Sheikh Hasina’s ‘Hard Talk’ with BBC World

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her Hard Talk interview with BBC World in London, broadcast four times on July 31, was patently hitting hard at her interviewer, hurling back questions in response to questions.


She simply stuck to her guns, unwavering about her expressed position, right or wrong, over her own versions of factual and statistical representation (or misrepresentation) of issues raised. Nevertheless, the interviewer Stephen Sackur, by dint of well-researched, polite and incisive questions, left the general impression that our poor country Bangladesh was in trouble, at the dire mercy of an illiberal ruler and a self-righteous blusterer.

As a sample, I quote hereunder a section of the interview wherein she evades a straight answer to why she was refusing to publish the World Bank’s letters about alleged corruption in the Padma Bridge project:

BBC: The World Bank sent a letter outlining their concerns, there were at least four different itemised concerns about corruption, now you have the opportunity to publish that letter to tell the Bangladeshi people exactly what the concerns were. You constantly refused to do that, why will you not publish that letter?

PM: You cannot do that because there is an embargo.

BBC: No, the World Bank is happy to do that.

PM: No it is not true. They cannot do it.

BBC: Of course they can, they say …

PM: Then ask them to publish.

BBC: But they say they cannot publish.

PM: Why not? Why not?

BBC: Because that’s how World Bank’s relationship with individual states work. You have the right, they do not.

PM: Listen, the letter doesn’t mean anything. They could not supply any substantial proof with that letter. Just a letter cannot prove there is corruption. Time and again we asked them [for proof].

BBC: The opposition says that the letter points at you and other senior figures of your government, is that true?

PM: Listen, you can point at anybody and the opposition can do it. It is the opposition’s job. My point is, our Anti-Corruption Commission is already investigating it and they asked the World Bank to send all the documents and they refused to send. Now my question is if they have substantial proof why they refused to send all the papers and documents they have? They are not giving [those], I personally want it. At first, they sent two letters to me that was not my government, not my ministers. I pointed out this was the previous government. So you give me the proof. Twice they did it but they could not prove. So, unnecessarily you cannot just accuse anyone without substantial proof ... that is important.

BBC: Prime Minister, let me put it this way. It seems a shame for the Bangladeshi people, many of them living in dire poverty that your relationship with the World Bank has soured so badly. It also seems a shame for the Bangladeshi people that your relationship with one of the most respected business leaders in your country, the Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus has also soured so badly.

Indeed, the suggestion that Sheikh Hasina’s own name came up on account of close family members who might have been implicated in a World Bank letter on Padma Bridge project appears to have been derived from wild speculations amongst white-collared Bangladeshis settled or in sojourn abroad. Rumour is rife in North America that a couple of her close relations came under investigation of Canadian Mounted Police who have already prosecuted two functionaries of a big consultancy company on charges of a bribery deal. The couple is said to have fled Canada. Their passports may have been impounded or cancelled in absentia. In Bangladesh also, BNP leader Barrister Moudud is said to have hinted in a television talk-show that he heard about close relations of the Prime Minister who have fled North America under the shadow of corruption investigations, and they now live in Bangladesh unable to go back.

In North America, it is further rumoured that Bangladesh Prime Minister’s renewed moves to pin down Grameen Bank founder Professor Mohammad Yunus for financial irregularities are prompted by her desperation to find a quid pro quo bargaining chip for out-of-court “political” settlement of charges under investigation against her close relations. Her advisers are rumoured to have cited the example of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, who made “political bargains” with the USA to persuade the-then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan to promulgate a law to condone and by state intervention halt the proceedings in a Swiss court against Zardari and Benazir Bhutto. Unfortunately, the rumours suggest, there is no political meat in the bargain purported to be sought by Sheikh Hasina, whereas clearance for Benazir-Zardari for return to power game in Pakistan in the context of America’s war in Afghanistan and a failing Musharraf in Pakistan was a weighty geopolitical choice, however unsavoury.

