M. Shahidul Islam

Punishing a small neighbour is not always the best way to achieve geo-political objectives. Yet, that's what India has been pursuing vigorously for decades and there is no diminution in Delhi's strategic pursuit to strangulate Bangladesh.
   India has re-launched a three-pronged onslaught on Bangladesh -exerting diplomatic, economic and ecological pressures simultaneously - to achieve geo-political objectives that have been stalled for a while due to the government in Bangladesh being a caretaker one.
   There are also reports of widespread witch hunt and persecutions of innocent Bangladeshi students and professionals in various Indian cities following the August-25 Hyderabad terror attacks.
   While investigators shed sweats to unearth details of the so-called 'Bangalore links' that 'loosely' connects a Bangladeshi national with the Hyderabad twin blasts, 12 Bangladeshi students have already gone missing from the city out of fear. Another 247 are reportedly passing tense days in Bangalore.
   At the diplomatic level, recent weeks have witnessed a serious deterioration in bilateral relations due to Indian media's relentless dissemination of misinformation.
   On September 6, Bangladesh denied it arrested a suspect involved in the Hyderabad bomb attacks. "There have been no arrests in this connection," Touhid Hossain, acting foreign secretary, said rebutting a Times of India report that said one Mohammad Sharifuddin was arrested in Bangladesh. "The person mentioned has not been arrested," Hossain confirmed, although the influential Indian daily seemed emphatic in claiming that Bangladeshi police were questioning him for his alleged role in the Hyderabad blasts.
   Citing intelligence sources, the paper made further claim that militant groups in northeast India, such as the United Liberation Front of Assam and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, are operating out of Bangladesh.
   While Bangladesh is accustomed to digesting rampant allegations of the above nature, the Foreign Office has taken a tough stance over some recent Indian media reports that linked Bangladeshi nationals or militant groups to the Hyderabad blasts and reiterated that those reports were "disturbing and Bangladesh's position on terrorism is clear and unequivocal."
   What seems particularly disconcerting is that the blames and rebuttals have begun to undermine the consensus of the meeting in August last between the two home secretaries on tackling terrorism. Despite Dhaka's assurance to work in unison to combat terrorism, India demanded in the meeting that it needed to finalise construction of fence in 250 places within 150 yards of the border to check what it said was 'infiltration of illegal immigrants and militants.' The request was in contravention of the 1974 border agreement that prohibits any construction within 150 yards of the no man's land.
   Despite Dhaka's objection, the fencing along the border in India's northeast state of Assam is nearly complete. "The fencing will be over by December," Assam Accord Implementation Minister Bhumidhar Barman was cited by Indian media as saying on August 4.
   At the same time, killing of innocent Bangladeshis by the BSF along the 4,053-kilometre border continues. BSF shot dead two more Bangladeshi cowboys at Kushkhali frontier on September 7. According to Odikhar, a human rights watchdog, BSF committed terrible human rights violations in the border areas since early this year, killing 19 Bangladeshis, injuring 16, abducting 11, and arresting three others, while four more went missing, in January alone.
   There are also disputes over who said what. India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on September 4 that the country had sought help from Bangladesh to catch the perpetrators of the Hyderabad attacks. New Delhi had handed over "some particulars... about those who are indulging in all sorts of activities like insurgency and other terrorist activities" during a meeting of interior ministry officials in New Delhi on August 3, Mukherjee said.
   But Bangladesh foreign ministry flatly denied that any such request was received by Dhaka. "Bangladesh hasn't received any request for information in connection with the Hyderabad blasts," the acting foreign secretary confirmed.
   Observers say it is utterly irresponsible for Mukherjee to harp on the same unfounded allegations made earlier by Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, who evoked caustic reactions in Bangladesh and Pakistan after claiming in the aftermath of the Hyderabad attack that "available information" pointed to "the involvement of international terrorist organisations in Bangladesh and Pakistan." Both Bangladesh and Pakistan categorically denied the claims.
   In the economic front, India is learnt to have begun providing a considerable amount of subsidy to sugar exporters to Bangladesh in contravention of anti-dumping laws. Bangladesh Sugar & Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) Chief Marketing Execute ATM Alamgir made the allegation last week. Alamgir said both the central and provincial governments in India were giving huge subsidies to sugar exporters. "The central government [of India] provides $35 against per ton sugar export to Bangladesh while provincial governments, particularly that of Maharastra, gives $30."
   The economic onslaught further sharpened recently by the decisions of the jute mills of the West Bengal to cancel import orders of Bangladeshi jute to the tune of 2.5 lakh bales (1 bale = 5 mounds), resulting in a slump in jute prices at a time when the country's jute industries are fighting to survive following closure of about 50 mills over the last six months. The suspension of scheduled jute export to India has dealt a mortal blow to the industry as at least 15 lakh bales of raw jute was awaiting disposal and another 60 lakh bales on way to inflate the stock further thanks to this year's good harvest.
   The curtailment of Bangladeshi import by India also comes in the midst of India's gradual but persistent appreciation of the value of Rupee, contributing massively in aggravating the inflationary pressure in Bangladesh that spends over $2 billion annually to buy Indian products. It also exacerbates the already staggering balance of trade situation between the two countries.
   Then, there is an ecological war that India has been waging for decades but which seems to have been reinvigorated in recent weeks. The recurrence of flooding in Bangladesh's north-eastern districts for the second time this year is the testimony of such anti-Bangladesh ecological activism by Indian policymakers.
   The correlation between aggravated flooding in Bangladesh and India's water management strategy has become incontrovertible by now. Bangladesh constitutes one of the largest deltaic regions of the world, receiving alluvial deposits of about 230 rivers, of which 58 are international rivers. Of the international rivers, 55 flow from India and 3 from Myanmar. The total area flushed by the tributaries of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna is about 1.72 million square kilometres, seven per cent of which falls inside Bangladesh.
   The recurrence of flood in Bangladesh is caused by excessive flow of water generated in the catchment areas of those three major rivers outside Bangladesh, especially when the Himalayan snow melts and simultaneous rainfall occurs.
   While our government prefers to maintain a baffling silence with respect to the causes of the latest flooding, the reasons however are well known. The deluge bears resemblance of the 1987 flooding that inundated the entire north-eastern Bangladesh and was triggered mainly by an Indian machination. In order to generate extra water by melting snow, India that year sprayed coal dust over the Himalayas, resulting in excessive melting of snow and rush of colossal water into Bangladesh. Coupled with adverse condition in the Bay of Bengal at the outfall of the Meghna river, Bangladesh had remained inundated for over a month at that time.
   As well, unchecked deforestation in recent years in the hills and mountains of Bhutan, Nepal and India caused rainwater of those countries to rush down to Bangladesh. The 1998 flood was caused by excessive rainfall and increased runoff caused by deforestation in the catchment areas. About 57 per cent of the total area of Bangladesh was flooded that year.
   The 2004 flood too was caused by both natural and man-made reasons. High ocean temperature released enormous amount of water vapour into the atmosphere that year, forming massive water-bearing clouds over the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna basins, and beyond. Compounded by simultaneous rainfall, water came rushing down the deforested mountain slopes of India, Bhutan, and Nepal and inundated Bangladesh.
   India is also controlling much of Bhutan's water management decisions. Over the last few years, Bhutan undertook a huge boulder quarrying for construction and other purposes. The quarrying left loosened stones and soil which unleashed huge erosion after rainfall. Recent heavy rainfall in Bhutan washed down those loosened materials into Bangladesh through the Brahmaputra's 20 or so tributaries. The deposited materials raised the Brahmaputra's bed level and caused a sudden swelling of water level due to underwater damming effect, according to a preliminary survey.
   Add to this the cumulative hydrological and morphological characteristics of the Ganges and its distributaries during the post-Farakka years. The flow reduction caused by unilateral controlling of water at Farakkah barrage had resulted in excessive siltation and rise in riverbeds. This led to reduction of the conveyance capacity of the river channels, aggravating the effects of every flood. The off-take of the Gorai got choked every year since the commissioning of the Farakkah barrage in the mid-1970s.
   The effect of Farakkah on saline front in Khulna has been more devastating. The salinity intrusion, concentration, and duration in the region depend mostly on the quantity and duration of upland flow received in the area. The Gorai-Madhumati received a very low discharge in the dry months, causing the salinity and tidal water to penetrate the country.
   In 1983, the 500 micro-mhos (salinity) line reached about 13km north of Kamarkhali and up to 300km inland from the mouth of Pasur river. In Khulna, 17,100 micro-mhos salinity was observed. Scientists also recorded 563.75 mg/l chloride concentration level in the surface water of Rupsa, which indicated the level of adverse impact on the stream flow salinity. Moreover, reduction of fresh water supply during the dry season caused invasion of salt water into underground aquifers, transforming the nation's ecological balance.
   India's latest plans to divert vast quantities of water from major rivers, including the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, will directly threaten the livelihoods of more than 100 million people downstream in Bangladesh.
   Experts say, before it is too late to seek a remedy, Bangladesh must initiate an appeal to the United Nations to redraft international law on watersharing. A similar move in 1976 to reduce the impact of the Farakkah barrage did yield positive results.

