Fazle Rashid

Has government move to crowd out 'bad' politicians come to an end? The restive political climate was somewhat beginning to settle down. There was a sudden rush of blood in the government and it decided to re-launch its anti-graft drive afresh which stirred anger and astonishment. What had prevented the government from nabbing the four ministers of the previous regime earlier? This question is uppermost in the minds of the people.
   Bangladesh is being sucked into an acrimonious political debate. The end is not in sight. Government's political progress has been frustratingly slow. It is moving on snails pace.
   The government remains defiantly optimistic. Crucial laws are being contemplated defining who will wield how much power. The emergency imposed to silence riotous politicians and repair corrupt institutions can barely contain the growing discontent. Anger stoked by recent violence has generated negative speculations.
   Bangladesh's uncertainties are beginning to escalate. Two major political parties, the BNP and Awami League have made it clear that they would not take part in the dialogue or the coming polls unless Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina are set free unconditionally.
   The administration appears to be nervous, prickly and stubborn. A dotty electoral system, allegedly to help a favoured few, is being foisted in the country. This is the general impression of the common people on the street.
   The media, to the utter delight and comfort of the administration, remains propagandists. Non-conformists in the political arena are vigorously advocating boycott of both dialogue and the polls. The government's goal is to see Nuri al_-Maliki or Hamid Karzai taking up control in future.
   Faith in democracy is being poisoned by crisis. Democracy is being rewritten. "Political freedom is a right in itself. It does not need to be justified by arguing that it has economic advantages".
   The drive for reforms, both political and economic, is reversing a decade of steady growth despite wide scale corruption. The present government's achievements so far are less stellar than previous regimes.
   The coming budget, the second during the tenure of the current administration, is being based on unrealistic assumptions. Holes in the budget need to be plugged. It will not be easy.
   The government argue that in the months since it has taken over the reins, real progress has been made. "Finance is a brain for matching labour to capital" says an economic analyst. A poorly functioning system will back wasteful schemes and shun worthy ones. The government implicitly is saying that it has been target of grossly unfair criticism.
   It has been stated before and it is being repeated again that if Vietnam, once a country on the brink of famine, has turned itself into one of the biggest exporters of farm products why should Bangladesh fail to emulate the feat.
   Pakistan reported to be facing severe food shortages will be exporting rice to the Philippines. The Philippines, incidentally the home to International Rice Research Institute, whose acronym Irri, meaning a fast growing rice, is facing food shortage.

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Pak NWFP govt. signs accord with Taleban

Jonaid Iqbal in Islamabad

The government of Pakistan's tribal North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and militants led by Maulana Fazlullah have signed an agreement to restore peace in Swat despite warnings against it from the US.
   Agencies report from Washington that the Bush administration is worried such agreement would give militants a free hand in Pakistan's tribal areas, which have operated outside the central government's full control.
   "Taliban have accepted government's writ in the region and will help the local administration in maintaining law and order in the district," NWFP's Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour said.  Bilour had led the govt's side in the talks with the militants.
   "The Taliban had renounced militancy and promised not to attack troops and government installations. They have also agreed to eliminate all sources of militancy and stop training suicide bombers.
   The 15-point peace agreement envisages a phased withdrawal of troops from the district and requires Maulana Fazlullah's supporters to stop attacks on security forces, and government officials and installations.
   No group will be allowed to recruit a private militia.
   Under the agreement, the government will enforce Sharia laws in the district and withdraw cases registered against the Taliban. A joint committee will scrutinise the cases filed against the militants, including Maulana Fazlullah.
   The Imam Dheri seminary, which served as the headquarters of the maulana, will be converted into an Islamic University. A committee comprising local ulema, MPAs, the district coordination officer and assistant coordination officers will manage the university.
   Maulana Fazlullah has been allowed to run his controversial FM radio station with the permission of the authorities concerned.
   Display of weapons will be banned in the district. None will be allowed to obstruct polio vaccine campaigns and girls' education. The militants promised not to attack barber shops and music centres.
   The Taliban will help implement the action taken by local authorities against kidnappers, robbers and other criminals.
   The government will pay compensation to the people who have lost their relatives in the military operation and whose houses have been damaged.
   The agreement calls for eliminating training centres for suicide bombers and stopping preparation of explosive devices in the area.
   The government was represented in the talks in addition to Mr Bilour, Senior Minister Rahimdad Khan, Environment Minister Wajid Ali Khan and ANP's provincial chief Afrasyab Khattak.

