tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81673579079329093842024-03-18T20:18:23.452-07:00News BD24The Daily News ServiceAdmin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comBlogger483125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-22180663269522695092013-06-30T05:00:00.000-07:002013-06-30T05:00:03.633-07:00Bangladesh Clothes Factory Disaster Miracle Is Branded A Hoax By Colleague Of Woman Rescued <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sewing machinist Reshma Begum was pulled from the rubble 17 days after factory collapsed but now a fellow worker claims she escaped with him on the day of the disaster<br /><br />The miracle rescue of a worker 17 days after the Bangladesh clothes factory disaster has been branded a HOAX.<br /><br />Millions around the world reacted with joy as pictures showed sewing machinist Reshma Begum being lifted from the rubble in which 1,221 died.<br /><br />But a Sunday Mirror investigation today reveals doubts over the “rescue” as a male colleague claims she got out with him on the day the nine-storey building collapsed in April.<br /><br />The survivor, who says he was working alongside her on the third floor, declared: “We escaped together. We both walked away from the rubble.<br /><br />“We spent two days in hospital but then she vanished. The next time I saw her was on TV 17 days later. They said it was a miracle. But it was a fake.”<br /><br /><br />The Sunday Mirror travelled to Bangladesh to meet anti-government campaigners who insist the rescue was staged by the authorities to combat the wave of bad publicity that engulfed the country’s £1billion-a-year garment industry after the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in Dhaka.<br /><br />We were played a recording of the worker’s evidence. His name is being withheld because he has gone into hiding amid fear of reprisals.<br /><br />His dramatic hoax claims have been investigated by journalists from Dhaka’s pro-opposition daily, Amar Desh.<br /><br />Reporters there were also told by survivor Reshma’s landlady that she had escaped the collapse on the day it happened and had been treated at the nearby Enam hospital.<br /><br />People who live on streets around the factory described how they were mysteriously forcibly evacuated from their homes the day before 19-year-old Reshma’s rescue and allowed back the next day with no explanation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />At the same time a 24-hour ban was imposed on the filming of the ongoing rescue operation.<br /><br />Questions have also been raised over Reshma’s physical appearance when she was taken from the ruins as well as the condition of her clothes.<br /><br />Investigative reporter Shishir Abdullah said: “She did not show any signs of having been trapped beneath tons of rubble for 17 days.<br /><br />“She said she had to claw her way through bricks and debris to reach water in dead victims’ rucksacks, but her hands and fingernails did not show the marks you would expect.<br /><br />“Also her eyes were wide open when they pulled her out and she did not appear to be sensitive to the bright sunlight. The sari she wore was not ripped or torn and appeared clean.<br /><br />“People were suspicious but the government made a huge fuss of hailing it as a miracle. People were taken in. Everyone was fooled.”<br /><br />A week ago, illiterate Reshma was paraded at a government press conference in a new job as an ambassador for a five-star Dhaka hotel, where she is being paid £600-a-month - 10 times the average salary.<br /><br />She reacted angrily to suggestions of a hoax, saying: “Where I was, you were not there. So you have no idea.” Officials then banned further questions. It has been claimed Reshma was given the job after turning down the offer of a new life in the US.<br /><br />On Friday we travelled to Rani Ganj, the remote village where Reshma grew up 300 miles north west of Dhaka, the country’s capital.<br /><br />Speaking at her family home – a tiny, single-room mud shack with a straw roof – her mother Jobeda refuted the hoax claims, telling us: “Her escape IS the miracle everyone thinks it is.”<br /><br />But she added: “We have lots of money now Reshma has her new job. We have a good future now.”<br /><br />“After we heard the building had collapsed we were so worried. My husband and I travelled to Dhaka and waited with the other families for news. We prayed Reshma would be found but our prayers went unanswered.”<br /><br /><br />On May 10, the 17th day of the rescue operation, an announcement was made over a loudspeaker erected at the site to keep families informed.<br /><br />“It said, ‘A woman has been found alive. Her name is Reshma’.”<br /><br />Jobeda said: “I fainted. When I came round, people took me to the hospital to see her. She was awake and spoke to us. She told us she was happy.<br /><br />“She had just minor marks on her arms but otherwise she was fine. I was overjoyed. I couldn’t believe how lucky she had been. The army were looking after her. <br /><br />"When she was well enough, she left and was then given her new job at the hotel. She will send us money and we are expecting her to come home and visit us twice a year.”<br /><br />The slum-dwelling victims of the collapse worked for just £1 a day making jeans for Primark in the UK and other stores around the world.<br /><br />Their complaints of cracks in the factory’s walls in the days before the collapse on April 24 were ignored by the wealthy owners, who had added an extra three floors to the building without permission. <br /><br />They are now under arrest and facing demands for the death penalty for flouting planning laws. <br /><br />A survey by engineers in Bangladesh revealed earlier this month three fifths of the country’s garment factories are vulnerable to collapse.<br /><br />When we put the hoax rescue claims to the Bangladesh army last night, spokesman Lieutenant Commander Nure Alam Siddique said: “We have no comment to make.”<br /><br />Mirror :</span></div>
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Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-29683469877734847532013-06-30T03:30:00.003-07:002013-06-30T03:51:03.464-07:00ZIA: The thankless role in saving democracy in Bangladesh : 'Corruption and stealing threaten a once-vibrant nation'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Will 2013 be a watershed in U.S.-Bangladeshi relations? My country of 150 million people, located between India and Myanmar,
has been independent since 1971, when the United States was one of the
first nations to recognize our right to self-determination. Yet in the
past year, relations have been strained to the point where the United
States may be accused of standing idle while democracy in Bangladesh is undermined and its economic allegiance shifts toward other growing world powers.</div>
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This is not to say that the U.S. government, Congress or agencies they help lead have done nothing. Six months ago, the World Bank withdrew nearly $2 billion in funding for a four-mile bridge project, the largest single infrastructure project in Bangladesh for 40 years, and demanded an inquiry into ministerial corruption and misappropriation of funds.</div>
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At the same time, members of the U.S. congressional caucus on Bangladesh condemned the government — in particular Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — for removing Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus from his post as managing director of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh’s award-winning microfinance institution that has pulled millions out of poverty. The reason for his ouster? Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the honor was presented to the wrong person: “If anybody in Bangladesh deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, it is Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”</div>
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Most
Bangladeshis would disagree that Ms. Hasina has any claim on the prize.
Just ask the families of some 300 people who have been registered as
missing since 2009 at the hands of Ms. Hasina's Rapid Action Battalion — a paramilitary wing of the police. Or consider the family of murdered workers’ rights campaigner Aminul Islam, on whose behalf the AFL-CIO
is campaigning to overturn U.S.-Bangladeshi trade preferences.
Political leaders and their supporters who are being accused by a local
war crimes tribunal of involvement in atrocities during the 1971 war of
independence also would question Ms. Hasina’s right to the Nobel Prize.</div>
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The U.S. ambassador for war crimes has condemned Ms. Hasina’s
government for trying only opponents of the regime. In December, the
Economist published leaked emails and phone recordings revealing the
complicity of the Hasina administration in these trials, and how they are abusing them to issue death sentences to Ms. Hasina’s political opponents.</div>
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The simple fact is that over the past five years, Bangladesh
has been moving rapidly away from being one of Asia’s most vibrant
democracies toward a single family taking over the levers of power. Now
Ms. Hasina is attempting to remove from the constitution the need for a
caretaker government — six months before the election. Indeed, she
herself helped institute this rule, which calls for a nonpolitical
government to take the reigns of power and oversee the electoral process
unencumbered by political interference.</div>
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Having a caretaker
government has been the insurance that elections are free and fair. If
the voters decide to vote for a new government, then power must change
hands. Despite millions joining in street protests against plans to
ditch the caretaker government system before the general election this
year, Ms. Hasina seems intent on pushing ahead, believing it will allow
her to be re-elected despite popular opposition to her rule.</div>
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Bangladesh’s neighbor Burma is emerging from exile with the visit of President Obama in the aftermath of his re-election. India continues its growth as the world’s largest democracy. If Bangladesh
succumbs to the rule of one family, it would be a major step backward
for the region. Southeast Asia is now a region full of hope because of
the freedoms America has helped foster. Under a caretaker government,
the people of Bangladesh have the chance to express their will through the ballot box.</div>
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The
United States and its allies, such as Great Britain, have the influence
to insist that a caretaker government is instituted so the views of the
voters are respected. To ensure this, their words and actions must be
much stronger, to keep Bangladesh from slipping away from democracy. Congress and the British Parliament must continue to honor individuals such as Mr. Yunus for what he has achieved to alleviate poverty, while others such as Ms. Hasina have merely coveted recognition.</div>
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They also must explain to Ms. Hasina
that general preferences for trade will be withdrawn if those who
support workers’ rights and have political views opposed to those of the
prime minister are not now allowed to express their beliefs. The
Western powers should consider targeted travel and other sanctions
against those in the regime who undermine democracy, freedom of speech
and human rights. They should say and do these things publicly, for all
our citizens to see and hear. This is how the United States can ensure
that its mission to democratize the world continues.</div>
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It was once
said, “There is a higher court than courts of justice, and that is the
court of conscience.” It is impossible to say in good conscience that
democracy, justice and the alleviation of poverty in Bangladesh
under Ms. Hasina are safe. Indeed, all are in grave danger. It is time
for the world, led by America, to act and ensure that democracy is saved
in Bangladesh.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i>Begum Khaleda Zia is former prime minister of Bangladesh and current leader of the opposition. </i></span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/30/the-thankless-role-in-saving-democracy-in-banglade/" target="_blank"><b>The Washington times </b></a></span></span><u><span style="color: black;">:</span></u></span><br />
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Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-60034613083439891452012-10-11T07:34:00.000-07:002012-10-11T07:34:20.757-07:00Deadly conspiracy of Destiny fraudsters in Bangladesh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After swindling billions of dollars from around seven million people,
masterminds of fraudulent multi level marketing racket has undertaken a
deadly plan of visibly blackmailing the government by mobilizing a few
thousand cadres in going into violent actions on the streets of the
capital city, demanding dropping of all charges against the absconding
masterminds of Destiny Tree Plantation Limited and Destiny Multipurpose
Cooperative Society Limited. The absconding masterminds of the MLM fraud
racket are Lt Gen [Retired] Harunur Rashid, Mohammad Rafiqul Amin,
Alhaj Mohammad Hossain, Sayeedur Rahman, Gofranul Haque, Mesbah Uddin
Swapan etc. Although they are absconding for almost two weeks, none of
the law enforcement agencies in the country are showing any genuine
willingness of arresting any of them as the fraudsters are backed by an
influential advisor to the Prime Minister, who also is one of the share
holders and beneficiaries of these huge fraudulent enterprises. It is
learnt that, previously by using the influence of the advisor to the PM,
Destiny masterminds managed bail from a lower court, which was later
cancelled, as issuance of bail by the lower court into money laundering
case was not permitted.</div>
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While the masterminds of the fraudulent Destiny Group are visibly
allowed to be "absconders" by the law enforcing agencies, an
investigating committee of the Ministry of Commerce found this MLM
enterprise guilty of fund embezzlement and suggested that legal measures
should be taken by the respective ministries to recover the amount. The
committee submitted its 410-page report on October 9, 2012. It
suggested that legal measures should be taken by individual ministries
to recover the huge amount of money embezzled by the group through
'illegal banking, tree planting and selling sub-standard products.
Formed in February, the probe body had submitted reports at least on
three occasions, but those were sent back by commerce secretary Ghulam
Hossain, who is rumored to have been heavily compensated by the
masterminds of the Destiny Group.</div>
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According to the submitted report, Destiny Multipurpose Cooperatives
Society Limited amassed savings from 4.7 million members and invested
those in its other sister concerns in violation of the law of the
cooperative society. The committee said it did not find any trace of an
amount equivalent to US$ 500 million, which is believed to have been
smuggled out of the country by the masterminds of the Destiny Group.</div>
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One of the members of the investigating committee told Weekly Blitz
that, it sees no minimum hope for refund of investments of those
millions of people, who invested money into various enterprises of
Destiny Group as major portion of the collected fund had already been
drained out of Bangladesh and landed in foreign bank accounts of the
Destiny Group masterminds.</div>
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<a href="http://www.weeklyblitz.net/2634/deadly-conspiracy-of-destiny-fraudsters-in" target="_blank">Source : </a></div>
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Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-40687112642217523632012-10-10T04:19:00.001-07:002012-10-10T04:19:26.494-07:00Azmal Khan: A whistleblower against corruption<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Though there are a lot of good people available in Bangladesh, who are ready to tell the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department or private company or organization, but the whistle blowing comment I am unable to bear the burden any longer, made by Azmal Khan, Suranjit Sengupta's ex-assistant personal secretary (APS) Omar Faruq Talukder, carried a very clear message. <br /> <br /> What are the right things to do when there is violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption? The answer is not too hard. We have more than a moral imperative to step forward and expose those malfeasances.<br /> <br /> Whistleblowers like Azam Khan are ordinary people who find themselves as observers of situation that force them into a decision of having to speak out. But the road to victory or justice is generally rocky and not without consequences for the whistleblowers. He/she can suffer ostracism, the loss of resources, income and a job, and depression. And the severe consequences would be the loss of life either of him/her or any one of his/her family.<br /> <br /> Azam Khan's whistle blowing story began in the night of April 9, 2012, while he drove APS Faruq's microbus into Pilkhana, the headquarters of Border Guard Bangladesh, and blew the whistle that there was illegal money in the vehicle. According to the source of various news media at that time and also his recent appearance in a private TV channel in Bangladesh on October 04, 2012, Azam Kham dauntlessly said that the Tk 74 lakh stashed in their car was being taken to the then railway minister Suranjit Sengupta's house. Those bribe money had been collected from railway jobseekers.<br /> <br /> That money was the small part of the whole recruitment business. Apart form APS Faruq, the syndicate was compiled with railway's the then general manager (east) Yusuf Ali Mridha and Dhaka division security commandant Enamul Huq to conduct the whole recruitment process to collect Tk. 10 crore for the minister from the recruitment business. Azam further said that one army officer was involved in the recruitment business and he wanted to appoint several hundred job seekers in a Tk. 3 crore recruitment deal.<br /> <br /> Bangladesh earned the bad name -- 'the most corrupt country' -- for several years. The policymakers, particularly those among the politicians, have so far responded very little to bring about positive changes in this situation, as many of them are widely perceived to be involved in the process thereof. Corruption is endemic in Bangladesh, and greed seems to be limitless. We are not saying that the corruptions only lie in Bangladesh.<br /> <br /> Bradley Birkenfeld approached to the US Department of Justice in 2007, offering to reveal the inner workings of UBS's (the giant Union Bank of Switzerland) international private-banking division, where he had worked for five years. Some of the details that emerged raised eyebrows, including the revelation that bankers had used toothpaste tubes to smuggle diamonds across borders for clients. Having long turned a blind eye to these sorts of shenanigans, the America's government came down heavily on UBS. In 2009 the bank avoided criminal prosecution by agreeing to pay a $780m fine to the Internal Service Revenue of US (IRS).<br /> <br /> Rod Blagojevich, former Illinois Governor in US, is now behind bars for serving his 14-year sentence on corruption charges. He was convicted on 18 counts, including charges that he tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat. FBI wiretaps revealed a fouled-mouth Blagojevich describing the opportunity to exchange an appointment to the seat for campaign cash or a top job as "f------ golden." The ruling was against him to bring unethical or illegal practices to the forefront and addressing them before they become fatal to an organization as well as to the whole system. <br /> <br /> It is part of the moral complexity that whistles blowers presuppose that somewhere there is someone with appropriate authority who will appreciate the moral importance of the disclosure and will respond accordingly. Azam Khan appealed to the head of the government and expected that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whom he believes is against the corruption, wouldn't go corrupted people unpunished.<br /> <br /> In her recent speech in UN General Assembly in New York, Sheikh Hasina renewed her demand for reforming the United Nations, the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions (IFIs). It is good to raise questions about their 60-year-old power equations functionalities. But the reform should start from home. Gross ethical violation in Bangladesh in different regime has been prevailing. Unscrupulous and corrupt personnel in every sphere of the society are creating violation of rules and regulations frequently.<br /> <br /> As far as reform is concerned, proper means'what we called the good beginnings are as necessary as worthy ends. We may not bear to be told to wait for good results, but we pine for good beginnings.<br /> <br /> After signing and ratifying UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) on February 27, 2008, Bangladesh entered into a legal obligation to put in place a framework of action plan to deal with a wide array of corrupt practices, develop national institutions to prevent corrupt practices, prosecute offenders, cooperate with other governments to recover stolen assets, and help each other through technical and financial assistance to fight corruption, reduce its occurrence and reinforce integrity. <br /> <br /> Some people may believe that someone shouldn't bite the hand that feeds him/her and insist on staying on for the banquet. Supporters of Awami Legue may already start thinking Azam Khan as a rising threat to them, but whistle Blowers like him are considered as "saviors" who ultimately helps create important changes in the systems. <br /> <br /> IRS in US agreed to pay former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld $104m for his role in exposing the giant Swiss bank's efforts illegal in America but not in its home country to help American taxpayers hide money in offshore accounts. Like Birkenfeld, Azam Khan may not end up with a heavy reward or a smooth exit deal from his opponents, but the situation he has addressed will encourage millions of people to stand against corruptions.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=391338" target="_blank">Source :</a></div>
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Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-27798484059163372662012-10-03T11:11:00.001-07:002012-10-03T11:11:26.299-07:00Women Hurting Women<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9mjvre0PPnX_G9EAk294DB4Nm-Fmw-zOOP284aDpDM8Q-iOPja_6kQ5z_VQavMJvn-4fAWI-sU_eVGOBKbRrqq9KFKHDidDfJOuDrBXMZe5JOSAxqmH6bEx0tCJjifpNCE9bmiTH_Sr8/s1600/Sheikh%252BHasina%252BWajed%252BBangladeshi%252BPrime%252BMinister%252BxE9dDM9bVUNl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9mjvre0PPnX_G9EAk294DB4Nm-Fmw-zOOP284aDpDM8Q-iOPja_6kQ5z_VQavMJvn-4fAWI-sU_eVGOBKbRrqq9KFKHDidDfJOuDrBXMZe5JOSAxqmH6bEx0tCJjifpNCE9bmiTH_Sr8/s400/Sheikh%252BHasina%252BWajed%252BBangladeshi%252BPrime%252BMinister%252BxE9dDM9bVUNl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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ARE female leaders better for the world’s women? </div>
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<br /></div>
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It would be nice to think that women who achieve power would want to
help women at the bottom. But one continuing global drama underscores
that women in power can be every bit as contemptible as men. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh, is mounting a scorched-earth offensive against Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and champion of the economic empowerment of women around the world. Yunus, 72, won a Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering work in microfinance, focused on helping women lift their families out of poverty. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
Yet Sheikh Hasina’s government has already driven Yunus from his job
as managing director of Grameen Bank. Worse, since last month, her
government has tried to seize control of the bank from its 5.5 million
small-time shareholders, almost all of them women, who collectively own
more than 95 percent of the bank. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
What a topsy-turvy picture: We see a woman who has benefited from
evolving gender norms using her government powers to destroy the life’s
work of a man who has done as much for the world’s most vulnerable women
as anybody on earth. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The government has also started various investigations of Yunus and his
finances and taxes, and his supporters fear that he might be arrested on
some pretext or another. </div>
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<br /></div>
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“It’s an insane situation,” Yunus told me a few days ago at the Clinton
Global Initiative in New York, sounding subdued instead of his normally
exuberant self. “I just don’t know how to deal with it.” </div>
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<br /></div>
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If the government succeeds in turning Grameen Bank into a government bank, Yunus said, “it is finished.” </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
Sheikh Hasina, in New York for the United Nations General Assembly,
initially agreed to be interviewed by me in a suite at the Grand Hyatt.
