Daily Online Alochona: Jan 29, 2008

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

RE: [mukto-mona] BANNED IN ATN TV - MY SHARIA-MOVIE.

My Dear Hasan Bhai,

Oh! What a very nice news for the Freedom Lovers.

As I told you that nobody can stop your Movie Hilla from exibiting among the concious people.
We should not be dishurtened rather than go forward to reach our destination.

We shall overcome certainly very soon.

Mr. Ahmed Feroz s now in Newyork where your Movie the Hilla will be shown,he will be back by the mid of February and we will arrange a show of your Movie Hilla in Vienna as soon as possible.
I will invite you to be here in Vienna during the Show as the chief Guest.

The whole is looking to wacht such kind of Movie like Hilla which will bring a tremendous movement around the globe for which the IGNORANT Mollas are worried for what they can't make business with Religions.

Please keep your confidence on the innocent People.

Best regards.

Sefat

Vienna

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/

*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/

Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[mukto-mona] Farmers-global conspiracy

Farming it out by Devinder Sharma 30 Jan 08 (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1148172)
The message is loud and clear. It is time the farmers start packing up. They are no longer required to produce food for the country.
First it was wheat imports. And now, the government moves a step ahead. It has offered to extend financial support to Indian companies that are willing to cultivate oilseeds and pulses in neighbouring countries like Myanmar and then import it into India.
The policy shift comes at a time when finance minister P Chidambaram has categorically stated that the country's food requirement can be met by 20 per cent of the existing farmers.
Farming is being gradually moved to foreign countries. The move spells a death-knell for millions of small and marginal farmers. Prime minister Manmohan Singh has time and again stressed on the need to shift large populations from the rural to the urban areas. Moving people out of agriculture and employing them in industry and service sectors is the official approach.
To make this possible, the government is first trying to make agriculture uneconomical to such an extent that farmers are forced to abandon farming and migrate.
Shifting cultivation of oilseeds and pulses, both being crops of marginal areas and abundantly grown in environmentally harsh dryland regions of the country, to neighbouring countries is one such flawed policy initiative.
Take the case of oilseeds. India has over the past few years emerged as one of the world's largest importers of edible oils. But this does not mean that the oilseeds growers are in any way inefficient producers.
Between 1986-87 and 1994-95, they had recorded a spectacular increase in the production of oilseeds: from 11 million tonnes in 1986-87, to 22 million tonnes in 1994-95, thereby turning the country almost self-sufficient in edible oil production.

In 1984, the late Rajiv Gandhi had expressed concern at the growing import bill for edible oils. He couldn't understand why India should be importing edible oils when the country's oilseeds farmers can be made to produce more and thereby reduce the import bill.
So a technology mission for oilseeds was set up. It provided the right kind of technology for gearing up oilseeds production.
Within a few years, oilseed farmers turned the country almost self-sufficient in edible oil production. And then began the downslide.
Not because the farmers were unable to maintain the tempo of increased production but because the government deliberately destroyed the gains of the 'yellow revolution'.
For reasons that remain unexplained, India began liberalising edible oil imports from 1994-95 onwards, as a result of which cheaper edible oil from Malaysia, Indonesia and the US flowed in.
Domestic production capacity dwindled as a result. The import duties are still being lowered periodically, making it uneconomical for the domestic industry to survive. With their livelihood lost to imports, more and more oilseed growers began to shift from oilseeds and some committed suicide.
Compared to an import of 1.02 million tonnes in 1997-98, India's import of edible oils now averages about 5 million tonnes a year.
The import bill today stands at a staggering Rs9,416 crore. Instead, if the government had provided half the oilseeds import bill (Rs4,500 crore a year) to the farmers, millions of them in the rain-fed areas would have been pulled out of the crisis.
The story of pulses is a little different. It is largely a case of neglect and apathy. Ever since the days of Green Revolution, agricultural scientists and policy makers have deliberately ignored pulses.
For 40 years now, production of the nutritious crop continues to hover between 13 and 16 million tonnes a year. And again, it is not the fault of farmers. Pulses with low productivity are a crop of the marginal lands and there is simply not enough incentive for the growers.
Australia had taken some 450 grams of pulses from India in the early 1970s and within a few years it had brought 9 million hectares under the crop. Similarly, Canada, which does not consume lentils, also brought a large area under pulses keeping the Indian market in focus. Both Australia and Canada are now the two major exporters of pulses to India.
Ironically, the policy to shift cultivation to neighbouring countries comes at a time when a Rs4,883-crore National Food Security Mission has been launched to increase production of wheat, rice, oilseeds and pulses.
Completely divergent policies in agriculture are being put in place probably to satisfy the interests of the lobbying groups. What happens to farmers and food security in the process is no longer a concern.
The writer is a New Delhi-based food and trade policy analyst.

