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Leading News
US not to
accept deviation from path of democracy: Boucher
UNB, Dhaka
The United States wants withdrawal of state of emergency
to hold a good election in Bangladesh and it won't accept
any deviation from the path of elections set for December
this year.
"Election must be held to get back to a democratically
elected government next year. We could not certainly count
other deviation or any other path," US Assistant Secretary
of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher told a
press conference at the American Club here on Friday.
Asked if a credible election is possible under the state
of emergency, Boucher said: "We don't think about good
election under the emergency. Emergency has to be lifted.
For a good election, it needs open political activities,
meetings, rallies, debates and open information. We've
been pushing to lift the emergency, which is necessary to
have credible elections."
Asked if he foresees any military takeover after his
meeting with the army chief, he said: "No, only path for
Bangladesh is to restore democracy and have an election.
We won't accept any deviation from that path. We will work
with everybody to make sure Bangladesh can achieve that."
Boucher said the US goal is to support democracy and the
democratic election to ensure over all stability in
Bangladesh, which is in the interest of the US and of the
Bangladeshi people including the army. The army chief told
him how they are supporting the caretaker government to
have the elections to get to the elected government.
Asked about the US position if major parties abstain from
the elections unless their leaders are released, he said:
"The United States is not involved with political parties.
We are not taking side, we are not choosing winner and we
are not supporting any faction of political party or
individuals. Our goal is to support democratic process and
the people to get a chance to decide through the
elections."
About the trial of former Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina
and Khaleda Zia, Boucher said there are charges against
the leaders and the government needs to follow due process
of law and transparent trial, which is a different matter
from the election process.
"I realize, different political parties have different
positions. But nobody can claim mandate or right to take
away the rights of the people to get a chance of decide
through elections."
Asked if the elections will be credible without
participation of the major parties, Boucher said he cannot
deal with so many ifs and speculations. "We support the
process proceeds in a manner so all the parties can
participate… it is not the government, not the parties,
but at the end it's (for) the people to decide." Asked how
far US is confident about the election according to the
roadmap, the US official appreciated the efforts of the
election commission for the progress in preparing a
flawless electoral roll which is major achievement and
other necessary things to get to the election.
"We all want the process proceed on the right track and
like you we will be following and monitoring and
encouraging steady progress to get to the election by the
end of this year."
Boucher welcomes the dialogue between the government and
the parties, expressing the hope that the dialogue would
produce sort of understanding on conducting the election
so voters can have choice. US Ambassador in Dhaka James
Moriarty and Director of the American Center Amy Hart
Vrampas were present at the press conference.
Govt-political parties
formal dialogue
Hasina’s release main agenda of AL: Zillur
Staff correspondent
Awami League on Friday has made clear
its position about participating in the formal dialogue
and said the party's first condition is to free the party
President Sheikh Hasina and lift emergency immediately.
"Unconditional release of Hasina will be the main agenda
of Awami League when we sit with the government for the
proposed formal dialogue," he told reporters after a
meeting with Awami Motor Chalok League, a wing of Awami
league, held at his Gulshan residence yesterday.
He said government is hatching conspiracy to hold the
parliament election preventing party President Sheikh
Hasina from participating in the next parliamentary
election.
"But AL is determined that the party would not take part
in any election without Sheikh Hasina and the people of
the country would not accept this farcical election," he
further said. Replying to a query Zillur said the AL do
hope the Chief Adviser in his address to the nation will
make clear the government's stand about release of Sheikh
Hasina and withdrawal of emergency.
"It is not possible to hold a free, fair and credible
election amid state of emergency. So we want the complete
withdrawal of the state of emergency ahead of the
parliamentary election. We are frequently asking the
government to lift both the emergency in phases and the
ban imposed on indoor politics," the acting AL President
said.
Govt filing case against politicians
to depoliticise country: Delwar
Staff correspondent
BNP Secretary General Khandoker Delwar Hossain on Friday
alleged that the government is filing series of cases
against the politicians like series bomb blast in a bid to
implement their blueprint to form a vassal parliament.
The BNP Secretary General made the allegation at a press
conference at his Nam residence which was arranged to
lodge the party's protest against framing charge sheet
against Begum Khaleda Zia in Gatco case.
"This false and fabricated case has been lodged against
Begum Khaleda Zia with an ulterior motive to tarnish her
image and to keep her out of election process," said
Khandoker Delwar adding, "This government is out to
establish a rubber-stamp parliament comprising of
individuals of its own choice to fulfill its desire."
"As like as serious bomb blasts, a series of
factory-produced cases are being filed against the
politicians to create a vacuum of leadership in the
country. On the other hand, they are speaking of holding a
free and fair election. If you (the government) really
want a free and fair election…. Set Begum Khaleda Zia and
Shiekh Hasina free and hold an election with their
participation …The people will choose their leadership,"
Delwar said.
Delwar also cautioned the judges against giving verdict
going beyond the constitutional provision saying, "The
judiciary is now working in cahoots with an evil force
behind the scene. If you (judges) do not follow the
constitutional provision, the nation would not forgive
you. You might have to stand one day in the dock of
people's court."
He went on to say, "The judiciary is the last resort of
the people's hopes, but it has become crippled with the
interference of black hands of an evil force who are
working behind the scene. Right of getting bail has been
revoked in violation of human rights which is very
unfortunate and undesirable."
About inclusion of names of the reformists in the charge
sheet, Delwar alleged, "The ACC was in a fix having the
names of the reformists in the list and that's why it has
delayed framing the charge sheet. However, it has dropped
the names of their own choice." When his attention was
drawn to having the names of Saifur Rahman and Mannan
Bhuiyan in the charge sheet, Khaleda-appointed Secretary
General said, "Now they should realize, the game the
government is playing does not favour the politicians;
rather the government is playing the game to destroy
politics and politicians."
Delwar called upon the media people to work without fear
and favour to expedite restoration of democracy in the
country saying, "Today is the time for journalists to play
to key role for restoring democracy in the country and
thus to safeguard the country's sovereignty and
integrity."
SCF
seeks people’s unity for trial of war criminals
BSS, Rangpur
The Sector Commanders Forum (SCF) urged the Freedom
Fighters (FFs), people from all walks of life,
pro-liberation forces and patriots to forge a rock-solid
unity with the spirit of the War of Liberation to ensure
trial of the war criminals.
The SCF leaders made the call while addressing a number of
views-exchange meetings in Dinajpur, Rangpur and Bogra on
last May 6, 7 and 8, organised by the Greater Dinajpur,
Rangpur and Bogra Views-exchange Committees with the FFs,
teachers, students, journalists, cultural activists and
civil society members.
They said that there should not be any barrier in doing so
as the Chief Adviser, the Chief of Army and the Chief
Election Commissioner had given their positive remarks on
this issue and trial of the war criminals should begin
immediately to free the nation from a stigma.
Chairman of the SCF and Deputy Chief of Bangladesh Forces
in War of Liberation Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khondoker,
Bir Uttam, addressed the meetings as the chief guest with
conveners of the views-exchange committees of the
respective areas in the chair.
Sector Commanders of the War of Liberation Maj Gen (retd)
KM Shafiullah, BU, and Maj Gen (retd) C R Dutta, BU, SCF
central members M Hamid, Colonel (retd) Dr Shamsul Alam,
Maj Gen (retd) Masudur Rahman, Bir Protik, Maj Gen (retd)
Jamil D Ahsan, BP, and former Army Chief Lt Gen (retd)
Harunur Rashid, BP, also addressed the meeting.
Local leaders of the Muktijoddha Sangsad and valiant FFs
of these districts also spoke on these occasions and
expressed their solidarity with the SCF leaders in
bringing the war criminals under a fair trail they deserve
even after 37 years.
