HC ruling mute about changing Constitution

M. Shahidul Islam

The much feared doom and gloom is almost over, and the hurriedly convening of a committee to amend the Constitution may prove as putting the cart before the horses. The parliamentary committee not only predated the release of the copy of the High Court (HC) ruling from which the rationality to amend the Constitution is supposed to be derived, the ruling itself seems to have rendered that necessity 'redundant'; its main preoccupation being with the Martial Law Regulation V11 of 1977, which got validated in conjunction with other post - August- 1975 proclamations and orders.
   This has left the government and its committee adrift. Besides, as feared, the ruling is marred by poor juridical arguments, irreconcilable contradictions and conspicuous political biases. It also seems devoid of the contextual reality that had necessitated the coming into force of the Fifth Amendment itself. Upon reading the full text of the ruling, which got released on July 28, one finds it carrying no inkling of the necessity to amend the Constitution, and, its interpretation of the validity of the Fifth Amendment centring largely on overcoming a legal hurdle posed by a complicated civil litigation.
   
   Constitutional relevance
   The ruling's encompassing of constitutional relevance was narrated in PART XXXIV that stated, "The Petitioner No.1 is a Company and the Petitioner No.2 is its Managing Director. Apparently, they have no special interest in the Constitution of Bangladesh or its legal history. They are, however, very much interested in their own properties, namely, the premises at 11 Wiseghat and 12 Wiseghat. Initially both the properties were declared abandoned...., the petitioners successfully challenged the order declaring the said property as abandoned. The High Court Division in Writ Petition No. 67 of 1976 not only declared the impugned order illegal but also directed the respondents to hand over the possession of the same in favour of the petitioners within 60 (sixty) days. But the said Order of the High Court Division was not carried out on the plea of bar created by MLR VII of 1977. The petitioners unsuccessfully filed contempt petitions and ultimately those were withdrawn in 1994 (p-327). Since in the face of MLR VII of 1977, even the orders of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court could not be executed to the prejudice of the petitioners, they were aggrieved. ....In this manner, the petitioners were prejudiced and remained so by MLR VII of 1977 but they were unable to challenge it because MLR VII of 1977 was firstly, validated with all other Proclamations, MLRs and MLOs, by paragraph 3A to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, inserted by Proclamations (Amendment) Order, 1977 (Proclamations Order No.1 of 1977). Secondly, MLR VII of 1977 along with all Proclamations MLRs, MLOs, were again ratified, confirmed and validated by Paragraph 18 to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. This paragraph 18 was added by amendment of the Fourth Schedule by Section 2 of the Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act, 1979 (Act No. 1 of 1979). This Act was published in the Bangladesh Gazette Extra-ordinary on April 06, 1979. Although this is no public interest litigation but in order to reach MLR VII of 1977, in the turn of the 21st Century, the petitioners in the instant Rule challenged the ratification and confirmation of MLR VII of 1977 and Proclamations (Amendment) Order, 1977 (Proclamation Order No. 1 of 1977) with regard to insertion of the aforesaid paragraph 3A to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution by the aforementioned paragraph 18 of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution, added by the Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act, 1979 (Act No. 1 of 1979). (p-328, ruling)."
   
   Poor rationalization
   That notwithstanding, the legal forte of the ruling to have beaconed the necessity of a Constitutional amendment was lost in the charade of obfuscation and the discerned lack of resoluteness; it having condoned the acts emanating from the MLOs and the MLRs during the statutory period while concluding in a sweeping manner that the Fifth Amendment itself was 'illegal', as if the two were not the Siamese Twain they were crafted to be. The fundamental difference between a ruling and a verdict is that the latter is considered to have generated from an exhaustive finding based on evidence and probation, making it mandatory upon the parties to comply with and act upon, mostly in criminal matters. The lack of any such probative inferences has eluded this ruling the required authority to impose upon the legislation any binding onus to affect changes to the Constitution. And, due to the manner in which the ruling's scope was identified and the reasons elaborated-why a serious constitutional matter had to be dealt with in a secluded civil litigation-the necessity to amend the Constitution did not become a prerequisite to redressing the grievances of the aggrieved party, which the court intended. More so, even if one interprets the ruling as a decree of some sort, one finds it colliding head on with other laws; due to its disjointed conclusions, unjustified assertions and many unempirical postulations stampeding upon previous rulings made by courts of competent jurisdiction on the same subject matter.
   The main thrust of the ruling is its assertion that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution is 'illegal'. That assertion is based on a rationale which stated: "From a plain reading of the meanings of the words 'amendment' and 'amended', given by a number of authorities (mentioned above), it is crystal clear that however wide meaning we give, the words 'ratification', 'confirmation' appearing in the sub-title of the Paragraph 18 to the Fourth Schedule of Constitution, would not come within the ambit of the words 'amendment' or 'amended' in Article 142. ..........This insertion of Paragraph 18 is anything but an amendment of the Constitution, rather, this paragraph was thrust into the Fourth Schedule in an effort to legalise what was the most illegal activities of the usurpers and dictators who ruled Bangladesh during the period from August 15, 1975 to April 9, 1979" (p-316). That hardly cuts the ice. An amendment is an amendment, call it by any name. This post-fact political phenomenon shall not be equated with the case of a criminal investigation needing dead corpse's exhumation. It involves our lives gone by, and can not be fully retrieved.
   Besides, ignoring the backdrop under which the Fifth Amendment came into force, the ruling stated: "Thus an amendment corrects errors of commission or omission, modifies the system without fundamentally changing its nature - that is an amendment operates within the theoretical parameters of the existing Constitution. But a proposal that would attempt to transform a central aspect of the nature of the compact and create some other kind of system - that to take an extreme example, tried to change a constitutional democracy into a totalitarian state - would not be an amendment at all, but re-creation, a re-forming, not merely of the covenant but also of the people themselves. That deed would lie beyond the scope of the authority of any governmental body or set of bodies, for they are all creatures of the Constitution and the peoples' agreement."
   
