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Unguided missile?
Mumtaz Iqbal
Is Sheikh Hasina's recent veiled criticism of Mohammad Yunus righteous indignation or running scared? Hasina chastised those "persons who are making preparations for entering politics after waging virulent campaign against politicians."
Naturally, as a professional politician, she's cut to the quick by criticism of her profession. But just as we have a right to criticize bureaucrats, businessmen and brass hats for reason within legal limits, why should politicians be exempt?
Hasina objects to a "virulent" campaign. Presumably, she would have no objection to a non-virulent one. Could she please clarify the latter point so that we laymen can be guided suitably.
Like the veteran politician she is, Hasina is adept at sidestepping tricky issues. Yunus aimed his criticism at corrupt politicians, of which there are quite a few in her party, BNP and others. She's surely aware that what many people in society are saying in private and-not-so private conversation about politicians, especially about their venality, is much more vivid and graphic than what Yunus said.
Based on the above, one can even make out a good case that Yunus's observations are mild by comparison. Sheikh Hasina surely knows that public polls in Bangladesh consistently rate politicians at the bottom of the heap. If it's any consolation to her, US opinion polls show a similar profile. At least, that's one factor uniting politicians in Bangladesh and the US!
We agree with Hasina that "there are also honest politicians in the country." But they are in the minority compared with the grasping type.
Entry into politics
Another of Sheikh Hasina's gems directly aimed at Yunus is: "Why are you so interested in politics after criticizing politicians indiscriminately." She appears to be questioning Yunus's motivation in entering politics.
To determine the validity of this point, let's examine how she and Khaleda entered political life. Both suffered immense personal tragedies. The nation grieved with and for them.
But did this tragedy provide a passport to politics? The fact is that their foray into political life was the fortuitous product of two relationships: genetic in the case of Hasina (daughter) and marital in the case of Khaleda (wife). They rode on the legacy of their father and husband, not on their own merit.
Despite their less than stellar educational qualifications and political experience, the Bangladesh public took both ladies to its bosom, gave them status and the immense honour and privilege of becoming Prime Ministers. And what have they got in return?
One is the peculiar spectacle of these two ladies not even having the decency and courtesy to speak or show elementary courtesies to each other. What kind of role model behaviour is that? People inside and outside Bangladesh wring their hands in despair at this ludicrous display of interpersonal bad manners.
But even this could have been tolerated had the parties they headed governed wisely and well. But this has not been the case. Since 1990, when these two leaders by turn became PMs, their sins of omission and commission, whether by accident, design or incompetence, have systematically and utterly ruined many state and non-state institutions that make up a country's heritage.
The ladies made Bangladesh their personal fiefdoms and tolerated, condoned and even encouraged massive corruption and corrupt practices. It is not for nothing that Transparency International has classified Bangladesh as one of the world's most corrupt countries.
This is not the image the Bangladesh public deserves or expects, after having given such massive support, cooperation and sustenance to these two women. They should be man enough to admit their shortcomings and clean out their stinking stables.
By comparison, Yunus is certainly more educated and demonstrated entrepreneurial skill. He identified a niche credit need and built up an institution (Grameen Bank or GB) over 20 years that has helped many poor people and received praise domestically and overseas.
Can the two ladies achievements before they entered the hurly-burly of politics remotely resemble Yunus's?
Inflated claim
Sheikh Hasina doesn't lack for chutzpah. She said the present administration was the result of the movement of the alliance against the "corrupt and greedy BNP-Jamaat government." Really?
Her activities from last October zigzagged all over the map. First she agreed for elections; turned down Chief Justice Hasan as CA (despite advice to the contrary by her advisors); conditionally accepted Iajuddin as CA; selected her candidates on various considerations including monetary contribution; reportedly outbid BNP by promising usurper and convicted criminal Ershad big bucks to join her alliance; sealed a pact on 23 December with Khelafat Majlis (later repudiated on 12 February); ordered AL candidates to file and withdrew nomination papers; launched a three days hartal 7-9 January and thereafter announced a campaign of civil disobedience that brought Chittagong port to a halt. All these comings and goings are nothing if not confusing and unproductive.
The cumulative effect of these AL decisions combined with BNP's perilous overreach, especially through its naked manipulation of CA Iajuddin, threatened to tear the country apart. Sheikh Hasina like Khaleda Zia jointly bears responsibility for this problem. Hasina's claim that the AL was the solution is debatable, to say the least.
Usury and corruptiony
Sheikh Hasina has made a novel contribution to the literature of economics and civil governance by declaring she saw "no difference between usurers and those who accept bribes." Not only is she equating together apples and oranges, she's echoing what some GB critics contend that its rates are usurious, without however defining this term.
Are GB's rates "usurious?" Its website (www.grameen-info.org/bank/GBGlance) shows it has four interest rates on loan: 0 per cent (beggars); 5 per cent (students); 8 per cent (housing) and 20 per cent (declining basis) for income generating loans. The last rate is below government's maximum rate of 22 per cent on declining basis (11 per cent flat rate).
Though not strictly comparable, the rates charged by private and foreign commercial banks on commercial loans vary from 13 to 18 per cent, depending upon customer risk and credit worthiness. On consumer loans such as for cars and consumer durables (TV, fridge), the rates are higher, both in nominal and effective terms where made on flat rate basis.