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Clouds of suspicion loom large over dialogue's fate

Amanullah Kabir

Who will be the beneficiary of the situation if the clouds of suspicion loom large over the fate of the much talked-about dialogue? Scheme of the CG's alleged strategists seems to be resulting in a more critical situation both for the host and the invited participants. The CG as the host and main stakeholder has the greater responsibility to create a congenial atmosphere for the dialogue which should not be allowed to drift in a wrong direction, as this may eventually provoke the major players in politics into actions like boycott of the upcoming general elections.
   For instance, in the GATCO case all the political ministers, including former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia were charge-sheeted and arrest warrants issued against them for their involvement in the process incurring "huge financial loss" to the state but the name of the then cabinet secretary and present Chairman of Public Service Commission - the No. 2 man on the former government's purchase committee - was dropped. Anti-corruption Commission's (ACC) top official however failed to give any explanation.
   On Monday reformist leader Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and BNP's Standing Committee member Shamsul Islam were sent to jail when they surrendered to the court. Later Maulana Motiur Rahman Nijami, also charge-sheeted in the same case, was arrested and hauled to gaol. Critics say this attitude of the CG goes to prove that it has a political plan to accomplish and the government strategists tend to adopt provocative actions. In this context when the CG or the ACC talks about corruption and adherence to law it sounds like mere rhetoric. But one question that begs an answer is: How the same law for the same offence can have different applications for different persons?
   Meanwhile, indoor or parlour politics has started generating heat. As the date of dialogue has come, slogans demanding the release of the two imprisoned former prime ministers and their direct participation in dialogue with the CG - either on parole or on bail - are becoming louder. They are also demanding that the local government elections - which, they argue, is the responsibility of the next elected government - should follow the national polls.
   The CG, thus caught in a quagmire, will have to decide how to save the dialogue from hitting a snag in the beginning. The Chief Adviser's address to the nation last week appeared more like an elected prime minister asking the opposition to mend their manners and come to terms. Critics think that Fakhruddin Ahmed was more political while delivering his nearly half-an-hour speech and gave his audience only a sense of limited relief by announcing that the long-postponed national election would be held in the third week of December this year. The CA allowed indoor politics under certain stringent conditions. Apparently his speech belied people's expectations while the businessmen were concerned.
   It was clear from his address that the state of emergency would stay in force while some rules (EPR) would be either relaxed or suspended in phases as and when his CG felt necessary. This has not satisfied the politicians and they felt that such game plan could only cost the nation dearly.
   It seems fare that the politicians would become apprehensive that how can a free and fair election be held under an emergency with the threats of detention or arrest hanging over the heads of the candidates and their supporters. This has actually given rise to the speculations that the CG has designed the whole thing to manipulate the polls in favour of hand-picked parties and the candidates.
   There are more than 100 political parties in the country, big and small. But only four of them - BNP, Awami League, Jatiya Party (Ershad) and Jamaat-e-Islami - play a dominant role in politics belonging to two mainstreams, one led by BNP and the other by Awami League. The major two parties are moving ahead with their common demands to which leaders of most parties are lending their support in the belief that without the participation of the two ladies, a meaningful dialogue and free and fair election will remain a day dream.
   In view of the situation discussed, the CG appears to be heading for a confrontation with the political parties if he does not change his stance. However, a successful dialogue is absolutely necessary to hold a participatory and peaceful election.
   Meanwhile, Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman conceding to the ground reality said that the major political parties were still undecided on their taking part in the dialogue and the government had to start with the smaller and splinter groups. Such a beginning of the dialogue is unlikely to spurt much confidence.

