|
Party reforms take a new twist as
Khaleda and Hasina assert
Abdur Rahman Khan
The move to keep both Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia away from the country has already been abandoned. The subsequent initiative to put them out of their respective organisational positions also appears to have failed to generate any considerable support within the organisations as the promoters of reform with the minus-two formula are trying to beat a retreat at this moment.
Finding it difficult to persuade the AL and BNP leaders against their party chiefs, the government spokesmen categorically denied having any involvement in the campaign to bring reforms in political parties. The leaders of AL and BNP, who have been vocal against their chiefs, are now making more equitable statements indicating clearly that they have no intention to dislodge their chiefs.
Until last week, it had been widely reported in the media and speculated in the political circles that both the major parties were going to have reforms with curtailing the power of their top leaders and bringing certain changes in their constitutions. The government spokesmen had also been saying that they would not allow indoor political activities keeping the political system unchanged, which would simply mean letting the same people return to power. Reformist groups in both the parties had been continuing with parleys to chalk out reform proposals. They were supposed to submit the reform package to their respective party chiefs and also make it public by June 20. A June 22 deadline for doing this was also reported in the media.
What brought a dramatic change in that political scenario last week were the sharp and positive reactions of Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia towards the reform initiatives. Both the ladies said, almost in a similar tone, that they were in favour of reforms but that should be made by party council, not at the wish of certain individuals or groups. The political leaders, many of whom are identified as reformists, also argued strongly that the reforms should not be imposed from outside but should be decided by the appropriate party forum.
Interestingly, H M Ershad of Jatiya Party also came up with a statement on Wednesday that any reform or change in his party would have to be brought about only through party council.
Meanwhile, both Hasina and Khaleda mounted a counteroffensive on the reformist leaders of their respective parties. Hasina went further, questioning why only the AL and BNP should undergo reforms, why not others too.
Khaleda Zia was clear in her message that BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan should not risk breaking up the party. The idea was floated of making Lt Gen (Rtd.) Mahbubur Rahman, very recently inducted into the BNP as a standing committee member, the new BNP chairman in place of Khaleda Zia. But Khaleda left the matter for the party council to decide. However, in a sober tone, she pointed out that Gen Mahbub was a newcomer to the party and he might not have gone through the party's constitution carefully.
On the other hand, Sheikh Hasina threw the reformist leaders in the AL into a puzzling situation by proposing the 60-year age limit for anyone working as the party's central leader and selection of a separate set of leaders for appointment as ministers. She proposed that one should not be allowed to be a member of the cabinet and hold any central office of the party simultaneously.
Now it is clear that any reform in these two major parties must involve and get approval from the party chiefs and be brought about through party council. The simple 'minus-two' formula is insufficient to deal with the situation and is likely to turn into a two-plus one very soon as the two ladies are still influential enough to command the confidence of the majority of the rank and file in their respective parties.
Since the success of the reforms now appears to depend on the willingness of the two ladies, the leaders, who once had been propagating the minus-two formula, would now prefer to shift their position and become more loyalist than reformist. The interim authorities now need to concentrate more on the party of their choice the creation of which may also face some difficulties in the continued presence and influence of the two ladies.
 ^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Foreign interference in 'matters military' is improper
Diplomats must put up, or shut up
M. Shahidul Islam
Confusing assertions can have adverse consequences in moments of crisis. Even a foreign policy wizard finds it hard to decipher what the US says with respect to countries like Bangladesh where it has entrenched economic and geopolitical interests.
The US vouches for democracy everywhere, but does everything possible to dislodge popularly elected governments. The recent upstaging of the Hamas government in Palestine is the latest example of such US power play across the globe.
Palestine today is a fractured nation; the Hamas controlling Gaza and the Fatah retaining control over the West Bank. Thousands of Palestinians are on the run and hundreds have died in recent fratricidal fighting.
In Bangladesh it is no secret that the US is supportive of the current military-backed government and the military's higher command has reiterated time and again that it has no desire to get sucked into the nation's politics directly. Why then the departing US envoy, Patricia Butenis, had to say what she said on June 18. "Certainly we do not want to see military involvement in politics. I have made this point before that the military should not take any sort of political role," Butenis was reported to have said in an interview with the UNB news agency.
Does the departing envoy know something that we don't? What indeed prompted her to release this cautionary salvo days before her departure from the country?
Butenis's latest comment also came amidst the revived hype spurred by the arrival in Dhaka from the USA of one of the condemned accused of the August 15, 1975 coup. An impassioned study of the genesis of that coup leads one to believe that the US did have an indirect role in the August 15 putsch and has also sheltered at least one of the accused of the Mujib murder case in the USA following the institution of a trial in Dhaka in 1996.
Giving shelter to one accused convicted for the same crime, and deporting the other ignominiously does indeed cast suspicion on the due process afforded to Major (retd.) Mohiuddin Ahmed in the USA following his appeal for political asylum.
