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Leading News
Khaleda, Hasina arrested
not in connection with corruption cases
Rather they might have been arrested for
political reasons: Hassan Mashhud Chy
Staff Correspondent
The military controlled interim Government's drive against
corruption received a severe blow from its anti-graft boss
on Monday when ACC Chairman Hassan Mashhud Chowdhury
himself asserted, "two former prime ministers Begum
Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina were arrested not in
connection with corruption cases; rather they might have
been arrested for political or other reasons."
"It is not mandatory that the accused in a corruption case
be arrested. There is no provision in the anti-corruption
law to arrest the accused before filing the case. But if
there is an apprehension that a particular accused may be
fugitive or proceedings of the case may be hampered
without his confinement, he will be arrested", said ACC
chairman at a press conference at its head office
yesterday.
The ACC was not involved in the process of arresting
anybody including the VIP prisoners like Hasina and
Khaleda, even the ACC was not consulted before their
arrest, he clearly said adding, "They might have been
arrested by the government for political or any other
reason."
Hinting at lifting of the state of emergency soon, he
said, "From now we are trying to increase the
institutional strength of the ACC up to the level that it
can continue its anti-corruption drive independently
without the support of the emergency."
Replying to a question about his resignation, he said that
he will not resign because he has already over come such
troubled stages when there was a chance of his
resignation.
He added, "Earlier I said that if I felt upset about
handling anti-corruption drive or gather any bitter
experience, I could resign. I had to face trouble in
interacting with officials of commerce and finance
ministries but I have surmounted those hardships. Now I am
determined that nothing will be able to stop our gigantic
target of combating corruption."
He said the ACC is going to combat corruption in different
ministries in a different format. The ACC top officials
will sit with the higher officials of different ministries
to chalk out a plan to address corruptions in government
institutions.
"When I go abroad, people criticize my failure to address
corruption in the government offices. So I shall sit with
policy level officers of different ministries to seek a
plan to reduce corruption through discussion and determine
the role of ACC in this regard."
Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, the ACC submitted
charge-sheet against Khaleda Zia and others in Niko
corruption case to the lower court after obtaining a
charge-sheet number from Tejgaon police station.
Khaleda Zia charge sheeted in Niko scam case
UNB, Dhaka
Detained former prime minister Khaldea Zia and ten others
were Monday charge sheeted in Niko scam case.
ACC deputy director SM Shahidur Rahman who investigated
into the case submitted the charge sheet in the court of
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Enamul Haq at 6-30pm.
The prosecutor said the accused had entered into a deal
with Canada-based oil & gas company NIKO accruing
financial benefits that inflicted loss to the nation to
the tune of Tk 13,777 crore.
ACC filed two cases against the two former prime ministers
Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina and their associates with
Kafrul thana on December 9 last year accusing them of
entering into separate deals during their rule with NIKO
inflicting heavy losses to the country. Court sources said
charge sheet in the other case against Sheikh Hasina and
her associates is likely to be submitted today (Tuesday).
The prosecutor of the case against Khaleda and her
associates submitted a list of 68 witnesses to probe the
charge.
Of the 11 accused, six including Khaleda are in custody
while six others remained fugitive. Others in custody are
former Law Minister Barrister Moudud Ahmed, former State
Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources AKM Mosharraf
Hossain, former secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam,
businessmen Giasuddin Al Mamun and Selim Bhuiyan.
Those remained absconding are Kashem Sharif of Niko
Resources Bangladesh Limited, former Principal Secretary
to PM Dr Kamal Siddiqui, Petro Bangla director CM Yusuf
Hussain, former BAPEX senior general manager Meer Moinul
Haque and former BAPEX Secretary Shafiur Rahman.
Hasina’s unconditional release
AL observes token hunger strike in capital
B Avenue, Dhanmondi witness huge gathering
Staff Correspondent
Demanding unconditional immediate release of detained
Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, the AL central
leaders and activists observed a token Hunger Strike at
two party offices in the capital on Monday.
Two party offices and its adjoining areas experienced the
first ever huge gathering after promulgation of the State
of Emergency. Apart from the party offices, thousands of
AL leaders, activists and supporters were seen standing
under the open sky amid severe heat.
Addressing the gatherings at the two venues, key AL
leaders vowed to free the detained former Prime Minister
Shiekh Hasina within the shortest possible time through
movement and hoped to take part in the upcoming general
election alongwith her.
"Not in parole, Hasina's release must be unconditional and
the people will realise their demands through mass upsurge
if the Caretaker Government doesn't pay heed to people's
demand," they observed.
Zillur Rahman said that people of Bangladesh would deicide
the next course of action programme to free their
uncompromising party leader Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the
Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
"No polls will be held across the country with Hasina
behind bars. Where there is not Hasina, there is no
election," the senior most AL leader cautioned urging the
partrymen to remain united for the next course of action.
He further alleged that since one year Hasina was confined
in jail on charge of false cases and conspirators
implicated her in a pre-planned way to ruin her political
career.
Emphasising on tangible talks for the betterment of the
country, Zillur said, "If the dialogue doesn't become
fruitful, the country will move towards
confrontation."
Acting AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said his
party will continuing their movement until their leader is
freed.
"AL is continuing its agitation in a disciplined and
democratic manner till date, but we don't want to break
the law," he hoped, "The government should consider its
demand in the greater interest of the nation and its
people."
Presidium member Amir Hossain Amu said, "A new program is
coming soon, we demand Hasina's release before the ensuing
dialogue. AL has decided to take part in the next general
election under the leadership of Hasina. And she must be
freed unconditionally; not on parole."
AL presidium member Abdur Razzaque said no dialogue will
see the light of success unless Hasina remains present
there. He demanded of the Caretaker Government to announce
the date of the next election as early as possible.
Another Presidium Member Tofael Ahmed said no polls will
be allowed to be held under the Emergency Rules and AL
would not join talks without Hasina.
Give
your govt a true picture of BD: Delwar asks Anwar Chy
Anwar Chy hopes of holding a credible election
Staff Correspondent
BNP Secretary General Khandoker Delwar Hossain on Monday
asked British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury to give
his government a true picture of Bangladesh as well as of
the activities of the present caretaker government.
Delwar made his proposal to the British High Commissioner
while the latter made a courtesy call to the BNP Secretary
General at the Nam residence at the Manik Miah Avenue.
Anwar Chowdhury came to the Nam flat at 12.20 noon and
held meeting with the BNP Secretary General for one and a
half hours. Khandaker Delwar was accompanied by the party
Chairperson's Adviser Brig (retd) ASM Hannan Shah and
joint Secretary General Goyeshwar Chandra Roy and acting
Office Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed.
After the meeting, Delwar told newsmen that Anwar wanted
to know the views of BNP on next election or the dialogues
with the government and in reply the party Secretary
General cleared their position on the issues. "We told him
that the human rights were violated for the state of
emergency and people are denied justice. The government is
suing anybody it wishes to harass and in the case of the
detained people, they are being deprived of proper
healthcare and other amenities," he said.
"We told him we demand immediate withdrawal of the state
of emergency and release of the two top leaders, Khaleda
Zia and Sheikh Hasian, to create an environment conducive
to hold an election. The two major parties have to be
allowed to contest the polls with the two leaders, to make
democracy stronger here. If there is any attempt to hold
fabricated and farce polls, people would not accept that
and it would widen the scope for instability in country,"
he said.
After his farewell talks with the BNP secretary general,
the outgoing British High Commissioner Anwar said, "We
support Bangladesh's desire for a sustainable strong
democracy after the holding of a very good election but we
stress on stronger democracy that would continue after the
elections."