Chief Coordinator of the SCF Lt Gen (retd) Harunur Rashid,
BP, elaborated the ideals and objectives of the
organisation in the meetings saying they want trial of the
war criminals. Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khondoker from
his wartime experiences briefly narrated how the nation,
barring only a very few, and the Freedom Fighters
liberated the country through a nine-month war in 1971.
"We want the same rock-solid national unity now to try the
war criminals," he said and urged the present and future
generations to socially boycott these elements for the
heinous crimes they committed during the War of Liberation
in 1971.
Khondoker also urged the political parties not to
patronize the war criminals but include a provision in
their election manifesto to try them. 'The SCF along with
the people will resist any bid to make the war criminals
election ally in future,' he mentioned.
Former Army chief Major General (retd) KM Shafiullah said
that the SCF would help the government in all possible
ways to remove the barriers, if any, and provide the lists
of the war criminals for bringing them to justice as per
law of the land and concerned International Rules.
He also added that they have launched the campaign not
targeting any particular political party, but whenever
'the issue of the trial of the war criminals comes up, a
particular party gives reaction' because they know
themselves very well.
Referring to major policy changes and implementation of
many vital decisions by the present caretaker government,
the SCF leaders called upon the government to at least
start the trial process of war criminals to free the
country from the long lasting shame and stigma.
They called upon the pro-liberation forces for coming out
of the petty political differences and other parochial
interests and becoming united until a fair and just trial
of the war criminals is completed to realize the dreams of
the brave martyrs and FFs.
In the meetings, the SCF leaders also suggested the
caretaker government to seek the UN assistance to ensure
international engagement in the process by constituting a
tribunal under the International (Crimes) Tribunals Act,
1973, as mentioned in the 1973 constitution.
Implementation
of short-term projects uncertain
No good news for people from power sector
Staff Correspondent
There is no good news for
the people from the power sector and this present
situation would not improve rather it would deteriorate
further, it is apprehended.
Electricity supply goes off seven to eight times a day and
every time the load shedding lasts for at least an hour at
different places across the country including the six
metropolitan cities and towns The power crisis has
aggravated due to disruption in supply of gas to some
power plants and on going repair work of other plants. As
a result, PDB is failing to generate about 900 mw of
electricity per day.
"The overall shortfall in generation of power rose to
1200mw daily, interrupting power transmission across the
country including Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshai, Barisal,
Sylhet Rangpur and Khulna. The suffering may continue and
intensify further for uncertain period until the gas
supply to power generation plants is normal," the PDB
sources said adding on Friday the PDB generated 3300 mw of
electricity against the demand for 4000 mw," the PDB
official said.
But unofficial sources said the actual demand is 5,500 mw
during summer. As a result the country is experiencing
about 1700 mw of electricity daily.
According to PDB sources the PDB is now generating power
between 3200 mw and 3700 mw through its 27 power plants
which have 65 units. Out of 65 units, 34 have been
installed 20 to 30 years earlier. Everyday PDB has to
spend taka 4.25 crore for generating power.
Meanwhile, following the erratic power disruption,
different industries and service provider mainly small and
medium scale industries across the country have been
experiencing 30 per cent to 40 per cent production loss.
Not only are business activities are paralysed, but also
the normal activities of thousands of people are being
disrupted due to the same reason.
Gas crisis has become acute over the last few months and
the PDB has been facing difficulty in operating its
gas-based power plants. The gas short fall stood at 129
million cubic feet per day. The present average gas demand
is over 1,838, million cubic feet per day occasionally
picking up to about 1900. But present production capacity
from 54 wells of 12 producing gas field is 1,710 million
cubic feet per day, Petrobangla sources said the gas
demand has increased by 200-250 million cubic feet per day
(MMCF) in the last few years.
On the other hand, the implementation of the short term
projects taken up by the previous government has become
uncertain due to non availability of funds.
In order to realise the vision of the government to
provide electricity to most of the population at
reasonable price and to achieve overall socio-economic
development of the country, the government has taken up
short-term (up to 2007), medium-term (up to 2012) and
long-term (up to 2020) projects.
Earlier government requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
to assist in the power sector. But ADB is yet to give any
positive reply to the request for project assistance on
the grounds of corruption, inefficient management, absence
of commercial and corporate culture, lack of proper human
resource development plan, accountability and system loss.
The short-term projects need an estimated US$ 1359.30
million out of which foreign aid requirement is about US$
838.62 million. The short-term projects have been
identified as priority programmes requiring immediate
donor assistance.
Under the short-term plan, a peaking power plant having a
generation capacity of 120 MW, power station maintenance
and testing lab, Chandpur 150 MW CCPP, Sylhet 150 MW CCPP
(100 MW CT), Fenchuganj 90 MW CCPP and Bhola 150 MW CCPP
are included. Besides, the entire distribution system
under Chittagong zone will be corporatized. The peaking
power plant had been undertaken by the Ministry to meet
the peak-hour demand for electricity.
The power sector has to enhance its daily generation
capacity from the existing 3500 MW to 5386 MW by 2007 for
meeting the increasing demand of all types of consumers.
ACC
to investigate corruption, irregularities in BSMMU
Staff
Correspondent
The ACC is going to begin investigation into the
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital in a
bid to find out information about corruption and
irregularities.
A three-member enquiry committee has already been formed
to conduct corruption investigation in the countries
leading hospital. Urging the BMSSU authorities to extend
all-out co-operation to the investigation committee, the
ACC sent a letter to the vice chancellor of the university
on April 4 last.
During the investigation, the ACC team will seize
different files and interrogate the relevant officials and
employees of the BSMMU hospital. The three-member enquiry
team is led by a director of the commission.
In the ACC letter to the BSMMU authorities, the commission
called upon the authorities to allot a room to the
investigation team so that it can perform its work
smoothly in the hospital.
The team is trying to investigate allegations regarding
recruitment of physicians and employees, furniture
purchase corruption, politicization of administration,
mismanagement, different activities causing loss of public
money and other irregularities. After finding out specific
evidences, legal steps will be taken against the relevant
BSMMU hospital officials and employees. It may be
mentioned that the Anti-Corruption Commission began
investigation in the country's different service providing
offices. Before that, the commission conducted
investigation against individuals on charge of widespread
corruption and irregularities.
The commission has already completed primary investigation
into corruption different government service providing
offices like hospitals, educational institutions, roads
and highways department, telephone and telegraph
department, WASA and power sector.
After acquiring necessary evidences of corruption in
different offices, the commission constituted an
investigation team to conduct its investigation. In a bid
to create a propitious environment to perform
investigation activities smoothly, the ACC sent letters to
the heads of the offices concerned, calling for
co-operation. ACC sources said, the commission wants to
inquire into all corruption and irregularities with the
help of the authorities of offices concerned.
Back Page
Prices
of essentials
Onion, edible oil prices go up
Rice price stable
F. M. Masum
A pinch has developed
between the buyers and sellers in the capital as well as
throughout the country as even after arrival of huge Boro
rice, the price of the staple food is yet to come down in
the markets while price spike of some items including
edible oil and lentils continues to hit the limited income
groups.
Besides, local onion and broiler chicken price also went
up this week compared to that of previous week while
edible oil and beef is still at their high rates in the
city markets as well as elsewhere in the country.
Talking to this correspondent, Razzak Ali, a wholesaler of
Nayabazar rice market yesterday said, "The number of
buyers is decreasing as it seems to me that they (people)
are bringing the rice from their village homes. Besides,
arrival of Boro rice has positive impacts on the rice
market, so now it is going down very slowly everyday and
in the next few days it would go down further."
The broiler chicken price has marked a further rise as
yesterday it was selling at Tk 125 per kg, up by Tk 5 per
kg and edible oil is still high in the city markets.
Besides, the price of local onion has gone up by Tk 4 per
kg, it is now selling at Tk 26 per kg but the price of
imported onion remain unchanged.
