EDITORIAL

CG should address core, not periphery

Public support is not easily obtainable; it takes leaders years and decades to win people's mind and sympathy. When a politician gains overwhelming popularity s/he becomes a charismatic leader and people abide by his/her decision and command without a question. As s/he assumes power, expectations mount. People continue to demand this that and the other, which becomes difficult to meet; hence the adage: uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
   Any government is under constant public gaze; and people analyse and criticise its policies and actions. Those who shouted in a deafening crescendo to greet her or him, in no time begin hurling negative slogans for ouster. Popularity is often illusive, and history is replete with unwelcome exit of failed leaders. For the present Caretaker Government (CG), energised by emergency law and Army backing, public support has come without even asking for it because of the administration's some hard decisions on core issues such as corruption and commitment to electoral reforms. But, first and foremost what does an apolitical common man want? He wants to survive for which he needs food and other necessities at an affordable price. In the Chief Adviser's recent observation regarding prices of essentials the people will see a kind of despair; but this will not satisfy them.
   Over the past few years the masses, more than anything else, were seeking a way out from the clutches of hardship exacerbated by the galloping price spiral. Some opposition politicians attributed it to syndicates linked to Hawa Bhaban, euphemistically referred to the then incumbent alliance government, which found fault with the media reports terming them incorrect. So far as the prices of essentials are concerned the people, after over a month of the current CG's installation, expected perceptible change. But that has not happened. When hopes remain unfulfilled it breeds disillusion. And we do not wish such a situation in the body politic's perception. People are not interested in the capture of deer and peacocks and other peripheral matters; these things do not bother them at all.
   Indeed, as of now spiralling prices of essentials have been seriously hitting the people. It is learnt that several syndicates have been identified by the administration. Certainly, the evil nexus of syndicates needs to be crushed once and for all. But nothing is in sight yet.
   We have already suggested that the TCB be activated to import essentials as soon as possible. In all the marketplaces across the country adequate number of grocery shops -- say at least 10, if not more -- can be designated by the TCB to retail essential edible s at fair prices; and this measure, it is presumed, can halt the trend of profiteering.
   The crackdown on dishonest businessmen and traders have sent a wave of panic which has gripped them, and consequently it has hit the market hard with prices soaring almost each day. The short supply of essentials has led to steep rise in prices, which is not unusual. While demand is growing, short supply of foods in kitchen markets may make traders hungry for higher profits.
   We are afraid, the economy is going to face a temporary, if not long-term, inflation coupled with stagnation, which occurs when the economy is not growing but prices are increasing. One of its victims happens to be the housing sector. After a steady growth for some years the thriving real estate sector is bearing a brunt these days. According to a leading developer, he could not sell a single apartment during first week of March as against 15 to 20 apartments he sold the same time last year. The growth of the real estate sector has been maintaining 10 per cent over the last few years due to higher demand of dwelling units among the city people, especially among the customers belonging to middle and higher income groups.
   The CG will be doing well if it attacks the core problems instead of getting down to peripheral ones. True, keeping wildlife like deer and peacock is an offence, but those who are forcing the masses to remain underfed because of high cost of daily eatables deserve harsher punishment. If a businessman can afford to buy and maintain a flashy car, let him do so; it is not your look out why he bought it -- you will only examine whether he is a tax dodger, and if found guilty prosecute him. It should be remembered that when the properties of men like Joynal Hazari or Shamim Osman are confiscated; and when Tariq or Mamun is detained, people will not be surprised but when a lawyer like Moudud or persons like him face accounts freeze, and that too without assigning definite proof, then people will liken it to witch-hunt. No action should be taken which may be seen as selective and non-transparent. People have not forgotten what former dictator Ershad did. Widely known and condemned for his corruption and depravity, at the initial stage of his regime he went for a cheap publicity stunt through an arrest spree, and then himself biking to his office showing off his keenness to austerity. The people expect a reasonable, judicious work plan from the administration.

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Why can't we fight blazing flames
in high-rise buildings?