Talking about the possibility of holding election under
state of emergency, Anwar said, "It is obviously much more
practical to have election without the emergency. If it is
not possible to lift the emergency, the emergency should
be relaxed at the maximum level so that the people can
organise for the election and have time to get ready for
the polls and discuss matters."
"I can not make any positive comment on it as there is
judicial process regarding these individuals," he said
answering a question whether the election would be
possible without Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina.
One
crore people at high risk of Malaria
BSS, Chittagong
Health experts and malaria researchers have said at least
one crore people living in the country's thirteen north,
east, south and eastern bordering areas are at high death
risk of malaria and malaria related diseases.
Disclosing the information at a seminar on " Update on
Malaria" here on Sunday, the e health experts and
researchers said among the bordering areas, 3 Chittagong
Hill Tracks districts, adjacent Chittagong and Cox's Bazar
are most vulnerable to the deadly disease.
According to official records, around 70,000 inhabitants
of these areas are affected by malaria every year and of
them 600 patients die annually.
Medicine Department of Chittagong Medical College (CMC)
and Association of Advancement of Tropical Medicine
jointly organized the seminar to mark the first World
Malaria Day-2008.
Prof. Gofranul Haq, head of the Medicine Department of CMC
presided over the seminar held in CMC conference room.
Four separate papers highlighting different aspects of
treatment and management of the disease and research study
on behavior, approaches and information of people in
malaria-prone areas were presented at the seminar.
Prof. Imran Bin Younus, Dr. Amir Hossain, Prof.
Mahtabuddin Hasan and Dr. Rasheda Samad presented the
keynote papers and study results.
Director of the Chittagong Medical College Hospital,
Colonel Fariduzzaman, principal of CMC, MA Wahab Chowdhury
and Divisional Director of Health, Chittagong, Dr.
Mohammad Rezaul Karim Chowdhury took part in the
discussion on the keynote papers.
The speakers opined that death rate from malaria disease
could not be contained despite availability of easy
detection method and effective medicine for quick recovery
due to lack of proper treatment facilities and mass
awareness about how to prevent oneself easily from
mosquito biting.
EC
dispels apprehension about delay in national elections
Delimitation
being done within stipulated time: Sohul
UNB, Dhaka
The Election Commission dispelled political parties'
apprehension that delimitating the electoral
constituencies would delay the national elections, saying
that the task is being done under the reform recipe within
the stipulated time.
The EC on May 30 announced the draft on delimitation of
133 out of 300 electoral constituencies as part of their
tasks under an 18-month-long election roadmap announced on
July 15 last year.
"Why the national elections will be delayed? There is no
overlapping in the timeframe of election roadmap,"
Election Commissioner M Sohul Hussain told journalists
Monday afternoon when his comment was sought about the
political parties' fulmination over the EC announcement on
draft delimitation.
"This government is running in accordance with the
Constitution. We're (EC) also within the Constitution,"
Sohul said as asked whether the delimitation could be done
under an unelected and "unconstitutional" government.
About the apprehension of a large number of litigations
against the EC's act of delimitating the electoral
constitution, the Election Commissioner cited article 125
of the Constitution under which no one can file writ in
the court against the EC's move in this regard.
The political parties' objection to the delimitation, he
said the EC would look into the matter if there be any
objection. "We've given time to file objection. We'll look
into whether the principle, based on which the draft
delimitation has been done, has been violated anyway or
not. But, delimitation must be done according to the
Constitution and law."
Sohul said the EC's target of holding city and municipal
elections might be delayed up to July since the new law
under which the elections would be held is not yet
finalized.
"We'll send the final draft of the Representation of the
People Order 2008 to the law ministry within this week to
make it final… We hope that the law will be completed
within this month," he said.
The EC is not going to amend the RPO of 1972 rather it
proposes repealing the whole ordinance, Sohul said, adding
that it would be mentioned in RPO 2008 that the RPO of
1972 has been repealed and thus the history of the
previous law could be maintained.
Back Page
‘No new gas
connections’: Dr. Tamim
Staff
Correspondent
In a bid to stop further
deterioration of prevailing gas crisis, the government has
decided not to permit any new domestic gas connections in
the country, Dr. Tamim said at a discussion titled
"Current Power Sector Scenario and Strategy for
Development Initiatives" organized by the FBCCI.
As one of the urgent measures to improve the country's
fuel supply shortage, no gas connection will be given to
any industrial plant in Chittagong from now and further
expansion of gas connection in the new industries in the
capital and adjacent districts will go slow, the special
assistant to the chief adviser said.
He, however, said, the existing gas supply network will be
maintained and the relevant authorities have been asked to
take necessary steps in this regard.
Insisting on the need for coal-based power plants in the
country, Dr. Tamim said the country cannot solely depend
on gas supply to generate power, run the industries and
fulfill domestic demands as no effective steps were taken
to explore new gas resource in the country since 1991.
Till exploration of new mineral resource like gas, the
country has no option but to utilise its coal resource to
build coal-run power plant to keep the wheels of commerce
and industry, above all, the country's economy operative,
the special assistant for energy and mineral resources
said.
The nation need to decide immediately as to whether the
energy sector will be developed to support domestic
commerce and industry or to enrich the national economy
through earning revenues, Tamim said.
Speaking at the discussion, FBCCI president Annisul Hoque
said, the government should withdraw the decision to stop
further expansion of gas supply network and allow gas
connection to the new industrial enterprises to save the
sector in the greater national interest.
Lawachhara
Forest Fire Incident
Petrobangla, Chevron dismiss link between fire and seismic
survey
UNB, Dhaka
State-owned Petrobangla and international oil company
Chevron Monday said there was no link between the fire
incident that occurred on April 26 at Lawachhara national
forest and the ongoing 3D seismic survey over there.
"After our investigations carried out separately, we've
reached the same conclusion that there was no link between
the fire and the survey," said Petrobangla Chairman Jalal
Ahmed in a joint press conference at the conference room
of his office. Chevron Bangladesh's operation Chief Steve
Wilson said his company's investigation revealed that no
Chevron crew was present or working at the location of the
forest where the fire broke out. "Even, there was no
explosion in that area…" he added. After the fire
incident, Chevron suspended the survey work and resumed it
on April 29 after an investigation.
Steve said all the necessary mitigation measures have been
taken by his company to minimise the possible damage to
the forest during the seismic survey.
He said the survey used small charges to keep noise level
at between 58 and 70 dB range so that it does not create
any disturbance to the animal and birds of the forest.
About the cracks developed in mud-houses of the forest
area, the Chevron chief said the complaints were taken
very seriously and after investigation compensation would
be provided to the house owners. Petrobangla chairman
Jalal Ahmed said he personally visited the area after the
incident, but found no link between the fire and the
survey.
He said Forest Department also conducted its own
investigation with members from Bangladesh Environment
Lawyers' Assoc-iation (BELA) and other local NGOs and
confirmed that there was no link between the fire and 3D
seismic survey.
CHT Arson Attacks
HR group demands judicial probe
Bdnews24, Dhaka
A rights group on Monday demanded the formation of a
judicial commission to investigate the April 20 arson
attacks on the houses of indigenous people and Bangalee
settlers in remote Sajek area of Rangamati.
Representatives of Nagorik Samaj, a platform for lawyers,
politicians, human-rights workers and teachers, visited
the scene and pressed the demand at a press conference at
Dhaka Reporters Unity. Barrister Sara Hossain who led the
delegation to the Chittagong Hill Tracts spoke at the
press conference. Other members of the team Gano Forum
leader Pankaj Bhattacharya, Abu Ahmed Faizul Kabir of Ain
O Salish Kendro and Dhaka University teacher Robayet
Ferdous were also present.
A written statement distributed among reporters alleged
that many indigenous people had left the area for fear of
life.
"Affected people are living in the open," the statement
said.