Some government agencies have already identified some
leading edible oil importers with the assistance of some
wholesalers responsible for the continuous price hike of
the highly needed eatable oil. But no step was taken
against those millers and importers.
On Friday, coarse rice like Lata was selling between Tk
32-33 per kg, Pari Tk 31-33 per kg, fine quality
Najirshail Tk 38-41, miniket at Tk 38-42 per kg and Polao
rice at Tk 68-80 per kg.
Besides, the consumers feared that as the price monitoring
is totally abandoned, so the prices of other commodities
could go up further if the Government does not take
immediate action against the unscrupulous businessmen
responsible for the price hike.
Talking to The Bangladesh Today, Anwar Hossain, a rickshaw
puller who came to the Palashi market to buy the rice on
Friday, said, "We the poor people are hard hit by the
price spike. The caretaker Government has done a lot of
good deeds including continuing drive against corruption,
but all achievements would go in vain if it fails to
contain the price of essentials at a tolerable level. Now
we are hoping that the rice price would come down so that
we will be able to have three times meal a day."
Yesterday, Ruhi was selling at Tk 180-220 per kg, Hilsha
at Tk 340 per kg. Beef was selling at Tk 200 per kg and
chicken broiler at Tk 125 per kg.
The price of other commodities including onion also has
gone up by Tk 2-3 per kg, green chilli has gone up Tk 5
per kg, yesterday it was selling at Tk 20 per kg.
Yesterday, imported onion was selling at Tk 18-20 per kg,
local onion at Tk 26, imported lentils at Tk 85, four at
Tk 43 per kg. Potato was selling at Tk 13, cucumber at Tk
20, tomato at Tk 30, per kg, bean at Tk 20 per kg.
BPC
seeks fresh funds for oil import
BDNEWS24.COM, Dhaka
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has sought Tk 7,000 crore
from the government to finance oil imports for
June-December, BPC chairman Anwarul Karim said on Friday.
Karim told bdnews24.com that the corporation had sought
the money to cope with a feared fund crunch during the
period.
The government had approved Tk 1,000 crore on April 20 in
loan for the troubled BPC to help meet its immediate
crisis worsened by the rising costs of oil imports.
But the troubled state-owned entity had missed out on Tk
7,000 crore at the time in "rolling funds" as Bangladesh
Bank refused to release the funds from its reserves. The
state-owned petroleum corporation is uncertain over loans
from foreign banks to buy fuel. "The BPC will run a Tk
7,000 crore deficit even after paying from its own funds,"
he added. A proposal for the money was sent to the energy
ministry last week. The BPC sent a copy to the finance
ministry too.
Energy secretary Mohammad Mohsin told bdnews24.com: "A
proposal of Tk 7,000 crore for the BPC has been prepared.
It will be sent to the finance ministry soon." The
government will have to approve the proposal or the BPC
will have to take loans, said a senior BPC official,
asking not to be named. He said the spiralling prices of
fuel on the international market had left the BPC in an
"awful financial situation".
Oil raced to a new record high above $125 a barrel Friday,
as a strong performance over the last week and a surge in
heating oil futures saw investment funds trooping into the
market.
Many people cheated
100 marriage media centres
run illegally in city
Ainul Haque Royal
Around one hundred marriage media centres in the capital
are running their businesses illegally and collecting
money from people who desire to go abroad after marriage
with the Bangladeshi expatriates in USA, Canada and
Australia.
"Around 100 marriage media centres are running their
businesses without obtaining permission from the relevant
authorities. The Dhaka City Corporation authorities issue
licenses to the marriage media firms on condition of
complying with the rules. Of the huge number of marriage
media centres, only ten firms are registered with the DCC,"
Selim, managing director of Lagan Marriage Media of
Gulshan said while talking to this correspondent.
"I became a member of the Kazi Marriage Media by giving Tk
500 with an assurance that I would be married with a
Canadian citizen. After marriage, I can go to Canada but I
was deceived", Alfaz hailed from Khulna told The
Bangladesh Today.
Alfaz also said, a good number of organised gangs linking
with a section of dishonest police officials are regularly
harassing innocent people and collecting huge amount of
money in the name of arranging marriage with the
expatriates of the first world countries including Canada
and Australia.
Despite the massive hunt against all sorts of corruption
by different law enforcing agencies, these media centres
are running illegally in the capital and cheating people
in the name of assuring marriage with male or female
expatriates.
Masudur Rahman, assistant commissioner of Detective Branch
(DB) of police said, "on the basis of complaints, we have
started massive drive at marriage media centres at Uttara
and arrested four people including a woman on charge of
deceiving the people.
In a bid to root out this type of criminal activities, our
special team of DB have started massive drive at different
marriage media centres in the capital and arrested at
least 10 alleged cheats in this connection," he said.
According to RAB sources, a RAB team also began raiding
different marriage media centres and arrested 20 alleged
match-makers in the last few months.
‘Women’s rights
guaranteed in Islam not followed’
BSS, Dhaka
Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice Abdur
Rouf on Friday said the need for a women policy has arisen
now, as their dignity and rights guaranteed in Islam have
not been upheld properly.
"Had women been treated well as per the spirit of Islam
and the ideals of Hazrat Muhammad (SM), the issue of women
policy would have not arisen today," he said and held Men
responsible for such a situation.
Justice Abdur Rouf made these remarks while presiding over
a roundtable on "Women Development Policy: Islamic
Perspectives" at National Press Club here. He urged all to
consider both men and women as human beings. Sachetan
Nagorik Samaj organized the roundtable with BNP
chairperson's adviser Brig. Gen(retd) ASM Hannan attending
it as the chief guest.
Besides, Principal of Tamirul Millat Madrasa Moulana
Zainul Abedin, Editor of The New Nation Mostafa Kamal
Majumder, former lawmakers Nazimuddin Alam and Helen Jerin
Khan, Advocate Saiful Islam, Advocate Moshiur Rahman,
Professor Sultana Razia Tushar of BUET, Professor of Kaniz
Fatema Nipa of Darul Ihsan University, Iliyas Ali of
Shwadhinata Forum, Chairman of Just International School
SM Rasheduzzaman and Director of Bangladesh Publication
Project Shafiqul Islam Masud, among others, took part in
the discussion. Hannan Shah said there would be no
necessity for women's development policy if their rights
and privileges guaranteed by the Holy Quran, Sunnah and
Islam were ensured.
Moulana Zainul Abedin said the Ulema (Islamic Scholars)
are never against the women's development, rather they
have been speaking about Insaf while delivering Khutba in
Mosques.
Crime
Prisoner dies
UNB, Satkhira
An under trial prisoner at the district jail died on
Friday.
Jail sources said prisoner Abdur Rab, 40, fell sick at
about 8:30 am
and rushed to Sadar Hospital where he died soon after
admission.
But, on-duty doctor in the emergency department Dr Alok
Kumar Sarkar told UNB that Rab died before reaching the
hospital.
Victim's family members, however, demanded proper
investigation if Rab was tortured to death in police
custody. Abdur Rab of Boikari village in Sadar upazila was
arrested on February 5 this year in a drugs case. Later,
he was sent to district jail.
One gets life for violating girl
UNB, Jessore
A special court here Wednesday convicted a young man and
awarded him life term imprisonment for violating a minor
girl.
The court also fined the convict, Shakil Hossain, Tk
5,000, in default, to suffer one year more RI.
According to the prosecution, Shakil Hossain,, son of
Nasir Ali of City College area of the town, took minor
girl Shima, 8, behind the City College Science building
and raped her in November, 2005. Shima's father filed a
case with the police.
After examining the records and witnesses, Judge of the
Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal M
Sayedur Rahman found Shakil guilty and handed down the
verdict.
Man stabbed to death in city, three alleged killers held
UNB, Dhaka
A suspended employee of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH)
was stabbed to death at Karwan Bazar area in the city
early Friday over drug dealings.