Bangladesh Prime Minister’s latest moves against Professor Yunus also appear to have stumbled on a false start. By cabinet decision, Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) were ordered to find out whether the earnings abroad of Prof. Yunus and foreign contributions obtained by him for Grameen Bank and other companies were regular and properly taxed. It transpired that Grameen Bank has been allowed tax-free status on all forms of income by the NBR up to December 2015. Capital inputs are not taxable any way. Under a gazette notification by the Internal Resources Division dated 13 July, 2004, all foreign earnings brought into Bangladesh was declared tax-free, irrespective of the beneficiary being resident or non-resident in Bangladesh. The Grameen Companies are registered with the Income Tax Department as regular tax-payers. The basis for investigation for possible tax-evasion therefore hardly holds.

The other investigation instituted by cabinet order is whether the salaries drawn by Professor Yunus as Managing Director, after he became age-barred under Bangladesh Bank regulation of age limit for Commercial Bank Managing Directors (Grameen Bank is not a commercial bank and was formed under a separate act), were illegally drawn. Professor Yunus obtained only due-remunerations for his services. If there was any irregularity in his continuing as Managing Director, the onus lied with the Board of Directors including government representatives who appointed him and insisted on his continuing in service, and with Bangladesh Bank which failed to raise any objection until 2010. The appointee cannot be held responsible for being duly remunerated for duties performed. The witch-hunt is therefore more for propaganda than for substance.

It is for propaganda without substance again that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made, in her BBC-World interview, a faux pas claiming that her government has reduced poverty by 10% in 3 years compared to meagre performance by Grameen Bank. Here is what she said:

BBC: Why did you call him (Prof. Mohammad Yunus) a bloodsucker of the poor?

PM: You go to Bangladesh, you see with your eyes, then you will see. But how could he say I said it? Did I mention his name? I didn’t. I said someone. But why it occurred in your mind …

BBC: Sorry, so let’s be clear about this. So are you now denying that you have said Mohammad Yunus is a bloodsucker of the poor?

PM: No, I am not denying anything. I am putting a question to you, why it occurred in your mind that it is him? Why?

BBC: I have been reading the Bangladeshi press, everybody it seems in the Bangladeshi media believes that you referred to him directly when you used this phrase “a bloodsucker of the poor.” If you want to retract or if you want to tell me you didn’t mean him, then that’s fine.

PM: Listen, listen, I am telling one thing. Taking interest 40%, 30% or 45% from these poor people—is it fair? It is not. How can these poor people stand by themselves? If you lend money and take 35 to 45% interest, it’s a shame.

BBC: So the entire model built by Grameen Bank and Mohammad Yunus which has been celebrated around the world as a way of lifting poor people out of poverty—you are saying you do not accept it, you do not want it.

PM: I want that there should be an enquiry [to know] how many people have come out from poverty because of that. If there’s one village, how many people? Poverty reduction has been done by my government. Within three years we reduced poverty by 10%. So it is our government. And about this Grameen Bank, it is a government statutory body ... it was established by government.

The Prime Minister conveniently forgot that over three decades, poor members of Grameen Bank had saved bit by bit to build 97% of the capital of Grameen, which is also their bank by existing statue, whereas the government failed to place reciprocal capital contribution after the initial share money, and was thereby reduced to 3% shareholding only. Her suggestion that Grameen is a Government bank comes from command economy mentality. If the Grameen Bank Act makes it a government body, then any Chamber of Commerce and Industry or any sectoral Association functioning under relevant statutes also becomes a government body. A private members’ club wherein government servants have special privileges and are registered under Societies’ Act also becomes a government body. They are not. They are simply government-recognised bodies.

Speaking about poverty reduction, citizenry in Bangladesh see it and know very well, even if the outside world may not, that in three years of Sheikh Hasina’s current rule, the poor have become poorer by sustained price spiral and crises in all sectors of production and employment. Small savers have been pauperised by chronic sickness of the share markets after repeated scams. Even the vulnerable group development or other welfare and relief programmes of the government have only nominally reached the poor after meeting heavy rent-seeking demands of government functionaries and ruling party spongers at various levels. On paper there is no real statistical evidence of poverty reduction either in the last three years. There is evidence of growth that fed fat racketeers and land grabbers, and bloated the black economy under government protection and beyond the reach of the poor.

