crime
Hijackers shoot two youths to death
UNB, Shariatpur
Hijackers shot two youths to death and took away a
motorbike at Sajanpur in Bhederganj upazila Friday
night.
Family sources said deceased Mintu Khan, 20, of Abura
village and Alamgir Hossain, 20 of Bhulalar village in
Sadar upazila, used to rent their motorbikes to earn
their livelihood. Police and locals said a gang of five
hijackers, in the guise of passengers, hired Mintu and
Alamgir from a motorcycle stand in the district town at
10:00 pm on Friday for going to Bhederganj.
Later a patrol team of police found the bullet-hit body
of the two youths near an abandoned cinema hall at
Sajanpur on Chandpur-Shariatpur road at about 10:45 pm.
The hijackers also took away Mintu's motorbike. Police
Super Sahriar Rahman and Bhederganj UNO Ajimuddin Biswas
visited the spot. Police suspected the killing was
pre-planned.
Husband kills wife
UNB, Savar
A woman was killed allegedly by her husband at Shimulia
village here on Thursday night.
Local people said rickshaw-van driver Alal following a
family feud strangulated his wife Roshna Begum, 20, to
death in front of their three-year-old daughter Shuchana
in the evening. He later left his daughter Shuchana and
the body of Roshna Begum at a paddy field of nearby
Bhabanipur village of Gazipur district. On information,
police rescued Shuchana in an unconscious state. After
regaining consciousness, Shuchana narrated the incident
to the police. Police later arrested Alal from his
Shimulia residence. A case was filed.
Businessman rescued from captivity
UNB, Narayanganj
Police rescued a businessman, who was kept confined in a
house for realization of dues, in Bandar thana Thursday
midnight.
The victim was identified as bamboo businessman Babul
Chowdhury, resident of Kutubchhari in Rangamati
district. He used to supply bamboo to Narayanganj. Abdul
Haque, Sub-Inspector of Kamtal police outpost in Bandar
thana, said Babul brought a truck load of bamboo from
Rangamati and supplied it to a trader, Rafique, in
Sonargaon early hours of April 29.
Later, Rafique tactfully took Babul to a house in
Chorabari area of Bandar thana in the name of buying
more bamboo and enchained him as Babul failed to make
payment of his arrears amounting to Tk 35,000.
Babul's brother informed the matter to police when he
came to know about the condition of his brother.
Receiving information, police rescued Babul from the
house of Kabir, nephew of Rafique. None, however, was
arrested as the culprits managed to escape sensing the
arrival of law enforcers. Being freed, Babul told that
he was forcibly confined in the house and even denied
food in the last three days.
Over 100 arrested following killing of cop
UNB, Rajshahi
Over 100 people were arrested from different upazilas
here in overnight drives till Saturday morning in
connection with Friday's gun attack on police that left
one cop killed and four others injured.
Following Friday's police killing by the outlaws, joint
forces raided Teherpur, Amrama, Gopalpara of Bagmara
upazila, some areas of Durgapur and Putia upazilas and
Atrai upazila of nearby Naogaon district and arrested
over 100 people till this morning. Officer-in-Charge of
Bagmara police station Faizul Islam said some 5000
members of joint forces were deployed in and around
Taherpur area. Constable Mizanur Rahman was killed, four
others were injured and five rifles looted, as the
outlaws attacked a patrol team of police and Ansar in
front of Taherpur Degree College in Bagmara upazila
Friday night.
Case filed against SI for demanding bribe
UNB, Bhairab
A case has been filed against police sub-inspector of
Bhairab thana on charge of demanding bribe from a
businessman. Scrap metal trader M Borhanuddin filed the
case against SI M Mostafizur Rahman on Tuesday with
Kishoreganj Judicial Magistrate court.
In his complaint, Borhanuddin said SI Mostafiz in
plainclothes demanded Tk 10,000 as bribe from his
employees at his business establishment in Bhairab poura
area in his absence on April 20 bringing allegation that
he was involved with illegal business.
Later, Borhanuddin on information came to his shop and
refused to give the bribe to the SI. At this, the SI
became angry and next day he came to the shop and
detained his employee Anwar Hossain and also beat up
another employee Selim Mia. The SI, however, later
released Anwar.
When contacted, SI Mostafiz said he gave warning to
Borhanuddin as he had information that he (Borhan) was
involved with illegal business. "That's why, the
businessmen unitedly stood against me and brought this
false allegation," he added.
He also informed that Borhanudin earlier served seven
years in prison in a criminal case. Borhanuddin,
however, said that he was not involved with any illegal
business. The court directed Assistant Commissioner
(Land) M Arifur Rahman Khan to submit a report on the
matter after investigation.
Three arrested with fake certificates
UNB, Savar
Three people were arrested along with some fake
certificates from a market in Dhaka city's Mirpur area
on Friday night.
Acting on a tip-off, RAB-4 men from Savar raided Chhoton
Design House at Mirpur Cooperative Market and recovered
the fake certificates of schools and colleges and BRTA.
The arrested are Iqbal Hossain Nahid, Towhidul Islam
Nayan and Mozahidul Islam Chhoton. Later, they were
handed over to Mirpur thana police.
