Nana chinta, nana bhabna...

Newsflash: The Media Is To Blame!

2005-11-28T09:19:00.000+06:00

We're kind of used to our politicians making statements that would make the average citizen chuckle under his or her breath. Well, this time Nizami joins their ranks. In short, he thinks the prominent media coverage is to blame for the recent rise in militancy in the country. I mean, really, how stupid does he think people really are?

Mahfuz Anam does a pretty good job at putting this pronouncement in perspective.

I should note though that good as this piece may be, it still engages in a kind of vacuous blame-game right at the end that pisses off those who support Jamaat and similar organisations but are not interested in militancy. Yes, the Jamaat of 1971 was complicit in the heinous crimes of that day, and the militants of today certainly draw inspiration from their assassinations of the intelligentsia who, in their mind, represent the enemy, but such broad-sides are not that conducive to building the bridges that we need to at this time.

The jujus are in the house

2005-10-18T00:13:00.000+06:00

With elections only a year away, and the AL putting nothing more than a token resistance and basically falling on their face every time they try to organise something, it seems that the biggest challenge to the BNP is getting its house in order:

"Ministers, MPs took all benefits depriving others: Say aggrieved BNP grassroots leaders" - from The Daily Star

In the same issue, there is another piece that is quite interesting:
"Media: Whipping boy of every unsuccessful government", by Mahfuz Anam

We are attacked, again!

2005-08-18T13:07:00.000+06:00

It has been a horrible day. I've been so angry for so long, I can literally feel my skin crawl. An unprecedented string of bomb attacks began about 24 hours ago, and as of know, we think 400+ bombs went off in 63 of the 64 districts within a span of about 30 minutes, killing 2 people and injuring 125.

I don't know what makes me more angry.

Maybe its the senseless carnage and the wanton disregard of human life and property.

Maybe its the fact that we have retarded leaders, who instead of trying to calm the people down, resorted to their blame games to score a few cheap points. Braindead Hasina spent no time blaming the government while attention-seeking whores in the BNP declared AL had done this to prevent the SAARC Summit from going ahead. Some Islamist parties declared that JMB didn't have the ability to carry this out, others declared such a party did not exist at all, and that the whole thing was a Western-Zionist conspiracy. With divisions like this, no wonder our enemies find it so easy to hit us again, and again, and again.

Or maybe its the fact that our security services were caught with their pants down, and that like the attacks on Hasina and the British High Commissioner and the assassination of Kibria, I can have as much hope that the perpetrators of this attack will be brought to justice as I can expect the next horse to sprout wings.

Of all the people involved, only the terrorists seem to have a plan. Honestly, I don't know who did this, and I am not going to speculate. Knowing our history, it could be anybody. But this I know - this attack defies all norms of human civilization and the government better bloody well get its act together and hunt down these bastards!

Have we not suffered enough?

On Aug 15th

2005-08-16T22:19:00.000+06:00

I just read an incredible piece in the Daily Star on how Mujib is seen by many in he post-liberation generations, and it spelt out exactly how I feel. I'm posting it below; its a must read for any in our younger generations, who can see beyond the need to call a hartal on this day, or celebrate it with 100-lb cakes.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/08/15/d50815090169.htm

Bangabandhu And The New Generation
Connecting with the founder
Asif Saleh
A few days ago, in order to catch a live glimpse of Bangladesh vs Australia cricket match on the Internet, I logged on to a Bangladesh based website called bangladeshlive.net. While we were waiting for the game to start, the website showed a documentary on our liberation war. At one point of the documentary, I saw the March 7 speech of Bangabandhu -- the speech which is known as a big inspiration behind our liberation war. Suddenly I realised that I am 31 years old now and I had never before seen the actual video footage of this great part of our history.

Unfortunately, such is the relationship between the Mujib and post-Mujib generation -- a relationship of disconnect. Most of the post-liberation generation grew up either not knowing anything about him or knowing wrong and fabricated information fed by the two political parties.

After I grew up, the first time I ever saw Bangabandhu on television was when I was 16 -- after the fall of Ershad. Yes, it is hard to believe that in my formative years, I have never read about the founding father of my own country. Whenever, I heard his name mentioned, inevitably it would be in the context of some foolish comparison of him with Ziaur Rahman. As if to admire one of them, you have to hate the other.
I grew up admiring Zia for his personal honesty and leadership. When I was seven, I watched from the roof of our house the grief of hundreds and thousands of people who came for his funeral on Manik Mia avenue. I shed tears like others as well. That created a lasting impression.

I grew up watching the anti-autocratic movement against Ershad and admired the principled stand of BNP leader Khaleda Zia. Yes, I was termed as a BNP sympathiser because of that. Without really thinking about any ideology, I thought as a "Young Turk," Zia's party was always something I could relate to while Mujib's party always refer to this man who I have never seen or can connect to. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to me, was a passing thought. He was a leader whose picture I have seen but whose story I have never read. I only heard about him from my parents and when the forty-something Awami League leaders mentioned him in their speeches in a vague language.

Why am I saying all this? Because that is how me, my friends, and most of the younger generation formed opinion about Bangabandhu in the post-liberation Bangladesh. Lack of information compounded with fierce and bitter fight over the comparative greatness of Mujib and Zia created a permanent block on knowing the truth about him. The more each party tried to portray their version of the history, the more historical facts became the casualty. And the more the young ones like us became distant, bitter, and eventually indifferent about it. In fact, the progressive forces had a lot to lose here because they did not have the state machinery working for them.

However, instead of being empathetic with them, the young generation grew more distant from them. Why? Firstly Awami League brought Bangabandhu down to the level of a petty partisan leader instead of keeping his status as the undisputed father of the nation. Secondly, instead of a progressive and intellectual fight back, they resorted to mindless unquestionable worshiping of Bangabandhu. It became a mantra where if you believed in our liberation war, you had to accept Bangabandhu's greatness -- unquestionably.

