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Govt. creating jobs for AL activists, marginalising Opposition
Faisal Rahim
It seems the Awami League-led grand coalition government is at work to make the nation a monolithic state by marginalising the opposition and bringing all state-owned facilities under the control of its party activists. As a result of it the country's democratic pluralism is rapidly losing ground.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last week launched the national service at Kurigram under which the government is planning to create 7.20 lakh jobs throughout the country to bring employment to jobless youths.
Under the scheme the authorities are planning to create 32,500 jobs in the nine upazilas of Kurigram district, a poverty-hit area. The government is planning to provide 9,950 jobs to young people in the current fiscal under this scheme and the Prime Minister handed over appointment letters to four youths at a function as part of it.
Jobs for AL activists
Informed sources said all such selection is being carried out strictly on party line and young people outside the ruling party is left out and made it sure that none but AL activists are getting the advantage.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office has created a database of several lakh mid-level qualified party activists of and asked the local government and rural establishments to provide them jobs. Especially the LGRD ministry and the ministry of health and education are making rooms for the party youths while other people remained onlookers as things are taking new shape in the grassroots.
Special cards
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last month launched an agricultural credit programme in the Sherpur district distributing special cards to them. With the card, farmers can open bank account at low cost and withdraw agricultural loans easily. They can also get seeds, fertilizers and diesel for irrigation at concessional rates using the card and critics say the scheme is being used either to cover farmers recommended by local party leaders or make farmers party supporters with this especial favour of the government.
5,000 new dealers
More so, last month, the industry ministry approved appointment of five thousand distributors throughout the country and they were strictly selected on recommendation of local party committees.
Dilip Barua claimed, in doing so the government has also retained the dealers appointed by the former BNP-Jamat government. None of them lost their dealership. But the real truth is that the industry ministry distributed especial withdrawal card to newly appointed dealers and its showing is mandatory to receive fertilizer for marketing at farmers' level.
As the former dealers have not got such cards, they will not be able to get the supply locally, the sources said suggesting the cunning way of depriving the people who were in the business from the time of the previous government.
Teaches removed
The government has also removed or in the process of removing several hundred teachers of the mosque-based informal education system engaged by the previous government. The allegation is that most of them are supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami and they should not be allowed to function.
The idea is that these people have no right to be in government-funded job as activist or supporter of a religion-based political party.
The government on the other hand has prepared list of people in the public service, educational institutions, hospitals and such other facilities and working to remove them, or many of them have already been removed on political ground.
The government is also moving with a plan to recruit several thousand primary teachers, nurses, physicians and such other skilled and semi-skilled party cadres to increase its presence in the establishment to marginalize the opposition support in the government.
Critics say, examination for the public jobs is being turned into a platform to recruit party cadres and activists to create a support base in the administration.
Retired people re-employed
Meanwhile, hundreds of retired people from government services and armed forces officers have been recalled to the job, put them on promotion and allowed them to function in new post or go on retirement with full arrears and retirement benefits.
The message here is that those who lost jobs previously on ground of misconduct or gross indiscipline may feel secured of restoration of jobs for party loyalty and continue to work as party activists within the government.
Last month a government official visited told this scribe that he had returned home after seven years from the USA and joined his previous job. He said he left the government on political ground but now the party to which he belonged came back to power and so he returned and joined his earlier job as a BCS cadre officer.
He said his children are attending schools and colleges in the USA and he is waiting for completion of 25 years job this month (March) so that he can go on early retirement with full pension benefits.
Several hundred cases
This is one of several hundred such cases showing how the government is politicizing the administration and using public fund for political ends. The question is when the government has left open the door of the public exchequer to its loyalists, the access to public fund and jobs became almost totally closed to people belonging to the opposition.
It is going to destabilise the social fabrics and bring tension in the polity at a time when most Opposition workers are on the run or put under bar. Democracy depends on the rule of law. It brings a party to power through fair election but once the polling is over the government and its services belong to all the masses irrespective of who voted it to power and who does not. But the culture of political hostility in the country is belying the very basic foundation of the state.
Critics wonder, if the Government denies jobs to a section of people and let everything open to others, how this policy will be helpful to promote democratic environment in the country. This is time to ponder on the issue once again.
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TIME TO MIND IN GOOD GOVERNANCE
Economy is heading for a rollercoaster ride
M. Shahidul Islam
Explicitly obsessed so far with partisan political agendas, retribution seeking and opposition-bashing, the AL-led regime finds itself in the throes of an economic meltdown from which it may not recuperate unscathed.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned in its latest report on March 8 that the overall growth will slow to 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal, from previous year's 5.9 per cent, and inflation and unemployment will wreck havoc on the economy.
The report carries a damning indictment against government's economic performance and urges for greater efforts to encourage investment in order to spur the retarding growth. For long, we too have been urging for the same, but the narcissist regime had persistently assured that the growth in the current fiscal would not spiral below 6 per cent and our economy was impervious to global economic inflictions.
That myth has been broken by the ADB report, which has warned the government to "Improve the country's investment climate to encourage domestic and foreign investments," adding, "the (government) needs to develop the capacity of key agencies to boost public sector investment and encourage higher private sector investment."
The report opined, farm growth was likely to slow down to 4.1 per cent in 2010 from 4.6 per cent in 2009 while industrial sector growth was set to slow to 5.6 percent from 5.9 percent.
