Amb. A. Momin: As I knew him

Barrister Harun ur Rashid

Ambassador Abdul Momin's passing away on 11th August in Dhaka drew close to a chapter of the role of Bengali senior diplomats who boldly and courageously moved heaven and earth for freedom of Bangladesh from military atrocities after 25th March, 1971. At that time he was Pakistan's Ambassador to Argentina.
   My first meeting with Ambassador Momin was in 1967 in Islamabad when he was Director (.Personnel). I was delighted to know that a Bengali diplomat was given the responsibility of administration.
   Pakistani administrators in the Foreign Office would not have given diplomat Momin the charge of administration of personnel at a Director level, unless he was an officer of integrity and impartiality. That means he was in the key post in transfer and posting of diplomats around the Pakistan embassies. Although he did it with ease, it was a thankless job.
   My first encounter was on 12th July, 1967 (I remember the date because it was my first day in Islamabad) when I met with him for the first time in his office. He was polite, courteous and was known to have exhibited understanding in any personal problems of officers. Always he offered a cup of tea with biscuits, to visitors, although he avoided tea himself. I was impressed by him for being attentive and recording immediately the discussion I had with him.
   I remember one incident. I together with another officer went to his room. His office table was full of files that were piled up so high in a row that we could not see him. As we were about to leave his room, he called us back and we laughed at this incident for a long time. He was not only Director Personnel but also had the additional charge of Organisation & Method (O&M) of the foreign ministry. No wonder he had so many office files to dispose of.
   In Islamabad I lived one house away in F-6/3 sector, near Margala Hills. Both Ambassador Momin and his wife were very hospitable. The house was neat, not cluttered with odd pieces from overseas and the dinner they hosted was perfect in details. The table was beautifully laid out and the food was delicious. It was a sit-down dinner with all the attendant protocols attached to it.
   Ambassador Momin was easily accessible, accommodative and had an eye for details. No file could be disposed of unless he was satisfied that every detail under rules was met. He was a perfectionist.
   When I was Deputy High Commissioner in Calcutta in late 70s, Ambassador Momin came to visit us in Calcutta with his family and stayed with us. He knew Calcutta better than I did and he took us to a very well-known Kabab restaurant in one of the famous streets n Calcutta. The choice demonstrated his keen interest in good cuisine and taste.
   We used to be in touch with each other although we were posted in different countries. This interaction continued until he retired from service. Often he used to send me complimentary note on my work in place of postings. I was touched by his gesture and encouragement to a younger colleague.
   In late January 1999 he attended my daughter's wedding reception in Dhaka, although he was wheel-chair bound. He was energetic and full of life and enjoyed the crowd, many of whom were his colleagues from the Foreign office. I was grateful to him for his presence with his wife at the wedding reception.
   In Dhaka, we live close by. At the end of last year I went to visit Ambassador Momin and his family. His only child, daughter Yasmin, who lives in Washington, took care of him as far as possible in Dhaka. I knew Yasmin as a young girl from Islamabad. She has been wonderful to her parents.
   Later in the year Ambassador Momin had hosted a lunch in which I was invited. I felt that his diplomatic tradition continued even when he was not well. Both his gracious wife and daughter looked after all the guests.
   Ambassador Momin was an avid reader and his illness did not deter him in pursuing so and I presented one of my books titled "Bangladesh Foreign Policy" to him for his feed-back.
   Ambassador Momin spoke softly, was a perfect gentleman, a valiant freedom fighter and made his mark as a diplomat. He was High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to China, besides being an Ambassador to France. He looked at the word events with penetrating insights that was remarkable.
   Ambassador Momin is survived by his wife, daughter, and grand children. He left countless relations and friends all over the world.
   The writer is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.

^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE

Dr. M. Rafique Uddin

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries with 90 per cent of its population being dependent on its agricultural land and water resources for livelihood. It is situated in an ecologically very sensitive spot of South Asia. The source of drinking water comes from very shallow underground well. Already Bangladesh is experiencing a very high incidence of different types of cancer and other genetically inherited diseases because of uncontrolled dumping of poisonous industrial sludge into the rivers and lakes.
   Algal blooms is already destroying aquatic ecosystem because of pollutions of small factories. This is evident if one takes a trip by road from Dhaka to Mymensingh. Haluaghat is developing a small industrial complex and if one looks around the small ponds you would notice red algal blooms that are destroying the lower rungs of the food chain. Bangladesh immediately needs to develop, implement and enforce strict environmental protection acts before it is too late.
   China and India are developing very fast. If you study their economic development you would see that China has concentrated its development on the manufacturing sector, which is rapidly changing the Chinese urban ecosystem. In a recent UN report Beijing was labeled as one of the most polluted city in the world. The inhabitants are suffering from many types of respiratory diseases. Even in cities like Tokyo traffic police has to take oxygen breaks. Environment in Beijing is so polluted that the authority is enforcing law to keep millions of car out of street on alternate days. China has an infrastructure and economic strength to deal with their environmental problem. Eventually they might be able to solve their problem.
   India has a smart way of economic development. They have concentrated their development on multi billion-dollar software industries, which mainly require a few computers; a well-trained human resource and these industries don't poison the air and water.
   Bangladesh has the greatest resources of all; one of the most intelligent people who are easily trainable and who have the ability to quickly grasp computer related technology. This is one of the greatest resources on earth.
   This is a very small country and we cannot afford to poison the air and water of this small landscape by unscrupulous dumping of polluting industries and crippled the whole nation. Planners and think tanks should seriously try and motivate the country to invest heavily on the development of export oriented software industries. The future generations of this nation would gratefully remember these pioneer if we can impart sophisticated software development training to our young people and establish a pollution-free software industry, which would bring peace and prosperity to our people.

^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE

---

Training on refugee law held at Jessore

A Correspondent

A daylong training on Refugee Law jointly organised by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), a national human rights NGO, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangladesh was held 18 August at Jessore, says a press release.
   Mr. A. K. M. Zaheer Ahmed, District and Sessions Judge of Jessore, was the chief guest at the inaugural session of the programme. Mr. Md. Sayedur Rahman, Judge, Nari-O-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal, Jessore, was the special guest. It was also addressed by Taslimur Rahman, executive director of BLAST and a former senior official of UNHCR, advocate Md. Ichhaqaue, coordinator of BLAST's Jessore unit and Dr. Uttam Kumar Das, National Protection Officer, UNHCR Bangladesh. It was presided over by Advocate Nazrul Islam, chairman of Jessore Unit of BLAST and former President of Jessore District Bar Association.
   The topic of the sessions included the concept of persecution, asylum, refugees' rights and mandate of UNHCR, refugees' position and laws of Bangladesh, role of human rights organizations, and accession to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951.
   Different sessions were conducted by Dr. Naim Ahmed, Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Taslimur Rahman of BLAST and Dr. Uttam Kumar Das of UNHCR.
   Both the resource persons and participants of the training came up with some recommendations. These included formation of a comprehensive policy and legal framework on asylum and refugee issues in Bangladesh, accession to the Refugee Convention and its protocol, establishing a national authority to deal with refugees in Bangladesh, capacity building of officials of the government and NGOs working in the refugee operation, involvement of civil society and national human rights organisations with refugee issue, ensure humane and better treatment for the asylum seekers and refugees in the country, judicial and legal activism, and continuous support from international community for refugee operation.
   Judge Mr. Md. Sayedur Rahman of the Nari-O-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal, Jessore distributed certificates in the closing session.
   40 participants representing local bar association, law college and human rights organisations participated in the programme.

^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE