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THIS YEAR'S FOOD GAP IS 3.4 MILLION TONS
Advanced tech being applied
to boost food production
Faruque Ahmed
Whether the food security should be a local or a regional and global concern is increasingly drawing public attention in recent time. The debate has assumed a new dimension in the country as it is facing a severe crisis both in terms of supply shortage and surging prices of food items, raising the question how the nation should ensure adequate food supply at an affordable cost for all. Experts say that it is essentially a domestic phenomenon and the solution must come through increased crop production annually.
However, pointing to today's globalised world, they say in case of crisis, regional and global response is equally important. They say the SAARC initiative for creating a common food bank is a mechanism to respond to a crisis situation. Likewise, the WTO is also having a provision to protect the LDCs from soaring prices of food grains as and when the prices of food is anticipated to surge in global market following the withdrawal or drastic cut back in subsidy by developed countries on domestic agriculture and agricultural exports. It will not only increase production cost but will also increase the import cost of agricultural items like rice, wheat or diary products for the LDCs. The issue involved here is therefore, a global or the regional food security system and entail commitment on the part of the rich nations for the poor ones being vulnerable to supply crisis.
In Bangladesh the free market so long provided enough food to people although the rice and wheat prices started moving upward since last year. It soared in the local market reflecting a surging import price of rice and wheat in international markets even before the agricultural subsidies were lifted by the developed nations. The WTO negotiations are now in stalemate.
In recent years Bangladesh used to import around two million tones of rice including some wheat annually to meet the supply gap between domestic production and consumption. Two succesive floods and a devastating cyclone Sidr last year caused huge crop failures resulting in an additional 1.4 million tones of supply deficiency - six lakh tons from floods and 8 lakh from cyclone Sidr to contribute to present supply constraints and surging prices.
Thus when we talk about food security, the gap this time stands at over 3 million tones with an annual safety box requirement of around a million tones annually under the given production technology.
Now the question is whether the food security issue should be a local issue or a regional issue. Food is the basic need of the people, so the issue should be addressed in global context, not leaving it to the individual nations in crisis to face it individually.
When the Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukharjee made the announcement of five lakhs tones of rice assistance to Bangladesh during his visit here immediately after cyclone Sidr hit the country's coastal districts in November last, he essentially acted in the spirit of collective food security for the region. In fact, India has placed a ban on export of rice as the prices of food grains in the international market is not only steadily rising but also facing supply severe constraints as global production of rice and wheat and other cereals has suffered severe setback from draught and other hostile climatic condition. India made the gesture to Bangladesh in the crisis situation and it was more in line with the SAARC spirit to help each other in need. Pakistan has also made similar gesture but in a limited capacity.
It may be noted that the response to Bangladesh government's call to the international community to provide five lakh tones of rice in the post flood and cyclone situation instead of cash assistance has been quite disappointing. It is extremely slow when Dhaka is making frantic efforts to buy rice from Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, besides working with Delhi to bring rice from India. No doubt the India government decision to raise the rice price in two phases to US$ 500 per tone from US$ 350 per tone at local market and putting conditions that the deal would transacted between the state trading bodies has caused some disappointment here, but Delhi was quick to remove the confusion. The High Commission in Dhaka made it clear that in case of the five lakh tones offer, the new price will not be applicable. A government delegation headed by food secretary Dr Mohammad Ayub Mian visited Delhi last week to sort out the price issue and other purchase modalities.
Experts here believe that the SAARC Food Bank should be immediately made functional to create the mechanism to face the food security issue at a time when the global warming is impacting the agriculture and food production of the South Asian nations such as recurring floods, draughts and erratic weather conditions.
The decision to set up SAARC Food Bank was taken during the last SAARC summit in Delhi last year and an agreement was signed to this effect by all member states. It replaced the previous move of setting up a SAARC food reserve and all member states stated that they will pledge commitment of immediate supply when a country will face vulnerable situation.
The SAARC Food Bank agreement was ratified by four countries including Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan. It is expected that others will complete the ratification process before the next summit where it would be formally launched. The SAARC food bank issue is likely to be discussed in details in the forthcoming SAARC ministerial meeting on poverty alleviation at Male on February 19.
Experts say that the common food bank may not be required to mobilise supply frequently, but its very existence would bring confidence to member states to have the capacity to deal with any unforeseen situation.
The government has also taken the food security issue to WTO negotiation in Geneva as part of its contribution to negotiation of the final deal on agriculture. Sources said the Hong Kong declaration of the WTO summit in December 2005 has provided a safeguard clause to the LDCs, which speaks of creating a 'food safe box' to which members would make pledge for delivery of food assistance when a country would be facing supply crisis. But since the pledge is of the voluntary nature under multilateral arrangement, its effectiveness remained in doubt like the present situation that Bangladesh is facing.
In Geneva, Bangladesh will be trying now to make it part of a commitment, not a pledge, and its arrangement should be bilateral on compulsory basis, because a vulnerable country would have no time to wait. Besides, another expert said, discussions would be held suggesting that the conversion of food items into ethanol fuel should not be allowed until the world has become hunger free. Moving for commercial gains keeping the millions hungry in the developing and the least developed countries should be banned; otherwise the world will face more calamities.
Many food grains producing countries are working on such plans to convert part of their produce into fuel oil as it will be fetching more income substituting oil import and also hoping to export it some time in future.
Bangladesh agriculture now waits for entering a new phase of technological breakthrough where high breed varieties need to be introduced to achieve higher production. In the coastal region salinity is taking away productivity of soil, so salinity tolerant varieties of rice need to be popularised in such areas. Moreover, new flood tolerant verities may be put in the field along with crop diversity and promoting adaptability mechanism to allow advancing of the cropping season by at least two weeks allowing time to take the harvest home before the floods.
Bangladesh has no excess land and is also losing around 80,000 hectors of land annually due to river bank erosion, new housing and expansion of commercial activities. Here, the only way is to use high breed and high yielding varieties to multiply the production. But there is enough room still available to develop the domestic food self-sufficiency by using every unutilised slot of land, besides tapping the security windows from regional and global partnership on the issue, experts said.
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SEVEN-YEAR ITCH OF NEW AMERICAN CENTURY
Bush's Pakistan policy,
diplomacy prove futile
Sadeq Khan
The Bush administration, as a sequel to 9/11 attack on America, has certainly earned the credit of establishing a superpower legacy, a 21st century version of the Monroe doctrine. Notwithstanding the UN charter securing the sovereignty and inviolability of member nation-states, the White House in Washington has expressly usurped a prerogative as the first amongst equals. US politicians now feely talk about intended interventions - diplomatic, economic and/or military - to effect regime changes, and/or to exercise coercive influences in the internal affairs of lesser nation-states, to ensure conformity with US interests and security concerns.