   Bias & contradictions
   Based on such an analysis, what could have justified the rationality and the legality of the Third (enacting Special Powers Act of 1974) and the Fourth Amendments (imposing one-party rule) which snatched away the fundamental rights of the people and changed the Constitution structurally? The ruling also invoked precedents that contradict with what it espoused. It stated: "In disposing of this Rule, we kept in our mind what A.T.M. Afzal, J. (as his Lordship then was) aptly observed in Anwar Hossain Chowdhury's case 1989 BLD (Spl.)1 at para 491, page 181. In answering the ultimate question involved in these cases i.e. scope of the Parliament's power of amendment of the Constitution, the Court's only function is to examine dispassionately the terms of the Constitution and the law..... Neither politics, nor policy of the government nor personalities have any relevance for examining the power of the Parliament under the Constitution which has to be done purely upon an interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution with the help of legal tools."
   That implies that the mandate of the judiciary is not to preoccupy with what the legislation has adopted into law, but to interpret and put it into the right perspective. The court seems to have laboured upon interpreting a number of provisions of statutes, orders, proclamations, regulations and ordinances, albeit in the most disjointed manner, but it ended up with little convincing and sound legal conclusions. Instead, it preferred hurling partisan invectives at the other party by stating, "The Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act, 1979, was enacted by the Second Parliament. As an Act of Parliament, generally it is inviolable, unless the Amendment sought to destroy the basic structure of the Constitution itself. As such, it was necessary to examine the subject matters of the amendment. In order to understand and appreciate the real purpose, it was found necessary to lift the veil of enactment and examine the pith and substance of the amending Act; This amending Act, inserted Paragraph 18 to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. The said Paragraph 18 sought to ratify, confirm and validate all Martial Law Proclamations, Martial Law Regulations and Martial Law Orders and also all actions taken under those provisions in a sweeping and omnibus manner without specifying any particular provision or provisions and actions. We have examined some of those in order to find out the real face and the purpose of those Proclamations etc. But for our purpose, it was not necessary to examine all the Proclamations, MLRs and MLOs. Even if one of those is found to destroy the basic structure of the Constitution, the amendment would be illegal since it is inseparable" (p-330).
   Why then the ruling separates the Proclamations and the Orders from the very acts they had given birth to and condones the latter? Besides, many other contradictions seemed to have invalidated this core assertion of the ruling too. In one breath, the ruling says it was not necessary to examine all the MLRs and MLOs, while stating clearly in another segment that, "We have already found that all the Proclamations, MLRs and MLOs were issued in total violation of the Constitution and all those provisions were grossly illegal. This was not, obviously, unknown to the rulers of the day. As such, in their predicament, in order to hide their acts of violation of the Constitution, they further disgraced the Constitution by inserting Paragraph 18 to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, and ratified, confirmed and validated all those Proclamation etc, incorporating in the said paragraph. This whole process of amendment was engineered in order to hide the illegalities committed by the dictators" (P-317).
   