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Ball in politicians' court to play

Sadeq Khan

The caretaker administration of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed Ahmed has been able to make a quick recovery from the shock of student-teacher defiance of Emergency Powers Rules in Dhaka University. That shockwave had given the cue for a countrywide eruption of symbolic acts of violence or threats of violence albeit limited to divisional headquarters and some educational campus grounds. By acknowledgement of wrong-doings on its part and by resumption of strong disciplinary measures including temporary curfew to restrain rabble-rousing on the part of some open challengers, the caretaker administration was soon able to turn in its favour the tide of popular sympathy.
   The common folk certainly did not want any return of epileptic syndrome of mobpower politics that kept the nation pitifully insecure and suffering for months, prior to the imposition of emergency. It has also been candidly suggested on behalf of the caretaker administration that there are evidences pointing to a secret intrigue of the real challengers to the caretaker regime behind the orchestrated unrest.
   A section of leading politicians and businessmen brought to book or about to be brought to book by the current campaign against corruption and serious crime had used their socio-political pull and money power to put the caretaker regime into a spot. It is surmised that the intrigue has failed. Only time will tell whether repetition of such shock treatment by possible challengers to the "emergency" caretaker government, covertly existing or potential, may be contrived within the remaining sixteen months of the roadmap of the caretaker regime. Currently, the effect of the recovery of law and order by the caretaker administration has been an ample demonstration of its resilience in handling the abortive challenge, and its prudence in follow-up actions.
   One such follow-up action has been the opening up, notwithstanding the supposedly "politically-inspired" shake-up the regime suffered the other day, of indoor political party activity. There was pressure from the Election Commission to remove restrictions on indoor political party meetings, so that the parties could prepare for scheduled dialogue with the Election Commission on proposed electoral reforms and a consensus could be derived for necessary amendments to the People's Representation Act and for an agreed code of conduct by contestants to be enforced by the EC. The chief Adviser's address to the nation and the gazette notification for amendment of the Emergency Power Rules have gone beyond that requirement.
   Guarded confidence in the caretaker regime's capacity to hold on and complete its roadmap was reflected in the Chief Adviser's recent speeches recounting the achievements of his government and against the towering odds, including the prolonged challenge of flood disaster that it faced. He suggested that the caretaker government's goal is not only to help the EC to adhere to the roadmap and possibly hold the general election a couple of months earlier them December, 2008, but also to lay the foundations of an economic miracle which may achieve fifteen percentage points improvement within the next year of the growth factor and status of Bangladesh in the world map of developing economies. The Chief Election Commissioner expressed satisfaction that the caretaker government's withdrawal of restrictions for indoor political activities has been "timely and appropriate" and there is no bar now to the EC's smooth passage along its roadmap.
   Dialogue with political parties has begun with Islamic Oikya Jote as the first in the queue. The deliberations between the EC and the qualifying political parties and any breakaway or new party will centime up to mid-November or for some time thereafter. So far fifteen parties have been enlisted as qualified for the consensus-seeking dialogue for electoral reforms. A few more applicants, as new entrants or as joint bodies of smaller parties, qualifying by the standards of minimum countrywide presence and past record in people's representation (at least one MP in the organisation elected in any of the past Bangladesh general elections) may be invited by Election Commission for taking part in the dialogue process. The Chief Election Commissioner is also optimistic that with the level of public cooperation that has been forthcoming and with expected political party cooperation, the election schedule could possibly be advanced by a month or a couple of months.
   The media, which aired a lot of "political" questions, freely before the bout of unrest and the crackdown in response, has been warned about its excesses and reminded of the provisions of the EPR that may be used against media men unless they exercise self-restraint, is still being projected by the law and information Adviser of the government as the "open parliament" of the caretaker regime. Predictably, the media has shifted its focus to the goings on in the indoor battle in case of Awami League and the open contests in case of BNP and the Jatiyo Party for claims to leadership and legitimacy of succession by factions appearing in respective cases.
   The government is saying it will not take sides, and the party political exercises indoors in each case will decide the issue. The election Commission is also saying that it will go by the book, and that it hopes the major parties will be able to come to cognisable by themselves before their turn comes for sittings with the EC.
   The haw and information Adviser of the caretaker government has not, however, forgotten to add a stricture that the allowance given to the political parties is experimental. They must obtain pass marks by abiding by the Emergency Power Rules and by good conduct in terms of democratic tolerance. By the latest amendment to the EPR, the government may also from time to time allow the political parties to hold public meetings on a limited scale under terms and conditions specified in each case. The ball has thus been thrown into the court of the political parties to decide how to play.