The BBC interviewer Stephen Sackur saved his trump card in his HARD talk with Sheikh Hasina till near the end. He candidly suggested that perhaps it was time for Sheikh Hasina (and Khaleda Zia) to step down to allow “new” leadership to step in and run Bangladesh affairs. Here is the vainglorious rebuttal he obtained:

PM: We have the vision—Vision 2021. Already we have adopted our programmes, the sixth five-year plan for dynamic development. We have already started implementing it. And up to 2021, we have mission to develop the country and the long term programme. So I believe that I can bring change because my politics is for people. I do politics not only to bring changes to our politics but also I want to make sure that our people get their basic needs, fundamental rights, and through that way I am working. So I believe that only I can do it.

BBC: As you said this, another question popped up in my mind. “Only I can do this,” you said. In Bangladesh, there is a long struggle between you and Khaleda Zia. So the best thing for Bangladesh is introducing a different political view. So leave the stage for new.

PM: If people want.

BBC: You want to run the country again.

PM: Of course, I will do, if my party permits me. If my people permit me. I do politics for my people, for my party. I mean it is not “I”, it is my party. Actually, I should have used the word “our.”

BY :   Sadeq Khan.

BOOK ON MOSSAD CONFIRMS Israel murdered Iranian nuclear scientists

Washington is attempting to redraw the political map of the entire Middle East. It threatens not only region-wide conflict but the involvement of the powers it is trying to exclude from this area of vital geostrategic concern, Russia and China.

 

It has worked with a motley collection of pseudo-liberals, Islamists and ex-regime loyalists to launch a NATO-led war against Libya and now to topple the Assad regime in Syria. In each case, the US is relying on political forces backed by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Egypt and Turkey.

 

Published on July 7, “Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars” written by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, is a vivid history of Israel’s intelligence services led by Mossad. The book unequivocally states that Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, assassinated five of Iran’s top nuclear scientists over the last five years, as part of a broader campaign aimed at sabotaging the country’s nuclear programme.

 

It is already widely acknowledged that the Western powers are mounting a covert terrorist campaign to destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. But new allegations – by authors Yossi Melman, a leading Israeli military and intelligence journalist who writes for Ha’aretz, and Dan Raviv, a CBS national political correspondent – reveal that the assassinations were all carried out by Mossad operatives who used “safe houses” maintained inside Iran since the Shah’s era.

 

These were not contract killings, but “blue and white” operations—a reference to the colour of Israel’s flag. Mossad operatives from Kidon, a unit responsible for assassinations and kidnappings, conducted the murders.

 

The authors of ‘Spies Against Armageddon’ are not left-wingers seeking to expose Mossad’s criminality.

 

 They glorify its services to Israel. Melman is on record as supporting an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran, penning an article in Ha’aretz in April 2009 headlined, “I would advise Netanyahu to attack Iran—Such a move would serve the interests of the West and the Arab world, but they can ill afford to admit it”.

 

Iranian Jews, Wikileaks

The book suggests that most of the assassins were Israelis of Iranian origin who probably held dual nationality and an Iranian passport. Tens of thousands of Iranian Jews left Iran after the 1979 revolution, many moving to Israel. Mossad selected and trained a few of them or their Farsi-speaking children. These agents have been able to access Iran regularly by numerous routes, including the Kurdish region and some of the states in the Caspian Basin, such as Azerbaijan, with which Israel has close relations.

 

US State Department cables in 2007 released by Wikileaks indicate that Mossad had planned to use its established links with disaffected minority groups in Iran—Baluchi, Azeri and Kurdish minorities, including Islamist groups—to delay Iran’s nuclear project. Mossad chief Meir Dagan rejected subcontracting such sensitive missions as assassinations in Iran’s capital to mercenaries.

 

The book makes clear that Washington was well aware of Mossad’s campaign of “covert measures” and “counter-proliferation”, if not the timing and specific details, so that the White House could preserve deniability.

 

“Covert measures”

 

Last December, nuclear scientist Professor Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, was killed in a car bomb in Tehran after a motorcyclist was seen attaching a magnetic device to his car. The bomb killed Roshan’s bodyguard, who was driving the car, and wounded an 85-year-old passer-by. Roshan was a professor at a Tehran technical university and a supervisor at the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. He had met with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors days before he was assassinated.

 

In January 2010, a remote-controlled bomb killed Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a Tehran University nuclear scientist.

 

In November 2010, another car bomb blast killed Majid Shahriyari, a professor of nuclear engineering at Shahid Behest University.