Any question that the young, curious, and uninformed mind may have, they will be termed as a neo-razakar. A few years ago, in a related Internet newsgroup, I proposed that AL, instead of blaming others, needed to do serious soul-searching on why they lost in so many elections after the restoration of democracy in 1991. Immediately, I was kicked out of the group moderated by a fierce fan of AL. To him, any criticism of AL was tantamount to blasphemy and therefore it could not be allowed. It goes without mentioning that such arrogance and idol-worshiping of a party and its leader is the last thing you want to do when you are in the business of winning new minds.

The biggest harm this brain-dead fundamentalism had caused was that it made Bangabandhu a distant and untouchable figure from the perspective of the young generation. For example, we often hear that AL has to realise the dream of the Shonar Bangla that Bangabandhu dreamt, but as someone who was brought up during the Mujib black out chapter of our history, how am I supposed to know what his ideas truly meant? No one talks about the very four core principles of the constitution that founded Bangladesh.

Maybe they talk about it in political slogans and vague speeches. But no one talks about it in a language we can understand -- in the context of Bangladesh of today. Ask these unpopular questions, you will be in the black book of Mujib worshipers just like I was.

Such fundamentalist supporters, unfortunately, are the biggest liability for the legacy of Mujib. I have an organisation that is built of young Bangladeshis worldwide. Originally people from all sections were part of it but now I have changed focus and am building the organisation entirely of the young. Partly because it is a lot easier to get an objective and fresh approach from a young mind and partly because their unclouded minds are more focused on implementing an idea rather than just talking about it. Recently, we did a project on creating website on the bomb blasts in Bangladesh -- the backgrounds, the investigations or lack of it, etc.

The principle motivation for this was not letting the facts surrounding these blasts become a causality before it is too late in the midst of blame and counter blames -- like so many other matters of importance in our history. We focused on just documenting the facts and let people make up their minds about it.

Can we find a similar study on Bangabandhu? In any historical matter of importance, finding a objective resource for historical study is a rarity in Bangladesh -- an objective study of Bangabandhu's career is no exception. As we are targeting to start an internship program, I am looking to compile a reading material for on the history of Bangladesh for the 2nd generation Bangladeshis. I know it will be a long struggle to come up with something authentic and objective on Bangabandhu.

Speaking of objectivity, I refer back to the footage of the leader of the nation on March 7 that I started watching on bangladeshlive.net. I admire his speech. Thanks to those twenty-something organisers of the website, I see him unfiltered and unadulterated. As I have grown up now, I have access to more information about him. I gathered a fond interest towards the history of our nation. Now that I think about him, I think of him as a great leader who led a political struggle effectively, but who was a failure as an administrator and a visionary. Now as I have read up a little more on him, I can connect with him a little bit more. I connect with the four principles of the constitution that he led to create. Such a progressive constitution still makes me proud to be a Bangladeshi.

It is time for our younger generation to connect with Bangabandhu like this and be similarly proud of him. It is high time that we rescue him from all the mudslingings of the politics. It is time Awami League brings him down to earth from the unreachable pedestal they have placed him on. It is time BNP stops manufacturing histories about him. Our politicians will do this man a favour by not abusing his name in speeches and on agendas.

They need to realise that only by bringing out the real Bangabandhu will they be appreciated by the public and most importantly by the younger generation. We need to evaluate him and his position in history objectively -- not for personality worshiping but for understanding what we should expect from our political leaders. We need to create the seeds for the next Bangabandhu from this new generation who will learn from his mistakes and be inspired from his accomplishments. We owe it to our nation and to our future generations.
Asif Saleh is the Founder and Executive Director of diaspora human rights organisation Drishtipat.org.

"Someone Tell the President the War Is Over"

2005-08-15T02:44:00.000+06:00

The New York Times usually has good op-eds, but this one was particularly good.

(c) Barry Blitt (Source)

Yangoon the prat, Delhi the bully

2005-07-28T09:06:00.000+06:00

Myanmar pulled a fast one recently. The New Age reported today:

... the Myanmar government has expressed its inability to provide funds to construct the Myanmar portion of the 153-kilometre road link.
The Myanmar government recently, in a letter to Bangladesh government, said that it would not provide any funds from its own resources or seek foreign funds to construct the road connecting the two countries, saying that the project is not in its priority list.
Even Bangladesh’s proposal to persuade donor countries to finance the project has been turned down by the Myanmar government, said a communications ministry official, citing the letter of the Myanmar government.
‘If Bangladesh finds any donor for Myanmar to finance the road link project, we will use the funds for some other priority projects,’ said an official quoting the letter, received early this month.
The letter asked the Bangladesh government to construct the entire road at its own cost or approach donor countries for funds to construct the road on its own initiative.

Can you believe the cheek? Yangoon tells us that not only do they not have the funds for the road, but if we find the funds for them, they're just gonna use it on someting with a higher "priority". Huh?!

Just to put things in perspective, this is what the deal was supposed to be:

According to officials the road, which will stretch from Taungbro to Kyauktaw in Myanmar via Ramu-Gundom to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, was planned to be constructed in two phases at the cost of Tk 933.46 crore. The Bangladesh government, according to the plan, would construct the 43-kilometre road in the first phase, out of which 20 kilometres would be in Bangladesh and 23 kilometres in Myanmar, at a cost of Tk 163.49 crore. The total cost for this would have been borne by Bangladesh. Out of the total sum, Tk 94 crore would have been spent for building the 23-km road from Taungbro to Bawli Bazar inside Myanmar along with two bridges and 90 culverts. Japan had also agreed to provide equipment to Bangladesh for construction of the 43-km road in the first phase, according to officials of the communications ministry. Later, in the second phase, another 110-km stretch of road from Bawli Bazar to Kyautaw in Myanmar would have been constructed at an estimated cost of Tk 770.26 crore.

We were going out of our way to be nice and make the road for them because this 153-km "Myanmar-Bangladesh Friendship Road" was supposed to be an alternate route for the Asian Highway that would allow us to connect with China and the South East Asian countries without having to go through India, which would have been a good thing because it's been quite a big pain in the butt recently.