The deceased was identified as Habibur Rahman Liton, 30,
son of Nurul Islam of Narsingdi district. He was also a
drug trader, police said.
Liton was a fourth class employee of the DMCH and
suspended one year ago for lifting medicine. He was wanted
in some cases, including extortion and repression on
women.
Police, however, arrested three youths on charge of the
killing.
Quoting the arrested, IO of the murder case Tejgaon thana
SI Jahirul Islam said five youths called Liton out of his
DMCH Staff Quarter at Elephant road Thursday midnight
saying that they need some bottles of phensidyl. The
youths in two motorbikes took Liton to an unknown place
and bought two bottles of banned Indian cough syrup at Tk
1,000.
After taking the syrups, they locked in an altercation
with Liton over their previous dealings.
At one stage of the brawl, the addicted people stabbed
Liton to death and left the body on the footpath in front
of Hotel Westin. They also informed police about the body.
Police found Liton's body at about 3:30am and sent it to
DMCH morgue for autopsy. A case was filed with Tejgaon
police station.
SI Jahirul Islam also said police recovered one of the
motorbikes used by the killers and picked up Suman, 20
Sohel, 19, Suma, 22. The arrested confessed their
involvement in the murder, he added.
Dacoit lynched; girl’s body recovered
UNB, Madaripur
An alleged dacoit was lynched by a mob at Bachamara
village in Shibchar upazila on Friday.
The dead was identified as Saidur Rahman Bepari, 35, son
of Helaluddin of nearby Beparikandi village in the upazila.
Sources said when a gang of four robbers entered the house
of Chandu Matabbor at about 2am at Bachamara village for
committing robbery villagers caught one of them, Saidur,
gouged out his eyes and then beat him to death.
Three other robbers, however, managed to escape. The body
was sent to hospital morgue for autopsy.
BSS from Madaripur also adds: Police recovered a body of a
young girl from Dhuasar village in Kalkini on Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Farida Begum, 22, daughter
of Abdul Wadud of Mahisher Char village in Sadar upazila
of the district. Local people found the body in a papaya
garden at noon and informed the police. Later, police sent
the body to hospital morgue for autopsy.
Police suspected that the victim was strangulated to death
following a previous enmity. A case was field.
Mobile court fines Tk 26,000
BSS, Satkhira
A mobile court realized Tk 26,000 as fines from two
hotels, one bakery and one stationery shop in the town
during an anti-adulteration campaign on Thursday.
Led by magistrate AKM Azadur Rahman, the mobile Court,
comprising the members of police and BSTI officials,
conducted the drives to different places. The court fined
the businessmen for selling adulterated and rotten
foodstuffs in unhygienic environment and date expired
goods and other reasons, district administration sources
said. The court realized Tk 10,000 as fine from the Siraj
Hotel, Tk 5,000 from Hotel Corner, Tk 5,000 from Shaheen
Bakery and Tk 6,000 from Bakal Bhandari Stationery in the
town.
Smuggled goods worth Tk 17 lakh seized
BSS, Gaibandha
Members of D B police in a raid seized a huge quantity of
smuggling Indian goods from a truck on Bogra-Rangpur
highway in Chalkmadi area under Sadullapur upazila in the
district on Thursday.
Police said, acting on a tip off, a team of plain-clothed
police led by sub-inspector (SI) Ashok Singh, SI Khurram
and ASI Sanowar halted a Bogra bound truck bearing no
Da-11-0169 in the area on Thursday morning and seized a
huge quantity of Indian goods,clothes and spare parts of
wrist watch worth about Tk 17 lakh from the truck.
The police also held three persons including the driver of
the truck on charge of carrying the smuggled goods and
seized the truck.
The arrested were identified as Babu, 22, son of Abu
sayeed, at the village of Khokoshgari under Panchbibi
thana of Joypur district, Mukul Pramanik, 32, son of Muglu
Pramanik, at the village of Matidali Joypur para under
Bogra sadar thana of Bogra district and driver Faruque,
28, son of late Kajem Pramanik, at the village of Bihar
Uttarpara under Shibganj thana of Bogra district. A case
was filed with Sadullapur thana in this connection.
4 drug paddlers held, phensidyl recovered
Our Correspondent, Rajshahi
The Rapid Action Battalion of Rajshahi arrested four drug
paddlers along with phensidyl syrup at railway station
area in the Rajshahi city on Friday.
The arrested were identified as Sumon, 18, son of Barjahan,
Ariful Islam, 19, son of Intaz Ali, Sumi alias Beauty, 19,
wife of Masum residences of Battali Gucchagram village and
Marjina, 20, daughter of late Sayed Ali of Shivpur village
of Baneshwar under Charghat in Rajshahi.
According to the RAB sources, an operation team of Railway
Colony camp launched the drive in the Rajshahi Railway
station area and arrested the four drug paddlers and
recovered 122 bottles of phensidyl possessed them. After
filed a case against them, RAB handed them over to the
Boalia Model police. Police produced them before the
court.
Smuggled fertiliser seized
UNB, Jessore
Rapid Action Battalion members seized 451 sacks of
substandard Indian Potash fertilizer from a shop near
Navaran health complex in Sharsha upazila headquarters
Wednesday.
Acting on secret information, the elite force raided the
shop of Noor Mohammad and recovered the fertiliser.
Sensing police presence the shop owner and his associates
fled the scene. A case was filed in this connection.
3 held, phensidyl seized
BSS, Joypurhat
Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in separate
drives arrested five drug- peddlers and seized 263 bottles
of contraband Indian phensidyl with a motorcycle from
different places of the district on Thursday.
RAB sources said a team of the elite force conducted a
drive at Ranigonj village and picked up three drug
peddlers were Shahidul Islam, 38, Taiob Ali, 35, Melon
Mia, 22, and seized 101 bottles of phensidyl with a
motorcycle from their possession.
Another RAB team conducted a raid on Khapur village and
rounded up two drug-peddlers Abdus Sattar, 35, and Mamunur
Rashid, 35, with 162 bottles of phensidyl, the sources
said.
Editorial
SC
sanctions trial under EPR
The Supreme Court
ruling, on Thursday 08 May 2008, sanctioning trial of various
cases under EPR, came as a logical sequence to the earlier
Appellate Division verdict striking down a High Court ruling
empowering itself with the jurisdiction of disposing of bail
petitions in cases being tried under EPR. These two rulings
together basically legitimize the EPRs and that is what annoys
and angers many, both in and out of the legal profession,
particularly when most people in the Country are against the
continuation of the Emergency with all that it implies. One is
however, constrained to analyze whether the Supreme Court had
any options in this regard.
Articles 141 A, B & C of the constitution state the conditions
& the scope under which an Emergency may be declared.