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Nasrine R. Karim

Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov have agreed to expand mutual cooperation in political and economic fields between the two countries. Recently, Dr Chowdhury was in Moscow on a three-day visit at the invitation from Lavrov. During the parley, they covered issues of possible procurement of food grains, fertilizers and energy from Russia to Bangladesh and for import into Russia of greater quantum of Bangladesh products like readymade garments and pharmaceuticals.
   Speaking to the Russian media, Dr Chowdhury said Bangladeshis and Russians have emotional and intellectual relationships that go back centuries. "Today we are eager to transform those linkages into effective cooperation," he added. Lavrov told journalists, "Bangladesh is an important member of the United Nations and a key international actor. We are also close friends and Russia will lend support to Bangladesh in every possible way". He further expressed the hope that the relationship would be mutually beneficial.
   Earlier, the foreign adviser called on Deputy Prime Minister S.E. Naryshkin at his office. They underscored the importance of the new political relationship between their countries. "Russia today has a huge role to play in the global arena. As a friend Bangladesh will walk with Russia," Chowdhury said.
   The recent visit of Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury to Moscow concluded with several important pronouncements by Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, which include: "Chowdhury also shared his assessments of the internal situation in Bangladesh. We support the efforts of the leadership of that country for stabilisation and for advancing further the democratic foundations of its state system."
   Dr. Iftekhar, one of the country's most astute diplomats and UN specialist, put forward the request for Bangladesh to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). There is apparently a moratorium on any new entrants, whether as members or as observers. However, when this is lifted, Russia will back Bangladesh's entry.
   Now that Bangladesh has touched base with Moscow after a long silence, it is time Dhaka really made a serious effort to re-establish commercial, economic and bilateral relations with the new vigourous, vibrant Russia.
   As regards joining SCO, Bangladesh will be taking a positive step towards renouncing her prior closed minds and recognising that the new Russia represents elements that are beneficial to Bangladesh. After all, by now, Dhaka should be able to acquire the art of "balancing act".
   The SCO has also been the means for making overtures to other countries in the region. Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia have observer status, while Afghan President Hamid Karzai has attended SCO summits since 2004 as an invited guest.
   The SCO, Russia, China and four Central Asian republics, held their "Peace Mission 2007" joint war games from August 9th to 17th, starting in the Chinese western province of Xinjiang and continuing in Russia's Ural region of Chelyabinsk. The military exercise, followed by the SCO's annual summit in Kyrgyzstan on August 16, is one more indication the energy-rich Central Asian region is thinking of a shared future.
   Russian President Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to formally announce that Russia was restoring the Cold War practice of long-range patrolling by nuclear-capable strategic bombers around the world. "We hope our partners will treat this with understanding," he said about the military exercises. Moscow obviously intends to reassert its strategic interests and respond appropriately to any encroachments on its borders.
    Every country has the right to flex its muscles in this new volatile world.
   What is to be noted with interest is that both China and Russia have yet to accept Iran's application to join SCO. Bangladesh, on the other hand, has been given the nod as and when the SCO members decide to allow new members she will be taken in.
   Russia is seeking Bangladesh's backing in joining as member of the Asian Development Bank. We should give them our full backing as they can become our development partners in infrastructure development projects aside from being just our well-wishers. We have a lot to learn. Bangladesh should look upon all her friends in the same light.
   Bangladesh must seek to restore its special relationship with the Russian Federation. Today Russia has the potential to become one of the largest markets for Bangladesh. Russia already buys products made in Bangladesh through Germany and France and at a premium. The Adviser's visit to Moscow is the most high-level since the dissolution of Soviet Union. His hosts in the Federation were the top decision makers after the President. The Bangladesh Adviser for Foreign Affairs has been accorded the red-carpet treatment and this trip will have opened several doors, which was shut beforehand.
   The "Peace Mission 2007" followed a joint military exercise by Russia and China in 2005, involving large-scale amphibious operations in the Yellow Sea in eastern China. More than 6,000 troops, including 2,000 from Russia and 1,600 from China, supported by 100 warplanes and 500 armoured vehicles, simulated a military exercise to crush an imaginary uprising by "terrorist" and "religious extremist" forces. It was clear that the SCO would not accept a repetition in Central Asia of the "colour revolutions" in Ukraine and Georgia. Significantly, a request from Washington to send observers to "Peace Missions 2007" was rejected.
   The Wall Street Journal, however, commented that while the prospect of the SCO becoming a military alliance was still remote, the war games demonstrated "worrying" cooperation between Beijing and Moscow. "It highlights the direct military interests Russia and China are taking in Central Asia, an area, of which, the US and Europe know very little. Even more worrying, the Chinese role in the exercise provides yet more evidence of the dimensions of Chinese military ambitions and capabilities, the potential targets of which are by no means limited to Central Asian Muslims," it wrote.
   This may be a warning to any Muslim country warming towards the SCO, but it is time that each Muslim country should decide what is best for itself and not be prodded by outside forces. Beijing, on the other hand, automatically rejected any concern that CSTO's involvement could create the impression that China was forming a military bloc with Russia. The "Shanghai Five" was initially formed 11 years ago to resolve the border disputes between Russia and China
   It is to be noted that Russia and China, oppose US military presence in the region. The latest SCO summit declared: "Stability and security in Central Asia are best ensured primarily through efforts taken by the nations of the region on the basis of the existing regional associations."
   At the SCO summit, President Putin declared: "Year by year, the SCO is becoming a more substantial factor in ensuring security in the region." He said "Any attempts to solve global and regional problems unilaterally are hopeless." Chinese president Hu Jintao warned against outside interference, saying: "The SCO nations have a clear understanding of the threats faced by the region and thus must ensure their security themselves". SCO members share complimentary economic interests. China's huge requirement for oil and gas provides a new market for the vast Russian energy resources. Moscow's arms industries are also vital to Beijing's drive to modernise its military.
   Commenting on SCO's economic potential, the Financial Times wrote "Covering a vast area from the Russian Arctic to the central Asian deserts bordering Afghanistan and Iran, SCO countries house more than a quarter of the world's population and at least a fifth of global oil and gas reserves, plus huge uranium resources."