2 arrested, touchstone statues recovered
BSS, Manikganj
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-4 arrested two
persons and recovered two statues of touch stone at
Basail village under Shibalay upazila of the district on
Thursday.
The arrested were identified as Abdul Munnaf Mia, 30,
and Alal Uddin, 27. RAB sources said getting secret
information a RAB team raided the area on Thursday night
and recovered the statues of touch stone from their
possession. They were involved in statue smuggling since
long time. The value of two statues will be about Tk 20
lakh, the sources said.
The arrested persons were handed over to Shibalay police
station after interrogation. A case was filed with
Shibalay police station in this connection.
Clash kills 1, injures 11 in Sirajganj
UNB, Sirajganj
Shahera Begum, 45, injured in a clash at Dharmadasgati
village in Raiganj upazila on Wednesday, died at Sadar
hospital Friday.
Police said the clash ensued on Wednesday between the
supporters of Altab Hossain and Tota Miah following an
altercation over a trifling matter, leaving 12 people
including Shahera injured. The injured were admitted to
the Sadar hospital where Shahera Begum died on Friday
morning. A case was filed with the police.
35 people held
BSS, Rajshahi
Police, in different anticrime drives, rounded up 35
people, including two drug-traders, on various charges
from different areas in city and nine upazilas of the
district on Friday.
Of them, 13 were picked up from different areas in the
metropolis while 22 others from nine upazilas of the
district. Police picked up the drug-peddlers -- Shameem,
24, and Anarul Haque Babu, 36 -- and seized 682 bottles
of phensidyl from their possessions during two separate
raids in the city. Traffic police lodged seven cases
under the motor vehicles ordinance and seized a
motorbike and a truck for plying on the streets without
registration.
1504 bottles of Phensidyl recovered
UNB, Rajshahi
RAB personnel, in separate drives, recovered some 1504
bottles of Phensidyl syrup from Sadar and Charghat
upazilas on Wednesday-Thursday.
In a drive, the elite force from Binodpur camp raided
Tongan Maddhyapara area on Wednesday and recovered 870
bottles of phensidyl syrup, kept in abandoned condition.
RAB members in another drive on Thursday at Bakhrabaz
Chak Belgheria Molapara in Sadar upazila recovered 676
bottles of phensidyl syrup. They also held Md Anwarul
Islam, 36, in this connection.
Yet another drive, RAB held five Aggayan party (Doping)
members from Putia upazila on Wednesday.
RAB said they held three of the gang members from a
Dhaka bound coach at about 10:00 pm when they were
trying to snatch away belongings of a passenger.
Following their confessional statement, the elite force
held two other members of the gang.
The arrested are Tipu Sultan, 28, Sanawar Hossain, Rahim
Sardar, Rezaul Karim and Zinat Ali.
Editorial
How far is the EC
ready for Elections?
The EC is not ready
to provide any satisfactory answers to the question of how far
is it ready to hold the national elections projected for the
end of this year. Meanwhile, political parties have begun to
express grave doubts about the readiness and ability of the EC
to hold the elections as per its projected timeframe,
particularly after the BNP-EC dialogue fiasco, the
re-demarcation of the constituencies and the ambiguous stand
of the EC regarding the holding of local government elections
before the national polls.
The first and foremost point of concern is the preparation of
credible voters' rolls. As per the voters' registration data
updated till 29 April 2008, 82% of the voters have already
been registered but the crunch lies in preparation and
distribution of the voters' ID card, of which only 20.4% has
been prepared and an insignificant 11.91% distributed - that
leaves the vast majority of voters without any document to go
to voting with. As to how the EC is going to gear up this
preparation and distribution of ID cards to some 60 million
voters within the 6 or 7 months remaining to it, is indeed
difficult to visualize.
The second and equally important concern are the new,
"reformed" electoral rules and regulations which the EC has
formulated and which it is insisting, political parties must
adhere to. The EC, in this regard, held dialogues with all
political parties in order to get their views but the BNP and
AL, the two major parties, were unhappy with this exchange of
views. The AL is claiming that although it is in 80% agreement
with the EC's proposals, the EC is not taking any initiatives
to resolve the rest 20% of the issues. The mainstream BNP had
not been invited to the EC's dialogues and it is expressing
its dissatisfaction by claiming that the EC has lost all
"credibility" and will therefore be unable to hold any free,
fair or credible elections. To date no political party, big or
small, has registered with the EC under the new electoral
rules and regulations.
The third major problem is the re-demarcation of 133
constituencies which the EC has already done but with which
the political parties, mainly the AL and BNP, do not agree
with. There is little doubt that this re-demarcation is going
to significantly change voting patterns which is going to
affect one or the other political party. This may also involve
the EC in further litigations which may bring about further
delays in holding elections.
The last but not the least problem is the ambiguous position
of the EC regarding the holding of local government elections
before the national polls. The AL and BNP are clearly not in
favor of that because they feel that "certain quarters" might
try and manipulate these local government elections so as to
undercut support for the mainstream mass political parties in
favor of those political parties that have come up in the
political vacuum created by the Emergency.
Clearly, all of the above issues may lead to serious and
acrimonious conflicts between the EC on one side and the AL
and BNP on the other. Besides other things, such a conflict
between the two major political parties and the EC may put the
prospects of elections in doubt. Many, which include common
people, are of the opinion that by getting involved with
peripheral issues, the EC is in fact unable to focus on the
main issue of preparing grounds for holding of a "free, fair
and credible" Parliamentary election. Under the circumstances
the EC seems to be far away from being ready for a national
election.
Law and order situation
Two separate reports
relating to the law and order situation were published in The
Bangladesh Today on Saturday. According to one of these
reports, a constable was killed in a terrorist attack on a
police camp at Taherpur cattle market in Bagmara upazila of
Rajshahi district on Friday. The miscreants, who are members
of an outlawed party, also looted two shotguns from the camp.
The other report said the law enforcers have been reorganized
and they are keeping close watch on the criminals to contain
crimes but amid massive police drives miscreants are
continuing to commit various crimes.
Law and order had completely broken down or was allowed to
collapse for serving the rulers' political interests in the
past. However, the situation had improved remarkably after the
taking over of the helm of affairs by the present caretaker
government. But that the situation has again deteriorated and
reached an alarming stage is amply clear from the above
reports, specially from the one relating to the attack on
police camp and the killing of a cop. Besides, the theft,
robbery, mugging, abduction, rape and murder being committed
every day at different places of the country including the
capital simply speak of the unsatisfactory state of the law
and order even at a time when the country is under emergency.
Although a large number of criminals have been rounded up and
many others have gone into hidings, by now many new criminals
have emerged and they are now very much active in the crime
world. A new group of 'godfathers' are allegedly patronizing
them. Worse still, some dishonest officials in the police
department are also allegedly helping the criminals. The
situation is alarming, so with a view to containing crimes and
punishing the criminals drives by police should be stepped up
and at the same time stern steps should be taken against
alleged patronage of the criminals by a section of dishonest
politicians and police officials.
Analysis
Looking at the end of Israel
"If the day comes when the two-state solution
collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for
equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the
territories) then, as soon as that happens, the state of
Israel is finished".
Jonathan Power
Even
Jimmy Carter, who single handedly (without much Jewish
appreciation) has done more to make Israel secure than any
other living person, can't change the march of demographics.
Within the boundaries of the state of Israel and the Occupied
Territories there are 5.4 million Jews and 4.6 million
Palestinians. The Palestinian birth rate is almost three times
that of the Israeli Jews. If anything the Jewish population is
starting to fall as an increasing number of Jews decide that
Israel has no future for them and in significant numbers
emigrate.
The far seeing Richard Nixon, when asked by Patrick Buchanan
and his wife, how he saw the future of Israel, turned down his
thumb "like a Roman emperor at the gladiators' arena".
Perhaps we are witnessing the death of Israel by a thousand
cuts, the attrition of conflict and the attrition of
population. Maybe after all the rabbis of Vienna who were sent
in 1897 on a fact-finding mission to Palestine to investigate
whether it was a suitable place for Jewish settlement were
right. They reported back that the "bride was beautiful but
married to another man".
The rabbis had been moved to visit Palestine by Theodore Herzl,
an Austrian journalist, who had just published his highly
influential book, "The Jewish State", which launched the
movement called "political Zionism". Herzl, a broad minded
man, was happy to think of the new Israel in Argentina which
had a considerable Jewish migration in the nineteenth century
and was well away from the clutches of anti-Semitic Europe. He
was also inclined to accept the offer of Joseph Chamberlain,
then the British colonial secretary, for a site on the Uasin
Gishu plateau near Nairobi in what was then British East
Africa. The Zionist Conference overruled him.
But when the British government finally gave in to Zionist
lobbying and, in the words, of the Balfour Declaration of
1917, favoured "the establishment in Palestine of a national
home for the Jewish people" the only Jewish member of the
cabinet, Edwin Samuel Montague, denounced the whole project as
a reconstruction of the tower of Babel. "Palestine", he said,
"would become the world's ghetto". Lord Curzon, the former
Viceroy of India, observed that Britain had "a stronger claim
to parts of France" than the Jews did to Palestine after two
millennia of absence. He denounced it as an act of
"sentimental idealism".
There are few rewards in this life for being farsighted on
political questions. The Zionists still have the bit between
their teeth on the creation of a permanent Jewish state, even
as they face self-destruction. A few perhaps can see it coming
and among the few is the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
In an interview last November he said, "If the day comes when
the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South
African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the
Palestinians in the territories) then, as soon as that
happens, the state of Israel is finished".
For the Zionist this would be a terrible end. But need it be
for rank and file Jews who just want to bring up their
families and live in an atmosphere emptied of violence? (Read
Israeli novelist Shifra Horn's book, "Ode to Joy" if you want
to smell the cordite and sense deep in the soul their everyday
fear of being blown up.)
But unmistakeably this is the direction events and
demographics are moving and arguably the best thing that
outsiders can now do for Israel is to stop trying to help
organize the creation of a two state solution and let the
Israelis themselves look the Palestinians in the eye as the
demographics bite. If the white South Africans can do it so
can the Israelis. If this were the solution the Israelis would
find that the only thing that most Palestinians would now want
is a prosperous, capitalist economy that lives in peace with
its neighbours.