Attention may be drawn to Article 141A(3). The question is
whether the satisfaction of the Executive (President) as to
the existence of the condition mentioned in Article 141 A(l)
is justiciable. The case of non-justiciability of the
Presidential satisfaction for promulgation is based on two
grounds: (a) Ordinance-making is an exercise of legislative
power which cannot be challenged on the grounds on which
executive power can be challenged and (b) satisfaction
regarding existence of emergent situation is a political
question which is not amenable to judicial determination. The
first ground is not available as proclamation of emergency is
purely an executive act. The second ground is also not
available as in our constitutional system the doctrine of
political question has no application. The satisfaction of the
President as regards proclamation of emergency is justiciable
for the same reason the satisfaction of the President in
respect of emergent need for promulgating an Ordinance is
justiciable. However, it should be kept in mind that the
Constitution has committed the matter to the discretion of the
Executive & Parliament has been given the authority to approve
or disapprove it. In such a situation it is not for the Court
to question the adequacy or sufficiency of the grounds of
satisfaction or the correctness of the facts upon which the
satisfaction is based. But the satisfaction as to the
emergency being a condition precedent to the exercise of the
power, the validity of the proclamation of emergency can be
challenged on the ground that there was no satisfaction at all
or that it was wholly mala fide or based on totally irrelevant
or extraneous grounds. The second but equally important legal
issue is whether the court is powerless when the executive
fails to revoke the proclamation. In a famous case in
Malayasia (The Cheng Poh versus Public Prosecutor [1980] AC
458,473), the presiding judge Lord Diplock observed: "If (the
Ruler) fails to act the court has no power to revoke the
proclamation in his stead. This however, does not leave the
court powerless to grant to the citizens a remedy in cases in
which it can be established that a failure to exercise his
power of revocation would be an abuse of this discretion." In
our constitutional dispensation the judgment of Diplock can be
made equally applicable. Thirdly, the Ordinance making power
of the President must be examined as after the promulgation of
emergency he would have to issue certain Ordinances to make
the emergency effective. In order to meet emergent situations,
the executive has been given the power to make laws for short
durations by promulgating Ordinance under Art.93 provided the
parliament is dissolved or not in session. In a famous case in
India (Bhagat Singh v. Emperor, AIR 1931 PC 111) the Privy
Council held that the satisfaction regarding existence of
emergent situation is not justiciable and observed: "A state
of Emergency is something that does not permit of any exact
definition. It connotes a state of matters calling for drastic
action which is to be judged as such by someone". For the
convenience of our readers the above rather involved legal
explanation of what the Emergency implies can be summarized
as: our Constitution permits the imposition of Emergency
through a Presidential Proclamation entailing suspension of
certain constitutional provisions and even a few fundamental
rights. The Emergency can be challenged in court but not so
long as the Emergency is in place. The President can issue any
number of Ordinances to put the Emergency into effect. If the
Parliament is dissolved, as it is in our case, the Emergency
can be extended for an indefinite period and the courts can do
little about it.
Under the circumstances, the Supreme Court has little option
but to uphold the Emergency and the EPRs, otherwise it would
be creating a situation where a Government is de facto but not
de jure and that would be putting the Country in a legal
limbo. The lawyers and their high profile political clients,
in prisons now, might well be annoyed but they have to look at
the facts as they exist and not as they might wish or desire.
The question of release of political prisoners, including
Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, is a political question which
must be solved politically but that too is a debatable point
because many in this country are hard put to distinguish
politicians from criminals.
Analysis
Muslim Deviance?
Despite their relative poverty today, with
great teaming cities like Cairo, Dhaka and Jakarta, criminal
violence is much, much lower than in Christian-influenced
societies.
Jonathan Power
Once
again the CIA and MI6 are publishing dire warnings of the
vitality of Al Qaeda. Once again the Islamic world as a whole
is being tarnished by association. U.S. presidential contender
John McCain is saying that America needs a leadership "to
confront the transcendent challenge of our time: the threat of
radical Islamic terrorism". And the words still ring in our
ears from Samuel Huntington's treatise, the "Clash of
Civilizations", the book that in many ways triggered this
paranoia that infects the politicians, the press and the
public discourse. "The underlying problem for the West is not
Islamic fundamentalism, IT IS ISLAM", he wrote.
Few, if any, in the Western leadership seem to make the point
that Al Qaeda is a deviant phenomenon within the Islamic
world, just as Hitler was a deviant phenomenon within the
Christian world (commentators seems to overlook Hitler's early
speeches calling on Catholic principles). But Islam has a much
better record over the ages (despite its founder being far
more warlike than the founder of Christianity) of dealing with
its deviants who take violence to excess. Islamic culture has
never been tolerant of Nazism, fascism or communism.
Christianity has spawned all three. Buddhism failed to resist
Japanese militarism and Confucianism provided hospitable to
Maoism. Yes, there was Saddam Hussein but he was an atheistic
brute without an ideology.
Of course, there have been many incidents in the long history
of Islam when there have been large-scale losses of life. The
massacres and starvation of the Armenians in 1915 still stirs
the waters of contemporary debate. But Islam has never spawned
anything comparable with Hitler's systematic genocide of the
Jews- indeed throughout its history Islam has been protective
of the Jews, regarding them as "people of the book" to whom it
had a special responsibility. Nor has it settled other parts
of the world and systematically obliterated other
civilizations as did Christian Spain with the Aztecs and
Incas. Nor have Islamic societies created anything equivalent
to South Africa's apartheid or the racist culture of the old
American South. Unlike many Christian churches the mosque has
never separated people by race. Even today Americans confess
that nowhere is there more segregation in their society than
at the Sunday noon hour.
Western memories are highly selective. When at Easter time the
Greek peasants of the Peloponnese began to kill all the
Muslims in the land there was silence. But fifty years later
when there were mass killings of Christians in Bulgaria there
was a great outpouring of moral outrage. Delacroix
immortalized the massacre in his painting, "Massacre of
Chaos", with Christian women pursued by Turkish lancers and
Gladstone wrote a best selling pamphlet in which he described
the Ottomans as leaving "broad line of blood marking the track
behind them, and as far as their domination reached
civilization vanished from view".
Almost forgotten today is that it was the Ottomans who gave
refuge to the Jews when they were expelled from Iberia, as
were fleeing German, French and Czech Protestants, but every
cultivated Westerner knows Voltaire's "Fanaticism or Mohammed
the Prophet" or Dante's portrayal of Mohammed in hell.
Christianity has always been led or dominated by people of
European descent. But the leadership of the Muslim world has
been much more fragmented- between AD 661 and 750 it was the
Arab Umayyad dynasty. Between 750 and 1258 it was the multi
ethnic Abbasid dynasty. And from 1453 to 1922, the
Turkish-dominated Ottoman Empire. In India there was the
separate Moghuls and in Persia the Safavids. In sub-Saharan
Africa there were the Muslim empires of Mali and Songhai.
Despite their relative poverty today, with great teaming
cities like Cairo, Dhaka and Jakarta, criminal violence is
much, much lower than in Christian-influenced societies.
Muslim countries, according to the UN's annual Human
Development report, have the world's lowest murder and rape
rates. In Tehran, the capital of Iran, and according to the
CIA the most important single source of terrorism today, you
can go out at 11 or 12pm at night and find families with
children picnicking in city parks. When my daughters' friends
ask me where they can safely travel alone in an interesting
Third World city I say Cairo. Certainly not Catholic Rio or
Protestant Cape Town. Not only are murders and muggings
comparatively rarer there is much less prostitution and hard
drug use. Neither is there that much AIDS.
The Western debate about Islam is frankly infantile. Even
Barack Obama, with his own personal experience to go off,
either is ignorant or just scared of going into battle on
these issues. I have not read one speech by one Western
politician who seriously attempts to educate public opinion.
We live in a slough of ignorance.
(Jonathan Power is an internationally renowned freelance
columnist. Copyright Jonathan Power. Dateline London; May 9th
2008.
E-mail: JonatPower@aol.com or
phone: +46 706 510879)
Does Burmese Junta care for its people?
The response to the cyclone is just the most recent example of
the junta's failure to meet its people's basic needs.
Ripan Kumar Biswas
Ten
thousands Burmese Americans, who live in New York and 100,000
in California or many others from different parts of the
United States, are desperately scrambling to organize relief
to their ravaged homeland, but not being able to help
directly.
Even three flights under U.N's World Food Program in Bangkok,
were waiting to take off from Dubai, Dhaka, and Thailand with
50 tons of biscuits on May 08, 2008, four days after the
cyclone hit, but there was no immediate flight clearance from
the military junta for the first major airlift of
international aid.
Although Myanmar's generals, traditionally paranoid about
foreign influence, issued an appeal for international
assistance after the deadly storm struck on Saturday,
preferably bilateral, government to government but blocked any
individual or undesignated organization's assistance, they
have since dragged their feet on issuing visas to relief
workers even as survivors face hunger, disease, and flooding
in the hardest hit Irrawaddy delta. International
organizations with access to Myanmar, such as the
International Red Cross, UNICEF, the International Rescue
Committee and the International Medical Corps, or other
organizations under UN, are trying to persuade the government
to issue more visas to speed the aid to sites where it is most
needed.