The comment on inflation was also alarming. The report said, excess liquidity in the banking system and rising global commodity prices will push up the inflation further, which had already surged to a 15-month high (to 8.51 percent), by December 2009. In recent weeks, it had surged further upward.
The report is based on some key macroeconomic indicators. It states that export earnings in July-December 2009 fell 6.2 percent to $7.27 billion, reflecting subdued demand for readymade garments, which accounts for 80 percent of total overseas sales, while the industrial sector continued to be affected by power and gas shortages.
With respect to service sector, the report cautioned that the projected growth would reduce to 5.9 percent from 6.3 percent in the last fiscal, due to slowdown in trade flows and weaker industrial performances.
Too little, too late
Apparently jolted by these sombre predictions, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved on the same day (March 8) a mega project to generate part time employment, granting taka 15 crore for rural infrastructure development work for each constituency of all Members of Parliament. The total allocated fund amounts to taka 4,691 crore.
Majority MPS being from ruling party, the project smacks serious partisan bias. It's also not reassuring for an economy that has already sunken into an abyss of crises, external and internal.
Internally, mindful that double-digit inflation will unleash social upheavals amidst constant rises in the prices of food and other consumer goods, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) has tightened its monetary policy. On March 9, within hours of ADB report's publication, it had bought off from scheduled banks a staggering 1400 crore takas to swamp away excess liquidity from the market.
Besides, the BB had moved in to regulate the foreign currency market since July 2009. According to BB sources, US $1.654 billion has been bought up by the central bank from various commercial banks between July 2 and March 8, 2010, in a series of aggressive interventions to stabilize the market.
Combustive mix
None of those palliatives have proven lucrative or effective due mainly to jobs not being available for, or accessible to commoners. Meanwhile, as the unemployment and inflation rose in tandem, the economy headed for a roller coaster ride. The mix (high unemployment and inflation)being a combustive one by any account, and its consequences being an avalanche-like, economic and political policies should have correlated to spare the economy from a total convulsion.
Yet, the AL-led regime did precious little so far to generate employment opportunities, despite the hefty pre-election promise to employ one person per family and to make rice available at taka 10 per kg. However, on positive notes, some of the monetary interventions by the BB have been wise and timely. This is because, for too long, the scheduled banks have held in reserve over 34,000 crore takas for which there were little borrowers from among businessmen, willing either to set up new enterprises, or to inject capital in existing ventures. They shied away from borrowing due to reduced demands for products from within and without and the higher cost of borrowing charged by scheduled banks.
Externally, reduced export and an unprecedented reduction in net foreign direct investment (FDI) exacerbated the crisis further. Never before did the FDI take such a big hit, reducing to a paltry US$197 million during July-December 2009, a 67.3 percent reduction from the same period of 2008. This led to further shrinking of employment opportunities.
This virtual stagnation in employment creation got added to the problem of reduced export of labour force abroad, totalling only 441,000 in 2009 from 875,000 in 2008, lowest in percentage terms since 1976. Meanwhile, since July 2009, over 125,000 more workers have returned from abroad to inflate the number of jobless, which could be well over 30 million.
Policy mismatch
Despite that, the BB and the government chose to tread diametrically opposing paths. While the central bank kept itself busy in reining in money supply to preserve market stability as well as to checkmate inflationary surges, the political machine of the government kept moving toward opposite direction.
Too engrossed with trials, hanging, diatribes, polemics, arrests and mud-slinging—all in a concerted move that saw the entire state machinery being co-opted for partisan services—the government finally decided to reward all the relevant parties before the economic basket ran out of gems, as well as the political capital.
On March 8, the cabinet approved a staggering raise of the salaries of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament, Chief Justice, Ministers, Supreme Court Judges and MPs, by almost 85 per cent, without any prior thoughts on the inflationary impact of the decision. These perk-privileged being socio-political elites, why cater for their comfy needs at a time when the monster of hunger stare the faces of the two-thirds of the population.
Mismanaged SEC, bourses
A new brand of economic culture has sprouted in the meanwhile. Battered by prolonged, painful downturn in business and growth, nation's business leaders have turned edgy, unease and panic-stricken. In desperation, the have urged the government to re-structure fiscal policies too, to combat the crisis.
Representatives from different trade bodies demanded during a 'pre-budget workshop' on March 9 that the government eliminate existing tax on import of capital machinery for light engineering sector and the VAT from renting space and machinery procured by RMG sector from leasing companies. In the same workshop, industrialists placed a number of other demands, including increased assistance in producing import substitute goods and ensuring sufficient supply of gas and power to boost economic growth.
These demands are neither new nor unique. But they do have a menacing resonance now, given that lives in the capital city face the trauma of incessant traffic jam, power failure and water supply disruptions, threats to lives from muggers and political rant-seekers notwithstanding.
And, not coincidentally, the last bastion of investors' hope, the stock exchange, too is facing similar tumult. Stocks at the DSE kept sliding downward over the preceding days, shedding 2 percent in a single day on March 8. The general index (or DGEN) also slumped 116 points, or 2.07 percent. Reports claim, about 80 percent of the traded stocks lost values while the loss on March 8 was the severest in five months.