The Jews would not be driven into the sea. But those who
wanted to return to Europe, America or even Russia would be
more than welcome. Both Germany and Russia, the great centres
of anti-Semitism in the past, have seemed to have flushed that
horror away.
Life does move on. Some problems, like apartheid, do get
solved, even if not very long ago they seemed intractable.
The Jews should never have tried to turn back the historical
clock by returning to Palestine after fleeing in AD 70. But
now they are there in such significant numbers their only
solution is to honour the rest of the text of the Balfour
Declaration. "Nothing should be done that may prejudice the
civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish
communities in Palestine", it said. This was the British
condition. The Israelis overlook it today at their peril.
(Jonathan Power is an internationally renowned freelance
columnist. Copyright Jonathan Power. Dateline London; April
30th 2008.E-mail: JonatPower@aol.com or
phone: +46 706 510879)
Cooperation in the Wake of Rice Panic
Countries that export rice said hold on, maybe we won't sell
as much; which panicked countries that import to start buying
like mad; which led people everywhere to start hoarding like
crazy.
Manuel L. Quezon III
Last
week, on my cable TV show, a member of the audience wondered
if the so-called rice crisis is real. She wasn't alone in
thinking this. As Reuters recently reported, "Rice price surge
frustrates and puzzles Asians" and as another Reuters report
puts it, as things become clearer, one thing's sure: there's
"No quick fix to soothe Asia's rice shortage fears."
Recently, Nouriel Robini, the economist who made waves
predicting the subprime crisis in America, included an
interesting graph on food prices since 1995.
The graph showed how food prices actually dipped in the late
1990s, but then began to climb, so that roughly last year,
food prices were back where they'd last been in the late
1990s. And then - bam! - a sudden spike since last year.
If you've been following the news there's many reasons for
this. Economic growth in our part of the world means more
people are gobbling up more food; and even if you don't have
growth, there are lots more people, period. And in either
case, land once used for farming is being gobbled up for
malls, and factories, and residential areas, too. Add to this
the pretty bad weather last year.
Countries that export rice said hold on, maybe we won't sell
as much; which panicked countries that import to start buying
like mad; which led people everywhere to start hoarding like
crazy.
A look at Indonesia is instructive. The blog Youthful Insight
(http://feuinewbies.blogspot.com) on April 25, started with
the dilemma faced by the Indonesian government: "On one side
the government must keep inflation and food price low enough
so its does not hurt the poor. But on the other side the
government must maintain a reasonable high price to give
incentive to farmers to increase their production and increase
rural welfare." So what should be done? According to the
blogger,
"Is there any policy to achieve both objective above? Yes!
Give high subsidy to the farmers like the developed countries
do. But the problem is our government does not have the money
to do it. Then they turn their head to the consumer, cheap
food politic."
And what's this "cheap food politics?" Well, "The principle of
cheap food politics is as long as the food price cheap, the
majority (poor) will keep silent. This policy is simply urban
bias. Cheap food price is good for poor urban (the 40
percent), which main source of income is service and
manufacturing sector. But bad for poor rural (the 60 percent),
which main source of income is agriculture sector. Lower food
price mean lower income and also lower welfare for rural area.
The government sacrifice the rural for the sake of the urban.
Why? Because poor urban is more attractive politically than
poor rural." And this is what's played out in the Philippines.
Filipino TV journalist R.G. Cruz, in his blog quoted a rice
trader in Bangkok saying the Philippine government bought very
expensive rice there and if it keeps doing it would only drive
the prices up.
Which explains why the Philippine secretary of agriculture
just announced that since harvests look pretty good and the
rice supply is expected to ease up, the government will be
taking steps to ease up on distributing cheap rice.
But this still leaves us with the problem that rice prices may
stabilize, but they're not going to go down much, and probably
keep going up over time, which means people are getting over
their initial panic, and starting to take a sober look at the
problem of supply.
One way is by identifying that our rice is feeding a lot of
mouth's it shouldn't. India has that problem, too. On April
23, Bloomberg reported that India loses about 10 percent of
its rice harvest to pests, including rats, and also because of
inadequate warehouses. I've heard we lose 1.6 million metric
tons to pests, which is more than the 1.2 million metric tons
we import from Vietnam: if this is true (and I've only seen it
in one place, a student reporting a lecture she attended in UP
Los Banos), fighting pests is one campaign we have to
undertake.
The other is as old as government itself: graft and
corruption.
David Llorito, a journalist with the newspaper The Business
Mirror, wrote on April 8 (in his blog) that "Under the
government's rice subsidy program, farmers only pay about half
the price or 1100 pesos per bag per hectare for a hybrid seeds
that's supposedly would cost 2,600 pesos since the government,
through the Department of Agriculture, provides the subsidy
amounting to 1500 pesos per bag per hectare."