Thus, it requires a vivid imagination and disregard of facts to characterize GB's loans as usury. If one wants an example of usurious practice, the 5/6 system in Manila, Philippines provides it. Indian (mainly Sikhs) moneylenders give Pesos 5 in the morning and collect Peso 6 in the evening, or 20 per cent interest per day (underscoring supplied).
A number of critics have questioned GB's performance, particular its high recovery ratio of above 95 per cent. Having been in operation for over two decades, perhaps its time for GB to evaluate what it has done so far and where it wants to go in the digital age. But it's important to note that the alleged kinks in GB's operations are those flowing from success, not failure.
Instead of carping about Yunus, one would have expected Sheikh Hasina, seasoned politician that she is, to welcome the competition provided by his entry. Yunus claims he will go in for "clean politics" that by implication will be different from what Hasina (and Khaleda) practiced.
Well, let Yunus try. If the public finds his message palatable, they will vote for him. If not, Hasina or somebody else will win. In either case, the public will have spoken. Can Hasina object to this?
The author is a free lancer.
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Voters' list, ID cards et al
Hasina demands early polls but
people want foolproof election
Sadeq Khan
In mid-March 2002, at the meeting of the Development Partners (foreign aid-givers) of Bangladesh in Paris jointly chaired by the-then Finance Minister of Bangladesh and the-then Vice-President of the World Bank, a consensus was reached that the engine of growth led by the private sector as well as empowerment of the vulnerable and micro-credit exercises towards millennium development goals were both being seriously thwarted by crime and corruption. On behalf of the-then government of Bangladesh, a solemn commitment was made that strong steps would be undertaken to sever "the nexus between crime and politics."
In consequence, 'Operation Clean Heart' was undertaken by the-then government deploying the armed forces in aid of the civil administration. Many political activists belonging to the ruling alliance were caught in the net of that operation at the ground level for involvement in extortion rackets and association with criminal gangs. Ripples of shiver ran through the ruling circles. The-then opposition leaders also raised a hue and cry about human rights violation and "political" vengeance when their own musclemen and protection rackets were brought to book.
Political sensitivity thus cut short the span of Operation Clean Heart. It is to the credit of the-then representative government that a Rapid Action Battalion involving army personnel and select policemen was formed by it to follow the footsteps of Operation Clean Heart. RAB was given a comparatively free hand in combating crime, sabotage and arms proliferation. A new dimension was added by belated detection that a home-grown terrorist outfit inspired by militant Islamic internationalism was preparing for war against the state and engaging in covert acts of terror, assassination and subversion. The genesis of both virulent godfather gangs and fanatic terrorist groups were traced back to the second half of the last decade of the last century. Busting both terrorist hide-outs and criminal gangs as well as recovery of illegal arms and explosives became the focus of activity of the Rapid Action Battalion and other law-enforcement agencies.
Meanwhile, some civil society activists and international development experts including World Bank functionaries began promoting an awareness drive to impress upon politicians as well as the public how the poor bore the brunt of the high costs of corruption in this country. The message had marginal effects in some areas of state-owned services. But the political establishment of the country, in power or in opposition, surrounded as they were by crony capitalists of both the camps, did not care to heed that message. The culture of rent seeking and corruption moved upwards, sometimes in complicity and sometimes in conflict between two sides, along the pyramid of our top-heavy administrative structure polluting the mindset of leaders and their acts of power play at the electoral warfront of the sharp political divide afflicting the nation.
The traumatic experience of virtual arrest of national life and productivity, not to speak of great damages done by mindless killing and sabotage, compelled the President and the Commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic to take an extra-ordinary step of declaring state of emergency, with the effect of postponement of impugned general election. To ensure "honest democratic conduct" of political warlords in this country, a campaign which can be termed a new and higher phase of 'Operation Clean Heart' was undertaken on the authorization of President Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed by the joint forces of the army and the civil administration of the caretaker government. If one looks at the developments from a detached level over the period covered so far in the endeavour to attain millennium development goals, one would recognize that the nation-state of Bangladesh is steadily proceeding towards pulling its acts together to firmly establish a clean slate of democratic order of its own stamp and genius.
What about the old failing order of political hierarchy? The latest drive for snapping the nexus between politics and crime (including high-level corruption) has shaken the political establishment of the country deeply. A number of "big fish" have been caught in the net of the spring-cleaning exercise. The message has gone down to everyone that money and muscle would not be allowed to derail public life, or to frighten any vulnerable person or any disadvantaged group of people.
It is good to note that leaders of the major political party with overwhelming majority in the last parliament acknowledged that it was high time for political parties to clean their own stables and to carry out their own purges and corrective measures. The secretary general of the party declared in a discussion meeting of party faithful on the occasion of 21st February Language Day that the party would undertake "self-cleansing" to emerge stronger in due course. Other leaders echoed his resolve by saying that democracy needs to be upheld by "getting rid of dirt" in the party.