While those are anecdotes of law, history and politics, our focus is not on what happens inside the US's judiciary, rather, we are more concerned about the impact of US policies on Bangladesh. As on previous occasions, we have begun to ponder much about the ramifications of the US envoy's latest comment for a number of reasons.
First: For the first time since 1991, we have seen the collapse of the Caretaker System that successfully conducted three general elections and retrieved the nation from the abyss of an entrenched militarised polity that began in late 1975.
Second: Bangladesh now stands at a historical crossroads and the law affairs adviser to the government has recently said that delay in reforming the political parties could lead to further delay in holding a scheduled election by the end of 2008. Observers received the law affairs adviser's comment with a texture of indigestion and found his veiled warning much too indiscreet and detrimental to the promise made earlier by the Chief Adviser (CA) that election will be held by the end of 2008.
As the CA never made the holding of election conditional upon reforming the political parties first, the law adviser's warning also ran counter to the promise made by the CA.
Third: Butenis is a seasoned and astute diplomat. She also seemed to have grasped the nuances and intricacies of our polity by being involved over the last 16 months in matters that fell far short of her mandated diplomatic sway. That is why she herself agreed that reforms in political parties cannot be imposed from above. It has to be an act of spontaneity from within the parties.
We all agree that any attempt to reform requires open-ended discussion and debate, which is only possible when the prevailing restrictions on politics are removed. In this chicken-or-egg-first dilemma, the ball is in the government's court to withdraw restrictions from political activism and allow the parties to reform themselves as per wishes of their respective leaders, members and supporters.
Dysfunctional entity
Despite our blind faith and support for many of the good things being done by the current administration, we are also mindful that Bangladesh may transform itself into a failed nation unless democracy is restored sooner. Research shows that every failed nation has had two common denominations symptoms; lack or absence of public representation in governance, and, absence of constitutional rule.
The most potent reason behind perennial societal instability in a country is the public anger caused by non-participation in the governance and the deprivation of justice and due process of law. The longer the current non-participatory government clings to power and fundamental rights of the people remain suspended, the greater will become the danger for the nation becoming a dysfunctional entity -- gradually, but surely.
To avoid the military's direct involvement in politics, there is no other option but to restore a credible democracy at the earliest opportunity. Such a measure worked in the past and it will work in future too.
Hoping that the present CG will succeed, we should still remain cautious about the fact that a carefully chalked out, dignified exit strategy is better than an acclaimed debut into anything as perilous as the game of politics and power.
As we wish success of this interim caretaker government and trust that the CG will keep its pledge to holding a fair and acceptable election by the end of 2008, we can not be oblivious of other viable options; especially at a time of hazardous national and international uncertainties.
Crises
Look carefully where are we now. The nation is on the throes of serious economic crisis, compounded further by an acute power shortage and hyperinflationary trends. Even the Economic Adviser to the Government expressed dismay during his June 19 address to business leaders as to why prices of essentials do not deflate despite all the measures taken so far?
We also find that our powerful neighbour has once again re- launched a massive propaganda warfare accusing Bangladesh of sheltering insurgents from India's North-East and Islamic militants from within and without. We did everything against Islamic militancy, but nothing makes India happy.
Historically, accusations of these natures often follow Dhaka's independent moves to resolve its economic crisis by venturing out of the Indian orbit. The difference this time is: Indian media is openly criticising Dhaka for not approving the Tata investment proposal; for not allowing gas export to India; and, for not giving a decision as yet to the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India gas pipeline proposition.
Indian media, blackmail
What the self-obsessed Indian media outlets fail to talk is: why are Bangladeshi investors not yet allowed to invest in India; why does not India agree to Dhaka's proposal for power import from Nepal and Bhutan; and, why corridor facility is obstructed between Bangladesh and its Himalayan neighbours to facilitate free trade in the region?
We as a nation must come out of such strangulations imposed by our neighbour and do everything possible to avoid being blackmailed by regional and global actors.
Besides, the nation is awaiting the arrival of what experts say could be a heavy monsoon. Signs of flooding have already surfaced everywhere and India's intentional release of extra waters could exacerbate the crisis further. Inflation and scarcity of goods could combine to become an explosive mix in case the flooding this year becomes a natural disaster of some reckoning.
While the nation ponders over such incapacitating concerns, we would urge foreign envoys and their governments to leave us alone and allow us to think independently about our problems. We will also respectfully caution them not to talk much about the military; as the military is already doing a superb job with grassroots public support and they have already assured the nation time and again of their bona fide intent not to intervene directly in politics.
That is why we feel distraught by a foreign envoy's sermons to the nation's military that only helps to confuse us further and can be interpreted in a different manner by different quarters. Since such comments constitute a crude interference in the internal affairs of our nation, we would advise foreign diplomats to put up patiently with our uniqueness, or shut up altogether.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Is Dhaka leaning towards Indo-US axis?