No wonder Pakistan, coupled with Afghanistan, featured prominently in the agenda of four Democratic Party candidates for nomination in the presidential election 2008. In the run-up to the New Hampshire primary, which was won by US White House hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton, she said: "So far as we know right now, the nuclear technology is considered secure, but there isn't any guarantee, especially given the political turmoil going on inside Pakistan.
(If elected president) "I would try to get (Pakistan Preisdent Pervez) Musharraf to share the security responsibility of the nuclear weapons with a delegation from the United States and, perhaps, Great Britain, so that there is some fail-safe."
Her neck-to-neck challenger and surprise winner in the Iowa primary, Senator Barack Obama said: "Back in August, I said we should work with the Pakistani government, first of all to encourage democracy in Pakistan so you've got a legitimate government that we're working with, and secondly that we have to press them to do more to take on Al Queda in their territory.
"What I said was, if they could not or would not do so, and we had actionable intelligence, then I would strike."
Former Senator John Edwards, who came second in Iowa, said: "Here's an unstable leader, Musharraf, in a country with a serious radical - violently radical element that could, under some circumstances, take over the government.
"If they did, they would have control of a nuclear weapon. They could either use it, or they could turn it over to a terrorist organisation to be used against America or some of our allies." The fourth candidate, Governor Bill Richardson straightaway called for Musharraf's ouster.
Despite the superpower rhetoric, ground realities at the gateway to South Asia, and indeed further in the backyard of Central Asia, may be posing a big stumbling block for the strides of the New American Century. Pakistan's army and government in Islamabad have angrily rejected all suggestions of covert or overt military operation by the USA, at present or in future, on its sovereign territory. Such righteous response, however, may not be beyond the spell of friendly persuasion by the sole superpower. But more to the point is what the International Herald Tribune, in a news analysis of its last weekend issue of 2007, recognised as a shell-shock to US maneuvers in that geopolitical theatre in the seventh year of the New American Century.
"Fragile US diplomacy now in tatters," declared the IHT, as the psycho-somatic implications of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi on December 27 began to unfold to the world media: "The assassination highlighted, in spectacular fashion, the failure of two of President George W. Bush's main objectives in the region: his quest to bring democracy to the Muslim world and his drive to force out the Islamist militants who have hung on tenaciously in Pakistan, the nuclear-armed state considered ground zero in Bush's fight against terrorism.
"Foreign-policy analysts said that if there was one thing that Bhutto's assassination had made clear, it was the inability of the United States to manipulate the internal political affairs of Pakistan. Even before the assassination, the United States had limited influence. Pakistan has never been more important for the United States than it is right now as it teeters on the edge of internal chaos."
Within a couple of weeks of the shocking event, however, it became clear that internal chaos in Pakistan may not assume unmanageable proportions. The sympathy wave rolling on account of the Bhutto family tragedy and the continuous coverage of Benazir charisma in the world media as much as in the Pakistani press for days together could not hide the fact that anti-Americanism in Pakistan polity is too deep-rooted to be dissipated by "democratic" cosmetics. Benazir was seen by a solid section of chauvinistic Pakistanis as an American poison-plant to prop-up (and soon enough push out) the weakening hold of the Musharraf regime.
Essentially, the "immorality" of selective pardon of Benazir (and "vile" Zardari), setting aside convictions and indictments in Pakistani and Swiss courts, by beleaguered President Musharraf under covert U.S. persuasion went against the grain of social values of the ethnic mix of the increasingly-aware masses of Pakistan. Only the elitist lobbies with their captive following were "receptive" of such "Western" pragmatism.
Musharraf with Pushtoon blood on his hands - shed at the behest of U.S. concerns - has to seek mutual accommodation with Talebanised tribes, albeit with conditions that would ensure border security. Superpower suspicion and displeasure cannot change that reality. Musharraf as the kingpin of US war on terror in the South Asian theatre remains a target of the al-Queda, but is seen as capable of making truce with the Taleban on the ground. Benazir, who openly declared her readiness to allow US troops to enter Pakistan territory to conduct "special operations" to root out al-Queda leaders and hobnobbed with hardened anti-Taleban Karzai emissaries, was a target of both the Taliban and the al-Queda, and possibly also of rogue elements of regular political parties in Pakistan that have been basking under the sunshine of Musharraf's patronage.
It now appears that the assassination of Benazir has done more to consolidate anti-Musharraf and anti-U.S. sentiments than to gain PPP support. And the wishful maneuvers of superpower instinct notwithstanding, US analysts recognise the failure of the Bush administration's Pakistan policy. Efforts to balance the American insistence that Pakistan remain on the path to democracy and Musharraf's unwillingness to risk unrest that would allow Al Queda and the Taliban to operate more freely, particularly with U.S. and NATO troops next door in Afghanistan, proved futile.
Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who was in Islamabad with Democratic congressman Patrick Kennedy preparing to meet Benazir when she was assassinated, resignedly observed: "I think our foreign policy relied on her personality as a stabilizing force. Now, without her, we have to regroup."
M.K. Bhadrakumar, a retired Indian diplomat and astute analyst of South Asian geopolitics, noted on Asia Times Online (January 5): Setting right these disjointed times is way past the capacity of the present US administration. He quoted a commentator for Stratfor, a think tank closely linked to the security establishment, who observed, "In this endgame, all that the Americans want is the status quo in Pakistan. It is all they can get. And given the way US luck is running, they might not even get that."
Highlighting the "varied hues" cast by the bolt from the blue of Bhutto assassination on regional security, Bhadrakumar predicts an inevitable shift in US anti-terror strategy in the South Asian theatre. He observes: "Three types of prophets of doom are setting the tone in Washington. First come the FOBs - 'Friends of Benazir'. The people in the media, think tanks and government in the US over whom Bhutto cast her spell ¾ by way of her irresistible personal charm or through the skills of her top-class public relations handlers ¾ simply cannot think of a Pakistan without her.
Second, there are America's legions of South Asia experts from an earlier era who are peeved that the administration with its neo-conservative agenda ignored their advice in the crafting of Washington's post- 2001 Pakistan policy. They feel vindicated the policy turned out to be a mess. Third comes the tribe of terrorism specialists who proliferated in recent years and are greatly experienced in the politics of fear, including some among them who seem to believe their phantom enemy is of absolutely cosmic significance."