A feeble challenge to the actions of the joint forces under the incumbent caretaker government was thrown on the same occasion from a discussion meeting of the other mainstream political party, the Awami League. Sheikh Hasina, president of the party and of the grand alliance she formed for boycotting the postponed general election, warned that people would not tolerate (for long) an extra-constitutional government to rule the country. She demanded early general election, dropping her earlier insistence on electoral reforms including transparent ballot boxes and voter identity cards. Broad consensus amongst the countrymen, however, appears to be in favour of allowing the caretaker government adequate time for ID cards and other electoral reforms, so that there remains no scope for return to hartal-blockade culture of confrontational politics on the excuse of "rigged" elections.
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Politicians and businessmen should be dealt with differently for their follies
MI Ali
By opening up a broad front against corrupt politicians and businessmen at the same time, the interim government, some analysts suspect, may be biting more than it can chew. Corruption by politicians and by businessmen has one fundamental difference, for politician it is a moral issue, a breach of the faith that is reposed in them by the people who elect them. Politicians publish manifesto, make promises to their electorate that if they are elected, they will do certain things to make life easier for the voters and the nation. So when they fail to deliver after the voters elect them, and instead become rich at the cost of the nation, people do have a right to bring them to book.
Businessmen on the other hand are allowed by the society to do business because the people derive certain benefits from them. Businessmen are expected to make the necessary goods available at the right time, in right quantities, hopefully of good quality at the right price. Businessmen take calculated risks and are rewarded by profit if they had correctly estimated the demand and supply. It is the duty of the politicians in power at the time to ensure that the businessmen are encouraged to import the right quantities at the right time and sell them at a reasonable price.
Businessmen have their own market intelligence and based on their estimates they procure locally or import their selected goods. It is up to the politicians to determine how important these goods are for the society and encourage or discourage their procurement through the mechanisms of excise, taxes and duties. It is also up to the politicians to decide how long the businessmen could hold these goods and where they can hold them through a system of licensed the warehouses. These are essentially price control mechanisms through which the government politicians determine how much of what should be procured or imported and by whom. By whom it is imported or procured is important because through this mechanism the government can control monopolies and syndicates of businessmen, who by definition are opportunists and given a chance will go for maximizing their profits. Monopolies and syndicates must not be allowed to plague the people again and this could be ensured only by a responsible government strictly discouraging imperfect competition in the market.
Businessmen referred to here do not include the criminals who have been adulterating food and medicine, producing sub standard products endangering people's lives and dealing in rotten food grains and toxic wastes. They should be sued for culpable homicides and punished under the existing laws of the land. They are common criminals and should not be allowed the dignity of being referred to as businessmen. The hoarding, syndication and tax evasion that businessmen resort to whenever given the opportunity, should be strongly discouraged and a clear message should be given that the direst of consequences await them if they repeat their past practices.
Politicians have people's mandate, businessmen do not. The capital of businessmen is money but the capital of the politicians is peoples' faith. The objective of the businessmen is to make money but the objective of the politicians is to protect the interest of the people. These two important groups of the society operate for achieving different objectives. However, when the objective of the politicians change and is replaced by profit motive, it is bad news for the people and we have seen where it can lead the nation.
In Bangladesh the objectives of the politicians had changed, those of the good businessmen do not. Businessmen should not be penalised because politicians failed to do their job of protecting the rights of the consumers. In the interest of the economy it would not be advisable to treat the politicians and the businessmen at par for the same act.
The crackdown on profiteering by businessmen by the Interim Government has resulted in a massive decrease in the opening of letters of credit by the former. The full impact of this will be apparent only after a few months when the shelves of the stores will start drying up. This is definitely not what the Government wants. This also does not mean that the Government should allow the businessmen to do what they have been doing in the past.
It would definitely be advisable for the government to give a stern warning to the businessmen and use all the control mechanisms available to it to monitor the businessmen's activities and to ensure that people get what they want at the right time, in right quantities and at a reasonable price. The quality of the product is also important. For this purpose the government should give the businessmen an opportunity to register their warehouses with the appropriate authorities and declare the goods they hold therein.
The above leniency however should not be extended to the businessmen turned politicians who used their political office to further their business interests or politicians who became businessmen. These people have changed their hats at will and are at the root of most of the problems that ail the country. These people thought that nobody could touch them. It is therefore essential to set an example that society will not allow anybody to enjoy their ill begotten wealth and such wealth must be returned to their rightful owners, the people of this country.
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Prelude to Independence
Ekushey was potent voice of dissent challenging authoritarianism
A.U.M. Fakhruddin
The Ekushey February conjures up the images of our resplendent, glorious heritage built by the masses, patriots, scholars and statesmen of this country. The Movement for Bangla Language was in effect the prelude to the struggle for self-determination and independence of Bangladesh because from it sprouted up the independence struggle, which had its successful culmination when on 16 December, 1971, this nation won freedom.
The Bangalees' passionate devotion to Bangla Bhasha - their unique love of their mother tongue - has outshone that of any other linguistic groups of the world. Never before in history did people shed blood or lay down their lives for the cause of their mother tongue. Indeed, the 1952 movement was the second significantly bold voice of dissent -- the first potent one being the formation in 1949 of the Awami Muslim League the first ever opposition political party headed by Maulana Bhashani -- to challenge the authoritarian regime of Pakistan.