__._,_.___

***************************************** Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm ***************************************** Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf ***************************************** MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona. ***************************************** Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm ***************************************** Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm ***************************************** Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/ ***************************************** MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm ***************************************** German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/ Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm ***************************************** Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona: http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm **************************************************** VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/ **************************************************** "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] Maoism in Nepal

The edit in Pioneer today reflects the Sangh Parivar mindset, not real politik.

Despotism in Nepal

Maoists prepare for dictatorship (http://dailypioneer.com/indexn11.asp?main_variable=Edits)

Nepal's Maoists have once again demonstrated that it is they, and not the seven-party alliance which Prime Minister GP Koirala leads, who call the shots. After forcing the Government to eat humble pie and accept their outrageous -- as well as illegitimate -- demands on abolishing the monarchy, declaring Nepal a 'secular republic' and drafting a Constitution that is an expanded version of Chairman Mao Tse-tung's Little Red Book, the Maoists have announced that henceforth the birthday of North Korea's despotic ruler Kim Jong-il (February 16), the birth anniversary of his father Kim Il-sung, a tyrant (April 15), and the founding day of the 'Democratic People's Republic of North Korea' (September 9) will be included in Kathmandu's list of official celebrations. This will surprise only those who had foolishly elected to repose their trust in Prachanda and his brigands, insisting that democratic politics would 'mainstream' the ruthless practitioners of violent politics. The UPA Government is among those who now look utterly stupid for failing to recognise the Maoists for what they are: Unabashed admirers of tyranny and despotism. Of course, the CPI(M), which forced the Prime Minister to back the Maoists and abandon our traditional support for Narayanhity Palace, would rejoice in the latest development. Given half a chance, the Marxists would place February 16 above our National Day and queue up to salute Mr Kim Jong-il. As for the UN, which brokered the 'mainstreaming' of Prachanda and his thugs, it stands exposed, though not for the first time, as a toothless, spineless wonder. The EU, which is usually the first to embrace Prachanda's ilk across the world, remains no more than a doormat, happy to be trampled upon. All this leaves Nepal and its people at the mercy of Prachanda who, we can now say with some certainty, will fashion himself after both Pol Pot and Mr Kim Jong-il after the sham election scheduled for April, and convert Kathmandu into Pyongyang. In that once happy, if not prosperous, land, fear shall rule with a heavy hand.

__._,_.___

***************************************** Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm ***************************************** Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf ***************************************** MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona. ***************************************** Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm ***************************************** Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm ***************************************** Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/ ***************************************** MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm ***************************************** German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/ Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm ***************************************** Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona: http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm **************************************************** VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/ **************************************************** "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] 30 January

Remembrance day By Sankar Ray 30 Jan 08 (http://thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=4&theme=&usrsess=1&id=187855)
For peace-activists the world over, 30 January is a day to remember with grit: This year, 30 January is not only the 60th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, but is also the 75th anniversary of ascension of Adolf Hitler replacing Paul von Hindenburg as the German Chancellor.
The Nazi dictator in his maiden statement as the head of the State said: "I will employ my strength for the welfare of the German people, protect the Constitution and laws of the German people, conscientiously discharge the duties imposed on me, and conduct my affairs of office impartially and with justice to everyone."
But the Third Reich kept his real plan under wraps and the assurance was a false cover. His hidden plan was known to the Nazi rank and file whose joyous intent was reflected in the robot-like reception by members of the SA and SS in uniform; carrying torches and singing the Horst Wessel song to hail the new Fuhrer-Chancellor, they marched through the Brandenburg gate. Rhythmic pounding beats of jackboots, drums and blaring military parade music were heard in Berlin but the commoners failed to read the writing on the wall.
The rest is history. Violating every syllable of this assurance, in his 14-year nightmarish rule, Hitler made statesmen of leading countries shiver in their shoes.
The assassination of the Mahatma on the 15th anniversary of Hitler's assumption of power was repetition of history as a "farce". Hitler made a beginning of Aryan-racism on 30 January, 1933. Gandhiji's tragic end triggered communalism.
On the same day in 1649, King Charles I of England was beheaded and 12 years thereafter, Oliver Cromwell, who played the principal role in the trial and execution of Charles I and became the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, was executed.
Exactly two decades after the Mahatma's assassination, the Vietcong forces launched the famous Tet Offensive in South Vietnam, with 19 suicide sappers who broke into the compound of the US Embassy in Saigon. Planned by the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap, it was abortive but it triggered American public opinion against the belligerent US foreign policy.
Nonetheless, the 30th of January has not always been a day of tragedy throughout the history. The Library of Congress which was burnt to ashes by the British Army on 19 August, 1814, was reborn on 30 January, 1815 with Jefferson's personal library containing 1,500 titles. The Rhodesian whites voted to transfer power to the majority on the 31st anniversary of the Mahatma's martyrdom. It was significant that Bapu began his historical battle against apartheid in southern Africa.
On this date, several well-known statesmen were born like the 32nd American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882), ex-Swedish Premier Olof Palme (1927), assassinated on 1 March, 1986. The 46th US Vice-President Dick Cheney, who has earned a lot of infamy, was born on 30 January, 1941.
Academics, particularly in the areas of history, historiography and archaeology, may frown at the endeavour to identify a particular date like 30 January this way. They have their rationale but are there any fixed criteria for defining a historical document or the historical value of a thing?
Well-known English historian EH Carr said that the 19th century is the age of fetishism of "facts" and "documents . But the empiricist stance exists in the domain of research in history, despite Carr's jibe at the 19th century historiography.
Unlike Carr, Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm has no anathema towards repetition in history and he lays importance on the aspect of inventing traditions and constructing a sense of continuity with the past in an essay Introduction: Inventing Traditions in 1983.
True, we should not artificially discover relations among random events and interpretation thereof. But similarity between events over time happens. One should not try to enunciate a law or theorem. There may be a break or end of it. Take the Solidarity movement that rocked Poland in 1980. Some political commentators, specialising in the now-defunct Sovietology, suggested over-enthusiastically that political turmoil has a 12-year cycle in Poland: 1956, 1968 and 1980. However, there was no upheaval in 1992 and 2004 in what was once the most formidable economy of East Europe.
For those who treat secularism beyond electoral politics, Gandhiji's martyrdom is a strong conceptual truth. I remember a Press conference of Dr Murli Manohar Joshi as the then BJP president in 1997 at the Press Club of Kolkata. He said that Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was India's first martyr against communalism. When I asked him why was he not considering Gandhiji, he adhered to his statement and implicitly refused to regard The Mahatma as a martyr.
The RSS leaders deny involvement in the killing of Gandhiji but cannot deny that Nathuram Godse left the RSS shortly before killing the Father of the Nation. Was the severance a tactical step?
In future, 30 January may not witness tragedies like the ominous rise of fascism which, German historians crossing ideological lines say, has nothing in common with the German history or assassination of another Gandhiji. Let's hope so. And for that adherents of rationalism remember 30 January as a day of remembrance.