Bhadrakumar then points out the implication of U.S. difficulties in Pakistan for the Iran policy of the Bush administration. Noting that the initial success of US war on terror in Afghanistan was facilitated by Iranian cooperation with the Afghan Northern Alliance that spearheaded US ground penetration, Bhadrakumar further observes: "In one swift sweep, almost overnight, Pakistan replaces Iran on the Bush administration's radar screen. Israel may not like what is happening, but Vice President Dick Cheney and company won't have even a fighting chance of reviving the Iran bogey in the remaining term of the administration.
The Bush administration cannot overlook that the crisis brewing in Pakistan and Afghanistan may turn out to be manifold - more serious than all of Tehran's nuclear programme and its support of Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Iraqi Shi'ite militia in Iraq combined together, let alone the political challenge posed by Iran's rising regional influence.
For the first time since it expounded the 'axis of evil' theory, exactly six years ago - grouping Iraq, Iran and North Korea - the Bush administration is compelled to view Iran with a sense of proportion.
"Iranians are pragmatists and after Bhutto's assassination they will have assessed by now that the developments in Pakistan leave the Bush administration with no option but to earnestly probe for ways of normalising relations with Tehran. Iran may once again prove to be useful, as in 2001, for the logistical needs of Washington's 'war on terror' in Afghanistan. Arguably, Iran can be a substitute route if the supply lines for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Afghanistan via Pakistan become choked. NATO and the US cannot get a more realistic partner than Iran for stabilizing Afghanistan. Iran's cooperation will be useful in forestalling the Taliban's northwardly march to the Amu Darya region and in stabilizing western Afghanistan, where NATO forces are coming under threat. The alternative would be for Washington to go crawling back to Moscow and ask for air and land corridors to Afghanistan."
The establishment of such a corridor would also have to obtain a nod of assent from the members of the Sanghai Corporation Organisation. NATO allies of the New American Century did not fail to make preliminary soundings for Russian support in Afghanistan at the Russia-NATO Council meeting in Brussels on December 7. Following the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We discussed the situation in Afghanistan. The vital security interests of Russia and the NATO nations coincide here. It is both the threat of drugs and the lingering terrorist threat. They have to be fought by combined efforts."
But Russian support will certainly entail bargains that will disturb the present power equations. Unforeseen fall-outs of the Bhutto misadventure are thus exacerbating the seven-year itch of the New American Century. As Badrakumar notes in his critique: "With Bhutto's assassination, Washington must now hasten its 'thought process'. There is a hard decision to take. Both Iran and Russia would be sensible partners in the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan. But neither would respond to a selective engagement by Washington."
At the Bucharest summit, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov made it clear that if NATO pursues its enlargement policy in eastern Europe along with the Alliance's transformation to act beyond Europe for global security, Moscow will not accept it. Such NATO expansion "would not contribute to bolstering our common security or fighting the common threats to us." The implicit warning is that cooperation in the 'war on terror' could be conditional on Washington rolling back its containment policy toward Russia.
Bhadrakumar notes: "Both Moscow and Tehran now estimate that the crisis in Afghanistan and Pakistan has a direct bearing on US global strategies. If NATO fails in Afghanistan, a huge question mark would arise over the Alliance's future.
"But that isn't all. What the US think-tankers obfuscate is that the US's ability to retain its trans-Atlantic leadership role in the post-Cold War era is itself in the firing line.
"Chinese commentators have noted that 'the situation in Afghanistan proved far more sophisticated than predicted' and it had become difficult for NATO to 'cover up the troops' embarrassing position in the country'. A People's Daily commentary analyzed last year that the Afghanistan debacle, coupled with the deterioration of NATO's relations with Russia and the failure of Brussels' efforts to secure a footing in Central Asia, have hampered the Alliance from fulfilling its target of making 2007 its year of 'transformation'.
"Russia, China and Iran openly share an interest in seeing that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation play a significant role in stabilising the Afghan situation. None of them has remained content with the US's (or NATO's) monopoly over conflict resolution in a region of such vital importance to their security, though they are supportive of the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan as such."
Some analysts suggest another dimension of the US anti-terrorist war policy in the South-Asian theatre, which is likely to be affected by the seven-year itch of the New American Century. It concerns US global energy policy. Russia has successfully out-maneuvered US moves to gain independent access to Central Asian oil and gas deposits. US initiatives to build alternative pipelines bypassing Russia for supply of Central Asian oil and gas through Caspian Sea and Turkey has been baffled by a Russian purchase of 25 years' supply of Central Asian oil and gas under a quadripartite project and pacts involving expansion of Russian pipelines connecting Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
On the other side of the supply line of Central Asian gas and oil fields are direct pipelines to China. US interest in obtaining possible Central Asian oil and gas supply via a pipeline through Afghanistan and Pakistan for Indian and Far Eastern demands has also thus been baffled. An oil and gas pipeline through Afghanistan may now only be viable with Iranian supplies. China, India and Pakistan evince interest in possible Iranian hydrocarbon supplies through a stable Afghanistan. But to the Bush administration, which still considers Iran as part of an "axis of evil" powers, such pipeline is of negative interest. A manifest purpose of US initiatives to obtain independent oil supply routes from Central Asia to Europe and fast-developing Asian economies was to reduce pressure of global demands on Arab oil resources, considered a preserve of U.S. energy policy. It is to be seen whether the diminished strategic value of Afghanistan as a potential oil and gas supply route under US control would lead to a containment policy marked by early withdrawal of NATO forces, leaving the job of segregation of the unmanageable country to Iran and Pakistan.
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TRADE CONSPIRACY AT WORK?
RMG sector needs rational
approach to survive
Mohammed Ali Sattar
It appears that a long term 'trade conspiracy' (as part of trade diplomacy) is on against our most successful manufacturing and export sector- the readymade garment sector.
After a brief interval the zone is again on fire. The situation in the garment sector continues to be cause for deep concern. There has been sudden burst of labour unrest in garments factories located in Shewrapara and Mirpur. The unrest turned violent and as usual law enforcing members had to be deployed to quell the unruly behaviour of the workers as well as the non-workers. Last Tuesday around 350 factories were kept close. The agitating workers clashed with the law enforcers, obstructed traffic and looters were seen taking advantage of the chaotic situation.
Again as a routine affair the commerce ministry formed a committee to investigate the cause of this crisis. The government believes that the situation is the handiwork of certain vested quarters and some of the instigators have been identified. If this is so, the appropriate authority should not waste time in nabbing them and bring them to books.
But this is unlikely to end here and more crises of this nature are likely to emerge in future. This has been happening frequently and caused adverse impact on the economy.
It appears that the garments sector has been targeted is beyond doubt. The government should now work harder to find out the 'trade conspiracy' being continuously hatched and destructive actions carried out to ruin the industry. The concerned authority should be more watchful to deter any attempt make the industry impotent and frustrate the mechanism to interfering in the country's most important and vibrant sector. Any government worth the name should now spring into action against this grave threat.