And things were going well too - in June, we learnt that the government was planning to start constructing the road in the next fiscal year. There were no objections from the Myanmar side, (and why would there be - we were making their roads for free..), and no signs that things would turn sour.

So you can imagine how ridiculous all this suddenly sounds - a done deal suddenly falls so far off their priority list that we are asked to unilaterally fund a bilateral project.

Why, then, is Myanmar throwing a tantrum like a little kid, going "I won't, I won't, I won't!"?

This is where India comes in.

It so happens that at around the same time, high-level talks were also taking place surrounding the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India gas pipeline that started back in 1997. While Bangladesh stood to earn $125 million as transit fee form the gas pipeline, the clear beneficiaries were India and Myanmar - Myanmar would sell its vast yet unutilised natural gas reserves to generate much-needed revenue, and the gas would go towards meeting India's rapidly growing energy needs. That India already has part-ownership in some of the off-shore reserves, and Myanmar also desperately needs the revenue to prop up its stagnant and close-to-bankrupt economy make the deal particularly sweet for the two.

Seeing this as an opportunity to hash out some bilateral issues with India, Bangladesh decided to tag on three conditions to the tri-nation pipeline project - measures to reduce the trade-imbalance with India, providing corridor for Nepalese and Bhutanese goods to Bangladeshi ports, and access to hydroelectric power from Bhutan and Nepal. Initially, India seemed to be willing to consider these conditions, but later on hardened its stance and ruled out typing bilateral issues to a trilateral deal. Bangladesh, for its part, stuck to its conditions.

When energy ministers from India and Myanmar met in New Delhi on July 6th to explore an alternative route to the pipeline, Bangladesh was given a last minute invitation to make it virtually impossible to attend. The alternative route, by the way, was simply one that would bypass Bangladesh by adding an extra 500 km at a cost of Rs. 250 million to the 900 km pipeline that itself would cost Rs. 450 million.

Bangladesh felt India was trying to play hardball, and wished it 'good luck' - it felt there was no way the pipeline would be viable, not only because of the extra cost of the circuitous route that would have to pass through very difficult terrain, but also because India's NE is infested with separatists who would like nothing more than a pipeline to blow up every once in a while, making it a security nightmare for India.

Sure enough, nothing positive was heard about the possibility of pursuing the alternate route. Bangladesh, meanwhile, hinted that it would be willing to negotiate on some of its conditions. There's obviously some margin for negotiations, since we haven't had talks of any sort with Nepal concerning hydroelectricity and Bhutan has no excess supply after meeting India's demands, so one would think that as long as we manage to get the trade issues sorted out, things should work out to everyone's advantage.

It was reassuring to see that Delhi was responding in kind - India requested Bangladesh to reconsider and to that end, the Indian Additional Secretary of the Petroleum Ministry is expected to sit in two-day talks with the Bangladeshi Energy Advisor of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources on August 5th and 6th.

This is the backdrop against which Myanmar is backtracking on the road project. No doubt, it is to create pressure on Bangladesh. Why do I blame India for this diplomatic imbecility on Myanmar's part? India knows that if the road does not happen, Bangladesh will have to use the portion of the Highway through India, something it is loathe to do. Myanmar doesn't have an inherent interest in the pipeline passing through India - it will earn the same revenue and will see little change in its production end, since the Indians will take care of most of the development and distribution investment. On the other hand, the costs for India will change dramatically if Bangladesh does not come on board. So while Myanmar doesn't have an inherent interest, it is forced to consider the demands of its significant customer, and thus has probably been asked to play some hardball itself.

What the outcome of this situation will be is hard to tell. Myanmar will probably be made to rescind its decision by India if it manages to negotiate successfully with Bangladesh. It does put us in an uncomfortable position though - we not only stand to lose the transit fee revenue if this doesn't work out, but it also chokes one of our accesses to the South East. The prestige issue given the significance of this road project in our Look East Policy can't be ignored either.

A little bit of outside help would also be nice at this point. China has emphasised the importance of the Chittagong-Kunming connection via Myanmar a few times and it could be asked to tell Myanmar to stop bullshitting around - China being a major patron of theirs and all.

Irrespective of the outcome though, Myanmar will have lost our trust by its reckless behaviour. I doubt it cares though - Myanmar's military junta is nonchalant about many important matters that relate to the average citizen, and I wouldn't expect concerns of bad business etiquette to be high on its agenda. This "Friendship" Road might still happen, but the trust that is important in any important friendship will have already been lost.

A post about nothing

2005-07-19T05:26:00.000+06:00

I think I'm suffering from news fatigue.

Its harder being a news junkie these days than ever before. There is just so much going on, and most of it is quite depressing. You start wondering, at which point, really, did the world start falling apart at the seams? Can't help but think, the world's gone mad - bloody mad!

At home, a disturbing number of innocent young men are falling victim to extra-judicial killings by elite crime-busting squads because of some old vandetta or simply as a result of mistaken identity. A Canadian MNC is getting away with burning our resources into thin air, literally, and we're left wondering how they got paid in the millions without a contract, while leaving a trail of incredible incompetence and corruption in its wake. And the toothless opposition is preparing to protest something for the millionth time, and for the millionth time yet, we're all going to sigh and look away, tired and nonchalant, with rickshawpullers and taxidrivers wondering if its their vehicle that's destined to be sacrificed at the altar of political violence.

Abroad, you wake up one day to find that otherwise normal folks, like the bloke you could've been playing cricket with on any other afternoon, or the teacher who could've subbed in your sibling's school, have gone and blown themselves up in London. In Iraq, you pray that you won't get blown up while you do the day's grocery shopping or get mowed down by GIs on your way back because they weren't quite sure if it was groceries or something much less wholesome that you were carrying. And all this while, Sharon prepares to scream "lights, camera, action!!" for Act 7, Part 13 of his favourite production, "Let's Fuck Up The Palestinians Just a Wee Bit More!".