Special Correspondent
The question which has been perturbing the public mind most for quite some time is whether or not the country is leaning towards the Indo-US sphere? The recent developments have worried some politicians and intelligentsia who say they are closely observing the situation.
It is not without reason that US-controlled IMF and World Bank have softened their attitude towards Dhaka. Their loans stood at barely 360 million dollars in January sharply rose to 1.2 billion dollars by early June. It has pledged increased aid during 2007-08 fiscal year encouraging the authors of the national budget to draw an ambitious Annual Development Programme depending heavily on aid.
Relaxation
Delegation of business conglomerates like Tata, Mittal and Asia Energy have come with proposals of huge investment in exploration of gas and oil and in gas-based industries. They received warm welcome.
Dhaka has relaxed its preconditions to tri-national gas line for supplying natural gas from Myanmar to India through Bangladesh. Construction of 240mw Siddhirganj plant has been awarded to Indian company BHEL within a couple of weeks the present government took over, bypassing the lowest bidder from China. Clearance of the lowest Chinese bidder for Chandpur power plant remains withheld for months.
Kolkata-Dhaka direct train service is being opened next month despite economists' observation that it will not help Bangladesh; rather it will boost Indian trade. Western companies have lined up for exploration and exploitation of identified offshore and inland gas and oil fields.
All this has given the politicians and intelligentsia to feel that the caretaker government is leaning too much and too fast to the Indo-US business interest.
Safeguard
China, a tested friend of Bangladesh, has shared its worries. In an interview with a news agency last week Chinese ambassador in Dhaka Zheng Qingdian said, "As a friendly and close neighbour China is very much concerned at the developments in Bangladesh." He hoped that "peace, stability and development in Bangladesh would be safeguarded in people's interest."
This shows in Chinese eyes our peace and stability are threatened and the people's interest is in jeopardy.
Obviously, it is not the political situation or the fate of discredited politicians that worries Beijing and prompted Zheng to come with the observation.
The envoys of major players in the world have been making statements on political situation of this country almost every day and enjoying wide media coverage. Some even overstepping the diplomatic norms were rather impatient, to see resumption of politics, early election and the politicians again in power.
Pressure
In the gambit, US ambassador Patricia Butenis has exposed the duplicity of her government. When she opposed involvement of the military in politics of Bangladesh, US Deputy Secretary John Negroponte has favoured the military rule in Pakistan. John was quoted as saying that the USA would not mind if General Pervez Mosharraf takes part in the ensuing national polls with uniform. What they want is strengthening democracy in Pakistan. Butenis' move in Dhaka is seen as a bid to exert pressure on the Caretaker Government.
Going by the usual Chinese tradition of diplomacy and sophistication, Zheng has not spoken about the internal politics of Bangladesh. Understandably, his written replies to the queries of the agency interviewer were vetted by Beijing. What made Beijing feel deeply concerned is not far to seek.
Indo-US nuke link
The USA has nuclear agreement with India. Its officials made it no secret that their policy towards Bangladesh is inseparably and indivisibly linked with India. That means, Washington and New Delhi want to placate Dhaka in their design against China.
It needs no mention that China has been helping Bangladesh since early 1976. It has immense contribution to revitalise our armed forces. True friendship of China is manifested in a number of welfare projects including bridges and the international conference centre they have built for us.
But one thing is certain that the people of Bangladesh would not accept compromise on any issue of national interest of any step that may jeopardise the interest of the people. "You can even extend transit facility to India or hand over Chittagong Port to USA, but the people will never allow implementation of such accord," said a senior politician requesting anonymity.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
How Bangladesh can lower business cost
A. K. Faezul Huq
With comparatively cheap labour ? the cheapest in the region ? availability of prime land and materials for setting up industries or even business houses, along with liberal provision of tax holiday still in vogue, there is absolutely no reason why businessmen should complain regarding cost of doing business in Bangladesh. But the whole story has a different perspective also. Both local and foreign businessmen feel that the cost of doing business in Bangladesh is relatively quite high; at times even incredible. Obviously, a good number of reasons are cited for such state of affairs, but simultaneously, the corresponding good news is: the problem is still solvable. However, to start with, businesspersons frequently complain of high rate of bank interest, which in many cases shoots up to 16 per cent or even more, when calculated along with bank's service/incidental charges. The rate, they demand, should be brought down to a single digit ? preferably between 8 to 9 per cent, at the most.
The demand thus made is quite reasonable, since most of the business is carried out with bank loans and other credit facilities. Obviously, if the high rate of interest makes the investor or businessmen feel uncomfortable, or drains out all the energy from the body, keeping him/her on the toes all throughout, then the business would invariably suffer and eventually fail to take off.
However, most bankers do not agree with such clientele demands, which they say is 'unrealistic'. In fact, they have their own arguments for keeping the bank rates high, along with scope for squeezing money from the 'hostage' clients, which obviously helps the banks in providing their white-collar personnel/officers with a five-digit salary ? even six in some cases, along with other perks as well.