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Politics begins to boil amid relaxed ban

Abdur Rahman Khan

With the relaxation of restrictions on indoor politics imposed under the emergency rule, the Election Commission (EC) has initiated a dialogue with political parties on electoral reforms beginning with the Islami Oikya Jote as it comes first alphabetically.
   According to the Commission, the electoral reform proposals aim at freeing the electoral process from the vice-grip of partisan muscle and black money and at creating an atmosphere encouraging honest and dedicated political leaders to contest the elections.
   The EC earlier initiated a move for bringing reforms to the existing electoral law, Representation of the People Order, 1972. But, now it plans to formulate a new order repealing the one promulgated in 1972 and has prepared a large number of proposals aimed at rewriting the order.
   The Commission is now seeking to introduce an option of casting 'no votes' in the next parliamentary elections with a provision for holding fresh polls to a constituency if 50 per cent or more of the votes cast there turn out to be 'no votes'.
   On the first day, the EC sat with the IOJ, which lent support to an EC proposal for disbanding the student wings and overseas chapters of political parties. The IOJ, however, opposed the proposal for using transparent ballot boxes in elections.
   Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) that faces an unavoidable split is in a crisis over the issue of taking possession of the party's central office and deciding representation to the dialogue with the EC.
   The expelled BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and his followers are planning to hold a national council session of the party after Ramadan to elect a new leadership and get approved their plan to bring about reforms in the organisation.
   They are also preparing to convene meetings of the national standing committee and the national executive committee of BNP to secure support so that they can 'formally' take control of the party and its central office in Dhaka.
   The incumbent secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain, on the other hand, is planning to discuss with party leaders whether he should go to the court to get back the control of the BNP central office that remained sealed by the police for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.
   Khandaker Delwar demanded the release of party Chairperson for consultation before going to attend any dialogue with the EC.
   Addressing a press conference at his Gulshan NAM Flat on Thursday, Mannan Bhuiyan said the Election Commission should invite them to sit with it in dialogue on electoral reforms.
   BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia expelled Mannan Bhuiyan and joint secretary general Ashraf Hossain just before her arrest on September 3 as they violated party discipline by going beyond the party forum in making public announcement for organisational reforms.
   A former bureaucrat-turned-BNP adviser, Mofazzal Karim, proposed that the founder secretary general of the party, Professor Badruddoza Chowdhury, should be invited to assume the leadership of BNP.
   However, a number of moderate leaders have launched a covert initiative to reconcile the two feuding groups and to save the party from a possible split-up.
   In another development, a number of agitated Awami League (AL) activists abused four senior leaders of the party at its Dhanmondi office on Thursday. Those who came under attack include AL Acting General Secretary Mukul Bose, Organising Secretary Abdul Mannan, Prof Abu Sayeed, and AKM Jahangir Hossain, known as loyal to senior presidium member of the party and a 'reformist, Amir Hossain Amu.
   With the agitated activists staying on the road in front of the AL office, the four leaders had spent about an hour inside the office before the police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
   When the two major political parties - BNP and Awami League - are facing organisational crisis over the reform agenda, 11 left-leaning parties on Thursday floated a new political platform styled Democratic Left Alliance (DLA) with the objective of establishing a democratic Bangladesh. The components of the new alliance are Bangladesher Communist Party (ML), Bangladesher Workers Party, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), Jatiya Ganofront, Biplobi Oikya Front, Ganotantrik Majdur Party, Bangladesher Ganotantrik Andolon, Shramajibi Mukti Andolon, Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal (MLM), BSD (Mahbub), and Ganosanghati Andolon.
   "As rightist politics has failed to fulfil people's expectations and run the country properly over the years, only left parties can lead the nation now," DLA leaders told a press conference.
   They said democracy could not be established by curbing peoples' constitutional rights.
   Expectations and dreams of the nation were not fulfilled over the last 36 years as some of the major parties failed to take up political programmes timely, the new combine said in a statement.