 

An attempt to kill Feredeyoun Abbasi-Davani, the head of the physics department at Imam Hossein University, failed because he jumped out of his car in time.

 

In July 2011, gunmen in Tehran shot physicist Dr. Darioush Rezai.

 

Another scientist died supposedly as a result of carbon monoxide from a heater in his home.

 

There have been a series of unexplained explosions at Iranian military sites. A November 12, 2011, explosion destroyed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard base at Bid Kaneh, killing 17 people. A massive blast in December 2011 destroyed much of a facility for enriching uranium in Isfahan, killing dozens. One of those who died was Revolutionary Guard Major General Hasan Moghadam, in charge of developing long-range missiles and responsible for liaison with Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

 

Stuxnet virus, sanctions

Mossad’s other strategies included attempts to close down Iran’s international supply chain, shipping faulty components, planting a computer virus known as Stuxnet to disrupt the Siemens computerised system that runs centrifuges in Natanz, and two further cyber attacks, including another computer virus called Duqu.

 

Melman and Raviv recount how Israel’s determination to preserve its own monopoly on nuclear weapons in the region was behind its attack on September 6, 2007, on al-Kibar, in north-eastern Syria. Mossad believed it housed a nuclear reactor designed by North Korea, whose purpose was to produce plutonium as the fissile material for bombs.

 

The assassinations serve to intimidate scientists and their families. Mossad intelligence believed that some scientists left the programme and scientists from China, Russia, Pakistan and elsewhere turned down invitations to work in Iran.

 

The assassination and terror campaign is being waged alongside the imposition of a list of sanctions against Iran by the United States, Europe and other powers. Washington has dispatched aircraft carriers to the Persian Gulf, amid bellicose statements insisting that “all options” are on the table. There are constant threats from Israel that it will launch a pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as it did against Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007.

 

The book also recounts some of Israel’s highly illegal efforts to develop its own nuclear weapons arsenal, believed to contain at least 200 warheads with the ability to deliver them by intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and aircraft. Israel has never been subject to inspections, as it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

 

Tel Aviv, with Washington’s full backing, routinely denounces Iran as a “state sponsor” of terrorism for providing support to Hamas and Hezbollah, bourgeois nationalist movements that arose in response to Israeli aggression and expansionism, and the Syrian regime of President Assad.

 

No reliable evidence

Washington and Tel Aviv accuse Tehran of illegally producing enriched uranium that serves as fuel energy or components for medical uses for nuclear weapons, a much more complicated purification process, without citing any reliable evidence. At the same time, the US has approved India’s and Pakistan’s development of nuclear weapons outside the framework of the international inspection regime.

 

For some years, Israel has maintained that Tehran is “just a year away” from being able to produce nuclear weapons. It carries out assassinations, bombings and sabotage campaigns, while the corporate media excuses these crimes and demonises their targets. This is entirely in line with the total silence on the criminal and reckless character of US policy in the region and its hypocrisy in waging a supposed “war on terror” while supporting terrorist actions against regimes it has targeted for removal. Much less will commentators explain the real reasons for the endless provocations against Tehran—US determination to secure its hegemony over the oil-rich Middle East and Caspian region.

 

Ever since the overthrow of the Shah’s regime in 1979, Washington has been determined to end Iran’s challenge to US strategic interests. Contrary to expectations, the war on Iraq has served to strengthen Iran’s position in the region. This, and the mass movement of the working class that brought down longstanding US allies Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, threatening to destabilise America’s allies in the Gulf, have led the US to pursue its agenda against Tehran ever more recklessly.

 

Source :

  

PADMA BRIDGE : Country approaching crash landing

“I  bow  my  head  and  apologize  for  causing  concern to  the  people  with  these  incidents “, South  Korea’s  President  Myung- Bak  said  in  a brief  televised  apology  to the  nation for  the  corruption cases  allegedly involving  his   elder  brother and  close  aides. “It breaks my heart that such regrettable things have happened among people close to me”, he added solemnly. His  predecessor  Roh  Moo  Hyun went  up the hill and shot himself  when allegations  of  graft  were  brought  against  him. Before  committing  suicide  he left  a  note which  read: “Too  many  people  suffered  because  of  me and  I  cannot  imagine  the  suffering  they  will  go  through  in  future”.