The bankers, on the other hand, say that the majority of businessmen misuse such generous facilities too often when provided, by investing the money procured as loan [or credit facility] for 'other' purposes ? a contention which again is not totally unfounded. For example, it has been revealed in many cases that the money procured from banks on liberal terms and conditions for business purposes was, or has been, used for some other purpose [like purchasing land, expensive cars et al] rather than the exclusive business purpose for which it was originally sanctioned by the bank(s).
Raw materials
Now, to bring down the cost of business in Bangladesh, the majority feel that first of all there should be a provision for soft loan for those entrepreneurs who produce raw materials right on our own soil. They think that if the raw materials, which are locally produced, get the required incentive in the form of soft loans et al, the overall cost of production would automatically come down. This is quite a valid argument, which needs positive consideration by the authorities concerned--in this case the ministry of finance, who should guide and instruct the banks accordingly. However, this is not the first time that such a demand is being made or mentioned. Unfortunately, as has been seen in the past, no political government worth the name, or the bureaucracy as a whole, has ever considered such a bona fide proposal of the businesspersons seriously. In any case, the government can easily make amends even today and rethink about the whole issue so that the people feel that something positive is being done for them this time.
Raw materials, most people in business feel, should also be easily available, either through bulk import from cheap sources; by reducing duties and taxes, or through local production in sufficient quantities as mentioned above. If business houses and industries have to wait in long queues for raw materials, or if there is frequent shortage or paucity of such materials due to any other reason, then there is bound to be a disruption in production line and obviously, the cost of overall production would go up, manifold. Business overall, in that case would automatically become an expensive affair.
Power and gas
Regular, uninterrupted gas and power supply is the next problem faced by the business community all over the country. As we all know, the energy supply is so erratic that many business establishments were almost constrained to shut down their establishments abruptly. Most of the industries are today fully dependent upon both gas and electricity, and any interruption whatsoever causes immense loss on the production side. Further, with the Asian Development Bank high-ups sitting tight on our soil, meeting advisors and secretaries almost every day and issuing repulsive sermons through the vibrant media, the common man can never expect anything good.
External advice
There is only one prescription from Ms. Hua Du and Co: Keep on increasing the rate of electricity and gas every day, as much as you can, citing system loss or other stupid reasons; and also disallow the use of private generators! And persons in charge, who run the show, gleefully accept the foreign/external prescriptions without any qualms whatsoever. Well, one can easily imagine the plight of the hard-hit consumers, and if it happens to be a commercial enterprise, then you really had it. In any case, we shall have to live with those 'external advice' [and even mild threats of stopping the smooth inflow of millions of dollars in order to inflate our coffers], until such time that a real 'tiger-politician' from amongst us takes over the reins of governance and shows the exit doors to the disgusting bosses from some foreign lands.
The next demand is to have central bonded houses [CBH], a system followed in many of our sub-continental countries also, which eventually helps in reduction of cost of production. The NBR of course is the proper authority in this case to regulate and guide all concerned, and it is widely believed that the government would immensely benefit rather than lose anything if CBH system is introduced. Further, many people connected with the garment trade are of the opinion that the RMG sector on the whole needs upgradation. There is also a demand for reduction of import duty on yarn that is widely used and more funds for the backward linkage industry.
However, the biggest headache and problem, which acts as a hindrance to all types of trade and business in our country is the inefficient and delayed handling by the port authorities. While the least said about the Mongla port the better, even the premier port of the country, i.e the Chittagong port, has also failed to live up to the desired standard in the past. In fact, without efficient port facilities including quick handling of goods ? both import and export ? the overall cost of business would never reduce.
Sea ports
And port efficiency depends on a number of factors. Previously the corrupt CBA leaders, including local politicians of all sorts, under the political canopy of the Chittagong City Corporation's Mayor, completely ruined the Chittagong port, as far as they could. God alone knows on whose behest or under whose dictation they were doing so. At one stage, foreign ships calling at Chittagong port would go back home completely disappointed and report back accordingly to their respective authorities. Thus, there was great resentment amongst the majority users of the port at one time. Consequently, a big rumour had spread all over the region to the effect that the Chittagong port would be totally boycotted by the major shipping lines and companies. Thans God, we are completely out of that situation now.
For days and weeks together, ships were made to wait in the outer anchorage without being attended to properly. A consignment of normal goods, which could be cleared in 3 or 4 day's time, had to wait for unlimited period. And once again, all this would lead to a huge congestion, which had its own fall-out. Obviously, inefficiency and congestion at the port are very much inter-related matters. Just after the changeover of 1/11, everything started moving in the right direction. Today, goods are cleared within 2 or 3 days and the overall cost has obviously come down drastically ? in some cases, as much as 40 per cent.