I dread reading the news now; every day, its more of the same, and while its a habit of old that's hard to kill, catching up on news has become the thing I put off until I've run all the errands for the day, as opposed to the first thing that I used to do even before I'd had breakfast.

I think what really did it for me, and has just had me disgusted since by the state of world affairs, is when I finished reading the book, "Shake Hands With The Devil", by Romeo Dallaire, the UN Force Commander in Rwanda during the genocide. His vivid descriptions of horrors that you wouldn't think human beings would be capable of leaves one shaken, disturbed and with a sick feeling in the stomach. A book like this also makes you realise how we've all become so desensitized to the horrors going on around us, that in addition to shaking hands, we as humans wink, smile, wave, and even embrace the devil, and not even realise it.

Not realise, that is, until it all comes crashing down one day and everything seems to be part of one big, degenerate mass.

Screw the news. Its 5 am, I'm going to bed.

Revising 1971

2005-07-07T02:47:00.000+06:00

As a Bangladeshi, we're not new to people trying to rewrite history when it comes to 1971. But sometimes, every once in a while, someone manages to come up with some idea that makes you really sit up and take note. Sarmila Bose recently managed to do that. An academic at George Washington University, she recently gave a presentation in which she said there was no evidence of rape by the Pakistan Army in 1971 in the case studies she conducted.

This was immediately taken up my the Pakistani media and extrapolated to mean that there were no rapes committed by the Army in 1971 - period. Its not unexpected - many still fume at the ignominy of their defeat and still desperately try to return some dignity to their forces, and as a result often resort to half-truths and lies.

Dr. Bose has not published her completed research yet, but Drishtipat has been following the issue closely with whatever information is available:

Pakistani Army not responsible for 71 rapes?!
Pakistan Army unappreciated for “gallantry” in 1971: Sarmila Bose’s revisionism continues
A Rebuttal from Zafar Sobhan
Sarmila Bose’s paper

There is much to say given what we already have, but I think the one thing that stands out is her overtly sympathetic treatment of the Pak Army - as though they were Blue Helmets, and not the enforcers of a systematically oppressive regime. And the evidence against the implications of her findings is so volumnous that listing them all would probably take more paper than what it would take to present her entire research.

I'll save comments on her paper itself till after she publishes her findings.

----------
Update (July 8th) : Sarmila Bose sent a clarification to Uttorshuri.

Haire America

2005-07-04T06:22:00.000+06:00

I was watching the Live 8 concert on ABC, and was pretty amused to see ads for TrimSpa X32 - a revolutionary weight loss product. Pretty stupid, that, when you think the Live 8 concert is about poverty, and people not getting enough to eat... You'd imagine someone would have pointed that this might seem a little insensitive.

Yeah Right...

2005-07-02T09:22:00.000+06:00

I just listened to President Bush proposing doubling US aid to Africa over the next five years and had a déjà vu!

I am having the same kind of feeling of overwhelming scepticism that I had when I heard him pledge $15 billion over 5 years to Africa to fight HIV/AIDS and poverty in his State of the Union speech in 2003. I find myself muttering, "yeah right...", just as I did then. And from the forced applauses from his audience as the President paused at strategically placed sound bites, it seemed as though I wasn’t alone in the "yeah right..." crowd either.

So why exactly is the Leader of the Free World evoking a "yeah right..." reaction on this important issue?

The President proposed the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) as the mechanism to this provide development assistance, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was established on January, 2004 to administer the MCA. Though well shy of the average of $3 billion a year over those five years, Congress did provide nearly $1 billion in initial funding for FY04 and $1.5 billion for FY05, and one could argue that $1 billion or $3 billion, it’s a damn good amount of money to go towards fighting HIV/AIDS and poverty.

Well, here’s the kicker – despite billions of dollars being allocated, Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, told the New York Times on June 5 that not a single penny has been disbursed.

Say what?!?

Apparently the MCC has a selection criteria, which it summarises as:

“The MCC will use 16 objective indicators to measure country performance on these three criteria. To qualify, candidate countries are expected to score above the median on half of the indicators in each of the three criteria areas and above the median on the corruption indicator specifically. Given that no quantitative indicator is without flaws, the Board will then review the results, take into account factors such as data gaps or lags and other matters that Congress has indicated should receive consideration, and select the countries that will be eligible for MCA assistance.”

No doubt, other international organisations have similar or more computation intensive, indicator reliant performance criteria that keep MBAs employed across the globe, but they are evaluation criteria, not disbursement ones when it comes to the most needy countries. Mind you, I am not inherently against the selection criteria themselves – if anything, lack of accountability and doling out of aid – no questions asked – has been a problem as far as foreign aid is concerned. But attempts to ensure responsible use of aid should not make the process so onerous as to disqualify a nation from receiving that aid in the first place.

I can’t help but thinking that it would be a problem if the countries that need the aid most are the ones that have the least amount of political, social and economic resources to devote to “scoring above the median in half of the 16 indicators etc. etc. etc.” That is why, despite being “Candidates”, the likes of Angola, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Rwanda don’t make it to the “Threshold” level, let alone be “Eligible” for funds from the MCA.

How, then, is the MCA going to contribute in any significant way towards alleviating global poverty that Mr. Bush was so intent on publicising exactly two years ago during his tour of the African continent if the process itself prevents aid from reaching those who need it most?

It’s not just the principle of the matter that is disturbing. There is a certain Enron-like quality when it comes to accounting and finances under this administration, and I’m not just talking about the fact that despite Congress approving billions, not a penny has been disbursed. Consider this from the New York Times in response to Mr. Bush’s latest proposal for funds to fight malaria:

“The decision to propose a major new program to battle malaria amounted to a policy reversal by Mr. Bush, who five months ago sent Congress a budget request for next year that would have cut funds for anti-malaria programs. The administration sought to cut financing for anti-malaria programs administered by the United States to $58 million from the $90 million enacted by Congress for this year. The House Appropriations Committee has already approved legislation keeping financing at $90 million for next year, and the Senate is seeking an increase to $105 million.”