To the weird proposal in favour of Urdu of Ziauddin, then vice-chancellor of the Aligarh University, polyglot, scholar, linguist and bibliophile Dr Muhammad Shahidullah gave an appropriate reply in 1946, a year ahead of the Great Divide. The Tamaddun Majlish intellectuals spearheaded the cause of Bangla in 1948. Sri Dhiendranath Datta from Comilla proposed in Parliament in Karachi that Bangla be a State language of Pakistan. The lamp continued to gleam luminescence till the fateful day. Eminent intellectual and Editor of the daily Azad, Abul Kalam Shamsuddin relinquished his position of a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
President of the Assam Muslim League since the early 1940s, Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, the founder President of the then Awami Muslim League or AML [subsequently Awami League (AL) ] was then the undisputed leader of what is now Bangladesh. The memories of Moulana Bhashani's offering of 'munajat' (supplication to God soliciting His blessing) at the simple function inaugurating the first Shaheed Minar [ memorial monument] in 1955 are still fresh in the minds of those born in the mid-forties of the past century.
As has been observed in the preceding paragraph, the Language Movement was like the prelude to the liberation of Bangladesh. Hence the unique importance of the Ekushey or Twenty-first February, and for that reason every year the nation pays rich tribute to the language martyrs who gave their "today" for our "better tomorrow". The love and reverence of the people for the martyrs are symbolised in Shaheed Minar the monument commemorating our brethren who made that supreme sacrifice.
At the beginning a democratic protest, the movement eventually took the shape of a well organised struggle. A 'highly explosive political issue', as Field Marshal Ayub Khan called it, the struggle gradually gathered momentum like an overwhelming tidal wave. Subsequently the colonial overlords of the central government of the then Pakistan had to give in to the determination of the Bangalees, and Bangla Bhasha, was recognised as a State language.
That was the beginning of an end. In fact the Language Movement of 1952 sparked the process of the preparation for emancipation from Pakistani colonial subjugation. Here are some fragments from the description of Abdus Salim who headed the Rickshawpullers' Trade Union in 1952. Those who actively participated in the Language Movement were Mohammed Toaha, Abdul Matin, Oli Ahad, Abul Kasem, Gaziul Haque, Sanaullah Noori and Mahmud Ali, Kazi Golam Mahbub and others.
"On the evening of Wednesday, the 20th February, 1952, a meeting of All-Party Language Movement Committee was held at Nawabpur Awami Muslim League (AML) office. The agendum of the meeting was to take decision to break Section 144 on the 21st February. The meeting was presided over by Shamsul Haque, the first general secretary of the then AML. It should be mentioned that at that time Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman respectively founder President and Joint Secretary of AML were in prison at Dhaka Central jail.
On February 21 police opened fire and four precious lives were lost. The martyrs were Barkat, Salam, Jabbar and Shafiur. "Police took away the bodies of the students from the morgue of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and those have not yet been returned to their relatives. People want to know what has happened to them." This report was published in the daily Millat on 23 February, 1952.
Fifty-three years have elapsed since the heroic twenty-first day of February, which had in it the seed of our independence. Ekushey was the beginning of our Liberation War in that it afforded us valour which found its fullest expression in the fruition of a long-craved aspiration of a people: freedom and achievement of our sovereign homeland Bangladesh.
The Shaheed Minar is the unmistakable symbol of our pride and valiance. The four columns of the Shaheed Minar stand for four children and the one in the middle represents their mother eternal who bows her head in motherly affection and reverence for the splendid achievement of her offspring. The semi-cir-cular pulpit has an organic unity and a balanced harmony in it. As the eternal source of endless love the mother, symbolic of the motherland, looks at her millions of sons and daughters that is the people of Bangladesh. Black steel rods constitute an important clement of the structure and seem to connote human ribs. The designer of this immortal monument was painter Hamidur Rahman in association with sculptor Novera Ahmed.
Among the direct outcome of the Ekushe is the effulgence of extensive application as well as use of Bangla in all affairs of life, and a very healthy growth of the publishing sector which witnesses about three hundred new books every year. What can be a more laudable endeavour than this in our frustrating everydayness? Over the past several years this scribe, like many others, has noticed an awe-inspiring phenomenon of sorts in our literary firmament. In the genre of Bangla fiction has emerged a mature, seasoned writer. Poet, novelist, essayist and prosodist Jahangir Shahnawaz has embarked upon an extraordinary project which will not only find its due place of honour in the Guinness Book of Records but also remain the singular literary landmark on our planet. By all means a majestic achievement, Shahnawaz's unique novel entitled Prem, meaning Love, will be completed in 10 volumes; and already about four thousand pages of the longest narrative on earth has been published by Shirin Publications, Dhaka.
This grand literary project began fifty-three years ago; Jahangir Shahnawaz has been writing this novel since 1950; and this speaks of his amazing devotion and commitment. The already published seven volumes are spread over 3997 pages. Add to it another 520 pages of Volume VIII. It has already broken the world record of Marcel Proust's novel Remembrance of Things Past having a length of 3000 pages. The remaining two volumes of Shahnawaz's Prem will require another 1500 pages, totalling 5,500 (five thousand five hundred) pages. The writer hopes to complete the novel within the next two years.
The novel begins as a simple love story. It is like a delicate little plant with just two leaves. With the passage of time love blossoms and the small plant develops and becomes a huge one with countless leaves and sweet fragrant flowers. The writer pronounces that his novel is all about love and nothing but love. There is no ideological controversy or dispute in it. It is about something, which is common to us all; it is about human emotions.