At the last minute she canceled and refused to reschedule. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
Perhaps none of this should be surprising. Metrics like girls’ education
and maternal mortality don’t improve more when a nation is led by a
woman. There is evidence that women matter as local leaders and on
corporate boards, but that doesn’t seem to have been true at the
national level, at least not for the first cohort of female leaders
around the world. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
Bangladesh is actually a prime example of the returns from investing in
women. When it separated from Pakistan in 1971, it was a wreck. But it
invested in girls’ education, and today more than half of its high
school students are female — an astonishing achievement for an
impoverished Muslim country. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
All those educated women formed the basis for Bangladesh’s garment
industry. They also had fewer births: the average Bangladeshi woman now
has 2.2 children,
down from 6 in 1980. Bringing women into the mainstream also seems to
have soothed extremism, which is much less of a concern than in Pakistan
(where female literacy in the tribal areas is only 3 percent). </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
To her credit, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken up for
Yunus: “I highly respect Muhammad Yunus, and I highly respect the work
that he has done, and I am hoping to see it continue without being in
any way undermined or affected by any government action,” she said
earlier this year. Two former secretaries of state, George Shultz and Madeleine Albright, have also called on Sheikh Hasina to back off. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
She shows no sign of doing so. One theory is that she is paranoid and
sees Yunus as a threat, especially since he made an abortive effort to
enter politics in 2007. Another theory is that she is envious of his
Nobel Peace Prize and resentful of his global renown. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
Sheikh Hasina is disappointing in other ways. She has turned a blind eye
to murders widely attributed to the security services. My Times
colleague Jim Yardley
wrote just this month about a labor leader, Aminul Islam, who had been
threatened by security officers and whose tortured body was found in a
pauper’s grave. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
Yunus fans are signing a Change.org
petition on his behalf, but I’d like to see more American officials and
politicians speak up for him. President Obama, how about another photo
op with Yunus? </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
I still strongly believe that we need more women in leadership posts at
home and around the world, from presidential palaces to corporate
boards. The evidence suggests that diverse leadership leads to better
decision making, and I think future generations of female leaders may be
more attentive to women’s issues than the first. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
In any case, this painful episode in Bangladesh is a reminder that the
struggle to achieve gender equality isn’t simply a battle between the
sexes. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: justify;">
It is far more subtle. Misogyny and indifference remain obstacles for
women globally, but those are values that can be absorbed and
transmitted by women as well as by men. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/opinion/sunday/kristof-women-hurting-women.html?smid=fb-share" target="_blank">Source :</a></div>
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Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-29994313724837942662012-09-26T00:38:00.001-07:002012-09-26T00:38:07.746-07:00Will the long night of terror in Bangladesh end in 2013?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNR4nMhPIZG1wEZc_ne1mdu-nOP-ce4On3L09FY1yEvIMYdMBlq_IoVkG-L5wOvY7Mlo0-H4K7Ig4vc1FCHxz-b_apYa_iS0QwiskoKBJNzRosoPWCkclV7rSjS4oriQm7eufplrUi_k/s1600/Sheikh+Hasina+Wajed+Bangladeshi+Prime+Minister+MMTTZm9HMI-l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNR4nMhPIZG1wEZc_ne1mdu-nOP-ce4On3L09FY1yEvIMYdMBlq_IoVkG-L5wOvY7Mlo0-H4K7Ig4vc1FCHxz-b_apYa_iS0QwiskoKBJNzRosoPWCkclV7rSjS4oriQm7eufplrUi_k/s400/Sheikh+Hasina+Wajed+Bangladeshi+Prime+Minister+MMTTZm9HMI-l.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The current government of Hasina Mujib will complete its tenure in
December 2013. Most Bangaldeshis are hoping that this will end the long
night of terror which promised a digital Bangladesh. Digital Bangladesh
under this Mujib remained as eslusive as Sonar Bangla under the first
Mujib. Mujibur Rehamn when he came to power abolished all political
parties, and declared himself president for life under Baksal. So much
for the quest for democracy. On 14th August 1974, patriotic Benglais
murdered him and his entire family. However a counter coup against
Khondakar Mushtaque led to General Zia ruling Bangladesh for a decade.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<strong></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><strong>The battle of the begums has begun.</strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hasina Wajib (Mujib) came to power through a havey handed judicial
coup. It then began a pogram against the BNP and the Jamat e Islami on
fake charges stemming from 1971. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wants to
hold that the next general election under the existing President Zillur
Rahman a veteran Bangladesh Awami Leaguer.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The International Crisis Group’s (ICG) Asia report no. 226 dated June
13, 2012 titled “Bangladesh: Back to the Future” describes the situaion
in Bangladesh as explosive:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
”Bangladesh could face a protracted political crisis in the lead-up
to the 2013 elections unless Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government
changes course and makes a more conciliatory approach towards political
opposition and the military.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The hope, both at home and abroad, was that Sheikh Hasina would use her
mandate to revitalise democratic institutions and pursue national
reconciliation, ending the pernicious cycle of zero-sum politics between
her AL and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Three and a half years on hope has been replaced by deep
disillusionment, as two familiar threats to Bangladesh’s Democracy have
returned: the prospected of election-related violence and risks stemming
from an unstable and hostile military. Instead of changing old pattern
of politics, the AL government has systematically used parliament, the
executive and courts to reinforce it, including by filing corruption
cases against Khaleda Zia, the BNP Chairperson, and employing security
agencies to curb opposition activities.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Most worrying, however, is the AL-dominated parliament’s adoption of
the fifteenth amendment to the constitution, which scraps a provision
mandating the formation of neutral caretaker administration to oversee
general elections.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The caretaker system was a major practical and psychological barrier
to election-rigging by the party in power. Removing it has undermined
opposition parties’ confidence in the electoral system.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to an intelligence reports, theAwami League, which won
through a jdical coup in the December 2008 is destined to face a massive
electoral catastrophe losing at least 150 seats. In the last
contrevercial elections in 2008, the Awami League got 266. The tables
seem to have turned, but Delhi will not allow the BNP and its alliance
partner the JeI come to power. The BNP and the Jamaat are considered
pro-Pakistani parties in Bharat.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The ALs draconian laws have been promulgated to ensure that the AL
wins the election for Joy Mujim. “The fifteenth amendment carries other
dangers as well. For example, anyone who criticises the constitution may
now be prosecuted for sedition; new procedures have rendered further
amendments virtually impossible; and death penalty is prescribed for
plotting to overthrow an elected government – a thinly veiled warning to
the military which has done so four times in as many decades.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The fallout from these changes is already clear. The BNP gave an
ultimatum to the government to re-instate the caretaker system by June
10, 2012 or face battles on the street.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A BNP-led boycott of 2013 general elections may be in the offing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Meanwhile, the military is visibly restive. On 19 January, it
announced it had foiled a coup by mid-level and retired officers who
sought to install an Islamist government. This followed an assassination
attempt on an AL member of parliament in October 2009 by mid-level
officers seething over the deaths of 57 officers in a mutiny by their
sub-ordinate paramilitary border guards the previous February.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Large-scale dismissals, forced retirements deepening politicisation
and a heavy-handed approach to curb dissent and root out militants have
created an unstable and undisciplined force. While top-level coup is
unlikely, prospect of mid-level officers resorting to violence to
express their suppressed anger is increasingly high.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Should the situation deteriorate to the point that the army again
decides to intervene, it is unlikely to be content to prop up civilian
caretakers and map a course to fresh election as it did in 2007.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This time the generals could be expected to have more staying power,
not to mention less reluctance to carry out “minus-two” their previous
plan to remove Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia from politics. Even if such
a worst-case scenario seems remote, it is clear that a new electoral
stalemate threatens to erode Bangladesh democratic foundations.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaCiw34SyYq_eyyCfEMKDNeyg0BTDsCUujzPAp9QbBGdSv1iGxMZkSmukDYM6SdIfwOlm6tXnlxlbvaCcfH2Amyvp2r7fjuCKSgJqzm2ElB2yY2pxWxSuz7mfJEQ-f3nVoCG3awUV5TY/s1600/KhaledaZia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaCiw34SyYq_eyyCfEMKDNeyg0BTDsCUujzPAp9QbBGdSv1iGxMZkSmukDYM6SdIfwOlm6tXnlxlbvaCcfH2Amyvp2r7fjuCKSgJqzm2ElB2yY2pxWxSuz7mfJEQ-f3nVoCG3awUV5TY/s400/KhaledaZia.jpg" width="153" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Awami League ruling party is accused of a number of high-profile corruptions and irregularities:</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>The high handedness of Joy Mujib.</li>
<li>The infamous Padma Bridge bribe scandal</li>
<li>Corruption centering quick rental power plants,</li>
<li>Exorbitant rise in the prices of fuel and electricity bills,</li>
<li>Looting of millions of dollars from the state-owned Sonali Bank by
some unscrupulous connivance of the influential advisor to the Prime
Minister</li>
<li>Mass fraud with the public by a number of fraudulent multilevel marketing companies namely Destiny Group,</li>
<li>Unipay2U and share market scam, wherefrom,</li>
<li>The ruling party siphoned billions of dollars from the small investors.</li>
<li>The ruling party also is accused of extra-judicial killings and
enforced disappearances of hundreds of people, including some political
heavy-weights.</li>
<li>International human rights organizations have harshly criticized
such extra-judicial murders and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh.</li>
<li>According to figures released by local and international rights
groups, few hundred people became victims of extra judicial murder while
dozens of people became victim of enforced disappearances only during
past twelve months.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Awami League remains intolerant of any criticism or even negative
opinion from the citizen or the members of the civil society. It has
been the AL legacy since 1971.</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>The naked exhibition of ruling party’s intolerance of opposition
opinion was during the recent press conference of the leader of the
opposition Begum Khaleda Zia.</li>
<li>During the forty-minute press conference of the leader of the
opposition asked Hasina to clarify their stand on the future election in
Bangladesh</li>
<li>Electricity connections at the office of the former Prime Minister were disconnected eight times.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Delhi interferes in Bangladesh and it interferes very heavily. Begum
Khaleda Zia wil decide about her political plans after her upcoming
visits to India, the US and China.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Begum Khaleda Zia’s party is seeking “cooperation” from Nobel
laureate Dr. Mohammad Yunus. Her media aides are also preparing fact
sheet about repression of Hindus, demolition of temples and illegal
occupation of Hindu properties in Bangladesh during the current AL
government–the government that is supposedly pro-Indian.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://rupeenews.com/2012/09/will-the-long-night-of-terror-in-bangladesh-end-in-2013/" target="_blank">Source :</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-71014412071239289602012-09-22T18:49:00.000-07:002012-09-22T18:52:57.028-07:00Bangladesh to be a secular nation?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span id="advenueINTEXT" name="advenueINTEXT"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqYY-khc7epqr6dgr0kcnUe-nnvSV9oZLHHoLzbnhEEyUal6DoqqZCU5-2XuD7LAbOBr-oX21adAZWyxAJL7Uljgnx0Bg7M6lW4u3LS8zoX2XT1WDL-oEN0yuz0yxrb0lOQZMlOs8sxUE/s1600/367259-BangladeshEastPakistanDhaka-1334894898-134-640x480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqYY-khc7epqr6dgr0kcnUe-nnvSV9oZLHHoLzbnhEEyUal6DoqqZCU5-2XuD7LAbOBr-oX21adAZWyxAJL7Uljgnx0Bg7M6lW4u3LS8zoX2XT1WDL-oEN0yuz0yxrb0lOQZMlOs8sxUE/s400/367259-BangladeshEastPakistanDhaka-1334894898-134-640x480.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bangladesh
may soon cease to be an Islamic nation. According to Sayeda Sajeda
Chowdhury, MP and deputy leader of Bangladesh Parliament, efforts are on
to embrace
the basic tenets of the 1972 constitution of the country which
advocated secularism, democracy and socialism. More importantly, the
constitutional amendment will ensure that religion keeps away from
politics.</div>
<br />
<div align="justify">
"Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
had given us secularism. We still believe in Bengali nationalism,
secularism, democracy and socialism which were the basic tenets of the
country's constitution that was adopted in 1972. Later, this
constitution was amended and Bangladesh was converted into an Islamic
nation. We are trying to ensure that Islam, or for that matter any other
religion, ceases to be a state religion. Those who kill in the name of
religion and torture women
do little else but drag a nation backward. The military junta had
promoted fundamentalism in the country to suit its own needs. We can't
allow a military junta to return. We shall stop the involvement of
religion in politics and discrimination against people of other faiths,"
Chowdhury, who was in Kolkata for a seminar on 'Role of Women in the
Movement of Human Secularism in South Asia' said. The seminar was
organised by the Bharat Bangladesh Maitri Samiti to mark the birth
centenary of poet Sufia Kamal.</div>
<div align="justify">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify">
Journalist and
human rights activist Sahariar Kabir noted how Sufia led the secular and
democratic forces in Bangladesh even during Gen Ayub Khan's regime.
During her stay in Kolkata, she was commended by Rabindranath Tagore for
her writings. According to him, if Sufia is to be shown respect, Islam
should not remain the state religion of Bangladesh.</div>
<div align="justify">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify">
"We are planning to go to court unless the present government takes
steps to convert Bangladesh from an Islamic state to a secular one. When
Tagore was baned in Bangladesh (East Pakistan), Sufia led the movement
against this. In a meeting, Ayub Khan had called all Bengalis <i>haywans</i>(animals). None of those present dared protest save for Sufia. She told Ayub Khan to his face that if all Bengalis are <i>haywans</i>, he is the president of <i>haywans</i>.
She strove to make the country secular, democratic and socialist. One
must keep in mind that society in Bangladesh wasn't very advanced in
1972 but the constitution of a Muslim-dominated country adopted
secularism. Before framing the constitution, our leaders had gone
through the Constitution of India as well as other constitutions. What
was important is that our leaders took a 'revolutionary' step by banning
religion from politics. No other country had this in its constitution.
This was very important as we had witnessed genocide and torture," Kabir
said.</div>
<div align="justify">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify">
Referring to how Mujib was assasinated a
few years after the liberation of Bangladesh, he admitted that it is
extremely difficult to do away with fundamentalism. "Not only was the
word secularism removed from the constitution, from 1975, efforts
started to convert Bangladesh into another Pakistan
and later into a Taliban-ruled state. The people were never in favour
and this is where Sufia played an important role as a lighthouse. She
even led the committee that identified the people involved in war
crimes. These people are being tried in Bangladesh now," Kabir said.</div>
<div align="justify">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify">
Saugata Roy,
MP and president of the Bharat Bangladesh Maitri Samiti said that
Bangladesh has several impediments. "Fundamentalists are not only trying
to spoil relations with India but also prevent women from progressing,"
he said.</div>
<div align="justify">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify">
<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Bangladesh-to-be-a-secular-nation/articleshow/16507173.cms" target="_blank">Source :</a></div>
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Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-38140545253299704052012-09-22T18:35:00.001-07:002012-09-22T18:35:44.256-07:00Alarming decrease in Hindu population in Bangladesh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7kkB0e2paDsUtyDik5BFQyzsR4nYjCRBZ7EoBF7ELL83bPnar7rcBq_-2yFmhkyRkXGBOj7HE1FRwRrd5kS9jDGJ57nMBccXEaZEHhqO_kkcf8TPAhy2T8EOcuhEasN6x8_ttS8GoJlc/s1600/2664.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7kkB0e2paDsUtyDik5BFQyzsR4nYjCRBZ7EoBF7ELL83bPnar7rcBq_-2yFmhkyRkXGBOj7HE1FRwRrd5kS9jDGJ57nMBccXEaZEHhqO_kkcf8TPAhy2T8EOcuhEasN6x8_ttS8GoJlc/s400/2664.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In past ten years, in comparing to the growth of the total population
in Bangladesh, there is an alarming decrease of Hindu population in the
country. According to statistics available with the government sources,
the proportionate decrease in Hindu population is around nine hundred
thousand. The statistics show almost elimination of Hindu population in
fifteen districts in the country. Most of the Hindu families in those
districts were forced to leave the country. In 2001, the total number of
Hindu population in Bangladesh was 116.83 million, while the population
was expected to be 132 million in 2011. But the latest statistics
available with the government shows the total number of Hindu population
at 123 million, which is nine hundred thousand less than the expected
rate of growth. Currently 8.5 percent of the total population of
Bangladesh is Hindus, while in 2001, it was 9.2 percent. The proportion
of Christian, Buddhist and other religious minority population did not
see any decline in the past. Currently the total number of Muslim
population in Bangladesh is 90.4 percent. The district-wise statistics
of population sees "huge decline" or "almost elimination" of Hindu
population in fifteen districts, though the statistics terms the decline
of Hindu population as "missing population".<br /> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, "Though some of the Hindu rights groups are falsely claiming
that the forceful migration of Hindu families had decreased since
Bangladesh Awami League came in power, the reality is actually just the
opposite. Even during this present government, which came in power in
2009, there had been numerous attacks on Hindu families and temples in
the country as well as alarming rise in the forceful abduction and
religious conversion of Hindu girls and boys throughout the country."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Citing example of Gopalganj district in Bangladesh, which is
considered to be the exclusive vote bank of Bangladesh Awami League and
safe heaven for the Hindus, Gobinda Chandra Pramanik said, "In 2001, the
total Hindu population at Gopalganj district was 371,000, while now it
has gone down below fifty thousand. This statistics will prove the fact
of repression on Hindu population even in the district, which is wrongly
considered as 'safe heaven' for the Hindus in Bangladesh."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, "The burden of 'Enemy Property Act', which later was changed
into 'Vested Property Act' has already caused hundreds and thousands of
Hindu families in leaving Bangladesh either by selling their properties
at token price or simply abandoning their ancestral properties into the
grips of the greedy Muslim influential figures belonging to Bangladesh
Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
and Jatiyo Party. Though a large proportion of the Hindu populations
consider Bangladesh Awami League as their own party and almost as
guardians of protecting the rights of Hindus, in the past, very
unfortunately, Awami League never kept its promises in protecting the
Hindus."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Seeking anonymity, a Hindu community leader in Gopalganj district said,
"Bangladesh Awami League though proclaims to be a party totally
committed to protecting rights of Hindus and religious minorities in
Bangladesh, unfortunately their political behavior is no different than
any other political party in Bangladesh. No Hindu has ever been placed
into top most posts in the Central Committee or district level
committees of Bangladesh Awami League. Though it is very unfortunate,
but this is the ground reality."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
BY : <span style="color: red;"> <b>Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury.</b></span></div>
</div>
Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-10323985282532093992012-09-21T19:08:00.000-07:002012-09-21T19:08:15.850-07:00Padma episode weakened our position: Economists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEQKgNROjO_XJkUGanW1qPhNMeVZZPjrye-niT85-f0FCMrRNuaaCbJQkEg0yRIPxdsNTwPuhEYK4jcSIjez9eOks_-x6hZ7JtVUASQ3RCcfHOJDz9j8tqJwU97A-xzfLKmhW1VaEqfg/s1600/2012-07-15__Padma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEQKgNROjO_XJkUGanW1qPhNMeVZZPjrye-niT85-f0FCMrRNuaaCbJQkEg0yRIPxdsNTwPuhEYK4jcSIjez9eOks_-x6hZ7JtVUASQ3RCcfHOJDz9j8tqJwU97A-xzfLKmhW1VaEqfg/s400/2012-07-15__Padma.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Though the World Bank has finally agreed to revive its funding for the
much-hyped Padma Bridge project, economists say this Padma episode has
weakened Bangladesh’s position and the accountability issue will
apparently become more important for any future foreign-aided project. <br /><br />They,
however, said it needs to be ensured so that this mega project does
not face further delay due to investigation into the so-called graft.<br /><br />“We’ve
made ourselves weak a bit with the Padma Bridge story. Question has
been raised about public management, capability and capacity,” eminent
economist and distinguished fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
Debapriya Bhattacharya told the media while making comments on the World
Bank’s return to the important project.<br /><br />He said: “The issue of
accountability for any future project, not only the World Bank-ones,
any project of Japan (Jica- Japan International Cooperation Agency) and
the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will be more important.” <br /><br />On
the fresh conditions set by the World Bank, Debapriya said, “The
international expert panel will work with the Anti Corruption
Commission to look into the alleged graft, and will have to wait for
the outcome. But it’s important that the investigation process should
not hamper the implementation of the project.”<br /><br />Noted economist
and former caretaker government adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam said it
should be cleared who will be there in the external panel. “What will
be the composition of the external panel?....it needs to be determined
quickly to know who are from the country and who are from outside.”<br /><br />About
the WB’s return, Prof Anu Mohammad said the World Bank is always
interested to provide loan to countries like Bangladesh. “If a country
like Bangladesh stops taking loan from the World Bank, then it’ll
collapse. Bangladesh will also face trouble in the future while
negotiating on any project.”<br /><br />Meanwhile, different quarters,
including the main opposition BNP expressed happiness and welcomed the
WB’s return to the Padma Bridge project.<br /><br />“We had earlier said we
want construction of the Padma Bridge. We had also said it’s not
possible to build the bridge without the World Bank loan. We’ll be
happy if the World Bank reviews its decision,” BNP spokesman Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.<br /><br />Fakhrul, also the BNP’s acting
secretary general, said had the government taken measures as per the
letters sent by the global lending agency the 10 months would not have
wasted. “The government will have to answer why it had failed to take
action 10 months ago.”<br /><br />Awami League senior leader Tofail Ahmed
said all should proceed with a positive attitude on national issues.
“Padma Bridge is a bridge for all. No one should have negative attitude
towards it.”<br /><br />The government is expected to come up with its
official reaction to the WB’s decision by Saturday or Sunday, sources
at the Finance Ministry said.<br /><br />Earlier, in a statement, the World
Bank said, “The Bank has agreed that, upon satisfactory implementation
of the agreed measures by the government, and with the support of the
Bank's governing bodies, the Bank will engage anew in the Padma
Multipurpose Bridge.”<br /><br />The release said in its communication with
the World Bank about the fulfillment of these measures, the government
of Bangladesh requested the World Bank to consider again the financing
of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.<br /><br />The World Bank, the lead
co-financer of the Padma Bridge project, cancelled its committed $1.20
billion loan on June 29. Since then, the government has been trying to
convince the global lender for revival of its fund it cancelled on the
allegation of corruption in the selection process of consultant for
building the 6.15-km-long bridge. <br /><br />The government undertook the
Padma Bridge project in August 2007 estimating the cost then at $1.40
billion (Tk 101.62 billion). The project cost was revised upward to $2.9
billion because of the rising costs of construction materials and
foreign currency fluctuations.<br /><br />Later, the lenders -- the WB, the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (Jica) -- made separate commitments to provide an aggregate
amount of $2.35 billion as credits to build the bridge.<br /><br />Though
the WB cancelled the loan, the ADB and the Jica extended the loan
effectiveness for the first time on July 31 by one month to August 31.
Later, the ADB and extended the loan effectuation timeline by a month
for the second time while Jica by three weeks from September 1.<br /><br />The
two major lenders have also asked the government to settle the matter
with the WB within the timeframe before getting their committed funds
for the Padma Bridge project.<br /><br />The Manila-based ADB had earlier
committed $615 million, Jica $400 million and the Jeddah-based Islamic
Development Bank $140 million in loans for building the bridge.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.unbconnect.com/component/news/task-show/id-89045" target="_blank">Source :</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-65815346921176970152012-09-19T14:22:00.005-07:002012-09-19T14:34:01.132-07:00Troubled waters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDEW4Mrcr2jyuVI9AkFkn2QN-pNgxQ0_IwNvhczhash_XbMM0H3vH7Rsh5hfu3MArJNkylPoGF2tZyBxjn_7d3gbAaCOlGCiNcHnXomVfkKhUz6tWXxxINU0A1KGoGT_JFVNKo8ORCHE/s1600/20120908_ASP001_0.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDEW4Mrcr2jyuVI9AkFkn2QN-pNgxQ0_IwNvhczhash_XbMM0H3vH7Rsh5hfu3MArJNkylPoGF2tZyBxjn_7d3gbAaCOlGCiNcHnXomVfkKhUz6tWXxxINU0A1KGoGT_JFVNKo8ORCHE/s400/20120908_ASP001_0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><i><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> A foreign-funded bridge is hostage to murky local politics.</span></span></b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">THE biggest infrastructure project in South Asia to be paid for by foreign donors is a $3 billion bridge in Bangladesh intended to span the Padma river, which is what the main branch of the Ganges is called as it flows through its delta to the Bay of Bengal, receiving the flow from the vast Brahmaputra river for good measure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bridge is the stuff of donors’ dreams. Its point is to end the isolation of Bangladesh’s poor south-west, home to 30m people who are cut off by these vast waters from the capital, Dhaka, and the rest of the country. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The region’s isolation is compounded, to the south-west, by a high-security fence along the border with the Indian state of West Bengal; and, to the south, by the tidal Sundarbans, where dense mangrove forests are home to tigers. The proposed 6km (3.8-mile) bridge could be a gateway to India, tying Dhaka to the great metropolis of Kolkata. It is also a crucial piece of an even more ambitious dream of connecting South Asia with South-East Asia, via Bangladesh and Myanmar. Official estimates say the bridge could raise Bangladesh’s annual growth rate by 1.2 percentage points.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The planned bridge, some 40km south-west of the capital, is designed to carry four lanes for traffic, as well as a freight railway and a gas pipeline. Complex works to channel the Padma’s flow are planned. Alas, it is easier to train the 5km-wide river than Bangladesh’s politicians to keep their hands out of the till. In June the World Bank cancelled a $1.2 billion loan, citing alleged corruption by Bangladeshi public servants. The World Bank has identified various officials as being unable to leave the money for the bridge alone. Sacking crooked-seeming officials has, for the World Bank, become a precondition for resuming lending. Bangladeshi newspapers have said that the prime minister’s chief economic adviser, Mashiur Rahman, is in the Bank’s sights. He says he has done nothing wrong and will only resign if the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, tells him to. Regardless of Mr Rahman’s case, Bangladesh has a culture of impunity. Only one senior politician has ever gone to jail under an elected government for corruption, and that was a former dictator.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Asian Development Bank is more ready than the World Bank to be a cheerleader for the Bangladeshi government and is keen to resuscitate the project. Like the Japan International Co-operation Agency, another backer, it has kept the door open. However, more Bangladeshi officials will have to step down before the World Bank is prepared to return. Probably the government will come back to the table, but not without hectoring its perceived enemies first. Sheikh Hasina has accused Mohammad Yunus, a pioneer of microfinance and a Nobel peace laureate, of putting the World Bank up to walking off.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Padma bridge project has been in the works for over a decade. Western governments do not want to see it snapped up by a state-backed Chinese company (in return, perhaps, for an equity stake and for economic influence, as has happened with ports in Sri Lanka and Pakistan). India, with which Bangladesh has usually had good relations, would do its best to block a high-profile Chinese involvement in its neighbour’s economy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sheikh Hasina says Bangladesh will “not beg” from the World Bank. A sense of injured national pride has given rise to the unworkable notion that the bridge must now be built with Bangladesh’s “own resources”. The government is mulling a levy to help finance the bridge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The only politician openly to reject Sheikh Hasina’s obsession with self-reliance is A.M.A. Muhith, the finance minister and a former World Bank official himself. Mr Muhith is too venerable to be required to call the prime minister “elder sister”. He knows that Bangladesh needs the multilateral agencies: only earlier this year the IMF helped out with a $1 billion loan. Bangladesh relies heavily on Western aid for a vast array of projects that otherwise would not exist. Without the Bank, there can be no bridge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League is livid enough that it will be unable to keep its election promise of building the bridge before the end of 2013. Yet it would be even more appalled if the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Sheikh Hasina’s arch-rival, Khaleda Zia, took office at the next election, bagging credit for the bridge. (That prospect is real: no elected government has won a second term.) And so, in the end, Sheikh Hasina has no strong incentive, other than the country’s best interests, to mollify the World Bank.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21562263?fsrc=rss|asi" target="_blank">Source :</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-4151528022659623452012-09-19T11:58:00.000-07:002012-09-19T11:58:13.706-07:00Where Shall We Go: No Light in the end of the Tunnel?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiikVjgs6KNnNmEhzxC2EL1wAX0JKsRE7yFp8F3vtaoj3BLzlGJNCaEce36hIbth31UjqPOnWd5OyH52zU7B7D9qtyYRAp0damjkr4i5oDDWonGbyQcDbw2FwsBSZO25L0buMPLM3v6Uw/s1600/4245115019_68ff9e4355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiikVjgs6KNnNmEhzxC2EL1wAX0JKsRE7yFp8F3vtaoj3BLzlGJNCaEce36hIbth31UjqPOnWd5OyH52zU7B7D9qtyYRAp0damjkr4i5oDDWonGbyQcDbw2FwsBSZO25L0buMPLM3v6Uw/s400/4245115019_68ff9e4355.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr. A B M Musa is one of the senior-most journalists in Bangladesh. In a recent gathering he advised everyone to shout “s/he is a thief” as soon as any one connected with the Government is sighted. I am sure that Mr Musa also knows very well that there are still some honest people in the country working for the Government. Apparently one would say that Mr. Musa should not have made such irresponsible utterances. But when you think more deeply you can understand how frustrated Mr. Musa felt with the present state of affairs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next day I read something very interesting. Mr. Musa writes about a shipwrecked person in an island full of snakes, crocodiles and other dangerous animals. Then he sees a ship passing-by and waves in desperation. God responded to his call when he found a boat coming from the ship. The man in the boat gave some recent newspapers and said “you should read them and decide if you want to go back Bangladesh or remain in the island”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When a very respected and elderly journalist like Mr. Musa writes and speaks like that, it is time for us to look at things to its fullest context and think if there is a limit to it or will it go on endless. First let us talk about monetary corruption. I would not like to go on details but would just touch upon a few of them. By now there is hardly anyone in Bangladesh who has not heard about the case of Hallmark group. I understand they took well over four thousand crores of taka from the state-owned Sonali Bank and there is little hope that the bank can recover that money. Yet the finance minister calls it just a minor incident.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another company known as “Destiny” took money not only from banks but also from innocent public in general. Some of those involved have even run away from the country. By market manipulation some people also made quick money out of stock exchange and most of it has gone out of the country. BEXIMCO group took full advantage of the inflated price of their share to take a huge loan from the bank against shares as security. The price of those shares is now not even 1/10th of the negotiated deal. There is another very interesting case of a mortgaged ship being sold without any reference to the bank. Such things can only happen in Bangladesh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now let us talk about the most sensational case – Padma Bridge project. Some people were too eager to make quick money and on the assurances of various contracts took in advance a large sum of money. I believe the transactions took place in Canada. When the Canadian Police started investigating the matter, a young Bangladeshi (also Canadian national) couple slipped out of Canada and returned to Bangladesh. The World Bank who initially promised to finance most of the project withdrew from the project. The WB provided the Government some vital information relating to the corruption. The government initially tried to laugh it out by saying how could there be any corruption when contract have not been awarded. Then for a few days the Government kept on blaming Professor Yunus for the WB decision. Then slowly the cats started emerging out of the bag. One minister has already resigned and another adviser is on the verge of resignation. Perhaps the root of the corruption goes beyond that and it cannot be resolved so easily.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Corruption is now deep rooted at every level of the society. A minister’s APS was caught with a car full of money in sacks on way to minister’s house. The minister resigned. He was still kept in the cabinet as a minister without any portfolio. The Anti-corruption Commission gained full confidence of the government by declaring the minister innocent. The nation soon came to know the identity of two new patriots. They are none other than the ministers who resigned on charges of corruption. If you want to know how wide spread and deep rooted the corruption network is then you have to visit any of the government departments or agencies who are supposed to provide service to the people. Let us start with local police, hospital, port office, customs office, land registry and record office, and then go to relevant offices for gas, electricity, water and to primary school for admission of children. You will soon know that there is only one solution to your problems and that is money. The railway minister admitted his inability to recover railway lands because of the influence of very powerful elements. Similarly the rivers and canals are being filled up by influential people for their use.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We will now take a quick look at the law and order situation. Almost every day one or two dead bodies are recovered from rivers and drains. Police said to have identified the body of garment labour leader Aminul Islam like that. The young journalist couple were murdered in their own bedroom perhaps because they knew too much about government corruption. A BNP leader along with his driver was hijacked from his car never to be seen again. There are others who die in so-called “cross-fire” (extra judicial killing). Countless people die on the roads when a minister advocates for driving licence to be made easier.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the present Government can be proud of some of its success. It took no time to change the name of the Dhaka Airport to remove the name of Zia from it. It successfully evicted Khaleda Zia from her cantonment house. It hanged most of those responsible for 1975 changes. It brought in the constitutional changes to hold election under the present government instead of a non-party care-taker government. However, their claimed success of dealing with BDR revolt is most debatable. Men in arms revolt is nothing short of sedition. There can be no negotiation or compromise with them. Call for surrender of arms and submit them to lawful authority. Everything else comes after that. The elite forces of the country are maintained to defend the country and they should have been allowed to take necessary action to restore normalcy. The so-called political negotiation with the mutineers resulted into a great loss for the country. One can become a politician overnight but it takes lot of tax-payers’ money, years of training, hard work and dedication to become a colonel or brigadier. The nation can never excuse those responsible for the massacre.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We also suffered in the hands of the opposition when they were in power. We do not know where is the end and where shall we go. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">BY : <span style="color: red;"> <strong>F R Chowdhury, UK.</strong></span></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-42383947076657307182012-09-19T11:34:00.000-07:002012-09-19T11:34:20.626-07:00Dark Black clouds are moving around the Financial and Banking horizon of Bangladesh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsTss99l4QY8vyL05C1BeYaie3bozHo7LQBYyGTK5xkbE3FybCLOOHNTicJq4b-i4XNY8T9OE-lIAT5VxPcTGix8G38zP9Z9UyrlcNJ-wgzSr19dDZilDE19gFxfOMfryEEJ0VoVuGoc/s1600/199038_509688329060627_1515968579_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsTss99l4QY8vyL05C1BeYaie3bozHo7LQBYyGTK5xkbE3FybCLOOHNTicJq4b-i4XNY8T9OE-lIAT5VxPcTGix8G38zP9Z9UyrlcNJ-wgzSr19dDZilDE19gFxfOMfryEEJ0VoVuGoc/s400/199038_509688329060627_1515968579_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The modern banking is called the blood line of a national economy. The bank officials are entrusted with that heroic task since its inception. So the heroes were being chosen very carefully, to speak the truth after a thorough surgery of themselves and their forefathers. That venture has ended up roughly over two or so decades ago. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Actually regulations still are there but not following appropriately. As there is no existence of accountability in any sector of Bangladesh any more. So the word responsibility has taken a bay in the pages of dictionary for decades together. As a result asking for honest jobs and forbiddance for the dishonest jobs has been disappeared from the society of Bangladesh. Even generally no appraisal or appreciations for the noble jobs are being attributed to the due achievers. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Everybody here is after money, luxury cars and houses. No matter how that was earned! Whoever could achieve those has become a member of the so-called cream of the society. Nomination, bank loans and even the girls are ready for them. So why anybody should be aloof from that when the finance Minister gives open license saying forty billion BTK (four thousand crore) is nothing where total investments are around 4400 billion BTK (four lac forty thousand crore). What a shame! It’s a great shame for whole of the nation. We could ignore it, if the explanation of saying so were okay. Oh salucus! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The recent Treasury bank scam appears to be the largest and unprecedented banking scams happened on the holy soil of Bangladesh. We all know that Sonali bank of Bangladesh is called the treasury bank of Bangladesh. Who are the makers of these scams, definitely the members of the top-level management of the bank in collaboration with the dealing officers (mere writers)? What are the accelerating agents? Bribery (original beneficiary’s interest), Board of Director’s interest, Primer’s adviser’s interest, Bank Management’s interest and Central bank monitoring team’s interest etc. If the makers did repel on it then it was quite impossible to go ahead with this huge scam. Because it is the bank Management who deals with the documents, (both export and import bills) knew the by-laws still were very much reluctant to act upon appropriately as honesty, responsibility and accountability are absent amongst them. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We the people fought against the Pakistani tyrant in the year 1971, why and what for? Was it to empower some political thugs in all the public sectors to loot out all our assets, leaving behind bottomless baskets again in the name of Swadhinotar Ghosok/Announcer or Swadhinotar Poshok/Upholder. What a funny! These are verily the scroungers of the society. Independence, sovereignty nothing is safe in their hands. What are they think about it? Do they think people will remain silent generation after generations? Bear in mind this is the time of 21st century! Now people has got a very powerful tool called Media what they did not have even in the near pasts. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Peoples are looking for solid leadership who can really defend our independence, our sovereignty and cater for peace to all irrespective of castes, creed and sex. Furthermore who can secure our hard earned assets, grooming through the vast manpower properly. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With full honour and dignity to ex-caretaker Govt. adviser, Mr. Akbar Ali Khan, I would like to very categorically say “Big No” to his recent advice about the resolution of these scams. He said, “Privatization can save the government banks, no govt. could run these banks appropriately in the last 40 years”. Why I repel to his this statement are as follows: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1. The whole nation did not fight for independence to create new, new giant scroungers. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. Since less than two percent holding the 90% of our wealth depriving 98% common people so if everything goes to their hands then 98% people will lose the last resort i.e. breathing place even. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3. If so, they will have a monopoly type of banking where mass people will be undermined. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4. Still there are facilities like agri-loans for the poor/day labourers in the nationalized banks. Moreover charges are within the reach of common peoples. Now-a-days banking service has been essential for even the low income groups due to gross structural change of the market economy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5. People want to see good governance that value majority people’s expectation and produce dynamic leadership who upholds honesty, sincerity, patriotism and accountability. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">6. During the last 40 years except only a few intermittent, newest tyrants and their evil-souls were in power so the government ventures were not running well. Since we could get free from Pakistani tyrant, inshAllah will be able to overcome this tyranny, motivating our huge manpower to pro-nation and provide them a new life with honesty, sincerity and patriotism by holding firm determination like 1971 again. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since I am a banking researcher, so I believe there could be much more small scale ‘Hallmarks.’ To find those out thorough auditing both external and internal is a must. Actually the banking sector has taken local bill purchasing as an alternative way of creating temporary over draft. In most cases, virtually transactions are not taking place. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The potential banker and the genuine businessman are used to do it for obvious banking reasons. The scrupulous and honest banker will always monitor the total amount of local letter of credit (L/C) against a mother L/C and also verify the validity and originality of the L/C. But unfortunately so far I heard that the Sonali bank in their recently concerned cases did not take any cautionary measures rather allowed opening local L/Cs, even beyond the mother L/C values. What is a gross and planned mistake in collaboration with the unscrupulous directors! How 35.47 billion taka (3547 crore) could be loaned to a filthy company like ‘Hallmark’. Bankers’ duty is not only to scrutinize the documents only but also the net-worth position and back ground of the entrepreneur even their personal life. If any of the concern officials would pay attention to any of the above issues, these could not happen there. So the concerned bankers, directors and entrepreneurs should be taken to task with immediate effect forfeiting their stable and unstable properties. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the top of it very soon careful and potential audit team should engage with random auditing to detect other scams that we afraid of coming to light in near future. It is because the banks are the custody of people’s money and dependant on people’s money for their existence. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the contrary the Ministry of Finance, Banking Division should take careful steps in allowing recruitments for the banks at the top-level management, with special attention to committed and dynamic leadership qualities, in depth understanding in all area of banking, relevant educational background with analytical skills and potential record of integrity, sincerity and loyalty to people’s money. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now I would like to request the honourable civil society members to please get into producing a new generation who will uphold basic human values like honesty, sincerity, patriotism and accountability to the nation. Again obviously will not surrender to the conspirators of our independence and jeopardise our economy and let down our glories from our already proven sectors. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">People now would like to believe that some vested interested groups are working amongst ourselves who would like to blunt our economy (destroying our garments sector, share-market sector, banking sector, other productive industrial sectors and also removing money to secret foreign countries), massacre our glorified Universities, Medical and Engineering Institutes e.g. Dhaka University, Bango-bandhu Medical University and BUET etc. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In view of the above facts, we would like to urge our various government authorities please look into the country’s interest first and strongly handle all the scams wherever be stumble upon and take them into tasks without any biasness for the sake of our country to bring forth a healthy nation. Peoples are with you. They will not hesitate to jump over the perverted leaders for the safeguard of our country and its long glorified heritage. Oh! Allah, help us and save the country. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">BY : <span style="color: red;"><strong>Borhan Ahmed, UK.</strong></span></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-75695133971115732412012-09-17T16:36:00.000-07:002012-09-17T16:36:11.935-07:00Is Britain's Aid Funding a Political Crackdown in Bangladesh? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJIb9GlNVxF-lSYVJdVSRZzbv1shcnFRlpaN_n-0wIBXxFLdsl6iJrndPwdo8Rz4Ii2A0fllXmmm-1XmoeTOrPfGfqg5o6Im0bCQN7M7fSJuiWSHyEsdIOvFIXAViMaa_CpYyU6dtrH4/s1600/ukaidlogo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJIb9GlNVxF-lSYVJdVSRZzbv1shcnFRlpaN_n-0wIBXxFLdsl6iJrndPwdo8Rz4Ii2A0fllXmmm-1XmoeTOrPfGfqg5o6Im0bCQN7M7fSJuiWSHyEsdIOvFIXAViMaa_CpYyU6dtrH4/s400/ukaidlogo2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What a few weeks it has been for that Machiavellian matriarch Sheikh Hasina. She swished into London in August to bookmark the Olympic Games (opening and closing ceremony tickets for Bangladesh's premier - no messing around with an either/or scenario).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In between trips to her home in London she found time to meet her key diplomatic allies and financial backers: prime minister David Cameron, foreign secretary William Hague, opposition leader Ed Miliband, and the now former international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell. Never one to shy away from the limelight, Hasina was even afforded the privilege and prestige of a reception at Downing Street.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But while canapés were nibbled in London SW1A, back in Dhaka, Hasina's henchmen were busy disassembling the country's fragile democratic apparatus in the most sustained assault on freedom of speech in the 41 years since independence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last month, Bangladesh's supreme leader ordered the arrest of Mir Quasem Ali, a leading member of the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami, who also runs a charitable organisation named after the great Arab polymath Ibn Sina.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ali's lesser crime is less his political and philosophical ideology, and more the 15 million people he reaches via newspapers like Naya Diganta, part of a Jamaat-owned media group. His greater crime though, it would appear, is his very public criticism of a war crimes tribunal set up by Hasina after her Awami League party rose to power in 2008.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This tribunal, which veers between medieval show trial and outright witch-hunt - and includes inventing witness statements, coaching witnesses, and interfering with judicial appointments - has been denounced by everyone from the United Nations to the United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen J. Rapp.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hasina's men love the tribunal, which aims to bring to trial anyone involved in the ghastly events surrounding the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, where it is alleged that three million people were killed, and up to 400,000 women were raped. The cause is worthy but, say critics, its underlying motives are purely political. All those so far arrested are opponents of Hasina, many from Jamaat-e-Islami. Happily for Bangladesh's premier, none of those on (show-) trial are from her side of the political fence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ali's arrest is merely the latest of a string of concerted attacks on Hasina's opponents, including the intimidation of journalists and a sustained and unpalatable assault on Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, in an attempt to undermine and nationalise his trailblazing microfinance lender Grameen Bank.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's strangely sad that this medieval madness is taking place just 5,000 miles away from an Olympic village whose athletes and overseers trumpet the causes of freedom, inclusivity and progress. And its ironic in the extreme that Britain's political leaders should be condoning and even championing a woman bent on denying those very human rights to her people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But still the bullying continues on the subcontinent. Earlier this month, almost the entire elected membership of the opposition Bangladesh National Party bar its leader was arrested. A litany of charges now awaits the main opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, and her family: Zia charges that these accusations are pure retribution on the part of her political nemesis, Sheikh Hasina.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">None of this bodes well for elections next year. In her meeting with Ed Miliband, Hasina stated that "all the future elections in Bangladesh will be held in a complete fair and neutral manner". Few believe that any election in Bangladesh can be either 'free' or 'fair' so long as she retains supreme power. Later, in a BBC interview, Hasina proclaimed that her opposition back home enjoyed every possible political and democratic right.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Perhaps she believes this to be true. Perhaps she believes that her opponents are indeed truly guilty of heinous crimes, while her political cronies and cohorts are above the fray, innocent and pure, garlanded with roses and perfume. Yet if this really is the case, it would seem strange that she is denying any of the accused at the war crimes tribunal access to proper legal representation. Last year, Jamaat-e-Islami's British lawyer Toby Cadman, a respected human rights lawyer practicing at London's 9 Bedford Row International, was detained on arrival in Dhaka Airport, despite his international credentials. Cadman was held for ten hours before being expelled from Bangladesh on the next Dubai-bound plane. His request for a visa to return to Bangladesh to defend his clients have been met with a steely silence. Ironically, during the previous Government when Sheikh Hasina was leader of the opposition, and faced trial herself, her defence team was assisted by the presence of Cherie Booth QC, wife of former PM, Tony Blair.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hasina's assault on freedom is one that the British government has the financial and political resources to stop - right now. Yet both our government and our opposition are doing precisely nothing to halt events in Dhaka, preferring to stick their fingers in their ears and hold their nose.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The now former International development secretary Mitchell refused to comment on the treatment of Yunus at all - until finally putting pen to paper in a letter of reply addressed to Cadman, published in the September 7 edition of the Daily Telegraph. Meanwhile the UK High Commission in Dhaka refused to condemn the arrest of opposition politicians. The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign Office are complicit in this crackdown on democracy and freedom of expression.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The British Government, through DFID, directly funds Bangladesh to the tune of £250 million a year, and has plans to increase this support to £1 billion over the next three years. This makes the UK the chief funder of its former colony, money that is currently handed over, directly to Hasina's cronies, with no strings or conditions attached.<br />
<br />
So what is to be done? Firstly, the British Government must make direct-to-government aid to Bangladesh conditional on freedom of expression. In the last ten years the country has been listed last a total of five times in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. But when the British Government is providing funds unconditionally to a country with such fundamental deficiencies, then it is incredulous this comes without strings attached.<br />
<br />
Secondly, Britain and others must demand that all trials, whether for war crimes or otherwise, are conducted in accordance with universal standards of due process with full respect to the presumption of innocence, before a tribunal that is impartial and independent of the ruling party.<br />
<br />
Finally, the British Government has to acknowledge that its funding modus operandi isn't working. In recent weeks, the UK has withheld aid to Rwanda's leader Paul Kagame, whose administration has been linked to alleged human rights abuses, at home and abroad. In Bangladesh, the government's crackdown against human rights and freedoms are not even alleged - they are plain for all to see.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Few but the most virulent hawks would deny that international aid has its benefits, but the British coalition government is taking its liberal stance on foreign aid funding to the absolute extreme. By channeling billions of pounds of unconditional funding into the maw of a truly noxious foreign leader more interested in witchhunts and her world standing than with promoting and protecting human rights or democracy, Britain is starting to look a complicit and even active part of the awful events unfolding on the subcontinent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We need to change how we fund not just Bangladesh, but many countries. If a country's leaders use UK taxpayers' money to subjugate their own people in the covert name of political retribution, it is time for us to make a change. Surely people of the intelligence of Cameron, Hague and Miliband should be able, at the very least, to understand this very real pilgrim's progress.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/elliot-wilson/britains-aid-is-funding-political-crackdown_b_1874710.html" target="_blank">Source :</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-40494280163017159522012-09-15T07:32:00.000-07:002012-09-15T07:32:52.269-07:00Funders of controversial movie traced by US intelligence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFR8MFrok57FLRKwujq1nqa-1eymfNx259cCb6cBwQYsWl4I_ysnubwA8NPywbQ4Gya7ovCHxRXtNzz4ShK-wLwf-2W2l140Ze49Kn7kUxl38OHL5kD7-UXrqFfdtMGOSitHDwTAIxQQ/s1600/IOM+article2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFR8MFrok57FLRKwujq1nqa-1eymfNx259cCb6cBwQYsWl4I_ysnubwA8NPywbQ4Gya7ovCHxRXtNzz4ShK-wLwf-2W2l140Ze49Kn7kUxl38OHL5kD7-UXrqFfdtMGOSitHDwTAIxQQ/s400/IOM+article2.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While protests and riots are spreading in a number of Muslim nations following release of a controversial anti-Islam movie named 'Innocence of Muslims', various intelligence agencies in the United States have already traced two of the main masterminds of the project, while US intelligence is scrutinizing various scoops and evidences on involvement of an Lebanese-American woman, who's NGO might also have put significant amount of money in this project with the ulterior motive of pushing Muslims and Jews towards extreme confrontation. Some analysts are even seeing the movie as a conspiracy of the anti-Israel elements inside America. It was also learnt by the US intelligence that most of the actors of the film were kept in dark by its masterminds about the entire script, while many of the actors were recruited from the American underground porn movie world. Tim Dax, who also played role in 'Innocence of Muslims' is learnt to have earlier worked in a number of gay porn films has already expressed severe anger at the makers of the film for "trapping" them by hiding the script of the movie.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Egyptian-American, Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih, the president of the Duarte-based charity Media for Christ, and Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a convicted felon from Cerritos, emerged as forces behind "Innocence of Muslims." Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih got converted into Christianity from Islam few years back. Another mastermind behind the project is a Lebanese-American female, who runs a multi-million dollar NGO in United States. The same women earlier extended "cooperation" to Florida's infamous Pastor Terry Jones, who created international havoc by setting fire on Quran. The organization of ex-Muslim Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih - Media for Christ, whose stated mission is to "glow Jesus' light" to the world, obtained permits to shoot the movie in August 2011, and Nakoula Basseley Nakoula provided his home as a set and paid the actors, according to government officials and those involved in the production.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih founded the charity in 2005 with US$30,000. In its 2011 tax filing, which covers the period of the filming, the charity reported having eight employees and contributions of US$ 1 million. While Media for Christ public filings describe it as an evangelical organization working to spread the Gospel, Nassralla has devoted himself in recent years to criticizing Islam in speeches and interviews.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Following outbreak of massive protests in the Muslim world, both Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih and Nakoula Basseley Nakoula went into hiding and had been denying any "involvement" behind the movie, though, according to porn actor Tim Dex, he had been paid US$ 75 per day through checks drawn on the bank account of Abanob Basseley Nakoula — a name linked to the Cerritos property where Nakoula Basseley Nakoula resides. The home's distinctive front door with triangle windows in a half-circle pattern is visible in the 14-minute trailer for the movie posted on YouTube.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">the check he received from his role in the movie was paid from the bank account of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Refering to Nakoula, Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles said, "He denied completely any involvement."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Similarly, an official at Media for Christ said the charity was not connected to the movie and was upset by its controversial content. The same day, an associate who served as a script consultant told the paper that Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih "had nothing to do with it."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The Innocence of Muslims</i> - movie that has enraged radical Islamists who have rioted and committed murders in the Middle East this week, was partially shot on a set that Paramount's TV unit helped to build for its TV show <i>JAG</i>, and a man with five decades of movie and television experience. Portions of the infamous, micro-budget movie were filmed in Saugus, about 30 miles north of Hollywood, on a portion of Blue Cloud Film Ranch called "Baghdad Square," which is often used for TV and film productions seeking to replicate Middle Eastern war zones. Other movies and TV shows partially filmed at Blue Cloud include <i>Iron Man</i>, <i>Get Him to the Greek</i>, <i>Serenity</i>, <i>Arrested Development</i>, <i>NCIS Los Angeles</i>, <i>The Closer</i>, <i>Threat Matrix</i> and <i>CSI.</i> The U.S. military has also made training videos at Blue Cloud. <b>Veluzat</b>, 72, said the 100-acre ranch is for sale for US$ 15 million. Although makers of the movie claimed to have invested US$ 5 million in the project, it was later learnt from numerous sources inside American film industry that the entire budget of the film would have been less than US$ 400,000.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The makers of the movie not only hided the script from the actors, but also deceived the American government by giving another name while the shooting was continuing. They registered the name as 'Innocence of Bin Laden' and later 'Desert Warriors', while finally they changed the name to 'Innocence of Muslims'. The film starts with a claim that the Prophet of Islam was "illegitimate" and "his birth a disgrace". </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later the Prophet of Islam is shown as a low status man ridiculed by a boy for having no known father. Then most of the film deals with the rise of Islam, there is a great deal of violence and cruelty. Some of the allegations made in the film such as the followers of the Prophet took slaves; Non-Muslims were forced to pay a tax or Jizyah, which the film calls as extortion. The movie also shows a donkey becoming first Muslim by establishing faith on the Prophet of Islam.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The s0-called film was produced and directed by a person first identified in casting calls as "Alan Roberts",and then in media reports "Sam Bacile", though finally it had been revealed that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula actually used pseudonym of Sam Bacile and on purpose told reporters in interview that he was a real estate businessman from Israel and was a Jew. Though later it was proved that, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula aka Sam Bacile is neither an Israeli nor Jewish but is a Coptic Christian.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The cast and crew have publicly stated that they were deceived about the purpose and content of the film. In a statement obtained by CNN, the film's 80 cast and crew members disavowed the film, they said: "The entire cast and crew are extremely upset and feel taken advantage of by the producer. We are 100% not behind this film and were grossly misled about its intent and purpose." It further explained, "We are shocked by the drastic re-writes of the script and lies that were told to all involved. We are deeply saddened by the tragedies that have occurred." Cindy Lee Garcia, who played the mother of Muhammad's bride-to-be, said the script for a movie called Desert Warriors, about life in Egypt 2,000 years ago and that the character "Muhammad" was referred to as "Master George" on set. According to Garcia, "Bacile" claimed to be an Israeli real estate mogul. Later, however, he told her he was Egyptian and she heard him speaking in Arabic with other men on set. Garcia was stunned to find out that the film was actually an anti-Muslim agitprop piece and that "it makes me sick" that she was involved in a film that caused people to die. She is considering legal action against "Bacile." The overdubbing permitted the film's director to deceive the cast into taking part in the movie under the pretense that it was about the life of a generic Egyptian from 2,000 years ago. Sarah Abdurrahman, a producer for WNYC's On the Media program stated that all of the religious references were overdubbed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.weeklyblitz.net/2570/funders-of-controversial-movie-traced-by-us" target="_blank">Source : </a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-32509190264751692922012-09-15T07:22:00.000-07:002012-09-15T07:22:12.097-07:00High profile corruptions by Awami ‘Chors’<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTm0Gb1DV4xNqUO6-WYmcA1JSXulFjhxqjpfJkmkXqBCEJDuvPOLMm4bOnwIHA1U7lidytKCfAJQ0SYimYsGD84I58sDzPwxpSIcS6H9MKFmOe-8pXk85dubotf_u7uf2aIv0e-BR0LAE/s1600/2623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTm0Gb1DV4xNqUO6-WYmcA1JSXulFjhxqjpfJkmkXqBCEJDuvPOLMm4bOnwIHA1U7lidytKCfAJQ0SYimYsGD84I58sDzPwxpSIcS6H9MKFmOe-8pXk85dubotf_u7uf2aIv0e-BR0LAE/s400/2623.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Mr. A B M Musa is one of the senior-most journalists in Bangladesh. In a recent gathering he advised everyone to shout "s/he is a thief" as soon as any one connected with the Government is sighted. I am sure that Mr. Musa also knows very well that there are still some honest people in the country working for the Government. Apparently one would say that Mr. Musa should not have made such irresponsible utterances. But when you think more deeply you can understand how frustrated Mr. Musa felt with the present state of affairs. Next day I read something very interesting. Mr. Musa writes about a shipwrecked person in an island full of snakes, crocodiles and other dangerous animals. Then he sees a ship passing-by and waves in desperation. God responded to his call when he found a boat coming from the ship. The man in the boat gave some recent newspapers and said "you should read them and decide if you want to go back Bangladesh or remain in the island".</div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When a very respected and elderly journalist like Mr. Musa writes and speaks like that, it is time for us to look at things to its fullest context and think if there is a limit to it or will it go on endless. First let us talk about monetary corruption. I would not like to go on details but would just touch upon a few of them. By now there is hardly anyone in Bangladesh who has not heard about the case of Hallmark group. I understand they took well over four thousand crores of taka from the state-owned Sonali Bank and there is little hope that the bank can recover that money. Yet the finance minister calls it just a minor incident. Another company known as "Destiny Group" [a multilevel marketing company] took money not only from banks but also from innocent public in general. Some of those involved have even run away from the country. By market manipulation some people also made quick money out of stock exchange and most of it has gone out of the country. BEXIMCO Group took full advantage of the inflated price of their share to take a huge loan from the bank against shares as security. The price of those shares is now not even 1/10th of the negotiated deal. There is another very interesting case of a mortgaged ship being sold without any reference to the bank. Such things can only happen in Bangladesh. Now let us talk about the most sensational case – Padma Bridge project. Some people were too eager to make quick money and on the assurances of various contracts took in advance a large sum of money. I believe the transactions took place in Canada. When the Canadian Police started investigating the matter, a young Bangladeshi (also Canadian national) couple slipped out of Canada and returned to Bangladesh. The World Bank who initially promised to finance most of the project withdrew from the project. The World Bank [WB] provided the Government some vital information relating to the corruption. The government initially tried to laugh it out by saying how could there be any corruption when contract have not been awarded. Then for a few days the Government kept on blaming Professor Yunus for the WB decision. Then slowly the cats started emerging out of the bag. One minister has already resigned and another adviser is on the verge of resignation. Perhaps the root of the corruption goes beyond that and it cannot be resolved so easily.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Corruption is now deep rooted at every level of the society. A minister's APS was caught with a car full of money in sacks on way to minister's house. The minister resigned. He was still kept in the cabinet as a minister without any portfolio. The Anti-corruption Commission gained full confidence of the government by declaring the minister innocent. The nation soon came to know the identity of two new patriots. They are none other than the ministers who resigned on charges of corruption. If you want to know how wide spread and deep rooted the corruption network is then you have to visit any of the government departments or agencies who are supposed to provide service to the people. Let us start with local police, hospital, port office, customs office, land registry and record office, and then go to relevant offices for gas, electricity, water and to primary school for admission of children. You will soon know that there is only one solution to your problems and that is money. The railway minister admitted his inability to recover railway lands because of the influence of very powerful elements. Similarly the rivers and canals are being filled up by influential people for their use.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We will now take a quick look at the law and order situation. Almost every day one or two dead bodies are recovered from rivers and drains. Police said to have identified the body of garment labour leader Aminul Islam like that. The young journalist couple were murdered in their own bedroom perhaps because they knew too much about government corruption. A BNP leader along with his driver was hijacked from his car never to be seen again. There are others who die in so-called "cross-fire" (extra judicial killing). Countless people die on the roads when a minister advocates for driving licence to be made easier.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the present Government can be proud of some of its success. It took no time to change the name of the Dhaka Airport to remove the name of Zia from it. It successfully evicted Khaleda Zia from her cantonment house. It hanged most of those responsible for 1975 changes. It brought in the constitutional changes to hold election under the present government instead of a non-party care-taker government. However, their claimed success of dealing with BDR revolt is most debatable. Men in arms revolt is nothing short of sedition. There can be no negotiation or compromise with them. Call for surrender of arms and submit them to lawful authority. Everything else comes after that. The elite forces of the country are maintained to defend the country and they should have been allowed to take necessary action to restore normalcy. The so-called political negotiation with the mutineers resulted into a great loss for the country. One can become a politician overnight but it takes lot of tax-payers' money, years of training, hard work and dedication to become a colonel or brigadier. The nation can never excuse those responsible for the massacre.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We also suffered in the hands of the opposition when they were in power. We do not know where is the end and where shall we go. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">BY : <b><span style="color: red;"> F R Chowdhury.</span></b></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-42248573440830961062012-09-09T17:57:00.000-07:002012-09-09T17:57:56.813-07:00Myanmar: The Global War On Islam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfBXBxsLcq3RU6CmAZ4hVtTS-YYr7oXygqFe9yeeeVfa_0YLUMvcL8fpJa-npbknPfsnlUEkwV1xbmCaJGozwNFoiJovvK2qkY6gxEbwPU3u1txQcXHLtgfCXRMCd7FsW7isP7z4BNes/s1600/d1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfBXBxsLcq3RU6CmAZ4hVtTS-YYr7oXygqFe9yeeeVfa_0YLUMvcL8fpJa-npbknPfsnlUEkwV1xbmCaJGozwNFoiJovvK2qkY6gxEbwPU3u1txQcXHLtgfCXRMCd7FsW7isP7z4BNes/s400/d1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The June e thnic and religious violence in the northwest ( Rakhine State, the northwestern coast just south of Bangladesh) caused an uproar in Moslem countries, with calls for retribution against Myanmar for allowing it to happen. Long simmering tensions between the Moslem migrants from Bangladesh and the native Buddhists erupted into widespread fighting two months ago after some Rohingya men were accused of raping a Buddhist woman. Weeks of violence followed. This caused over a thousand casualties, most of them Moslem and thousands of buildings destroyed. This has displaced nearly 100,000 people (about 75 percent Moslem).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The Moslems and Buddhists have never gotten along and there’s always been some tension. Until recently, the military government suppressed any open talk of these tensions. But since the elections last year, there’s been more freedom of the press and that has included more public discussion by Buddhists about how much they dislike the Rohingyas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rakhine State has a population of 3.8 million, with about 800,000 of them Moslems, mostly Rohingyas. These are Bengalis, or people from Bengal (now Bangladesh) who began migrating to Burma during the 19th century. At that time the British colonial government ran Bangladesh and Burma, and allowed this movement, even though the Buddhist Burmese opposed it. Britain recognized the problem too late, but the Bengali Moslems were still in Burma when Britain gave up its South Asian colonies after World War II (1939-45).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bangladesh has refused to take these Moslems back as Bangladeshis, and the Rohingya have come to consider themselves a separate group. Burma never let the Rohingya become citizens, which helped stoke tensions between the Moslems and Buddhists. Bangladesh has long had too many people, and illegal migration to neighboring areas (mainly India) has been a growing problem. In the 1990s, an outbreak of violence led to over a quarter million Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh. Some 28,000 are in refugee camps in Bangladesh, another 200,000 live outside the camps in Bangladesh and some are in Thailand, where they are considered economic migrants, and thus illegal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This year Bangladesh changed its refugee policy and refused to accept any more Rohingya, considering the refugee camps an unfair burden caused by Burmese refusal to absorb the Rohingya already in their territory. This has led to Burma creating heavily guarded camps for these displaced Rohingya. Aid workers call these camps prisons, but the Burmese want to limit the movement of Rohingya who now consider themselves at war with Buddhists. But only about ten percent of the Rohingya have been forced from their homes. The rest live in (usually segregated) villages and neighborhoods throughout Rakhine State.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hindus, Christians or Buddhists in this region have bad memories of Moslems, who have been around for over a thousand years as invaders and violent religious bigots. These memories are sustained by the current wave of Islamic terrorism around the world and within the region. The UN is trying to get Burma to absorb the Rohingya, but the Burmese believe that absorption is not practical and these Moslems must move to a Moslem country (preferably Bangladesh, where they came from.) The Burmese resent the UN interference and have arrested some aid workers who are helping the Rohingya.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Burmese police and army are accused of doing little to halt the violence, and often taking the side of rioting Buddhist civilians. Because of this, Burma has agreed to investigate the violence and is under international pressure to allow the Rohingya to stay and become citizens. But the Burmese government is under domestic pressure to take a hard line on the Rohingya, who are seen as alien invaders, even though most of them have lived in Burma for generations. This situation is quite common in the region. There are many more, most of them quite recent, illegal Bangladeshi migrants in India, where frequent outbreaks of violence with Indians do not get a lot of international attention because the Indians involved are often Moslems. There is a similar situation in Iran and Pakistan, where millions of unwelcome Afghan refugees (from the 1980s Russian invasion) refuse to leave. China and Thailand have thousands of unwelcome Burmese refugees from the tribal rebellions in rural Burma. China has recently forced many of the refugees back into Burma, while Thailand threatens to do so. In neither of these cases is religion an issue. But when the illegal migrants are Moslem and the people they are displacing are infidels (non-Moslem) the Islamic world considers any resistance to be part of the global “war on Islam.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the moment, the Burmese want the Rohingya restricted to guarded camps. The Moslem world calls these camps prisons, but the Burmese public sees allowing the Rohingya to go free as leading to eventual establishment of a separatist Moslem territory in Rakhine State. The Burmese note the eight years of Islamic terror in southern Thailand and the Islamic terrorist problem in India. Most Burmese see themselves as victims of Moslem aggression and invasion, but the Moslem world sees Burma as making war on Moslems. The rest of the world calls for an end to violence and some kind of justice. The problem is that the Burmese Buddhists and the world’s Moslems have a very different concept of justice in this case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">August 23, 2012: The government freed six of the twelve foreign aid workers it had arrested in June and accused of helping to promote the violence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">August 20, 2012: The government has eliminated direct censorship. That is, publications no longer have to submit material to government censors before they print it. But there is still censorship. Various old (from the period of military rule) laws still allow the government to shut down publications believed to be causing trouble. Government officials decide what “trouble” means in each situation. You still need government permission to create a new publication.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">August 19, 2012: The government announced the creation of a commission to investigate the recent (June) violence between Buddhists and Moslems ( Rohingya) in the northwest. The commission will attempt to come up with recommendations that will satisfy foreign (mainly Moslem) critics. Moslem nations want to be free to operate aid efforts among the Rohingya without Burmese supervision. The Burmese are reluctant to do this because so many Islamic charities are fronts for Islamic terrorist organizations. Several large Islamic terrorist groups (Taliban, al Qaeda) have already declared war on Burma and called for all other Moslems to join in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">August 18, 2012: In the north (Kachin state) there was a brief gun battle between soldiers and armed members of the ABSDF (All Burma Students’ Democratic Front). There were no injuries. The ABSDF consists of rebel Burmese from the south who have established bases in the Kachin tribal territories and allied themselves with Kachin rebels. This particular clash was apparently an accident, as soldiers guarding a supply convoy to an isolated army base through they might be ambushed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">August 14, 2012: There was another outbreak of ethnic violence in Rakhine State, leaving three dead and over a dozen wounded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">August 5, 2012: There was another outbreak of violence in Rakhine State, where over 300 homes of Rohingya were burned and over 3,000 people forced to flee the Buddhist attacks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">August 2, 2012: Security forces seized 1.4 million amphetamine pills and 116 kilometers (255 pounds) of heroin last month. The drug gangs are becoming more active in the north and most of their production is headed for China. This has led to a join Burma-China police taskforce to go after drug gangs that are operating on both sides of the border. The drug gangs are controlled by tribal rebel groups and the income supports the tribal armies that the government has been fighting for generations. Despite current peace deals, the recent growth of drug production up north indicates that the tribes (or at least some warlords) intend to maintain their private armies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">August 1, 2012: Bangladesh ordered three foreign aid groups to stop work among Rohingya refugees along the Burma border. Bangladesh considers the Rohingya, who were originally from Bangladesh, to be Burmese (because the Rohingya have been in Burma for generations.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/myanmar/articles/20120825.aspx" target="_blank">Source : </a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-60431107131576401432012-09-09T17:38:00.002-07:002012-09-09T17:40:45.660-07:00Nobel Prize for Mujib or Sheikh Hasina (!)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LJPjy0Us0uHHbpdcIfcyoe_5KtKBJ-6rvxpIZppNs7LrKizRKZm5I0-U-V-VfK2i2Qf9rdDB8-87UpCWkejjrPgG_Z31aFZKxyky3ST3tU6VB1AyFXuIP-duWDSZQ58zz9F0Dx8YF3U/s1600/carton-hasina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LJPjy0Us0uHHbpdcIfcyoe_5KtKBJ-6rvxpIZppNs7LrKizRKZm5I0-U-V-VfK2i2Qf9rdDB8-87UpCWkejjrPgG_Z31aFZKxyky3ST3tU6VB1AyFXuIP-duWDSZQ58zz9F0Dx8YF3U/s400/carton-hasina.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nobel committee is actively considering bestowing Nobel Peace Prize to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her outstanding contributions in restoring peace thus making an end to decade-old armed conflicts within the Chittagong Hill Tract areas, the Eastern districts in Bangladesh, as the committee is unable conferring the posthumous prize to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, for his outstanding leadership, sacrifice, contribution and dedication in liberating the country in 1971. It is learnt from sources that the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was proposed by a number of world leaders right after the birth of the nation. Amongst the nominators, India's former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi strongly recommended bestowing Nobel Peace Prize to Mujib, being a "heroic leader" of South Asia, after Mahatma Gandhi, though Nobel Committee never considered Mahatma Gandhi as a candidate for this prestigious prize, which had later drawn harsh criticism in the world. Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) has become the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century. It is widely held – in retrospect – that the Indian national leader should have been the very man to be selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was nominated several times, but was never awarded the prize.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Though nobody had ever been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously under the impression that the prize cannot go to any individual, who is not alive, some of the strong recommenders of the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said, according to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation in force at that time, the Nobel Prizes could, under certain circumstances, be awarded posthumously.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">They say, Mahatma Gandhi was not given the prize because, according to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, he "did not belong to an organisation, he left no property behind and no will; who should receive the Prize money", while the case of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is totally different. He is the founder of Bangladesh Awami League and has 'Bangabandhu Foundation', which could receive the Prize money, if he is offered the Nobel Peace Prize.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The supporters of Bangabandhu also strongly suggest the Nobel Peace Prize committee to remove the "curse" of not offering the prize to Mahatma Gandhi but "honouring" another "great hero of the Indian sub-continent".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The admirers of Mujib strongly believe that it is the right time for the Nobel Prize Committee to consider either Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman or his daughter Sheikh Hasina for the Peace Prize, thus showing proper respect to the millions of Bangla speaking populations in Bangladesh, India and the world.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Questioning the reason behind never taking the case of Mohandas Gandhi as the nominee of Nobel Peace Prize, critics ask - was the horizon of the Norwegian Nobel Committee too narrow. Were the committee members unable to appreciate the struggle for freedom among non-European peoples? Or were the Norwegian committee members perhaps afraid to make a prize award which might be detrimental to the relationship between their own country (Norway) and Great Britain?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948. The omission has been publicly regretted by later members of the Nobel Committee; when the Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi". However, the committee has never commented on the speculations as to why Gandhi was not awarded the prize, and until recently the sources which might shed some light on the matter were unavailable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among those who strongly admired Gandhi were the members of a network of pro-Gandhi "Friends of India" associations which had been established in Europe and the USA in the early 1930s. The Friends of India represented different lines of thought. The religious among them admired Gandhi for his piety. Others, anti-militarists and political radicals, were sympathetic to his philosophy of non-violence and supported him as an opponent of imperialism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 1937 a member of the Norwegian Storting (Parliament), Ole Colbjørnsen (Labour Party), nominated Gandhi for that year's Nobel Peace Prize, and he was duly selected as one of thirteen candidates on the Norwegian Nobel Committee's short list. Colbjørnsen did not himself write the motivation for Gandhi's nomination; it was written by leading women of the Norwegian branch of "Friends of India", and its wording was of course as positive as could be expected.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The committee's adviser, professor Jacob Worm-Müller, who wrote a report on Gandhi, was much more critical. On the one hand, he fully understood the general admiration for Gandhi as a person: "He is, undoubtedly, a good, noble and ascetic person – a prominent man who is deservedly honoured and loved by the masses of India." On the other hand, when considering Gandhi as a political leader, the Norwegian professor's description was less favourable. There are, he wrote, "sharp turns in his policies, which can hardly be satisfactorily explained by his followers. (...) He is a freedom fighter and a dictator, an idealist and a nationalist. He is frequently a Christ, but then, suddenly, an ordinary politician."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gandhi had many critics in the international peace movement. The Nobel Committee adviser referred to these critics in maintaining that he was not consistently pacifist, that he should have known that some of his non-violent campaigns towards the British would degenerate into violence and terror. This was something that had happened during the first Non-Cooperation Campaign in 1920-1921, e.g. when a crowd in Chauri Chaura, the United Provinces, attacked a police station, killed many of the policemen and then set fire to the police station.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A frequent criticism from non-Indians was also that Gandhi was too much of an Indian nationalist. In his report, Professor Worm-Müller expressed his own doubts as to whether Gandhi's ideals were meant to be universal or primarily Indian: "One might say that it is significant that his well-known struggle in South Africa was on behalf of the Indians only, and not of the blacks whose living conditions were even worse."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The name of the 1937 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate was to be Lord Cecil of Chelwood. We do not know whether the Norwegian Nobel Committee seriously considered awarding the Peace Prize to Gandhi that year, but it seems rather unlikely. Ole Colbjørnsen renominated him both in 1938 and in 1939, but ten years were to pass before Gandhi made the committee's short list again.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every year since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank established The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, and a cash award.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 1947 the nominations of Gandhi came by telegram from India, via the Norwegian Foreign Office. The nominators were B.G. Kher, Prime Minister of Bombay, Govindh Bhallabh Panth, Premier of United Provinces, and Mavalankar, the President of the Indian Legislative Assembly. Their arguments in support of his candidacy were written in telegram style, like the one from Govind Bhallabh Panth: "Recommend for this year Nobel Prize Mahatma Gandhi architect of the Indian nation the greatest living exponent of the moral order and the most effective champion of world peace today." There were to be six names on the Nobel Committee's short list, Mohandas Gandhi was one of them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Nobel Committee's adviser, the historian Jens Arup Seip, wrote a new report which is primarily an account of Gandhi's role in Indian political history after 1937. "The following ten years," Seip wrote, "from 1937 up to 1947, led to the event which for Gandhi and his movement was at the same time the greatest victory and the worst defeat – India's independence and India's partition." The report describes how Gandhi acted in the three different, but mutually related conflicts which the Indian National Congress had to handle in the last decade before independence: the struggle between the Indians and the British; the question of India's participation in the Second World War; and, finally, the conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities. In all these matters, Gandhi had consistently followed his own principles of non-violence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Seip report was not critical towards Gandhi in the same way as the report written by Worm-Müller ten years earlier. It was rather favourable, yet not explicitly supportive. Seip also wrote briefly on the ongoing separation of India and the new Muslim state, Pakistan, and concluded – rather prematurely it would seem today: "It is generally considered, as expressed for example in <i>The Times</i> of 15 August 1947, that if 'the gigantic surgical operation' constituted by the partition of India, has not led to bloodshed of much larger dimensions, Gandhi's teachings, the efforts of his followers and his own presence, should get a substantial part of the credit."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Having read the report, the members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee must have felt rather updated on the last phase of the Indian struggle for independence. However, the Nobel Peace Prize had never been awarded for that sort of struggle. The committee members also had to consider the following issues: Should Gandhi be selected for being a symbol of non-violence, and what political effects could be expected if the Peace Prize was awarded to the most prominent Indian leader – relations between India and Pakistan were far from developing peacefully during the autumn of 1947?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">From the diary of committee chairman Gunnar Jahn, we now know that when the members were to make their decision on October 30, 1947, two acting committee members, the Christian conservative Herman Smitt Ingebretsen and the Christian liberal Christian Oftedal spoke in favour of Gandhi. One year earlier, they had strongly favoured John Mott, the YMCA leader. It seems that they generally preferred candidates who could serve as moral and religious symbols in a world threatened by social and ideological conflicts. However, in 1947 they were not able to convince the three other members. The Labour politician Martin Tranmæl was very reluctant to award the Prize to Gandhi in the midst of the Indian-Pakistani conflict, and former Foreign Minister Birger Braadland agreed with Tranmæl. Gandhi was, they thought, too strongly committed to one of the belligerents. In addition both Tranmæl and Jahn had learnt that, one month earlier, at a prayer-meeting, Gandhi had made a statement which indicated that he had given up his consistent rejection of war. Based on a telegram from Reuters, <i>The Times,</i> on September 27, 1947, under the headline "Mr. Gandhi on 'war' with Pakistan" reported:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Mr. Gandhi told his prayer meeting to-night that, though he had always opposed all warfare, if there was no other way of securing justice from Pakistan and if Pakistan persistently refused to see its proved error and continued to minimise it, the Indian Union Government would have to go to war against it. No one wanted war, but he could never advise anyone to put up with injustice. If all Hindus were annihilated for a just cause he would not mind. If there was war, the Hindus in Pakistan could not be fifth columnists. If their loyalty lay not with Pakistan they should leave it. Similarly Muslims whose loyalty was with Pakistan should not stay in the Indian Union."