Such schizophrenic behaviour can probably be attributed to Rove et. al. realising it was about time to vaunt compassionate conservatism once again in the face of sagging support for the President at home and abroad, and as in the State of the Union speech of 2003, the plight of Africa once again became the unfortunate object of the President’s showmanship.

Again, one could argue, money is money, whether it is in the context of anti-malarial programs, or the MCA, and the President has a right to reap political benefit off of it. The problem is, there are always strings attached to it, and one of those strings is “free trade”. In fact, in this speech, he called trade the "engine for development”.

Yet, those on the ground disagree:

“Poorer countries and agencies such as Oxfam also argue that international trade rules are unfair and favour the developed world. They say rich countries "dump" subsidised products on developing nations by undercutting local producers. And they accuse the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of forcing developing nations to open their markets to the rest of the World but failing to lower rich countries' tariff barriers in return.”

Christian Aid also published a report recently:

“… Christian Aid published The Economics of Failure: The Real Cost of 'Free' Trade, a study which said free trade had left Africa £149bn poorer over the past 20 years. The report goes against the theory behind debt relief by arguing that struggling countries in sub-Saharan Africa have lost billions of pounds worth of revenue by opening their economic markets up to foreign imports in return for aid donations.

“Whole countries would be much richer today if they had not been forced to open their markets,” said Dr Claire Melamed, from Christian Aid. “In the past 20 years, trade liberalisation has cost Africa the same amount as it received in aid,” she added.
The Christian Aid reports has urged that any money given to the poorest countries should not involve trade. “If new aid and debt relief comes with strings attached that require countries to liberalise trade, it may well do more harm than good,” said Dr Melamed.”

And in addition to all that, the BBC notes:

“The US Aids fund has been partly stymied by a debate over whether in order to qualify countries have to teach abstinence, rather than condom use, as the key means to prevent the spread of Aids. Its donations can only be used to buy drugs approved by the US drugs authority, the FDA, which excludes many cheaper generic drugs and favours American manufacturers.”

I should also note that there is no mention anywhere of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that the UN has set as a benchmark for countries striving for poverty reduction.

In short, the MCA represents yet another unilateral endeavour by the Bush Administration where he has decided he can do better than the rest of the world, where a Corporation has undertaken a truly corporate approach to address global challenges, including those of HIV/AIDS and poverty – an approach that, according to the people on the ground, is quite removed from reality.

To them, the issue is simple enough. I’m just not sure if only aiding “countries that rule justly, invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom” satisfactorily through the MCA, will necessarily be the best way to save lives and fight poverty in the most devastated countries in the world that would love to do all that, but just can’t – not just yet.

For a detailed, quite sombre treatment of President Bush’s policy in Africa, do read the Africa Policy Outlook reports compiled by Africa Action (links provided below).

Useful links:

Africa’s Ecomony, from the BBC

The Millennium Challenge Corporation

About the Millenium Challenge Account (MCA), from The Brookings Institution

MCA Monitor: Tracking the Millenium Challenge Account, from the Center for Global Development, and their blog, the MCA Monitor Blog.

Africa Policy Outlook 2004, and Africa Policy Outlook 2005, from Africa Action

I made some what!?

2005-06-28T12:42:00.000+06:00

It's an interesting survey - makes you realise all the other things people blog for, and also about your acquaintances and relationships.

Wanted: A One-eyed Man

2005-06-23T05:12:00.000+06:00

On June 23rd, an AL presidium member said:

... a conspiracy against the AL began with the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975. The plot is still continuing and the killings of the AL leaders are not stray incidents, he added.

Sheikh Mujib was assassinated at the backdrop of a socio-political disaster that the BAKSAL era brought about. I can't help but ask, is that the 'plot' he is referring to? Because it wasn't so much as a 'conspiracy' as a desperate measure to remove a regime that was choking the life out of a newly formed nation. To equate Banglabandhu's assassination with that of those of current AL leaders is quite fallacious.

This was at the 56th founding anniversary of the AL, where the usual shopping list of why people should return the AL to power was presented for the millionth time. It went, as it usually does, like this:

- The Liberation War was fought under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib to create a Bangladesh that was to be "free of communalism and economic and political disparity"
- But now, the people are "living in utter misery", with their dreams "shattered with the rise of anti-liberation forces in the government", and the "victory in the Liberation War has become vulnerable today, as the law and order has seriously deteriorated with the government violating human rights."
- Which requires "an immediate change", which the AL is "determined to bring the change by ousting the government"
- So they're going to "launch a new movement" to build a "democratic and non-communal nation through implementing the AL's development programmes", as "dreamt by the father of the nation".

You'll notice that not only is their appeal rooted in history from more than three decades ago, but there is a disturbing disjoint between their version of an egalitarian AL, and the one people seem to remember that was little better than any other party in terms of corruption, human rights violations, and disrespect for law and order.

As for AL's development programmes, I'll believe it when I see it, or atleast hear a coherent articulation of it. What is blatantly lacking in the AL high-command is a vision, and a sense of direction, both in terms of what the party has to offer to the nation, and how they will do things better than the current government. For now, they are waffling about, and hoping that the government will screw up enough so people will choose them as the lesser of two evils.

There are so many things that matter to people that they are unhappy at the government for, yet the AL is either too blind to notice, or too removed from reality to appreciate their importance.

It would be refreshing for someone in the AL to come up with a plan that has some semblance of a vision that cannot be immediately dismissed as hallucinations. Such a leader with a sense of direction would be quite welcome, for as they say, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Nikogate?

2005-06-18T05:14:00.000+06:00

January 9, 2005 - Tengratila Gas Field, Sunamganj
(Courtesy: The Daily Star)

On Jan 7, 2005, a blowout occured at the Chattak-2 (Tangratila) gas field, which was being explored by Canada-based Niko Resources. Initially, a seven-member committee, headed by a joint secretary of the energy division, made a preliminary investigation of the damage immediately after the blow-out and estimated that 1 bcf of gas reserves, worth about Taka 12 crore (Taka 120 million), was lost as a result of Niko's negligent practices and aggressive drilling.