Bangla owes much for its patronage and development to the independent Sultans of Bengal -- Sultan Husain Shah, Sultan Nasrat Shah Sultan Ilyas Shah et al. The 45-year rule of the Hussein Shah dynasty (1493-1538) in Bengal not only led to political, social and cultural prosperity, but also nurtured Bangla language and literature. It was during the rule of Hussein Shah that some Bengali poets began composing lyrics in brajabuli. Notwithstanding the worthy role of the Christian missionaries, Fort William College and William Carey in the development of Bangla prose, to précis the history of a rather dismal state of Bangla under colonial domination, the British colonisers used English language to infuse awareness of their own educational and cultural policies on the natives of the subcontinent. They succeeded in creating a class of 'culturally British Indians' who "passed on to their descendants the inheritance of being models of British culture. The Calcuttan Bangali pundits of the Hindu College valued proficiency in the English language and training in European fields of study. They, according to the grapevine, did not consider it a threat to their traditional Hindu identity in encouraging such an institution. Another experiment in fusing the Hindu Oriental educational system with the Western European educational system was Wilson's Sanskrit College.
The Bangalees began fighting the quasi-colonialist Pakistanis from 1946 to 1952 and afterwards to establish Bangla Bhasha, their cherished and beloved mother tongue. Now it is time for the younger generation to familiarise themselves with the Bangla classics -- most of which are now out of print -- to enrich their knowledge and understanding of the priceless gems. In addition, Persian, Sanskrit, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, French, German and English classics merit to be translated into Bangla under the aegis of the Bangla Academy. Last but not least, Mrs. Piary Mahbub, the wife of the late lamented language activist Kazi Golam Mahbub, has done a commendable job by setting up a museum at her Dhanmondi residence where memorabilia and mementoes connected with the great event have been preserved. Perhaps it will be appropriate if a state institution embarks on a similar admirable venture.
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Retirement Act 1974 needs scrapping
How AL, BNP politicised civil servants
M. Abdul Latif Mondal
Since his taking over charge of the office of Chief Adviser (CA) to the reconstituted Caretaker Government (CG) on January 12, Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed held meetings with the civil servants twice. In his meeting on January 23 with secretaries to the ministries/divisions at the Bangladesh Secretariat, he asked the secretaries, the top bureaucrats in our system of administration, to discharge their duties and responsibilities honestly and neutrally, and warned them of severe punishments if they failed to do so.
In his latest meeting with deputy commissioners (DCs) and superintendents of police (SPs) of all the districts on February 15 at the International Conference Centre of the CA's office, the CA called upon them to be completely free of individual, group or political influence and reminded them that the country urgently needed sincere, honest, knowledge-based and enlightened public administration to establish good governance down to the field level. The civil servants would have to be proactive in establishing an honest, impartial and neutral image in order to regain the trust and respect of the people.
The CA's address to the secretaries, DCs and SPs is of paramount importance at this point of time. In his maiden address to the nation over television and radio on January 21, he said that the main task of his government would be to hold the next general election freely, fairly, and impartially, with participation of all political parties in accordance with the Constitution and people's aspirations. This needed a congenial environment, and in order to create such an environment, he outlined in his address certain measures, which include, inter alia, preparing and publishing a flawless voter roll; curbing influence of black money and muscle in the next general election; improving the law and order situation further; ensuring security of public life and property and establishing peace and stability in the society; and curbing price hike of essentials.
Further, the amended Emergency Powers Rule 2007 have empowered the magistrates to order freezing or attachment of movable and immovable properties, cash, security, share certificates or any such belongings of a person, who is accused of being a financial beneficiary of abuse of power or irregularities in the tender process or in a graft case, even before filing of the law suit. The amended rules have also empowered the magistrates to freeze or attach a person's money and property if s/he fails to produce necessary statement of assets within 72 hours of notification by the authority concerned.
The civil servants have to play a vital role to implement the action programme announced by the CA in his maiden address to the nation as well as to enforce the Emergency Powers Rule 2007. Their effective implementation will largely depend upon the sincerity, honesty, and neutrality of the civil servants. And a closer look into the CA's two addresses to the civil servants bears testimony to this.
ROs and AROs
For holding parliamentary elections, DCs are normally appointed by the Election Commission (EC) to act as returning officers (ROs) in their respective districts. In his jurisdiction, the RO is assisted by one or more assistant returning officers (AROs) who are appointed by the EC. Normally, upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) are appointed by the EC to act as AROs. The RO, inter alia, suggests a list of polling stations to be set up in a constituency for approval and gazette notification by the EC; appoints presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, and polling officers; invites nominations and scrutinises them for acceptance or rejection; suspends election in a polling station(s) in case of serious law and order problem there; consolidates the results of the count furnished by the presiding officers in presence of the candidates or their election agents and declares the candidate who has received the highest number of votes as elected.
So, the RO is the most powerful person in conducting election within his jurisdiction. The SP is primarily responsible for maintenance of law and order in the polling stations within his jurisdiction. The sincerity, honesty and neutrality of the DCs and SPs are, therefore, of utmost importance in holding general elections peacefully, fairly and impartially.