   Referendum needed
   Despite such starkly contrasting, politically - biased observations, the ruling maintains: "But as a matter of fact, if the pertinent provisions are illegal, those shall remain so, no matter whether those are thrust into the Constitution or not. If the relevant provisions are legal and beneficial to the community, those need not be appended to the Constitution; such provisions remain valid on its own right, since those would be the expressions of the free will of the sovereign people." Did the judiciary leave to the legislation to infer what constituted free will of the people and what did not? Is that the reason why the PM is saying the proposed amendment will not change the words like 'In the name of Allah' which got inserted into the preamble to the Constitution?
   Be that whatever, the court has uprooted the entire celestial body while its intent perhaps was to pluck a star, so said our founding Editor, late Enayetullah Khan, following the HC ruling's maiden promulgation in late 2005. The ruling also accused the legislation of craftiness in devising the Fifth Amendment and stated: "In this connection it should be noted that by the Second Proclamation (Fifteenth Amendment) Order, 1978 (Second Proclamation Order No. IV of 1978), clause (1A), clause (1B) and clause (1C) were added to Article 142 of the Constitution. Clause 1A provides that when any Bill is passed providing for amendment of the Preamble or any of the provisions of Article 8, 48, 56, 58, 80, 92A or Article 142 is presented to the President for assent, he would cause it to be referred to a referendum the question whether the said Bill should or should not be assented to. This addition of clause (1A) was very craftily made. In one hand the President and the Chief Martial Law Administrator was not only merrily making all the amendments in the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh according to his own whims and caprices by his Orders which would have envied James I and Charles I in early 17th Century, but at the same time, made provision in Article 142 itself in such a manner so that the amended provisions can not be changed even by the two-third majority members of the Parliament short of a referendum."
   
   Doctrine of necessity
   The current AL administration derives it authority from the quintessential 'doctrine of necessity', having won an election that was deferred for over 24 months in violation of the Constitutional stipulations. Yet, the most sloppy aspect of the ruling was its dealing of the 'doctrine of necessity' which is what stood at the centre of the declaration of Martial Law in August 1975, though it did not fail to take into cognizance the various brands of Martial Laws mentioned in the respondent's arguments, one of which referred to the (Martial) law that relates to and arises out of a situation in which the Civil power is unable to maintain law and order and the Military power is used to meet force and recreate conditions of peace and tranquillity in which the Civil power can re-assert its authority. "The Martial Law Regulations and Martial Law Orders passed under this type of Martial Law must be germane only to the restoration of peace and tranquillity and induced during the period of unrest," the ruling concurred.
   Precisely so was the case during the statutory period from August 1975 to April 1979, and the same argument derailed constitutional governance and the election in early 2007. The Constitution does have the provision to declare emergency, but it offers no mandate to anyone to defer elections indefinitely, unless the doctrine of necessity is used as the rationale to do so. If the doctrine of necessity can be justifiable in 2007, what was so wrong about invoking it in 1975 when the nation faced the most gruesome spectacle of becoming a failed state? And, what is the big fuss about the Fifth Amendment which simply strove to restore normalcy following the seemingly endless chaos and anarchy left by the preceding regime?