The Saturday Cyclone Nargis killed at least 22,980 people and
left 42,119 missing, says Myanmar's state media. But according
to a top U.S. diplomat on Wednesday, more than 100,000 may
have perished. This is the most devastating cyclone in Asia
since 1991 when a storm killed 143,000 in neighboring
Bangladesh. Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta town of Labutta, the
area hardest hit by the cyclone that struck over the weekend,
has been virtually washed away by the 12, 13, and even 20 feet
high waves.
As the scale of the disaster in Burma now becomes clear,
questions are being asked over how much, the authorities knew
about the magnitude of the approaching storm. "Although they
were aware of the threat, Burma's state-run media failed to
issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path," the
US First Lady Laura Bush accused the military government like
many others who think the same around the world.
However, a statement in state television declined any charge
against them and said timely weather reports were announced
and aired through the television, and radio in order to keep
the people safe and secure in nationwide, but Burmese citizens
complained that they were not properly alerted and no
instructions were given as to what action they should take.
Officials from the UN's disaster reduction agency in Geneva
also believe as the scale of the devastation suggests there
was not a proper early warning system. India's meteorological
agency, which monitors cyclones in the Indian Ocean, said it
warned the Burmese authorities about the cyclone's severity 48
hours before the storm struck.
The cyclone is the deadliest natural disaster to hit Myanmar
in recorded history, according to a U.N.-funded disaster
database that includes figures from the past century. Lack of
clean water and poor sanitation in the wake of the disaster
increases the risk of diarrhea, especially for children and
floods can drive mosquito breeding, leading to outbreaks of
malaria and dengue fever, according to UNICEF.
The military government is not allowing aid workers to move
around the country without permission. In addition, government
and private offices were unable to function with power cut off
and staff absent. There was some anger on the storm-ravaged
streets of Yangon at soaring food prices and long queues for
petrol. According to the UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman,
in situations such as these, people are highly vulnerable to
disease and hunger, and they need immediate help to survive.
The junta, which rules Myanmar as a closed society, has always
taken great pains to not even allow tourists to speak to
ordinary Burmese people on issues such as democracy and human
rights. Last September, the military violently cracked down on
Buddhist monk-led demonstrations, killing 31 people and
triggering international outrage. Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a
Nobel Laureate for peace in 1991 and has become an
international symbol of heroic and peaceful resistance in the
face of oppression, is under house arrest for more than 12 of
the past 18 years, following her party's sweeping victory in
1990 elections that the junta ignored.
Reflecting the scale of the crisis, the junta said it would
postpone by two weeks a constitutional referendum in the
worst-hit areas. However, the referendum, part of the army's
much-criticized "roadmap to democracy," would proceed as
planned elsewhere on Saturday. The regime plans a referendum
on its constitution in May; leading up to what it says will be
national parliamentary elections in 2010. But critics say if
it proceeds under current conditions, the constitutional
referendum they have planned should not be seen as a step
toward freedom, but rather as a confirmation of the
unacceptable status quo. The constitution that Burmese are now
being urged, to vote for has been drafted only by regime
supporters.
Aid groups and governments, including U.S. President George W.
Bush, asked the military to relax their tight grip to allow
humanitarian assistance into Myanmar, which has been ruled by
the military for 46 years. United States and France complained
about Myanmar's reluctance to accept direct aid. But they
hoped that the military would realize to accept aid from
everybody they could possibly accept it from and may be that
will be the something good that can come out of this terrible
destruction.
Autocratic regimes always try to underplay the scale of
humanitarian disasters and, in shunning international
assistance as a display of national ego, cause even more
needless loss of life. The response to the cyclone is just the
most recent example of the junta's failure to meet its
people's basic needs. General Than Shwe's regime should be
reminded that a country cannot subsist without people.
(Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York.
Dateline New York; May 08, 2008. E-mail: ripan.biswas@yahoo.com)
Arabs can avert global crisis If they work together
No one wants to see famine and chaos in this part of the
world. The root causes of radicalism and militancy can be
found in economic deprivation as well as political
disenfranchisement.
Economic
volatility in developed and emerging countries is creating a
global crisis that is manifesting itself in the unbridled rise
in the price of crude oil, basic foodstuff such as wheat and
rice and other strategic commodities.
The threat of hunger is now looming large over many countries
in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We have seen strikes and
social unrest in Europe, the Arab world and elsewhere. Many
governments are feeling the pressure and only a few have come
up with short-term solutions to offset the effects of price
hikes.
Such volatility is hampering growth and economic reforms in
developing countries where the battles against poverty,
unemployment, illiteracy, crime, pollution and radicalism have
been undermined. Many Arab countries and most Muslim states
find themselves in the frontline of such battles and as such
they now face the specter of political and social instability.
This is a global crisis that is not going to ease soon,
according to economists and development experts. Whether it is
the ailing US economy or the overheating Chinese industrial
complex, the problems of today's economies are multifaceted
and complicated.
The fantastic growth rates of the past decade have created new
challenges to producers and consumers alike. Many societies
are paying the price of their own success. The emergence of a
new middle class has increased demand for services and
commodities and by extension consumption of energy has reached
unprecedented levels.
Unless major local, regional and global initiatives are
launched the calamitous scenarios proposed by the UN and other
organizations will begin to materialize soon. But this should
not be the case for the Arab and Muslim worlds. Bold
undertakings are in order and instead of thinking of charity,
entrepreneurs should talk about opportunities.
Countries like Sudan, with its vast fertile land and abundance
of water, should attract oil-rich Arab governments with their
multibillion dollar investment funds. Similar opportunities in
agriculture, mining, fisheries and food production lie in
Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
For decades Arab politicians and economists, not to mention
citizens, have dreamt about the need for a network of funds
investing in Arab and Muslim countries and pushing toward
economic complementarity. Where one Arab country is rich in
soil and water, another has excess of funds and access to
management. If the global marketplace is allowing Arabs to
invest in China and India, it should make it possible for the
same investors to seek chances in Egypt and Jordan.
There is a political expediency in all this as well as
economic welfare. The Arab world has more than its fair share
of political and social problems. If the current global crisis
spreads to this region then we can expect more instability and
risk that could overflow to reach more stable countries. It is
not in the interest of any Arab country, rich or poor,
affluent or not, to see a new crisis erupt in a neighboring
country. The security of the pan-Arab order necessitates such
bold initiatives.
The same applies to Muslim countries, some of which have huge
untapped natural resources. It is logical to seek investments
in Pakistan or Indonesia just as in Europe or Latin America if
not more.
The nature of our world today requires that stability and
security be accessible and enjoyed by all. And with the huge
returns from the recent surge in oil prices, the possibility
of setting up an investment fund to help troubled countries in
the Arab and Muslim worlds becomes feasible and necessary.
There are individual initiatives here and there, but there is
urgency to create momentum to facilitate the establishment of
such a grand fund. The current global crisis can be averted
but only if the rich countries spearhead a regional drive to
direct investments in areas such as agriculture, cattle
rearing, fisheries and related fields.
It is a win-win situation for all, but the political and
social goals are becoming more important and pressing every
day. Price hikes and inflation will drive consumers to despair
and will eventually create social upheavals. Governments are
running out of solutions but unless an economic initiative
with a humanitarian face is launched soon, the Arab world will
be sucked into the vortex.
No one wants to see famine and chaos in this part of the
world. The root causes of radicalism and militancy can be
found in economic deprivation as well as political
disenfranchisement. The first will have to be tackled now and
the Arab world has the tools to deal with it. But only if such
a step is taken at the leadership level will the political
will exist.