So then Llorito asks a question: Farmers get cheaper seeds,
right? Yes, he says, but points but it doesn't follow that the
seeds will be there when the farmer needs it. Llorito explains
why: "This is how the whole thing works: The seeds are
distributed by the municipal agricultural officers (MAO). They
also serve as conduit of the government subsidy amounting to
1500 pesos per bag. Once the farmers give the "farmers equity"
or his payment for the seeds that comes from his pocket to the
MAO, he gets the seeds, and the seeds producers/suppliers then
collects the payment - 1100 pesos from the farmer and 1500
pesos subsidy per bag from the government through the MAO/LGU-totaling
2600 pesos per bag per hectare. "But in reality, many of these
MAOs, once they got the cash both from the farmers or the
money from government subsidy simply keep the money."
And there's the science of it.
A website I'd like to encourage you to check out is
filipinovoices.com. One entry, by a blogger named Cocoy says
what we need is to spend - yes, spend - on equipment and
scientists for the weather service, PAGASA, so they can
predict rain and such, better. We need more agronomists, we
need hydrologists, we need more science-and math-whizzes to
figure out our rainfall, land use, and so forth. And we all
need something we learned to value in school: cooperation.
What kind?
Regional governments have, therefore, stepped in to reassure
the region that supplies will continue. The China Financial
Markets blog, maintained by Dr. Michael Pettis in Beijing,
says the Chinese government has announced it intends to keep
exporting rice.
A blog that focuses on Cambodia, Im Sokthy, also points out
the Cambodian government intends to increase its rice exports
from the 2-3 million MT it expects to sell this year, to a
whopping 8 million MT by 2015!
And the Asia Foundation's In Asia blog has a practical
suggestion. "The Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN) already has a base to build from in serving as a
framework for multilateral dialogue and collaboration in the
management of food supplies and prices. ASEAN members include
two of the world's leading rice exporters, Thailand and
Vietnam, as well as the leading rice importers, the
Philippines and Indonesia. In the wake of the food crisis of
the early 1970s, ASEAN has been, in fits and starts,
organizing and tinkering with the ASEAN Food Security Reserve
- an agreement among members to set aside and share rice
stocks for situations just like this. It's high time these
discussions be accelerated and implemented."
Source: www.arabnews.com
Comment
The vital agreement
YESTERDAY'S
announcement by Mr Nawaz Sharif that the superior court judges
sent packing on Nov 3 last year will be restored by May 12
leaves little room for speculation now. The statement comes
after Thursday's marathon meeting held in Dubai between the
PPP co-chairman and the PML-N leader. It is a given that Mr
Sharif spoke for both the leaders. That there has been quite a
bit of give and take from both sides to save the month-old
coalition government is beyond a doubt; but one cannot be too
cynical and conclude that the devil's in the detail even
before it emerges. The two leaders have once again met each
other half way, bridging the gap on the divisive issue. The
Charter of Democracy signed between the late Ms Bhutto and Mr
Sharif and the subsequent Bhurban Declaration agreed to
between Mr Zardari and the PML-N leader have served as
building blocks, cementing the understanding they have
reached.
It is safe to assume that between now and May 12 as eminent
jurists nominated by the two sides put together the text of
the resolution to be tabled in the NA, the constitutional
package that the PPP is so keen on being the basis of the
judges' reinstatement will also be worked upon. For Mr Sharif
the assurance that the judges will be restored by a resolution
in parliament followed by a notification, as his party
promised its voters, validates his position. Others still
believe that the two sides' agreement to keep the judges who
took oath under the Nov 3 PCO necessitates constitutional
amendments. Both parties seem satisfied with the bargain
struck, and there is now hope that the government can move on
to addressing other important issues such as inflation,
militancy, energy shortages, poverty alleviation, and so on.
Because some of the country's best legal brains will be
working on putting together the constitutional package for the
judges' reinstatement, it is hoped the lawyers too will take
it easy before details of the proposed package emerge and
parliament debates them. The other coalition partners - the
JUI-F, the ANP and the MQM - may have their own reservations
on the issue but the balance struck between the two major
parties on accommodating each other's divergent views can
serve as a guiding spirit for the rest to follow. As for the
parties and politicians such as those belonging to the
Jamaat-i-Islami and the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf, who chose to
sit out of the election process, let better counsel prevail.
They should respect whatever decision the elected parliament
takes on the issue. President Musharraf and his supporters, at
home and abroad, should also heed the same advice. An elected
parliament embodies the will of the people which must be held
sovereign, and respected as such, for a transition to be made
from autocratic rule to democracy.
Source: www.dawn.com
Viewpoints
What is a vote worth in Iran?
The question is why Iranians participate in a
"manipulated" election. The answer is simple. Voting is a
rational choice: the benefits of participation outweigh its
costs.
Ahmad
Sadri
Chicago,
Illinois - Real change can result from elections in Iran as
long as there is a home grown democratic heart beating within
the theocratic Republic. But for how long will that be the
case?
Iran may not be a liberal democracy but it is certainly a far
cry from those fake Democratic Republics that littered the
world before 1989. A representative democracy grafted onto a
theocracy, the Islamic Republic is a unique specimen in the
menagerie of political systems from Uruk, Constantinople and
Geneva to Athens, Philadelphia and Moscow.
The Iranian parliamentary elections of 14 March 2008
perpetuated the fractious pattern of the presidential
elections of 2005, with splinter groups growing within both "principalist"
and reformist camps.