Why has the CA stressed the need for honesty and neutrality of the civil servants to regain the trust and respect of the people? It is a fact that corruption is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. But, what is important is that corruption has become pervasive in all spheres of public administration in the country.
There has been a serious degradation in moral and ethical values in the society. Many people do not care to distinguish between good and bad while amassing wealth. There is no social resistance to corruption. Society's reticence and/or condoning corruption has encouraged further corruption. Low salary package, economic insecurity, lures of procuring luxurious amenities of life, shortcomings in government system and procedure etc. make a civil servant corruptible. The ineffectiveness of the Anti-Corruption Commission to take action against corrupt civil servants has encouraged civil servants to be corrupt.
Besides, ambition for joining politics immediately after retirement leads many senior civil servants to earn huge money through corrupt practices to give money to the political party of his choice for securing nomination and to contest elections to become MPs.
An analyst writes: "A person is corrupt because it is profitable to be so. If a person perceives that the risk of being punished is larger than the profit earned, he is less likely to be corrupt. If the reward of being honest is lower than that of the punishment, the propensity to or tendency to be corrupt would be higher." This is equally true for the civil servants.
Bangladesh has inherited the civil service system introduced by the British in the sub-continent. Like Britain, Bangladesh should naturally have politically neutral civil servants. But the ground realities are different. Most civil servants are divided into two camps following the two main political parties, the BNP and the AL.
The bureaucrats recruited by the AL government immediately after independence from amongst the freedom fighters without properly going through the procedure inherited by the PSC of Bangladesh from the erstwhile Central Public Service Commission (CPSC) of Pakistan and East Pakistan Public Service Commission (EPPSC) came to be identified as pro-AL. Most of these officers received patronage from the AL government of 1996-2001. Similarly, the bureaucrats recruited during the rule of President Ziaur Rahman were rewarded by the BNP government (1991-1996) and the BNP-led alliance government (2001-2006) through accelerated promotions and prized postings at home and abroad.
Chairmen and members appointed to the PSC on political consideration during the periods of the BNP and AL governments in the past 15 years mostly failed to withstand the pressure of the party/alliance in power for recruiting candidates on political considerations to cadre and non-cadre posts. These civil servants have become staunch supporters of either of these two major parties that patronised their recruitment to civil service.
During the past 15 years' rule of the BNP and the AL, the criteria for promotion to the mid-level and senior-level posts in the Bangladesh Secretariat, commonly known as the seat of the government, were changed several times on political considerations primarily to suit promotion of a particular batch or group of the bureaucrats loyal to the party in power. When a reasonably neutral bureaucrat found that that promotion was made not on the basis of merit, impartiality and honesty but on political considerations, then he discreetly sides with either of these two major political parties and often with the party in power. Many civil servants indulge in partisan politics to hide their inefficiency and corruption.
The Public Servants (Retirement) Act-1974 empowers the government to retire a public servant without assigning any reason on his completion of 25 years of service. This is contrary to Article 135 of the Constitution, which says that except for conviction of a criminal offence, or where giving opportunity of showing cause goes against the security of the state, no person holding any post in the service of the Republic shall be dismissed or removed or reduced in rank until he has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause why that action should not be taken. The Public Servants (Retirement) Act 1974 hangs like the sword of Damocles over the heads of the mid-level and senior civil servants. In the past 30 years or so, hundreds of civil servants fell victim to this Act and most of them on political considerations. So, many mid-level and senior civil servants had sided in the past and will continue to do so in the future with the political party or political alliance in power to save their job and to get contractual appointment on retirement.
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed's reminding the civil servants that no political party is their master, and as servants of the Republic they have to be completely free of individual, group or political influence sounds well. But, what the ground realities suggest? Who will save the honest, upright and impartial civil servants when the CG hands over power to a political party or political alliance that wins the next general election?
The CG will render yeoman's service if it can: (1) depoliticise the appointments in the PSC and other constitutional bodies through formation of a constitutional council to make appointments to these bodies, as practised in some countries, including our neighbouring country Sri Lanka; (2) depoliticise appointments of Chairman and Commissioners in the Anti-Corruption Commission and empower it with necessary powers to fight out corruption in all spheres of national life, including the bureaucracy; (3) repeal the Public Servants (Retirement) Act, 1974; and (4) make legal provision disqualifying public servants, both civil and military, to contest national elections within three years of their retirement.
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Ultimatum on corrupt wealthy persons
ACC may find it hard to establish
all allegations
A.R. Khan
Influential persons in politics and business suspected to have accumulated wealth by corrupt means are submitting their statements of their wealth. After publishing a list of 50 persons, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) asked them to submit the statements in 72 hours but the time has been extended till Sunday next.
Meanwhile, statements of 35 persons were placed before the ACC that refused to accept 31 statements on the plea that those were not submitted by the concerned persons, the lawyer or members of the family. The ACC so far accepted statements of Rshiduzzaman Millat, a former BNP MP From Jamalpur, Shahjahan Chowdhury, former Jamaat MP from Cox's Bazar, Nurul Islam Babul of Jamuna Group and B M Baki, a CBA leader of Sonali Bank.
Both Babul and Baki were arrested by plainclothes police as they came to the AC after submitting their statements on Thursday. City BNP leader and a ward commissioner Chowdhury Mohammad Alam surrendered to the court on the day.