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Sadeq Khan

Sheikh Hasina's government has suddenly got busy pursuing a number of tricky targets. Its propaganda barrage over those targets has all at once briskly begun to be translated into 'direct action.' Such actions are of no consequence to the suffering public whose overwhelming preoccupation now is to obtain relief from the curse of multiple jeopardy. High on the list of perils encumbering civic order are proliferating extortion rackets at all levels of society and coercive practices of both law-enforcement agents and ruling party cadres.
   People are terribly insecure. Creeping rise of prices of commodities add to that sense of insecurity, and to labour unrest in the biggest sector of employment, garments manufacture. Inadequate and ill-managed infrastructure has brought private investments to a halt, and development expenditure of the government has become rigged by either indifference or infighting over who can pluck out how much spoils from the budget. There is no work for the newcomers entering the labour market from population growth, the unemployed invariably getting sucked into crime spiral.
   Government inattention or misdirection in external relations is resulting in severe losses and lapses of our labour market in Arab countries, giving way to Indian, Pakistani, Philippino or Vietnamese job-seekers. On top of all these troubles are the daily torments of recurrent power cuts, water and gas supply shortages, jams in road or river transportation all over the country, and the ordeals of climate change, flash floods, gathering storms, fluvial obstructions, and other natural or man-made disasters, in our precariously active delta lands as well as in higher table lands which are slowly being desertified by loss of ground water from upstream river-diversions.
   The government appears not to care about all these 'mundane' matters. The Prime Minister and her ministers and advisers travel a lot to make sure that her government is heard and seen to be faithfully serving some external powers and their broad interests in the regional matrix. Her internal public relations and publicity gimmick also appears geared to enhance the same impression abroad. She has stopped straining to be heard by her people or to hear their hackneyed complaints. She has left that task to very few quiet and conscientious junior colleagues in the cabinet. Or may be on their own initiative these very few persons in the government try to attend to people's problems and do some good work, while others engage in blusters, do nothing at all or obstruct work by trivialities.
   Sheikh Hasina's government, nevertheless, is patently intent on planned macro-management of some targets at home. Indeed the government collectively appears to be in a hurry to implement those targeted programmes. Four of them are on the priority list, and some reports in vernacular newspapers suggest that the time frame fixed for them is December this year. These four are: (1) implementation of infrastructure-building for multi-modal transit via Ashuganj riverport to Agartala in the Indian state of Tripura for heavy Indian cargo; (2) speedy trial and exemplary punishment of four Jamaat leaders in the special war crimes court; (3) speedy trial and execution of some BDR mutineers on the basis of CID final report on "the crimes of but not the politics behind" Peelkhana massacre; and (4) amendment of the constitution in its present form to go back to its 1972 structure in the light of a High Court judgment.
   Of these tasks, the first one appears to be proceeding without a hitch so far, although some people wonder whether in practice the reportedly agreed provision of exclusion of Bangladesh's own traffic from the Ashuganj-Agartala road-under-construction, during the passage of heavy Indian industrial cargo, will have adverse repercussions on the local public as well as the national psyche. On the second target, while the prosecution appears to be going ahead with speed and determination, murmurs of caution are being heard from within the ruling party (including a ministerial gaffe) and from foreign governments and observers, particularly about maintaining international standards of evidence and rights of defence in the trial.
   Some rights of the accused are denied by the first amendment of our constitution, which still stands. Other rights as defined in the UN formulation of the International War Crimes Court (crimes against humanity) may be difficult to ensure under our law for trial of international crimes as enacted and revised. But the concern of the ruling party malcontents on the issue arises mainly out of concern that revelations bound to be brought out by defence during the trial might hurt the Awami League itself and many members of the government, apart from the chaos that may disturb social harmony by "witchunt" from selfish motives to victimise fake "war-criminals".
   Similar concerns by some in the ruling circles are being quietly expressed about the third agenda, i.e. the BDR mutineers' trial. While the national media has relegated the issue to a backburner, some internet communicators are continuing to generate heat questioning the fidelity of the CID report and the evasion of "political/geopolitical connections" involved in the gruesome massacre of army officers. What concerns some astute minds, in the ruling party is the fear that revelation during the trial brought out by the defence might seriously compromise persons in the room at the top and belie the ruling party position on the issue. They advise a go-slow approach for the trial. And possibly it is on the advice of some who fear adverse reactions over both war crimes trial and the Peelkhana massacre trial that Sheikh Hasina's government adopted the fourth agenda of revision of the Constitution as a diversion.
   Some neutral observers derive that conclusion from the fact that the Prime Minister may have intentionally muddled the issue by calling for an all-party parliamentary committee to draft constitutional amendments and then naming a committee filled with her grand alliance members of parliament. One seat was kept vacant for BNP, other small party presence in the House on the fence or on the opposition bench was ignored. There was furore in political as well as civil society circles outside the parliament, recalling how unilaterally the 1972 constitution was imposed by the-then brute majority of the Awami League. The Prime Minister and the Chairman of the parliamentary committee for law, judiciary and parliamentary affairs stoked further controversy by contradictory statements about qualified being revived of the 1972 structure of the Constitution and about how "BNP-Jamaat politics" would be disabled by "amendments in the light of the High Court ruling." The Opposition saw the spectre of a multi-party facade of BAKSAL revival in the grand alliance's constitutional review exercise. BNP demanded equal seats with Awami League to join that exercise. Jamaat has been left in the lurch, with its senior leaders in jail under unbailable indictment.
   In the mean time, however, the Supreme Court Appellate Division review of the High Court judgment reversing the Fifth Amendment has been signed at last and made public. The Supreme Court's observations have busted the smokescreen of furore over the constitutional amendment exercise of the ruling elite, if the exercise was designed to obfuscate fall-outs from particularly the trial of Peelkhana mutiny and massacre. The Constitution stands amended with the 1972 structure revived, as soon as the Supreme Court Appellate Division verdict is signed, sealed and publicly decreed, opined Dr. Kamal Hossain. That opinion may be contradicted by Barrister Rafiq-ul Haque, who said the High Court Division of the Supreme Court only made observations and interpretations ruling the application of the Fifth Amendment in the matter under its adjudication, which does not amount to constitutional amendment. Whatever course the National Assembly may adopt now (the Supreme Court verdict by unambiguous condemnation of military intervention in the constitutional process endorsed the inherent power of the parliament to enact punishment of those who enforce Martial Law), it is doubtful as contemporary happenings around the globe attest that revolts and uprisings can be ruled out by wishful verdicts if the constitutional process fails to serve people's needs and secure their welfare and prosperity.

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Special Correspondent

Multitude of people from all walks of life bade, amidst tears of love and admiration, the last farewell to their beloved leader in Dhaka and Shibpur in Narsingdi district.
   A valiant freedom fighter, national political leader and former BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan was laid to eternal rest on Tuesday last.
   Mr Bhuiyan had been suffering from lung cancer since long and breathed his last at 12:01 am at the Square Hospital at the age of 67.
   Bhuiyan was admitted to Square Hospitals with breathlessness on July 7. He was on life-support system due to his inability to breathe normally.
   Earlier, the ailing politician had undergone treatment at the Critical Care Unit (CCU) in Singapore National University Hospital. He had been given chemotherapy eight times. Seven of the eight chemotherapy sessions were administered at Singapore, including the last one, after which the politician became unable to breathe normally.
   The former local government minister was flown back to the country on an air ambulance from Singapore, where he went on May 31 for treatment.
   