Source: www.arabnews.com
Viewpoints
Iran's President
on South Asia tour: Focus on Sri Lanka
Iran and Sri Lanka expressed their deep concern over the
violence against the Palestinian people in the Palestinian
territories and will continue to express their solidarity with
the Palestinian people.
Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal
Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a two-day state visit from
April 28 to Sri Lanka on an invitation from President Mahinda
Rajapaksa. This is the Iranian president's first visit to Sri
Lanka. Ahmadinejad was accompanied by a high-powered
delegation, including Foreign Minister Manouchehir Mottaki and
Commerce Minister Mir Kazema and his key aides. Iran is
emerging as a major economic donor to Sri Lanka which is under
pressure on human rights issues as war has resumed with the
Tamil Tigers. President Rajapaksa visited Teheran last
November. Iran Minister of Economics & Finance Davood
Danesh-Jafari already was in Colombo on January 15-17 to pave
ways for Ahmedinejad's visit and economic cooperation between
the two countries and get the documents ready.
On his arrival in Colombo, President Rajapaksa gave Mahmoud a
royal welcome and the Sri Lankan Navy accorded him a smart
guard of honor. Within 24 hours of his stay in this island
nation, he addressed religious leaders of the Buddhist,
Muslim, Christian, Hindu and faiths at the banquet hall of the
Galadari Hotel in Colombo which was filled to capacity with
other invitees too and later in the morning laid the
foundation stone and unveiled a plaque at the Sapugaskande Oil
refinery. (He was not able to lay the foundation stone at
Uma-Oya due to bad weather conditions that was not conducive
for a helicopter flight). The two Presidents briefed each
other on issues of common interest and current developments in
their respective countries. Sri Lanka's Presidents Rajapaksa
and Ahmadinejad also entered into agreements for several
economic projects in Sri Lanka.
The Iranian president's visit comes at a time when US
President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown have said they are working to extend sanctions against
Iran's nuclear program. On the eve of Ahmadinejad's visit to
South Asia the Department spokesperson Tom Casey declared that
the United States believes that "it's up to every country to
determine for itself how it's going to organize its bilateral
relations (with Iran), and it's up to them to determine how
best to manage them. We'd also certainly encourage them to ask
Iran to end its rather unhelpful activities with respect to
Iraq, with respect to support for terrorism, including
organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas, and to otherwise
become a more responsible actor on the world stage." The US
expressed concern over the visit of Iranian President
Ahmadinejad to South Asian countries; the US is said to have
exerted pressure on India to warn Iran over her nuclear
program but this understandably has not gone down well in
India.
The man who has challenged the most powerful nation of the
world, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in South Asia in April visiting
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India and the people who met him and
listened to his speech delivered for all-faiths had a
different picture about that man. A man who is being described
in global media, including India, as a "firebrand" Ahmadinejad
won the hearts of all Sri Lankans on this very short visit.
What took people of Lanka by surprise is that they had never
seen a head of state like him before in all their lives. His
quiet charisma was irresistible. People who heard him, the
Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, among others, surmised that he
is very modest and humble, that simplicity is the hall mark of
his character. Just like the Iranian people, Sri Lankans took
a natural liking to him. One commentator aptly said: what
distinguishes Ahmadinejad was his life style, his down to
earth demeanor, impeccable revolutionary credentials and his
record of selflessness in the service he has rendered to the
people of Iran.
The speech he delivered was amazing. He said Iran always
desired Sri Lanka's progress and honor. "I am sure that people
and religious leaders of this beautiful country will render a
great service to humanity by working together in peace and
brotherhood and I thank God for it," he said. "God created man
to enable him to identify God and be humble before Him. By
doing this God has elevated man to a high pedestal. Therefore
man should live happily in unity and mutual co-operation with
others during his short life span," he said. Ahmadinejad also
added that unity among all religious leaders would enable them
to overcome any threat or force and invited them to tour Iran
in the near future.
The Iranian president remarked that a very friendly atmosphere
prevailed during his visit. He emphasized the need to abhor
hatred, enmity and jealousy, promote mutual love and respect
and shelve injustice and aggressiveness, said that these are
basic tenets of all religions. Sri Lankans are compassionate
people and they command the honor, respect and friendship of
the Iranian people. He added that the Iranian people desired
close co-operation with the people of Sri Lanka and he wished
Sri Lanka a bright future.
The speech had an electrifying effect on the audience. When
the speech was over there was resounding applause. When the
meeting concluded, the audience together with all the clergy
rushed to the stage to congratulate President Ahmadinejad and
wish him good luck. It was indeed very difficult for
Ahmadinejad to get back to his room in the hotel as hundreds
of well wishers thronged around him to shake his hand and even
embrace and kiss him.
Iran and Sri Lanka's trade exchanges during the past two years
have stood at around $400 mln; non-oil trade exchanges between
the two nations is relatively limited at present, the trade
volume, tea included, hits over $50 mln. Building cement and
steel production plants, auto industries and transfer of
technical and technological know-how in the oil exploration
and extraction and mining sectors are the areas Iranian
experts could help Sri Lanka with. Iran enjoys good
technological potentials and we call for Iran's cooperation in
supplying Sri Lanka with machineries and equipments, helping
us in the agricultural sector, building cement production
plants, auto industries, iron exploration and extraction and
building steel mill.
Iran is the sole supplier of crude oil for the only refinery
in Sri Lanka in Sapugaskanda. The oil made available to Sri
Lanka is given on easy payment basis and is a boon in a
situation where we are compelled to spend exorbitant amounts
fighting the Tamil Tigers. Western diplomats privately raised
eyebrows at Sri Lanka's all encompassing embrace of Iran.
While Sri Lanka's primary reason for bonding with Iran is oil,
where countries such as China and Pakistan are concerned it is
the military factor that motivates the relationship. With
western countries as well as neighboring India refusing to
sell arms to Sri Lanka to fight the Tamil Tiger rebels,
President Rajapaksa has only countries such as China and
Pakistan to turn to. Records indicate that in the past one and
a half years Rajapaksa had visited China twice and also
neighboring India and Pakistan as well as Iran.
Iran supports the island's sovereignty, unity and territorial
integrity and has expressed its support for Sri Lanka to solve
its ethnic conflict through negotiations. Claiming
discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese
government, the LTTE has been fighting against the government
since the mid-1980s to establish an independent homeland.
A joint communiqué issued at the end of President
Ahmadinejad's visit to Sri Lanka said: "The Iranian side
expressed its support for the sovereignty, unity and
territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and welcomed the positive
political steps taken to end the conflict through
negotiations, leading to a durable settlement, acceptable to
all the people of Sri Lanka. Iran and Sri Lanka have condemned
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasized
the need for enhanced international cooperation to eliminate
this global menace following bilateral talks between the two
sides". They underscored the potential for expansion of
bilateral economic co-operation by encouraging the private
sectors of both countries to invest in each other.
Sri Lanka supported the peaceful use of nuclear energy by
Iran, within the framework of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and under the
supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The two sides confirmed the full and non-discriminatory
implementation of Article IV of the NPT on peaceful nuclear
co-operation. The two sides reiterated the importance of
global nuclear disarmament, particularly the need for the
nuclear powers to destroy their nuclear weapons, based on the
decisions of the relevant international meetings.
Iran and Sri Lanka expressed their deep concern over the
violence against the Palestinian people in the Palestinian
territories and will continue to express their solidarity with
the Palestinian people; stressed the need for the
consolidation of national unity and understanding, peaceful
co-existence and the preservation of the stability, security
and peace in Lebanon; emphasized the need for the preservation
of the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq and the
participation of all Iraqi groups in the political process and
expressed their support for the efforts of the elected Iraqi
government to restore security and stability in Iraq;
expressed concern over the escalation of insecurity and
instability in Afghanistan, and supported, as a matter of
priority, the endeavor by the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Afghanistan for the restoration of peace and
stability.