Not quite so, says a four-member committee, headed by Kazi Shahidur Rahman, a senior general manager of the Environment and Safety Division of Petrobangla, which submitted its report to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division. According to them, the losses are more than ten times the initial estimate.

And this does not include estimates on the damage to the reservoir itself, or the surrounding environment.

So what are the chances that this new finding will further strenghten our claims for compensation?

Depends on who is making the claim I guess. Environment and Forest Minister Tariqul Islam has been quite vocal in his demands for compensation, but will State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Division, AKM Mosharraf Hossain find the voice to do so too?

Recently, it was revealed that he received a luxury SUV worth 85 lakh taka from Niko. Sure, Niko and those in the Ministry claim it was all done within the joint-venture agreement, with the official line being Petrobangla provided the State Minister with the new car from its subsidiary Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company Limited (BAPEX), which in turn had received the car from Niko. What is irregular though is that the brand new car was personally handed over to the State Minister by a Niko representative.

This isn't the first time that his questionable dealings with foreign companies have raised eyebrows - Kafco and Marubeni come to mind.

He's abroad right now; I'll be waiting to hear what he has to say when he gets back home.

--------------------------

UPDATE: Jun 19, 2005

Just heard from Channel-i that he's resigned. Such an assumption of personal responsibility is unprecendented in Bangladesh, and he deserves respect for it.

One can only hope that this kind of accountability is here to stay.

Who's out there promoting our image?

2005-06-13T12:26:00.000+06:00

The Washington Times reported:

A senior member of a hard-line Islamic party that is a member of the ruling coalition in Bangladesh is in Washington this week meeting with members of Congress and lobbyists to project a more moderate image of his party. Mohammad Kamruzzaman, the senior assistant secretary general for the Jamaat-e-Islami, is trying to dispel charges that his party was associated with bombings earlier this year against two local aid agencies.

Well, one can give full marks for effort, I suppose. After all, as I've noted earlier, there is a split between the various Islamist parties in Bangladesh, and Jamaat is probably not lying when it says it has nothing to do with the bombings of the NGOs.

When I heard the name though, it seemed to ring a bell. A few Google searches later, it turns out this Kamruzzaman is none other than the infamous Al-Badr organizer of 1971.

He is no. 5 in this list published by the Liberation War Museum:
http://www.bangladeshmariners.com/HmdrRprt/collabo3.html

And here is some more information about his alleged war crimes:
http://muktadhara.net/page42.html (you'll have to scroll down a little)

I don't know if I should be more upset because we couldn't find anyone else to be an ambassador of our country's image other than someone who was opposed to its creation in the first place, or that we, as a nation, are so nonchalant about what it means to be a Bangladeshi that we've actually allowed one of the bigger war criminals of '71 to be rehabilitated to the highest echelons of the government, while many a poor freedom fighter struggle to make ends meet by pulling rickshaws and working as a day labourer.

Debating Islamists

2005-06-06T23:09:00.000+06:00

Not too many years ago, when someone thought about Islamists in Bangladesh, Jamaat-i-Islami, Bangladesh (JIB) was the only party that came to mind, with perhaps the Islami Oikkya Jote making a distant second. That is not the case these days, what with upstarts like the Ahle Hadith Andolan, Bangladesh (AHAB), International Khatme Nabuwat Movement, Bangladesh (IKNMB), JMJB (Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh) and JMB (Jamiyaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) being recent additions that have grabbed more headlines than one would like, and more often that not, for the wrong reasons at that.

Nevertheless, the ability of these smaller organisations to garner more attention than what one would expect their limited constituency to allow has clearly morphed into a threat that the JIB can no longer ignore.

Consider the follwing exchanges:

April 30: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Industries Minister Motiur Rahman Nizami said:

Jamaat has no link to militancy or communalism, but some quarters are making persistent efforts to prove them 'terrorist and Taliban'. "We also don't have anything to do with International Khatme Nabuwat Movement, Bangladesh, who are running a campaign against the Ahmadiyyas. But there is a conspiracy to prove our link, however non-existent, with it in a bid to tarnish out image." Khatme Nabuwat Movement's extremism against the Ahmadiyyas has given the opportunity for the international community to brand the Muslims in Bangladesh as fanatic, he said.

May 14: Maolana Mahmudul Hasan Momtazi of the IKNMB responded:

"On the one hand he says Jamaat-e-Islami has no link with those who lay siege to the Ahmadiyya structures, on the other he claims his party to be Islamic." He also called upon Nizami to leave the post of Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami. US Ambassador Harry K Thomas's visit to the Ahmadiyya prayer centres and Nizami's speech that Jamaat has no link with IKNMB are tied with one line, he added. "If anyone helps America to kill the people of this country, that is none but Jamaat-e-Islami," Mufti Abul Kashem said.

May 28: And finally,

Ahle Hadith Andolan, Bangladesh (AHAB) yesterday said Jamaat-e-Islami paved ways for the arrest of its chief Asadullah Galib to cover up the party's links with militant outfits."Fearing the increasing support for AHAB, Jamaat supported the arrest to gain organisational advantage. The BNP, on the other hand, gained political profit from the arrest," said Abdul Latif, AHAB 'muballig' (promoter). "Jamaat and Shibir are capturing the fields where our men used to dominate, while BNP got instant relief from foreign pressure for action against militants," he explained. Galib maintained relations with a number of Jamaat leaders cherishing Ahle Hadith ideology to convert them to AHAB, the meet was told.

To followers of Bangladeshi politics, these are amazing developments.

Unity amongst Islamist parties had thus far been preserved even if it wasn't the most lucrative thing to do from a strict party point of view, often because JIB had the clout to silence unwanted opposition from the smaller Islamist parties. Yet, now we have smaller parties accusing JIB of conspiring with the US, which JIB is accusing the smaller parties in return of being part of some international anti-Bangladeshi conspiracy.