   Thousands at funeral
   Abdul Mannan Bhuiya was laid to eternal rest, as per his last wish, at his family graveyard at Masimpur in Shibpur. Freedom Fighter Bhuiyan was laid to rest at about 6:45 pm with gun salute by a team of district police.
   Thousands of people including common villagers, men and women and his comrades-in-arms from all over the district and political followers from different parts of the country gathered at Shaheed Asad Government College ground in Shibpur where the last Janaza was offered after the Asr prayer.
   Earlier, ministers, MPs, leaders and workers of different political parties, and cross-section of people attended the first Namaz-e-Janazas at the south plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban and second at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.
   
   Political career
   Bhuiyan was born on Mar 1, 1943 at Narshingdi. He completed his school education from Narshingdi's Shibpur School and got his intermediate level education from Narsingdi College.
   Bhuiyan completed his bachelors (Honours) and masters' degree in history from Dhaka University. He also secured bachelor of law (LLB) degree from Dhaka University.
   He took to politics in his college days. He was a member of the then Communist Party's student wing Chhatra Union.
   
   GS of EPSU
   In 1962, Bhuiyan was one of the chief coordinators of East Pakistan Chhatra Union (EPSU) in the anti-Ayub movement. In 1964 he was elected the organising secretary of the student organisation. Only two years later, he became the general secretary of the EPSU.
   In the meantime, he was elected a member of the executive committee of Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) in 1965.
   Around the same time, after being inspired by Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, he became involved in the politics of National Awami Party (NAP).
   He was an active freedom fighter in the 1971 War of Liberation from Pakistan. Under his leadership Shibpur Thana area was declared a 'liberated zone' and carried out armed struggle against the Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators.
   The war over, Bhuiyan sowed the seed for the farmers' movement of NAP later on, by forming the Krishak Shamiti (Farmer's Association) at Narsinghdi.
   Around 1976 - 1977, Bhuiyan along with a group of NAP members moved out of NAP and formed the United People's Party (UPP).
   
   BNP's secretary general
   Bhuiyan was BNP's secretary general for 11 years and served as the minister for Jute, Labour and LGRD and cooperatives during two terms of the BNP government.
   In 1980, at the request of BNP's founder and former President Ziaur Rahman, Bhuiyan joined the party and was assigned with the responsibility of organizing the farmers' wing of the BNP.
   During the period of anti-autocratic movement against Ershad regime in 1981, Bhuiyan had performed the critical tasks as one of the three members of BNP's liaison committee maintaining close communication with other parties engaged in the movement.
   He was made the BNP's joint secretary general in 1983. In 1996, BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia made Bhuiyan the secretary general of the party.
   Bhuiyan was BNP's Secretary General for 11 years and served as the LGRD and cooperatives minister of the BNP-led government.
   He was expelled from the BNP on Sep 3, 2007 for 'siding with the reformists', just before party chief Khaleda Zia was arrested during the Caretaker Government.
   In a notification letter on his expulsion, Khaleda said that amid the emergency and the ban on politics, Bhuiyan had held meetings with the so-called 'reformists', formed various personal opinions on party reforms and internal matters of the party, which he had then shared with the media without the approval of the council, standing committee and the chairperson.
   
   Khaleda condoles
   The BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday mourned the death of the party's former secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and said his demise left a void in the country's political arena.
   ''His death has created a vacuum in the country's political arena,'' Khaleda said in a condolence message.
   In a tribute to her former party colleague, Khaleda said, ''Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan established himself in the national politics by dint of hard work and dedication since his student life." She also described Bhuiyan, who was a freedom fighter, as a fearless politician.
   Khaleda expressed her sympathies to his family and prayed for the salvation of the departed soul.
   
   Political leaders pay tributes
   Leaders of different political parties paying tributes to late Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said he was a man of principle and dignity and sagacious politician.
   Ruling Awami League leader and Chief Whip Abdus Shahid said Mannan Bhuiyan was not only a good man but good politician and good parliamentarian.
   He made the remarks after placing floral wreath at the coffin of Bhuiyan on behalf of the Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina and Speaker Abdul Hamid at the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban after the first Namaz-e-Janaza of Bhuiyan.
   BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain after attending the Janaza at Baitul Mokarram national mosque told reporters that Mannan Bhuiyan is now above everything on his journey to the afterworld.
   BNP standing committee member Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman termed Mannan Bhuiyan as a politician with sagacity. His absence will create a political void in the country.
   M K Anwar MP, senior leader and BNP standing committee member, said Mannan Bhuiyan was an honest politician with principle.
   Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon said Mannan Bhuiyan was a progressive and democratic-minded politician. The nation will recall him for his contribution.
   JSD president Hasanul Huq Inu MP said Mannan Bhuiyan was a heroic freedom fighter and front ranking leader of progressive and anti-autocratic movements.