(The author is a freelance contributor)

__._,_.___

***************************************** Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm ***************************************** Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf ***************************************** MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona. ***************************************** Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm ***************************************** Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm ***************************************** Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/ ***************************************** MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm ***************************************** German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/ Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm ***************************************** Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona: http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm **************************************************** VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/ **************************************************** "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] Fwd: Christopher Hitchens debates Intelligent Design

Kind Courtesy Ms Carol Smith of the Atheist Alliance

Mehul Kamdar

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
- The Riddle of Epicurus

Christopher Hitchens debates Intelligent DesignModerated by Ben Stein, who starts off with the old canard about no
atheists in foxholes.

http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/1/28/hitchensKnocksIntelligentDesign

Hitchens knocks intelligent design
Atheist debates creation advocate Jay Richards in Dinkelspiel
Auditorium
January 28, 2008
By Shelby Martin

During an animated debate yesterday in a packed Dinkelspiel Auditorium,
atheist Christopher Hitchens and intelligent design advocate Jay
Richards clashed over the evidence for God's existence.

"There are no atheists in foxholes, but there are plenty in
universities," said host Ben Stein, famous for his role as the dull
economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, during "Atheism vs.
Theism and the Scientific Evidence of Intelligent Design."

"We are lucky — blessed, I would say — to have two extremely smart
people here today," Stein said, giving both participants 14 minutes for
their opening remarks.

"I can't imagine it'll take me 14 minutes to demolish intelligent
design, as I refuse to call it," began Hitchens, the author of the 2007
bestseller "God is Not Great."

He cited the existence of evil as evidence against a benevolent
designer.

"If everything was designed," Hitchens asked, "what are we to make of
the designer who has subjected so many generations to barbarism,
misery, ignorance, slavery and early death?"

He added that any person who looked to nature as evidence for design
must contend with the fact that 98 percent of all species that have
ever existed are extinct.

"Whose design?" asked Hitchens, to applause from many audience members,
including a dozen wearing "Atheists of Silicon Valley" T-shirts. "What
kind of design? What kind of caprice, what kind of incompetence, what
kind of cruelty?'

Richards congratulated Hitchens on his rhetoric, but dismissed the
atheist's perspective.

"A sneer is not an argument," said Richards, a program director for the
intelligent design think tank Discovery Institute.

Richards encouraged the audience to see atheism and theism as two
competing hypotheses, saying he would lay out "a laundry list of
facts," and ask whether they fit better in an atheistic or theistic
worldview.

For theists, "there is a personal being, a transcendent, eternal,
personal being," Richards said. "This being is by definition goodness
and love."

As his first evidence for theism, Richards argued that all people feel
"simple moral truths."

"We all know that it's wrong to torture little children just for the
fun of it," he said.

The fact that nature seems to be organized rationally and
mathematically suggests evidence for theism, Richards said, as does the
"fine-tuning principle" — the idea that the laws of the universe are
set up just right to allow for life. He added that the universe's
inception at the Big Bang is also evidence for a creator.

"Anything that begins to exist must have a cause for its beginning,"
Richards said.