If these are beacons of anything alarming, the government had better mind on good governance instead of removing names of national heroes from selective iconic infrastructures. After all, the audacity to hurl insult at national heroes begets deep suspicion on the genesis and the genuineness of the perpetrators themselves. And, while success has many parents, failure is an abject orphan.
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India mining uranium along Sylhet border
Special Correspondent
Following repeated attacks along Sylhet border, strategic analysts are trying to relate the issue with the strategic importance of this Uranium rich area.
According to an Indian research communications, sandstone-type uranium deposit is there at Domiasiat, West of Khasi Hills district in Meghyalaya state bordering Sylhet of Bangladesh.
"The southern part of Meghalaya plateau comprise platform sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous and Tertiary ages unconformably overlapping Precambrian meta-sedimentary rocks, gneisses and granites or Sylhet trap", according to Indian Department of Atomic Energy.
Meanwhile, Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) undertook the first-phase progamme for the development of a project for mining uranium in the mineral rich area of West Khasi Hills district in November last year.
Facing protests from the environmentalist groups, Meghalaya Chief Minister DD Lapang set up the Joint Committee on Uranium Mining in Meghalaya (JCUMM) in November last year. In its first meeting this month, JCUMM) decided to seek scientific opinion on the overall effect of uranium mining in the area.
Interestingly, when India is going for Uranium mining in its own area, the BSF is apparently trying to keep Bangladesh busy in border conflicts.
It may be mentioned that BSF has been making several offensive intrusions into Bangladesh territory along Jaintapur and Tamabil borders along Meghalaya borders.
It is also a matter of concern that BSF has stepped up its firing in the border areas despite the beginning of the five-day DG level meeting in New Delhi that began on March 7.
It should be pointed out that during this year, between January 01 and March 02, BSF has killed 10 Bangladeshi nationals along Indo-Bangladesh border.
In the last ten years between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009, a 873 innocent Bangladeshi civilians were killed and 869 were injured. Besides, 909 were abducted and 14 were raped along the Bangladesh-India border.
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Delhi eyes major role in Kabul
Fazle Rashid in New York
India wants to occupy position of a key player in resolution of Taliban problem in Afghanistan and in its border with Pakistan. Pakistan opposes the move tooth and nail and Washington, though a good ally of New Delhi, is not prepared to cede any strategic position'
Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao has said point blank that neither violence nor diplomatic pressure will dissuade India from getting involved in Afghanistan. India is going to keep its commitment, Rao asserted. Several Indians have been killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan.
The Financial Times in a report says India interprets attacks on its nationals as a message from Islamabad to keep out of Afghanistan. Various projects that New Delhi has undertaken in Afghanistan include construction of a parliament building, a road to Iran and new power plants. India will also build schools, bridges and clinics. Pakistan views India's intention with extreme suspicion.
Pakistan says India uses its offices as spying outpost and supports Afghan warlords.
China, in the meanwhile, is going ahead with its plan to construct a road network linking six Southeast Asian countries with Beijing. The network is expected to strengthen economic ties and make travel convenient. China has signed a new trade agreement with Asean countries by slashing tariffs.
China is not afraid of flexing its all round power and prowess. China accused the White House of seriously disrupting Washington's ties with Beijing by announcing the sale of weapons to Taiwan and President Obama is holding a one to one talk with Dalai Lama. China has suspended military exchanges with the US. Beijing is against imposing sanction against Iran and advocates dialogue to resolve the problem. We dont think diplomatic efforts have been exhausted.
After decades of comparatively quiet diplomacy, China has taken increasingly muscular stances on relations with the US on global economic and environmental matters. China is also seriously considering appreciation of its currency renminbi. Such a move could address global trade imbalance.
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India braces for prolonged, bitter war against Maoists
Shamsuddin Ahmed
The much talked about 'Operation Green Hunt' against the Maoist in India has weakened for lack of adequate support. A section of intellectuals and civil society leaders opposed the military action. They view that it would result in killing of innocent tribal people living in the Maoist controlled areas targeted by the security forces. Non-government organizations refused to condemn the Maoist. Politicians, including some prominent ones, in Maoist infested states reported to have quietly supported the rebels for their own security and electoral gains. Ill equipped and poorly trained police force is hesitant to fight the dreaded Maoist guerrillas.
This has worried the central government which has planned the final assault on the Maoist involving paramilitary and police forces. Home Secretary Pillai at a civil society meeting on March 10 in New Delhi lamented that none of the NGOs has condemned the Maoist violence. Are they afraid of the Maoist, he posed a question.
Top security officials said despite certain weaknesses, limited 'Operation Green Hunt' has been launched in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa states. They have frankly admitted that the real fighting guerrilla force of the Maoist is yet to come out of their hideouts. Till now Maoist has not suffered any significant reverses. It will be a long and bloody fight to regain control over the areas lost to the rebels.
'Operation Green Hunt' was intensified after the Maoist massacre of a paramilitary camp on February 15 in West Bengal that left 24 troops dead. Apparently, Maoist guerrillas retreated to safer places in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. But one top Maoist leader Venkatesh Reddy alias Deepak was arrested from Kolkata. An engineer and explosive expert, Deepak reportedly told police interrogators that they got arms supply and help from Trinamul Congress, the party's leader Mamata Benarjee headed the Indian Railway Ministry. No doubt this has perplexed the security forces and embarrassed the central government.