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List of corrupt persons to be
finalised this month

Shahriar Noori

The National Coordination Committee (NCC) on corruptions and major crimes will complete its part of assigned duties by preparing the final list of the top corrupt suspects in the country by the end of this month. It has targeted 220 suspects, out of which two lists of 148 suspects have already been made public.
   According to the sources, the preparation of the list is under way with the help of various government agencies including the intelligence unit of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
   This list 'certainly will be more balanced and representative than the previous two lists which were earlier handed over to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and provided to the media' said the sources.
   It will include the names of those persons who are politically, socially or economically important individuals but escaped earlier investigation.
   At present the investigators are also cross-checking the allegations against the personalities like Tofail Ahmed, Ali Ahsan Mujaheed, Sadek Hossain Khoka, Abdur Razzak and a few others, said the sources.
   They are now checking the bank accounts and operations of the suspects for the past 15 years, they said.
   However, the checking of bank accounts of the "listed persons" will be followed in a professional and organised manner without subjecting the concerned bankers to any extra pressure and tension.
   According to some preliminary information, around 70 lawmakers of the eighth parliament are not involved with corruptions.
   For providing a transparent account to the nation about the important personalities, the investigators are busy collecting information about the suspected personalities belonging to all political hues, regardless of their support for or opposition to reforms, said the sources.
   The sources said, in the final list the names of around 10 businessmen, some top bureaucrats and a few NGO leaders are likely to be included.
   However, in the absence of trained workforce of the agencies and paucity of fund, the investigations to identify the corrupt suspects has slowed down, said the sources.
   Besides, the sudden outbreak of violence such as the campus agitation of 20-22 August or the prolonged floods also hampered the investigation process, they added.
   However, till date ACC has prepared a list of 218 persons that include the lists of persons provided earlier by NCC, asking them to submit their wealth statements. Out of them 198 responded and non-submission cases were filed against six persons for defying the notice, ACC secretary Mokles-ur- Rahman said.
   The ACC on its own sent notices to the suspected persons besides the list provided by NCC, said the Secretary of the commission.

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NBR should clean its house, not issue threat to businesses

Shamsuddin Ahmed

It's a veiled threat and is likely to frustrate the government efforts to restore confidence among the business community. National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Badiur Rahman on Sunday said they would launch a campaign to hunt down the tax-dodgers after the period of amnesty is over on September 30. The campaign will target the business community.
   Badiur Rahman has proudly told a news agency that he knew how to collect tax, and how many houses, cars, and bank accounts the 'tax-dodgers' had. The NBR intelligence cell has identified them. By saying this he has demonstrated arrogance and also issued a thinly veiled threat.
   The revenue board's approach and attitude have no doubt annoyed the business community. "It is up to foil the government efforts to restore confidence of the business people," a member of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) told this correspondent. In his view, the business community has already borne the burnt of government drives against tax/duty evasion, hoarding, eviction of roadside shops and hawkers, and manufacturing second-hand goods. The drives by the army-led joint forces have created panic among the business community, which is said to be the main reason for the instability of the essential commodity market.
   The continued price spiral of essentials has no doubt eroded much of the popularity of the government it earned by anti-corruption measures. As a corrective measure, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed met with the business community last week. They assured the businessmen that they would not be subjected to any unnecessary harassment. But the threat issued by the NBR chairman may counteract that assurance.
   The NBR chief, being a bureaucrat, is supposed to carry out the government policy quietly.
   His task is to collect revenue in accordance with the rules set by the government. He would prove his efficiency by maximising the revenue collection. But, threat and coercion may stiffen the tax/duty dodgers.
   Businessmen have the feeling that they are always the target of NBR. But, what about its own officials? A close survey will reveal that most of the income tax and customs officials have amassed huge wealth by unfair means. It is no secret that they used to suggest the ways and means of dodging tax and duties. A similar survey should be carried on the wealth of engineers at government departments. Doctors and lawyers who have roaring practice and are earning huge money but are shy to pay due income tax should also be identified.
   Duty evasion at the land ports in collusion with customs officials has also failed to draw attention of the NBR. A report on Tuesday said the situation at Sona Masjid land port in Chapainawabganj district has necessitated intervention of the joint forces. A 10-member committee headed by an official of the joint forces has been formed at a meeting for quick resolution of the problems and make the land port efficient. A similar situation reportedly prevails in all the land ports. But the NBR seems to have no concern about that.
   The Tk 10,000 crore income tax target set for the current fiscal year is not a big one. The NBR may emulate the mode of neighbouring countries. In India, for example, traders dealing with foreign goods are compelled to pay higher income tax. "You are selling foreign goods and earning good profit. So you are to pay substantial income tax," is the usual demand of the income tax officials. Anyone buying costly gadgets or constructing building are closely followed and brought to pay income tax. In doing this they are serving twin purposes - raising the income tax revenue and desisting traders, and ultimately consumers, from buying foreign goods.
   The NBR should cleanse its own house first, follow the rules quietly, and refrain from saying anything in public that is tantamount to threat to the taxpayers and thus wound their feelings.