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Rice harvest may be 40 million tons if 3 factors are ensured

Faruque Ahmed

The country is harvesting a bumper Boro crop this year and the latest report said the output may exceed 20 million tons against a 17.5 million tons target for the season. In the backdrop of the acute food shortage from which the country suffered over the past one year with escalating of prices of food items this is positive news.
   Another positive information has been revealed last week by Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) authorities. The member director of the corporation in a presentation in the city last week said the country's rice production, both Boro and Aman may be increased by at least 150 per cent in five years to 40.11 million tons. And in the long run, this may be increased up to 70 million tons which will be about three times higher than the present total production hovering around 27.5 million tons.
   The national task force working on the subject is preparing a full-fledged document and it hopes to make a comprehensive presentation on it at a national seminar in near future.
   This will be possible by raising the per acre yield from 3.6 tons to 6.0 tons using the inputs proportionate to demand and efficiently organising the delivery system of seeds, fertiliser and water management under a reasonable support scheme to farmers.
   The agency's experts nourished the country's agriculture up to early 1990s since when the World Bank and the IMF forced the government to transfer the marketing of the agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizer and irrigation to the private sector. The results were catastrophic in many cases.
   But when the country is facing acute food shortage this time, the agency is in the forefront again to devise ways and means how to modernise the agriculture and bring a breakthrough in its productivity. For its success a high efficiency level will be required. Irrigation, seed and fertiliser are the three factors needed for increased productivity.
   The agency says that proper water management, use of quality seed and proportionate irrigation must be emphasised because without their optimum application there will be no results; and any failing in ensuring the three factors will severely affect productivity.
   The BADC said the present agricultural inputs management is inefficient resulting in low per acreage food production in one hand and its high cost on the other adding to high prices of food items.
   Giving a comparative picture a WTO report says the per acre cost of irrigation in Bangladesh is US $108 while in Vietnam and Thailand it is US$ 18. In neighbouring West Bengal it is US$ 26.
   Another scenario said, the per hector cost of rice production in Bangladesh is US$ 419 compared to US$ 274 in Vietnam, US$ 224 in Thailand and US$ 337 in West Bengal. Farmers in Bangladesh are using about 50 per cent excess water and fertilizer adding to its higher cost.
   The impact of excess water application in the field is affecting farming in various ways. More use of water is taking pesticides and fertilizers deeper into the plant's roots and the soil system affecting its fertility and environment. The water is also washing away these chemicals to nearby land to the detriment of its fertility.
   Moreover, farmers are losing Taka 1500 per acre because of too much use of water by about 50 per cent and Taka 800 on account of application of more fertilizer by around 50 per cent. Moreover, the production loss due to yield gap stands at about Taka 10,800 to sum up the farmer's total per acre financial loss at Taka 13,100.
   This statistics is only applicable to Boro crop, the presentation said adding the overall annual financial loss of the nation from such waste thereby stand at Taka 9,700 crore.
   The BADC scientists said the optimum application of the inputs would not only multiply the crop yields but also release 10 to 15 lakh hectares of land from rice production to other cereal production such as oil seeds and pulses.
   Focusing on how to achieve the higher productivity goal, the agency's projection emphasized on the need for improving the irrigation efficiency from 30 per cent now to at least 60 per cent and bringing at least 76 lakhs hectors of arable land under irrigation coverage from 48 lakh hectares now. Using this model, the country's annual Boro production alone can be achieved at 36 million tons in the long run which is significantly more than the nation's food requirement; which is about 30 million tons now. Similar production performance may be achieved for Aman production, it said.
   The BADC proposes top priority to on-farm training of farmers on water management and the use of other inputs such as seeds and fertilizer.
   There should be at least five on-farm training schools in each upazila to train farmers and the government should establish office of irrigation engineer in each upazila to strengthen the BADC irrigation wing.
   Moreover, there should be ground water research cells locally under BADC supervision and soil testing facility. The ground water zoning map should be worked out for each region for efficient and judicious management of scare water resources.
   The new agricultural productivity map should be supervised by expert committees at the upazila, district and national levels. On top of it, there should be a national convention of agricultural scientists to put together the outcome of their research findings at different organizations and put it at work under a collective and comprehensive policy framework and its implementation in the field.
   And last but not the least, the local agriculture should be saved from external intervention, especially from the multinational agencies seeking to market the high breed seeds to local farmers and take up its course of development in their hand.
   In no way farmers should be made vulnerable to the whims of these seed agents and to plans of the World Bank and such other agencies.
   BADC's seeds wing needs to be immediately strengthened countrywide to protect farmers from falling prey at the hand of multinationals, observers emphasised.