Undaunted, the Gano Militia, armed wing of the Maoist backed People's Committee against Police Atrocities, continued its operation. They abducted suspected police informers including a school Head Master. Security forces in their bid to rescue him raided the villages and arrested 37 people.
Hundreds of tribal women staged demonstration protesting the arrest. The government had to bow down to the demand of the People's Committee and released most of them to secure the release of the headmaster unhurt.
Colluding army officers
Home Secretary Pillai made a startling revelation. He said some retired army officers are helping the Maoists in planning out their military offensive. Jason Overdorf reported on March 9 in Global Post quoting a top security personnel as saying: "even if my guys go to the Maoist affected areas to collect information, they come back convinced that the Maoists have a point." Maoists are fighting for securing the rights of long oppressed, deprived tribal people and low cast Hindus.
Predicting a bloody war ahead, he wrote, the "Government's hardest struggle may be for the hearts and minds of the people who witness corruption and direst sort of poverty in every facet of life." Human right activists say Indian government is using arbitrary arrests to quash criticism of a brutal war in the Maoist red corridor stretching across nine states. Arrests and harassments are made to silence opposition to the military action that is becoming a war against the poor tribal and low caste rather than a war against the Maoist.
"Maoists on the up in India," wrote Jonathan Power in Gulf Daily News on March 9 from Jharkhand. A Congress MP told him that the main reason is severe unemployment that gave rise to Maoist. Money allocated to change the situation simply runs away. Central and state governments are on the back foot, profoundly worried. The monster (Maoist) is growing at a fast rate, killing officials, police, paramilitary forces and taking horrific revenge against those villagers who do not immediately bow to them. MLAs and ministers regularly bribe the Maoists for security, to win their cooperation and votes, thus emboldening them further.
Leaked intelligence reports carried out by Indian media said Maoists have infiltrated in different cities. They have intruded in labour unions, professional groups and raised action squads of trained fighters picked up from scheduled caste. Maoist leaders are maintaining close links with their comrades in Nepal, insurgent groups in seven-sisters in the Northeast and Kashmir as well who are struggling for separation from India. They are getting arms supply from China through Myanmar and Nepal.
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PM'S COMING VISIT TO BEIJING
Can Sheikh Hasina rise to the occasion?
Amanullah Kabir
To the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's relationship with India is the most important one on the earth. She embarked upon her first and much trumpeted official visit to India within the first year of her government's coming to power, giving the nation three security-related agreements and two MoUs as gift from Delhi, which whipped up widespread criticism at home.
Against this backdrop, the prime minister is preparing to visit China, by the second half of the current month. Her planned China trip, following her visit to India after about two months back, shows that China has been put as second choice on the Government's priority list in its diplomatic engagement. It is understood that because of that the Foreign Affairs Ministry is maintaining a low profile about her upcoming Beijing visit which could be patent, if given due thrust, to bring about the expected balance in the regional geopolitics that has undergone a qualitative transformation in recent years. What are the issues to be discussed with her counterpart in the scheduled Beijing parley are yet to see light of the day as the foreign ministry high-ups for reasons best known to them prefer to go tight-lipped.
The prime minister's visit to China is viewed in terms of the agreements signed in Delhi, especially the security-sensitive aspects of them and our two sea ports offered to India for use, in particular, which it is likely to avail the opportunity as soon as possible.
Importantly, unlike with China, Bangladesh has a lot of long-standing bilateral problems, including security-related ones to be settled with its next-door neighbour India. According to the joint communiqué released after the summit talks between the two prime ministers, Sheikh Hasina and Dr. Manmohan Singh, "they (the two premiers) noted that security remained a priority for both countries as terrorists, insurgents and criminals respect no boundaries. They underscored the need for both countries to actively cooperate on security issues. Both leaders reiterated the assurance that territory of either would not be allowed for activities inimical to other and resolved not to allow their respective territory to be used for training, sanctuary and other operations by domestic or foreign terrorists/militants and insurgent organizations and their operatives."
Junior partner
Another part of the communiqué said, "It was agreed that Ashuganj in Bangladesh and Silghat in India shall be declared ports of call. The IWTT protocol shall be amended through exchange of letters. A joint team will assess the improvement of infrastructure and the cost for one-time or long-term transportation of ODCs (Over Dimensional Cargo) from Ashuganj. India will make the necessary investment. Both governments agreed to expedite implementation."
Such agreements have reduced Bangladesh to that of a junior partner in regional politics that has already equipped India, an emerging economic and military power, with manoeuvrability to mobilise things in its favour. When implemented, the agreements will provide India —- geographically almost divided east-west because of Bangladesh's location—-the leverage to use Bangladesh territory to combat insurgency in its north-eastern region, the most troubled and disadvantageous part of India for lack of smooth and safe road communication.
The agreements, as the terms and conditions mentioned, will allow India transit facilities through Bangladesh territory which in all likelihood may run into serious security risk. What is still a matter of deep concern is that the Asian Highway is being scrupulously designed to give India permanent transit facility that will directly link its western part with its troubled north-eastern region.
Linking Kunming
But China, sensing the motive behind the move that has already received green signal from Sheikh Hasina's government, has, however, come out with support for the track-2 that will pass though Teknaf of Bangladesh to Myanmar directly connecting Kunming in China.
If Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fails to respond with positive attitude to the diplomatic gesture of China, her high-profile visit is likely to end up in a fiasco. It is also considered high time for Prime Minister Hasina to raise the water-sharing issue in her talks with her Chinese counterpart as the river Brahmaputra originates from China which, if involved in the process, will bring India to its senses and end the era of the so-called bilateralism. Despite such a possibility, it is highly unlikely to materialise.
The fact that Sheikh Hasina's scheduled visit is preceded by a Communist Party delegation's short trip to Dhaka indicates that China has all the interest to develop party-to-party relations without keeping it limited to the state level. The delegation called on her and also the Opposition leader and BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia to let them know what they were looking for in the changed geopolitical scenario.
However, China is not only geographically our traditional friend but also emerging a top world power which should be kept in mind and given due attention and importance to balance our lop-sided foreign policy that has already veered Bangladesh dangerously into risky waters. One wonders if Sheikh Hasina's China visit can repair the damage in bilateral ties caused during the regime of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia?
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BDR-BSF meeting pledges
to avert civilian deaths
Special Correspondent
The DG-level meeting between the BDR and the BSF ended in New Delhi Thursday with a pledge to ensure that no innocent civilians are killed on the border between the two neighbouring countries.
They also decided to step up cooperation in checking cross-border infiltration of terrorists and other criminals.
Maj. Gen. Md. Mainul Islam, Director General of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and his BSF counterpart Raman Srivastava told a joint briefing that the two border forces were keen to enhance mutual cooperation guided by the spirit of the India-Bangladesh joint statement, issued during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in January last.
The BDR chief said he had taken up with Srivastava the issue of frequent intrusion of, and firing by, the BSF personnel along the border resulting in death of innocent Bangladeshi civilians. "We have got a very positive response and we hope the number of such incidents will come down in future," said Islam.
The BDR and BSF are also working on a Joint Border Management plan to ensure better coordination between the two forces.
In the four-day meeting, the BDR chief is believed to have specifically raised the issue of the recent troubles on the India-Bangladesh border at Jaintapur in Sylhet.
Srivastava said the BSF always took the BDR complaints seriously and had in the past initiated actions against a few BSF members for illegally entering the Bangladesh territory. He, however, added that the BSF would continue to seek cooperation from the BDR to check cross-border movement of both terrorists and criminals.
The issue of terrorists' infiltration came under sharper focus after the Rapid Action Battalion recently arrested five alleged operatives of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit JeM from Dhaka on Feb 28.
The BDR chief presented to his BSF counterpart a draft Joint Border Management Plan. The BSF officials will now examine the draft and give their suggestions.
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Dynamics of Sino-Bangla relations
Internet
It is difficult to characterise the China-Bangladesh relations in the conventional mould. Dhaka has been heavily depending on Beijing for its defence requirements and development needs. This has made Bangladesh easily vulnerable to Chinese pressure and persuasions. Bangladesh looks to China because of Myanmar factor as well.
Successive governments which came to office in Dhaka after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 have contributed to cementing of ties with China and it resulted in China's emergence as an important factor in Bangladesh's foreign relations.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, despite the popular mandate won by Awami League, may not tinker with the foreign policy in the short to medium term. Firstly pro-India image limits her turf space. Secondly, she cannot let her immediate predecessor, Khaleda Zia, steal the 'Bangladesh first and foremost' thunder. Hasina gave ample demonstration of this resolve in her earlier term itself when the Bangladesh Rifles under the command of a trusted aide delivered a bloody nose to the Indian Border Security Force.
Whatever are the political ifs and buts, Hasina government cannot gloss over the reality that Bangladesh armed forces are dependent on China's military hardware. The Army is equipped with Chinese tanks, the Navy with Chinese frigates and missile boats, and the Air Force with Chinese fighter jets. Both countries have a defence cooperation agreement in place since 2002. It covers military training and defence production also.
Chinese military hardware
In 2006, China supplied 65 artillery guns and 114 missiles and related systems. Most of the tanks (T-59, T-62, T-69 and T-79), armoured personnel carriers (APCs), artillery pieces, small arms and personal weapons in the Bangladesh Army are of Chinese origin. Plans are afoot to acquire 155mm PLZ-45/Type -88 (including transfer of technology) and 122mm Type-96 as well as MBRLS from China by 2011.
The Chinese hardware with the Bangladesh Navy are truly wide-ranging. Its possession include the 053-H1 Jianghu I class frigates with 4x HY2 missiles, Huang Feng Class missile boats, Type-024 missile boats, Huchuan and P-4 class torpedo boats, Hainan class sub chasers, Shanghai class gunboats and Yuchin class LCUs.
The BNS Khalid Bin Walid has been retrofitted with HQ-7 SAM from China. Admiral Zhang Lianzhong, former Commander of PLA Navy had promised during a one-on-one meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart full cooperation in the sophisticated naval management.
In so far as the Air Force is concerned, it has been getting steady supplies from 1977 —- the year Bangladesh-China relations graduated from a state of total negation into which the ties were pushed as a result of China siding with Pakistan during the Liberation War in 1971 and using veto to block the new nation's entry into the UN. It has thus far received 16 F-7BGs, F7 and Q 5 fighters and PT 6 trainers.