There are two parties to this conflict: the owners and the workers. The workers keep the industries going and they are the ones who should be treated with the care they deserve. They deserve all benefits and privileges laid sown in international labour laws. The BGMEA leaders claim that most of the owners are now meeting the demands of the workers and only less than five per cent factories are to comply with the same.
Industrial disputes are not new; it goes back to centuries. But all disputes have finally been settled and negotiated at the table. Vandalising the infrastructures and causing colossal damages to the properties of the owners only bring losses to all. This should be realised by the both parties. Especially the workers' leaders should try and cool the muscle flexing opportunists who take pride in destruction of the owner's properties.
All the causes and effects of the on going crises have to be dealt with and discussed at length. If there has been a flaw on the part of the owners - they should be asked not to repeat the action without valid reason. If the latest violence was the result of owners fault they are responsible for the whole crisis. If the owners show interest in protecting only their interest ignoring the legitimate rights of the workers, this obviously won't serve the interest of the industry. The owners are expected to demonstrate a better understanding of not only the genuine grievances of the workers, but also their frame of mind and psychology.
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DHAKA TO BRACE FOR US POLICY CHANGE IN SOUTH ASIA
Musharraf woos Islamists
amid fear of US attack
M. Shahidul Islam in Toronto
Much like the impact of the greenhouse effect, the US policy in South Asia is undergoing a tectonic change, thanks to Washington's failure to put into power its trusted ally, Benazir Bhutto, who had succumbed to assassins' attack on December 27.
The signs of a policy shift are much visible within the US where Benazir's death has resulted in a change of the main focus of the ensuing US election from what was supposed to be a serious debate over an exit strategy from Iraq to attacking Pakistan.
The most alarming aspect of the new policy is its dogged determination to influence Pakistan's election outcome with threat of force. The New York Times disclosed on Jan 6 that the US was preparing for covert operation inside Pakistan, a euphemism that implies hot pursuits of Islamic militants initially, and, an outright invasion subsequently, if needed.
Fearful of Pakistan (and its nearly 100 nuclear arsenals) falling into the hands of the Taliban, many U.S. presidential candidates have hinted they would support unilateral military action in Pakistan's troubled bordering areas.
Faced with this seemingly insurmountable challenge only weeks before the scheduled parliamentary election of February 18, Musharraf is wooing the Islamists within while sounding bellicose against the US threats to save Pakistan from what seems like an impending danger to its sovereignty.
Although it's not clear as yet whether Musharraf is about to be dispensed with by Washington as the US's trusted ally, the Bush-Musharraf honeymoon is certainly headed for an anti-climax.
On January 10, Musharraf said U.S. troops are not welcome to join the fight against al-Qaeda on Pakistani soil and vowed to resist any unilateral US military action inside Pakistan. "I challenge anybody coming into our mountains," he told Singapore's The Straits Times newspaper in an interview remarkable for its unusually strident language. He also warned the US by saying, "They would regret that day."
Some observers say Musharraf's bold utterances aim as much to assure voters of his resolve to preserve Pakistan's sovereignty against future US intrusion as they are meant as signals for Washington not to contemplate of military aggression against his country.
That may be the case, as a new survey shows most of the Pakistanis not agreeing that cooperation since 9/11 with the United States on security and military issues has benefited their country.
In a recent survey of urban adults by WorldPublicOpinion.org and the United States Institute of Peace, only 5 per cent of Pakistanis opined that their government should allow foreign troops into Pakistan to capture al- Qaeda fighters while only 9 per cent thought it should permit foreigners to pursue Taliban insurgents falling back from Afghanistan. On the contrary, 68 per cent said the U.S. troops in Afghanistan pose a 'critical threat' to their national security than the threat from al Qaeda, or Pakistan's traditional enemy, India. Moreover, there is overwhelming opposition to allowing U.S. troops into Pakistan for any reason.
Yet, Washington wishes to win over Pakistan by force, especially due to the desperation caused lately in the wake of Benazir's assassination and the doubts over who will come to power after the February 18 elections. This fear has increased further amid predictions by some independent experts that the Islamists will decide the fate of the next government.
How realistic is such a prediction? In the 2002 parliamentary elections, the Jamat-I-Ulema - Islami (JUI) formed a national coalition with five other Islamist parties and led a pro-Taliban, anti-American campaign spiked with promises to implement Shariah law. The alliance, known as the Muttahida Majlis- e - Amal (MMA), won more than 10 per cent of the popular vote nationwide - the highest share ever for an Islamist bloc - and formed governments in two of the country's four provinces, including Baluchistan.
Led by a zealously cleric, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the JUI hopes to retain their 2002 election gains and promises to be available for post-electoral cooperation to form the next government. Already the Musharraf-led PMLQ and the PPP have both hinted of 'deals' with the JUI.
Buoyed by increased support, Rehman is sounding increasingly moderate and pragmatic. In a recent interview he said, "We are the last frontier against the militancy." He is also nudging laboriously to fit into Musharraf's shoes in Washington's eyes as the US too has begun to court his support. The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, was reported to have recently met with Rehman.
Rehman's popularity began to soar following the government operation in July against the Red Mosque rebels in Islamabad. He is widely being seen now as someone who might help select the next prime minister, or perhaps put himself forward for the job. Even President Musharraf is leaning towards him for support. Mushahid Hussain, secretary general of the Musharraf-backed faction of the PML, said recently that, "No one can negotiate the politics of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) better than Rehman. We know that we need a bearded, turbaned guy out there."
Having lost his support further following the sacking of dozens of judges and pulling private television channels off the air during the 42-day emergency that ended on Dec. 15, Musharraf's desperation is understandable. Thousands of lawyers, students, social activists and political leaders arrested in the ensuing crackdown want Musharraf's PMLQ to lose the election, while the MMA under Rehman gains more supports due to an election boycott by another major Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and the endorsements he has begun to receive from a number of other secular parties.
That has made the pre-election polarisation intensely curious, confusing and danger-laden. Although the JUI opponents say the MMA coalition of religious politicians is a Trojan horse for more dangerous militant groups, many Pakistanis prefer to characterise the conflict with the Taliban as an American war against Muslims abetted by Pakistan's own military. Those are the voters most likely to vote for the Islamists against the secularists although the Awami National Party (ANP) - composed mostly of secular Pushtun supporters - accuses MMA of being "The political face of religious extremism."