Maswood Alam Khan

Fire, venerated by Zoroastrians, Hindus and devotees of different religions as a mediator between worshippers and gods, has been perhaps the worst killer of life on Earth. Thanks to the live coverage by Bangla Vision satellite TV channel, we have seen how helplessly our firefighters and those inside and on the roof of the BSEC Bhaban on that fateful Monday were groping for an escape of the entrapped from the claws of death. Those who minutely observed the fire's behaviour and the firefighters' attempts to extinguish the inferno must have found absence of life safety codes in the building and lack of proper equipment at the disposal of the firefighters.
   
   RAJUK's negligence
   We don't know the cause of fire. Hope, the government will unearth if there is a conspiracy to muffle the voice and sounds of NTV, RTV and the Amar Desh, the real culprits behind the fire. Thousands of viewers of NTV and RTV like me will miss the interesting and aggressive coverage of the media which in a small span of time earned reputation for their neutral and objective journalism and adherence to journalistic ethics. If heinous criminals did it to kill the media's free voices the evil design will rather help NTV and their companies become more popular and more acceptable to the neutral audience of Bangladesh. May NTV, RTV and the Amar Desh reemerge in renewed vigour and colour in the shortest possible time!
   The BSEC Bhaban, only a 12-storeyed structure, is a dwarf compared to many other high-rises as tall as 26-storied in Dhaka metropolis and the two cherry pickers of the Fire Brigade couldn't hoist the firefighters even onto the 9th level of the building. One must wonder how RAJUK could approve plans and constructions of buildings as tall as 26-storied without enquiring whether the Fire Brigade in the city has any heatproof and fireproof ladder tall enough to climb from outside on the top floor of the tallest building in the city.
    Neither could we find any fireproof emergency exits in the building for the trapped to avail. Constructing modern high-rise buildings without safety provisions like smoke detectors, inbuilt fire extinguishing hydrants and auto sprinklers etc. must be considered a crime as culpable as homicide.
   Whereas governments around the world, even in our neighbouring countries, are adopting and adapting a variety of fire codes and life safety codes for their citizenry and their highly trained firefighters use most sophisticated fire trucks, water supply resources such as water mains and fire hydrants at every corner and crossroads and an array of other state of the world equipment to combat the spread of fires of different grades and classifications, our poor firefighters have to spend hours negotiating traffic gridlock and looking for sources of water in the neighborhoods to extinguish a reported fire.
   We saw how one of the two cherry pickers idly killed time for about 20 minutes without water supply from its source in its attempt to choke fire in the BSEC Bhaban. Not a single fire hydrant one can find in the city even in places like Kawran Bazar where the best international hotel is situated.
   Now is the time when windy weather in Bangladesh makes us vulnerable to fire. Before the government equips our fire brigades with modern gadgets and equipment and our developers are trained or forced to abide by the most essential safety codes we should be equipped at least with some common sense and primary knowledge on the fury of fire and the preventive ways to quell it before the fire gets uncontrollable.
   Fuel, oxygen and heat, known to physicists as 'fire triangle', are three elements needed for fire to be created. Of late, a fourth element 'a chemical chain reaction' has been added to the triangle now known as "Fire Tetrahedron". When any of the four elements of fire tetrahedron are removed fire stops the other elements from interacting and does not allow combustion to continue. Firefighters through different strategies and gadgets try to remove any of those four agents depending on the classification of fire to repress the cool fire from becoming hot.
   We should know when and how to escape fire. Consider running from the building. We should stay in the building only if there is a good possibility of controlling the fire within a few seconds and avoiding further loss of life or great loss of property. There are cases where not fighting the fire would be more dangerous than fighting it; and there are other cases, where the fire has got just out of control, where assistance is critically necessary.
   Assess the type of fire, its fuel and combustion sources, its size, and its proximity to people or valuable property. Cutting off the gas and electricity should be the first task if you find a fire inside your kitchen. In other types fire extinguisher may be used or other means like water, blanket etc. When a person's clothes are on fire, the person will usually panic and run; the wind created by the movement will rather activate the fire. It is necessary to tell the person to "stop, drop and roll" on the ground (or to force him/her to do so), and to roll him/her in a cloth when available. We should not use a fire extinguisher because the chemical agent may harm them. We must never try to put a wet cloth on any part of our body to protect it from fire. The water from the cloth will heat up and can create steam and scald the skin where the cloth is placed.
   Meanwhile, we should advise our children not to flirt with fire and our friends not to smoke while reading lying on bed inside a mosquito net. Don't forget to switch off the gas burner in your kitchen before leaving your apartment and the electric iron after ironing your dress.