The intelligent design advocate next appealed to "irreducible
complexity," one of intelligent design's central tenets. He cited the
bacterial flagellum and the cascade of blood-clotting factors, saying
that they must be designed because they need all of their parts at once
to work and could not evolve little-by-little.

"Processes that require foresight are inaccessible to natural
selection," Richards said.

Hitchens then requested the chance to ask Richards a question.

"Do you believe Jesus Christ was born of a virgin?" he asked when
Richards assented. "Do you believe he was resurrected from the dead?"

Richards said that he did.

"I rest my case," said Hitchens. "This is an honest guy, who has just
made it very clear [that] science has nothing to do with his world
view."

Stein interrupted with a question for Hitchens.

"Many people are deeply religious," he said. "Are they just stupider
than you?"

"I think I am smarter than most people," Hitchens said, but he added
that religion plays an important part in human history.

"Religion was our first try at philosophy, it was our first try at
epistemology. It's what we came up with when we didn't know we lived on
a round planet circling the sun."

The event was broadcast by the Church Communication Network to churches
around the country. Listeners could send questions via fax or email,
and audience members at Stanford could turn in written questions to be
answered by the debaters.

Richards stated that just as the designers of Mt. Rushmore made the
monument very different from the hills around it, "intelligent agents
leave markers for their design."

"The existence of a creator God is something we can discern from the
world around us," he concluded.

Hitchens disagreed.

"The world as we know it works as the world might be expected to work
if it did not have a designer," he concluded. "We can finally grow up
if we resign ourselves to this increasingly inescapable truth."

The event was sponsored by The Stanford Review, the Intelligent Design
and Evolution Awareness club and Vox Clara: A Journal of Christian
Thought at Stanford.

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/

*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/

Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[mukto-mona] Irin Khan's criticism is working !!!

Irin Khan's criticism is working !!!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/khabor/message/8190

http://www.amnesty.org/en/counter-terror-with-justice

Now Bangladesh Home ministry cautions lawmen
against custodial death
Staff Correspondent

The home affairs ministry on Tuesday cautioned law enforcement agencies against death in custody.
   Senior officials of law enforcement agencies such as the police and the Rapid Action Battalion were instructed to ensure that such incidents do not take place further, an official source said.
   The directive was given at a meeting chaired by the home affairs adviser, MA Matin. The home secretary, inspector general of police, Rapid Action Battalion director general and senior officials of the agencies concerned attended the meeting.
   This was the first meeting of the adviser with the heads and senior officials of the law enforcement agencies after assuming the office of the home affairs ministry on January 16.
   Matin, a retired army official who also heads the national coordination committee against corruption and serious crimes, issued 30-point instructions for the lawmen to go by in keeping order to hold free and fair national elections by the end of 2008.
   He directed the police to send to the home ministry as soon as possible the cases that could warrant speedy trial.
   The adviser asked police officials to build better relations with people. He stressed the need for positive behavioural changes in policemen.
   One hundred and eighty-four were reportedly killed extra-judicially by the law enforcement agencies in 2007, according to a report released by human rights coalition Odhikar. The report said 130 had been killed in the 'crossfire.'
   Of them, 94 were killed by the Rapid Action Battalion, 64 by the police, 3 jointly by the battalion and the police, 7 each by the 'joint forces' and the army, 3 by the navy, 1 each by the jail police, coast guards, forest guards, Bangladesh Rifles and 2 by the officers of the Department of Narcotics Control. The number of extra-judicial killings in 2007 was lower than what it was in the preceding year.
   The meeting asked the police and intelligence agencies to closely monitor labour unrest in readymade garments factories to keep the situation under control. It also asked the police to set up one-stop service centres at strategic points in cities to check harassment of girls and women.
   Matin asked the law enforcers to conduct proper investigation into the cases related to acid throwing as the meeting observed the accused in most cases are released because of weak inquiry and lack of evidence.
   He also directed the traffic wing of the police to ensure that the vehicles having fake licences or without fitness clearances do not run on the city roads.

http://www.newagebd.com/front.html#4

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] Darwin Day info and help

Dear Darwin Day Supporter,

It's two weeks to Darwin Day, when events across the globe will celebrate reason and humanity. You can see a list of these celebrations at http://darwinday.org/NEWlang/home/2008.php.

If your Darwin Day event isn't yet listed please go to http://darwinday.org/NEWlang/regevent/index.php to register and advertise your event.

If you still need help in organizing a Darwin Day celebration, resources are available at the Darwin Day website, at http://darwinday.org.

For help in publicizing a Darwin Day event through your local media, please check out the detailed guidelines and customizable sample press release at http://humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=333&article=1.

There is still plenty of time to get news coverage of your event.

There is also still time to get Darwin Day officially recognized with proclamations by your local council, mayor, governor or other elected officials. Again, we have provided guidelines and samples to help you with this. Just go to http://humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=333&article=1. for more information on how to get a Darwin Day proclamation.