The "principalists" were unable to keep a powerful triumvirate
of pragmatic conservatives (the mayor of Tehran, Mohammad
Bagher Ghalibaf, the former nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani
and the former Revolutionary Guard Commander, Mohsen Rezaie)
from leaving the strict conservative coalition that included
President Ahmedinajad. The reformist camp was also cleaved
into the eponymous followers of former President Khatami and
the National Confidence party of the former Speaker of the
Parliament, Mahdi Karrubi.
Given the good showing of the reformist camp, this group can
choose to join forces with "independents" (candidates who
chose not to affiliate themselves with existing camps) and
pragmatic conservatives to shovel sand in the gears of
President Ahmadinejad's polarizing economic practices,
management style and foreign policy.
The Iranian theocracy runs on the legitimating fuel of annual
democratic elections. Of course the democratic component of
the Islamic polity has to be kept in check. A theocratic
Supreme Court (Guardian Council) vets the candidates before
and selectively adjudicates voting irregularities after each
election. During elections the state militias of Basij
campaign for the personal choice of the theocratic Supreme
Leader.
In the recent elections, the disqualification of reformers
removed well-known challengers from more than one-third of the
290 seats at the parliament and replaced them on the ballot
with less-known reformist candidates with little chance of
winning. After the elections, both reformist factions
vociferously objected to the results.
The question is why Iranians participate in a "manipulated"
election. The answer is simple. Voting is a rational choice:
the benefits of participation outweigh its costs. Procedurally
speaking, participation in elections prevents total domination
by the theocrats, increases transparency and ensures a modicum
of circulation of elites at the lower rungs of the system.
Of course there is always an outside (but real) chance of a
sudden upset. It is true that the system is altered to benefit
theocracy, but a bit of luck and a huge landslide can
overwhelm the theocratic stopgaps and lead to historical
victories, such as that enjoyed by Mohammad Khatami in 1997
and 2001.
Lack of alternatives is another factor in the calculus of
voting in Iran. Revolution against the regime is out of the
question for a nation that trod upon that perilous path a
generation ago. Nor is it possible to deny legitimacy to the
system by an electoral boycott - which requires a campaign
that may never be allowed in Iran. In short, Iranians
calculate that exercising their right to vote is worth
imparting a patina of legitimacy to the system, at least for
the time being.
But what about in the long run?
Trends in voting don't seem to favor the current symbiosis
between democracy and theocracy. Natural democratic processes
erode strict theocratic rule requiring ever-stricter legal and
extra legal measures and "election engineering". An increase
in such interventions will discourage mass participation,
which currently hovers around 55 percent.
In the cities where voting is a political act rather than an
expression of ethnic solidarity or procurement of cash for
local projects, participation has fallen to 30 percent. It is
true that low participation favors the right wing which relies
on its steady 20 percent population base.
But the recent election shows that in the cities even the
supposedly solid conservative base has been thinning. It is
therefore possible to extrapolate that Iran is facing
increasing voter apathy that will likely disrupt the delicate
balance of theocracy and democracy, possibly unleashing a
crisis of legitimacy in the Islamic Republic. This is a great
liability in a nation that only three decades ago overthrew
another powerful but unpopular regime.
Reason and recent regional experience suggest that sustainable
political change cannot be dictated to the Middle East from
without. There are two survival scenarios for the Islamic
Republic and both of them are stories of slow
transubstantiation: in one version reformers will prevail,
and, having learned their lessons from the Khatami years,
rigorously carry through their transformative democratic
changes. In another, gradual democratization, and its
inevitable concomitant - the increasing ceremonialisation of
theocracy - will result from the acumen of a Supreme Leader
who finds reigning as the symbol of the unity of church and
state preferable to radical destabilization.
(Ahmad Sadri is a professor of sociology and the Gorter Chair
of Islamic World Studies at Lake Forest College. Source:
Common Ground News Service, 29 April 2008. Copyright
permission is granted for publication.)
Judges are public servants, not bosses
In short, justices wear robes on oath under the
Constitution as trustees par excellence of judicial power, of
course within their legal jurisdiction and constitutional
jurisprudence.
V.R. Krishna Iyer
Contrary
to what the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court recently said,
the Right to Information Act does cover 'constitutional
authorities.'
Absolute power and egregious error will be totally
incompatible, even when the matter involves the judiciary.
Justices of the court are no higher than great Homer who, as
Lord Byron put it, sometimes nods off. The 'robed brethren' on
the High Bench do sometimes blink. Perhaps it is a rare
occurrence, but this is what happened when the Chief Justice
of India, the country's highest judicial functionary, claimed
that the Chief Justice is not a 'public servant' but a
'constitutional authority.' It may be true. But every judge is
oath-bound to dispense public justice "without fear or favour,
affection or ill-will." Public justice is public service, and
obviously judges are public servants. The Right to Information
Act, therefore, does cover 'constitutional authorities',
contrary to what the Chief Justice said. His absolutist
obiter, coming as it does from a legal luminary for whom I
have high regard, is bizarre and it is a faux pas.
Unfortunately, he has, in my legal perception, slipped into an
accidental innocence of jurisprudence.