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Parties doubt success of dialogue

Abdur Rahman Khan

Yesterday (Thursday) the military-backed caretaker government (CG) has initiated its planned dialogue with the political parties with the hope of producing a national charter for future elections. However, the initial reactions from the major political parties indicate that the CG's efforts will be futile and a fresh round of political controversy will ensue.
   A reformist BNP leader Major (Retd) Hafizuddin, who was chosen to be a very trusted well-wisher of the CG, has expressed doubt about the success of dialogue saying that the CG should not have arranged a dialogue which would put it into further crisis.
   Major (Retd) Hafizuddin, who was earlier invited to the pre-dialogue talks twice as "genuine" BNP leader and was also given the key of the BNP party office at Naya Paltan, now asks the CG to pay attention to creating a congenial atmosphere for future polls .
   Meanwhile, the major parties such as the Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, have put forward their conditions for the release of their respective party chief who are kept in prison under corruption charges.
   AL and BNP have demanded unconditional release of detained former premiers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina so that they can lead their respective parties in the dialogues with the government.
   Jamaat too has demanded unconditional release of Khaleda, Hasina and Jamaat's top leader Matiur Rahman Nizami to lead their parties to the dialogues.
   Khandaker Delwar Hossain on Tuesday reiterated that no meaningful dialogue or elections were possible without the release of Khaleda Zia.
   Bangladesh Awami League leaders warned the CG that the government-sponsored dialogue and parliamentary election would be futile without Sheikh Hasina and this would make the prevailing crisis more volatile.
   The Jamaat-e-Islami on Tuesday accused the CG of plotting to depoliticise society by pushing the national elections into uncertainty. Secretary General of the party Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid told a press briefing in the city that the government was deliberately creating an atmosphere unfavourable for dialogues between the CG and political parties.
   Jamaat announced a series of programmes to press its five-point demand that includes release of all political detainees, including its chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and two former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, to overcome the present political crisis.
   However, the CG is determined to go ahead with its plan. "The government will try to convince any unwilling political party to join the dialogue," communications adviser Ghulam Quader told reporters after a meeting at his ministry.
   Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, another adviser negotiating the dialogue, hoped that the dialogue would see a good result if the parties go forward with an attitude of solution.

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Indo-US axis active to thwart Maoists' victory in Nepal