But Rehman's so called 'pragmatic gambit' may not yield much politically in the end. The area which the US wants to intrude into is teeming with dozens of other Islamist groups and jihadis. One of those groups is led by a fiery youth named Baitullah Meshud, blamed recently by Musharraf for masterminding the assassination of Benazir.
In the NWFP, Meshud formed a loose alliance with a young cleric, Maulana Fazullah, and created a strong force that took over the picturesque Swat valley near capital Islamabad at one point. More ominously, in mid-December 2007, 40 representatives from different Taliban gangs from across the NWFP and other tribal areas galvanized into a single group, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (the Pakistani Taliban Movement), and named Mehsud their leader. On January 14, the group claimed to have killed six more soldiers and captured dozens.
It seems the US threats served as a catalyst for rising anti-US feelings and a rallying cry for national unity. As the election campaign intensifies, all the parties want to capitalise on the surging waves of anti-Americanism pervading the depth and breadth of the Pakistani society. Musharraf's arch rival, Nawaz Sharif, said on January 14 that the U.S-backed anti-terror operations have left Pakistan "drowned in blood." Sharif blamed Musharraf of having "destroyed Pakistan by blindly following America's orders."
Wajihuddin Ahmed, a former judge and the only contestant in the presidential election against Pervez Musharraf's re-election last year, said that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was a part of a great game against the Federation of Pakistan. Blaming Musharraf for Pakistan's woes, Ahmed said, "The government wants to postpone the elections once again. The rulers want to create a Bangladesh-like situation to justify the postponement of the elections and to maintain the status quo."
Some experts say the threat of a US attack inside Pakistan will spell an end to the US-Pakistan friendship and hasten Iran-Pakistan ganging up against the aggressors. That may not happen easily, but, at its best, the newly articulated US policy carries the danger of a 'limited war' between Pakistan and the US-led NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan. It will also have serious ramifications over the domestic and foreign policies of countries like Bangladesh where popular disgust against US policies runs high. At the worst, such a policy will further radicalise the regional polity and intensify inter-state conflicts.
Regionally, the growing fear of hostility between the US and Pakistan could turn 2008 a year of tension all over South Asia, impacting perhaps the election outcome in Bangladesh and India too. Such a fear will increase further if the elections do not bring to power the party (or coalition) of US's liking in Bangladesh in particular.
While the Pakistan debate gains steam and emits heat in Washington - and a likely scenario of unity emerges between the Taliban and Pakistan's armed forces in case the country's sovereignty is violated - the Pentagon declared last week that it would send another brigade of some 3,000 more Marines to Afghanistan soon. The newly dispatched troops will be battle-ready by late March, coinciding with the arrival of a new government in Pakistan.
The additional U.S. forces will beef up the strength of about 14,000 US soldiers now battling Taliban and al-Qaeda forces along with a contingent of 40,000 ISAF troops from various NATO countries.
The US is also sucking in more alliance partners to further strengthen its Afghan mission. Tokyo announced on January 10 it would rejoin the US-led war in Afghanistan and the Japanese navy would begin refuelling US vessels in the Indian Ocean.
The announcement came two months after Japan's Afghan mission was halted due to refusal by the country's parliamentary opposition parties to endorse the operation's continuity. The new government of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda changed the decision amid persistent US pressures.
Although a covert operation along the Afghan-Pakistan border has already been on since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late September 2001, the new strategy marks a qualitative departure from the old one. About 12,000 U.S. troops have already positioned themselves to conduct counter-insurgency operations in the area outside the NATO umbrella, making US troop strength more than half of the 50,000 Western troops now stationed in Afghanistan.
Earlier, Pakistani security officials complained (on Nov. 1) that a missile fired from an unmanned aerial drone of the US forces killed five militants and wounded six other people in Pakistan's tribal areas. Although a Pentagon spokesman denied any US military involvement in the attack, the verbal exchanges between Washington and Islamabad have adorned a bellicose facet since the US announced its readiness to conduct covert operations inside Pakistan.
Amid this fast changing security ambiance in the region, one wonders what the new US policy will mean for the Pakistanis in particular. Over 52 per cent of Afghanistan still being under Taliban control and the Pakistani Taliban ever on the rise, Pakistanis will be lucky to find the Musharraf-led PMLQ and the MMA cobbling a post-election coalition to confront with the Sherif-led PMLN and the PPP within, and the US-led NATO forces without - should the US launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Grapevines also suggest that Washington's plan B is to help stitch a post-election alliance between PMLQ and the PPP while a third possibility is Rehman joining the PPP-PMLN bandwagon if the trio can gain enough seats to claim a two-third majority which will enable them to impeach Musharraf out of power and bring an end to the Musharraf era.
Although the later prospect seems remote and trickier - despite the US's craving for it - the prospect of an escalation with the US is not. Bangladesh must brace itself to face the emerging scenario with courage, realism and prescience.
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Dialogue has to be congenial
and meaningful
Abdur Rahman Khan
The Government's offer for dialogue with political parties has been welcomed by the political leaders but they want it to be meaningful and congenial.
As dissatisfaction continued to mount over several domestic issues, like price hike and troubles involving the students and garment workers, the donor community also stressed for a dialogue and implementation of the election roadmap.
The Government, however, has yet to decide when and how the dialogues will kick off and what will be the agenda, but sources in the Government hinted a dramatic development within the next few days.
Addressing the nation on the first anniversary of the Caretaker Government in office, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed announced that his administration would soon initiate dialogue with political parties and lift restrictions on indoor politics countrywide and gradually relaxing the state of emergency depending on 'needs and circumstances'.
Reaffirming the commitment to hold the national election by December 2008 and "if possible even earlier", the chief adviser said that the Government was trying to create a level playing field for everyone so the election was "free, fair and acceptable."
Leaders of political parties and civil society members hailed the chief adviser's proposal for dialogue saying that it would dispel doubt and confusion in people's mind about the next general election.
However, the sentiments prevailing in the two major political parties, Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party, suggest that the military-backed interim government should make a policy decision on the release of the top two leaders - Shaikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia - to make its planned dialogue successful.
The Awami League said the release of party chief Sheikh Hasina would top their agenda in the proposed dialogue with the Government. AL's Acting President Zillur Rahman said that they would ensure release of AL President Sheikh Hasina by taking part in the election.
The BNP seemed more assertive as it said the Government must release its Chairperson Khaleda Zia before the dialogue.
"BNP will not attend any type of dialogue with the Government without the approval of the chairperson," said Khandaker Delwar Hossain, the Khaleda-appointed secretary general of the party, during a teleconference with News World, a New York-based news agency.