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War games muddy APEC summit

Antoaneta Bezlova in Beijing

China's display of economic clout and diplomatic assertiveness at the Asia Pacific leaders' forum in Sydney last week has been overshadowed by a concurrent show of power in the Bay of Bengal where the United States is leading four Asia-Pacific countries in the largest war games ever held in the region.
   Analysts see the joint naval exercises, involving warships from the US, India, Australia, Japan and Singapore, as part of a strategic design by Washington to strengthen ties in Asia at a time when China is trying to project its growing military might. The games, dubbed Malabar 07-02, follow smaller naval exercises held by India, Japan and the US in the western Pacific earlier this year.
   China has watched both the exercises and the security talks that accompany them with rising unease. Beijing protested when India, Japan and the US met in June with Australia for talks on a new "Quadrilateral Initiative" and demanded an official explanation.
   Beijing has also attacked the agenda of the three-way security talks (in Sydney early this month) among Australia, Japan and the US, on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, as lacking in transparency.
   APEC 'member economies', include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the US.
   Australian Prime Minister John Howard was quick to defend the talks as an "expression of the commonality of interests that three Pacific democracies have". But to Beijing this argument sounds uncannily similar to Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe's call for the establishing of an "Asian arc of freedom and prosperity", which excludes China. On a recent visit to India, Abe described his vision of the arc as one made up of democracies across the Indian and Pacific Oceans and cited India, the US, Australia and Japan as components.
   Yet while Beijing understands Japan's motives in seeking allies as it nervously watches its neighbour's economic and military rise, it still suspects that the ongoing re-alignment of powers in Asia is ultimately driven by the US.
   "We are watching the rekindling of the Cold War mentality in Washington's efforts to find allies and partners while beefing up its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, East Europe and South Asia, apart from occupying Iraq indefinitely," said an opinion piece in the state-sanctioned China Daily in August.
   The author Fu Mengzi-a research fellow at the Chinese Institute of Contemporary International Relations, argued that the US is intent on energising the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in addition to building an "alliance of the willing", with an "obsession with forging military relations with non-allies".
   The U.S. Japan and Australia have no formal three-way alliance agreement yet, but recent months have seen a flurry of diplomatic talks and negotiations aimed at upgrading their security arrangements.
   In March Japan and Australia signed a joint security declaration, which outlined a joint strategy covering military exercises, intelligence sharing and cooperation in counter-terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
   Another security agreement-between Canberra and Washington, is expected to be announced soon after the end of this security talks on the sidelines of the APEC forum.
   China's official response to what its analysts perceive as an attempt at encirclement by these three countries has been to bid for openness and try to appease their fears.
   Before the start of the APEC forum, Beijing made a surprise announcement that it has decided to submit an annual report on its military spending and imports and exports of conventional arms to the United Nations. The Foreign Ministry said the decision was aimed at dismissing growing international concerns over China's rapid military build-up.
   "These are two important decisions of the Chinese government in the field of military transparency," the ministry said in a statement on its website.
   The pledge for more transparency comes amid vocal international concerns about China's military spending, which has been growing at a double-digit rate nearly every year since the 1990s. This year saw a 17.8 per cent boost of China's military budget to about 45 billion US dollars.
   Early this month China's defence chief also made a powerful bid to allay regional fears. During a visit to Japan, General Cao Gangchuan said China's military build-up is geared towards self-defence.
   "Those who speak of the theory of China as a military threat are ignorant of the situation and their claims are unfounded," Cao said in his public address.
   The general's visit to Japan-the first by a Chinese defence minister since 1998, marks a cautious attempt by Beijing to court the revival of bilateral relations after they turned frosty under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The two sides agreed to allow a Chinese warship to visit Japan for the first time and try to set up a crisis hotline.
   Beijing has also taken a cautious line in regard to US attempts to woo New Delhi to play a more prominent role in the emerging Asian axis of democracies and refrained from openly criticising a controversial civilian nuclear accord signed between the two sides.
   The deal, which was signed last year, enables the US and other countries to supply New Delhi with nuclear technology and fuels without India having to give up its nuclear arms or sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
   As a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which needs to reach a consensus on the pact to validate it, China could use its vote to block the deal. But hinting that the deal has given rise to opposition from different sides, the Foreign Ministry has remained relatively calm in its reaction.
   "We have also noted that within the NSG there are different views about relaxing the restrictions on nuclear exports to India," ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news briefing last Thursday. "China believes that, with the precondition of abiding by their international responsibi-lities, all countries can develop cooperation in the peaceful exploration of nuclear power."
   But, while courting US allies in Asia, China has continued to forge closer relations with Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which includes the Central Asian republics. This summer the organisation held its second joint military manoeuvres, "Peace Mission 2007", which bolstered the increasingly military profile of this regional body.

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GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT

Harry S Truman

K. Z. Islam

The news broke at 5:47 P.M. Eastern War Time, April 12, 1945. President Franklin D Roosevelt had died of a cerebral haemorrhage at 4:45 P.M. Roosevelt had been sworn in as President for the fourth term on January 20, 1945 along with Harry S Truman as Vice President. Having been Vice President for 82 days he was sworn in as a President exactly 2 hours and 24 minutes since Roosevelt's death. Thus began the very eventful Presidency of Harry S Truman. He was the President responsible for the Truman doctrine, the dropping of the Atom Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Marshall Plan, NATO, the amazing Berlin airlift, for firing General Mac Arthur, intervention in Korea and a great deal more besides.
   The World War-II had come to an end in Europe and the big three of the Allies: Truman, Churchill and Stalin assembled in Potsdam (Berlin) in Mid July 1945. There were several sessions of the top three. At session three there was sharp talk across the table much of it from Truman. Truman was impatient for progress of almost any kind. He was home-sick, "sick of the whole business," he confided to his wife Bess.
   The day was saved only by the party Truman gave that night, a banquet for Churchill and Stalin at Number 2 Kaiserstrasse with music provided by a twenty-seven-year old American concert pianist, Sergeant Eugene List, who was accompanied on the violin by Private Stuart Canin. Stalin was charmed. To the Americans present it would remain the most memorable evening of the conference.
   The two musicians, both in uniform, had been flown in from Paris at Truman's request. The grand piano had been moved onto the back porch overlooking the lake. At one point Truman himself played Paderewski's Minuet in G. But the highlight was Sergeant List's performance of the Chopin Waltz in A Minor, Opus 42, which Truman had asked for specifically. Sgt. List had not known the piece nor had there been time to learn it. Later, in a letter to his wife, Sergeant List described what happened when he asked if someone in the audience would be good enough to turn the pages of the music for him.
   A young captain in the party started toward the piano mumbling something about not knowing how to read music but that he would take a stab at it if I would tell him when to turn. Whereupon . . . the President waved him aside with a sweeping gesture and volunteered to do the job himself! Just imagine! Well, you could have knocked me over with a toothpick!
   Thank goodness I was able to get through the waltz in creditable, if not sensational, manner, despite the general excitement and the completely unexpected appearance of President Truman in the role of page-turner. Imagine having the President of the United States turn pages for you! . . . But that's the kind of man the President is.
   Truman was delighted to see Stalin so obviously enjoying himself. "The old man loves music," he told Bess. "Our boy was good."