But the main problem that still haunts the common man is the legacy of the widespread corruption that was rampant until recent past and was being openly indulged by the port, customs, and other related officials throughout the port area and even beyond. Nothing would move even an inch without 'oiling and greasing' the palms of the port officials?from the top to the bottom. Pilferage and theft of imported goods including expensive RMG materials and cars was also unrestrained. It was more than a nightmarish experience for the port users of all categories.
Now with the presence of our patriotic armed forces, RAB and other law enforcing agencies, the corruption syndrome has been reduced ever since Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed's interim government took over, but still the arena is not entirely clear. Perhaps it would take some more time and a few more cases of exemplary punishment, to stop the rot of ages. But once the hydra-headed corruption syndrome is eliminated from the port area, businessmen would feel its effects all over. The cost of doing business would automatically come down in days and weeks. One can, therefore, optimistically look forward to the future.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Rhymes written in tears
Poignant poems emerge from Gitmo prison
Fazle Rashid in New York
Guantanamo Bay Prison Cell in Cuba has earned worldwide notoriety. In this cell are held by the United States over 350 suspected Taleban and al-Qaeda activists. The inmates have not been charge-sheeted for the past four years in gross violation of the Human Rights. This has brought opprobrium for United States from all across the globe. United States say Guantanamo Bay inmates are 'enemy combatants' and are not eligible for normal trial, a claim vehemently disputed by the civil rights group including the Amnesty International.
Guantanamo Bay Prison Cell (Gitmo as it is called in America) is the news for a different reason. Literary gems have been produced from prison cells, hospital beds, sanatorium and a claustrophobic political situation.
Inmates at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay used pebbles to scratch messages into foam cups they got with the meals. When the guards were not looking, they passed the cups from cell to cell. It was a crude but effective way of communicating, reported The Wall Street Journal in a front page story on Wednesday.
The prisoners were not exchanging notes on future attack or escape plans and routes. The prison authorities refused to declassify the poems arguing that inmates could pass decoded messages to other militants. The US army finally relaxed the restrictions and cleared 22 poems by 17 inmates for publication.
The book under the title 'Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak' is set for publication in August. The book will provide the readers an unusual glimpse into emotional lives of the largely nameless and faceless prisoners there, said WSJ. "When I heard Pigeons cooing in the trees/ Hot tears covered my face" is the beginning of a poem by a prisoner. The originals are in Arabic and these have been translated into English by Mare Falkoff, a defence lawyer with literary bend of mind.
Writing poetry was both difficult and dangerous for the prisoners, who weren't given pens or paper until 2003. Some inmates say they used dabs of toothpaste as ink.
Moazzem Beg, a British citizen who was held at the Gitmo until 2005 scratched his poems into foam cups with spoon or small stones. Beg was never charged with a crime. So far 395 alleged terrorists have been released after serving prison terms ranging from three to four years.
Many of literary outputs have strong religious undertone beseeching Allah to free the authors or relieve their loneliness. 'Oh God grant serenity to a heart that beats with oppression/And release this prisoner from the tight bonds of confinement', one poem said. Most of the poems denounced the Bush administration. 'I dream to be home, to be free from this cage', another poem said.
Sir Salman Ruishdie
Another episode concerning widely read but controversial author from the sub-continent Salman Rushdie has ignited small spark in Iran and Pakistan. In the annual rituals marking the birthday of the Queen several persons have been honoured. Salman Rushdie has been knighted. Iran accused Britain of insulting Islam and Pakistan said it was an affront to the Muslims. Salman Rushdie who shot into international fame after the release of his first novel 'Midnight's Children' a tale of pangs and pains about the division of the subcontinent. He has several other novels which have drawn world wide appreciation. However, his 'Satanic Verses' provoked sharp reaction in the Islamic and many countries with large Muslim population including India.
Honouring and commending an apostate and hated figure will put Britain in a position of confrontation with Muslim nations, Iran said. Iran had earlier distanced itself from the edict issued by Khomeni in 1989. Salman Rushdie is the leader of a new generation of authors from the sub-continent writing in English. Notable among them are Vikram Seth (The Suitable Boy), Arundhati Roy (God of Small Things), Jhumpa Lahiry (Interpreter of Maladies and Name Sake) and Monica Ali (Brick Lane and Alentejo Blue) and some others have wide acclamation. The books demonstrate the versatility of the authors and hint at the breadth and variety of their interest.