Shamsuddin Ahmed

Uncertainty looms large in Nepal. It is alleged in the Nepalese media that the Indo-US axis is active in thwarting the Communist Party (Maoist) to take over power that won comfortable majority in the April 10 election to the Constituent Assembly. Elderly Prime Minister Girija Proshad Koirala had earlier announced to retire from politics after the election is believed to have been prodded by the axis power. Reluctant to give up power, he is expressing the will of heading a 'consensus' government.
   King Gyanendra is hopeful of continuing to hold the throne although he is supposed to leave the palace ending the centuries-old monarchy as soon as the constituent assembly goes into the first session on May 28.
   All this has irked Maoist leader Prachanda. He has cautioned the nation of a counter revolution led by the defeated Congress Party.
   It is no secret that India in particular and the USA and western democracies and the Nepali Army had all wished the Congress to win the election and return to power. They all supported the Congress candidates. But the unprecedented outcome of the election belied their hope to their frustration.
   The efforts of depriving the victorious Maoist party of forming the government are clear from the recent reports. According to Daily Kantipur of Nepal, former RAW chief P K Hormis Tharakan has cautioned the Indian government of the danger of demonstrative effect in the country of Maoists victory in Nepal.
   B. Raman, an Indian analyst, listed a series of valid reasons for a military takeover in Nepal. He thinks Maoists should be thwarted jointly by democratic forces and the military leadership, and India should lend support in achieving the objective.
   The US role in Nepal, however, has been exposed by Dev Mukherjee, former Indian envoy to Bangladesh and Nepal. He informed a seminar in New Delhi that US officials in Kathmandu and some people within the Nepali Congress have been suggesting Prime Minister Koirala to lead the next government and not hand over the leadership to the CPN (Maoist). He thinks that the US is playing a game with Nepalese Army against the Maoist that may lead to instability in the region. Mukherjee apprehends strong reactions of China, given the situation in Tibet, in the event US tries to have a foothold on its next door. The seminar entitled "Emerging Situation in Nepal: Policy Options for India", was organised by Observer Research Foundation, a foreign policy think tank of India early this week. Some other participants suggested India must be cautious about the US game in Nepal.
   It is interesting to note that the following Maoist victory in Nepal election, a debate has been initiated in India. It is "survival of India with China's surrogates in East-Bangladesh, North-Nepal, West-Pakistan, South-Sri Lanka". Participants in the debate point to the grim situation in some Indian states, especially those bordering Nepal. An official report said that around 10,000 debt-burdened poor farmers commit suicide every year in India giving rise to Maoist movement (BBC report, May 5, 2008)
   The US design in the region dates back to 1959. A 2002 book "The CIA's Secret War in Tibet" co-authored by Kenneth Conboy and former CIA operative James Morrison, gave details of CIA operation in Tibet. It said Dalai Lama himself was on the CIA payroll. He backed the CIA's plans of raising and training of 'contra army' to foment the 1959 uprising there. Has the US totally abandoned its Tibet policy on the border of Nepal? Needless to say, Dalai Lama is now heading the government in exile in India and pursuing the movement for separation of Tibet from China. The recent anti-China demonstrations in Nepal by Tibetans have not been overlooked by Beijing.
   Depriving the Maoists of their legitimate right to rule Nepal through machinations may be perilous. Twenty-thousand strong cadres of Prachanda may again take to arms resulting in bloodshed. The people of Nepal are aware of it and may not allow external forces meddle in their own affairs. Under the given circumstances, the Nepalese people expect Maoist leadership will accommodate the like-minded parties such as UML and other smaller parties manifesting the will of the people in forming government. As close a neighbour, Bangladesh will desire peace and stability in Nepal.