Bangladesh set up a missile launch pad near the Chittagong Port with assistance from China. The maiden test was carried off on May 12, 2008. Land attack anti-ship cruise missile C-802A was test fired shortly afterwards from the frigate, BNS Osman near Kutubdia island in the Bay of Bengal. This missile is said to have a strike range of 120kms.
BNS Osman (commissioned 1989) is a 1500-ton Chinese built Jianghu class warship. The C-802A missile is a modified version of Chinese Ying Ji-802 (western version SACCADE). The weight was reduced from 815kg to 715 kg to increase the strike range.
Analysts say that from a regional security perceptive, China's engagement with Bangladesh has alarmed the defence establishment about its potential to alter the security scenario triggering regional tensions. From an Indian perspective, they believe that the growing Bangladesh — China military contacts will make the Siliguri corridor vulnerable for the first time since India became Independent in 1947.
There are reasons. For example, often described as the 'Chicken Neck', this 200 km long and 40 km wide corridor connects mainland India by rail, road and air with its Northeast region of seven provinces. One of these provinces is Arunachal Pradesh. China has been claiming some 90,000 sq. kms of Arunachal as its own and this has become a constant source of tension in the China-India relations.
China has also been claiming Tawang, the home to an ancient Buddhist monastery and once part of Tibet, is now in Arunachal Pradesh. Chinese army marched into Tawang during the 1962 war. Though much water has since flown into the Brahmaputra, the very claim over Tawang increases Siliguri corridor's vulnerability.
One additional dimension of China-Bangladesh relations needs close examination. It relates to nuclear tie-up. As of now, after toying up with the Chinese offers, Dhaka has turned to Moscow to set up a nuclear power plant. By this decision Hasina government has pushed into cold storage the carefully worked out plans of Khaleda Zia regime. China's interest in the Bangladesh nuclear establishment goes back to the year 2000, when Zhongyuan Engineering Corporation offered to supply a 300 MW nuclear power plant under its technical collaboration programme. It also offered supplier's credit to Import Chinese equipment and electro-mechanical products. [Abridged]
Policy Research Group: Dynamics of China-Bangladesh relations
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India to set up consulate in Jaffna
B. Muralidhar Reddy in Colombo
India plans to set up a Consul-General's office in Jaffna to help the people of the peninsula and fully restore connectivity to south India. Sri Lanka has agreed to the proposal.
The visiting Indian Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao, told Indian media persons during an informal interaction in Colombo last Monday that during her nearly two-hour meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa last Sunday she had conveyed India's intention to open the consulate.
While Sri Lanka has three consulates in India — in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata — India has only one, in Kandy. A few weeks ago, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama had indicated that his government would have no reservations if India decided to have consulates in other parts of Sri Lanka. According to official sources here, the modalities on setting up the Jaffna Consulate are to be worked out. The basic objective is to cater to the needs of the people of the Jaffna peninsula. "It would help India strengthen the cultural links between the Northern Province in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu besides making it easier for the people to obtain visa to travel to India," a senior official said. The Indian Foreign Secretary concluded her three-day visit to Sri Lanka last Monday.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Chennai
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US, ME and Democracy:
A must-know history
M. Adil Khan
In 2004, a team from the White House visited the United Nations Secretariat to discuss and explore ways and means of promoting democracy in the non-democratic world, especially in the Arab world. The team was led by an ultra-confident young woman, who explained to the attending UN officials the planned pathway of the US "democracy project" - firstly, identification of "failed states"; military intervention in "failed states"; change of regime and finally, bringing in democracy. The rest is a fairy tale - peace and prosperity for the changed regime or country and thus heralding of world peace.
The meeting took place in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war and at a time, when the pretext of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for the war has already proven comprehensively as false. The mission of "Democracy" was advanced as the next best rationale for invading Iraq.
The following chart presents a brief history of the Anglo-US interventions in the Middle East.
A brief resume of the US "democracy" project and other engagements in the Arab or Muslim World—
1949: CIA backs military coup in Syria, ousting the elected government.
1954: Following the nationalisation of the Iranian oil industry, the CIA organises a coup in 1954 and ousts the democratically-elected government of Mossadeg and installs the repressive regime of Shah. The oil industry is privatised and the Anglo-US ownership to the industry is re-established. The US helps fund huge military and police build-up, and trains Savak, the notorious secret police.
1957-58: Syria and Egypt take steps toward a merger, reflecting revolutionary yearning of the Arab masses to unite against Western imperialism. The US Sixth Fleet is dispatched, and huge arms shipments are delivered to US client regimes.
1958: Iraq and Lebanon: Two weeks after 1958 Egypt/Syria merger, the US establishes "Baghdad Pact," uniting monarchies and puppet regimes against threat of growing anti-imperialism sentiments. Mass rioting erupts throughout the region. Iraqi troops are ordered into Jordan to contain unrest. Under popular pressure, the army mutinies and, instead, marches on the royal palace. The hated King, Crown Prince, and Prime Minister are lynched.
The next day, US Marines land in Lebanon and British troops are dispatched to Jordan. A virtual civil war erupts as 14,000 US troops enter Lebanon at the invitation of the unpopular, CIA-backed government of Chamoun. Lebanese forces manage to put down the rebellion after months of urban clashes. President Eisenhower would later write: "This sombre turn of events could, without a vigorous response on our part, results in complete elimination of Western influence in the Middle East."