They broke away from D.F. Karara, Nirod C. Chowdhury and Naipaul, who is a nobel prize winner in literature, and were among the first to begin writing in English.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Israeli military connection
ICDDR,B conceals facts about
Swedish cholera vaccine
Dr. Rafiq Ahmed
At a press conference in Dhaka (April 12, 2007) the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) launched the Swedish oral cholera vaccine Dukoral in Bangladesh by making false claims that the vaccine was developed by "Bangladeshi scientists" and it had made "medical breakthrough against diarrhoea". The ICDDR,B and the vaccine's Swedish manufacturer (SBL Vaccine AB), a sponsor of the press conference, had concealed the fact that the real developers of the vaccine were two Swedish scientists (Drs. Jan Holmgren and his wife Ann-Mari Svennerholm). Both the Swedish scientists and SBL Vaccin AB work covertly for the military of several countries including Israel, a state not recognised by the Government of Bangladesh. Under the cover of vaccine research they maintain a foothold in Bangladesh and act as a go-between the ICDDR,B and the Israel Defence Force.
Limited efficacy
Two of three Bangladeshi scientists mentioned at the press conference to be the "developer of the vaccine" did not even work on cholera at the ICDDR,B in 1985 when the cholera vaccine was field-tested on 90,000 women and children of Bangladesh. It is unethical. Those Bangladeshi scientists of the ICDDR,B who became the "developer" of Dukoral should realise it.
The vaccine was of limited efficacy (only 6 months) which declined rapidly. It was practically ineffective in children, the targeted population in a heavily cholera endemic country like Bangladesh. Besides, it was harmful to children as after monitoring for one year, it was found that more children (3-6 years) in the vaccine group got cholera than those receiving the placebo.
Further, it greatly increased the risk of cholera in them in the 3rd year. The trial had violated ethics in biomedical research on several counts. No side effects of the vaccine were recorded and no scientific tests for pregnancy were performed. Yet the ICDDR,B's Director David Sack and his Swedish and American colleagues (Holmgren, Svennerholm and Clemens) have made false reporting in the scientific journal by stating that pregnant women were excluded from the trial.
Toxic mercury
Also they concealed the fact that the vaccine contained the toxic mercury containing compound thiomersal. "Successful reports" of the vaccine have always emerged when the Swedish scientists and their associates were involved in the trial and were exerting full control over it. When a group of American scientists, not linked to the Swedish scientists, tried the vaccine in Peru, it failed miserably suggesting that all vaccine trials should be transparent and monitored by independent observers.
The 1985 vaccine trial in Bangladesh was financed by WHO and several governments (USA, Canada, Japan and Bangladesh) whose tax-payers had donated the fund for the welfare of the cholera suffering poor people and not for rich tourists and soldiers. Since 1990, the Swedish company SBL (stated owned in the 1990s and now in private hands) had been making huge profit by marketing this highly expensive vaccine to soldiers and tourists of rich nations who may require short term protection whatever the cost. Therefore, the marketing of Dukoral by SBL is legally questionable as it involves cheating the financial donors supporting the vaccine trial [WHO and several governments (USA, Canada, Japan and Bangladesh)] and 90,000 trial participants of Bangladesh.
Although requested by the SBL Vaccin's Bangladeshi agent, the Government of Bangladesh has no reason to subsidise this highly expensive and ineffective vaccine costing US Dollar 35 out of the meager health care budget for a population whose per capita income is USD 470. The vaccine could not have been marketed without the trial of 1985 that involved the use of Bangladeshis as experimental guinea pigs. Already the poor people of Bangladesh, through this vaccine alone, have enriched the coffer of Sweden, thereby providing an example of reverse aid from the South to the North.
ICDDR,B and AQUIS
The ICDDR,B does not behave as a scientific institution as it spreads frequently false and fabricated reports. The ICDDR,B collects money from various donors using the name of poor diarrhoea suffering people and acts more as an organisation for business ventures serving the interest of the military-industrial complex.
Violating the charter, the ICDDR,B colluded with the US military in developing a performance enhancing drink (AQUIS) for the US soldiers who illegally invaded and occupied Iraq since 2003.
[The writer may be reached at his Email: newtimes47@gmail.com]
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Congress' stance spur Hasina's
call for movement
Shamsuddin Ahmed
The call to prepare for movement by Awami League president Sheikh Hasina to the party workers on Monday is quite significant. The country is under state of emergency. The Caretaker Government backed by the armed forces is running the administration and political activities are banned. Sheikh Hasina by her move gives to understand that she deliberately wants to provoke the administration.
It is interesting to note that Sheikh Hasina's call to party workers came on the heels of a report of Indian ruling Congress views published in a section of the press. The report said that the Indian leaders viewed with concern the situation in Bangladesh and decided to shift its stand towards Dhaka in the event Sheikh Hasina is taken into custody. They will extend all support to Awami League, a trusted ally that stands for secularism. All the state governments surrounding Bangladesh have been instructed to provide shelters to Awami Leaguers and treat well who happened to flee there in the face of 'repression'.
Sources close to the administration said they would be prudent in dealing with Awami League. Legal process would be adopted in dealing with or taking action against its leaders.
Meanwhile, information available from the districts suggests that the call for movement has not received with favour. Many Awami League leaders at district, upazila and union levels have been arrested during the drive against terrorism or have gone into hiding. Others are lying low. They are unlikely to take the risks involved in taking to the streets for movement.