It said: "Hill people think the Bangalee settlers set fire
to their houses. On the other hand, the Bangalees think
outsiders set their houses ablaze."
Sara Hossain said: "Tension is simmering between the
indigenous and Bangalees. It was the duty of the security
forces to mitigate the tension." Pankaj Bhattacharya said:
"Such incidents are occurring repeatedly in the CHT as the
peace agreement has not been implemented completely." "I
went to Sajek four years ago but did not see any Bangalee
settlement there." The press conference demanded formation
of a land commission to settle land disputes in the CHT
and the civil administration be made effective.
Earlier, a team led by Jahangirnagar University teacher
Manosh Chowdhury visited Sajek area and demanded formation
of a judicial committee to probe the incident from a
separate press conference on Friday.
Arsonists attacked and burnt 132 houses in seven villagers
of Sajek union.
Protecting IPR: Challenges, opportunities
James F Moriarty
Bdnews, Dhaka
Why should Bangladesh care about protecting intellectual
property rights? Intellectual property rights (IPR) are
the legal mechanisms-copyrights, patents and
trademarks-that ensure that the products we buy are
genuine. Dangerous and defective counterfeit products,
from counterfeit medication, to toothpaste, to auto parts,
put the lives of consumers at risk. A strong IPR system
ensures that inventors and innovators are rewarded for
their ideas. IPR protections foster an environment in
which creative and innovative industries can thrive and
contribute to economic development worldwide.
At the dawn of the 21st century, an increasing share of
global economic output is generated by services, many of
which depend on new and evolving technologies. Inventors,
creators, and other risk-takers play a critical role in
this economic progress, and the protection of IPR is
necessary to ensure that the advances that result from
their efforts are rewarded and valued. Progress in
nanotechnology, information technology, and clean energy
fosters economic development and improves standards of
living worldwide.
Intellectual property rights don't just protect inventors
or large corporations; they protect local entrepreneurs
and artists. A clear example of innovation in Bangladesh
is the pioneering work of Mustafa Jabbar, inventor of the
Bijoy Bangla keyboard and related software. The recent
court decision recognising Mr Jabbar's ownership of the
technology he developed is an important step in
encouraging innovation. Bangladesh's film-makers such as
Catherine and Tareque Masud have won critical
international acclaim for their films but frequently
suffer the theft of their work in their home country. The
illegal sale of stolen music and films in nearly all of
Bangladesh's markets is a troubling indicator of the scale
of the IPR protection challenge.
Developing countries too often assume that IPR only
benefits first world nations. This perspective unfairly
discounts indigenous capacity for innovation-as if good
ideas worth protecting and promoting can only come from
the first world. Officials in less developed countries
cite the World Trade Organisation's TRIPS agreement as
granting their countries exemption from international IPR
standards until 2013 (and 2016 for pharmaceutical
patents). Relying upon these temporary "exemptions" is a
choice fraught with risks. An economy built on weak IPR
foundations is one in which the abuse of foreign and
domestic IPR occurs hand-in-hand. Any country seeking
free-trade agreements cannot ignore Monday's work to
ensure meeting future obligations to protect IPR.
The human potential to create and innovate is a boundless
worldwide resource. Clear rules and strong enforcement of
IPR allows countries to sustain economic development and
to build recognisable and respected brands worldwide.
Bangladesh's innovators, inventors and artists have proven
themselves worthy of the highest awards and recognition
world wide-it's time that Bangladesh's domestic IPR
mechanisms now grant them the same honour.
(James F Moriarty is US ambassador to Bangladesh.)
Ministry urges workers to regularise status
BSS, Dhaka
The Ministry of Expatriates'
Welfare and Overseas Employment has once again urged the
Bangladeshi workers to regularize their status in their
respective host countries.
A spokesman of the ministry Monday said the workers must
avail the opportunities such as amnesties that are
announced from time to time by the concerned authorities
abroad, a press release said.
It has come to the notice of the ministry that workers are
not doing so at times pushing themselves at the risk of
facing deportation when all the Gulf countries are
tightening their regulations regarding the expatriate
labour, it said.
The spokesman said the outflow of workers is continuing
unabated. During the first four months of the year, a
record number of nearly 300,000 workers have been cleared
for foreign employment, the release said.
Crime
One
killed in city
Staff Correspondent
One young man was killed in a gun attack by a gang of
miscreants at his residence at Rampura in the capital in
the mid night of Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Mostafizur Rahman Rana,
22, son of Abdus Sattar of Rampura area.
According to sources, a gang of four to five miscreants
equipped with firearms attacked Rana at about 12:30 pm
while he was sitting at the balcony of first floor of
his house no-104 under Badda police station. The gang
managed to flee the spot leaving him critically injured.
The motive for the killing could not be known
immediately, Badda police sources said.
A case was lodged but none was arrested till the filling
of the report last night.
3 held; firearms, drugs recovered
Staff Correspondent
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three alleged
criminals and recovered firearms and narcotic from their
possession from separate spots of the capital on
Saturday night.
Acting on a tip-off, a patrol team of RAB-4 raided a
house no-621 at Shewrapara under Mirpur police station
at about 8 pm and arrested Ahmed Ali alias Suman, 28 of
the area. RAB personnel recovered around 22 rounds of
bullets from his possession. He is accused in several
cases including extortion and snatching and also is a
close accomplice of Shahar Ali a top terror of the area,
according to RAB sources.
Besides, on the basis of secret information, another
team of RAB-2 went to Dhaka Uddan under Mohammadpur
police station at about 9 pm and arrested Baker, 33 an
alleged drug trader of area. Around 500 bottles of
phensidyl were also recovered.
Meanwhile, acting on a tip-off, a special squad of
RAB-10 went to Joydebpur under Gajipur district and
arrested Moazzem Mandal, 20, an alleged criminal of
Dhaka Mirpur area, according to RAB sources. RAB
recovered a revolver and two rounds of bullets after
searching his body. Cases were lodged with respective
police station in this connection.
Couple arrested for cheating
Our Correspondent, Sirajganj
Police arrested a manpower business couple in Sirajganj
town on Monday following an allegation of cheating the
local people in the name of sending them abroad.
Police said they arrested Shahbuddin Dipu, 40, and his
wife, Rosy Mahmood, 32, of their resident at Hossainpur
(South) Mahalla at about 9:00 am while a group of the
local people gheraoed them.
Quoting the locals, police said at least twelve youths
alleged they had been cheated of about Tk 10 lakh by
Dipu and his wife hoping for going in the Middle East
for jobs.
However, while those youth failed to avail their
opportunity as well as to recover their deposited money,
they just seized the house and complained the police
-said Md. Mahabub Alam Khan, the police
Officer-in-Charge of sadar police station. The
complainer, however, also recorded a case in this
matter.
Robbery at Sonali Bank Rangpur branch, over one lakh
looted
A Correspondent, Rangpur
A number of miscreants at arms snatched away 1,14,000
taka from Sonali Bank of Rangpur main branch leaving an
employee of Public Works Department injured at noon
yesterday (Monday).
Police of Kotwali thana said the miscreants attacked PWD
employee Golam Rasul who were leaving the bank after
drawing Tk 1, 14,000. When Golam Rasul denied them to
hand over the bag of money, they hit him at the head and
escaped the bank premises leaving him senseless, police
added. Golam Rasul said, the bank employees sent him to
Rangpur Medical College Hospital. Sources of PWD said,
Golam Rasul drew the money from the bank to pay the
wages of the PWD employees working in the master roll.
The correspondent also adds: Kotwali Police held a ring
leader of robbers on Sunday night from Badargonj road
area in Rangpur. Police sources said a team of police
was patrolling on Rangpur- Badargonj road. Suddenly they
encountered with a group of dacoits numbering about
10-12. The robbers became dispersed and tried to escape
the scene. Police chased them and held the ring leader,
Abdul Hakim. The others managed to flee away.