1963: The right wing Ba'ath party of Iraq leads a successful coup with US support, after unsuccessful US assassination attempt on Iraqi leader, Abdul Karim Qassim. The CIA provides Ba'ath party with names of Iraqi communists to murder, and the CP is ruthlessly slaughtered.
1968: A counter-coup, in which Saddam Hussein participates, leads to nationalisation of Iraqi oil in 1972.
1973-75: To destabilise Iraq during a border dispute with Iran, US supports Kurdish rebels with $16 million in arms, promising to back them in their struggle for autonomy. When Iran and Iraq reach an agreement in 1975 and seal off their border, Iraq proceeds to violently suppress the Kurdish rebellion. US ends support for Kurds and deny them refuge. Henry Kissinger, architect of the plot, explained, "covert action should not be confused with missionary work."
1973-1978: A nationalist coup in 1973 brings down the Afghan monarchy. A 1978 coup puts the Stalinist People's Democratic Party in power. Afraid of growing Afghan ties to the Soviet Union, the US begins covert funding of the reactionary Islamic Fundamentalist rebels. Mujahideen "Freedom Fighters" (according to President Ronald Reagan), are led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose "followers first gained attention by throwing acid on faces of women, who refused to wear veil." Six months later, the Soviet Union sends in troops to prop up the Afghan government.
1979-92: The US gives over $3 billion in arms and aid to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. CIA sets up training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan - some of the same "terrorist training camps" the US will bomb in 2001. Osama bin Laden and many others of today's Islamic Fundamentalist terrorist leaders are direct recipients of US aid and training. By 1992, more than a million Afghan people will have died, three million disabled, and five million made refugees, in total about half the population. The civil war continues to this day.
1979: Striking oil workers and students in Iran call for ousting the Shah, sparking a revolutionary uprising. The US tells Shah it supports him "without reservation" and urges him to violently crush protest, but Shah is overthrown.
1980: Iraq invades Iran. Though antagonistic to both countries, the US intervenes to promote and prolong the conflict, looking to weaken both regimes. US opposes UN resolution condemning Iraq's invasion, takes Iraq off its list of nations supporting terrorism, and allows US arms transfers to Saddam Hussein. The US urges Israel to arm Iran, and in 1985 the US secretly provides arms to Iran directly.
1982-83: Heavily-funded, armed, and backed by the US, Israel invades Lebanon. Over 17,000 civilians are massacred. US blocks several UN resolutions calling for an Israeli withdrawal. In 1983, US troops also land in Lebanon to intervene in the civil war.
1987: As Iran gets the upper hand in war with Iraq, the US moves to decisively back Iraq. A massive US armada in the Persian Gulf ensures arms deliveries to Iraq. When a US gunship shoots down an Iranian civilian airliner, killing 290 passengers, Vice President Bush says, "I will never apologise for America. I don't care what the facts are."
1985-90: The US showers Iraq with $billions in arms, loans and aid. After Saddam Hussein uses chemical weapons to murder thousands of the Kurdish opposition in Iraq, the Bush administration continues to license the sale of chemical weapons, and blocks UN initiatives to curb their use.
1990-1991: After Iraq invades Kuwait in 1990, the US launches Operation Desert Storm - the most aggressive, high-tech military campaign in the history of warfare. Severe economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by the UN. By UN estimates, the sanctions have cost over a million lives, half of them children. About 5,000 children die each month, mostly from malnutrition and treatable diseases. From the most economically advanced country in the region before the US attack, Iraq today is among the most destitute.
2001: Following the September 11th terrorist attacks, the US launches a war on Afghanistan, killing over 3,500 people. The US-led UN occupation of the country props up the US puppet, "democratic" regime of Karzai.
2003-now: The US-led "coalition of willing" invades Iraq on false pretext of Weapons of Mass Destruction; defeats Saddam Hussein; installs a "democratic" puppet regime; sectarian violence emerges leaving more than a million dead, mostly innocent civilians; living standards have fallen below that of Saddam's. The war is now expanded in Afghanistan, extended to Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria etc.
2006-now: Palestinians elect Hamas; under pressure from Israel, US and its allies encourage Mahmoud Abbas to throw Hamas out of West Bank government and Hamas is confined to Gaza; In 2009 Israel invades Gaza and causes indescribable deaths and destructions with US and its allies providing tacit support. Palestinians continue to pay the price for participating in democracy and electing Hamas.
1949-now: State of Israel is created and it pursues democracy, but its democracy does not allow participation of Arabs and/Palestinians who live in Israel. US and its allies ignore this lopsided democratic arrangement and on the contrary, consistently promote Israel's "democracy" as an unique initiative in non-democratic Middle East. Other democracies in the Middle East such as Egypt and Jordan are nothing but puppet regimes that consistently obstruct free and fair election and facilitate the Anglo-US-Israeli hegemonic agenda in the region.
Source (modified by the author): "A Brief History of the US interventions in the Middle East 1949-2002".
If these events are any guide, it is evident that far from promoting democracy the US and its allies had done just the opposite - they have destroyed democracy, especially those democratic movements that refused or challenged the Anglo-US hegemonic intents.
Past and more recent history also tells us that the US and its allies favour those kinds of democracies that accept and endorse their imperialist objectives - the present day "elected" governments of Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan are good examples of it.