Disillusionment
Secondly, information divulged by the Awami League leaders in custody about heavy corruption and accumulation of enormous wealth by the party chief and her close associates has disillusioned many party workers. Some of the central leaders supported reforms within the party minus Sheikh Hasina for her reported corruption of extortion. The workers at grassroots level are doubtful about the political fate of Sheikh Hasina. This being the situation, it is not understandable why they will respond to her call for movement.
Administration sources said the law would be enforced in case of all politicians involved in corruption in any manner. In the process Sheikh Hasina or Khaleda Zia will not be favoured. Reform in political parties is a different aspect and has no link with corruption cases. Concrete evidences are being gathered. All the big shots would be brought to book.
As a result of party strategy Sheikh Hasina or Khaleda Zia may step down from the party leadership or they may be degraded in the party under the much-talked about reforms within the political parties. Even then they will be entitled to do politics, contest future election, rally the rank and file behind them, become the prime minister. The administration is aware of such prospect and will in no way leave the opportunity to them to take revenge.
According to a group of newsmen in Bogra, Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman will return in election from any or more than one constituencies of the district. Explaining, they said it would take no time to emerge political beneficiaries to rally behind them once the political activities are resumed. Their influence in polling cannot be eliminated overnight. The same will be the case with most of the corrupt politicians if their offence is not proved and debarred from contesting the election.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Glimpses of the Great
Tony Blair
K Z Islam
On 21 July 1994, just at the age of forty-one, Tony Blair was elected the fifteenth, youngest and the most modern and un-Labour leader of the Labour Party of the United Kingdom and the Leader of the Opposition. Under Blair's leadership the party abandoned many decades-old policy goals. Labour won a landslide victory in 1997 general elections and Blair became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 2 May 1997, at forty-three he was the youngest PM since Lord Liverpool in 1812. On 21 May 2007 Blair announced the he would be stepping down as PM on 21 June.
Within months of taking office Blair had his first crisis. Early morning on 31 August 1997 the PM was woken up and informed that Princes Diana had been killed in Paris in a car accident. Blair immediately sensed that Diana's death was going to produce real public grief on a scale that was hard to imagine. There was a crisis brewing as the Queen and the family were in Balmoral, Scotland at that time. In the telephonic conversation between the Queen and the PM the Queen's views were that since Diana had been divorced she no longer belonged to the royal family and as such there was no question of Royal Funeral.
Meanwhile, the news of Diana's death had spread all over Britain like wildfire and created unprecedented reaction among the public. Thousands thronged the Buckingham Palace and Diana's residence Kensington Palace with bouquets of flowers and all sorts of messages. Never in the history of Great Britain has so many flowers been seen around the Buckingham Palace. In fact, the changing of the guards performed in front of the gate of the Palace had to be relocated to another side. Thousands of people were surrounding the Palace and questioning why the flag was not flying half-mast. Also the public were demanding an appearance of the Queen.
Four months after becoming PM Blair, spoke for a nation about to go into unusually demonstrative morning. He addressed the nation: "I feel like everyone else in this country today. I am utterly devastated . . . People everywhere, not just here in Britain, kept faith with Princess Diana. They liked her, they loved her, they regarded her as one of the people. She was the people's princess and that is how she will stay, how she will remain in our hearts and our memories for ever."
The 'people's princess' was the phrase that stuck in the mind. The Spencer family wanted a private funeral and the Queen was inclined to let them. But Blair, with Prince Charles's support, negotiated a 'unique funeral for a unique person'. Princess Diana would be buried privately in the Spencer Estate and there would be a funeral procession and a Westminster Abbey memorial service. Blair tactfully advised the Queen to fly the flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace and for her to return to London and address the nation and to extend the route of the funeral procession to allow more people to see it. The British had discovered a Prime Minister who knew how to express their emotions in public, and that the royal family was now deeply in Blair's debt.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Ultra-hazardous technology
Nuke plant hits popular opposition in India
Praful Bidwai at Koodankulam, Tamil Nadu
Even as the Indian government gropes in the dark for a coherent policy on energy and the environment, it is rooting hard for a highly unpopular nuclear power project here, close to the peninsula's southern tip.
The project, which involves building six Russian-designed reactors of 1,000 Mw capacity each, will be India's biggest nuclear power station.
It faces staunch opposition from the local people, many of them fishermen, who fear it will destroy their livelihoods, gravely endanger their safety, and physically uproot thousands of families.
At stake is the fate of India's grandiose plan to produce as much as 275,000 Mw of nuclear electricity (more than twice the existing total power generation capacity) by mid-century, and the issue of granting clearances to potentially hazardous projects which are opposed by the people they are
liable to affect adversely.
Also involved is the defence of elementary human rights and principles of environmental protection.