Moreover, there is a race going on to prove who is the most "Islamic" party of all. JIB is eager to point out that extremism has no place in Islam and that therefore the likes of the IKNMB and AHAB are deviants (a stance that makes many of us smirk when we think about its unrepenting stance of its role in '71 as well as more recent acts by its student wing, Shibir), while it ends up being branded as not-quite-Islamic-enough by the IKNMB because it refuses to hound the Ahmadiyyas like they do, and by AHAB because apparently JIB leaders were planning on converting to the AHAB ideology.

There is also a hint of desperation in all their aproaches. The upstart extremists have no hope of garnering the same kind of support that the JIB enjoys, not only because of their ideology, but also because they don't have anywhere the same type or organisation and discipline that JIB has, yet they have decided to take them on on their home ground.

Nevertheless, JIB doesn't seem too confident either - on April 30, Nizami also told his party men: "As the ameer of your party, I strongly direct you not to react or show extremism even in response to negative attitudes... you must comply with my orders unfailingly."

"Comply with my orders unfailingly?" 'Nuf said..

Still, this whole soap opera amongst the Islamist parties is a good thing. It's good that they are debating in public, and disagreeing with one another for all to see. Its importrant for people to realise that there is no one utopia that all Islamist parties in Bangladesh are supposedly striving for, and that what they are striving for instead can often times be quite contrary to one another.

Free speech, no doubt, is a very good thing.

The Bangladesh Journal Revisited

2005-05-24T23:16:00.000+06:00

A while ago, I noted a website - The Bangladesh Journal - that I felt was a welcome addition to Bangladeshi media portals online, given, in my view, their rather anti-opposition bias. I also found it a good source of news that fell through the cracks of other online media outlets, which I'm sure is atleast partly because of its "nuanced" point of view.

That is, until about a little over a month ago, the the daily updates got replaced by weekly ones, and new content appreared at a rate at which I almost lost interest.

Today, on my weekly visit to this site, I noticed something new. Perhaps it was there for a while and I hadn't noticed it before, but nevertheless, I came upon the link to the "Photo Essays".

Its a good assortment at first glance. There's something about cricket, about the Royal Bengal Tigers, domestic and foreign dignataries, the Iztema, even Dr. Younus. A hodge-podge no doubt, but in the author's mind, I'm sure its a cross section of what represents the "true picture" of Bangladesh. (Portrayal of the "true picture" being the stated purpose of the website.)

There are a few things that I like about this collection, and a few that I don't.

I particularly dislike the hypocrisy surrounding this notion that they are upholding the "true picture". I am not sure the author(s) even realise this, but their blatant bias is obvious in the captions of the albums.

Three examples of this are:

1. While the pictures of Khaleda Zia are "historic", that of Sheikh Hasina are not, although both albums have pictures of pretty much the same nature. In particular, I'm not quite sure how the simulataneous visit of Nelson Mandela and Yasir Arafat is not "historic" but that of Khaleda Zia at some random rally or cabinet meeting is.

2. There is an album for Zia, but not for Mujib. Its a common practice for pro-BNP, anti-AL to address Zia as "Shaheed President" and then refuse to recognise that Mujib ever existed.

3. This one is my favourite - the album on the "Anarchy Created by Awami League Hartals". What I find particularly interesting is the fact that half te pictures are of police brutality on the activists who are participating in the hartal, which makes one wonder if the anarchy can be blamed on the AL alone.

One should not go away with the impression that this one-sided representation is an afflication that affects those who are pro-BNP only. In fact, the truth is, it's common practice on both sides. I will bet money on the fact that no pro-AL website will have anything positive to say about the BNP, will only have material that belittles or tries to play down the important role of Zia both in 1971 and then in the post-1975 regime, and probably not mention Khaleda Zia at all.

What I do really like about this collection though is that they have albums on both Ramadan and the Ijtema.

In terms of events, albums on Bangladesh tend to focus on Pahela Baishakh, 21st February, 26th March, and 16th December, which in their own right, are important events/dates to our national identity, but Ramadan, which has its own distinctive sights and sounds and is observed by most of Bangladesh's 120 million+ Muslims and the Ijtema, attended by 3-4 million pilgrims from home and abroad, are seldom given appropriate coverage. This is one part of Bangladesh that The Bangladesh Journal manages to portray a "true picture" of.

Eta appropriate response??

2005-04-20T08:26:00.000+06:00

This is troubling.

US army's Pacific chief fears int'l terrorist activities in Bangladesh
http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/04/18/d5041801075.htm

Its not troubling because the US Admiral made the comment. No, not in the least - its pretty consistent with the view that the US and the international community at large has taken.

What is troubling is our response:
Govt finds no proof of int'l terrorists links: FM
http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/04/19/d50419011412.htm

All he had to say was 'we have no evidence'. How febble is that. And what was his reason for their being no terrorists? Its:

"Bangladesh is a democratic, liberal and moderate Muslim country. We have kept it in our mind so that terrorists can not rise here"

So he's assuming that there is noone who can have a problem with a Bangladesh that is democratic, or that it is liberal, or that it is a moderate Muslim country. I don't know about you, but I can think of some group that fits each one of those categories..

Really, this is the weakest response he could have given.

Nice DS article

2005-04-08T07:13:00.000+06:00

http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/04/08/d50408020330.htm

A brilliant article by Zafar Sobhan. Apart from the little bit of patronising at the end of the article that the DS engages in, I think this piece is spot on.

The interesting thing about this is we are not the first country to experience this transformation, nor the second, or even the third. Countries from Egypt to Pakistan to Malaysia have seen the same wave of Islamist revival, and they were all because a significant segment of the population felt that the government was performing at unacceptable levels.

And by "government", I mean the current one, the one before this, and the one before that, and so on... 1971, 1975, 1991 - were all great chances to start with a clean slate. Unfortunate are we indeed that successive politicians throughout the last three decades have come heavy with erasers, and light with pretty much anything else.