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Shamsuddin Ahmed

New Delhi alerted the worst Maoist-hit states as the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) observes the 'martyrs week' July 28 - August 3. West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Maharashtra state governments have been asked to tighten security of public places and rail lines. More than one lakh special police and paramilitary forces are deployed in these states to combat the rising Maoists, said to have posed the gravest internal security threat to India. Government admits 40,000 sq km area of 'red corridor' stretching from Bihar to Orissa is under the Maoist control where authority of the government is absent.
   Maoist party observes the 'martyrs' week' to protest the shooting down in custody its spokesman Chemkuri Rajkumar alias Azad by Andhra Pradesh police and atrocities of the joint forces. Maoist leader Kishenji has vowed to avenge the killing of Azad.
   As the Maoist challenge was worsening, Home Minister P. Chidambaram approached Swami Agnivesh, human right leader, to mediate for a ceasefire with Maoists. Accordingly, he talked to the Maoist leaders who nominated Azad to negotiate. In the process he had talked by phone with Swami from which security personnel tracked him. Azad was arrested on July 2 and shot dead. Swami felt guilty who said, "I could not help thinking it was because of his contact with me that he was tracked and killed." He met with Chidambaram and demanded judicial inquiry. But Chidambaram gave Swami to understand that 'you don't talk to Maoists, you simply kill them'
   
   ULFA cautioned
   The cold blooded murder of Azad has cautioned the ULFA which is long fighting for independence of Assam from India. Its leader Arabindu Rajkhowa now in Assam jail responded to the government offer for peace talks and the process advanced. ULFA publicity cell in an e-mail message to Rajkhowa on July 24 reminded the killing of Azad and warned him against peace talks. Fighting ULFA commanders apprehend that peace talk offer is a conspiracy to net and kill them as was done to Maoist leader Azad.
   Operation Green Hunt launched late last year to combat the Maoist has triggered a lot of controversy. Ruling Congress Party general secretary Digvijay Sngh criticized Chidambaram for taking to "hawkish internal security line." His proposal for deploying army against the Maoist faced serious criticism from within the ruling elite, human right bodies and section of intellectuals. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his apparent softened attitude is now talking of holistic measures for millions of deprived adivasis, tribal people and untouchables who stood behind the Maoist. Recently he announced allocation of $1 billion to help the poor and develop the Maoist affected areas.
   It is probable that New Delhi has been moved by the woes of the tribe members and atrocities perpetrated on them by the joint forces in the name of killing Maoists as reflected in spot reports by a section of the media and the awful condition of the tribal people narrated by human right leaders after visiting the areas.
   
   Sexual assault protested
   ANI (India) reported on July 25 that more than 10,000 women along with their young daughters under the banner of Nari Izzat Bachao Committee squatted in front of office of SDO, Jhargram in West Bengal. They lodged a complaint with SDO against CRPF troops of sexually assaulting them. Coming from 50 villages they said the joint forces raped many of them and their young daughters. There was none to listen to their grievances. SDO C. Murugan said the distressed women filed mass petition to him on July 24 against the torture of joint forces and rape of women in villages they raid in search of the Maoists.

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Fazle Rashid in New York

Despite British website WikLeaks damning report on war in Afghanistan which said that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has been arming, training and funding the Taliban for years, the US House Representative approved an additional fund of $59 billion for financing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
   ISI official in Pakistan dismissed the report as "fiction" stating the leak documents were inconclusive and one-sided. The Obama administration has also poured cold water on the report by questioning its veracity. Our on-going commitment to deepen our partnership with Afghanistan and Pakistan would not be affected, US national security adviser Jim Jones was quoted as saying. The Pentagon is investigating the sources of the leaks.
   President Obama said there was nothing new in the leakage. Senator John McCain, President Obama's challenger in the last president election, denounced the leaks. Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the documents covered the period from 2004 to 2009. Much has changed since then particularly with respect to our focus and strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said.
   Western countries agree that aid has been wasted in the past and have pledged to improve coordination between army, civilian agencies and the UN to ensure funds are spent effectively, the Financial Times in a report said. Nato allies meeting at an international conference in Kabul last week agreed to raise the proportion of aid flow through the government to 50 percent from present 20 percent. Afghan government has lamented the fact that 77 percent of $29 billion aid ploughed into the country since 2001 has been disbursed on projects with little or no Afghan participation.
   Afghanistan government has been dogged by the unbridled corruption. Meanwhile Lt. Gen.(retired) Hamid Gul, former chief of ISI, hit back at allegations that he supported the Taliban. The US is trying to make him a scapegoat to cover its failures in the war. His allegations that US government had played a role in the huge breach of classified documents will be well received in Pakistan where anti-US sentiment is running high. I am a favourite whipping boy of America he said adding it would be an abiding shame that 74 year old general living a retired life manipulating the Mujaheedins to defeat America, the newspaper said
   Gen Gul was a key person in the campaign backed by CIA to fight the Soviet army in Afghanistan in the 80s. You cannot snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, he said. Pakistan say leaks do not hold water because the country would be worst suffer if the US fails to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan.