The conflict over the Koodankulam project came to a head last week with a statutory public hearing on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on four proposed new light-water reactors.
The other two reactors, for which an agreement was signed way back in 1988 between president Mikhail Gorbachev of the former USSR and then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, have been under construction since 2002.
The hearing, mandated by India's Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), is an essential component of the process of approving all major projects with large ecological impacts.
Its rationale is to secure the informed consent of the people after widely disseminating all relevant information about a project and allowing "every person" present to express his/her views about it.
On Jun. 2, more than 2,000 people from three coastal districts of Tamil Nadu turned up at the hearing and demanded to speak - despite an intimidating police presence.
Many protested violations of the MoEF-specified norms, in particular, the absence of 30 days' notice, and wide publicity for the EIA summary translated into the local language (Tamil).
The authorities abruptly terminated the hearing within two hours, without recording "all the views and concerns expressed", and reading "them over to the audience", while explaining "the contents in the vernacular language", as they are required to do.
"This termination was not provoked by violence or rowdy behaviour of the opponents,'' says S.P. Udayakumar, a social scientist and peace studies scholar, based in the adjoining Kanyakumari district. "It seemed like a calculated move to deny the people an opportunity to express their views. This has greatly angered the public, which is already unhappy with the construction of the first two of the six reactors, which began five years ago."
The two reactors were granted approval without an EIA or public hearing. Their construction involves mandatory land acquisition, restrictions on fishing, and grave apprehensions about environmental damage.
The local people, highly literate and aware of the dangers of nuclear radiation, are determined to oppose the project.
They believe the project sponsors are hiding the truth about its hazards, including radiation, future accumulation of large quantities of spent fuel, routine releases of toxic isotopes, and the potential for a catastrophic accident leading to a core meltdown.
"The people can hardly be sanguine because they know that the Koodankulam reactors are of Russian design, as was the Chernobyl reactor, albeit a different model", says Udayakumar.
Neither the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC), a subsidiary of India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), nor the EIA, even acknowledges any hazards.
"This opacity has added to public fears about the project", says Anton Gomez, of the Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry Fisherpeople's Federation, based in the port city of Tuticorin.
The fate of the proposed four reactors at Koodankulam crucially hinges on the United States-India nuclear deal, which is under negotiation, and its approval by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG).
If the deal does not go through, or if the NSG does not clear it by amending its rules, the four reactors cannot be built. (The earlier two reactors faced no such hurdle because NSG rules were not in force then.)
However, uncertainty about the four new units has not dampened the enthusiasm of NPC and the civil administration in demanding that they be approved at once.
"This has further exacerbated tensions between these authorities and the people", says Manju Menon of the environmental group, Kalpvriksh. "Some of these tensions derive from the project's location-specific problems."
First, the Koodankulam plant is being built at the edge of the Gulf of Mannar, one of the world's richest marine biodiversity areas, with 3,600 species of flora and fauna. Thermal discharges from the plant are liable to adversely affect this precious biological reserve.
Second, three large settlements lie within a five km radius of the plant: Koodankulam (pop. 20,000), Idinthakarai (pop. 12,000), and a new Tsunami (rehabilitation) Colony (pop. 2,000-plus). Its location violates the Department of Atomic Energy's siting norms and a state government order of 1988, which declares a 1.6-km radius around the plant "prohibited".
The next zone, in a five km radius, is a "sterilised area", where "the density of population should be small." Finally, "in the outlying area of 16 km, the population should not exceed 10,000."
Koodankulam and Idinthakarai are just 2 - 4 km from the plant as the crow flies. The last row of house built for tsunami victims is less than one km away. More than 70,000 people live within a 16 km radius.
So either NPC will flagrantly violate its own norms, or thousands of families will be brutally separated from their livelihood as fisher folk. "This is altogether too disgusting even to contemplate", adds Menon.
Third, the plant is being built in a seriously water-stressed area. It originally planned to bring fresh water from a dam 65 km away. But the idea was dropped owing to popular resistance. It will now daily desalinate 48 million litres of seawater - an exorbitantly expensive and unproved technology. This will send the electricity costs through the roof.
Koodankulam is also fraught with problems generic to nuclear power, including generation of radioactive waste, routine releases of radioactivity, and the possibility of catastrophic accidents like Chernobyl.
Thus, the plant will generate large amounts of highly radioactive spent fuel. It will routinely release radioisotopes like iodine-131 and noble gases. It will expose hundreds of occupational workers to high doses of radiation - a silent, invisible poison that causes cancers and genetic deformities.
The reactors are also vulnerable to catastrophic core meltdowns that will affect India's southern states and even Sri Lanka.
India is making "a Faustian bargain", says Menon. "It is endangering thousands of livelihoods while promoting an ultra-hazardous technology. Ultimately, there will be a contest between the people's will and the government's obsession with nuclear power. If democracy has any meaning, the people should prevail.''
- Inter Press Service
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
|