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Martin Luther

K. Z. Islam

Martin Luther (1483-1546), the man whose defiance of the Roman Catholic Church inaugurated the Protestant Reformation, was born in 1483, in the town of Eisleben, in Germany.
   Luther's grievances against the Church arose gradually. In 1510, he had taken a trip to Rome, and had been shocked at the venality and worldliness of the Roman clergy. But the immediate issue that stimulated his protest was the Church practice of 'selling' indulgences. (An indulgence was a remission, granted by the Church, of the penalties for sin; it might include a reduction of the time that a sinner would have to spend in purgatory.) On October 31, 1517, Luther posted on the door of the church at Wittenberg his celebrated Ninety-five Theses, in which he strongly denounced Church venality in general, and the practice of 'selling' indulgences in particular. Luther sent a copy of his Ninety-five Theses to the Archbishop of Mainz. In addition, the Theses were printed, and copies were widely distributed in the area.
   The scope of Luther's protests against the Church rapidly broadened, and he soon came to deny the authority of the Pope, and of general Church councils, insisting that he would be guided only by the Bible and by plain reason. Not surprisingly, the church did not look kindly upon these views. Luther was summoned to appear before Church officials, and after various hearing and orders to recant, he was finally pronounced a heretic and an outlaw by the Diet of Worms (1521), and his writings were proscribed.
   The normal outcome would have been for Luther to be burned at the stake. However, his views had found widespread support among the German people, and among quite a few of the German princes. Though Luther had to go into hiding for a period of about a year, his support in Germany was strong enough to enable him to avoid any serious criminal penalties.
   Luther was a prolific author, and many of his writings proved widely influential. One of his most important works was a translation of the Bible into German. This, of course, made it possible for any literate person to study the Scriptures himself, without relying on the Church or its priests. (Incidentally, the superb prose of Luther's translation had an enormous influence on German language and literature.)
   In addition to questioning the essential role of the Church, Luther also protested against a variety of specific Church beliefs and practices. For example, he denied the existence of purgatory and he denied that the clergy should be celibate. He himself, in 1525, married a former nun, and they had six children together.
   The most obvious consequences of the Reformation, of course, are the formation of the various Protestant sects. While Protestantism is only one branch of Christianity, and not the most numerous branches at that, it still has more adherents than Buddhism, or, in fact, than most other religious.
   A second important consequence of the Reformation was the widespread religious warfare in Europe which followed it. Some of these religious wars (for example, the Thirty Years' War in Germany, which lasted from 1618 to 1648) were incredibly bloody. Even aside from the wars, political conflicts between Catholics and Protestants were to play a major role in European politics for the next few centuries.
   The Reformation also played a subtle but very important role in the intellectual development of Western Europe. Before 1517, there had been a single established church, the Roman Catholic Church, and dissenters were branded as heretics.
   Another point is perhaps worth noting. More persons on this list come from Great Britain than from any other country. Germans are the next most numerous people. Indeed, the list as a whole is strongly dominated by persons coming from the Protestant countries of northern Europe and America.
   Although Luther may seem very important to Europeans and Americans, he seems far less important to the inhabitants of Asia and Africa, relatively few of whom are Christians. As far as most Chinese, Japanese, or Indians are concerned, the differences between Catholics and Protestants are quite insignificant. (Similarly, not many Europeans are interested in the differences between the Sunni and the Shiite branches of Islam.) In the second place, Luther is a comparatively recent figure in history, and has influenced a much smaller span of human history than have Muhammad, Buddha, and Moses. Furthermore, during the past few centuries religious belief has been declining in the West, and the influence of religion on human affairs is likely to be far smaller during the next thousand years than it was during the preceding thousand. If religious belief continues to decline, Luther is apt to appear far less important to future historians than he does today.

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Holiday Desk

Prince Karim Aga Khan on Tuesday underscored the need for global partnership and universal understanding to combat the forces that threaten to fragment the world.
   Spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, Aga Khan, who was in the capital on a four-day tour last week, also emphasised the need for ethical commitment to the education system while speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Aga Khan Academy at Basundhara in the city.
   Education adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman and Prince Aga Khan jointly laid the foundation stone and unveiled the plaque of the academy.
   The proposed Aga Khan Academy will be built on 20 acres of land at a cost of $50 million over the next two years. Once fully built, the campus will comprise over 5,00,000 square feet of buildings and playing fields to accommodate academic activities and sports.
   "We must resist the temptation to normalise any particular culture, to demonise the other, and to turn healthy diversity into dangerous discord," said Aga Khan.
   He said that the importance of ethical commitments, not only in the government but throughout society, has increased vastly in today's world.
   He observed that a competent civil society is a major contributor to development, particularly where democracies are less well established or where government efforts are inadequate.
   Touching on the issue of corruption, Aga Khan said, "'The absence of corruption or fraud in government is not enough. Fraud in medicine, education, financial services, property rights, exercise of law enforcement or in the courts, are all risks which can have a dramatic impact on social progress."
   Terming the Aga Khan Academy a new national asset, he said Bangladesh is the first Muslim country in which he has laid a foundation stone for a new academy.
   Education adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, who attended the ceremony as the chief guest, said the media, which was busy covering politics, paid little attention to ethical issues. He urged people to build an ethics-based society.
   Salim Bhatia, director of the Aga Khan Academy, said the academy, in collaboration with the International Baccalaureate Organization and highly experienced educators from across the globe, is focusing on the their curriculum to ensure that what the students learn is relevant and also that they learn to think critically.
   He said the academy's curriculum would emphasize pluralism, ethics, the histories of Muslim civilisations, global economies and comparative political systems.
   The students will be selected on the basis of merit and taught both in Bangla and English.