Wishing you a successful Darwin Day,

Matt Cherry
Executive Director
Institute for Humanist Studies

The Darwin Day Celebration promotes understanding of evolution and the scientific method, and aims to provide a new global holiday that transcends separate cultures and religious traditions. It is a project of the Institute for Humanist Studies.

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/

*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/

Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ALOCHONA] New Hope for Bangladesh

A Cup of Hope
By
Masud Rana (NRB)
Seattle, WA, United States

I visited Bangladesh twice in just over a year, since the historic
Jan. 11.

Twice I returned to the States unwillingly and with unwavering
expectations to return
to Bangladesh for the next earliest trip. I am going back this
summer -- again.

I wanted to share my joy of going back to Bangladesh with you, hoping
you'd feel the same way for our newly rejuvenated Desh under a clear,
blue sky full of hope and joy, which existed under the chokehold of
greed and corruption for a long, long time.

So, here it is.

I saw glints of hope, carefree laughter, and fearlessness among the
very common people of Bangladesh. They are simply a rickshawalla, a
dokandar, chotta betti, part-time maid, or a driver.

They all have a common opinion about the new caretaker Government
(CTG) -- that there are no more strikes, no more rahajani, churi-
batpari. Or at least not the way it used to be not too long ago.
They know that how the country has been robbed of its resources and
potentials through the network of corruption and exploitation of
previous governments. They know that it had to stop. They know that
this desh needed a change. They know that desher manush, people of
Bangladesh, had nowhere to go to. They know that a new sarkar,
government, needed to come.

And came the new government under the visionary leadership of Dr.
Fakruddin Ahmed.
My first impression of Bangladesh during my both visits as soon as I
landed at ZIA International was that to instinctively feel welcome
and safe and cherished by the sweet air of change in Bangladesh.

I can never duplicate that feeling, that moment of joy and melody.
It's a good thing. It ought to be.

Since independence, we have experienced governments awash with greed,
corruption, and absolute power. Since independence, we have
squandered opportunities to build a very, very prosperous nation with
all of our resources. Since independence, we have grown to have
pigeonholed our own political views. Since independence, we have
been forced to live under the choking pressure of extortion, bribery,
and corruption. Since independence, we knew nothing but to survive.

Now is the time to prosper. We have nothing to look back, nowhere to
turn to but to move forward, and look ahead. And do it together.
And without boro, boro kotha and backbiting, the achilles heel of our
very nature.

Since Dr. Ahmed took control of a very volatile nation at a very
critical juncture, the people of the country have experienced some
noticeable changes. These changes are the precursors to a monumental
recovery and prosperity we have waiting for a very long time. No
government has given us this strong a hope for prosperity and
recovery without the fear of greed and corruption. This hope is as
sweet as an ek peyala cha at the Romanar Botomul, or by the Dhanmondi
Lake, or at a street corner cha-er dhokan.

We should savor this taste. But we must also act and we can't afford
to sit back too long before the aroma of the sweet savory cha is lost
in oblivion.

Let's all stand behind Dr. Ahmed and help him pull the nation
through. Since Jan. 11, when this government led us into a new
course, I have heard, however unfortunately, among our constituents
and NRBs the doubts and fears about the intentions, end goals, and
achievability of the initiatives this CTG has taken so far.

This is not productive but sad and reflective of our own mentality.
As brilliant and talented as Dr. Ahmed is, his intentions are
absolutely grand. Whether they are feasible in the long run, we have
to see and work through it. Yes, not all initiatives could be
feasible and achievable immediately but they have potential and
values. If our native sons/daughters of previous governments could
literally build multi-billion dollar business empires abroad with
people's money then it is time we should build infrastructure and
institutions for our own and on our own with the leadership of Dr.
Ahmed.

Let's embrace him instead of pushing him away. He and his team of
leaders are only human and can do so much. Let's give them a
chance. Aladdin's magic lamp cannot even fix the problems of
Bangladesh this CTG has inherited for just over a year. Let this
government assess the wounds first.

We gave chances to our previous native sons and daughters. And we
have seen what happened there. We have seen how private empires had
risen up with enormous power, exploitation, greed, and corruption.
The people of Bangladesh gained little. The country gained little.
But those private empires gained so much and grown so higher that
they had to topple to the ground.

Now is the time to build again. We clear the ground, build new and
stronger foundations and build again. Not to topple but to stand
apart.

A movie I have seen in the US recently about redemption, courage, and
hope. There was a tag line, which I don't remember exactly but the
meaning of it is there is always a way to be good again.

Now is the time for us to be good again.