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Dr Yunus and electoral reform

Dear Editor:
   The people have heaved a sigh of relief and given overwhelming support for the Caretaker Government (CG) even though they are under Emergency Rules. The general people do not do not have respect for politicians and do not like to go back to them. Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed will go down in history as the champion-reformist for ensuring electoral reforms and rebuilding the country for its future generation.
   "Old habits die hard", it would be a sheer gamble to try to reform and rehabilitate the old ones who were incompetent and controversial, therefore it is a futile effort to change the spot of a leopard. The parties whose members had been apprehended for corruption, criminalisation, and misappropriation of properties should be disqualified from taking part in any election. Justice must be seen to have been done, laws and orders must be strong enough to withstand the threat of criminals.
   Wealth statements from ALL the politicians and businessmen who had accumulated wealth disproportionate to their source, and status. These would help the upcoming Nagorik Shakti under the stewardship of Dr Yunus and his team to infuse dynamism in economic advancement which the country never saw in its lifetime.
   There should be an opportunity for employment potential from small, medium to heavy industries, including motor vehicle manufacturing, high-tech and electronics of all types. We need foreign investment for building industrial and commercial infrastructures for generating wealth, or of launching a project for the most essential power sector of the country. The monopolisation of party leadership as birth right, turning into dictatorship must go.
   The founder of Nagorik Shakti, Dr Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and his team can work for the betterment of the county.
   Recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Muhammad Yunus is internationally recognised for his work in poverty alleviation and the empowerment of poor women. From its origins as an action-research project in 1976, Grameen Bank has grown to provide collateral-free loans to 6.5 million clients in Bangladesh, 96 percent of who are women. The innovative approach to poverty alleviation pioneered by Professor Yunus in a small village in Bangladesh has inspired a global microcredit movement reaching out to millions of poor women from rural South Africa to inner city Chicago.
   Condemnation has been coming from home and abroad against the outburst of Sheikh Hasina's remarks on Dr Yunus; this speaks of her jealousy, selfishness and fear of utter humiliation at the hands of the oppressed people who are now free to choose their destiny in the coming general election. Nagorik Shakti, under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Dr Yunus would carry the mantel to help Bangladesh march ahead with mega-economic infrastructures for advancement of progress and prosperity for all.
   M A Gafur Howlader
   London

Dear Editor:
   The declaration of Dr. Yunus's joining politics has evoked huge response -- generally favourable from the members of the public, cautious reservations from intellectuals and veiled opposition from the politicians.
   Dr. Muzaffar, a member of the "Shushil Shamaj" [civil society] questioned the purpose of the proposed name of the party as "Nagorik Shakti"; whether it was a programme for a particular purpose or a political party. I think such a question was irrelevant.
   Every organisation should have its own mission and vision. By naming his organisation as such, Dr.Yunus perhaps wanted to send his message across the nation his intention to harness peoples' strength in building a better Bangladesh. It is not necessary at all to add "Party" or Dal" after the name of the organisation to give it a superfluous political colour.
   Regarding the direction of Dr.Yunus to his followers to form "Dr. Yunus supporters forum" at village and ward levels, Dr. Muzaffar again questioned if Dr. Yunus was propagating individualism instead of universality in his political philosophy. This again is a superfluous question.
   It is Dr. Yunus who as an individual and leader now matters before the public, therefore, there is absolutely no problem at all in formation of the forum in his name initially which will, perhaps be replaced automatically by the party nomenclature in due course.
   His third comment was that Dr. Yunus was guided by his economic programme only, which was devoid of any principle based on national philosophy. We have seen many so-called "principles" adopted by the existing political parties. But what we have seen was only misuse of power, corruption and misrule.
   So let us not talk about the so-called principles but let us talk about programme for economic emancipation of the people of the country we are badly in need at the moment. The whole political atmosphere in the country has become polluted. Therefore,, the first thing necessary to do is to take out the polluted blood and infuse new blood to cure the disease.
   I would, therefore, ask Dr. Muzaffar to have patience. We are looking forward towards a new Bangladesh and the expectation, under the present circumstances, has gone up tremendously and we shall overcome all the odds, Inshah Allah, in this direction.
   It is high time for the unbiased, educated, honest, dedicated, competent and publicly acclaimed personalities to join politics and come forward to take up the political leadership instead of only organising seminars or issuing of statements. By saying so I am not undermining the contributions of such nonpolitical forums which have the capacity to provide direction for good governance to the administration. But it is ultimately the political leadership which will have the mandate from the nation through democratic process as the legal authority to plan, decide and execute all national issues for building a new Bangladesh. This cannot be achieved by simply sitting in any powerless forum without any authority or mandate from the nation.
   These civil society forums have been doing an excellent job time by identifying the national problems and suggesting probable solutions by holding various seminars and round table conferences. But what did we notice, since those forums did not have the public mandate; the then government did not pay any heed to their recommendations rather tried to harass them by instituting false cases. Therefore, their all meticulous efforts, time and money went through the drain.
   Charity begins at home, therefore, if such personalities do not come forward to our rejuvenated national politics for which stages are being set for ushering a new era, the arena will unfortunately continue to be dominated by the existing corrupt, selfish and publicly condemned elements again.
   Therefore, I believe, joining of a personality like Dr. Yunus in politics will definitely bring new blood to cure the ailing political arena of the country and definitely the country needs more and more of such personalities to come forward to lead the country.
   Mohammad Ataul Hoque,
   Dhaka.