Police told Hakim was a wanted criminal. There were
several complaints and cases of cheating, mugging and
robbery against him with the police station.
Process surveyor
of Sirajganj Chief Judicial Magistrate Court held on
bribery
Our correspondent, Sirajganj
The member of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-12,
Sirajganj nabbed a process surveyor of the Sirajganj
Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on bribery on Monday.
RAB sources said, acting on tip-top, the elite forces
led by Flt. lieutenant Shamim Hossain and the magistrate
Abul Khayeer, nabbed Moksed Alam Khan, 40, son of late
nudai Khan, from his office at about 5:00 pm. RAB said
he took Tk. 200 from a teacher, Shah Alam Sarker, a
resident of Shahed Nagar in Sirajganj municipal area,
for delivering an office order notice. He was, however,
handed over to the sadar police station.
Dead body recovered
Our Correspondent, Sirajganj
Police recovered a dead body of a farmer in Sirajganj on
Monday.
Police said they recovered the body from a paddy field
at Baoikhola village in Raiganj upazila at about 11:00
am.
The deceased was identified as Md. Thandu Mian, 25, son
of Ainul Hoque of Bannavhengur village under Chandaikona
union of the same uapzila. Later, they sent the body to
Sirajganj General Hospital morgue for post mortem
examination.
Police, however, recorded an un-natural death (U.D.)
case in this matter with Raiganj police station. Haider
Ali, the police Officer-in-Charge, said that they
primarily suspected the incident as suicide.
5 bodies recovered in 4 weeks
Our Correspondent, Barisal
Recovery of brutally killed five unidentified dead
bodies in four weeks from different areas of Barisal
district created sensation among the law enforcing
agencies.
Sources said unidentified dead body of an old aged male
was recovered from Damper River under Mehendiganj police
station on April 05. Dead body of a female was recovered
from Katadia canal of Bakerganj police station on Aptril
13. A beheaded body of a youth was recovered from
Kirtonkhola River near Rasulpur slum area of the city on
April 22. A body tied with ropes was also recovered from
Kadamtala river near Kazirchar of Muladi police station
on May 01. Another body of a mid-aged male, legs and
hands tied, and packed in a polythene bag was recovered
on May 02 from Barisal Muslim Gorosthan.
Khan Sayed Hassan, the metropolitan police commissioner,
Toufiq Mahbub Chowdhury, district Police Super and
officials of Rapid Action Battalion Unit-8 of Barisal
said that they were monitoring the incidents cautiously
and trying their best to solve the mystery of sudden
rise in recovery of unidentified dead bodies.
Editorial
Land Grabbing Continues Unabated
There is no doubt about
it that population increases, industrialization and rapid
urbanization have put pressure on available land. Much of what
was arable land in and around major cities has now been
converted into urban and in many cases industrialized areas
and zones. Besides these, governmental infrastructural
development activities in the form of sub-urban areas,
industrial zones, inland river ports and roads and highways
have substantially changed the geography, the environment and
the ecology of much of Bangladesh.
In major cities such as Dhaka and Chittagong, land
development, has been spearheaded by real estate developers
for housing, schools and colleges, shopping centers, hospitals
and offices. As population in cities continued to explode, so
did the demands for accommodation of all sorts. Within just a
decade or so, land was at a premium in cities and its
surrounding environs. Competition, for land, among developers
became cut throat with each trying to acquire more and more
land by means more often foul than fair. Soon enough, a time
came when no more land was available legally, all had been
bought and sold many times over.
Starting from around the mid 1980, with successive governments
looking the other way, land developers embarked on grasping
and seizing public lands with the active support and
connivance of government officials and city administrators. So
notoriously powerful did some of these developers become that
they could and did dictate government policies regarding
acquisition and development of land, legalizing their ill
acquired properties. Nothing was above or beyond them, not
even the law which they could buy or subvert or even cause to
be made to support their activities. One has but to cite the
example of the Bashundhara and Rangs groups to drive home the
point.
The Emergency government put behind bars many of these crooks
in the guise of businessmen and real estate developers. To the
great approbation of the public, the Emergency Government took
a drive at repossessing public and in some cases private lands
from illegal occupation and occupants. For the time being this
worked as a deterrent to illegal occupation of land but soon
enough, to public consternation, the drive against land
grabbing and illegal possession of land, petered out with the
City Corporation and the government's anti-corruption task
forces meanwhile being occupied with other priorities. The
land grabbers and so called land developers reorganized
themselves and are at it again full blast occupying and
building in some of the very places from where they had so
recently been evicted per force.
Under the circumstances, we would like to suggest that
eviction from illegal occupation of land is a continuous
process and until the government keeps at it, at least from
time to time, land grabbing, like other crimes and forms of
corruption, will take new paths and ways and means to continue
unabated. An example is the building of a hospital, of all
things, by land filling of the Uttara Lake, which has now been
reduced by continuous encroachments into nothing but pools of
stagnant unhealthy water. We would therefore, urge upon the
Government to carryout the good task of continuous series of
drives against land grabbing.
Viral diseases
Viral diseases are
spreading fast across the country causing sufferings and
concerns to the people. A large number of people are reported
to have been afflicted with diseases such as diarrhoea,
dysentery, jaundice, typhoid etc in the capital city Dhaka and
elsewhere the country. The number of patients suffering from
diarrhoea in particular is increasing fast and around seven to
eight hundred of them are being admitted to ICDDR,B Hospital
everyday for treatment . It is reportedly being difficult for
the hospital authorities to cope with the alarming situation.
Most of these are waterborne diseases and their outbreak
during the summer season is almost a regular phenomenon every
year. These diseases are widespread this year due to use of
contaminated water and stale food amid continued hot spell. In
the capital itself the crisis of safe water has taken a
serious turn. Not more than 45 percent of the dwellers here
have access to safe drinking water because only 1400 million
liters of water are supplied by WASA as against the demand for
2000 million liters leaving a deficit of 600 million liters
daily. Meanwhile, massive load shedding is one of the main
causes of the chronic water shortage in the city.
In the wake of the deterioration in the water crisis army
personnel have been deployed at WASA Pump Houses to ensure
smooth water supply in the city. But yet the situation has not
improved and the people are almost under compulsion to use
contaminated water for cooking and drinking. As a result
people in growing numbers are being afflicted with different
viral diseases specially diarrhoea, dysentery, jaundice and
typhoid. The situation outside Dhaka is also the same, if not
worse.
Against this backdrop the authorities should try their best to
ensure increased supply of safe water, make water purification
tablets and other medicines easily available, enhance
treatment facilities at hospitals and launch a publicity
campaign to make people aware about these diseases and the
need for taking water only after boiling and purification.
Analysis
New Delhi's Pragmatism
While making concerted efforts to better
relations with China and Pakistan, India has also sought to
counter their influence with a robust relationship with Iran
and investment in Afghanistan.
Jayshree Bajoria
Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's April 29 visit (IANS) to the
Indian capital sparked a verbal spat (NYT) earlier this month
between New Delhi and Washington. After the Bush
administration urged New Delhi to call upon Ahmadinejad to
comply with international requirements on Iran's nuclear
program, India's foreign affairs office responded (PTI): It
did not need "any guidance on the future conduct of bilateral
relations." The exchange brings into sharp focus the
challenges facing India as it asserts itself on the global
stage.
During the Cold War, India refused to align itself with any of
the major world powers. After the collapse of the Soviet
Union, however, India shed its nonaligned policy and
globalization led New Delhi to embrace better relations with
the United States. The civilian nuclear cooperation deal with
the United States proposed in 2005 typifies this new tack. But
India's foreign policy pragmatism cuts both ways. As this
article in TIME magazine notes, "New Delhi remains deeply wary
over being seen to be doing Washington's bidding when it comes
to dealing with other countries."