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:alochona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:alochona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
alochona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[mukto-mona] Kolpoloker golpokotha 2 {Bangla}

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/poroshpathor/kolpoloker_golpokotha_2.htm __._,_.___

***************************************** Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm ***************************************** Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf ***************************************** MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona. ***************************************** Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm ***************************************** Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm ***************************************** Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/ ***************************************** MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm ***************************************** German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/ Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day: http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm ***************************************** Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona: http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm **************************************************** VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/ **************************************************** "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Environment: Our majestic dolphins are at risk

Bangladesh's majestic dolphins at risk

By Alastair Lawson
BBC News, in the Sunderbans of Bangladesh

Dolphins are a powerful tourist attraction in Bangladesh

Enlarge Image

Seeing the river dolphins of Bangladesh is not something that is easily forgotten. They rise arc-like and majestic out of the water only inches from boats that ply the rivers of the country's south.

In a country where the wildlife population has been denuded because of over-crowding and pollution, dolphins provide visitors with a beautiful and memorable surprise.

But conservationists say they are increasingly concerned over the future of the country's river dolphin population, some of which they warn may even be at risk of extinction.

They say that it is rapidly declining because of over-fishing, a shortage of prey, pollution and declining freshwater supplies.

'Isolated'

Experts are particularly concerned over the fate of two species - the Ganges river dolphin and the Irrawaddy dolphin whose numbers they say have significantly reduced over the last decade.

"This is probably because of intense human activities - such as farming and fishing - that takes place in their river and near shore water habit," said dolphin expert Elisabeth Fahrni Mansur.

Over-fishing is being blamed for the dolphins'' decline

"But they are also at risk because of the clumped nature of their overall distribution, which results in a patchwork of relatively small groups demographically isolated from each other."

While Bangladesh currently supports relatively large populations of Ganges river dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins, conservationists argue that it's crucial to address the threats they face now, while the potential for long-term survival of both species is still relatively high in comparison to other areas in Asia.

While other species such as Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins are not currently threatened, their future can by no means be taken for granted. But it's the Ganges river dolphin and the Irrawaddy dolphin which give the most cause for concern.

"The most dire threat to them comes in the form of accidental deaths caused fishing nets," said Ms Mansur.

"Fishermen don't target the animals, but when they often become entangled in nets they easily drown because they are breathing mammals.

"A more long term threat comes from declining freshwater supplies - primarily due to water extraction upstream in India - and sea-level rises which have led to profound changes to the ecology of their habitat."

The bulk of the country's freshwater dolphin population live in the south-west of the country, especially in the rivers and waterways of the Sunderbans mangrove forest.

Rising salinity is killing the animals

Experts point out that these rivers are particularly affected by toxic and industrial waste which is dumped in the water further upstream.

"Rising salinity through both climate change and declining freshwater supplies is also a real and a long-term challenge to the ecology of the Sunderbans," said Ms Mansur.

Dolphins in the forest tend to partition themselves according to the level of salinity - Ganges river dolphins for example are found in mangrove channels with high freshwater inputs, while Irrawaddy dolphins live in more salty mangrove channels further downstream.

Ominous development

Experts say that the level of salinity in these areas is crucial to the survival of the animals and to the livelihoods of over 30,000 fishermen in the Sunderbans. Already at least 11 species of fresh water fish are extinct.

The animals can surprise with their arc-like appearances

In what many environmentalists see as an ominous development, the finless porpoise - primarily a coastal species - has recently been discovered in the Sunderbans which provides another indication of rising salinity.

Steps are now being taken to combat the problem.

The Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project (BCDP) and the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) are proposing a protected area for dolphins, which would consist of three priority sites in the Sunderbans.

In addition to monitoring salinity levels, accidental killings of dolphins by fishermen would also be surveyed.

"The idea is that fishermen will be provided with relatively inexpensive global positioning systems and depth sounders, in addition to being trained how to use them so that they can navigate safely to shore during storms," said Ms Mansur.

"In return the fishermen would safely release live animals found entangled in their nets, and collect samples and basic information on animals found already dead.

"But the battle to save these animals is not going to be easy. Salinity and over-fishing are in many respects facts beyond our control. We are the local end of a global battle."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7192200.stm

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. __._,_.___

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.] To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Professor Anwar: A liabilty for Dhaka University!

Friends

Anwar is a name of shame and mud. So nothing should discussed about him. let him be hero of the Chetona but how much the awami media colours him as hirrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu he will remain in the minds of the people as destructive criminal thug in guise of teacher. Who teaches loot,arson,jalao porao and calls for creating law and order situation.

His actions do definitely falls under Cr. PC code and Law should be vigilant take quick action to nab him and accomplices and try him.

Faruque Alamgir

"Md. Aminul Islam" <aminul_islam_raj@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear sir,

This is the sign of blatant shameless of Mr anwar.He was a jsd man now in BAL.When he say..jatir jonok....then'lojjao lojjapai.We 22 thousand jsd workers were killed by Mujib men during1972-1975.They believe in one party system so why they can tolerate other party in the campus?