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gandhi had immediately stated that the report was correct, but incomplete. At the meeting he had added that he himself had not changed his mind and that "he had no place in a new order where they wanted an army, a navy, an air force and what not".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Both Jahn and Tranmæl knew that the first report had not been complete, but they had become very doubtful. Jahn in his diary quoted himself as saying: "While it is true that he (Gandhi) is the greatest personality among the nominees – plenty of good things could be said about him – we should remember that he is not only an apostle for peace; he is first and foremost a patriot. (...) Moreover, we have to bear in mind that Gandhi is not naive. He is an excellent jurist and a lawyer." It seems that the Committee Chairman suspected Gandhi's statement one month earlier to be a deliberate step to deter Pakistani aggression. Three of five members thus being against awarding the 1947 Prize to Gandhi, the Committee unanimously decided to award it to the Quakers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948, two days before the closing date for that year's Nobel Peace Prize nominations. The Committee received six letters of nomination naming Gandhi; among the nominators were the Quakers and Emily Greene Balch, former Laureates. For the third time Gandhi came on the Committee's short list – this time the list only included three names – and Committee adviser Seip wrote a report on Gandhi's activities during the last five months of his life. He concluded that Gandhi, through his course of life, had put his profound mark on an ethical and political attitude which would prevail as a norm for a large number of people both inside and outside India: "In this respect Gandhi can only be compared to the founders of religions."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nobody had ever been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. But according to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation in force at that time, the Nobel Prizes could, under certain circumstances, be awarded posthumously. Thus it was possible to give Gandhi the prize. However, Gandhi did not belong to an organisation, he left no property behind and no will; who should receive the Prize money? The Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, August Schou, asked another of the Committee's advisers, lawyer Ole Torleif Røed, to consider the practical consequences if the Committee were to award the Prize posthumously. Røed suggested a number of possible solutions for general application. Subsequently, he asked the Swedish prize-awarding institutions for their opinion. The answers were negative; posthumous awards, they thought, should not take place unless the laureate died after the Committee's decision had been made.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On November 18, 1948, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to make no award that year on the grounds that "there was no suitable living candidate". Chairman Gunnar Jahn wrote in his diary: "To me it seems beyond doubt that a posthumous award would be contrary to the intentions of the testator." According to the chairman, three of his colleagues agreed in the end, only Mr. Oftedal was in favour of a posthumous award to Gandhi.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later, there have been speculations that the committee members could have had another deceased peace worker than Gandhi in mind when they declared that there was "no suitable living candidate", namely the Swedish UN envoy to Palestine, Count Bernadotte, who was murdered in September 1948. Today, this can be ruled out; Bernadotte had not been nominated in 1948. Thus it seems reasonable to assume that Gandhi would have been invited to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize had he been alive one more year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Each year the respective Nobel Committees send individual invitations to thousands of members of academies, university professors, and scientists from numerous countries, previous Nobel Laureates, members of parliamentary assemblies and others, asking them to submit candidates for the Nobel Prizes for the coming year. These nominators are chosen in such a way that as many countries and universities as possible are represented over time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came onto lime light of some of the former Nobel Prize laureates following publication of his biography. While non-Bengali laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize are admiring the "greatest contribution" of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, unfortunately enough, none of the Bangla speaking former laureates are pressing the idea in favor of Mujib, which is seen by many as extreme narrowness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Note: <span style="color: red;">References for this article are taken from the official website of Nobel Prize with gratitude.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.weeklyblitz.net/2541/nobel-prize-for-mujib-or-sheikh-hasina-tabled" target="_blank">Source : </a><i><br />
</i></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-2307233077716718022012-09-09T17:21:00.002-07:002012-09-09T17:24:04.794-07:00When will the drama of demonising Yunus end?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNPu-gPXUCxkAS5JplrzeLlmrN6xT0l6n2r90OOIi9_a8w6wYI_D0mAbTMZAUeCo66Vq3nD5LeWiDIoPEmDbiXpHH8iLoPGWtbq4CYaJGnaB9XsSQYnypj8_MSbv85I_y5bGptZCIfpg/s1600/yunus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNPu-gPXUCxkAS5JplrzeLlmrN6xT0l6n2r90OOIi9_a8w6wYI_D0mAbTMZAUeCo66Vq3nD5LeWiDIoPEmDbiXpHH8iLoPGWtbq4CYaJGnaB9XsSQYnypj8_MSbv85I_y5bGptZCIfpg/s400/yunus2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Soon after my August 13 article, “Prime Minister’s BBC interview and Grameen Bank” was published, I have been receiving email comments about Professor Yunus — mostly irrelevant to my article. Obviously, these people are driven by the mindset to delegitimise Yunus’s name and fame at home and abroad following the vitriolic demagogueries of their gurus.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Did they succeed? No; not outside their clique. They are now engaged in a witch hunt — investigating Yunus’s tax and salary history. But to their growing frustrations, the more they are trying to disparage Yunus’s, the more praise-worthy attention he draws.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Well, they are politickers they can brush off all scandals and indignities as they did with the 2010 stock market looting; the lingering global scale humiliation surrounding the Padma Bridge funding shenanigans. They brushed off Suranjit Sengupta’s alleged rail gate scandal. They will soon brush off adviser Syed Modasser Ali’s alleged involvement in Sonali Bank’s mega scale money looting — letting him go unscathed the same way they are trying to protect another adviser Mashiur Rahman. How else can anyone claim, “My government does not involve in corruption”(Hasina’s July 27 BBC) . But they will not let up on Yunus whose only fault is his refusal to take his hats off before this government.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">The comments I have received from various readers can be substituted with a single email as though they all came from one reader both in contents and diatribes. The email reads (abridged by ignoring capricious statements to economise space):</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Whether Dr. Yunus is a “bloodsucker or not” is a different chapter. He is caught at a cross-road of politics since he himself invited with his over ambition and over confidence without taking note of the pulse and music of politics in our contexts. Ask yourself first, why he showed interest in digging and upholding the infamous ‘Minus Two Formula’, which was a direct threat to democratic order and principles. Hasina and Khaleda might not be liked by the people in general. What are the democratic ways to say goodbye to them? Should not Dr Yunus build a political party now to prove his credibility and acceptability to the people in Bangladesh?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Ask those admirers of Dr Yunus why he has not yet visited National Memorial at Savar and Shaheed Minar at the city? There are more than hundred Nobel Peace Laureates, dead or alive, but nobody misused the honour in the manner Dr Yunus did. “The most interesting features of Dr Yunus’ character is that he all the time likes to move with and around the power wielders in international politics. He is neither for Bangladesh nor for the poor. He is rather out and out for the vested purposes of those who are nursing and gearing him from behind.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Obviously, some of these and many other fudge comments not presented here could not have come from logically cognitive mind. Unfortunately, such shallow thinking and corrosive diatribes are very common among Yunus’s adversaries. Micro-credit in some form has been operating in 60 countries across the globe and that is why he travels a lot and became a global celebrity.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">I do not see any conflicts with winning a Nobel Peace Prize and trying to establish a political party. How does that constitute dishonouring “Nobel Peace award”? May be he thought he could serve the poor and the country better by bringing some sanity in politics. What is wrong with that? Is there any evidence of Yunus being the architect or promoter of the much gossiped “minus two formula”. As far as I know, it was a mere chatter of the time (2008) and Yunus was apparently caught in the cross-currents of that nasty and unhealthy atmosphere.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">How can anyone argue with people who think Yunus is not for Bangladesh and question his patriotism given that he dedicated his entire professional life for the cause of helping the destitute rural people of Bangladesh? We must believe that no human (except Prophets) are created flawless and Yunus is no exception.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Visiting the Shaheed Minar and the National Memorial as a criterion to judge Yunus’s patriotism was also raised by others like Awami Leaguer Mohammad Hanif. In a recent ATN Bangla talk show, I watched Col (rtd) Jafar Imam Bir, Bkm (former minister under both Ziaur Rahman and HM Ershad) asking for clarification of the issue (by phone call) from the former minister Firoz Rashid – one of the participants of that show.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">When I called Jafar Imam and asked what prompted him to raise this issue, he emphatically rejected judging anyone’s patriotism with visitations of these memorials. Many freedom fighters recently asked him for his clarification of this issue and that is what prompted him to raise it with the talk show participants. Jafar Iman further added that he did not mean to undermine Yunu’s patriotism in any way or his image and the contributions he made to the cause of poverty reductions at home and beyond.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">It is an irony that Yunus’s well-wishers had to produce pictures of his past visits (Nur Jahan Begum, BG director) to these memorials and flash on television screen. It is now clear that he visited both memorials on his own chosen time but not for public display of his tribute to the martyrs.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Numerous corrupt politicians, civil servants, money launderers, tax evaders, stock market looters, bank loan defaulters, land grabbers, murderers, food adulterers, human rights violators, smugglers, and so on, visit Shaheed Minar, and National Memorial on various occasions – especially on December 16 and February 21 to commemorate the victory day and the language movement day respectively. Are they more patriotic just because they visit these memorials?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Now that the Hasina administration has completed the ousting of Yunus from Grameen Bank affairs by passing the amended Grameen Bank ordinance 2012, should not he be left alone and save the country from further embarrassments? And for GB borrowers, the government initiate the following to vindicate Hasina’s ascribing of Yunus as “blood sucker of the poor”:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Bring down the interest rates on GB loans from 35%, 40% or 45% to well below the commercial bank rates of 21 per cent or less (say 10% or so or even 0.0%). It should be noted that GB’s interest rate was never over 20% and the rates from 35% to 45 % was quoted by Hasina in her July 27 BBC interview.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Write off all outstanding interest payments accrued from loans charged at interest rates higher than 20%. That way GB borrowers will joyously celebrate Yunus’s removal and Hasina will be vindicated for her dispersing remarks,</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Better yet would be to write off both outstanding principal and interest accrued to all borrowers and start a new beginning with the new MD. This will be politically the most prudent thing to do before the 2013 national elections – guaranteeing the 8.4 million GB women borrowers’ votes.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Professor Yunus’s detractors have nothing good to say about him except nonsensical platitudes. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">Unquestionably, it will be hard to find another Nobel Peace Laureate who remained as influential and continue climbing the ladder of celebrity status as Yunus has been since winning the Prize in 2006. His name and fame recognitions outside his country are enormous. And that may be his Achilles’ heel – believe it or not.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: white;">BY : </span> <b><span style="color: red;">Abdullah A Dewan</span><span style="color: white;">.</span> <span style="color: white;">(<i>The writer, formerly a Physicist and Nuclear Engineer, is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Research Institute, Dhaka and Professor of Economics at Eastern Michigan University, USA.</i>)</span></b></span></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-65716963433186408572012-09-08T20:18:00.005-07:002012-09-08T20:33:46.831-07:00Israel’s master of mischief<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_OuterDataList_ctl01_summaryPartTopic"></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5OReicyBwmkBiAn3z949fLhXZHqFXsuPcKL5XV_Lk9NXnKclJM6RNYt7knmwyeHeDHOcJnyjWcBKsZ_EevpEJA1ltJrtq01kVgwEqsaNQGQrIFt5wQ29rd7UJhUSjuFqaQ2mgCGoKCQ/s1600/israel-make-terrorists.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5OReicyBwmkBiAn3z949fLhXZHqFXsuPcKL5XV_Lk9NXnKclJM6RNYt7knmwyeHeDHOcJnyjWcBKsZ_EevpEJA1ltJrtq01kVgwEqsaNQGQrIFt5wQ29rd7UJhUSjuFqaQ2mgCGoKCQ/s400/israel-make-terrorists.jpg" width="365" /></a></td></tr>
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</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Avigdor Lieberman has a restless nature. From time to time he has to do something, anything.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As Minister of Foreign Affairs he should be doing something about, well, foreign affairs. Trouble is, Israel’s foreign affairs are managed by others.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The most important sector of our foreign affairs concerns the relationship with the United States. Indeed, this is so important that Binyamin Netanyahu keeps it entirely to himself. Our ambassador in Washington reports to him personally, after being handpicked by Sheldon Adelson, the casino billionaire.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Relations with the Palestinians are mostly (mis)managed by Ehud Barak, who, as Minister of Defence, is formally in charge of the occupied territories. The main actor there is the Shin Bet, which is under the authority of the Prime Minister.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The relations with the Arab world, such as they are, are maintained by the Mossad, also under the authority of the Prime Minister. In practice, Netanyahu and Barak together make all the decisions, including, of course, The Decision concerning Iran.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So what’s left for Lieberman? He can deal as much as he wants with Zambia and the Fiji islands. He can appoint ambassadors to Guatemala and Uganda. And that’s it.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Except that he has a personal monopoly on relations with the countries of the Former Soviet Union. How’s that? Well, he was born in Soviet Moldavia and speaks Russian fluently. Even though he came to Israel already 34 years ago, just a few days after his 20th birthday, he is still considered by most Israelis as a “Russian”, speaking Hebrew with a heavy Russian accent and looking as foreign as possible. But his connection with that part of the world goes beyond cultural factors – he is an ardent admirer of Vladimir Putin and his Doppelgängers, Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk and Victor Yanukovych in Kiev. He would dearly like to install the same kind of regime in Israel, with himself as the Putin look-alike.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most of his colleagues in Europe and around the world shun him because of his views, which many of them consider semi-fascist, if not worse.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So how of all possible jobs, did Netanyahu come to give him the job of foreign minister? Well, as the leader of a party essential for the formation of the right-wing coalition, he had a right to one of the three major ministries: defence, finance or foreign relations. Who would dare to deny that defence is a God-given fief of Barak?<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since Netanyahu considers himself an economic genius, he decided to keep the finance ministry in practice to himself. He found a doctor of philosophy, who had the advantage of being innocent of any knowledge of economics, and appointed his as his proxy minister of finance. That left only foreign affairs, a much despised ministry, for Lieberman.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As this ministry does not provide much activity, and even less that generates headlines, Lieberman is compelled every few months or so to do something to stir things up. He has already insulted many of his colleagues abroad, ably assisted by his deputy, Danny Ayalon, who boasted to journalists that he humiliated the Turkish ambassador by putting him on a low seat. Since at the time the Turkish army was still the closest partner of the Israeli army in the region, Barak was livid.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lieberman also needs something to divert attention from his famous corruption affair. For 14 years now he has been under investigation about receiving millions of dollars from mysterious sources abroad. Some of the money went to straw companies abroad managed by his daughter, who was then in her early twenties. The Attorney General still has to decide whether to indict him – which may compel him to resign.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now Lieberman has caused a stir again.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two weeks ago, Netanyahu and Barak were amazed to read in the newspapers that Lieberman had sent letters to the foreign ministers of the so-called quartet – the US, the European Union, the UN and Russia – who oversee the non-existent “peace process”.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In this message, Lieberman demanded that the four dismiss the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and call immediate elections in the West Bank.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The idiocy of this message is mind-boggling, even by Lieberman standards.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">First of all, the quartet has absolutely no authority to dismiss anyone in Palestine, or for that matter, Israel. Nor can it order elections anywhere.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">True, Palestinian elections are long overdue. They should have taken place in January 2010. Hamas has already announced that they would not take part, so they would be held only in the West Bank. That would have finalized the split between PLO and Hamas – a split no Palestinian on either side wants to aggravate.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Second, if Hamas did participate, the next Palestinian president would conceivably be the Hamas leader Khaled Mishal, the man Israel tried to assassinate. With the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas’ mother organization, now ensconced in power in Egypt, the chances of Hamas in democratic elections would probably be even stronger than last time, when they won handily.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Third, and most importantly, Mahmoud Abbas is by far the most peace-oriented Palestinian leader around. And that is the crux of the matter.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lieberman bases his bizarre demand on his contention that Abbas is the main obstacle to peace – an assertion that few experts around the world would take seriously. Lieberman’s real reason for his initiative may be the very opposite: that Abbas’ stance puts Israel in the uncomfortable seat of the peace-destroyer.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Abbas’ conditions for the start of peace negotiations are well-known: Israel must stop all settlement activities. The world, by and large, agrees with that.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Abbas’ terms for peace are also well-known. They were formulated long ago by Yasser Arafat: a State of Palestine side by side with Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital and a return to the Green Line border (with insubstantial and mutually agreed exchanges of territory). For the refugee problem, an “agreed” solution, meaning the symbolic return of a small number. The world, by and large, agrees with that too.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If it wanted to, Israel could achieve peace with the Palestinians next week, followed the week thereafter by peace with the entire Arab world, on the terms set out in the Arab Peace Initiative, which are practically identical with the Palestinian terms.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And that, of course, is the source of Lieberman’s hatred of Abbas. Like Netanyahu, he doesn’t dream of giving up Greater Israel. Therefore he very much prefers a Palestinian leadership composed of Hamas – that is, as long as Hamas rejects peace.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In practice, the Palestinian Authority led by President Abbas is actively cooperating with Israel in the one field that really matters to Israelis: security.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most Israelis believe that Palestinian violence (a.k.a. “terrorism”) has been stopped by the “security obstacle”,<br />
<br />
<br />