The "real picture"

2005-03-12T03:45:00.000+06:00

I've been following The Bangladesh Journal (www.bangladeshjournal.com) for a while now, and its interesting to see that there is finally a concerted effort to present the "other side" of "the story".

For a few years now, the news from Bangladesh that is available online has been quite one-sided, with publications such as The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, Janakantha, Ajker Kagoj and Bhorar Kagoj providing the bulk of the daily news. I say they are one-sided because they are quite anti-government, are center or left of center in their views, and frequently draw the ire of the BNP-JI government.

True, there is the Inquilab and the Sangram that are mainstream dailies with online editions that have views on the right of center, but the former's reporting reads more like a tabloid and the latter suffers frequent outages and poor bandwidth. There are a few smaller ones like Amaar Desh and Naya Digonto but they are too new to have made a mark yet.

In contrast, The Bangladesh Journal seems to be a publication that is solely online, is well-written and caters sensibly to the latters' point of view. It's not that this is obvious only from the articles and the issues they tend to focus on.

Take a look at the links to online newspapers on the right.

All the bigger newspapers are lower down the order, whether they be they be in English or Bangla. On the other hand, all pro-government publications make it to the top of the list, even though the standard of the news and the breadth of issues touched are paltry for some of them compared to the others. I would love to hear someone give me another reason for this ranking, but for now, the only explanation I can find is the bigger dailies suffer from a perceived anti-government bias.

Why this bias? Thankfully, The Bangladesh Journal doesn't leave that question unanswered. The "About Us" section tells us that "The Bangladesh Journal was founded in 2004 as an effort to distribute Bangladesh's true picture around the world."

The "true picture" - hah!

See, it's the whole propaganda thing again - I guess this is the response that someone has come up with to the "conspiracy" that this international consortium has hatched against Bangladesh... Unfortunately, this desire to present a "true picture" effuses a level of bias that I find disturbing. I don't doubt the creators of this site believe they are presenting the "true picture", but I wonder if they've ever asked themselves how "true" a picture can be if one looks at it using filters in the first place.

Mind you, its a good thing that this publication, and similar like-minded ones are coming up. Both sides of the media can be stubbornly one-sided and even paranoid, but it's useful to see both sides engage in one-sidedness and paranoia.

Who knows, between the two, the spin might just cancel out to reveal the "real picture"!

>>>: )

The DS, phoren ministry, and equality

2005-03-07T21:24:00.000+06:00

As the no. 1 English daily in Bangladesh, one would expect a certain objectivity on the part of the Daily Star. For a while now, I've been noticing that their reports are increasingly slanted with an anti-government bias. Yesterday's internet edition got me thinking about it even more with the following headline:
- FBI could not come for no govt response

Seems like news, but its an allegation made by the Kibria family. While it could very well be true, that is not what the report is about. It's catchy but it has the same effect as a tabloid - people who are looking for news won't be too impressed.

It's being said that the government is planning on making some changes to the Foreign Ministry. I think it's a good idea, since Saifur Rahman seems to be doing the job of both the Finance and Foreign Minister for now...

And finally, Amini of the IOJ has demanded that searches be made on JI and Shibir establishments too since the government searched Kawami madrassas. Hmm, now this could either be :
a) a holier-than-thou pronouncement, where the sense of indignation stems from being investigated before the others,
b) a demand on equality of all like-minded establishments when it comes to government interest, including when considered a suspect for anti-state activities, or
c) a hint that we're looking in the wrong place.

Any takers?

Hoi hoi roi roi - NGO-ra jabi koi!

2005-02-17T03:52:00.000+06:00

Last Monday, February 14, arrested activist Shafiqullah said that the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) was responsible for a number of bomb attacks on NGOs, and promised that attacks on the likes of Brac and Karitas, and on cultural activities that they also consider to be anti-Islamic will continue.

Shafiqullah, arrested with explosives in a fellow operative's house on January 16, one day after JMJB had carried out a bomb attack on a jatra (folk theatre) show at a village in Bogra, confessed to using motorbikes to make getaways during these attacks. He also made a point of noting, "We use bombs that will injure people but not kill them."

Coincidentally, bomb explosions on Wednesday injured 8 employees of BRAC and the Grameen Bank in Rangpur and Bogra, and three unexploded bombs were recovered. The attackers fled the scene on motorcycles.

Coincidentally, too, the docket of the case filed against three JMJB operatives went missing after Shafiqullah made the confessional statement on Monday identifying Dr Muhammad Asadullah Al Galib, a teacher at the Arabic department of Rajshahi University as a regional leader and outlined his radical strategies for an Islamic revolution. The docket went missing while it was being transferred from the court to police officials.

These would have to be conincidences, because the officer in-charge of the Rangpur police station assured the public that the bombing was an isolated incident, saying, "This incident has no connection with the bomb attacks carried out in other different places of the country."

At any rate, I hope they are conincidences anyway.

I don't think I particularly want to dwell on what the other possibilities could be, that would allow legal papers to disappear that contain confessions of terrorists who boasted of attacks that were perpetrated within 48 hours of his statement.

Bole ki era...

2005-02-15T00:49:00.000+06:00

We don't expect the average politician to be particularly savvy individuals who can come up with verbal gems on the fly. But when top-ranking leaders of both parties utter rubbish such as the following, it really makes me wonder what we've done as a nation to be so unfortunate as to be stuck with them.

- "The government has removed terrorism as per the commitment made to the people before the general election." - PM Khaleda Zia, 27th Jan, 2005, the same day former finance minister SAMS Kibria was assassinated.
The proof of the pudding is *not* in the eating, it seems.

- "She has failed to run the country and even to hold the SAARC summit. She should go now," Jalil told Reuters on Feb 3, 2005.
... because inability to prevent a participant from unilaterally pulling out from the summit is a barometer for good governance since when ?!?

"They (AL) convinced India not to come and join the Summit," said Mannan Bhuiyan, 4th Feb, 2005.
- 'nuf said.

Testing

2005-02-14T12:08:00.000+06:00

My first post, hmm...

Let's see how this goes.