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Nepal fails to elect PM

Special Correspondent

Nepalese politicians appear to be loosing respects of the people after failing twice to reach a consensus to elect a prime minister in the parliament. The third round is now set for August 2. Diplomats and political analysts in Kathmandu believe that none of the contenders will be able to master support of the majority in the 601-member house.
   Even the laymen in Kathmandu understand that New Delhi is pulling the string from behind for it does not want loose the age old political and economic clout over the landlocked country. Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda and Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel are contending for the post of prime minister.
   Prachanda with his party strength of 237 and Poudel with his party's strength of 113 failed to master the support of 300 members of parliament in the voting. UML with 109 and Madeshi Janadhikar Forum, a combine of 4 parties with 83 members abstained from voting. UML chairman Jalanath Khanal stood firm against formation of majority government. Stressing for a consensus government with two-thirds majority he rightly argues that mere majority government will never be able to resolve the tricky problems and adopt a constitution for the new republic.
   Khanal, known as half Maoist, and Maoist second Dr Babu Ram Bhattari have called for forging unity of all communists to reach consensus to establish communist rule in the country. But it is unlikely in the near future, for New Delhi does not want Maoist government on its north. It is already fighting the dreaded Maoists in its own soil.
   UML is sharply divided between the Maoists faction led by Khanal and pro-Indian centrist led by caretaker prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and K P Oli both are branded as New Delhi show boys.
   Madhesi Janadhikar Forum is also sharply divided. Former Maoist Upenddra Yadav faction seeks unity of communists while Jay Prakash Gupta faction favours democratic alliance with Nepali Congress and election of its candidate Poudel as prime minister.
   Latest report available from Kathmandu said Madhesi Forum on July 28 announced it would take part in the election of prime minister on August 2. Maoist contender Prachanda has assured of addressing all the Madhesi demands except autonomous Madhes State with right to self-determination.
   Observers say Jay Prakash faction and some other smaller parties are under the influence of New Delhi. Without the total support Madhesi Forum and in the absence of UML from voting, none of the candidates Prachanda or Poudel will secure vote of magic number of 300.
   Meanwhile, observers say China's pressure on the left parties of Nepal is increasing. Chinese Minister for Public Security Chen Zhimin while meeting Nepalese officials in Kathmandu on July 27 said that her country favoured a government based on consensus of major political parties. He said anti-China activities in Nepali soil are not acceptable to them. Activities in the name of religion and human rights in Nepal have posed threats to China as well as instability in the region.

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Our Correspondent in New York

The America-Bangladesh-Canada Convention (ABCC) drew the attention of the nonresident Bangladeshis (NRBs) living particularly in North America this year. The convention which was held on July 17 and 18, 2010 at the Merry Luis Academy of New York, was attended by many Bangladeshi luminaries living in New York. NRBs of Europe and Middle East also participated in this convention. People from all walks of life thronged the venue which was packed for two days and was a source of exchange of opinions among the Bangladeshis.
   Osman Siddique, former US Ambassador to Brunei from Washington D.C, Poet Shahid Quaderi, from New York, Sector Commander during the Liberation War Maj. Gen. (Retd) C.R Dutta, Fazle Rashid, former President of the National Press Club of Dhaka, Fazal M.Kamal former Editor of the Weekly Holiday and the Bangladesh Times, Dr Ali Reaz, Dr Mahfuzur Rahman, Sabir Mostafa from BBC Bangla Service, Shafiq Rehman, Editor of Jai Jai Din, Sarkar Kabir and Rokeya Haider of the VOA, Dr Adil, a hydro-engineer from Arkansas, Singer Mostafa Zama Abbasi and Asma Abbasi, local political leaders of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Mahabubur Rob Saadi foremer JSD leader from Sylhet, journalist Moinuddin Naser, North America Correspondent of the Holiday and many others joined this unique get-together of the Bangladeshis. The main organizing institution of this convention was the Weekly Thikana, the largest circulated Bengali Weekly newspaper, outside Bangladesh. President of the newspaper Sayeed Ur Rob was the Chairman of the ABC Convention, while Labloo Ansar, executive editor of the Thikana, was the chief coordinator.
   When most of the Bangladeshi organizations in the USA are divided and particularly the Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA) has lost its charm and appeal to the audiences, the ABC convention has become an attractive convention to the Bangladeshis living in the USA.
   David A Paterson, Governor of the State of New York, Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, Congressman Gary Ackerman of New York, Congressman Bill Pascrell Junior of New Jersey, Congressman Yvette D Clarke of New York, Comptroller of the City of New York John Liu in their messages congratulated the Bangladeshis who organized ABCC.
   The two-day long convention discussed various issues the Bangladeshis are confronting now at home and abroad. The issues are a) How far the government is sincere in using investment and wisdom of the expatriates b) Role of the government and opposition in developing healthy politics and protecting human rights C) Conflict among new generation over culture and process of overcoming it. D) Role of media in flourishing democracy. E) Role of Socio-cultural organizations in the welfare of the community F) Role of the information technology in this present globalization F) Conflict in family life at abroad and way of its remedy G) How far Bangladesh is ready in protecting environment H) Whether appropriate evaluation is being done regarding practice of Bengali in New York. An attractive program of the convention was to honor Poet Shahid Quaderi.