To achieve long term stability, prosperity, equity and social justice every country must democratize.
Corruption, creeping into electoral processes and intrusion of lobby groups of the national and international vested interests etc. have made the election-only democracy an inadequate, if not a vulnerable institution, and at times a dangerous conduit for bartering national interests.
Some of the Latin American countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador etc. have understood the inadequacy and corrupting nature of the election-only model of democracy and consequently, embarked upon the most sweeping reforms to make democracy work for the people and, most importantly, rid it of the predatory influence of the vested interest groups.
Neither the US nor its allies, but it is these Latin American countries that offer the most desirable models of democracy in the world. Democratic nations - old, new and aspiring- must take leaf out of these democracy initiatives that tend to promote broad-based inclusion and genuine citizen participation in public governance and thus protect the national interest.
Hasina among most powerful
women in Asia
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been rated as the sixth most powerful woman in Asia as the US-based media giant CNN prepared an index of world's most influential women coinciding with the World Women's Day.
Hasina was named in the sixth place in the index while China-based Nine Dragons Paper Holdings' Zhang Yin topped the list India's PepsiCo chief executive Indra Nooyi scored the second position followed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi while others in the list were Singapore government- owned investment company Temasek chief executive Ho Ching (4), India's ICICI Bank head Chanda Kochhar (5), South Korean conglomerate Hyundai chairperson Hyun Jeong-eun (7) and Indonesian finance minister Sri Indrawati (8).
"As the world celebrates its 100th International Women's Day, we take a look at the key women who are shaping Asia's political and economic landscape," CNN said in a report.
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Women's movement to go a long way
Abdur Rahman Khan
Bangladesh has made a lot of improvements towards women's development during the past few decades but she is yet to ensure equal opportunities for the women in society.
"The nation is fortunate to have a woman Prime Minister, a woman Opposition leader, woman Foreign Minister, a woman Home Minister, a woman Agriculture Minister, and moreover 64 women MPs in the Jatiya Sangsad and a good number of women elected in the local government bodies. But we are unfortunate to see a girl committing suicide in eve teasing on the very week of international women's day", said Taleya Rehman, the founder executive director of the Democracy Watch.
Taking to the Holiday, Taleya Rehman appreciated the successive governments for formulating laws and taking initiatives to stop harassment and repression to women and also promote the causes of women in terms of education, health care, public representation and economic uplift.
Opportunities needed
"In spite of all these progress, the women do not enjoy equal opportunities in Bangladesh," she regretted and stressed that education, economic power and congenial social environment were essential to ensure equal opportunities for the women in a society.
Taleya Rehman who took active part in the great language movement of 1952 and the war of liberation in 1971 had earned wide reputation as a BBC broadcaster and social worker.
Taleya Rehman started her career as a teacher in 1957 and obtained her higher education from England. She took an early retirement from BBC in 1993 and returned to Bangladesh in 1995. She founded Democracy Watch to help strengthen democracy, establish democratic culture and develop young leadership with special emphasis to women. She also carried out life-skill development programme for the educated youths preparing them for job market. To this day, she trained over 25,000 youths. At least half of them are now better employed in their jobs.
Feminist movement
During her stay in England since early 1970s, Taleya had the opportunity to take part in many programmes organised for the women and by the women. It was a time when women's liberation movement was gaining popularity and support in British society. The feminist movement might have done some excess on some occasions, but it was essential to establish equal rights for women in the society.
She believes that the British women could achieve the equal opportunities in their society because of the political will and decision of their government. In the West, it is now established that no public occasion can be celebrated without participation of women. All social issues and problems are discussed with representatives of the women.
Taleya Rehman observed that Bangladesh had achieved success on women's issues due the sustained campaign and advocacy programmes carried out by the government and nongovernmental organizations and various women groups. "But she will have to walk a long way to reach the goal of equality". Taleya said adding, mere enacting a law or placing a women in a policy making position would not ensure equal rights and opportunities. She must be given proper education, training and the skills to avail the opportunities in the society.
She stressed that the very change in the mentality and attitude towards girls should be made at family level first. It is encouraging that almost equal number of girls are getting entry to primary education but the exit is much lower to boys. According to her observation, it was a wrong practice to withdraw a girl first from school in any problem in her family. The society also creates many hostilities against a girl obstructing completion of her education even despite the family's positive support.
Mrs Rehman stressed for priority on girls' education asking the local government and the administration to address the problem of dropouts of girls at school level.
The male members in the society and the boy child in a family also should be sensitized to ensure equal treatment and rights and dignity for girls and women.
She suggested to establish at least one university for the girls at the divisional headquarters and equal number of cadet colleges for the girls. She appreciated the recent decision of the home ministry to put women police in UN contingents and demanded recruitment of more women in the armed forces.
Recruitment policy
Mrs. Rehman also suggested the government to recruit equal number of women in public cadres service with equal treatment in awarding benefit, promotion and posting in government service.
Referring to success of many women in challenging jobs, in our society, Taleya said "unless you give opportunities, how can you expect good performance from a women executive or women leader".
Equal rights
Taleya Rehman also strongly voiced in favour of formulating law giving women equal rights to family property. Without economic power a woman can not retrieve due benefits from the social system, she said.
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