The Indian government hopes to maintain its strong economic
growth rate over the next twenty-five years. Meeting such a
goal means the country will have to at least triple its
primary energy supply. "Because of Iran's strategic importance
and its own goal of ensuring a stable energy supply, it is
difficult for New Delhi to abandon its relationship with
Tehran," write Xenia Dormandy and Ronak D. Desai of Harvard's
Belfer Center. India seeks energy cooperation with Tehran,
including an ambitious $7 billion pipeline through Pakistan.
India's growing energy needs have also led it to pursue
relations with the repressive governments of Myanmar and
Sudan, raising questions about its responsibilities as a
global player. Indian companies have invested more than $2.5
billion in Sudan, while India's public oil company, ONGC
Videsh, recently built a 450-mile pipeline project in the
country. India, competing with China for Myanmar's oil and
natural gas resources, shares extensive bilateral relations
with its ruling junta that include supplying arms and
conducting joint security operations.
According to India expert C. Raja Mohan, India's foreign
policy priorities are as follows: "to reshape its immediate
neighborhood, find a modus vivendi with China and Pakistan
(its two regional rivals), and reclaim its standing in the
'near abroad': parts of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Central and
Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean region." At the same
time, he writes in Foreign Affairs, India has expanded
relations with the existing great powers-especially the United
States, which has emerged as a major supplier of arms (VOA) to
the Indian military.
While making concerted efforts to better relations with China
and Pakistan, India has also sought to counter their influence
with a robust relationship with Iran and investment in
Afghanistan. India's 'Look East' policy gives it access to
markets in Southeast Asia, offsetting China's influence.
India's new ally, the United States, also seeks to counter
China's growing military power, encouraging New Delhi to
strengthen its military relationship with Israel. India is now
Israel's largest arms client in Asia.
As India plays for higher stakes on the global stage, its
foreign policy has drawn greater scrutiny. India is home to
the largest number of Tibetans outside Tibet, including the
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The Indian
government's tepid response to the Chinese crackdown on
Tibetan demonstrators has prompted much criticism. But the
Indian government is eager not to upset the small gains (LAT)
it has made in recent years in improving ties with China. "The
nation is not yet willing to forgo immediate domestic
interests for longer-term international objectives," writes
Harvard's Dormandy in the Washington Quarterly. "Until it
shows an ability to do so more regularly and on more vital
issues, India's reputation as a responsible stakeholder will
be tenuous."
(Jayshree Bajoria is Staff Writer for the Council on
Foreign Relations. Source: www.cfr.org)
The Myth of Grass-Roots Terrorism
Why Osama bin Laden Still Matters
The United States and its allies must refocus their attention
on Afghanistan and Pakistan, where al Qaeda began to collapse
after 9/11 but has now regrouped.
Bruce Hoffman
Since
Rudy Giuliani's early exit from the Republican presidential
primary, the issue of terrorism has barely been mentioned by
any of the candidates in either party. Given its absence from
this year's U.S. presidential campaign, it is easy to forget
how prominent a role terrorism played in 2004. Many observers
believe that Osama bin Laden's dramatically choreographed
videotaped appearance on October 29, 2004, may have tipped the
vote in President George W. Bush's favor by reminding
Americans of the horrors of 9/11 and instilling a fear of
future attacks. And although terrorism has largely been
ignored as a campaign issue thus far, bin Laden and al Qaeda
may deliberately raise its visibility once again.
The publication of Leaderless Jihad is therefore timely. Its
author, Marc Sageman, brings unique credentials to the study
of terrorism. European-born but American-educated, Sageman
holds a doctorate in political sociology and is a practicing
psychiatrist. He served in the U.S. Navy as a flight surgeon
before joining the CIA in 1984. During the late 1980s, Sageman
was based in Islamabad and worked closely with the Afghan
mujahideen forces that were fighting the Soviets.
Sageman's first book, Understanding Terror Networks, was an
important work that received little public attention when it
was published four years ago. It provocatively challenged the
conventional wisdom that victory in the war on terrorism would
be achieved by killing and capturing bin Laden, his main
ideologue, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the rest of al Qaeda's
leadership. According to Sageman, al Qaeda was not an
organization to be systematically destroyed but a social
network that had to be disrupted. The only effective defense
against Salafi terrorists, he claimed, was a thorough
understanding of the web of relationships that sustained them
-- something that was sorely lacking in both the government
and academe at the time.
Sageman continues this line of argument in Leaderless Jihad.
The gravest threat facing the United States and the West
today, he maintains, is not a revived al Qaeda straddling the
lawless border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rather, he
contends, the true menace comes from loose-knit cells of
Western-born Muslims or Muslim immigrants studying and working
in the West. These disaffected "bunches of guys" are often
friends, roommates, or classmates who undergo the process of
radicalization together.
Although these informal local terrorist groups are certainly a
critical part of the global terrorist network, Leaderless
Jihad's salient weakness is its insistence that this dimension
represents the entire threat facing the United States today.
This shortcoming can largely be explained by Sageman's brusque
dismissal of much of the existing academic literature on
terrorism in general and terrorist networks in particular.
THE CENTER HOLDS
Sageman's impressive résumé cannot overcome his fundamental
misreading of the al Qaeda threat, which is at the heart of
his book. He contends: "The present threat has evolved from a
structured group of al Qaeda masterminds, controlling vast
resources and issuing commands, to a multitude of informal
local groups trying to emulate their predecessors by
conceiving and executing operations from the bottom up. These
'homegrown' wannabes form a scattered global network, a
leaderless jihad." According to Sageman, al Qaeda has ceased
to exist as either an organizational or an operational entity
and is therefore irrelevant to U.S. security concerns. Sageman
believes that "al Qaeda Central has receded in importance" and
goes so far as to assert that it has been "neutralized
operationally." Instead, the principal terrorist threat today,
Sageman claims, comes from diffuse low-level groups. But this
view flies in the face of the two most recent authoritative
analyses of terrorist threats to the United States: the July
2007 National Intelligence Estimate and the annual threat
assessment presented by the director of national intelligence,
Mike McConnell, to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
this past February. The publicly released portion of the 2007
NIE, for example, stated unambiguously that al Qaeda "is and
will remain the most serious threat to the Homeland, as its
central leadership continues to plan high-impact plots, while
pushing others in extremist Sunni communities to mimic its
efforts and to supplement its capabilities." This was also the
unambiguous conclusion offered by the former CIA and National
Security Council official Bruce Riedel in these pages a year
ago ("Al Qaeda Strikes Back," May/June 2007). The unmistakable
message is that al Qaeda is a remarkably agile and flexible
organization that exercises both top-down and bottom-up
planning and operational capabilities. It is not exclusively
focused on the grass-roots dimension that is Leaderless
Jihad's sole preoccupation. The NIE further stated, "We assess
the group has protected or regenerated key elements of its
Homeland attack capability, including: a safe haven in the
Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA),
operational lieutenants, and its top leadership." These
findings are dismissed by Sageman as "alarmist" without any
further analytic explanation or empirical justification
whatsoever.
McConnell's recent testimony both expanded on and amplified
the NIE's basic conclusion that al Qaeda is alive and well and
plotting high-profile terrorist attacks much as it did before
9/11. "Al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates continue to pose
significant threats to the United States at home and abroad,
and al Qaeda's central leadership based in the border area of
Pakistan is its most dangerous component," McConnell warned.
He went on to explain how al Qaeda continues to exercise
top-down direction and guidance even though it "has lost many
of its senior operational planners over the years. . . . The
group's adaptable decision-making process and bench of skilled
operatives have enabled it to identify effective
replacements." Finally, McConnell's observation that members
of al Qaeda in Iraq have been dispatched "to establish cells
in other countries" casts further doubt on Sageman's claims
regarding al Qaeda's bottom-up organizational structure.
These "alarmist" assessments are not confined to the U.S.
intelligence community. In a landmark public speech in
November 2006, Eliza Manningham-Buller, then the director
general of the British Security Service, or MI5, was
unequivocal in her evaluation of the threat posed by a
resurgent al Qaeda with still functioning command-and-control
capabilities. "We are aware of numerous plots to kill people
and to damage our economy," Manningham-Buller stated. "What do
I mean by numerous? Five? Ten? No, nearer 30 that we currently
know of," she continued. "These plots often have links back to
al Qaeda in Pakistan, and through those links al Qaeda gives
guidance and training to its largely British foot soldiers
here on an extensive and growing scale."
Sageman also employs historically groundless parallels in
order to bolster his case that today's terrorist threat is an
exclusively bottom-up phenomenon. The Irish Republican Army
did not, as Leaderless Jihad maintains, begin "in a pub in
Boston" and cross "the ocean to Ireland during World War I."
The IRA was the product of a series of underground
associations that were formed in Ireland in the eighteenth
century, migrated to the United States in the middle of the
following century, and then gave rise to the terrorist
campaigns of various successive organizations, such as the
Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, the Irish Republican
Brotherhood, the Fenian Brotherhood, and Clan na Gael. Even
more egregiously inaccurate is Sageman's claim that the
anarchist movement was responsible for starting World War I.
While Sageman is correct that "the murder of the Archduke
Franz Ferdinand triggered World War I," his assertion that the
"anarchists carried out these killings even though there was
no central organization to coordinate their actions" is
ludicrous. Those more familiar with either the history of
terrorism or the origins of World War I will know that the
assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was neither an anarchist nor one of
a "bunch of guys" who had serendipitously gravitated toward
one another and decided to commit a terrorist act. Rather, he
was a dedicated member of the militantly anti-Hapsburg
organization Young Bosnia, which was in turn connected to the
infamous clandestine Serbian organization the Black Hand,
which itself received aid and training from the intelligence
department of the Serbian army's general staff.
MADNESS TO THE METHOD
Sageman's historical ignorance is surpassed only by his
cursory treatment of social networking theory, which forms the
foundation of the scientific methodology he claims to employ.
Leaderless Jihad's first chapter, titled "How to Study
Terrorism in the Twenty-first Century," takes exception to
much of the literature on terrorism, which, in Sageman's
opinion, is unscientific, relies too much on narrowly
explanatory case studies and profiles of leading terrorist
figures, is too heavily dependent on information gleaned from
government sources, and amounts to "nothing more than
arguments made for the sake of scoring political points."
Such criticism of the field is neither new nor unjustified.
Thirty years ago, the world's preeminent authority on military
strategy, Michael Howard, complained that the field of
terrorism studies had "been responsible for more incompetent
and unnecessary books than any other outside . . . of
sociology. It attracts phoneys and amateurs as a candle
attracts moths." But Sageman's own critique of the
contemporary literature appears sniping and petulant. It would
seem less so if Sageman had provided specific examples and
citations of the studies that he believes have contributed so
little to the understanding of terrorism, explained exactly
why they are so wanting, and demonstrated how his approach is
superior.
Indeed, Sageman's analysis would have been clearer and more
scientifically rigorous had he employed essential and basic
tools of social science research and built on the core
theories of social and terrorist networks, including the
pathbreaking work of Stephen Borgatti, Kathleen Carley, David
Krackhardt, and Jeffrey Reminga on covert social networks;
Aparna Basu, Valdis Krebs, Ami Pedahzur, and Arie Perliger on
the structural and sociological characteristics of terrorist
social networks; and David Jones, Shaul Mishal, and Michael
Smith on how terrorist networks operate. No references to any
of these authors of standard studies are found in Leaderless
Jihad's citations.
Instead, the reader is told that "until recently, a large part
of the literature on terrorism concentrated on definitions of
terrorism" -- with the citation justifying this fatuous
assertion referencing a book published in 1984. What little
explanation follows briefly describes how trial transcripts
and media accounts are the most reliable sources for terrorism
research. According to Sageman, academic publications are the
least useful because "most academic experts on terrorism are
experts in other fields who do not follow the literature on
terrorism closely and therefore pick selectively only those
facts that support their arguments."
Leaderless Jihad employs a methodology that the author calls
"middle-range analysis." This approach claims to examine "the
terrorists themselves, fully embedded in their environment";
it does this "from the bottom up to see exactly what is
happening on the ground in the hope of explaining the larger
phenomenon of terrorism." Given that Sageman was trained as a
psychiatrist, it is not surprising that he favors analyzing
terrorism from an individual perspective rather than taking an
organizational or collective approach. But the benefits of
bottom-up versus top-down approaches to the study of terrorism
have been debated by scholars for years. Indeed, one of the
finest books in the field focuses on precisely this question.
Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies,
States of Mind, edited by Walter Reich (a psychiatrist, too)
and published nearly 20 years ago, is still in print, yet it
is conspicuously absent from Sageman's bibliography.
Leaderless Jihad founders precisely on what Sageman claims are
its strengths: the empirical data on which his analysis is
based and his technique of examining terrorism as a social
movement. For a book that extols scientific methods and the
importance of facts, Leaderless Jihad has a surprisingly curt
discussion of methodology and only a brief elucidation of the
data to be tested. Sageman claims that he began building a
database from information about the 19 terrorists who carried
out the 9/11 attacks. That grew to contain a sample of 172
jihadists, on which his previous book was based, and then to
contain the more than 500 profiles from which this work is
derived. Of this database, however, Sageman says only that it
contains "information on people and their relationships with
other terrorists, nonterrorists, ideas, and the social,
political, economic, cultural, and technological context." He
goes on to argue that a good database "should trace the
evolution of these relationships to see how they form,
intensify, and fade so as to describe them over time." From a
social science perspective, however, these types of
unidentified or vaguely identified data sources and unclear
collection procedures pose serious problems. Furthermore,
Sageman does not explain how his collection of data conforms
to the scientific standards of academic inquiry that he finds
so lacking in the work of most terrorism scholars.
AL QAEDA'S LONG TAIL
Sageman's one-size-fits-all claim that jihadists are
"essentially romantic men and women chasing a dream" and his
sweeping assertion that "there are no [al Qaeda] sleeper cells
in the United States" are devoid of evidence. Likewise, his
belief that key Pakistani jihadist organizations are solely
"focused on liberating Kashmir from India" and not bent on
imposing harsh theocratic rule on Pakistan -- or on crushing
democracy and fighting NATO forces in Afghanistan -- is
fundamentally misguided.
Sageman fails to see that the current threat is not only the
product of radicalization but also the realization of
strategic organizational decisions al Qaeda made at least a
decade ago. As far back as 1999, British authorities knew of
al Qaeda's long-standing campaign of subversion among Muslims
in the United Kingdom. At the time, they believed that some
3,000 British Muslims had already left and returned to the
country after receiving terrorist training at al Qaeda camps
in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere. Just as the
former MI5 head described, al Qaeda members had succeeded in
embedding themselves in the United Kingdom's Muslim community
and drawing support from receptive elements in their new
neighborhoods. Al Qaeda could thus identify, indoctrinate, and
exploit new recruits who had not previously come under the
scrutiny of local or national law enforcement agencies. In
other words, much of the terrorist threat in the United
Kingdom today stems from deliberate, long-standing subversion
by al Qaeda -- a fact that Sageman's book completely
dismisses.