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POLLS ROADMAP FRAUGHT WITH ROADBLOCKS

US for a pro-army party to win polls?

Special Correspondent

The statement of US Ambassador James Moriarty at AmCham luncheon Wednesday is quite significant in the context of the political scenario of Bangladesh.
   The guests at the function deduced the bottom line of his speech thus: a) Election is a must by December; b) Support to a pro-army party to win election for continuation of measures of the present CG; and c) Support to action against politicians accused of corruption.
   It is no secret that Washington exerted influence on all major political changes in Bangladesh, including the August 15, 1975, in which Boster, the then US Ambassador in Dhaka, is said to have played a pivotal role.
   Credited as China expert, Moriarty was last posted in Kathmandu. It is not yet known if he has any role in the game plan to thwart the victorious Maoist party in taking power although they won the election with a comfortable majority. Moriarty who came to Dhaka a few weeks ago with the new assignment will see, and may even influence, the political transition in Bangladesh.
   If the US has any influence on the politics of this country, the message is loud and clear: Washington wants election and the winning party or parties that will form the government should ratify all actions of the present Caretaker Government (CG). Moriarty clearly said that his country does not want to see a repeat of Pakistan President General Parvez Musharraf government's nemesis in Bangladesh. Parties opposed to Musharraf's Muslim League won the election and are now trying to undo his actions, including dismissal of judges and even impeach President Musharraf. This shows that in Bangladesh the US will take enough care so that the political parties opposed to the army-backed CG do not have the edge and repeat the problem faced in Pakistan.
   Moriarty dwelt at length on corruption, which he described as the enemy of democracy. He estimated that corruption in Bangladesh costs the country between two and three per cent of its GDP, which represents approximately two billion dollars a year. To tackle corruption, he stressed the need for national consensus -- in the government, the business community, the legal community and civil society -- to work together. The emphasis he laid on corruption suggests the US wants support of all sections of the people in case of possible punishment by the court of politicians in corruption cases.
   At the same time Moriarty apprehends about the holding of election according to the roadmap. "We fear if the national election is not held in time, things, including political situation, will deteriorate in Bangladesh," he said.
   True, the roadmap to national election seems fraught with roadblocks. The apprehension has given rise in the minds of people following the arrest of three BNP stalwarts, including reformist leader Abdul Mannan Bhuiya and Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami in the GATCO scam case. Sensing arrest in the case, another accused and BNP reformist acting chairperson Saifur Rahman left the country a few days back.
   This latest action of the CG has no doubt encouraged the major political parties -- Awami League, BNP and Jamaat -- to square up and secure the release of their leaders. Until the arrest of Bhuiyan, Nizami, Shamsul Islam and M K Anwar, it seemed Awami League, BNP reformist group and Jamaat were ready to take part in the election without Hasina and Khaleda.
   BNP reformist leader Hafizuddin, who was always supporting the CG, has now turned to a critic of the CG. The arrest of Nizami has risked the relationship with Saudi Arabia. Most of the political parties are now united demanding the release of Hasina and Khaleda with a threat to boycott the political dialogue with the CG and ultimately the election.
   It will be naïve to think that the CG had not weighed the possible reactions to the arrest of the politicians who were overtly and covertly supporting the CG. The months ahead will be crucial for the CG. The nation is anxiously waiting to see the steps the CG takes to assuage the political leaders and bring the major political parties to the dialogue and election.