While Khandaker Delwar Hossain-led faction of BNP questioned the validity of the interim Government for its failure to hold the polls within 90 days of its formation, Saifur Rahman-led faction demanded an atmosphere conducive to credible polls, release of the two top leaders, Khaleda Zia of BNP and Sheikh Hasina of Awami League, and other detained political leaders and immediate holding of the parliamentary polls to hand over power to elected representatives.
Meanwhile, the Government has informally started contacting the politicians to set the stage for a dialogue offered by the chief adviser, party sources said.
Though any agendum has not been specified yet, political sources said the dialogue would aim at putting political parties on election track as per the Government's roadmap to hold the ninth parliamentary polls by December.
Food and health adviser A M M Shawkat Ali contacted at least two senior politicians, including Awami League presidium member Motia Chowdhury. He made a phone call to Motia on Tuesday and sought to know about Awami League's position on the proposed dialogue between the Government and the political parties.
Later on Wednesday, Awami League decided to convene its presidium meeting on Friday to respond to the adviser's phone call to one of its presidium members for the dialogue, and to formulate its position regarding the talks.
Political observers apprehend that the Government's dialogue proposal may face some trouble like what happened with the initiative taken by the Election Commission in last September.
The EC initiated the dialogue with 15 political parties from September 12. But it was stalled as the issue was taken to the court to decide the representation from the "reformed BNP", rather deformed by an unconstitutional body with Saifur Rahman and Major Hafizuddin as new leaders.
Awami League is firm on its decision to boycott the talks with the EC if Jammat-e-Islami, which they branded as war criminal, was invited to dialogue.
AL Presedium member Matia Chowdhury asserted on Wednesday that her party would not join the dialogue with the Government if Jamat was included the process.
Further to that, Government's move for demarcation of the electoral constituencies and the desire for holding elections to the local government bodies simultaneously with the national elections may sour the dialogue.
Major political parties, including Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party, already raised questions about the 'sudden' move of the Election Commission to demark parliamentary constituencies afresh.
Awami League (AL) Acting President, Zillur Rahman called upon the caretaker government not to redraw the parliamentary constituencies as it could hamper the announced electoral roadmap.
"Redrawing of parliamentary constituencies is a difficult task and it's hardly possible before the polls," he said adding that they were surprised as the issue was brought unexpectedly.
BNP expressed its displeasure at the 'abrupt' move for fresh demarcation of constituencies without consulting the political parties. "I cannot understand what prompted the EC to initiate fresh demarcation of a huge number of constituencies, while it could not complete its dialogue process and preparation of voters list," BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said.
The Saifur Rahman-led faction, which was invited to the Election Commission-sponsored dialogue on electoral reforms, censured the commission for its plan for delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.
The roadmap as desired by the government, might suffer a setback due to aggravation of the situation on the campus, in the garments sector or any unforeseen event arising out of soaring food prices.
Dhaka University students continued their demonstrations last week and said they would not accept anything except unconditional release of all detained teachers and students, and withdrawal of cases.
Dhaka University Teachers' Association (DUTA) decided not to hold any admission test at the university until all DU teachers and a student arrested in connection with the August 2007 campus violence are freed.
The teachers decided to observe a three-hour token hunger strike at the foot of Aparayeo Bangla from 10:00am to 1:00pm on January 21.
DU students also threatened to violate the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) if the detained teachers and students of the university are not freed within January 18.
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CA'S ADDRESS FAILS TO LIFT PESSIMISM
AL politics and new concept of democracy
Fazle Rashid in New York
The huge success of the garments industry in Bangladesh has become an eye sore for some exogenous forces obviously inimical to the country. This has become quite evident from renewed attack against RMG in recent days. It is reminiscent of the days immediately preceding what is now popularly known as 1/11 when the garment sector was made target of attack. It is widely acknowledged now even by the Western media like the Economist, New York Times and Wall Street Journal that Bangladesh occupies a very significant place in the global apparel industry. It is now placed just behind Vietnam. Two things micro-credit and readymade garments have brought Bangladesh into international focus which Dhaka's foreign policy failed to achieve.
One is constraint to point out that the continued political uncertainty is not good for any country. Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed's address to the nation marking the one year in office has failed to lift the prevailing pessimism. Many here have described his speech as 'old wine in a new bottle.' He only restated what he had said before: elections will be held as scheduled and emergency will be withdrawn. He has not given any firm date.
No one questions the adherence and probity of the chief adviser. It is however time government redraws its strategy. The emphasis clearly should be on E and F; election and food. The recovery so far has been rather a Hodgepodge. The next flash point is surely going to be food. BBC warned that South Asia will face severe shortages of wheat and rice and would be difficult to get them at affordable price. The Economist was more specific in naming Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh facing shortages of food.
The government instead of parking problems should drive them fast to a solution and hold elections as expeditiously as possible. A new question is being injected into politics: the question of the trial of the war criminals; and Awami League, quite oblivious of its past is demanding to debar Jamaa't and other Islamic parties from the coming elections.
It is for the benefit of Awami League one must point out that late Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi even without seeking Dhaka's views, allowed 93,000 prisoners of war (POWs) to return to Pakistan after consultation with late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Any trial of the war criminals without putting the main culprits on the dock will be a mockery of justice. Even Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of revered memory exonerated the war criminals excepting those who indulged in arson and rape. Then there is the question of the Geneva Convention.
However, trying the war criminals and boycotting a government-sponsored dialogue if the Jamaa't is invited are two different issues. Critics say that political expediency has been the hall mark of Awami League politics. It cooperated with the Jamaa't and other Islamic parties on several occasions to reap rich political dividends. Sheikh Hasina knows well that her secular and progressive friends alone cannot saddle her into power. A few days before 1/11 Awami League had entered into a political entente with a force more radical than the Jamaa't. It is also a well known fact that Awami League did hold close door meetings with Jamaa't Amir Matiur Rahman Nizami with the goal of dislodging Khaleda Zia from power.
Meanwhile, before the government holds election it has to enact certain laws that would prevent recrudescence of civil disorder, which had in fact prompted declaration of emergency rule. Disruption of work at the port, blockade of roads, uprooting of railway tracks, blocking exports, impeding movement of essential goods and putting students into grave uncertainty, all executed in the name of democracy, caused enormous hardship to the people and left ruinous impact on the national economy. These activities have nothing to do with democracy. These are in fact 'mobocracy'- pure and simple.
A new concept of democracy is now being debated in the Western media. It is called the 'Muslim Democracy' and Bangladesh figures prominently in this debate along with Indonesia, Pakistan and Malaysia. The analysts say these countries present a totally different picture from other Islamic states. There exists total openness and religion is not the core issue in politics in these countries.
A daunting task lies ahead of the government and it must stop dithering. And this is the only way it could spruce up its reputation.