Al Qaeda is much like a shark, which must keep moving forward,
no matter how slowly or incrementally, or die. Al Qaeda must
constantly adapt and adjust to its enemies' efforts to stymie
its plans while simultaneously identifying new targets. The
group's capacity to survive is also a direct reflection of
both its resilience and the continued resonance of its
ideology.
Defeating al Qaeda will require analysis grounded in sound
empirical judgment and not blinded by provocative theories,
seductive methodologies, or wishful thinking. Moreover, the
United States and its allies must refocus their attention on
Afghanistan and Pakistan, where al Qaeda began to collapse
after 9/11 but has now regrouped. And they must recognize that
al Qaeda cannot be defeated by military means alone. Success
will require a dual strategy of systematically destroying and
weakening enemy capabilities -- that is, continuing to kill or
capture senior al Qaeda leaders -- and breaking the cycle of
terrorist recruitment among Sageman's radicalized "bunches of
guys." Only by destroying the organization's leadership and
disrupting the continued resonance of its radical message can
the United States and its allies defeat al Qaeda.
(BRUCE HOFFMAN is a Professor at Georgetown University's
School of Foreign Service and a Senior Fellow at the U.S.
Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
Source: www.foreignaffairs.org)
Viewpoints
Challenge and opportunity in
agriculture
Every human being on this
planet is a net consumer of food. Food, nutrition, bio-energy,
the environment, and livelihood are global concerns.
Kadambot
Siddique
The
world's ability to maintain food supplies through rapid
demand, changing climate, declining natural resources, and
trade liberalisation policies is a critical issue.
India needs to do radically better on the agricultural front.
The United Nations has warned that 82 countries, including
China and India, face food emergencies this year, as
stockpiles of grains such as rice and wheat drop to a 27 year
low. Stockpiles of wheat dropped to their lowest level since
1980 - sufficient to feed the world for just 12 weeks. Food
prices are soaring worldwide while crude oil prices have
doubled shipping and fertilizer costs. Food prices jumped 25
to 70 per cent in recent months. The cost of cereal imports to
low-income food-deficit countries increased from $14.03
billion in 2002-03 to $33.11 billion in 2007-08. Jacques Diouf,
Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO),
has warned: "The problem is very serious around the world due
to severe price rises and we have seen riots." Population
growth, rising incomes, the declining rate of agricultural
productivity trends, climate variability and change, and the
increased use of grain and sugar for biofuel production are
leading to a surge in food commodity demand. This is in an
environment where land and water constraints will limit
agricultural production growth.
Every human being on this planet is a net consumer of food.
Food, nutrition, bio-energy, the environment, and livelihood
are global concerns. For these reasons, the integration of
whole aspects of agriculture and the food industry is
important in the future.
Five global trends
I see five major trends in the global agriculture and food
industry. First, food production must be increased
substantially by the mid-21st century to feed a world
population that is projected to increase from the current 6.4
billion to 9 billion. The challenge is to double world food
production output by 2050 using less land, far less water, and
fewer nutrients - all in the background of increasing climate
variability and change.
Secondly, economic development is increasing faster than
expected in most countries, most significantly in China and
India. With economic growth, we see rapidly changing food
preferences, increasing purchasing power, and demand for high
standards of food quality. However, increased food production
will have to come from shrinking land, water, and other
natural resources. This means increased productivity per unit
of land.
The third trend is the impact of agriculture on the
environment and on our natural resources. An example of this
is the emerging global shortage of water for urban
consumption, industrial use, and agricultural purposes. The
world's two billion farmers are the guardians of much of what
is left of the natural landscape. They hold the fate of
thousands of threatened species as well as the world's
remaining forests in their hands. Agriculture currently uses
three-quarters of the world's fresh water. Its runoff has
degraded the earth's major rivers, estuaries, and even seas.
It occupies 40 per cent of the world's free land surface. It
is responsible for 30 per cent of global greenhouse emissions.
The fourth trend is the growing biofuel driving demand for
grain crops (corn and oil seeds) and sugar cane. The rise of
biofuels presents a serious issue since it takes over arable
land and diverts resources from food production. It is
estimated that by 2020 we will be burning 400 million tonnes
of grain a year - equivalent to the entire world rice crop -
just to keep our cars on the road! Billions of dollars have
been poured as subsidies into developing sugar and grain-based
ethanol and biodiesel to help wean rich economies from their
addiction to carbon-blenching fossil fuels, the overwhelming
source of human-made global warming. As soaring prices for
staples bring more of the planet's most vulnerable people
face-to-face with starvation, the image of biofuels has
suddenly changed from climate saviour to a horribly misguided
experiment.
The fifth trend is climate change and its impact on
agriculture. Potential changes in climate may reduce
productivity and output in agricultural industries in major
producing countries, including India, in the medium to long
terms. Several analyses indicate that future climate changes
and associated declines in agricultural productivity and
global economic activity may affect global production of key
commodities. For example, global wheat, rice, beef, dairy, and
sugar production could decline by 2 to 6 per cent by 2030 and
by 5 to 11 per cent by 2050, relative to what would otherwise
have been the case. The Peterson Institute for International
Economics predicts that "agricultural production in developing
countries may fall between 10 to 25 per cent" and if global
warming progress is unabated, "India's agricultural capacity
would fall as much as 40 per cent." During the past few months
we have witnessed substantial economic losses and hardships of
farmers of Kerala owing to weather damage (from untimely
rainfall) of rice crops. In addition to economic losses, this
has resulted in a shortage of rice and escalating prices in
the market.
There is a continuing need for the agricultural sector to
maintain strong productivity growth in order to cope with the
potential pressures emerging from climate change and
variability. In this context, adaptation measures, including
improved agricultural technologies, will be particularly
important in reducing the potential impact. In order to
respond to climate change in an efficient manner and maintain
and enhance the productivity and international competitiveness
of Indian agriculture, further research and development is
required in both climate change adaptation and mitigation
technologies and measures.
Critical issue
The world's ability to maintain food supplies through rapid
demand, changing climate, declining natural resources, trade
liberalisation policies, and regional disturbances is a
critical issue. Recent FAO reports remind us that about 800
million people are still undernourished globally. All these
issues have a major influence on the way we plan future
policy, education, research, and development in agriculture
worldwide - and in India because two out of three Indians
depend on agriculture for their livelihood.
To address these matters effectively, India needs strategic
approaches to agricultural research and development that
target the following areas: (1) improved technologies for
higher and more profitable production and for the sustainable
conservation of natural resources; (2) diversified farming
systems that reduce risk and improve resource-use efficiency,
leading to better returns to growers; (3) enhanced vertical
integration from grower to consumer; (4) equipping a new
generation of agricultural graduates and post-graduates with
modern scientific, analytical, communication, and business
skills; and (5) institutional, organisational, and policy
reforms.
Contrasting growth stories
There has been a dramatic change in the cost of farm inputs
and services in recent years. The 'cost to income' ratio,
excluding depreciation and family drawings, increased
substantially. Experts say it will be hard to stop the ascent
in commodity prices because it is connected more than at any
other time in recent history to events beyond the United
Sates. China's economy grew well over 10 per cent last year,
compared with the U.S. growth rate of around 2.5 per cent.
During the past four years, India's economic growth has been
enviable (8 to 9 per cent a year). The manufacturing and
service sectors are experiencing double-digit growth and have
attracted investment from the private as well as public
sectors. Sadly, the farm sector, which accounts for less than
one-fifth of India's gross domestic product, has been growing
the slowest. The growth rate in the agricultural sector has
been stagnant at about 2.3 to 2.6 per cent per year over the
last decade. It remains well below the potential and is
unlikely to reach the Eleventh Plan target of 4 per cent
without major intervention and reform. Variable and low
outputs and volatile markets have affected the confidence of
farmers. There is large-scale migration of farmers and farm
workers to cities in search of job opportunities. India's
economic growth has not reached all sectors of the population,
especially those living in rural areas. However, some analysts
argue that agricultural markets are in for a long and strong
future. The farm sector, they contend, is heading towards its
golden era, a post-Second World War period. At any rate, the
time is right for Indian agriculture to focus on its strengths
and drive enhanced growth and continued development.