 

No  one  ever  apologizes  in  this  country “for  causing  concern  to  the  people”.  Regrettable  things  happening  among people  close to  the  rulers  never  break  their  hearts. People in  authority  consider  themselves  to  be  the  masters  of  the voting  public. Power  and  its  pursuit is  their  only  aim  and  they  are  there  to  wield  it using  the  coercive power  of  the  state  and  manipulating  public affairs.  

About  a  year ago, large  potholes  in the  roads  and  highways  and  cracks  in  the  bridges  rendered  the  country’s  road communication  network  almost  intractable. Outraged  people  took  to  the  streets demanding  resignation  of  the  communication  minister  whom   his  parliamentary  colleagues   censored  for  corruption  and inefficiency. Almost coincidentally  the  World  Bank put  him on the  dock for  his  involvement  in  the  alleged  corruption  conspiracy  in  the  bidding  process  of  the  construction  of  the  Padma bridge . For  long  nine  months  the  agency  kept  on  pressing  the  government   to  take  the  remedial  measures  which  included  removal  of  the  minister as  a  precondition  to  the   disbursement  of  the  soft term credit  repayable in 40  years  with  10  year moratorium. Ultimately  the obstinacy of the  minister  and   foolhardiness  of  the  government  resulted  in scraping   the  credit  agreement, bringing ‘disgrace’, ‘humiliation’, and ‘insult’ to  the  entire  nation.    

 

The  government, instead  of  apologizing to  the  people   for   its  ineptness and  vulnerability  which  caused  the  national  disgrace, humiliation  and  insult  reacted  in  the  most  intemperate  manner  hurling  counter  accusations and  abuses  at  the International  Bank  for  Reconstruction  and  Development (WB) which  having  reconstructed  the   war  ravaged  western  Europe  and  Japan  dedicated itself  to  the  task  of  creating  a  poverty  free  world. The  outgoing  president  of  the world  organization  became  the  singular  target  of  attack  and the US – the world’s  only  superpower – was dragged  into  the  controversy as a  country  which , according to  the PM and  some cabinet  ministers,  was never  a  friend  of  Bangladesh.  A  cabinet  meeting  was  called  in  indecent  haste  where  it  was decided  that  the  government  would  make  no  further  request to  the  World  Bank  resolving  conclusively  that the  bridge  would  be  built with the  country’s  own  resources. Two bank accounts   were opened to collect the funds. Ministers  donated  a  day’s pay and  kids  in  the primary  schools  agreed  to  donate  their  Tiffin  money. 

 

One  economist came  up  with  the  device  by  which  an  astronomical  amount  of 90,000 cr taka  can  be  collected  and  with  that  not  one  but  five  bridges  can  be  built. The chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said in  a  press  conference  on  July  25 that  the  revenue  authority  was  actively  considering imposition  of a  new surcharge to  raise  funds for  the  project. “We  are  working  on  implementing the  cabinet  decision”, he  said and added “The NBR may consider a 10 percent tax rebate on donations to the two bank accounts.”

 

The  nation  was  shocked  when  a   student of  Rajshahi  university was killed in a scuffle over the sharing of the toll  collected  in the name of the bridge. Earlier the Deputy Leader of the House authorized the student front of the ruling party to collect the tolls. Thereupon the students activists of the party went on a rampage   and  the  situation  came  to  such  a  pass  that  the  Finance  Minister  had  to  issue a statement asking  the public to beat up the  toll  collectors.  Things went beyond control and the Education  Minister Promptly  issued  a  handout warning  stern  action  if any  institution, person  or  teacher  collected  money  in  the  name  of  the  bridge. A  show  cause notice  was  also  served  on  Monipur  school  and  college  in  the  capital  city for  collecting  tolls  for  the construction of the $3.0 billion  bridge over  the mighty river Padma.

 

All  these  incidents  and  the  government’s  mishandling  of  the  entire  matter  caused  huge  public  uproar  and  the  defiant  minister  who  has  a  track  record  of  passport  forgery  which  is  a  criminal  offence, finally  surrendered  to  the  national  and  international  pressure and  on  24  July   resigned  in  utter  disgrace.  The  country  suffered  loss  of  face  before  the   international  community   and  no apology  was  offered  to  the  people  by  anyone  in  government  for  having  caused  so much  concern  and  indignity. The  Prime  Minister, on  the other hand, praised  the minister as a patriot, stepping up her stinging attacks on  the World  Bank  and  told  her  party men in  London  that it  is  possible  to  build  the  bridge without  foreign  assistance. 