Our image will collapse when people of other country will know that in Bangladesh there are some university teachers who ask their followers to attack opponent student groups
ahmed@um.edu.my wrote:

He is a Prof. He doesn't speak like a prof. Only recently, while in jail he
beg pardon/forgiveness to all army personnel including any soldier for his
release. His "crime" was pardoned by the President of the country. Now he is
speaking differently against army. To get cheap media coverage (and probably
become AL candidate in next election) he is now talking against Islami Chatra
Shibir (ICS). Who doesn't know, except hypocrats, that ICS is doing politics
and students movement to CREATE worthy citizens for Bangladesh. This so-called
prof Anwar also knows that.
Dhaka University was created by Islam loving Muslims despite huge protest from
some communal hindus and their allies. During that time sea of
donations/contributions were made by the pioneers of DU. Working with this
university, Prof Anwar is not thankful to the creators/pioneers of DU (he
never dropped any word paying any regard to them). Prof. Anwar can only
destroy the glorious history of DU, can only work against Islam in the name of
ICS, etc. We have to be careful about such professors.

Shamsuddin Ahmed,

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. __._,_.___

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.] To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Hasina: Promises rice rice at Taka 16.00

Friends

There is a limit to everything and jokes must have a line. But hasina gone far beyond that. Her father fed us rice with Tk: 500/- per Maund whereas it was 40-50 Tk per maund prior to Awami Chetona took over the Dynasty. To the eonomic situation of that time the price was exorbitant and led millions to die of starvation but the great leader enjoyed his sons(kamal & jamal) wedding reception Hirar Mukut. What a great insult to the starving nation of that time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
We have seen hasina bubu's reign of terror and rape(Manik of JU who was rewarded by being appointed in HC in Australia) and loot. Now she is has made another joke with the people.

Friends, you never know the mother of all time great chors Khaleda may come up to offer further more lower price to get the "Tender for the Golden throne of Bangladesh"

Friends how long these clown criminals will glitter in the sky of Bangladesh ????

Greetings and best wishes.

Faruqur Alamgir

"Md. Aminul Islam" <aminul_islam_raj@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear All,

avery interestin gnews published in todays newspapers.Ex prime minister Sk Hasina says' If go to power I will feed people rice at tk 16.00 and soyabeen at tk60.00.'It is noted that that her father once in pak regime promised to feed suger at tk .25 .But failed to keep wards.

http://www.amardeshbd.com/detail_news_index.php?NewsID=158730&NewsType=bistarito&SectionID=home

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. __._,_.___

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.] To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] BANNED IN ATN TV - MY SHARIA-MOVIE.

WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/46339

"doing nothing about it is something least expected from fatemolla" - Unfortunately that is true.

The movie is accepted in an int'l film festival, more are expected to come up.

Copies are going to pakistan and Egypt for further use.

Arrangements are being made for its show in four cities of Europe and North America. Ask me for a copy if you can arrange one in your city - I have to generate some money for the producer/director - he is not a millionaire and needs his investment back.

At times bypassing a problem is the most effective way to win it. No doubt my people will watch it one day - none can stop it. Hasan Mahmud

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/

*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/

Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ALOCHONA] Indian Cultural Aggression in Bangladesh

Indian Cultural Aggression in Bangladesh

http://www.dailynayadiganta.com/fullnews.asp?News_ID=64112&sec=2

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Book Review: The India Doctrine

Book Review - ' The India Doctrine'

by Isha Khan

bd_mailer@yahoo.com

bdmailer@gmail.com

Adorned in a saffron red jacket and embellished with a detailed map of South Asia the concept of an India Doctrine has been introduced to the readers in Bangladesh recently. The book 'The India Doctrine' has been published by the Bangladesh Research Forum and edited by Barrister M.B.I. Munshi and is priced at Tk. 300. Munshi's contribution to the book constitutes the largest section with several other writers from Bangladesh , Nepal and Sri Lanka providing some useful and informative chapters.

The book comes complete with a foreword written by esteemed scholar, Professor Ataur Rahman of Dhaka University who sets the theme of the book. We are reminded by Prof. Rahman that while India might have its own rationale for framing its regional policy compatible with its national interests, the fact remains that constant apprehensions, mistrust and tensions between India and the smaller neighbors including Bangladesh had its negative effects on any meaningful cooperation and security in the region.

This introduction neatly moves us into the chapters written by Munshi which are a series of discussions that covers the relations between India and East Pakistan/Bangladesh from 1947 to the present. It attempts a historical and geo-strategic appraisal of relations between the two countries but also offers a more wide ranging analysis involving the Indian external intelligence operations in Bangladesh and outside. The central idea of the chapters when taken as a whole appears to be that the India Doctrine as implemented by successive administrations in India is not limited to simply harming the economic interests of its neighbours but also has a historical and intellectual underpinning that comes from the thoughts and writings of Jawaharlal Nehru and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar amongst others. The idea of a United India (or an 'Akhand Bharat') according to the author is still a goal of Indian policy making in South Asia .