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NEWS NOTES FROM NEW YORK

Fazle Rashid

Grim days ahead
   The Bangladesh Diaspora in New York greeted the interim government's decision to lift the ban on indoor politics and applauded Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed's firm reiteration that the general elections would be held by December 2008, a month after the US presidential election, if not earlier. The government's decision to slow down its efforts on other peripheral issues also won instant support.
   Bangladeshi-Americans however are deeply concerned over the future turn of events, particularly in the food sector. The government must address with single-minded approach the possibility of a severe food shortage due to a 10 per cent price hike of food grains on the international market. The international oil market has also become jittery in the face of the global economic slowdown. To overcome the adverse impact of the slowdown, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has decided to add 500,000 barrels to its daily output to bring down the oil prices. This, of course, will be welcome news for Bangladesh. OPEC is made up of 26 oil-producing nations. The increase in oil output was decided in the face of stiff resistance from Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria, and Libya who said they saw no reason to augment supplies and favoured keeping the OPEC policy unchanged.
   International food shortage together with the price hike may well be a very crucial factor for countries like Bangladesh. So, the government must be up and doing to avert a famine-like situation.
   The government also must not concede to any demands of the multilateral lending agencies like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Asian Development Bank. They will lend money in their own interest. Unless they do so in the existing situation in Bangladesh, these agencies themselves will face extinction. The number of borrowers from these agencies has dropped to an alarming level. The bosses of the agencies now realise that regulation is tempting but not workable anymore with the money market flourishing.
   
   US to reduce troops in Iraq
   The White House, under withering attacks both from the Democrats and the Republicans who have now started saying that the war in Iraq was a disaster from the day one, has finally relented, abandoning its intractable stand, by agreeing to withdraw 30,000 troops by the summer of next year. The troop level after the withdrawal will stand at the pre-surge stage. The civilian casualties in the Iraq war have been computed at 100,000, a figure which is hotly contested by both Washington and Baghdad. More than 4,000 US and coalition soldiers have perished in the war and several thousand others have been maimed and wounded critically, rendering them disabled.
   MoveOn, an anti-war group, in a full-page advertisement in the New York Times on Monday, the day top US commander in Iraq Gen David Petraeus a US Ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker appeared before a Congressional hearing. The MoveOn Ad blamed Patraeus for betraying the US and claimed that all independent reports on the ground situation in Iraq showed that the surge had failed. The general claims violence has subsided.
   Pentagon does not count the deaths in car bomb attacks. Death is taken account of only if one dies hit by gun shot in the back of the head not the front. Quoting an AP report, MoveOn said more Iraqi civilians and American soldiers had died in the past three months than in any summer. Iraq is mired in a relentless religious civil war.
   
   APEC, not OPEC
   Apart from President Bush calling APEC as OPEC and accepting an invitation from the Chinese President to be present at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics next summer, the Pacific Rim nations failed to produce anything tangible in the summit held in Sydney, Australia. The meeting failed to tackle the questions of global warming and advancing the global trade agenda which has remained stalled for so many months. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), whose membership is limited to 21 members, failed on both counts. The world needs to slow, stop, and then reverse the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions, the APEC leaders said.
   
   Britain tighten immigration rules
   All immigrant workers from outside the European Union must be fluent in spoken English to be eligible to work in Britain. This is bad news for Bangladeshis who want to go to Britain. Roughly 100,000 foreign workers entered Britain last year and 35,000 of them cannot converse in English.
   
   Hilary's Illegal fund
   Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the hot favourite to win the next presidential race, faced huge embarrassment as news leaked that her campaign fund has received hefty sums from sources headed by Norman Hsu, a Chinese-American who has ducked the police. Hsu helped Clinton to raise $850,000. Clinton's campaign managers will return the money to about 260 donors. Hsu is under police investigation on various charges. FBI has launched an investigation to unravel whether Hsu paid people to give money to Clinton's campaign fund. Hsu has donated over $600,000 to several political figures.
   In another political scandal, Senator Larry Craig of Republican Party is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea in case for a disorderly sex conduct in a toilet of an airport. Craig has been stripped of his seniority and a subject of Senate ethics committee complaint. He will step down, if he fails to get the case quashed.
   The row over politically motivated dismissal of federal prosecutors has hardly died down when a new complaint about prosecuting a Democratic Party governor on corruption charges by the Justice Department has further heated up the atmosphere. The allegation is that the Justice Department is involved in politically motivated cases. Don Singelman, Democratic Party governor of Alabama, has been imprisoned for 88 months on federal corruption charges. Democratic Party will try to prove that the Justice Department is engaged in political prosecution.
   
   Laura protests on Myanmar repression
   In a rather unusual move, US First Lady Laura Bush called the UN secretary general and urged him to denounce the military junta of Myanmar. I wanted the UN to be on record saying at least that we know what has happened, the NYT quoted the first lady as saying. President Bush later issued a strong statement condemning the atrocities of Myanmar's military junta. Laura Bush, who is very active in promoting education and healthcare, has turned her face to Myanmar and its jailed leader Aung San. Laura Bush has repeatedly met UN envoy to Myarmar and last year moderated a discussion to draw attention to country's repressive policies.
   