 

Funnily, her  Finance  Minister  has  been  tracking  in  a  totally  different  terrain. On  24   July  he  came  out with  four  options  on  the  bridge  funding. Under the  first  option, he said, the  government  would  look  to  revive  the  deal  on   the  $2.9 billion  credit  offered  by  four  development  partners, namely  the  WB, ADB, JICA and IDB. The second option would be to form new consortium comprising ADB, JICA and IDB. The third option would be the Malaysian offer. “Building  the  bridge  with  our  own  financing is our fourth and last option, which will be undertaken  only  after  failure  of  the  first  three  options”, he  told  the  reporters.  

 

“The  JICA  president  is  now  in  Washington  to  have a  meeting  with  the  World  Bank  President”, he  said  adding  that  he  had  requested  the  JICA  chief  to  discuss  the  Padma  bridge issue  with  the  World  Bank  president. The  incumbent  communication  minister  surprised  all  when, on July  27  he  said, “It  is  now  more  important than  the  construction  of  the  Padma  bridge  to  make  the  roads  fit  for  a  smooth  journey”. 

 

In  the situation, it  is  clear that  people  with  diverse  temperament  have  been  placed  in  positions  of  responsibility where  they  can  indulge  every  whim. Some  pundits  close  to the  ivory  tower  have  suggested  issuing  bonds to  raise  money. It  means  nothing  but  simply  borrowing  money  to  be  repaid  from  future  tax  revenues. These   bonds  are  indeed  an  unmanageable  debt  which  will  be  crushing  as  the  total  national  income remains  static  over time .

 

The  ruling  class  has  been  behaving  like  a  reckless  driver who  has  lost   control of  his  wheels  in  traffic  jam  and  the  country is  approaching  a crash landing. Inability  to  govern  the  country and  loss  of  popular  support  have  created  a  stress  factor verging  on  recklessness leading  to  insanity . They  are  now  prone  to  give  a  free  play  to  their  prejudices  devoid  of  any  sense  of  reality .  

 

This  country  has  certain  unique  traits  which  must  be  perceived  in  the  light of  reality  before  going  for  wild  goose  chase. Eighty  percent  of  the  people  here  live  in  the  village  and thirty  percent  live  below poverty  level. The government lives beyond means spending money without regard to accountability.

 

Expenditure  in  the  revised  budget  is  fatter  and  the  development  budget  thinner. Subsidy represents 18 percent of the total outlay in the budget. In  the   current fiscal  year  there  is  a 14.5  percent  jump  in  subsidy. The reason is soaring price of petroleum and increased fuel consumption by rental power plant. More  than  three-fourth  of  the tax  revenue  comes  from  indirect  tax  which  include the  tax  collected  at  source. Budget allocation for Annual Development Program is 550 billion taka.  By  the  same  coin, the  budget  shows  an  estimated  deficit  of 521 billion  taka. Tax-payer provided   subsidies  for  goods  and  services  are  said  to  be  justified  because  otherwise  the  poor  would  be  unable  to  obtain  those.  But  such  subsidies  are  used  to  finance  things  seldom  used  by the  poor.

 

Not  everyone  is  equally  efficient  in  building  6.2 kilometre  bridges  over a mighty  river  and not  everyone’s  circumstances  offer  equal  opportunity  to  achieve lower  costs. Padma  bridge  must  be  built  but  it  must  be  cost  effective  providing  proper  service. At  this  stage  empirical  questions  must  be  asked, if  we  are  really  interested  in the  well-being  of  our  people rather  than  an  excitement, perhaps  the  most  important  distinction is  between  what  sounds  good  and works. The  former  may  be  sufficient  for  the purposes  of  politics   but  not  for  economic  advancement of  the people.

 

BY :  Abu Hena.

Preserve Kuakata antique boat: Expert

A French-born Bangladeshi expert on local traditional boats examined the ancient boat that surfaced from beneath the sandy beach in Kuakata recently and said it is a national heritage bearing ethnic history. 