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BUSH'S VISIT TO BLESS ISRAEL

Arabs consider it insensitive and inappropriate

Barrister Harun ur Rashid

President Bush travelled to Jerusalem to take part in celebrations for the country's 60th anniversary on May 14th, the day Israel was carved out of Palestinian territory.
   Mr Bush lavished praise on Israel and barely mentioned the Palestinians in his speech, which marked the 60th anniversary of Israel's foundation.
   Israeli President Shimon Peres said Mr. Bush had stood alongside Israel "like nobody else". Mr Bush said that he believed a full peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians was possible by the time he would leave office, in January next year.
   Media reports indicated that the visit was partly intended to bolster an Arab coalition against Iran's growing power in the region and partly to show solidarity with Israel on the anniversary.
   Many Arab leaders consider President Bush's participation in Israel's 60th anniversary celebration is insensitive to the feelings of dispossessed Arabs.
   This day in 1948, is considered by 700,000 Palestinians as a day of "catastrophe, dispossession, displacement, exile and occupation" who had lost their homes, their land and, in many cases, their lives on this day in 1948.
   Since that time their peaceful lives have been ruined, society fragmented, possessions pillaged and hope for freedom and nationhood remains unfilled as of today. Millions of Palestinians nourish their aspiration for freedom, dignified living within a free nation-state.
   Arabs think there is no reason to celebrate the creation of Israel. Late Edward Said, a well-known author and a Palestinian, commenting on 50th anniversary of Israel wrote: "Even after fifty years of living the Palestinian exile I still find myself astonished at the lengths to which official Israel and its supporters will go to suppress the fact that a half century has gone by without Israeli restitution, recognition, or acknowledgement of Palestinian human rights and without, as the facts undoubtedly show, connecting that suspension of rights to Israel's official policies... the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) is characterised as a semi-fictional event...caused by one in particular".
   As earlier said, the lives of dispossessed Palestinians were forever shattered.
   For example, a BBC journalist recently filed a report on the occasion of 60th anniversary how a Palestinian who was evicted from his house at 17 in 1948 became a homeless person and now he is in his 70s. He has spent almost all his life in a refugee camp at Shatila in southern Lebanon. He never went to school or learned to read and write.
   Israel at 60 is a state that is illegally occupying Palestinian and other Arab lands. It is a theocratic state, meant only for Jews and treats its own Arab citizens with institutionalised discrimination. Israel is not a democratic state as is ordinarily meant because in a democratic state, multi-religious people live peacefully with equal rights and opportunities. But in Israel, non-Jews Arabs are "second class" citizens and there is conspicuous silence in the US and other Western countries about it.
   Palestine was never a land without a people. Israel is persistently and grossly breaching international law and infringing fundamental human rights with impunity afforded to it through the diplomatic, economic and military support of the US.
   Today those 700,000 Palestinian refugees have grown to 7 million. Four million live under illegal occupation. Three million live as non-citizens in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and other countries.
   How does this homeless person feel about President Bush's participation in celebrations of Israel's 60th anniversary?
   Can the leaders of Western nations including the US, who have expressed congratulations to Israel on its 60th birthday, not spare a moment to remember the suffering of the Palestinian people 60 years ago, and the daily consequences of their dispossession, displacement, exile and occupation?
   On 18th May, the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas revealed that he had demanded an explanation from Mr Bush for his comments in Israel. "We had many things to say about it, and we told him this when we met him yesterday, because we speak with him openly, honestly and transparently. We have asked him to maintain a balanced position," Mr Abbas said.
   Over the past five years, favourable ratings for the US have decreased in 26 of the 33 countries. Pew report said: "Global distrust of American leadership is reflected in increasing disapproval of the cornerstone of US foreign policy." Many think that Iraq would go down in history as the greatest disaster in American foreign policy.
   Asked by the Pew research project, whether they liked American ideas about democracy, they sent back an unflattering message. In many countries, the answer was overwhelmingly "no". Negative views prevailed in 33 of 47 countries.
   It is interesting to note that Dr. Aaron David Miller, who has played a central role in U.S. efforts to broker Arab-Israeli peace under both Republican and Democratic administrations, in his book "The Much Too Promised Land", (March 2008: Random House) writes that the Bush team in eight years has managed to put America in the unique position in the Middle East where "it is not liked, not feared, and not respected...we stumbled for eight years under George Bush over how to make war there" and the result is "an America that is trapped in a region which it cannot fix and it cannot abandon".
   The writer is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.

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