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Private banks make big difference

Shamsul Huda

Keeping abreast with the global technological development, Dhaka's banking sector has come a long way to be at par with the global standard, said Mr. MA Hashem, Chairman of the United Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL), in an interview with the Holiday.
   Before emergence of the private commercial banks, the state-owned banks' handling of international business was not satisfactory. The entrepreneurs were facing multifarious problems, specially in opening letters of credits (L/Cs) and monetary transactions, and the banking sector lacked the diversified products of investment that now it has developed.
   "After the emergence of the private commercial banks, the whole scenario began to change with a touch of creativity in every sphere of banking - capital raising, fund disbursement, deposit policy, interest rate," said Hashem who is also the Chairman of the Partex Group, a major conglomerate.
   "At present channeling funds to the export sector is spurring the economic activities by fetching huge foreign currency earnings and strengthening the central bank reserves.
    "The competitive banking scenario that we see now could have been different, if only the state-owned banks existed," he said.
   He said money making is not the only target of the banks. They are helping create employment opportunities by providing loans to agriculture, cottage, small and big manufacturing industries, and thus helping bring about big socio-economic changes.
   Turning to the quality of banking service, he said, "A tough business competition has developed in the local banking sector. Consumers are getting quality services at low costs. The government is also earning a huge amount of revenue from the financial sector."
   UCBL now has more than Tk 100 billion in deposit. The bank is moving ahead abiding by all rules set by the country's central bank. During the current year this bank's profit would be more than Tk 5 billion and next year the amount is likely to further increase to about Tk 7 billion or more, he said with an air of confidence.
   "So I think the private banks are being helpful, and the people are increasingly taking loans from banks for investment in their respective businesses and thus aiding the growth of the banking sector," he said.
   All the merchant banks, leasing companies and other financial institutions are competing with each other in providing services to the businesspeople and their clients.
   However, he said, some changes are needed in rules and regulations concerning the financial institutions. About the existing interest rate on deposit, he said, it should be lowered to at least six per cent. The depositors of 'illegally-earned money' are more benefited than the real entrepreneurs, as they are getting double income from their 'ill-gotten money'.
   On the overall impact of global recession on Bangladesh, he said the industrial sector was affected a bit like other least developed countries (LDCs) around the world during that period. Bangladesh's export items are cheaper than many of the developing countries.
   The economy has recovered from the aftermath of the One Eleven political situation. A sort of stagnation gripped the economy due to shortfall in power generation and political instability at that time.
   When his attention was drawn to the power supply situation he said the people are not investing their money in industries because of power shortfall, but he feels that the steps taken by the present government is likely to sort out the power generation problem by 2012 if the projects were implemented on schedule.
   In this connection, he suggested that the government should go for PPP projects in power generation to improve overall power supply scenario. In that case he would be happy because his group can go for the expansion of their industrial units," he added. When it comes to infrastructural development like building bridges, culverts, monorail, elevated expressways, roads and highways, he pointed out that those should be built on the BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis.
   Hashem, a former member of parliament, said: "I met the Prime Minister and requested her to leave the job of power generation to the private sector to do."
   Referring to the success stories of BOT projects in other countries, he said governments in those countries never got involved with such projects. They just framed policies and supported the private investors for their implementation.
   Investors for the BOT projects could be selected through open bidding with participation of both local and foreign bidders, he suggested. When asked how to arrest the runaway prices of different commodities, he said the problem could be solved by setting up night-time open markets at designated places for the common people, who work by day and can go for shopping at night.
   In the capital Dhaka, four such markets would help the government a great deal in reining in the price spiral round the year, he opined.

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