‘I have never seen such an unusual traditional boat,” Yves Marre told The Daily Star after examining it on the beach Monday afternoon. It is important to preserve it now as it is lying at an insecure state,” Marre said.

Marre initiated a traditional boat museum under the banner “Protection and Preservation of National Naval Heritage of Bangladesh”. 

Marre with his project has so far replicated 65 types of traditional wooden boats of Bangladesh and exhibited those boats in France and other European countries. 

Talks are underway to open an exhibition of those boats in the naval museum of Greenwich in London soon. 

“I urge the government to take immediate step to save the boat to preserve our heritage and it is going to be a learning process for generations to come,” he said. 

“The boat should be kept in Kuakata by setting up a museum or at a safe place where tourists can visit it easily, this is going to be a landmark attraction of Kuakata,” he said.

Marre, an internationally acclaimed expert on traditional boats and also managing director for TARATARI Shipyard Ltd at Kalurghat in Chittagong, said the monsoon tides are too high to do anything on the surfaced boat. “We have to wait till November to lift the boat from the sand and start restoration,” he said.

The ancient boat which is believed to be belonging to the first Rakhine settlers from Arakan province in Myanmar over 200 years ago was found on June 29 during the low tide.

On July 11, a team of archaeologists from the Department of Archaeology Khulna office examined the boat and declared that the boat is over 200 years old. It is clearly an unusual boat that the first Rakhaine settlers in the area used for fleeing from Myanmar’s Arakan province, the team leader said. 

Earlier on July 24, Amitav Sarker, deputy commissioner of Patuakhali, visited the ancient boat and asked local authorities to take measures to protect it. 

Meanwhile, Department of Archaeology has formally asked the government to immediately form a committee and to provide funds for lifting the boat and to start restoring it. 

Made of timber of Gorjon tree, the 72-foot long and 22.5-foot wide boat was found near the tamarisk garden in Kuakata. 

Source : 

 

PM blasts Dr Yunus

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has strongly criticised Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus for charging high interest rates by the Grameen Bank he founded. 

She came down heavily on Yunus in an interview with the BBC's HARDtalk. The interview was taken during her five-day visit to London that ended Sunday. 

Here is the text of a part of her interview. 

BBC: It seems a shame for the Bangladeshi people that your relationship with one of the most respected business leaders in your country, Noble Laureate Mohammad Yunus, has also soured so badly. Why did you call him a bloodsucker of the poor?

PM: You go to Bangladesh, you see in your eyes then you will see. But how could he say I said it? Did I mention his name? I didn’t. I said someone. But why it occurred in your mind…

BBC: Sorry, so let’s be clear about this. So are you now denying that you have said Mohammad Yunus is a bloodsucker of the poor?

PM: No I am not denying anything. I am putting a question to you, why it occurred in your mind that it is him? Why?

BBC: I have been reading the Bangladeshi press, everybody, it seems, in the Bangladeshi media believes that you referred directly when you used this phrase ‘a bloodsucker of the poor’. If you want to retract or if you want to tell me you didn’t mean him, then that’s fine.

PM: Listen, listen, I am telling one thing. Taking interest 40 percent, 30 percent or 45 percent from these poor people – is it fair? It is not. How can these poor people stand by themselves? If you lend money and take 35 to 45 percent interest, it’s a shame.

BBC: So the entire model built by Grameen Bank and Mohammad Yunus which has been celebrated around the world as a way of lifting poor people out of poverty – you are saying you do not accept it, you do not want it.

PM: I want there should be an enquiry that how many people come out of poverty because of that. If there’s one village, how many people? Poverty reduction is done by my government. Within three years we reduced 10 percent poverty. So, it is our government. And about this Grameen Bank, it is a government statutory body.

BBC: Isn’t it the truth that you forced Mohammad Yunus out of his role in Grameen Bank after he tried to setup an independent political party in 2007, that’s why you turned against him?

PM: Listen, that time I was in custody, I was in jail when he tried to form his political party. He was such a big person so why he failed? He has every opportunity, why he couldn’t form his own party? 

Have you ever thought about it? Well, having said that, I am telling you I didn’t oust him from the Grameen Bank, he himself did it. 

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