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Baggage must be scanned in airports

Dear Editor
   All air passenger's incoming or outgoing baggage irrespective of their status are subject to strict security checks and must pass through x-ray machines, located at all international and domestic airports of the world. But in countries like ours rules are not meant for all.
   Customs as well as security staff and officials do not attempt to screen the baggage of the VVIPs/VIPs and many other high officials including politicians who all command influence. So no one knows what really really passed through Zia International Airport in those much talked-about 428 suitcases to the Kingdom Of Saudia Arabia just prior to the handover of power by the outgoing political government?
   When all incoming international passengers wait in queue with their baggage trollies for their turn to place the baggage on the scanning machine one can notice a few privileged high-ups having connection with the top administration proudly walk past the x-ray machines with loads of baggage on the trollies using a different exit as if they are not governed by the law that is followed by the rest of the passengers.
   Customs officials on duty near the post appear to be eager to appease them, let alone asking them to place the baggage on the x-ray machine. So what happens in case of VVIPs/VIPs using separate exits is only a matter of guess. This is highly irregular and it compromises with the safety, security and sovereignty of the country. No one is supposed to be above law.
   I draw the kind attention of the CG to address this sensitive and vital issue and henceforth make it mandatory for all baggage to be screened without any discrimination. Staff/officials responsible be should be given full assurance to do their job freely without any fear of having any repercussions on their service. This will act as a good deterrent and protect the interest of the country. This will be a good lesson for the future political Governments as well as the high-ups in the administration. Everyone will learn to respect the law.
   A traveler,
   Dhaka.

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Bangla and UN

Dear Editor:
   The United Nations Organisation (UNO) has its eight official languages but not Bangla. The UNESCO declared February 21 as the Mother Language Day in recognition of Bangla Language Movement in 1952 in Bangladesh. Now all concerned should take action in such a way that Bangla is adopted as an official language by UNO.
   Saifuddin Ahmad Tinku
   On email

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Stop importing duty-free cars for MPs

Dear Editor:
   According to a vernacular daily on February 13, 2007 some members of Parliament imported costly cars like Mercedez Benz, BMW, Land Rover etc. and sold them to the new multimillionaires of Bangladesh. By doing this each of them earned Tk. 10 to 15 lakh per car. Moreover, they smuggled out about Tk. 150 crore by showing under-invoice price of the imported car.
   Our question is, the members of Parliament are entitled to have duty-free car. Then why did they adopt such malpractice of selling car and smuggling out money through under-invoice? How much money do they need to maintain their status? A committee should be formed to enquire into the matter. The names of the Parliament members who are involved in it should be published in the newspapers and they should be brought to book for the interest of the people. The Government should stop import of duty-free car for MPs.
   A.M.K. Chowdhury,
   Narayanganj.

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