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DELHI SHIFTS STANCE ON ISLAMABAD
'India either to hold peace talks or go to war': Dr Singh
Shamsuddin Ahmed
The statement of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in parliament on Wednesday (July 29) is quite significant. "India has no choice but to hold peace talks with Pakistan. ... Alternative is to go to war," BBC quoted him as saying.
It clearly shows India has shifted its hard stand vis a vis Pakistan. Only weeks ago Dr Singh came under severe criticism for the joint statement with his Pakistan counterpart Yusuf Raja Gilani following talks on the sideline of NAM summit in Egypt pledging to resume the peace process. Hawkish within the ruling Congress Party and opposition BJP strongly criticized him. Dr Singh assuaged their anger saying no dialogue with Pakistan unless and until its leaders brought to book those responsible for last year's terrorist attack in Mumbai...[ FULL STORY ]
INDIAN 'GEO-STRATEGISTS' CRYING WOLF
Is it opportune to withdraw
army from CHT?
Sadeq Khan
An Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) press release on July 29 confirmed that the government is in the process of withdrawing a brigade of army troops, including three infantry battalions and 35 security camps, from the vulnerable districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
'This withdrawal process will start immediately and will conclude in September 2009,' the release said.
'As Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is pledged-bound to implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts Treaty signed in 1997, she directed withdrawal of the troops from the region,' an official at the army headquarters told a newsman...[ FULL STORY ]
AL team's pleasure trip to Tipaimukh dam
Faisal Rahim
The parliamentary team designated by the government to visit the Tipaimukh dam site left Dhaka last Wednesday for Delhi amid boycott by the major opposition BNP lawmakers for refusal of the authorities to take several water experts it named earlier for a place on the group.
Why the government did not agree to take the experts, skeptics wonder adding with it the government nominated parliamentary team may have wanted to stamp out the possibility of any critical reports on the proposed dam. BNP on the other hand said it did not want to be part of a lame duck team which may try to justify the Indian stand on the dam at the cost of vital national security interest. BNP leaders have termed it a picnic party.
Otherwise why the Awami League led government opposed water experts it named, BNP leaders say adding given the politics of 'undisclosed understanding' from both sides, the opposition BNP members on the team could have play the role of scanners which the ruling party is not in a position for very reasons of its pro-Indian politics. ..[ FULL STORY ]
Diplomatic faux pas cause loss of jobs for Bangladeshis
Special Correspondent
As a result of diplomatic indiscretion, alarm bell is ringing from the island nation of the Republic of Mauritius which since June last started sending back 6,000 Bangladeshi male garment workers. About 2000 of the workers have already returned home.
A faux pas caused by the Bangladesh foreign ministry has enraged the government of Mauritius and resulted in the decision to send back the Bangladeshi workers. It happened when an official message sent by the Bangladesh foreign ministry on behalf of the President and the Prime Minister to their Mauritius counterparts on the occasion their National Day on March 12. In their massage President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed the Mauritius president and the Prime Minister repeatedly as the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, an African state, informed sources said. ..[ FULL STORY ]
BDR MUTINY TRIAL
Referral to SC aims at delaying justice?
M. Shahidul Islam
The armed forces appear to be in difficulty to overcome the throbbing shock of the BDR massacre of February 25-26 until some discernible assurances reach them sooner.
Meanwhile, one can hardly be faulted for viewing the Government's latest decision to avail advisory opinion of the Supreme Court (SC) with respect to the venue of the BDR mutiny trial as an attempt to delay the justice further. ..[ FULL STORY ]
BDR trial: Policy makers' dilemma
Shariar Noori
The Government has finally decided to shed its responsibility to the Supreme Court to decide the mode of trial of the BDR carnage on February 25-26 in which 57 army officers were butchered and the women members of families were subjected to violation apart from loot and physical torture.
The legal problem to be decided by the apex court, by a reference to be put through by the President under Article 106 of the Constitution himself there is still a chance for a last-minute change, according to the sources which say that some senior lawyers including the pro-government layers feel so.
There are two laws to try the BDR rebels, the sources added. They can be tried just under a civilian court or by court martial.
The BDR Director General Major General Mainul Islam earlier this month sent a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs to proceed with the proposal to try the culprits under the Army Act as BDR is a disciplined force commanded by army officers.
If there is ambiguity resulting from constitutional interpretations creating obstacles to move forward with a legal decision then Article 106 of the Constitution may be invoked, said the sources...[ FULL STORY ]
GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT
Jalaluddin Rumi
K. Z. Islam
It is an act of audacity attempting to write on Rumi (1207 - 1273), one of the greatest poets ever. Although he wrote in Persian, his poetry has influenced Persian literature as well as the literature of Urdu, Bangla, Arabic and Turkish languages. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats; he has been described as the 'most popular poet in America' in 2007.
Maulana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, but known to the English speaking world simply as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, theologian, and mystic. Rumi is a descriptive name meaning 'the Roman' since he lived most of his life in an area called Rum because it was once ruled by the Byzantine Empire...[ FULL STORY ]
FOREIGN PROFESSIONALS IN KEY POSTS NEEDED
'Understanding Biman' or misunderstanding it?
Shahabuddin Ahmad
Mohammad Zakiul Islam, a retired air commodore from the Bangladesh Air Force, served Biman Bangladesh Airlines for a short period of a little more than one year in the late 1990s. Recently he has been appointed the Managing Director of Biman, now a government-owned company. Simultaneously with his appointment the Board of Directors of the company was reconstituted.
With a view to creating understanding about Biman affairs M. Zakiul Islam wrote an article which was carried by a daily financial newspaper earlier this month. Entitled, 'Understanding the Biman' he has tried to say through it that Biman needs support for its survival and future growth. While it is welcome, the use of certain expressions and arguments by the MD are irksome and annoying.
The MD writes: "All the members are luminaries in their respective fields, armed with high education and years of experience in flying, in administration, in jurisprudence and in business and finance. Some even possess the highest level of experience and a high degree of conceptual understanding and skill".
Biman is a commercial airline. The present members of the Biman board do not have any commercial airline background. They are, at best, some serving or retired government officials from the military bureaucracy or from the civil bureaucracy. There are private sector representatives having no relationship with the activity of Biman directly or indirectly. The board has been selected due to official pull, political patronage and support from power-wielders. ..[ FULL STORY ]
Sweden to close her embassy in Colombo
Anisur Rahman in Stockholm
The Swedish government has decided to close down her embassy in Colombo and the Consulates-General in Kaliningrad, Canton, Los Angeles and New York, a foreign ministry statement said earlier this month.
These measures are a necessary part of balancing the Ministry for Foreign Affairs budget and adapting it to its allocated appropriations. Since 1990 Sweden has opened 30 embassies and consulates and closed 43 others...[ FULL STORY ]
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