This may, however, be justly overlooked, having regard to the
heavy burden he bears. He has to manage the court, handle a
load of judicial work, frequently make ceremonial journeys,
give erudite speeches and interviews, and bear the tremendous
strain involved in selecting higher judicial personnel. Under
public pressure or out of vanity, judges often undertake a
tremendous amount of non-judicial work, sacrificing valuable
time so necessary to study dockets, hear prolix and logomachic
arguments, and write (although some of them do not do that)
judgments laying down the law of the land. Considering this
onerous background, we must forsake criticism of occasional
forensic failings.
Grave goof-up
How else can one explain a grave goof-up, made unwittingly, in
his saying that judges are not public servants but
'constitutional authorities'? The latter are, in simple
semantics, a higher category of public functionaries. They are
a finer, nobler group of public servants, democratically more
accountable and qualitatively more liable than others to
furnish information to the people about themselves and their
functions, if it is relevant to the public interest. All
important constitutional authorities, such as Judges,
Ministers, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Accountant
General, the Election Commissioner, and the Speaker of the
Legislature, are a fortiori public servants with superior and
more profound obligations. These are not two antithetical
categories but are, in public law, of the same class. My
candid constitutional camera perceives both as owing public
duties and being liable to pay penalties for any failures -
subject to the limitations laid down by law. The great judge
Jerome Frank, in his book Courts on Trial, said he had little
patience with, or respect for, the view that it is dangerous
to tell the public unpalatable truths about the judiciary. He
wrote: "I am unable to conceive… that in a democracy, it can
ever be unwise to acquaint the public with the truth about the
workings of any branch of government. It is wholly
undemocratic to treat the public as children who are unable to
accept the inescapable shortcomings of man-made institutions…
The best way to bring about the elimination of those
shortcomings of our judicial system which are capable of being
eliminated is to have all our citizens informed as to how that
system now functions. It is a mistake, therefore, to try to
establish and maintain, through ignorance, public esteem for
our courts."
Democratic instrumentality
I stand solidly for a judiciary that is a democratic
instrumentality, not an occult class of divinity. David
Pannick, QC, observed: "We need judges who are trained for the
job, whose conduct can be freely criticised and is subject to
investigation by a Judicial Performance Commission; judges who
abandon wigs, gowns and unnecessary linguistic legalisms;
judges who welcome rather than shun publicity for their
activities."
Information about judges' wealth, other activities and even
private doings, if they affect judicial duties, cannot be kept
secret. To cite David Pannick again: "The judiciary is not the
'least dangerous branch' of government… They send people to
prison and decide the scope and application of all manner of
rights and duties with important consequences for individuals
and for society. Because the judiciary has such a central role
in the government of society, we should (in the words of
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes), wash…. with cynical acid this
aspect of public life. Unless and until we treat judges as
fallible human beings whose official conduct is subject to the
same critical analysis as that of other organs of government,
judges will remain members of a priesthood who have great
powers over the rest of the community, but who are otherwise
isolated from them and misunderstood by them, to their mutual
disadvantage."
Let us not confuse between the papacy and the judiciary.
Judges, like Ministers, Governors, Presidents, Speakers and a
host of other functionaries, are constitutional authorities.
And, most emphatically, they are public servants, not
absolutist bosses with vast political power but above
democratic accountability. They should have functional
transparency and be fundamentally incorruptible.
Indeed, judges must be free from graft, nepotism, abuse of
power, and arrogance. They should be the paradigm of clean
personal life, open and accessible custodians of public
justice and paragons of moral excellence and humanist
simplicity, sans consumerist craving and greed to grab. They
are a higher cadre with a more sublime calibre.
Trustees of judicial power
In short, justices wear robes on oath under the Constitution
as trustees par excellence of judicial power, of course within
their legal jurisdiction and constitutional jurisprudence. The
Supreme Court, in a ruling of the Constitution Bench in K.
Veeraswami vs. Union of India (1991 SCC P-655), held that the
expression 'public servant', used in the Prevention of
Corruption Act, is undoubtedly wide enough to denote every
judge, including judges of the High Court and the Supreme
Court. Judges are under the law, not above it. Your public
life, and even private life to the extent it influences your
judicial role, should be accountable and transparent to the
public. A plea of secrecy is sinister allergy. Democracy is a
disaster if the President, the Speaker, the Prime Minister and
the Chief Justice hide their wealth and dealings from the
scrutiny of 'We, the People of India', the sovereign of the
nation. To err is human and to forgive is divine. Chief
Justice K.G. Balakrishnan is a fine citizen, a sublime soul, a
versatile jurist, a graceful instance of dignity and
refinement. If I have erred in disagreeing with his disclaimer
of judges being public servants, he will forgive me. But
judges certainly are not divine.