The net result of Iranian President's first visit to Sri Lanka
is he held talks with Sri Lankan leaders and witnessed the
signing of six economic agreements. Among the projects
launched by the Iranian president during his two-day visit is
the Uma Oya hydropower project at Wellawaya in Monaragala
district. Iran had agreed to grant $450 million for it. The
project has been estimated to produce 100 MW of electricity
and supply water to agricultural and industrial sectors. Among
the agreements were the financial assistance for the Expansion
of the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery and the Uma Oya Project,
Iran's development assistance to Sri Lanka and the
establishment of Political Consultation Mechanism. The
discussions which took place in a cordial atmosphere were
detailed and substantive, covering issues of bilateral,
regional and global interest. Ahmadinejad said boosting ties
between Tehran and Colombo would help peace and stability in
the region. He says there is now hope for a better tomorrow in
this strife torn island which for almost three decades has
suffered immensely.
Sri Lanka considers the sincere feelings expressed by
President Ahmadinejad for the people of Sri Lanka indeed are
like torrents of rain after an oppressive drought. Colombo has
come under pressure from some countries over its human rights
record as war has resumed with Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for
independence in the island's north and east. In March a US
state department report accused government forces and allied
militias of unlawful killing, torture, hostage-taking and
extortion with impunity. When the US and the European allies
have for a long time pressurized Sri Lanka with charges of
human rights, abuse and covertly threatened to withdraw the
GSP + facility, and even issued veiled threats of R2P, the
goodwill of Ahmadinejad's offer of help to develop
Sapugaskande and Uma-Oya with more to follow, was something
that gladdened every Sri Lankan's heart.
In Sri Lanka there has been concern expressed as to how the US
would view the visit, some have gone to the extent of reading
the visit and relationship with Iran as being an unfriendly
'act' to both the US and Israel. Any country's foreign policy
is crafted at promoting and achieving its own national
interests and ours is no exception.
The essence of a foreign policy is that it should be pragmatic
and the Lankan government, despite a lack of sophistication at
times, has no doubt exhibited a certain pragmatism which is
dictated not by ideology but entirely by their interests.
Despite domestic constraints, Lanka is slowly turning towards
Asian countries which offer more donor money than traditional
Western allies as well as less criticism over human rights.
Foreign Secretary Dr Palitha Kohona told the BBC: "Asians
don't hector each other from public pulpits. They're more
ready with assistance and less ready with gratuitous advice."
Iran offers sufficient space for better mutual relations with
Sri Lanka.
(Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal is a Research Scholar at the
School of International studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University;
New Delhi).
Food security concerns in East Asia
In the eyes of the
affected people, the balancing acts of the rice-exporting
countries, in their search for domestic and global food
security, can well be politics on a different planet.
P. S. Suryanarayana
The
gathering crisis across the world of rising prices of food, of
rice and other staple items in particular, has not as yet
messed up the political and social landscape in any country in
Greater East Asia. However, the region, home to some leading
rice exporters and also big consumers, is not immune to the
crisis. India has, in this context, expressed its support for
Thailand's leadership in organising a Rice Summit.
In a fundamental sense, the ongoing 'globalisation' process
has had a dramatic negative impact on the prices of food,
including rice, across this region, which comprises all 16
member-states of the East Asia Summit. There are several
reasons for this, but a political reality stands out. The
United States continues to deploy its space-age war-machine in
Iraq for the so-called "war on terror." A major spin-off,
actually a worldwide economic consequence, is the space-age
velocity with which the price of oil has been driven up. Such
a negative spin-off can be traced to three factors: the
politics of external intervention in Iraq, the confrontational
attitude of the U.S. towards the oil-rich governments
considered to be hostile to its global interests, and the
inevitable backlash to such "neo-hegemonic" tendencies.
In these circumstances, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has,
without of course making a compelling political reference to
the U.S., declared that "the era of cheap food is over, if the
era of cheap oil [for fuel] is over." Surely, the linkage
between crude oil, on the one side, and food and curry, on the
other, is not nullified by different perceptions about the
meaning of low prices on either side of the worldwide
development divide. Moreover, it requires no special insight
to recognise the cascading effect of fuel prices on costs of
production in the farm sector and, therefore, on the retail
prices of rice and other commodities.
Political leaders and economists do not, of course, see the
brewing crisis through the solitary prism of fuel prices.
Other identified factors include the conversion of farmland
into special economic zones and the like in the developing
countries; the diminishing productivity since the gains of the
decades-old Green Revolution in several parts of the world;
and the obsession of the developed bloc with biofuels.
As an institution committed to 'globalisation,' the
Manila-based ADB is of course very circumspect in its
assessments of the emerging East Asian food situation. Its
Managing Director-General, Rajat M. Nag, said in Singapore a
few days ago that the rice stocks in Asia "are the lowest in
decades" but that there was no cause for "a doomsday picture
of huge scarcity." However, he agreed that stocks were not
always available in the right quantities at the right places
and at the right time - in essence, that it is a distribution
challenge.
The huge magnitude of the escalating distribution challenge,
caused in part by the rise in demand due to growth of incomes
across Asia, is acknowledged by the region's political
leaders. An economic contradiction, at another but related
level, is that 'globalisation' has not brought cheer to the
poor. Without directly blaming 'globalisation' for this, the
ADB estimates that nearly 1.2 billion people in Asia are now
in a highly vulnerable category. Among them, roughly 600
million make the equivalent of less than $1 a day, while
almost a similar number of people have daily earnings of just
over that benchmark level.
The poverty profile of Asia makes it vulnerable to the
phenomenally high food costs. The prices of finer varieties of
rice in Thailand, the largest exporter of the commodity,
zoomed past the $1000-a-tonne mark at one stage in recent
weeks. No less important to the regional scene are the supply
vagaries noticed during this period and the fears of future
scarcities. The rice export restrictions imposed independently
by Vietnam and India, in a calibrated fashion to protect
domestic supplies, have come in for adverse attention.
Thailand has been at pains to proclaim its intention to
refrain from resorting to an export ban. Moreover, moves are
under way to launch a Thailand-initiated organisation of
rice-exporting countries.
The marketplace, however, is dominated by the mood of the
price-sensitive buyers among the vulnerable sections; and they
tend to be sceptical about long-term supplies as well. In the
eyes of the affected people, the balancing acts of the
rice-exporting countries, in their search for domestic and
global food security, can well be politics on a different
planet.
The public protests in several pockets of South-East Asia,
including in Indonesia and the Philippines, have been largely
overshadowed by the 'panic-buying' at outlets retailing
subsidised rice. While food riots of the kind witnessed in
some other parts of the world did not mark the initial
reactions of East Asians to the current rice crisis, there is
no denying the crisis itself in this region.
Thailand, and Vietnam, another key export-player, are under
the spotlight in East Asia. India and China are invariably
watched on the regional stage as regards a variety of issues.
China, currently preoccupied with Olympics-related matters, is
known to set, and act on, its own terms, very often
successfully, on the regional front. And, Japan has announced
plans to extend food aid of the order of $100 million to
vulnerable countries, including those in East Asia. On May
Day, President George W. Bush, too, pledged new food aid,
which would take the total U.S. pledges to nearly $1 billion
to help tide over the global crisis. Significantly, in this
context, East Asia, which the U.S. treats as its own backyard
for geopolitical and geo-economic reasons, might also stand to
benefit.
This keeps the East Asian focus on India, a major
rice-exporter, in high intensity. The ADB has suggested that
India should not resort to curbs on its exportof non-basmati
varieties and must desist from imposing price controls. In
this situation, New Delhi may face a leadership test in the
region over the rice crisis, after having come under the
spotlight on climate change and the India-U.S. civil nuclear
energy deal.
Source: www.hindu.com
International
Grim fight for
survival after Myanmar cyclone
AFP, Yangon
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