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THE INDIA DOSSIER
Will India surrender its
Gandhian principle?
Rakesh Saxena
Worried about Iran? Well, as shocking as it may sound, you may be talking about India in the same breath within two short years. The world's largest electoral process will enable a conglomerate of 21st century fascists to take control of the Indian parliament, if the existing government persists with its fatally flawed anti-terrorist policy.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in agreement with Washington that terrorism poses the biggest threat to the stability of nation states. But, in his view, the primary challenge does not emanate from Islamic extremists. On the contrary, the Prime Minister appears convinced that India's Maoist (Naxalite) groups are poised to destroy the country's social fabric. "In many respects the Muslim radicals can be contained, if not eliminated," a senior Indian intelligence source argued yesterday. "It is the far-left activists who are openly and directly challenging state authority, on a daily basis."
In recent months, cadres affiliated, directly and indirectly, with the Indian Maoist Communist Party have led marginalised tribes and landless peasants in assaults on police and paramilitary forces in at least six Indian states. "We are taking the armed struggle to the next stage, a New Delhi-based Maoist spokeswoman stated over the weekend. "That involves attacking those who collude with what are essentially criminal gangs, sponsored and protected by well-known politicians, who have been engaged in illegal logging, land grabbing, coal smuggling and human trafficking."
The Maoist spokeswoman pointed out that the central government should be more focused on checking right-wing Hindu organisations. "It is people like Narendra Modi (the Chief Minister of Gujarat state) who are taking India towards modern-day fascism," she warned. Mr. Modi is widely believed to have at least condoned, if not actively directed, the massacre of hundreds of impoverished Muslim residents of Gujarat in 2002. Over the Christmas holidays, orthodox Hindu enforcers orchestrated the killing of dozens of Christians in the eastern state of Orissa. "For how long can we continue to live in fear?" the respected head of a Christian advocacy group asked in anguish at a press conference last week.
Not that the Islamic extremists have been inactive of late; since mid-2007, terrorist cells have been concentrating on the heavily-populated state of Uttar Pradesh. India's intelligence agencies continue to blame Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (the ISI) for funding and ordering acts of terrorism inside the Indian heartland. Intelligence assessments have charged the ISI for many things over two decades: the ongoing violence in Kashmir, the support provided to the Sikh Khalistan movement, the bombings in Bombay and Hyderabad, and the low-intensity wars in the North Eastern region.
There is little doubt that Prime Minister Singh is looking at an exceptionally broad terror matrix whenever he speaks to his intelligence officers. Nevertheless, the facts on the ground show that his priorities are completely misplaced, regardless of the intelligence files he is reading.
The pick-up in Maoist activity is due, almost entirely, to his government's failure to comply with promises made to India's poor by parties within his coalition. More than 800 million Indians live on less than 50 cents a day. Almost 50 per cent of Indian children under the age of three are malnourished. Despite the much-touted growth rate of 10 per cent-plus, income inequality is increasing year after year. And, by conservative estimates, the size of the underground economy has reached 35 per cent of national GDP.
In addition, criminal gangs dominate the urban landscape, particularly the shanty towns packed with migrant labourers and factory workers; and armed militias control huge sections of the countryside, particularly areas rich in natural resources. "The role of crime syndicates in the democratic process has been known for many long years," a veteran Indian journalist conceded earlier this week. "The link between crime and politics has been a matter of common knowledge too."
But the matter of terrorism has obviously been plagued by the lack of any type of credible knowledge (and analysis) whatsoever, at least in the public domain. "Manmohan Singh can rely on India's intelligence operatives to determine the significance of the expanding Maoist influence, but he needs to contextualise the information he receives from his spy agencies," said a member of the politburo of the Maoist Communist of Nepal in a web posting last November. In other words, it does not make sense to target Indian Maoists if the economic conditions which allow the Maoist ideology to prosper are not addressed, and have not been addressed since Indian independence in 1947.
More specifically, there is indeed a clear solution to the Maoist uprising-start solving the evils of poverty. On the other hand, it is difficult to see how Prime Minister Singh's cabinet will confront the danger of religious extremism, from both the Islamic and the Hindu segments of Indian society. While Muslim radicals may be drawing on the ISI for support, the right-wing Hindu entities are actually positioned to take over power at the Centre, via an electoral process, on the back of an increasingly vocal, and thoroughly misguided, middle class.
India needs to search its soul before deciding, which is the greater threat to its existence as a secular state: the Maoists who are advocating an armed revolt to eradicate poverty and marginalisation, or the fanatics who keep re-interpreting religious texts to justify terrorism of a frightening variety. The Indian nation is now on the brink of completely surrendering the elite Gandhian principles on which it was founded. It is unclear if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition, which includes the mainstream left parties, has the ability and the will to effect a fundamental change in direction.
The author is a specialist writer on developments relating to the war on terror and on the impact of conflict zones on the global economy. He can be reached at info@quoteplatform-italy.net
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Dramatist Selim Al-Deen passes away
Anisur Rahman
Eminent playwright Selim Al-Deen, playwright and a teacher of drama and dramatics at Jahangirnagar University, passed away at LabAid Cardiac Hospital in Dhaka on Monday afternoon. He was buried after the asr prayers on Wednesday in the graveyard near the mosque at Jahangirnagar University where he had taught drama and dramatics for 30 years.
Hundreds turned up to pay their last respects to the deceased when his body was placed at the Central Shaheed Minar on Monday followed by his first Namaj-e-Janaza at the Dhaka University's central mosque.
Selim Al-Deen was a bold, committed and powerful playwright with a highly individual approach both in theme and style in contemporary Bangla dramatic literature. Also a theatre activist and researcher, he helped set up the Department of Dramatics at the university. His works have been translated into several languages and are taught at universities abroad.
His wife, Meherunnesa Selim, is an assistant professor at the Jahangirnagar University School and College. He wrote his plays in an epic mode and delved deep into the realities of the lives of our rural people. Thus he introduced into the theatre the world he had grown up in.
Selim Al-Deen sought the rich traditions of ancient dramatics and kept away from triviality.
He was born in Senerkhil village in Feni district on November 18, 1948. He was educated at Mangolkandi High School, Feni College, Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University.
Hid did his BA (Hons) and MA in Bangla from Dhaka University, and his PhD from Jahangirnagar University in 1997.
His publications include 'Bangla Drama of the Middle Ages' published in 1997, 'Stories of Snakes and Others' in 1973, 'Jaundice and Miscellaneous Balloons' in 1981, 'The Plate' in 1982, 'Three Stage Plays' in 1986, 'The Wheel' in 1990, 'The Mind of the Young Woman' in 1992 and 'Hargaj' in 1992.