the combination of walls and fences that cut deep into the occupied Palestinian territories. However, a wall can be climbed, tunnels can be dug underneath and militants can be smuggled through the checkpoints. As an American politician said about the wall between the US and Mexico: “You show me a 50 foot wall, and I’ll show you a 51 foot ladder.” I have seen Palestinian youngsters climb the wall even without a ladder.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The real reason for the total cessation of acts of violence in Israel emanating from the West Bank is the intimate, day-to-day cooperation of the Palestinian security forces with the Israeli security services. On the orders of Abbas, the Palestinian police, which is actually a military force trained by US officers, is mercilessly persecuting the militants of Hamas and other Palestinian factions favouring “armed struggle”.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By following this course, Abbas is taking huge risks. Hamas and others accuse him of collaborating with the occupation and compare the Palestinian authority with the Vichy regime in France, which collaborated with the Nazi occupation. (The police of Marshal Henri Petain, a World War I hero, closely cooperated with the Germans, inter alia helping them to round up the Jews and send them to Auschwitz.)<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Abbas has come to the conclusion that the “armed struggle” has led the Palestinians nowhere. He hopes that the absence of violent acts will allow the West Bank population to build up their civil society, strengthen Palestinian institutions, raise the pitiful standard of living (far less than a tenth of the Israeli one), and assure the Palestinian Authority of foreign aid and legitimacy. Under the able stewardship of his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, this is working – for the time being.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The risk is indeed great. The West Bank economy, such as it is, may founder any time. The creeping enlargement of the settlements is reaching a point where every Palestinian village is surrounded by them, making life for the Palestinians intolerable – especially since young settlers carry out almost daily acts of terrorism (so defined by Israeli security officials), physically attacking villagers, burning mosques, houses and cars and felling olive trees.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some day, the spirit of the Arab Spring may reach the West Bank, and even the PLO leadership will not be able to stem the tide.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In something close to desperation, Abbas is seeking some respite by appealing to the UN for recognition. The application for the acceptance of Palestine as a member state is barred by the US veto in the Security Council. The application to the General Assembly, where there is no veto, to receive Palestine as a member “which is not a state” has been called by Lieberman “political terrorism”.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Israeli government has condemned the Palestinian application as “one-sided”. As though the Israeli 1948 application for membership in the UN had been “many-sided”. However, be that as it may, in face of the dire Israeli and American threats, Abbas may have to drop this effort too, endangering his position even more.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This week, Abbas has been invited by the Iranian regime to take part in the huge assembly of so-called non-aligned nations in Tehran. The Palestinian leader had to weigh whether to accept the invitation and gain some international status or to refuse, for fear of American reprisals. He decided to attend.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the meantime, Lieberman has already achieved his goal – a few days in the news, and his face, with his trademark shifty eyes and sinister smile, was on all TV screens.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now he will drop from the news again for a few weeks or months, until he can think up some new way to cause mischief.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">URI AVNERY is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He is a contributor to CounterPunch’s book The Politics of Anti-Semitism.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BY : <span style="color: #cc0000;"> <span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_OuterDataList_ctl01_summaryPartTopic"><b>Uri Avnery.</b></span></span></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-26663065658303809832012-09-08T19:43:00.003-07:002012-09-08T19:51:01.031-07:00GRAMEEN BANK TAKEOVER : Property rights, liberty in danger<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_OuterDataList_ctl00_summaryPartTopic"></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsy4gUzVmRu-Qyv6c3VKjAFwye7MzzFJlDmT5aUbIhl-lX8Ie8fc9VK2Kvh3dOHFzSbZUbbRQcOrIbmwgryWKQeVRbko8fOZN2bLYv6OaPZUJU6i9fzgbcNsh3sasWe265dh4Q9ctK1w/s1600/Prof_Yunus_presented_with_Nobel_Peace_Prize_1000_727_92_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsy4gUzVmRu-Qyv6c3VKjAFwye7MzzFJlDmT5aUbIhl-lX8Ie8fc9VK2Kvh3dOHFzSbZUbbRQcOrIbmwgryWKQeVRbko8fOZN2bLYv6OaPZUJU6i9fzgbcNsh3sasWe265dh4Q9ctK1w/s400/Prof_Yunus_presented_with_Nobel_Peace_Prize_1000_727_92_s.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While delivering a speech in Oslo, Norway, on 10 Dec 2006 Muhammad Yunus, who invented microcredit and founded Grameen Bank said, “Nine elected representatives of the seven million borrowers – cum owners of Grameen Bank have accompanied me all the way to Oslo to receive the prize. I express thanks on their behalf to the Norwegian Nobel Committee for choosing Grameen Bank for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. By giving their institution the most prestigious prize in the world, you gave them unparalleled honour. Thanks to your prize, nine proud women from the villages of Bangladesh are at the ceremony today as Nobel laureates giving an altogether new meaning to the Nobel Peace Prize.”<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Six years after that on 23 August the government of Bangladesh, which neither travelled to Oslo nor was mentioned anywhere, issued a notification to constitute a search committee to prepare a panel for the government for appointing a managing director of its choice for the bank. Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet had approved on 2 August, an amendment to the Grameen Bank Ordinance ,1983 assuming all powers to appoint the managing director to monitor a privately owned enterprise.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now 8.4 million underprivileged own the bank, mostly women, holding 97% shares, with the government retaining barely 3% of the total shares. On August 2, the government arbitrarily decided to nationalize the private property of the poor women entrepreneurs much in the same way as the Sheikh Mujib government nationalized the private properties during the years between 1972 and 1975.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 23 August Dr. Muhammad Yunus issued a statement: “This day will go down as a black day in the history of our nation. Our government has obliterated the unique characteristics – one of which is the bank being owned and run by women – which made the institution universally lauded and a Nobel Prize winner. Thanks to the amendment the institution has been rendered into another cookie-cutter public organization. I cannot bear the sorrow.”<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although the Grameen Bank take-over evokes sorrow it is not simply a matter of sentiment or emotion, but a hard practical question involving individual liberty and property rights which has to be answered by ripe political sense and wisdom.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The political liberty of the subject,” says Montesquieu, “is a tranquillity of mind arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite that the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of another.” According to him: “When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws to execute them in a tyrannical manner.”<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Again, there is no liberty,” he says, “if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive ….There would be an end of everything, were the same man or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, that of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and of trying the causes of individuals.”<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indeed, there has been an end of everything in Bangladesh after the arbitrary adoption of the August 2 amendment of the Grameen Bank Ordinance.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Bangladesh, the government is not democratic. It is autocratic or at its best is aristocratic. Here the legislative and executive powers are united in one person who is the prime minister and the leader of the House in the parliament. The same person appoints the judges. There is no liberty here in Bangladesh because the same person can adopt an ordinance or amend it when the parliament is not in session and execute it in tyrannical manner. Here the life and liberty of the people is exposed to arbitrary control. The government is despotic. It can arrogate to itself whatever power or authority it pleases.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The August 2 amendment carried out arbitrarily by a cabinet decision has violated the property rights of citizens. Ordinarily property rights are cherished as personal benefits by those fortunate enough to own a substantial amount. But property rights are best assessed in terms of their economic effects on the well- being of the population at large. And the property rights of the women of Grameen Bank have been rightly assessed by the international community in terms of their economic effects on the well-being of the people at large. And how do the people with property rights differ from the people without it ? One example was the erstwhile Soviet Union where individuals did not own agricultural produce as their private property. Here the monitoring of the produce handling was done by the Communist Party members who were honeycombed throughout the society to report on dereliction of duty and violation of law. But the widespread corruption and inefficiency found even under Stalinist totalitarianism suggest the total failure of governmental monitoring as compared to automatic self-monitoring by the property owners themselves.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a democratic country where free-market system prevails, property rights create self-monitoring which is more effective and less costly than third-party monitoring. Normally animals not owned privately are threatened with extinction. Inanimate things like air and water are easily polluted because they are not owned by anybody. Similar neglect of property not owned privately occurred in the Soviet Union. Bangladesh, unfortunately , now is following the footsteps of the Soviet Union, abruptly taking over management of privately owned enterprises just for the hake of it.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Through the Grameen Bank the poor entrepreneurs changed their economic conditions using their own savings or borrowings. The powerful people in the government do not like it. Leaders of the party - in - power have already declared that the Grameen Bank is a public property like the state owned enterprises which means the 8.4 million women who own 97% of shares in the bank will be dispossessed of their property. The apprehension of Dr. Muhammad Yunus that the bank “has been rendered into another cookie-cutter public organization” is not unfounded. The take – over bid is intended to keep out people of average or low income from the production-distribution chain.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is incentives which matter in the Grameen Bank and in this institution property rights are assessed economically in terms of the incentives . The powerful incentives created by a profit –and - loss economy depend on the profits being private property. When government owned enterprises in the erstwhile Soviet Union made profits, those profits were not their private property and could be taken by government for whatever purposes it chose to spend it. Soviet economists pointed out the adverse effects of this on incentives: “We are taking away from those who work well in order to keep afloat those who do nothing.”<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Job crisis is not only the cause of poverty in the Third World but also the cause of the double –dip recession in the developed countries. Entrepreneurship could be the answer to the global need for employment opportunities. At the moment there is an uneven playing field that makes the choice to become an entrepreneur. Dr. Muhammad Yunus has matched this uneven playing field by his microcredit tool. In an article published in the September 13 , 2010 issue Tim Kane drew the attention of the U.S policy makers in the following words:<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“All human beings are entrepreneurs”, says Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, an economist who kicked off microcredit in his native Bangladesh. Well, Washington: Are you listening?<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To Yunus every individual is an entrepreneur. In the process of implementation of the concept he has turned 8.4 million low-income women into self-employed, self-starter entrepreneurs giving a boost to the country’s economic development.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Knowledge has now been recognized as a factor of production. In fact there is much that the ruling party hierarchy do not know that knowledge is vital to the functioning of an enterprise. One may ask, “How much knowledge does it need to fry a hamburger?” And the answer, certainly, is best known to McDonald’s.<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> One may ask again, “How much knowledge does it need to run the Grameen Bank? The answer to this question is best known to the man who took the nine village women of Bangladesh to Oslo in 2006 to receive the Nobel Prize. Anybody who studies the history of the Grameen Bank will be astonished at the amount of detailed knowledge, insights, organizational and technological innovation, financial improvisation, all-out efforts, and desperate sacrifices that went into creating an enormous economic and social transformation. In both the cases, it was the knowledge that was built up over the years – the human capital – which ultimately attracted the financial capital to make ideas become a reality. This fact alone is sufficient to answer the question why Dr. Muhammad Yunus is indispensable for the Grameen Bank. He is irreplaceable. No sensible man in his right mind will ever think of taking the place of Yunus, the icon whose microcredit is a modern marvel. The whole nation is proud of him.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BY : <span style="color: red;"><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_OuterDataList_ctl00_summaryPartTopic"><b>Abu Hena. <span style="color: white;"> (The author is a former Member of Parliament )</span></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-29706891879505660862012-09-08T14:57:00.000-07:002012-09-08T14:57:44.223-07:00The indispensability of Finance Minister Muhith<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjuKJMNekuLOulERbK8MXOb6ZGZqZ8KXHkWQZHfVGSc03tOzrCC2_QjHb9Ahr3jZ9vEfezFJ_6VgmQ2uLgeUE9DjivYbIDdfybDlV3iciOhRETj26OAqZhsY6VB1mcGRIz6YW04w4xn9Y/s1600/2012-07-15__FM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjuKJMNekuLOulERbK8MXOb6ZGZqZ8KXHkWQZHfVGSc03tOzrCC2_QjHb9Ahr3jZ9vEfezFJ_6VgmQ2uLgeUE9DjivYbIDdfybDlV3iciOhRETj26OAqZhsY6VB1mcGRIz6YW04w4xn9Y/s320/2012-07-15__FM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reckless in his utterances, Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith has of late become over sure about his “indispensability” in the present government. And for him, public opinion or disaffection of the leaders of opinion has always been dispensable. According to a news-analyst in a vernacular daily, the finance minister has been ruling the roast over four big financial scandals during his current tenure over three years eight months. The first one was the share market scam of 2010, which exceeded in its severity the 1996 scam under the first Sheikh Hasina government. He laughed over the plight of small investors who found their capital and savings wiped out in share-market manipulation by share-sharks. The latter were, however, protected by the Finance Minister from ‘political’ considerations, and no action was taken over the Ibrahim Khalid inquiry report that identified the big shots behind the market debacle, and the break-down condition of the capital market has continued ever since.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Then came in 2011 the Padma Bridge corruption scandal, and in consequence, the cancellation of the World Bank Loan agreement for the project. The finance minister’s crude reaction was to throw the ball back to the court of the World Bank, accusing the international financial institution of being involved in corruption itself and behaving undiplomatically. Later he toned down his loud-mouthed denunciation of the World Bank, but continued sermonising it by public harangues from time to time. With mainly Indian diplomatic help, he has obtained a breathing space for renegotiating the loan agreement with the World Bank. Other financing institutions who joined the World Bank in a consortium to fund Padma Bridge, such as the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency have extended their loan agreements for this month and for three weeks of September respectively to allow time for the finance minister to come to terms with World Bank, which is the leader of the Consortium. The finance minister has indeed managed to strike a world record by provoking the occurrence of cancellation of such a big-size project loan agreement as the Padma Bridge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another scandal was his speech in the parliament during his presentation of the current budget and in his remarks to the press thereafter. He virtually acknowledged the black-money holders and illicit earners as the movers and shakers of the national economy and sought to lure them to support him bridge the deficit budget and his high-spending leaky pre-election projects. Racketeering got recognition and rewards. Productive trade, industry and agriculture were not only discouraged by the discrimination and injustice meted to honest tax-payers, but also starved of regular bank-financing on account of liquidity crisis as a result of heavy government borrowing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">It has now been revealed that the culture of wheeling and dealing and illicit practices have so contaminated the banking system, and the “politically appointed” directors of nationalised banks have been mixed up with rent-seeking and money-spinning rackets in such a way that despite bank liquidity crisis, directors and officers of some state-owned banks have been able to funnel out over Taka four thousand crores into private pockets and share the loot. The scandal has badly shaken customer-confidence in the banking system as a whole. But the Finance Minister is simply laughing away the matter. He has blamed the media for “over blowing” the gravity of the scandal and creating difficulties for proper action to be taken, which he said was the recovery of the loot rather than punishing the culprits. He said he was confident of recovering half the amount embezzled, and claimed that probably nearly the entire amount could have been recovered had the media not raised a hue and cry to scare away the wrong-doers. He also bluntly suggested that a sort of systems loss of Taka 4000 crore in bad debt out of Taka 40,000 crores lent by the banks annually (i.e. 10%) was not such a big deal, so to say.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The public, the banking leaders, the business leaders and even the colleagues of the finance minister in the parliament were flabbergasted by such an irresponsible attitude towards “financial crime” adopted by Finance Minister Muhith, who has meanwhile rewarded one of the suspects of collusion in that crime, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonali Bank, by renewing his tenure in that post for an indefinite period. There was speculation that the suspect Chairman and his board members would be eased out of office, if not taken to task, by not renewing their contract when their tenure ended after the first week of September. That expectation has been dashed now. But public demand is becoming louder by the day for punitive action to be taken against all the culprits, including ministers and advisers of the government lending “political” blessings to the wrong-doers, irrespective of high connections or pleas of diminished responsibility. Two important Members of Parliament, Tofail Ahmed and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim have already voiced in the floor of the House their strong disapproval of the finance minister’s utterances and inaction. They have urged the finance minister, albeit with mild words but with strong meaning, to institute criminal proceeding, against all wrong-doers without sparing “political” protégés, and also advised the finance minister to talk less. But who cares?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The question, however, looms whether in reality Finance Minister Muhith is indispensable for the present government. Indeed in the reactions from the government’s own set of aspirants for promotion in the financial hierarchy, one can sense bids for outdoing one another in pinpointing blame on Muhith and shifting part of responsibility for the banking scandal from one to the other. In the race to the chair of the Finance Minister in case it falls vacant are Adviser Masihur Rahman and Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman. Both have been put on the dock for their “share” or their “failure” in the course of the scandal by other aspirants like Khondaker Ibrahim Khaled (Krishi Bank Chairman) and Farashuddin Ahmed (former Bangladesh Bank Governor). Finance Minister Muhith’s fate may be decided in the course of the month by his success or failure in obtaining assurances from the World Bank for renegotiation of the Padma Bridge loan agreement. For all the diplomatic words of assurance and support he has obtained, one wonders what trump card he may have up his sleeves to be so cocksure in his demeanour.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">BY : <strong style="color: #cc0000;">Sadeq Khan.</strong></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-3289438399982380062012-09-07T19:53:00.000-07:002012-09-07T19:53:00.124-07:00George Shultz, Madeleine Albright Join Growing Groundswell of Concern over Possible Government Takeover of Grameen Bank<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcrdz6Iqzn05LbUq_CKOtyNCzNIFx4FZlNTBqO4ArdVEGiogvD4EBrvO0FQ8RvEN1UC0XsXal9xfL94KDEPQSf_XuRHZYFgnbD4sLnNcTLFFLVN9QoBAD46kJ76A4Rvgu6fji0I8AHYw/s1600/522293.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcrdz6Iqzn05LbUq_CKOtyNCzNIFx4FZlNTBqO4ArdVEGiogvD4EBrvO0FQ8RvEN1UC0XsXal9xfL94KDEPQSf_XuRHZYFgnbD4sLnNcTLFFLVN9QoBAD46kJ76A4Rvgu6fji0I8AHYw/s400/522293.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Madeleine Albright have joined a growing chorus of global leaders, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that have decried the Bangladeshi government’s latest maneuvers to take over the Grameen Bank. The bank has been a pioneering model emulated worldwide, demonstrating the power of microfinance to help lift individuals out of extreme poverty. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Historically Grameen Bank has been 97 percent owned by its customers, women from Bangladesh’s poorest regions. In late 2010, the <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD10">government</span> installed a chairman and gave him the authority to name a new managing director, a charge previously held by the bank’s board, the majority of whom are borrowers. This shift has created concern worldwide that <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">shareholders</span> will lose ownership of the Bank. There are also increased reports of government corruption, including the raiding of government run banks by government officials and bribe demands that led to the cancellation of the World Bank <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD8">loan for</span> the Padma Dam. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> In the Wall St. Journal, Shultz and Albright wrote, “Grameen Bank is more than just another <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1">financial institution</span>. It is a symbol of how people who lack advantages of any kind can nevertheless lift themselves out of poverty through hard work and personal accountability. We hope the government will think again and choose instead to preserve a system that has worked well, earned credit for Bangladesh on the world stage, and inspired followers across the globe.” </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> There is growing momentum to support the borrowers of the Grameen Bank in ensuring the institution retains its independence: </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li class="bwlistitemmargb"> Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the U.S. State Department have expressed concern regarding the bank takeover. </li>
<li class="bwlistitemmargb"> U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer led all 17 female U.S. Senate members in urging the Bangladeshi government to preserve the autonomy of the Grameen Bank. </li>
<li class="bwlistitemmargb"> Journalist David Bornstein, who specializes in writing about social innovation, and entrepreneur Richard Branson have publicly voiced support for the Grameen Bank shareholders in the New York Times and The Times, respectively. </li>
<li class="bwlistitemmargb"> More than 140 prominent female Bangladeshi leaders have expressed their solidarity with the women of Grameen Bank. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.moneylife.in/business-wire-news/george-shultz-madeleine-albright-join-growing-groundswell-of-concern-over-possible-government-takeover-of-grameen-bank/32559.html" target="_blank">Source :</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-54097115854274693612012-08-27T08:56:00.000-07:002012-08-27T08:56:10.793-07:00Dipu wages propaganda war against Yunus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Lg8NImyZii380HXJVRXxlK28GxKeyjR7vvduER3gML_yJwzAHLVV-lfjTyV4wcshqzh5bmcFlUOGqwTd0_C4VTI-QkrH4hm7q8qs2q1UXR5WULPBFyKHep1DNKghXZ1Q8ffdHo-Sr4M/s1600/2573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Lg8NImyZii380HXJVRXxlK28GxKeyjR7vvduER3gML_yJwzAHLVV-lfjTyV4wcshqzh5bmcFlUOGqwTd0_C4VTI-QkrH4hm7q8qs2q1UXR5WULPBFyKHep1DNKghXZ1Q8ffdHo-Sr4M/s400/2573.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While one of the most talkative ministers of the current government, who suddenly got tamed since her grand flop in signing the Water Sharing Treaty with India, foreign minister Dr. Dipu Moni despites series of her failures, which already is bringing unimaginable political and economic catastrophe for Bangladesh, her ministry has engaged into nasty diplomacy centering the issue of Grammen Bank founder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus. <br />
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Although the issue of this internationally acclaimed personality centering his removal from the post of managing director of Grameen Bank is already under international radar, Dr. Dipu has instructed her fellow officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for waging propaganda war against Yunus, ignoring the fact of his huge influence in the international arena. Working on the tip of the foreign minister, the officials at the ministry has already incorporated several materials right on the website of the foreign ministry titled 'Facts Relating to Professor Yunus & Grameen Bank'. As preface of the documents put on display at the website of the foreign ministry, it writes, "The Grameen Bank and Professor Muhammad Yunus have featured in the international and national media quite extensively over the past one year. The reports mostly portrayed a "conflict" between the Bangladesh Government and the Managing Director of Grameen Bank at the time, namely, Professor Muhammad Yunus. The Government feels it necessary to clear the air, especially in view of the misperception that these reports may have generated.<br />
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1.Initially, the publicity relating to Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus arose following the release of a documentary Film produced by a Danish journalist in the Norwegian media. The film highlighted the nature of Grameen Bank's activities, its modus operandi, the many complaints by its borrowers and falsehood of the myth that Grameen Bank's borrowers had succeeded in breaking the poverty barrier. No less significant was the unauthorised diversion and misuse of Norwegian donor funds intended for Grameen's borrowers in the rural areas, Professor Yunus's expressed desire to evade tax through such unauthorised diversion, and a series of other breaches of the law.<br />
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2.When the Government's attention was drawn to the wide publicity given to the documentary film, the Government of Bangladesh instituted, on 7 January, 2011, a high powered multi-disciplinary Review Committee to examine and investigate the activities of Grameen Bank.<br />
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3.Further, when the Government's attention was also drawn to the fact the Professor Muhammad Yunus's continuance in the office of Managing Director of Grameen Bank after 28 June, 2000, that is upon reaching the superannuation age of 60 years, was contrary to the governing law, namely the Grameen Bank Ordinance, 1983, the Service Rules made thereunder, the Constitution of Bangladesh and several statutes which defined the position of the Managing Director of Grameen Bank, a statutory public authority, as that of "public servant" or "public employee", Bangladesh Bank ( the Central Bank) informed Grameen Bank, and its Chairman, that Professor Muhammad Yunus had passed the age of superannuation and had ceased to function as Managing Director of Grameen Bank by operation of law.<br />
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4.Professor Yunus challenged the letter issued by Bangladesh Bank to the Chairman, Grameen Bank by moving a Writ Petition in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court and thereafter in multiple appeals before the apex Court. The Appellate Division upheld the decision of the High Court Division which rejected his Writ Petition, and Professor Yunus was deemed to have retired from the office of Managing Director of Grameen Bank on 28 June, 2000 upon reaching 60 years of age.<br />
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5.The high powered multi-disciplinary Review Committee submitted its report on 24 April, 2011."<br />
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The above five point clarification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been also followed by some links to few more statements and documents, which certainly are put together with the mission of dampening the ever-increasing global image of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.<br />
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Professor Muhammad Yunus turned a villain in the eyes of the top policymakers of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League led leftist-Islamist coalition government, when he harshly criticized limitless corruption of the politicians as well took an initiative of floating a political party named Nagorik Shakti [Citizen's Power], although his political ambition got flopped at the zero hour as he failed to get expected support either from the mass people or from the members of the civil society as well as politicians. <br />
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Simple reason behind such shameful consequence of his political ambition is, because though he attained grand success to build an international image being the founding father of Grameen Bank, the people at large in the country never anticipated him stepping into politics, nor they had any intention of extending any support to the initiatives of Nagorik Shakti in emerging as a political party, which surely would be an alternative to the existing mainstream political forces in Bangladesh. On the other hand, the timing of floating this party was wrong for Professor Yunus, as by that time, Bangladeshis at large were already fed up with the massive misrule, state level corruption and extortion as well as gross violation of human rights by the army backed interim government, which was headed by Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, who had earlier served as the governor of Bangladesh Bank. At that point, people were seeing the flopped banker Fakhruddin in Professor Yunus, which stopped them from extending any support to his political ambition.<br />
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Professor Mohammad Yunus became highly ambitious of becoming the leader of Bangladesh seeing over-whelming excitement and celebration of the people of the country when he got the Nobel Peace Prize. At that time, right from the moment of declaration of his name as the recipient of this most prestigious prize, millions of Taka was spent by Grameen Phone as well as other enterprises of Grameen Bank in a massive public relations and propaganda hawk in favor of Yunus, which was later understood to have been initiated at the personal desire of the Nobel Prize laureate, as he already was seeing himself as the prospective leader of the country. <br />
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What Professor Yunus missed is, he did not remember, how the people of Bangladesh exploded into joys and celebration when country's cricket team got qualified to play international test matches. Seeing such huge excitement of the people, should any of the cricket players or even the captain of the team committed the same blunder of becoming a national leader, his or their consequences would be same as what has happened to Professor Yunus. <br />
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In my personal opinion, Professor Yunus could not absorb the shock [in positive sense] of getting the Nobel Peace Prize and from that moment, unfortunately he lost balance totally and had been behaving sometime as a mere kid while mostly as a senseless individual. Instead of expressing gratitude to the people of Bangladesh for their support and encouragements, Dr. Yunus rather tried to educate the people as well as the leaders, while he also made frantic bids of using local and international media in setting him almost at the same status of the great leaders of this country. No doubt such blunders were initiated, nurtured and finally put onto Yunus' head by none but his own younger brother Muhammad Jahangir, who had visibly been the second-in-command or next man to Mohammad Yunus into all affairs centering the then Grameen Bank boss. No doubt, Yunus got a good lesson from the people that his aspiration of riding into apex level of country's political power or floating a political party were not endorsed by the Bangladeshis at large.<br />
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For a person of his height, no doubt this very signal from the people was more than enough for Professor Yunus to swallow his political aspiration for good. But, leaders of Bangladesh Awami League could not anyway tolerate Mohammad Yunus anymore, as they started seeing a real ghost in him for no valid reason, and at the tips of some duffers, the pundits of Bangladesh Awami League started searching ways of down sizing Yunus both nationally and internationally. From that moment, an elected government turned into an open enemy of Professor Mohammad Yunus and initiated all out conspiracies in removing him from the post of Grameen Bank initially and finally pushing him inside prison with various charges. The first part of the agenda of the rulers had already been implemented and now the power elites are spending sleepless nights in seeing Yunus facing trials, ignoring the fact that such rudeness would surely put the entire nation into a huge crisis both political and economic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">BY : <b style="color: red;">Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury.</b> </div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-82163293158787115572012-08-18T07:33:00.000-07:002012-08-18T07:33:51.249-07:00Microfinance pioneer Grameen Bank weakened by government meddling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWS8n_zO6z_7sjoZNMrKiiSOoP_QMwZTyZq-sSKroRwE8P68kkVgjJ5bF3Voi94XUWD3uCRcojxtukQXSR1QpxnKPAnkHCZqeVcHOShwPAjBQxJIG5ztTM4XMI-WB6CnFs_1UOm4cbSrs/s1600/417px-Muhammad_Yunus_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWS8n_zO6z_7sjoZNMrKiiSOoP_QMwZTyZq-sSKroRwE8P68kkVgjJ5bF3Voi94XUWD3uCRcojxtukQXSR1QpxnKPAnkHCZqeVcHOShwPAjBQxJIG5ztTM4XMI-WB6CnFs_1UOm4cbSrs/s400/417px-Muhammad_Yunus_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_2012.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh seems bent on destroying the best elements of the Grameen Bank, whose loans to poor women inspired a global movement now enabling more than 135 million borrowers to become self-employed. More than a year ago, she engineered the spectacularly illogical dismissal of Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize-winning founder and managing director of Grameen Bank. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hasina rode roughshod over the bank’s own board’s decisions and bylaws in imposing a mandatory retirement on Professor Yunus, ostensibly because of his age. (She seems not to have been troubled by issuing that dictate through her minister of finance who, himself, was many years older than Yunus.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But not content to have removed Yunus, whose worldwide fame seems both Bangladesh’s most notable asset and Prime Minister Hasina’s most aggravating cause of envy, she has now moved to gut the Grameen Bank’s fundamental premise of governance: that the women who comprise the bank’s clientele should have a controlling voice in its policies and programs. In a region not notable for women’s rights, this leadership position by the Grameen Bank has been salutary for the bank, a model for other institutions and an inspiration to all those seeking to advance the well-being of women and their families.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What exactly is Prime Minister Hasina’s latest plan? Very simple: Trash the Grameen Bank’s historically successful model of a borrower-dominated board that has the power to elect the managing director of this bank, in which the borrowers are the leading shareholders. And replace that process with what? Let’s see. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What could be the most disempowering, backward, ham-handed, intrusive alternative one could imagine? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Eureka! Have the government-appointed chair of the board summarily appoint the managing director! Forget about the decades-long organic evolution of women’s leadership in both governance and management at Grameen Bank. Just empower Hasina’s crony chair to install a managing director, who will reliably turn the bank into a compliant arm of the Hasina administration — an administration whose appreciation of this international treasure, if such appreciation exists, is no barrier to envy-driven decisions that simultaneously compromise both the bank’s all-important independence and the administration’s own already shabby reputation. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It would be easy, and wrong, to dismiss this as a tempest in a teapot. Beyond its role in pioneering microfinance and poverty-reduction programs that have now been adopted worldwide, Grameen Bank is a shining global model of what it means to empower women — even, and especially, poor rural women. These women not only comprise 97 percent of the bank’s borrowers, but they actually own more than 95 percent of the equity in the bank. Accordingly and appropriately, women hold nine of the 12 seats on the board. And it is little noted but no small thing that the Nobel Peace Prize accepted by Muhammad Yunus was actually awarded to him and to those women — that is, to the bank itself, which they have built and, until Prime Minister Hasina butted in, have successfully controlled.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">At this moment, a hand-picked Bangladeshi government commission is “studying” Grameen Bank to find ways to “improve and protect” it. Rodgers and Hammerstein captured this situation perfectly in “The King and I,” when the king, reflecting on foreign “allies” increasing their role in Siam, sings, “Might they not protect me out of all I own?” </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What can be done? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Dhaka in May to urge Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Dipu Moni to take no action that would undermine Grameen Bank. In addition, the 17 women who currently serve in the U.S. Senate have sent a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Hasina. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And this communiqué was issued by our State Department earlier this month:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
“We call on the Government of Bangladesh to respect the integrity, effectiveness, and independence of Grameen Bank. We urge the Bangladeshi Government to ensure transparency in the selection of a new managing director who has unquestioned integrity, competence, and dedication to preserving Grameen Bank, its unique governance structure, and its effectiveness in bringing development and hope to 8.3 million of Bangladesh’s most vulnerable citizens, mostly women.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It has seemingly always been the case that enlightened advances forged over decades by millions of dedicated people working together can be trashed with astounding finality by one misguided ‘leader.’ We owe it to those who created Grameen Bank, and to history, to show that such travesties are not inevitable. Citizens wishing to add their voices to this urgent call for preservation of a global treasure can sign on to a petition by searching ‘change.org Grameen Bank.’” </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is not a futile exercise. The worldwide firestorm over the ousting of Muhammad Yunus still reverberates in Hasina-administration deliberations. A fresh onslaught of petitions on this new issue may give them some pause. And perhaps even more important, our loud protests can mobilize the voters of Bangladesh, who, ultimately, must decide if their democratically elected prime minister should be allowed to demolish their country’s most celebrated contribution to its own people and the global community.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2012/08/opinion_microfinance_pioneer_g.html" target="_blank">Source : </a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167357907932909384.post-77425712804987838572012-08-18T07:12:00.001-07:002012-08-18T07:15:27.423-07:00The Assam clashes are about land and livelihood, not religion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_CAJ7Ni6Uuv3ItN5uzwxgwk7vei7wKLvSkIl3vMtrciU-15Iz8nlx7Myl-oElOLxLZxfPUpcoiqIKe4Trd7c4mVOZkuF44SXHiU26X0zbaKY1Z4BCl7UgR1YRDHLoCnD3CgzMsqgYEg/s1600/164351_1559269056967_1092485704_31273001_5975621_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_CAJ7Ni6Uuv3ItN5uzwxgwk7vei7wKLvSkIl3vMtrciU-15Iz8nlx7Myl-oElOLxLZxfPUpcoiqIKe4Trd7c4mVOZkuF44SXHiU26X0zbaKY1Z4BCl7UgR1YRDHLoCnD3CgzMsqgYEg/s400/164351_1559269056967_1092485704_31273001_5975621_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #ea9999;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bertil Lintner</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;">AS BERTIL LINTNER </span>mentions in the introduction of Great Game East, the expression “Great Game” was originally used to denote the struggle between two western powers to wrest control of energy-rich Central Asia. Across the Himalayas, in the east, another great game has been on for some time now between the two Asian giants — India and China. The fight began over Tibet and now includes Northeast India, Myanmar, Bangladesh and the Indian Ocean. Lintner has even devoted one chapter to Indo-Bangladesh relations in his book. Here, he talks to <span style="color: red;">Kunal Majumder</span> about the ongoing violence in Assam and how the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), once a nationalist movement, ended up becoming a pawn in the great game.</div><br />
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<div class="style3" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="color: orange;">EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW</span></span></div><div class="style3" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="normantext" style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Your book has an entire chapter on the relationship between Assam and Bangladesh. What is your reading of the ongoing situation in Assam?</b></span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<span style="color: orange;">TEHELKA </span>described it quite well. It’s not religious. It’s not Muslims versus Hindus. It’s a struggle for land. There is a lot of pressure on land both because of increase in internal population and massive migration from Bangladesh. Naturally, people from Bangladesh are Muslims and that adds that dimension to it.</span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="normantext" style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>But certain interests in India are calling it a grand design to Islamise Assam. Do you find any credibility in such assumptions?</b></span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
It is possible. But I’m not sure if it is the main reason people are moving from Bangladesh into India. Certainly, Islamic groups will want to take advantage of the situation. Migration to India, first from East Pakistan, and then Bangladesh has always been there. One reason this happens in Assam is votebank politics. If you look back at the Assam Agitation, it was a movement against the so-called foreigners moving into Assam. Not only Bangladeshis, Nepalis too were being evicted. It is not about religion, it is about land and livelihood.</span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="normantext" style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Isn’t it ironical that the ULFA based its politics on an anti-Bangladeshi immigrant stance but eventually accepted Dhaka’s help to fight India?</b></span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
The ultimate irony is that the movement began as an anti-foreigner movement — less Nepal, more Bangladesh — and they have been exiled in Bangladesh. Assamese militants I met in Bangladesh were not happy to be there but they thought they had no choice. They were being used by Bangladesh intelligence services to create trouble in India. The Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), more than the Awami League, were behind this policy. Things shifted in Bangladesh depending on who was in power. If the Awami League was in power, the ULFA was sent to Thailand. When Sheikh Hasina came to power for the first time in the 1990s, the entire leadership arrived in Bangkok save Paresh Barua, who was too useful for the Bangladeshi security establishment. He was close to Pakistan’s ISI as well.</span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="normantext" style="color: red; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The ULFA has now split. Almost everyone in the top leadership is negotiating with the Government of India. Where does Paresh Barua’s future lie?</b></span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
I first met Barua in 1985 in a Naga camp in northwestern Burma. The Burmese army attacked the camp. He was an excellent fighter, much better than any other Naga. Unlike Arabinda Rajkhowa, who was more intellectually motivated, Barua was the most militant of all ULFA leaders and more politically motivated. The second time I met Barua was in Bangkok. He had come from Singapore, where he revealed that the ISI were encouraging the ULFA to increase their activities in Assam because troops were being withdrawn from the Northeast for Kashmir. It was in Pakistan’s interest to reignite some kind of unrest in the region so that India could move its troops back from Kashmir. This was quite telling. I was quite surprised he was ready to tell me that. I met him for the third time in a safe house in Dhaka, escorted by two Bangladeshi intelligence officers, who were not particularly happy to see me around. Whether you sympathise with them or not but from being a nationalist movement, the ULFA became a pawn in the hands of the establishment of all countries.</span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.tehelka.com/story_main53.asp?filename=Ne250812Assam.asp" target="_blank">Source :</a></span></div><div class="normantext" style="text-align: justify;"></div></div>Admin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15779884355133821523noreply@blogger.com