   Sex scandal, graft in high offices
   Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, who earlier decided to delay his resignation, has revised his strategy and announced that he was going to quit. He has asked his party colleagues to search for his successor. His government has suffered an electoral rebuff, losing control of the upper house of the parliament and has been dogged by damaging scandals. Abe, the youngest post-war prime minister, has not set any date for leaving office. Four of his ministers have been forced to quit on corruption charges.
   Bishop Pius Neube of Zimbabwe has resigned facing charges of adultery. His resignation has been accepted by the Vatican. Neube is a fierce critic of Robert Mugabe. He laid down his robes 'to spare my fellow bishops and the body of the church any further attacks'.
   Bishop Han Dingxiang, who led underground masses of Roman Catholics in China, has died in police custody. He was jailed several times for his allegiance to Vatican.
   Joseph Estrada, the immediate past president of the Philippines, has been convicted for illegally acquiring wealth while in office. The court has sentenced him to a maximum of 40 years in jail. Estrada's property has been confiscated. Estrada, a former movie star, received more than $85 million in kickbacks.
   Two former police officers of Michigan, Detroit have been given $6.5 million each. They were removed from service in retaliation for investigating misconduct by the Mayor and his security staff. Mayor M Kilpatrick has been accused of philandering and misuse of the city funds. He took $8,600 from the civic fund for a week's vacation. His wife bought a car for $24,995 using the city fund.
   Yet another Republican Party senator, David Vitter, has been accused of an illicit sexual affair with Wendy Ellis, a prostitute. Wendy said she met the Louisiana Senator two-to-three times a week in 1999. Senator's spokesman declined to make any comment.
   Tailpiece: (1) Acronym AAA stands for American Automobile Association. It has a different meaning in Pakistan. There triple A stands for Allah, Army and America. (2) March on and fear not thorns or the sharp stones on life's path, said poet-philosopher Kahlil Gibran, (3) Do not negotiate out of fear but do not fear to negotiate: JFK.

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Sharif's second exile ends, not Musharraf's woes

Jonaid Iqbal

Let's say, former twice Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif was at Islamabad, where he arrived aboard PK 786 (shortcut for Bismillah, I begin in the name of God Almighty), for four hours last Monday.
   However, he was not home. He did not get past the immigration and was forced on to a plane to Saudi Arabia, with guile and deceit, as some people would say, for three more years of exile. Police commandoes had surrounded the plane until he was eventually allowed to leave the plane and enter an airport lounge. More negotiations followed, but they ended abruptly, and Sharif was grabbed by security officers and hustled back onto the tarmac.
   Reports say Sharif arrived at Jeddah at about 5pm (PST) and is living at his own home there. Reports have appeared in the press that Sharif's passport is with the Saudi authorities and that he and his family members have been advised not to indulge in politics and refrain from making political statements.
   Saeed Awadh Assiri, Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan, is said to have spoken afterwards that Sharif was a guest of Saudi Arabia.
   To provide a ludicrous interlude into this high drama going on at the airport, within those four hours a broadcaster said that Sharif was served his favourite food of Nihari, beat-up goat meat cooked all night in gravy, and Lahori Kulcha, a kind of dry biscuit, for breakfast.
   A number of people who accompanied Sharif from London and were travelling with him told newspaper reporters that when he boarded the plane at London Heathrow airport Sunday night what he thought was to inspire the public of Pakistan on the road back to full democracy and to shrug off long periods of military rule, he was sure he would be arrested, but did not expect to be sent in exile a second time. Interestingly, because many people in Pakistan thought that President Musharraf could not afford to see him off to Lahore in a victory cavalcade, he would be sent packing.
   Nawaz Sharif should have sensed the danger after Saad Hariri, brother of the slain Premier Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon, as well as the chief of Saudi Arabian intelligence, a brother of Saudi King, jointly held a press conference at Islamabad on Saturday, and highlighted Nawaz Sharif's moral obligation to fulfil his commitment of staying in exile for 10 years.
   Nevertheless, he expected a mammoth crowd to welcome him, which was not there. The airport was sealed and so were all roads leading to it. His top leaders including now free Javed Hashmi were detained and could not make it to the airport. There was some scuffle between the police and quite a few leaders at the Zero Point and former President Rafiq Tarrar, MKNP leader Mahmood Achakzai, and PML leader Tehmina Daultana were forcibly removed from the street.
   In fact, the airport and the nearby Rawalpindi town lay under a siege, theoretically, by the Punjab administration under Premier Chaudhry Pervez Ilahi, who has vowed to keep President Pervez Musharraf in uniform for the next term and for many other countless terms to follow.
   After the news of the forced departure of Nawaz Sharif, we heard of clashes between the police and supporters of Sharif in several towns and cities of Punjab.
   Wednesday, a number of political parties called a protest against the government action, and as I write I can hear police cars blaring sirens outside to frighten the would-be protestors. The lawyers' body has called a strike, and a petition has been filed with the Supreme Court against disobeying the court's order two weeks ago which said Nawaz Sharif had 'an inalienable right to return home', and no one should block his homecoming.
   However, State Information Minister Tariq Azeem has set afloat a legal fig-leaf and said Nawaz Sharif was offered a choice at the airport and he chose to go in exile.
   After seeing his old foe Nawaz Sharif off, President Musharraf is now free to conclude the stalled arrangement with Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto, and probably, peace of a few weeks. It would be difficult to obliterate the memory of what happened at Islamabad on Monday and, obviously, Musharraf's display of force could intimidate a few other people as well.
   Thus, Pakistan is in for a period of interesting time, since Monday, one day ahead of Quaid i Azam's death anniversary. The great leader had carved out this independent motherland on democratic principles, and as a place where brute strength would not trump over the rule of law. The concept has never been allowed a free hand.

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