The Indian judiciary must accept Frankfurter, that frank and
superlative U.S. Judge who wrote: "Judges as persons, or
courts as institutions, are entitled to no greater immunity
from criticism than other persons or institutions. Just
because the holders of judicial office are identified with the
interests of justice they may forget their common human
frailties and fallibilities. There have sometimes been
martinets upon the bench as there have also been pompous
wielders of authority who have used the paraphernalia of power
in support of what they called their dignity. Therefore judges
must be kept mindful of their limitations and of their
ultimate public responsibility by a vigorous stream of
criticism expressed with candor however blunt." Our judges
shall remain awake and alert and accept the Preamble to the
Constitution that makes clear that this republic is
'socialist, secular, democratic.' We meanwhile need a judicial
appointments and performance commission of supreme stature,
its members selected from among the highest judicial,
political and public-spirited wonders of popular confidence.
This is essential to ensure that the finest and most
independent members of the fraternity would exercise judicial
power, and that they would be held in the highest esteem by
the enlightened wisdom of the people of India. This
desideratum demands a diamond-hard constitutional code that
covers every dimension of judicial performance.
Source: www.hindu.com
Opinion
Rough and tumble
No
one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the
American people, said H.L. Mencken. Joe Klein recently dressed
up the same point in Time magazine, arguing that election
winnability in the United States depends on "low-information
signalling" - how the candidate rolls a ball, downs a beer or
wears a flagpin - how convincingly he or she mimics "average
American" rituals, no matter how transparent the motives.
Barack Obama, by that logic, has gone about it all wrong -
audaciously choosing the more complex, less palatable truths,
believing that what America needs is to confront itself in a
"big" election. At a time when his black pastor Jeremiah
Wright's incendiary "God damn America" sermons were being
played on infinite loop on Youtube and cable to discredit him,
Obama shunned the obvious solution of dissociating himself
from Wright and, instead, gently steered the country around to
look beyond the black and white, and examine its own deeply
held, irrational race-anxieties.
But what a difference a few weeks made. Now, at the lowest
point in his campaign so far, Obama has been forced to sever
his association with Wright after the trash-talking preacher's
statements on 9/11 being a case of America's "chickens come
home to roost" and HIV-AIDS being a giant conspiracy against
blacks. But is Obama's U-turn a genuine reassessment based on
fresh evidence or is it a final falling down to earth, his
capitulation to the sorry rules of the political machine, as
his detractors gleefully claim? Hillary Clinton has been
accused of her own share of dissembling - but then again, no
one seems to have expected much better from her so she
actually stands to gain in this coarsened fray.
Either way, one thing is obvious. This election has gripped
the rest of the world, in ways nobody expected. The primaries
process was aimed at generating the core issues bottom up,
state-by-state, and testing candidates across all kinds of
voter expectations. It was supposed to be an example in
grassroots referendum. Instead, it has turned in on itself,
freakishly grinding on. We have watched with horrid
fascination as it beatifies and then tears down Barack Obama,
destroys and resurrects Clinton over and over again, seizes
upon every gaffe of campaigns under constant surveillance, and
distorts every issue of significance through the funhouse
mirrors of different media outlets. Obama isn't the only thing
that's shrunk in this wash.
Source:
www.indianexpress.com
International
Eighteen killed in
mosque blast in Yemen rebel stronghold
AFP, Sanaa
Eighteen people, mostly soldiers, were killed in Yemen on
Friday when a blast blamed by authorities on Shiite
insurgents exploded at the entrance to a mosque in the
rebels' stronghold.
A booby-trapped motorcycle exploded as hundreds of Muslim
faithful were leaving the Bin Salman mosque in the
northwestern town of Saada after Friday prayers, according
to military sources at the site.
Forty-five people were wounded.
The attack on the mosque, located near an army barracks,
raised fears of an escalation in violence between the
government and Shiite rebels whose insurgency in the
mountainous province of Saada has claimed thousands of
lives since 2004.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but a
local official told AFP the attack bears the hallmarks of
the Huthis, as the rebels are known.
"Terrorist criminal followers of the terrorist Abdul Malak
al-Huthi are behind this ugly crime," an interior ministry
official told the Saba state news agency, referring to the
rebels' field commander.
But Huthi, in a statement received by AFP, condemned the
"tragic" attack and called for "searching for the truth
objectively" in order to identify the perpetrators.
The rebel chief also accused unnamed parties of seeking to
thwart peace efforts in Saada and urged natives of the
province to close ranks.
Military sources said the dead were mostly soldiers, but
they also included beggars-women and children-who had been
waiting outside the mosque. Most of the injured were
soldiers.
Some witnesses said the attack might have targeted the
mosque's imam, or prayer leader, Askar Zuail. An army
officer who adheres to the rigorous Salafi school of Sunni
Islam, he has used his sermons to mobilise worshippers
against the Shiite rebels.
Witnesses said the cleric had just left the mosque and was
not hurt.
Local sources said the imam is an aide to Ali Mohsen,
military commander of the northwestern region who has led
the battle against the insurgents.
The interior ministry later said it had arrested a number
of armed men on suspicion of being the culprits after they
were stopped at a security checkpoint in the Saada region,
Saba reported.
It said there was evidence the suspects had sat in their
car outside the targeted mosque during the prayers, and
fled quickly after the explosion.
Mosques in Yemen cater for both the majority Sunni
community and the Zaidis, a Shiite offshoot, but are
usually identified by the sect of their prayer leader. The
rebels are Zaidis.
On Tuesday, seven soldiers were killed and 20 wounded when
their convoy was |