Big challenge
The Central, State governments and other agencies should work
together to develop and implement improved policies and
developmental models to radically change and modernise Indian
agriculture. The challenge is to consolidate the fragmented
landholdings based on land capability studies. It is to focus
on areas and regions where comparative advantages of specific
agricultural, horticultural, animal husbandry, and fisheries
production exist. It is to introduce low cost agricultural
credit systems, including micro-credits. It is to improve and
strengthen input availability and delivery systems. The
challenge is also to improve the efficiency of current
irrigation and expanding new systems. It is to strengthen
rural infrastructure, post-harvest storage, and public
distribution systems. It is to strengthen the marketing and
price structure. It is to enhance technology development and
transfer. It is to renew investment and modernisation of
agricultural education, research, and development. It is to
bring about an integrated approach among various sectors: the
Centre, States, local universities, farmer groups, and NGOs.
It is to lobby and negotiate through the World Trade
Organisation and other world forums to remove huge subsidies
provided by the EU and the U.S. to their farm sector. It is to
attract private and foreign investment in Indian agriculture
and the food sector.
The coming generation of Indian farmers needs to be both
innovative and competitive in the global market. It is the
task of government, policy-makers, educators, researchers, and
extension workers to ensure they have the tools, technologies,
and new farming systems that enable them to be so. The
approach should be participatory, involving farmers,
researchers, the market, and the political level. Training new
generation agricultural scientists will take time, commitment,
and resources from the government, universities, and the
agricultural industries. Urgent measures are needed to attract
bright students into agricultural, food, and natural resource
science areas. A reorientation in the mindset of teachers and
agricultural graduates can be brought about only by innovative
changes in curricula and courses in Indian agricultural
universities. It will accelerate development and adoption of
improved agricultural practices and technologies to meet
future constraints imposed by climate changes, population
pressure, and increased food and feed demand. The expected
outcome is improved productivity and the sustainable use of
agricultural lands by developing a more diverse farming
system, supporting economic development in India.
Source: www.hindu.com
One and half ray of hope
Masud Mufti
PEOPLE
are aghast at the dramatic turns regarding the restoration of
the judges. But I am not. They are seeing for the first time
what I am for the second.
In 1971, I first saw, on the soil of East Pakistan, a
confrontation between the same protagonists with the same
mindset over the same issue that the residual Pakistan is
seeing today.
It was a clash between the people and rulers in a remote part.
At that time, West Pakistanis could not see across distance or
censor but, unfortunately, even today they do not see that
2008 is another inning of the same old pre-1971 game.
What is this game? In simple words, it is a reckless gamble
for power by vested interests, forced on innocent people with
a loaded dice. It is the naked exploitation of the weak by
overwhelmingly strong desperados.
Their strength lies in the gun (military dictators), religion
(mullah) and feudalism (person-centric political parties).
Still greater strength lies in their three-in-one system,
which believes in its 'divine' right to rule by crushing the
people's rights. Their anti-people mindset does not tolerate
pro-people actions, voices, thoughts or even short-lived
bubbles. Instead of nation-building, they believe in
nation-thrashing.
This wicked game has been uninterruptedly played by the mighty
on the soil of Pakistan for 60 years. The nation lost East
Pakistan in this game, and as an over-confident winner, the
system is now bent on total control of the residual Pakistan
by manipulating all people-oriented institutions. The
Constitution, the legislature, bureaucracy and education were
the earlier casualties, while the media and the judiciary are
the latest victims. The system insists on continuing the game
even after the Feb 18 polls, with total contempt for the
people's loud and clear refusal to play.
Let us be clear about one thing. As profit-sharing partners of
the system our political parties have always played a double
game, pretending to be with the people but working every
minute for the perpetuation of the system.
They appear to be doing the same even today. The happenings of
today are not the logical outcome of the people's will
expressed on Feb 18, but forced twists being fuelled by the
three engines of the system. It is the gradual unfolding of
pre-election secret deals struck among the partners to keep
the nefarious game going. Much more will be revealed later.
The two-month old coalition already stands exposed by (a) the
tardy pace of the committees, (b) the sudden adjournment of
parliament on April 25 without passing a resolution for the
restoration of the judges, and (c) the cat-and-mouse game of
PPP and PML-N leaders in Dubai. There are many indications
that efforts are afoot to safeguard Musharraf's interest,
instead of implementing the people's mandate. The age-old
collaborative loyalty of political parties to the military
dictator and his system ranks much higher than their feigned
loyalty to the people.
The parties would prefer that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry
is not restored (minus-one formula), or if restored, his
wings, and those of the judiciary, are clipped to save Gen
Musharraf and his strings. The previous Assembly was made a
rubber stamp by guile; this one is volunteering to be the
same.
Why are they doing so? Because they are (a) equally allergic
to the rule of law and an independent judiciary, and (b) are
bound by pre-election deals to serve the system, which has
cleared sky-high heaps of their past corruption under the
National Reconciliation Ordinance and has given them the
licence to do much more in the future.
Any deviation is punishable by devious means (remember ZAB and
BB). Tactical delays on flimsy pretexts will allow the system
to strike at the opportune time (Article 58-[2][b], other
diversionary moves, political assassinations, kidnappings,
floor-crossing, violence, deliberate push towards anarchy -
recall the referendum, the LFO and the Seventeenth Amendment).
The people should, therefore, be mentally prepared for another
betrayal by the politicians, as has repeatedly happened in our
history.
The PPP rhetoric since the elections of "taking everybody on
board" appears to be a cover for a compromise with Musharraf.
Prime Minister Gilani's ill-timed dinner for the army brass,
ill-advised speech to revive the "ideological role of the
army" and ill-defined invitation to "work together" means the
same. They want to steer our future towards our past. The PPP
might have made a new deal in 2007, but has been a comrade
since 1971.
The same applies to the other political parties, including the
PML-N. Mr Nawaz Sharif is not only the creation of the core
establishment of the system, but has also been a beneficiary
of more than one deal with it. We welcome his new talk and
tone, but he will remain suspect until he proves his
credentials with regard to a break with the past and showing
sincerity in the future.
It is a continuing blunder for the people to put their trust
in the current set of parties, but it cannot be helped. Our
60-year-old political culture (personality cult, corrupt
pragmatism, crushed idealism and money politics) has
transformed the Pakistani individual into a self-seeking
opportunist. As of now, it is beyond his comprehension to form
a new political party from the grassroots along democratic
lines. Until the dawn of that awareness our people will be
condemned to follow, elect and be jilted again and again by
the existing politicians.
For the first time this mental block is showing hairline
cracks inflicted by the lawyers' movement. But these fall
short of the critical mass needed for initiating a new
thinking process. At present, neither the lawyers nor the
supporting layers of civil society are prepared to raise the
democratic pyramid of such a new party from the bottom. But
sooner or later, they will discover that this is the only way
out of the vicious circle of the mullah-military-wadera
collusion.
Until then, let us pray for the success of the one and a half
rays of hope in the ever-thickening darkness. The lawyers'
movement is the first complete ray, and Nawaz Sharif, with his
proven past and unproven future, is the incomplete half. The
source of both is the inner light of Chief Justice Iftikhar
Chaudhry and the Nov 2, 2007, judiciary. We should all fight
for their complete restoration to avoid a repeat of 1971.
Source: www.dawn.com
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