Prof. Rahman is forced in his foreword to contend that this thesis may seem implausible and 'far-fetched' but also points out that Munshi supplements his ideas with an exhaustive and elaborate set of references and notes to back up his argument. However, a defect in this intricate framework of references is that the chapters lack a bibliography which would have made it easier to verify the arguments advanced by the author. The chapters also seems to be hampered by the fact that they were written originally as a 3 part article and the author clearly has had some difficulty in framing his arguments within this constriction. However, as we all know Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington both started their seminal works in a similar manner with articles in prominent journals before they were rendered into book form and this does not seem to have affected the stream of their discussion and thoughts.

As this may be, the principle cause of disquiet will certainly be Munshi's interpretation of significant historical events and his commentary on the motivations of characters such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ayub Khan who are all now long dead. I was certainly surprised by some of his findings but it was difficult to find fault here as most of his views are backed-up with thorough research and investigation. His chapters on the 1971 war and the insurgency in the CHT are probably the most tantalizing in terms of historical data and comparisons.

Some of Munshi's arguments are further buttressed by a short chapter by Khodeza Begum who makes reference to events that occurred during the 1990's related to clandestine meetings held in Dhaka concerning the reunification of the subcontinent. In her chapter, there is an extensive discussion on the policies being pursued by the Indian government that according to her is detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bangladesh . She analyses the concept of a United Bengal that has featured in some of the Indian political literature in recent years. She has also summarized the tactics and strategies adopted by the Indian government and its intelligence agency to undermine the unity of Bangladesh and to inculcate the population of the country with a perspective adverse to the nations integrity.

Although solidly written there is a problem with the length of the chapter as well as the dated materials used by the author. A more contemporary approach may have served better but the evidence seems irrefutable and the author should update her research before a second edition is considered.

In a sudden change of location Brig. Gen. M. Sakhawat Hossain inexplicably takes us all the way to the Indian Ocean and the emerging strategic scenarios being played out in the area. One may legitimately question the relevance to the overall context and theme of the book but the author makes this abundantly clear when he remarks that rivalries in the South Asian region are primarily based on events in 1971 and India's intent on dominating the region has had to appreciate the ground realities that this cannot be achieved alone. Hossain expertly explains the intricate alliances being forged in the region and the importance of the Indian Ocean in the strategic thinking of India , China , the USA and Pakistan . His comments on the North-East insurgency and the recent uprising in Nepal are highly commendable and very insightful especially in the latter case where he had visited prior to writing the chapter.

Following the chapters by the Bangladeshi authors mentioned above come the section written by the Nepali writers. In the case of Madan Prasad Khanal, Nishchal Basnyat and Sanjay Upadhya their contributions to the book are highly articulate, elegant and almost near impeccable. Each author discusses differing aspects of Indian interference and intervention in Nepali internal affairs and in some cases provides possible solutions to these problems. But with a clear conception of the implications of Indian domination on Nepal Dr. Shastra Dutta Pant appeared a little confused in his expressions.

The final chapters of the book are by two Sri Lankan writers Dr Rohan Gunaratna and Arbinda Acharya. Both writers collaborated to produce a single chapter on the Sri Lankan attitude to Indian interference or as the authors themselves put it, "India's involvement in Sri Lankan ethnic imbroglio has been one of the most controversial, ironic as well as tragic aspects of New Delhi's foreign policy." While concentrating on the Sri Lankan situation the writers also manage to draw in examples from Bangladesh , Pakistan , Nepal and Bhutan to back up their case on Indian aspirations in South Asia . Of significance is the Indian involvement in the protracted and apparently insoluble conflict with the Tamils. The chapter also involves a geostrategic appraisal of Sri Lanka and its growing relationship with China and Pakistan . It is unfortunate therefore that the authors were not as forceful about Indian interventions in Sri Lanka especially during the time of the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi. The chapter seems somewhat apologetic about Indian intervention rather than condemnatory which would have been an appropriate response from Sri Lankan nationals.

The India Doctrine

Edited by MBI Munshi

Published by Bangladesh Research Forum

Dhaka July 2006

Pages: 288

__,_._,___

Daily Online Alochona

Banner Advertiser

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

RE: [mukto-mona] BANNED IN ATN TV - MY SHARIA-MOVIE.

[mukto-mona] Farmers-global conspiracy

[mukto-mona] Maoism in Nepal

[mukto-mona] 30 January

[mukto-mona] Fwd: Christopher Hitchens debates Intelligent Design

[mukto-mona] Irin Khan's criticism is working !!!

[mukto-mona] Darwin Day info and help

[ALOCHONA] New Hope for Bangladesh

[mukto-mona] Kolpoloker golpokotha 2 {Bangla}

[ALOCHONA] Environment: Our majestic dolphins are at risk

[ALOCHONA] Professor Anwar: A liabilty for Dhaka University!

[ALOCHONA] Hasina: Promises rice rice at Taka 16.00

[mukto-mona] BANNED IN ATN TV - MY SHARIA-MOVIE.

[ALOCHONA] Indian Cultural Aggression in Bangladesh

[ALOCHONA] Book Review: The India Doctrine

Blog Archive

Link List

Addvertise

Reffaral Link