He obtained numerous awards for his outstanding contribution in the field of drama. Among them are Bangla Academy Award 1983, National Film Award, Kathakata Literary Award, Tenasians Award and the Honour by Nandipat in 1994.
His workshop dramas are 'A Marma Fairy Tale' in 1995, 'Wanderer' in 1997 and the adaptation and edited work 'Acting Mirror' in 1987.
He was suffering from diabetes, high blood-pressure and chronic bronchitis.
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GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT
Bob Hope
K. Z. Islam
Bob Hope (1903-2003) with a career spanning nearly 70 years is an icon of the movie industry. Hope lived so long that he suffered premature obituaries on two separate occasions. In 1998 a prepared obituary by the Associated Press was inadvertently released on the internet, prompting Hope's death to be announced in the US House of Representatives.
As a movie star, he was best known for My Favourite Brunette and the highly profitable "Road" movies in which he starred with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, (whom he had first seen performing as a nightclub singer in New York and subsequently invited to work with him on his USO tours). Lamour is said to have shown up for filming fully prepared with her lines, only to be baffled by completely new material which had been written by Hope's own staff of writers without the studio's permission.
Hope and Lamour were lifelong friends, and she is the actress most associated with his film career. Other female co-stars included Paulette Goddard, Lucille Ball, Jane Russell, and Hedy Lamarr.
Hope became noted for his role as master of ceremonies of the Hollywood Academic Awards. Since his first appearance in 1941 Hope piloted the Oscar Derby 18 times. Not all these shows were telecast, of course, but to million of viewers, Hope and the Awards show became synonymous. Hope usually opened his presentations with the line, "I'm very happy to be here for annual insult.", he has parlayed his record of never wining an award for his acting into a guaranteed laugh grabber. In 1953 he joked; "I like to be here in case one of these years they'll have one left over". In 1967, "I don't mind losing, but I hate to go home and explain to my kids, how the actor I've been sneering at all year beat me out." In 1968; "Welcome to the Academic Award - or, as it's known at my house - Passover."
As a movie star, Hope was best known for the highly profitable "Road" movies in which he starred with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour." Over the years he made seven "Road" movies. Road to Singapore 1940, Road to Zanzibar 1941, The Road to Morocco 1942, Road to Utopia 1945, Road to Rio 1948, Road to Bali 1953, The Road to Hong Kong 1962.
Bob Hope and golf. Bob is one of the foremost proponents of the game and has contributed immensely to the popularity of golf - as a participant, a spectator and as an author. His Confession of a Hooker which spotlights the memorable moments of his more than fifty years of golfing was on the New York Times bestseller list for fifty`-three weeks.
Bob has played on some 2,000 courses - from Brazil to Bangkok, Alaska to Australia - in the company of golf's top professionals, caddies, celebrities, generals and sometimes even presidents. In 1995 the favourite foursome to tee off at the Desert Classic featured President Bill Clinton and former presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford and Bob Hope. Hope's 'take' at the end of play included "Clinton had the best score, Ford the most errors and Bush the most hits... me, I cheated better than ever."
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Bangladeshi Americans focus
on domestic crisis
Moinuddin Naser from New York
The mistreatment of women, "banning them from working, denying their freedom of speech, preventing them from visiting their relatives, withholding their wages and not giving them money, physical abuse, sexual repression and dealing with a husband's extra marital relationships" are growing problems in Bangladeshi community.
This was discussed by the speakers at a seminar held on January 6, in a Jackson Heights restaurant in New York, to exchange opinions on "family and social crisis in expatriates' life and how to survive the crisis", arranged by Society of Concerned Bangladeshis Abroad.
Professor Husne Ara described some gruesome incidents that occurred in the Bangladeshi community, where women became victims of their male partners. Ara said "in such situations we as concerned people cannot keep our eyes closed".
Professor Ali Anwar said at the seminar that human culture envisages women as the servants of men. In Bangladesh, he said, more than 90 per cent of women do not sign their marriage registration because they do not understand the value of doing so. "In our society, men think of women as inferior, said Anwar. For example, he mentioned that during the Bangladesh war of independence, the occupation forces detained women in different warehouses and used them later. He said that in socio-political and economic fields men control all the power.
But the mistreatment of women is not a problem confined to Bangladeshi community alone, rather it prevails around the world. The subservient position of women has been discussed for the last 200 years. In Bangladesh, there are organisations with the goal of preventing torture of women, but those are led by men.
Syedur Rob, president of the Weekly Thikana and event organizer, said that before inquiring about solutions, one has to discover the genesis of the crisis. Placing blame for a family's crisis on an individual will not solve the problem, he said.
Everyone is busy with their own problem, and no one has the time to think about others. Changing the economic situation of a family is essential to overcome their crisis, as a family's well-being depends on their economic solvency Rob said.
Simultaneously, he added, parents should impart education about the negative and positive aspects of their native country and the country of residence. But most parents in the United States, Rob believes, neglect their children while they run after dollars. He said that due to economic reasons many couples engage in quarrels.
"When two people from different places get together, problems may arise based on differences in environment and family values. Each partner has to create confidence in the other's mind and both parties have to show patience.
Rob said that self-contentment was essential to create a peaceful situation. He cited several reasons behind problems among couples, which includes a partner getting married in their native country by telling lies; and pressure on daughters to marry any groom who has returned to Bangladesh from the United States, and agreeing to marry for a green card without looking at the groom's past history.
There are many organisations abroad whose objectives are to file cases in court or do social services, Rob said, urging them to come forward to solve this family crisis.
Dr. Mnowara Begum said that Bangladeshis are living in a different culture and environment in the United States. If necessary, both husband and wife work to run the family, and the wife continues to work for the family after her day's work is done.
There are no maidservants here, Dr. Mnowara Begum said, therefore women in the home have to perform all kinds of housework, making them more oppressed in the male-dominated society. There may be unrest in the family due to alcohol and drugs, she added, stressing that children must be kept away from the family if such problems arise.
Commenting on a recent killing of wife by husband in Jamaica, Queens, Dr. Mnowara added that the most affected were the children. Self-confidence and education are necessary for overcoming family crises, she concluded.
Joli Kor, an invited speaker, said that many times women don't want to articulate anything out of shame; they tolerate many things by keeping their eyes closed.
Rakiba Kibria, also a speaker at the seminar, said that everyone comes to the United States with a dream. When they don't find compatibility between their dreams and reality, problems erupt.
Zakia Fahim, another speaker, said that after coming to the United States, the husband cannot give enough time to his wife, and then the problems begin.
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