Meanwhile, question has been raised about the legal aspect of Anti-Corruption Commission that is now run by its secretary as all the members and the chairman of the commission resigned last week.
The present Act of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) does not allow the present style of work like serving an ultimatum to a suspected person asking him to submit a statement.
However, the emergency rule as promulgated last month and amended last week empowers the interim government to ask for statement, send someone to jail, freeze or attach moveable or immovable properties and even confiscate in case of evading the statement or conviction.
About 25 persons were so far arrested and sent to jail for corruption which is yet to be proved by the court. Legal experts, however, said that it would be difficult to establish all the allegations so far brought against the arrested persons.
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India to spend US$ 103m to develop Burmese seaport
Nava Thakuria in Guwahati
The India-Myanmar relationship may invite severe criticism from international communities, but New Delhi seems to be determined to continue engaging with the Burmese junta. New Delhi has now proposed to develop a seaport in western Myanmar (also known as Burma) in the Bay of Bengal to facilitate its landlocked Northeast region an access to the commercial sea routes.
The Burmese government, run by a group of generals known as State Peace and Development Council, has meanwhile approved New Delhi's proposal to work on Kaladan project that includes the development of Sittway port in Burma and also waterways and road transport to connect the harbour with the Northeastern state of Mizoram, which is adjacent to the Chin province of Burma.
"New Delhi wants to connect Northeast with the commercial sea routes. Moreover, the development of Sittway port and the Kaladan river as navigation efficient, the region is expected to have another viable access to ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries," said Indian commerce minister Jairam Ramesh during his recent visit to the region. The Kaladan project will include shipping, riverine and road transport, added Ramesh.
It may be mentioned that the increase in military relationship between India and Myanmar in recent years has attracted attention of USA.
Violation of HR
"The Burmese regime's systematic violation of human rights (HR), including forced labour, use of child soldiers, extrajudicial killings, custodial deaths, disappearances, rape and torture, are well documented," a Bush administration official quoted as saying to an international news agency.
Conceived and proposed by India 's foreign ministry in 2003, the project is branded as Kaladan multi-modal project, which includes development of Kaladan river as a waterway to connect Kaletwa in Burma and finally the road connectivity to Aizawl. The completion of the project will enable Northeast's connectivity directly to Sittway, the capital of western Burmese province Rakhaine.
The Kaladan project is waiting formal approval from the Union Cabinet. After receiving the consent from the Planning Commission of India in-principle, it is expecting green signal from the cabinet very soon, informed Ramesh, disclosing the arrangement would also allow the movement of cargo ships from Sittway to any Indian port by using the sea routes. The river Kaladan flows from India's Mizoram to Sittway through the Chin province.
New Delhi has decided to spend around US$ 103 million on developing the Sittway seaport. The Burmese junta though gave consent to the proposal, showed reluctance in investing in the project. It only assured to provide free land use for the project. Hence, New Delhi agreed to offer a soft loan of $10 million to the military rulers.
New Delhi's move to invest in a Burmese port was prompted by Dhaka's reluctance to give India access to its Chittagong Port, which is nearer to Northeast. Chittagong is less than 200 km away from Agartala. Moreover, Bangladesh government always showed unwillingness to allow in laying the proposed gas pipeline from Burma to India through its territory.
Forced labour
But there are oppositions to the project from the Burmese exile groups. Protesting against any investment in Burma during the SPDC regime, the pro-democracy activists argue that it would only help the regime getting legitimacy and also the generals to grab money for their own benefit, where they would execute forced labour in the project.
"We do warmly welcome for any developmental project in Burma, but at the same time, I would like to ask, whether the present situation is really suitable for investing money and efforts in the country?" said an exile Burmese journalist, Ko Nyo adding that initiating any kind of project in today's Burma implies forced labour and also forced displacement of indigenous people from their habitation. Ko Nyo, who works for Radio Free Asia concluded, "India's growing engagement with Burmese military government becomes a nightmare for the pro-democracy movement in the country. Burmese pro-democracy politicians want to see India's involvement in the growth of Burma as a democratic nation."
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Detainees in Guantanamo prison
ineligible for habeas corpus in US
Fazle Rashid in New York
Federal appeals court endorsed a new law that debars the federal judges from hearing appeals by the suspected Islamic Jihadists held in captivity for more than five years now in Guantanamo Bay detention centre. There are hundreds of suspected Islamic militants who have been detained without being charge sheeted. Human rights groups across the world has sternly criticised the Bush administration.
The US Supreme Court twice previously ruled that the federal laws have empowered the courts to consider the habeas corpus petition by the detainees challenging the grounds for their detention. It is almost certain that the new ruling by the federal appeal court will go to the Supreme Court. The Republican Party dominated Congress twice rewrote the law to prevent detainees from appealing to the higher court. The Democratic Party dominated Congress has promised to enact a law more favourable to the prisoner. The supporters of the government argue that foreigners who have been nabbed outside America as enemy combatant are not eligible to move habeas corpus writ.
The US military recruiting agency desperate to build-up a new force is facing various problems. The response from the American citizens to be enlisted as new army recruits has been rather discouraging. This has made the recruiting agencies not only to lower the pre-entry level qualification but also to offer attractive perks. The army is now granting moral waivers and allowing people who have been convicted of crimes the option to join army. The crimes include aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and vehicular homicide. In past three years more than 125,000 army recruits were given moral waivers.
Meanwhile, the battle between the Pentagon and the State Department about who is in charge of the war in Iraq has somewhat subsided. Pentagon has agreed to deploy a certain number of its military and civilian personnel in Iraq until such time skilled foreign service officials are ready to take up job in Baghdad. John D Negroponte, who served as US ambassador to Iraq and head of the US intelligence agency, has now joined the State Department as the number two man of Condi Rice. He has urged the new foreign service officials to prepare and accept tough diplomatic assignments. There has been a major shift in the content of the US foreign policy. The focus is now more on insurgency rather than on politics and policy.
Contrary to what the newcon-dominated policymakers in the White House believed, Britain has made its intention clear to withdraw its troops from Iraq. The pullout will be completed by 2008. Australia's Prime Minister is also under growing pressure to disengage from Iraq. These developments will obviously add to further embarrassment of the Bush Administration. Additionally, a suicide bomber disguising himself as a doctor blew himself at a newly built hospital ward in Afghanistan killing six Americans. The new hospital ward was built by the Americans. Though such incidents are of almost of daily occurrence in Iraq, it is likely to add psychological pressure on the new recruits.
In an yet another related development, Czech Republic and Poland hit back at a Russian General who had threatened the two countries that Moscow would not hesitate to use its nuclear weapons against them should they decide to allow US a base for its ballistic missile defense within their territories. The two countries have said they would not be intimidated by the Russian threat. American strategy is to set radar in the Czech Republic and a missile battery in Poland to deal with rogue states like North Korea and Iran. NATO described Russian general's outburst as ' uncalled for'.
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Better Aman harvest helps ease inflation
Asjadul Kibria
The country's central bank may finally find some breathing space as the inflationary pressure has eased moderately at the end of first half of the current fiscal year (FY07). The official statistics shows that general inflation rate on annual average basis come down to 6.77 per cent at the end of December 2006, which was 7.1 per cent at the end of July 2006.
The latest rate is below the rate of inflation projected by the Bangladesh Bank in its monetary programme. The rate of inflation on point-to-point basis also decreased to 6.13 per cent in December 2006 from 6.37 per cent in November 2006. Finance and planning adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam, in a discussion meeting with the Economic Reporters' Forum last week also said that inflation rate has lowered and stood below the rates of neighbouring countries.
The slowdown in inflation is not necessarily the outcome of the central bank's tight monetary stance, pursued for the last one year, as the monetary policy has inbuilt limitation on curbing inflation. In fact, better harvest of Aman rice has contributed significantly to ease the inflationary pressure, said a senior official of the central bank.
Statistics available with the agriculture ministry revealed that production of Aman rice stood at 1.28 crore metric tons in the current fiscal year against the annual target of 1.31 crore metric tons. But the full impact of higher Aman output is yet to materialise in the market as the public procurement of Aman is still going on. The real scenario will be clear after releasing the inflation data of January and February as the current statistics have one and half month lag.
The Bangladesh Bank has earlier also projected better output of Aman crop and linked it with the lessening of inflationary pressure in near future. The central bank has also linked the availability of agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilisers and irrigation for better output of the real sector in the current fiscal year.
Nonetheless, the trend of food price-related inflation, which is still above the 7 per cent, reflects the higher expenditure on food items. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data shows that food inflation on average stood at 7.57 per cent in December 2006, which was 7.62 per cent in July 2006. During the first half of FY07 import of food grains, mainly rice and wheat have declined to 11.9 lakh metric ton which was 12.26 lakh metric ton in the same period of FY06.
At the same time, non-food inflation also declined reasonably to 5.67 per cent in December from 5.88 per cent in November on annual average basis. On point-to-point basis, non-food inflation goes down to 4.65 per cent in December 2006, which was 5.92 per cent in July 2006.
The Bangladesh Bank, in line with its policy, has regularly used its monetary mechanism to contain money supply in the market. The monetary policy statement, release in the second week of January this year, however, attributed its monetary stance for easing the inflationary pressure in recent months. 'The cautiously restrained monetary stance pursued since FY05 has paid dividend in curbing inflationary pressure from excess demand as the annual average CPI inflation which peaked at 7.16 per cent in June'06 (breaching the targeted 7 per cent ceiling) has declined to 6.85 per cent by November '06,' the statement said.
The central bank data revealed that broad money, reflecting the money supply trend, recorded an increase of Tk 11,779.50 crore or 6.50 per cent during July-November 2006 against the increase of Tk 8684.50 crore or 5.73 per cent during July-November 2005. It also showed that reserve money recorded an increase of Tk 4424.80 crore or 11.69 percent during July-November 2006 compared to the increase of Tk 3050.30 crore or 10.32 per cent during the corresponding period of 2005. Thus tight monetary stance has worked to some extent that is more reflective in the domestic credit trend.
But the price spiral for the last couple of weeks threatened to intensify the inflationary pressure in near future. The anti-hording drive by the joint-forces has already slowed down the pace of fresh opening of letters of credit for imports. If the supply chain disrupts widely, it will undoubtedly fuel inflation in the later part of the fiscal year.
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